Posted by Cadet Nate Holcomb (Doctor) in Cadet Nate Holcomb - Reporting for Duty

Posted by Lieutenant Daphne Frankenstein (Chief Medical Officer) in Cadet Nate Holcomb - Reporting for Duty

Posted by Cadet Nate Holcomb (Doctor) in Cadet Nate Holcomb - Reporting for Duty
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Stepping down out of the shuttle, Nate took in the shuttle bay of the USS Challenger. “Whoa, she’s a beauty. So, this is home for a while; I could certainly do worse.”

How does a cadet not look like a cadet, Nate thought to himself. Glancing down at his insignia. Yeah, that’s pretty much a dead giveaway. Finally noticing the door to the rest of the ship, “There’s a good start, Nate.” Adjusting his pack over his shoulder and switching his bag to the other hand, Nate headed to the door with a vapor thin façade of confidence. The doors swiped open much quicker than he’d expected. Gathering himself a bit, he steped out into the well-lit hallway. Thankful he’d studied the deck plans for the Challenger, he turned to the right and headed down the hall to the turbolift.

=/\=DECK , PLEASE=/\= the computer demands.

“Five, no wait . . . three. Uhh . . . medical . . . sickbay. Please.”

=/\=THE USS CHALLENGER IS EQUIPPED WITH SEVERAL SICKBAYS. DECK, PLEASE.=/\=

“Come on!” Nate exclaimed in exasperation. Leaning over to shuffling through his bag, he pulled out his datapad as his pack sliped off his shoulder knocking the datapad from his hand. Tossing the pack back over his shoulder, he retrieved the pad, wiped the screen off and thumbed it to life. Flicking through several screens, he located the deckplan files. Scrolling down . . . down . . .

“Six. Deck Six, please.”

Sliding the pad back into the bag, Nate straightened up and noticed the placard with the decks and descriptions beside the door. “Oh man,” Nate exhaled as he rubed his fingers across his forehead and pushed the sweat into his hairline leaving his hair looking slightly slicked back and clearly out of place.

The door again swiped more quickly than he expected.

=/\=DECK SIX=/\=

Thankfully, sickbay was laid out just off to the left of the lift. The familiar sterile scent of a medical bay permeated the air. You can do this. You got this. Oh, man.

Barely above a whisper, “Nate Cadet reporting for duty evaluation.” Clearing his throat, he spoke a little louder, “I mean, Nate Holcomb . . . Cadet Holcomb . . . reporting for medical evaluation . . . reporting for duty. Uhh, I mean . . . for both, I think. I’m a Starfleet medical cadet from the Academy.”

Seriously?!? You’re a Starfleet medical cadet from the Academy. That’s obvious, you doofus. Where else would you be from? Get it together, Nate. Sweat trickling down the back of his neck. Oh lord, I hope sweat stains don’t show through this uniform.

Ensign Nate Holcomb medical

OOC: This is a great place to practice the OOC and IC feature of the site. So amazing post. It was brilliant writing and super fun to read. Just remember to sign off on your post at the end so others know who just wrote the post. It would look like this. Ensign Nate Holcomb medical. I put it in for you so you can see.

IC:
Daphne sat in her office reviewing the patient record sipping her coffee when a voice trailed through sickbay. Leaning slightly to the left she saw the individual to whom the voice belonged. Blue shirt, perfectly pressed, shoes shined one could see their reflection if they looked down: It could only be one of her medical cadets reporting in. Pushing off her desk, Daphne moved to the door frame of her office and casually leaned against it. She was not the type of officer however that felt the need to throw her rank about. It was an only life experience that made one a chief medical officer. Everyone coming through those doors had as much medical knowledge as she did. It was only the fact she had slapped a few more bandaids on boos and administered numerous hypos on patients that had her standing where she was now and the cadet standing where he was. Still, that did not mean she did have things to teach the cadets.

“Daphne Frankenstein…Lieutenant Frankenstein…ready for your medical evaluation,” she repeated his introduction with a smile. To Daphne one of the most important things about being a medical officer was trying to create a calm and inviting space in the medical department along with a huge dose of humor. Her last name helped with the latter tenfold. Her mind drifted for a second wondering if the cadet was confident enough to make a joke about it or would pretend he had no idea of the connection.

While she had not met the man now standing in the middle of her sickbay, she had reviewed his Starfleet jacket. It was filled with glowing recommendations from all his professors about the young cadet’s skill and aptitudes. Any ship was going to be lucky to get this man once he graduated.

Moving across the room she extended her hand.

Lt. Daphne Frankenstien CMO

OOC: I made some of the edits we previously discussed offline to my original post above. Let me now if that’s better and if you see anything else I need to work on, please.

