Posted by Gamemaster Wombat (Gamemaster) in Sickbay - Cadet’s first checkup

Posted by Cadet Maximilian Woolley (Doctor) in Sickbay - Cadet’s first checkup

Posted by Cadet Catt Beñnet (Scientist) in Sickbay - Cadet’s first checkup
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>

Catt didn’t so much step into sickbay. she quietly entered with only the woosh of the door to announce her. Even that noise caused her to fold her ears back and nervously hold her tail.
Noting the staff was busy with another crewmate she moved to the side to be as out of the way as possible. She checked her padd and sighed as get medical wss indeed the next item on her “So your newly assigned to a ship.” list.
She was likely supposed to announce herself but everyone was obviously busy so she nervously stood and groomed herself. She brushed a few strands of her fur that had been shed off her older style red uniform jacket , Her blue under tunic and the black pants. Why did it have to be black pants her white fur always stood out in contrast on black. She had gotten far to many demerits because the shed strands at the Academy.
All of which was making her even more nervious which made her shed more. Which of course really didn’t help matters.
She had so far avoided attention since boarding the ship. But that could not last as meeting the science department head and the ships XO, were on her list. It would of been easier if she knew someone on the Challenger.

But her friends had gotten other postings and she was feeling very alone.

So she nearly leapt out of her fur when someone actually spoke to her.

Cadet Catt Bennet. Sciences. USS Challenger.

A nurse approached Catt moments after she entered sickbay. “May I help you cadet?” She asked in a friendly tone. Her arrival was timely, as there was at that moment a slight lull in sickbay traffic. Just feet away, Max was standing beside a recently vacated biobed finishing his paperwork for his most recent patient on a PaDD. Her looked up briefly , noting that Catt may well be his next patient but allowing the nurse to triage without his interference.

Cadet Max Woolley, Medical

Catt’s ears flickered defensively as she turned her head to look at the nurse. Her fur rose to make her look bigger which of course as her martial arts instructor had once remarked made her look like the cutest puff ball they had ever seen. Her tail escaped from her hand and lashed back and forth. Before coming to a script stop as Catt still wide eyed took control of herself.

“Oh mewl. I’m merrr. ” , she stated eith all the social grace her species was so legendary for.
A social grace that Catt didn’t share in her own opinion.

“I am cadet Catt Bennet and I am assigned to the Challenģer. I am scheduled for a medical to. Ensure I do not bring some alien organism onto the ship.”. She replied soothing down her fur. And raising her ears from defensive to attentive.
Her tail was still except for the tip that twitched dispite all efforts Catt was making to hold it still.

Catt wasn’t sure what the nurse would think of her. She was greatly dismayed at the display of her emotions she had just given. She could only find solace in the idea that other species didn’t read body language the way Catians did.

Cadet Catt Bennet. Sciences. USS Challenger.

The nurse smiled, looking over her shoulder to verify that the biobed nearest Woolley was indeed available.

“Right this way,” she said as she gestured toward the bed. Max set the PaDD down as he looked to his fellow cadet.

“Hello,” he said in a friendly tone. “I’m Dr. Woolley. Here for your onboarding physical?” e

Max Woolley, Medical

Catt followed the nurse over to the bio bed, her ears swiveling to face the doctor her eyes following and she had just started to smooth down her fur.
“Mew?” She replied softly then realised she had to speak Standard.
“Yes doctor. Cadet Catt Bennet.” She whispered just loud enough to be heard.
“I was ordered to get a physical as soon as I set foot on ship. So that I could not spread any parasites or contagious to the crew.”,
She waved her padd in a see it’s all here. Manner without actually letting anyone read the padd. Then stood facing the doctor and the nurse. Waiting for them to begin.

“Of course,” Max said simply, gesturing for her to sit on the biobed. He removed the tricorder from the pocket of his labcoat and thereafter removed the detachable probe. He stood next to the biobed, waiting for Catt to sit before commencing the physical itself. “Can you tell me if you’ve had any recent injuries or illnesses?”

Though Max introduced himself by title, rank not being relevant in the course of treatment, he wore the pips of a Cadet First Class like his patient and like some of the other freshly minted MDs working in sickbay at the moment. Max also was inwardly excited by the current task. He joined Star Fleet, in part, because he wanted to expand his professional horizons and treat people who may never walk into a clinic in his home of New York. This was a perfect opportunity as Max had never even met a Caitian let alone treated one. Still, he maintained a professional demeanor. Though professionally exciting, he had a job to do and a certain decorum to uphold.

Max Woolley, Medical

Catt sighed internally. She would have to explain some things to the doctor. Things that she felt great shame over. Things that had been beyond her control. Things that left her frustrated and things that caused other Caitans discomfort. In short she had to explain the reason she had been assigned alone and not in a pairing like all other Caitans in Starfleet.
“Doctor if you load the standard Caitan medical profile you are wasting your time. My baseline medical profile is abnormal for my species.” She whispered in the quiet tone typical for her species. That there was a subharmonic that most species could not hear wouldn’t be noticable to the doctor but it grated on Caitan ears. She looked away from the doctor and took up a posture that meant apologies on a distasteful subject that can not be avoided to any Caitan who might see her. To anyone else she would likely look ashamed.
“I was in a accident as a kit. The toxins have left lasting irreparable changes to my biology.
Visible effects are that I have not physically developed since puberty. I am shorter and weight less than a fully mature female.”

