Posted by Lieutenant Commander Stephen Stous (XO) in Sickbay - Onboarding (Tag Medical)

Posted by Ensign Dr. P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in Sickbay - Onboarding (Tag Medical)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Stephen Stous (XO) in Sickbay - Onboarding (Tag Medical)
Posted by… suppressed (13) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Stephen’s shuttle trip from the Venture was long and uneventful. His arrival at the Europa’s Shuttle Bay was significantly shorter, but similarly uneventful. He did get a few strange looks when walking through the halls, especially from the Ensign he had stopped to ask for directions to Sickbay. She had glanced at his collar pips with a small frown, no doubt wondering who he was. By chance the woman had also been an engineer (he could tell by both the uniform color and the stains obscuring said color), and he had the thought of strange, she reports to me now, followed by the clarification, wait… no she doesn’t… and completed by the dazed thought of, her boss reports to me.

That string of thoughts being the most interesting occurrence on his journey from the shuttle bay, Stephen arrived in the ship’s primary Sickbay with a neutral, unsure-what-to-expect expression. Finding the nearest Medical personnel, he said, “Excuse me, Lieutenant Commander Stous, here for my boarding evaluation?”

~ Lt. Cmdr. Stous - XO

Bumping this so the CMO or lovely new Doctor can jump in when possible!

NE Nurse Deacon–a wiry man in his early 20s–jumped into a salute. “Yessir–right this way, sir,” he said, surreptitiously glancing at the XO’s pips. He gulped, and led Lt. Cmdr. Stous to an exam area. “Ensign Dawes can see you now, I believe.”

NE Deacon pointed the XO toward a room where the 6-foot tall half-Vulcan doctor, P’Mala Dawes, was restocking wrapped sterile medical supplies into a discrete cabinet.

“Dr. Dawes, a VIP–very important patient!” Deacon said, then ran off.

P’Mala Dawes wore a white doctor’s coat that contrasted starkly with her new navy hair–just growing in black at the root.

“Good afternoon,” she said, her back still turned. “I’m almost finished here.” She stuffed a box of sealed cotton swabs and a handful of wrapped tongue depressers into a drawer.

She turned and extended her hand. “Dr. P’Mala Dawes, Ensign,” she said expectantly.

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, MD

After some amusement at the NE’s behavior, Stephen wondered at the doctor’s demeanor - handshakes had not been a regular greeting at any of his previous doctor visits, especially the one a year prior which had found his hand coated in blood. Nonetheless, he extended his hand in return, noting as he did so the striking impression made by P’Mala’s height, overcoat, and hairstyle.

“Lieutenant Commander Stephen Stous, pleased to meet you,” he replied. “I just arrived and assumed it best to get my medical clearance handled first thing.”

~ Lt. Cmdr. Stous - XO

Ensign P’Mala Dawes shook the man’s hand and nodded

“Absolutely, I’vejust finished getting some supplies placed. Would you mind sitting on the biobed while I wash my hands?”

Without waiting for an answer, Dawes turned to the sink and gave her hands a good scrubbing, dawning a pair of blue gloves and pulling out her PADD.

“Not at a…” Stephen started to respond, and trailed off as Dawes continued about her business.

“Now, Commander, are you allergic to anything?” she asked.

-Cadet P’Mala Dawes, Medical

He shifted in his seat, an unpleasant memory resurfacing. “Bicaridine, though that shouldn’t matter, I hope.” He thought for a moment back to other routine physicals. Most doctors enjoyed chatting with their patients, in his experience, but not all. He had a feeling this woman would be a member of the “not all” group, but figured he’d give it a show anyway. “Have you been on the Europa long?”

~ Lt. Cmdr. Stephen Stous - XO

“Bicaridine,” P’Mala muttered, tapping it into her PADD. “That shouldn’t be a problem and it’s good to know.”

She pulled up a rolling stool and took a seat, exhaling deeply. “Oof, I’ve a little tendinitis in my ankle from hiking while I was in between postings,” she explained, changing the subject.

At this, the Commander relaxed a bit, noting the clear effort to make idle chit-chat as a good sign.

The half-Vulcan doctor was a little nervous. Meeting with her XO as her first real intake aboard the Europa–but she pushed the emotion down into her the museum of her memory to meditate over later.

“And I’ve really just arrived last week! I knew who you were from the manifesto–and it’s nice to meet you, Lt. Commander. How about yourself? Have you been aboard long?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

Stephen blinked, once more feeling that bit of shock at the respect that came with rank. The respect that, in that moment, felt oh so arbitrary. This was no different than countless other evals, except that this time his name was listed under a different bracket. “Just transferred in today. You were my first stop, actually - any tools of the trade you’ve picked up in your extensive week-long stay you can share with a newbie?” He offered a smile, mostly genuine.