IC:

Frankenstein . . . is she messing . . . she has to be messing with me? Right?!? Maybe it’s like a callsign or something? I know the fighter jockeys and people like that get callsigns, but never a medical officer. Well, at least she’s the doctor. It always bothered Nate that people referred to the constructed monster as Frankenstein. Nate pulled his shirt down taunt, straightened his back slightly, and ran the fingers of his left hand through his hair. Extending his other hand, he gripped her hand with the typical handshake taught during the Academy’s interview workshops – neither too firm nor too soft, and three short, precise shakes.

“Lieutenant . . . Fr . . . Frankenstein. Ma’am. Hi, I’m Cadet Holcomb. I look forward to working with you and the rest of your medical department here on the Challenger. According to my briefing materials I’m here to report to duty and obtain an initial medical check-up. Do I need to schedule that or is now a good time? Oh, and looks like I need to visit the Counselor for a fitness for duty evaluation. Where would one do that?”
Has to be a callsign, right?

• Ensign Nate Holcomb – Medical Cadet

Daphne let out a small chuckle as her face lit up with a warm smile. “How about a cup of coffee,” she hooked a thumb behind her towards an office. At times she could not help but find humor in the nervousness of cadets. In a few months they would be strolling around like they owned the place but the first few days they always were a bit hesitant. “We can head over to my office to answer any questions you might have and then I can give you the nickel tour?”

Before Daphne could take two steps however, NE Ronald Blake stopped her in her tracks. Blake, who was also a medical cadet on his training cruise had been retained for further practice instead of being passed through with the rest of the graduates. It was not that Blake was a bad doctor. Blake was more an accident prone doctor and had spent six weeks of his nine weeks in sickbay as a patient and not participating in rounds. Today was no exception. As Daphne and Bill passed him, Blake walked directly into them

The sound of a tricorder, osteo-bone knitter, and half a dozen hypos clattered to the floor as Blake plowed into them not paying attention. “Oh my god I am so sorry doc,” Blake said immediately bending down to pick up everything now scattered on the floor.

“It’s fine,” Daphne replied with a sigh. It was not the first time she had helped clean up a Blake blunder as sickbay affectionately called the man’s mishaps. Unfortunately today would not be a simple clean up. “Lemmmm we heppp ohhhhhh.” Daphne’s voice suddenly seemed to get deeper and she was drawing out each word so that it was sounding more like a moan instead of connected speech. Her eyes seemed to get be getting wider and her body suddenly started to become more rigid and stiff.

Reaching out she put a hand on Nate attempting to steady herself. Looking down she let out a groan. It was getting harder to form words as she felt her muscles starting to seize up. “Eeeeeeeeye poeeeeeeee,” she moaned and grunted out before going stiff as a board and falling backwards.

Lt. Daphne Frankenstien CMO

OOC: WOW! Wasn’t expecting this, LOL! Thought I was going to have a cup of joe and learn a few things about medical. This is awesome. Also, I am assuming Blake is an NPC and thus “controllable” by anyone? If that’s incorrect, let me know and I’ll edit this.

OCC: Pure genuis with this post. You are an amazing writer. ~ Kate

IC:

Awww crap, Daphne thought as the sensation of falling backward over took her; however with no use of her hands to break the fall, she felt a knot in her stomach. While her body could not move, mentally she cringed waiting for an impact on the floor. Feeling the impact against Nate she felt a wave of relief, although, having a form or brain injury would be a great alibi for why she tried to strangle Blake when she got her limbs back.

Nate, almost without thinking, lunged forward pinning his side against the table and twisting around as he knelt to one knee to ensure Dr. Frankenstein didn’t hit her head in the fall. Laying her rigid body down on the floor, Nate quickly eyed her over from head to toe looking for any sign of what might have caused this sudden, rigid paralysis. Typically, paralytics cause the patient to become limp; this is something different.

Snapping his head toward the other cadet, “What were you carrying? Did you have something in one of these hyposprays that might have caused this? There, help me lay her flat. Good. Any idea what might have caused this?”

Because Blake is an idiot and should be working with petri dishes instead of living beings, Daphne felt her temper rising and only being stopped by the paralytic. She had to help them though figure out what had happened. Blake was running experiments on a new emergency medical drug for field kits when surgery was needed but you were nowhere near a surgical facility. Focusing all her attention on trying to speak, Daphne took what she hoped was a deep breath and tried to speak before she was totally unconscious. “Buuuuuuuuhhhhhh,” was all she managed to let escape from her lips. There was no way Blake was going to remember what he was doing without a hint.

Blake stammered back, “Uhh, yeah, I had a bunch of Benzdichlo in the hypos but they were all safed.”

Safed? Safed? Does it look like they were set on the safety setting you babbling bafoon, Daphne ranted in her mind. Okay come on Holcomb. Your file said you are one of the best and the brightest of your class. Do not let me die because Blake is a bumbling idiot.

