Posted by Lieutenant Ka’Lissi Rosh (Chief Engineer) in Side sim - I’m not a Medic, but I play one… (CMO)

Posted by Lieutenant Siegfried Abel (Chief Medical Officer) in Side sim - I’m not a Medic, but I play one… (CMO)

Posted by Lieutenant Ka’Lissi Rosh (Chief Engineer) in Side sim - I’m not a Medic, but I play one… (CMO)

<snip>

He looked at her with a look on his face of ‘Really? Ya think?’ and then smiled and shook his head. “One moment.” he said and went back to the cabinet and returned with a hypo spray. Dialing in a dose, he held it to her neck and pressed the activation. A short hiss, and he put the device in his pocket.

“There. Give that a minute and you should feel better.” and he moved a chair and took a seat next to the bed. Still looking at the monitors, he said “I overheard the nurse say ‘again’. I take it this is a normal occurrence, then?”

Abel, CMO

Her return look was a shrug and ‘what did you expect?’ but she silently took the pain killer and closed her eyes a moment to will it to work faster, despite knowing it wouldn’t work. When she heard the chair move, she opened them and looked at the Doc. “The hand? Well, usually its the hand or arm.” She took a deep breath and sighed as she turned to her head to look up at the ceiling, wanting nothing more than to escape. “There is a sparring program I use with the safety a bit on the low side. Not ‘off’ mind you, but still. You can’t learn if you can’t get hurt. Right?” She looked at him for validation on the thought process.

Lissi
CE

He looked at her, a combination of humor and confusion on his face. His to e was that of addressing a friend who just said something a bit foolish and he was ‘calling them out’. “What? No! Of course you can learn without getting hurt. That’s the whole point of learning, to do it right with limited error. Perhaps you should focus on mastering the basics before you lower the safeties. At least then, you would be able to practice more often without time off for injury. As is the case…” and he held both of his hands out palm side up as if presenting the regenerator on her wrist for the first time “… right now.” and he smiled and shook his head, looking back up at the monitors.

Abel, CMO

She frowned. “I have the basics down. You can learn all the moves, all the counter moves. But until you are in a real time, real situation,” she closed her eyes a second and laughed. “Or rather, simulation,” you can’t get the muscle reflex. You can’t train your biceps to press back against the smack of their blade on yours. You can’t train your other muscles to tense on a strike. That’s just flexing. But without resistance, without the slamming down of steel on steel, you can’t learn it truly.” She looked at him and her words were filled with the past failings of her life. “You can learn what to do at any given moment, your whole life. But you can’t know it till you experience it.” She glanced down at her wrist still encased in the small machine.

After a sigh, she glanced back up at the ceiling and shook her head. “And if I miss of working the sim again cause I sprained my wrist, so be it. It’s better than laying on this bed for a week while you rebuild my leg, or arm, or spine…” her voice dropped slightly, “or worse…”

Her left hand, hopefully tucked out of sight as she thought of it, was clenched tightly to keep from railing. He didn’t deserve it.

Lissi
CE

“You broke your wrist. Broke. As in the bone is broken. So either you haven’t got the basics down as much as you think you do; or your safeties need to be turned up a notch.” and he looked at her and grinned. “In a week, of course.”

Abel, CMO

She didn’t like it, and she didn’t have to agree, but she nodded and took the veiled order for what it was, a healthy dose of ‘slow the heck down’. “I’ll turn the safety up a notch. Will that satisfy you for now?” She looked at him, there was a slip of ‘something’ behind her eyes. It wasn’t anger. At least, not directed at him. She then had a thought. “Next time, in a week of course, I will run the same sim in slow motion to learn where I misstepped. And I will, learn,” the word emphasized with a nod in his direction, “what I did to cause this. And next time will know not to let it happen again.”

She watched him as she spoke. There was more to this man that mere kind bedside manners. She admitted she had never met a Doctor she actually ‘liked’. The last CMO she had managed to find a neutral area to professionally coexist in. But that was all. And the reason she usually came in and saw to her own injuries.

Lissi
CE

“That’s all I ask. You take care of you first. I’ll take care if you if that isnt enough from time to time.” he said and looked away from the monitors and back at her. “But can we not make this a habit? I would prefer my staff to be… surprised… when you arrive. I hope that’s not asking too much.” and leaned a bit closer and stage-whispered “Because it’s really not.” and he leaned back and chuckled.

Abel, CMO

She sighed and laughed with a slight nod of her head. “I will do my best. But I won’t insult your intelligence and promise you it won’t happen again anytime soon. But I will give you my word I will try and make it less often.” She hoped it was enough. The pain was receding in her head and she felt her eyes closing a moment. The exhale letting the last of the tension from her body. Her words almost a whisper. “Careful Doc… you may find yourself with more patients than you know. Most avoid medical to avoid the butt chewing.” She rolled her head to the side and looked at him. “Keep this up and they may actually be ok with coming to you when hurt.”

Lissi
CE

He looked at her and the confusion was there again. “They should be. That’s my job.” and he looked away and said “Any good physician should know better than to judge ‘why’ someone has done something to hurt themselves. Our job is to heal, and offer advice. Hopefully those two things coupled with experience are enough to help the patient not do the same thing again.”