Catt paused and fixed her eyes on a spot on the floor.

“Toxins from the accident spoiled the food supply. Technology ceased to work. Most of the colony died within a week. “,

She continued her tail lashing out from side to side the odd strand of fur falling slowly as the movement set them loose.

"It was two years I'm told before anyone came to check on the colony. Bu then nobody was left alive except a few of the children.",

Her ears went flat with a almost audible snap and she looked up into the doctors eyes. Her teeth bared in a threatening display.

But the angry baring of teeth and the ears relaxed. It wasn’t anyones fault after all. A major planet was attacked at the same time as the accident. Yhe fleet had been devastated. Even if there had been a distress call there was nobody to answer it. Catts ears lifted and she hid her teeth. Her gaze as again on the floor again before she spoke.
“We were collected by Orions finally. They had very little knowledge of Caitans. But they repaired what they could. Orions do not suffer from the stigma the Federation places on genetic engineering doctor.”

Her position again shifted. This time into a pose that another Caitan would of read as meaning.
Deserving of the revulsion you must be feeling.
“Survival mean finding food. Finding food meant using tooth and fang. Caitans are vegetarians by cultural choice. It is the mark of a civilized people that they hatm no other creatures due to bad needs. But I have eaten meat. I have killed to procure that meat. To survive and to keep the others alive I… i had to go feral.”

Feral. So much shame and disgust dripping from that one word. It was like a open wound. It was the most telling insult a Caitan could use to describe anyone. She shook herself and the inevitable strands of loose shed fur settled like desd leaves around her. And with a sigh she settled onto the bio bed.

"So you understand doctor why the baseline biometric for a Caitan do not fit me...."

A pause and she closed her eyes.
“I am no longer Caitan. Not in mind or body. A true Caitan would of allowed themselves to starve to death rather than to go Feral.”

And that she said to herself internally is why she must be alone in a far place with semi civilized aliens.

And the explanation of why she was physically different from other Catians. Was why she really hated physicals.

Cadet Catt Bennet. Sciences. USS Challenger.

Max nodded as his fellow cadet spoke, periodically changing the settings in his tricorder. Naturally, circumstances like this were not uncommon. Well, circumstances like Catt’s were certainly uncommon for a starfleet physician, but there were so many reasons to deviate from a standard species profile that it assured doctors would have job security for the foreseeable future. Else medicine would merely be the domain of a technician who saw a computer processing its program.

“I understand, Ms. Bennet. Thank you for providing the additional context,” he said as he replaced the removable probe into his tricorder and then set the tricorder into his coat pocket. “All of your readings are normal. I’ve made notes of your medical history so that if you should become sick or injured in the future, your profiles will be updated.” Max paused slightly as he typed into his PaDD before looking up.

“You should also know that we prioritize professionalism and confidentiality in sickbay at all times. So you can rest assured that our conversation will remain between the two of us. Do you have any questions or concerns about your current health? Anything else I can do to be of service?” Max asked, setting his PaDD down and returning his gaze to her, giving her his full attention yet again as he gave her a final opportunity to raise concerns to him before he signed off on her physical.

Max Woolley, Medical

Sighed and looked embarrassed. His reaction to her story had not been anything like what she had expected. When the Orions had sold her back to the Catian homeworld she had been sent to a re-education facility. The doctors there had fixed what could be fixed. It wasn’t much but she looked fairly normal now. Less like your animal she had become to survive.
But as her story had been discovered. Fewer Caitans would visit her. Those that did visit did so out of duty. Or pity. Her people were too civilized to day anything. Bit Catt one. She disgusted them.

"Doctor. Nothing I have told you is secret.

It’s all documented in a series of reports published on Cait. Their was even a holodrsma made. Though they didn’t use my real name. The effects of returning to a Fetal state of being fascinated and horrified my people.”,
And she shrugged. Then continued.
“Of course the Feral girl in the Holodrama regained her honor and acceptability to society.... she realised the monster she had become and committed suicide. The events portrayed after the Orion f recovered us. Were greatly untrue. Orions have no interest in females that are immature or who in my case will never mature.”

Cadet Catt Bennet. Sciences.

“Nothing in sickbay is secret. I just wanted to assure you that it is, indeed, private. I don’t mean to imply that you have anything to be embarassed about, mind you. Just that you’ve unpacked quite a bit of personal history here today,” he said, gesturing idly with one hand “I just wanted to assure you that what you tell me here won’t be making its rounds around the crew lounge.”

Max Woolley, Medical

The station commander smiled at his assistant and then at the new captain of the Challenger before slapping his meaty hands together in an attempt to get the crowd’s attention. “Cadets, a moment of your time before I turn this over to your esteemed Captain.”

He then walked over to the box and put his hand on it and patted it with a large grin. “First,” he began in his sanguine tones, “I must apologize for Fleet Captain K’hal’s duplicity. You see he is a paranoid man of sorts but also he was evaluating this crew on its abilities to follow orders along with several other dimensions. Owing to the fact that you have delivered me an intact box and not a pile of rubble I am going to assume you were good officers and didn’t do anything untoward.” He grinned again before he winked at the crowd, leaving off the part where he knew full well that they had certainly tried something.

“Now! As good cadets surely you were all taught to hum the anthem, correct?” Jackson said. “Surely at least one of you can otherwise we may never be able to get the box open.”

GM Wombat

OOC: OOOOPS. Disregard.

Geoff