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Sickbay - Attn Vock

Posted July 8, 2019, 9:11 a.m. by Lieutenant Seddk Vock (Chief Medical Officer) (James Sinclair)

Posted by Lieutenant Seddk Vock (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay - Attn Vock

Posted by Lieutenant Seddk Vock (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay - Attn Vock

Posted by Ensign Jazzin Lauren (Medical Officer) in Sickbay - Attn Vock
Posted by… suppressed (15) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Having time off wasn’t something an officer in Starfleet should expect; it is a luxury … and thus it was that Jazzin was called in to work when one of his fellow doctors had taken ill and they needed someone on shift.

Entering Sickbay, he was greeted by Nurse Kella, smiling. “Good morning, Jazz!” She said, cheerfully.

Still rubbing his eyes, the young doctor sighed. “I had so much planned for today.” He grumbled.

Handing him a PaDD, she raised a brow. “Like what?”

“Sleeping,” he said as he tapped at the screen, bring up his patient’s records. “Lots, and lots of sleeping.”

Kello gave him a friendly pat on the arm. “And yet you choose the medical profession; you do know that rest and work don’t often work in tandem here, right?”

“I’m learning fast.” He said, before bringing up the file of his first patient. “Okay … Lieutenant Carson, Security …headache?” He looked up at her. “You could have handled a headache for me, at least!”

The nurse put her hands up. “The Lieutenant wants a doctor … not entirely sure why, but each to their own.”

He reluctantly smiled and made his way round the corner to the biobed where a man sat, looking a little anxious, rubbing his palms together.

“Good morning, Lieutenant.” Jazzin said as he reached for the medical tricorder.

The man, perhaps in his 40’s, shifted uncomfortably on the biobed. “Where is Doctor May?”

Without looking up, Jazzin was instantly his by a wave of apprehension from the man sat on front of him. Fear, almost. “Doctor May isn’t feeling well,” he explained. “So I am stepping in. Don’t worry,” he said, giving the man a reassuring smile. “I can handle a headache.”

As Jazzin lifted the wand part of the medical tricorder, the security officer suddenly reached forward and grasped Jazzin’s hand. “I don’t need that!”

Not only was he shocked the action, he could feel Kella’s surprise at what had just happened. “Lieutenant; this is just a routine …”

The security office stood up. “I’m feeling better. I think I can just wait it out.”

“Lieutenant Carson …” Jazzin began, but was silenced as the man stalked from Sickbay as if his heels were on fire.

“Well,” Kella said, moving closer to Jazzin. “That was odd.”

But the Betazoid’s eyes were on his tricoder. “To say the least.” He murmured. Looking at the nurse who had served on this ship as long as anyone, he asked: “How often does the Lieutenant come to Sickbay?”

Kella shrugged. “He’s a frequent ‘guest’,” she said, diplomatically. “But we have a lot of people who have the same need to be constantly made sure they’re not suffering from something awful. Standard practice, really.”

Jazzin felt troubled. It wasn’t just his emapthic abilities that had given him reason to doubt the Lieutenant, but also looking at his medical file … although his visits to Sickbay were well documented, all of them had the same primary carer; Doctor Elizabeth May … and she had always prescribed a low level analgesic … every time. But when Jazzin looked at the medical tricorder in his hands, it showed his levels of morphenolog were high, even though no prescription was ever written up for the drug. In fact, the drug was prevelant in the fats on his body, suggesting to the young doctor that Carson had been taking it over a long period of time.

Could he be dealing with an addict? And could one of his fellow practitioners be complicit in the human man’s addiction?

He had the right to order security to bring the man back for further investigation … but …

“Everything okay, Jazz?”

The Betazoid looked up to Kella. “Not really.” He said, with a sigh. “Can you handle things for a few moments while I talk to the Chief?”

“Of course,” the nurse said, simply; though Jazzin could sense that her curiosity was piqued. But he wasn’t about to turn this into gossip.