Benzdichlo, short for Benzdiplopenchloride, is a medication used to very quickly render a patient rigidly immobile. It is used most commonly when a patient has survived rapid decompression, such as in the case of a hull breach. Mercifully, it also renders the patient unconscious.

Nate found what he was looking for, a half-spent hypospay dispenser, “You sure they were all safed?”

Oh my god yes…yes. Cadet Nathan Holcomb you are getting the first shore leave pass I can sign when I get the use of my hands back, Daphne thought feeling the edges of darkness start to fill her vision field.

“I thought so, but I mean, I guess not,” Blake responded as he retrieved the medical tricorder and began a Rapid Triage Scan (RTS). Removing the vacu-lancet from its slot, Blake withdrew a blood sample from Dr. Frankenstein’s neck and squinted as he looked at the readings.

“Yep, that’s what happened. I’m so sorry. By the way, my name’s Blake. I’m one of . . .”

“One of the new cadets, got it. Help me get here over to that biobed. We’ll need to start administering sugammadex and a hefty dose of fluids,” Nate stated as he positioned himself behind Dr. Frankenstein’s shoulders and began to lift her up. “Otherwise, she going to have one hell of a headache when she wakes up.”

Oh for the love of God. If there is a God please tell Nate to take my head, Daphne thought as she felt Nate’s arms slide under her shoulders.

Blake hoisted the doctor’s legs and immediately slipped as he stepped on the various items that had spilled onto the floor when he careened into Daphne and Nate.

Still as still as a board, Daphne was unable to react as she felt her south forty plummet and her north forty remain in the safety of Nate’s arms. It was at this point she decided maybe it was a good thing that she did not have the power of speech. If so Cadet Nate Holcomb would probably report in his report that the CMO could curse like a sailor at times.

“Careful there. I’m Nate, by the way. Good to meet you, Blake. Alright, yep, right there.” They placed Dr. Frankenstein onto the biobed. “Where are the Physiostimulators kept around here.”

Nate…just pretend Blake does not exist. You got this. Blake just put me in a voodoo zombie state. Go with your gut. Do not trust this man with anything related to me, Daphne silently begged.

“Oh, interesting. Yeah, they’re in the . . .” Blake stopped short catching the sharp look from Nate. “I’ll grab one.” Blake moved to retrieve the medical devices and walked right into the adjacent bed with an audible thud. “Damn, that’s going to leave a mark.”

Nate shook his head and allowed himself the slightest of grins. Well, I won’t be the worst cadet. So, I’ve got that going for me, which is good. citing a line from a favorite, if very old, comedy movie.

Nate slid Dr. Frankenstein’s sleeve up above her elbow. Rapidly punching in the commands on the biobed’s data-screen using recently honed muscle memory, he began preparing the bed to monitor her vitals and to administer the treatments. Everything seemed normal and within tolerances. Everything that is except for the presence of Benzdiplopenchloride. Following the prescribed treatment protocol, the biobed extended a smooth, multipurpose cuff gently that wrapped around the patient’s lower arm and began administering the first dose of fluids and electrolytes from the biobeds built in Plasma Infusion Unit.

Blake returned with the Physiostimulator and handed it to Nate.

“Excellent. This will expedite her recovery time.” Nate said as he took the device and secured it into the BioMed’s Multi-Function Device Slot (MFDS). “That should do it. Now, let’s see. The good doctor here said something about a cup of coffee. Where could I find a cup of that?”

Wait what, Daphne yelled silently. You both are not just strolling off for coffee with me strapped to a bed and the only thing I can do is moan like my name sake.

“Oh, I’ll be happy to grab you one, Nate.”

“No, that’s alright. I could use a quick break anyway.”

Nate....Nate no do not go and leave me. Not all cadets are like you or Alex. For the love of all that is holy do not leave me like this, she pleaded.

Nate patted Dr. Frankenstein’s still unconscious shoulder. “We’ll check back in on you in a couple of hours to see how you’re feeling then, doctor.”

“Alright, how about it, Blake? Lead the way to that coffee. I’m buying,” Nate joked. I probably just saved us all from second degree burns.

Ensign Nate Holcomb – Medical Cadet

=============
Two hours later
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“Well I don’t know what is wrong with her,” Cadet Barkley poked at Daphne’s foot.

“Maybe she is dead. They said we are getting a new CMO. Maybe this is the reason,” Cadet Smith wiggled his head at Daphne’s still stiff body. “Maybe she is dead,” Cadet Smith said in a low tone.

The look of shock slowly disappeared as Cadet Barkley picked up Daphne’s free hand and let it drop like a thud. “Jab her with a pin. If she doesn’t react you might be right. If she doesn’t react I guess we take her to the morgue,” Cadet Barkley suggested.

“Sounds like a sound plan to me,” Cadet Smith said pulling out a safety pin and starting to take off Daphne’s shoe.

Lt. Daphne Frankenstein CMO