~ Stephen Stous - XO

P’Mala took his question and thought about it for a second, setting her PADD on the counter nearby.

“Well, the ship itself is Discovery-class Observer, of course,” she said. “If you’ve served aboard one, in a way it’s like you know your way around somewhat, except all the faces are different. I admit I expect to see old friends from my time aboard the Challenger around every corner. Have you seeved aboardca ship of this class before?”

She glanced at her PADD–it looked like more information had populated in the XO’s profile.

The biobed beeped. “Would you mind reading your vitals to me, Commander, and I’ll enter them.”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

“Of course,” he replied, glancing down and doing his best to recall the medical courses of his first two years in the Academy. “BP 100/60, 73 BPM, temperature 309.9 Kelvin.” He thought a moment before adding, “Dunno about the pressure or temp, but 73’s pretty standard for me.”

P’Mala entered the information. ” Your vitals look near perfect to me, I’m happy to say, Lt. Commander.”

“Happy to hear it,” he replied.

Stephen shifted mental gears back to the casual topic at hand. “And I’m afraid I haven’t had the opportunity, no. I have been aboard a mid to small cruiser, which I believe is similar in some ways. Doubt I’ll find any old friends of mine aboard here, though.”

~ Stephen Stous - XO

P’Mala laughed–a clear high laugh that had a bit of a studied sound to it. She’d taught herself to be more personable, as bedside manner was a very important part of her ER work on Earth. ” Wecare rather far away from most everyone I’ve known,” P’Mala admitted. “Where has been your favorite posting, if you don’t mind the question.”

Stephen allowed the question to get to him a bit, unfortunately - his response, though not annoyed, did contain a hint of… something. Good memories followed by years of neutral memories, which Stephen thought might almost be worse than bad memories. Surely he had learned to be better at his assigned job, but development as an officer? That was another story. “The cruiser I mentioned, the USS Callisto. I was with a good friend there, and enjoyed the variety of its more scientific missions.”

“I had made a few friends at the Academy ship,” P’Mala admitted. “But by the time I started to get to know them, it was off to the next thing. Hopefukky we both find a better balance here.”

“Switching subjects somewhat ,” P’Mala said. “I can see in your medical history very little information. Have you any previous surgeries? Injuries, history of family illness?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, Medical

“The broken nose I had last year ended up with a cosmetic surgery courtesy of the Fleet, but otherwise no.” He paused a moment, and with an attempt at casualness added, “No family stuff as far as I’ve been made aware.”

~ Stephen Stous - XO

“In that case, it may be pertinent for us to do a little blood work for testing.” P’Mala said, entering the information into her PADD. “So I recommend a full panel and perhaps a broad spectrum allergen panel at some point, as well. How do you feel about this?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, Medical

He shrugged. “Doubt you’ll find anything, but go for it, doc. Run the panel now, if you like. I’m off to meet the Captain after this so I’ll take the delay.” Stephen’s parents, being political figures, had been tested for genetic diseases long ago. The XO didn’t bring this fact up, mainly to avoid any conversation resulting from the fact.

~ Stephen Stous - XO

P’Mala nodded. “Of course, this is just to establish care and to be extremely thorough. I’ve been a physician much longer than I’ve been a Starfleet officer, and there are some things I just believe are good practice.”

“Fair enough,” he replied.

She carefully found a vein in the crook of XO Stous’s left arm and pulled a vial of blood for testing. “This may take a day or so to be processed, but we’ll let you know.”

Stephen winced a little - he had never been fond of this part of exams.

She touched the puncture wound with the dermal regenerator. “If you’ll pardon the expression, you seem as healthy as an ox to me, Lieutenant Commander. If you don’t have any more questions, I deem you fit for service. What do you think?”

-Ensign Dawes, Medical

“I think that sounds good to go!” He stood, reaching out to shake Dawes’ hand. “Please let me know if there’s anything in particular I can help you with. I don’t want to just work with the command staff - everyone’s as much an officer as anyone else.”

~ Lt. Cmdr. Stous - XO

P’Mala reached out and shook Lt. Commander Stous’s hand. “Of course, sir. And if anything comes up, we’ll be happy to provide the best care for you in Sickbay. I assume myself, or one of the nurses most likely, will be in touch regarding the bloodwork. But I very much appreciate the opportunity to work with you here.”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, Medical