“Thank you.” Keeping the tricorder on him, the PaDD with Carson’s record of visits and prescriptions, Jazzin made his way over to the Chief Medical Officer’s own office and rang the chime. He sighed as he did, feeling like he should be able to deal with this alone; his position as a medical officer trumped that of a senior officer on almost any department … but he was still learning to be confident, and he needed a little help.

Holding the PaDD and tricoder, the young Betazoid waited to speak with his boss.

Ens Lauren
Doctor

“Enter.” came the voice of the CMO from inside and the door slid open. Seated at his desk, Lieutenant Vock said “Yes, Dr. Lauren?” in his typical flat and unemotional manner and without looking up from his work. “How may I be of assistance?”

Vock, CMO

Walking into the office, Jazzin inclined his head as a mark of respect. “Good morning, sir.” He said. “I’m … I’m having an issue with a patient and …” He didn’t want to say the next words. “And possible a fellow practitioner.”

He passed his tricorder over to Vock. “I covered for Dr May today, as she wasn’t feeling well. One of the patients who presented was a regular of hers. He seemed very perturbed that it was me who was seeing him, not her.” He nodded to the tricorder. “When I started to scan him, he pushed the tricorder away, but luckily the tricorder was faster than him. What I found was morphenolog in his system … not just a one off dose too. It’s evident in the inter-cellular spaces of his tissue,” he hesitated a moment, maybe second guessing himself, but he proceeded anyway. “That would suggest to me long term use of the drug. Also, there were no signs of withdrawal, apart from my sensing his apprehension at my treating him instead of Doctor May …” The Betazoid scratched at his temple, showing his nerves. “Sir, there are no records of him ever being prescribed morphenolog, and yet, according to the nursing staff, he is a regular visitor to our Sickbay, and he only ever comes when Doctor May is on duty. His file suggests that he suffers from chronic headaches, and he is given analgesia for it … but never morphenolog.”

Jazzin felt very uncomfortable as to what he was about to express. “I’m concerned,” he said, slowly. “That he is being given, off record, morphenolog. And he may be an addict. I also fear .. and stars know I don’t want to even say this, but I fear Doctor May might be giving him this drug.”

Taking a deep breath, he looked at Vock. “I didn’t stop him from leaving Sickbay, sir. Maybe I should have. But this situation is very new to me, and I didn’t want to make it without consideration.”

Ens. Lauren
Doctor

Vock reviewed the tricorder readings as as Lauren spoke, gesturing for him to have a seat. After Lauren had finished speaking, Vock pulled Carson’s record and sent a copy to a PaDD and handed it to Lauren as he reviewed the record in the desk interface. “Let us see if there is any indication of an explanation within his full record together, Doctor. While I would agree with your preliminary assessment, we need to ensure that we are quite certain that assessment is at least justified as much as possible before we proceed into further investigations.” and he began looking at the subjects medical history starting from day one.

Vock, CMO

The young doctor nodded, and his eyes went to his PaDD, scrolling through the Lieutenant’s medical history.

“He’s had his fair share of analgesic treatments, but well, I suppose that’s nothing out of the ordinary. ” He stopped for a moment. “Sir … on stardate 16041.2 he was given morphenolog during an away missing after suffering a series of fractures to his hip.” The Betazoid bit his lip as he continued to read, something he tended to do when concentrating. “But that was only given in a continuous dose over 2 days,” he glanced up. “Certainly not enough time to develop a physical addiction … as far as I know about Human physiology … there aren’t any more records of him receiving this drug. Just that one instance.”

Jazzin looked up. “There’s certainty no record of a repeat of that drug being given, and we’d see it if it was given as a repeat prescription …” Lauren felt uncomfortable about what this all might mean. “So …, sir; he must be getting this from somewhere.”