Abel, CMO

She shook her head. “Not everyone thinks that way. Most Docs we come in contact with are harsh and judgemental to some degree. The last CMO and I butted heads all the time about my sim. They even tried to get the Captain to forbid me to use it at all. It came to the point where, unless I needed a bone reset, I just came in and took care of it myself.” She nodded to the cabinets. “Which is why I was rummaging thru the drawers. There were pain killers, anti inflamatories, and even muscle relaxers in there for me to use if I had a need. And most of the crew didn’t bother to come if it wasn’t serious enough to warrant a need.”

Lissi
CE

Abel smiled and said “Well, it is a good thing I am not ‘most Docs’, then. I am a doctor, a role and title that comes with a very serious oath: ‘Do No Harm’. That applies to everything…” and he looked at her grinned slightly, “… even people’s feelings.”

Abel, CMO

She laughed slightly. “Sorry, Doc. Hate to tell you, but you are gonna have to hurt feelings on some of these folks. Usually intentionally, but sometimes not. It’s just how some of us are. Telling us we are broke, or not to do something again, has a way of going in sideways on some people. It’s the nature of the Beast. I guess, in my case, I was left alone long enough that I have let the grinding and railing of the other Doc slip from my system. I was open minded enough to understand why you recommended what you did for the sim. But I will be honest. If it had been recommended a few months back, in the middle of butting heads like we had, I would have ignored it and probably done just the opposite.” She laughed and shrugged. “You are going to be dealing with a lot of folks like that.”

Lissi
CE

He looked at her directly and asked simply “Why would their actions be a reflection of me? I’ve dealt with poor Engineers… I dont think you are a reflection of them. You are a different person.” He looked at the monitors. “Holding a stranger accountable for the actions of another simply because they have the same career is folly, I think. Pilots have crashed since flight began. I don’t see people taking all pilots to task for that.”

Abel, CMO

She wanted to pat his head. She knew it was an ‘ideal’. “That’s indeed how it ‘should’ be. Sadly, it’s not. Just like a bad apple can ruin a barrel, when folks get nothing but bad apples all the time, they stop bothering to go thru the barrels.” She shifted slightly, aware she shouldn’t prop up on her elbow, but adjusting to face him better. “I know that’s how you think folks should think. But it’s not always that way. And sometimes in closed environments, like a star ship, it’s exponentially blown out of proportion. But I can tell you, I am glad I waited to see what barrel you came from.” She smiled. “And if anyone ‘does’ give you grief on this ship, let me know. I will be happy to politely set them down and tell them… well I will make sure it’s the ‘only’ time they disrespect or treat you badly.” She laughed.

“And I may hunt you down on occasion to find out just how you stay so calm.” Lissi laughed and shook her head. “Because I am impressed.”

Lissi
CE

He laughed and said “I certainly appreciate the offer. But somehow I think your chastisement of them may lead to more work for me.” and he laughed again. “Oh, and I am calm here because this -” and he waved around the room, “- is my passion and my calling. I am quite the different animal when I am dealing with my…” and he stopped himself short and said “… my other responsibilities, I can assure you.” and he chuckled again.

Abel, CMO

Lissi smiled. “You mean there is something that may ruffle the feathers of my stoic Medical Chief? I do have to ask, now. You know that, right? Just what is it that could unbalance you to the point that you recognize it?” She was teasing him. But if it was something she could intervene in on, she would.

Lissi
CE

He smiled broadly and waved her off. “Oh it’s nothing. I have a side project. A foundation kind of thing. Helps provide medical support for struggling and impoverished colonies, planets, outposts, etcetera. Nothing terribly exciting.” he said, wholly and intentionally downplaying the size and effect of his ‘side project’.

Abel, CMO

She raised her eyes in approval. “Impressive. Well, if I can ever help. Please let me know. Sadly, my ‘side project’ isn’t so noble. I am glad you have such a thing.” She smiled. “People like you are few and far between, Sir.” The title given with a nod of respect.

Lissi
CE

He chuckled and said “We are the same rank. I think we can dismiss with such formalities. My name is Siegfried. My friends call me Sid, which are welcome to as well if you like.”

Sbel, CMO

She smiled and nodded. “Sid it is, then. I’m Ka’Lissi, Lissi is easier on the tongue, though. And for the record, the Sir was for respect, not rank purposes. So, Sid… when this is over, would you like a bite before bed? I didn’t eat dinner. I don’t, usually, before I spar. Keeps me from wasting it when I get throttled good.” She laughed and shrugged. “You have me admitting bad habits left and right, Doc. I’m not sure how to feel about that.”

Lissi
CE

He took a deep breath and looked around, seeing the work he had to do… but none of it pressing too much. Looking back, he said “Why not? And you should be done in an hour or so. Let me complete a few things, and then I’ll check your wrist and we can dine. Okay?”

Abel, CMO

“Of course,” she nodded and smiled and settled back on the table to let the regenerator do its work. She was watching him move around when the adrenaline drain, mixed with pain killers, had her drifting off. She was asleep an hour later when he came back to check on her.

Lissi
CE

He looked at her, looked at the monitors, and then removed the regenerator. His touch was light as a feather, and he was very quiet. He turned down the lights and then stepped away and turned to one of the nurses. He said softly “Let her sleep for a few hours, then send her home. The wrist could use the time to fully set, anyway.”

Abel, CMO

She woke up about two hours later and looked around. The lights were out. She looked down at her arm and noticed the machine was gone. She sat up and cradled her wrist, rubbing it slightly. “Hello?” She called out into the dark room. She realized that she had missed dinner with the doc. She would have to make it up to him.

Lissi
CE

A nurse came out of the shadows in the darkened room and said “Good evening. How are you feeling? Try moving your wrist for me.”

Nurse