Ens. Lauren
Doctor

Vock nodded as his eyes darted over the record. “Analgesics are not a drug group known for necessarily causing addiction in humans, thus the frequency of their use in that species.” Vock offered. “Analgesics are viewed as mostly safe with regards to addiction and interactions with other medications, so a prescription isn’t necessarily required in most cases, but is good for keeping records of personnel’s usage. And as you are aware, any such disbursement aboard a star ship is supposed to be documented. But in humans and many other species, there is a syndrome that can present in cases where the over use of a drug to treat a minor issue, such as a headache, can actually induce the symptom the drug is being prescribed for. Medication Overuse Syndrome.” and he looked up at Lauren. “That is an avenue of investigation we should look at as well. But in the interim, we need to discuss the matter with Doctor May. Tell me, Ensign. When Ensign May was unable to come in for her shift, you said she wasn’t feeling well. Did she receive any attention here? Was she diagnosed?”

Vock, CMO

Jazzin nodded as Vok spoke; it was nothing unusual for an analgesic to be administered in almost any situation; from a headache to a loss of a limb .. but this was different. “I never interacted with Doctor May when I got the call that the shift needed to be covered,” he said. “As far as I know, all it is just a doctor not feeling up to it so i stepped in There was no reason for me to question it.” He shrugged. “It’s hard to argue when a doctor says she is feeling ‘unwell’, for me to question her about it … especially when she is a rank above me and has served on this ship for quite some time” He offered.

Ens. Lauren
Doctor

Vock nodded. “True. But in this case, I think an exam is in question.” and he tapped his comm badge. =/\= Doctor May, please report to Sickbay.=/\= was all he said. “When she arrives, please review her symptoms and conduct an exam. If she protests, please inform the Lieutenant Junior Grade that this an order from the Chief Medical Officer. As caretaker of this section, I must know whether or not any of my staff pose a heath risk to the patients and crew. Wouldn’t you agree, Doctor?” he asked flatly, but there was that small look in his eye that had been seen before. As if the Vulcan was experiencing more internally than his external demeanor showed.

Vock, CMO

=/\= Acknowledged, sir. =/\= Came the response from Doctor May.

“Yes, sir.” Jazzin himself acknowledged, and excused himself from the room.

As the doors closed behind him, the young Betazoid took a deep breath. Whatever was about to happen was not something he was going to relish. Turning on another doctor … Lauren shook his head.

“Are all Betazoids that pale?” Nurse Kella asked, as he walked back into main Sickbay. “Or did the Chief give you a might dressing down.”

Jazzin ran a hand through his hair. “Now not, Kella.”

The nurse regarded him for a moment, then nodded. “Sure,” she said. It was rare for him to be dismissive of anyone; let alone the nursing staff. Kella must have realised that something wasn’t right.

It wasn’t long before Jane May entered Sickbay; she was off duty and was wearing loose clothing. Jazzin looked at her an knew she genuinely wasn’t well. But she did not look happy. “What’s this all about?” She demanded.

She might have out ranked him, and she might have been a practitioner longer than he; but he had his orders. “Doctor Vock wants to ensure your condition is nothing serious,” he lied. It didn’t come easy to him. “I’ll do a scan, and you can talk to him …”

May flushed in indignation. “I am feeling unwell … there’s nothing there that needs further investigation. Don’t you think I would know?! I have been a practising doctor for 12 years! And now I have to be checked out by some child that is barely out of the Academy?” She crossed her arms. “I would think a Betazoid would understand how belittling that is!”

In a way, Jazzin knew she was right; being subjected to what she thought was an unnecessary examination by someone her junior must be jarring. But … he also felt angry at her dismissal of him. “We’re just checking up on a few things following a strange incident by a security officer: Lieutenant Manson.” He had, perhaps unwisely, poked the hornet’s nest.

At that name, he felt a blast of emotion from her; concern; fear, apprehension …her eyes narrowed. “If this is to be done it should be done by someone at least as qualified as I am.” She said, bluntly “If Vock wants to go through this charade, let him have the mettle to do it himself, and now let someone who was only yesterday a cadet do it for him.”

It was a sting, but considering what he was feeling from her, it didn’t hurt. Instead, Jazzin tapped his comm badge. =/\= Lauren to Vock. Sir, Doctor May is requesting you perform her physical examination, yourself. =/\= He looked to May. “It’s not my place, right now, Doctor May … but I believe being honest is …”

=/\= Acknowledged. =/\= was all the reply that came through.

“Be quiet, Ensign,” she snapped, taking a seat on the bio bed, and awaiting the Chief Medical Officer.

Ens. Lauren
Doctor

Vock appeared from his office and he stopped en route to speak to one of the nearby nurses. Nodding acknowledgement, he made his way over to the biobed with Doctor May and Lauren standing near. Not looking at Lauren, Vock said very calmly “Doctor May. Doctor Lauren is going to examine you. You will allow this. He is a qualified physician. His rank has nothing to do with his ability to run a preset series of scans and interpret data. Your protest is noted, but this will continue as I directed Mr. Lauren to do. And that is non-negotiable, Doctor.” And he placed his arms behind his back and looked at May. “Mr. Lauren, begin your exam, please.”

Vock, CMO

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OOC: Sorry; things have been happening IRL that have taken me away.

Alex

IC:

May’s lips made a line of a disapproval, but she turned her head to look straight ahead and straight backed as she allowed the Ensign to do as he was told.

Jazzin could feel his heart beating hard with the tension, but more importantly he could feel a wave of emotion from the doctor he was about o examine; she was scared, though she might not be knowing it. All he could sense from her was Carson … he was front and centre in his thoughts. However she might be acting, she seemed more concerned about him than she was about herself.

Lauren cleared his throat, nervously, and stepped forward. Holding the wand of the tricorder, he watched the results come forward. “There is a viral infection in your throat,” he said, addressing her, at least giving her the dignity of not being talked over. “You have a fever …” He glanced at her. “Pretty high; you must be feeling unwelll.”

He looked back to Vock. “Sir, in my opinion, Doctor May was right not to come in today with a viral infection because …”

May looked up, her eyes narrowed. “If I had known Marc was going to be here, then I wouldn’t have missed my shift.” She looked away, as if realising that even admitting that she and Lieutenant Carson had had some kind of arrangement has just become very clear. “I am simply unwell and need rest. Lieutenant Carson is under my care and I see no reason for any investigation by the Chief Medical Officer,” she gave a quick glare to Jazzin. !”Or of his lapdog.”

Lauren looked up from his tricorder to Vock; he had no idea what to say, but the emotions he picked up … “Sir; could we have a moment in private?”

May’s head snapped towards the young Betazoid. “What can’t you say to him that you can’t say to me Ensign?”

The Betazoid didn’t return the gaze. He kept his eyes on Vock. “Sir?”

Ens. Lauren
Doctor

Vock’s stoic gaze never waivered, nor did his posture change in the slightest. When he spoke, his voice was the same calm and unemotional tone as always. But there was a hardness in his eyes now that was not there before. “Doctor May. Whatever I choose to investigate within this department is my right as the Chief Medical Officer. Your conduct and relationship with a patient is entirely within my purview, as well. Your objection to such an inquiry is… problematic, Doctor.” and he turned to Lauren. “Please send the scans to the Nurse on duty for viral identification. And yes, Doctor. We may speak in my office.” Vock then turned back to Doctor May. “You will remain here until we can identify the virus causing your symptoms. Failure to do so will result in immediate disciplinary action and reporting you to ship’s Security as a threat. You are, after all, a viral transmission vector. So please relax for a moment while I confer with Dr. Lauren.” and he gestured Jazzin to his office. As they entered, Vock positioned himself so that he could keep May in clear view.

Vock, CMO

May said nothing in response as the two other doctors walked away. Instead, she simply fixed her gaze forward and maintained a grim expression.

As soon as the door closed, Lauren turned to Vock. “Sir; I wasn’t leaving anything out during my examination … she has a viral infection; nothing more serious.” He shifted from one foot to the other, seemingly a little nervous. “I don’t scan people telepathically, unless I have their consent, or it is vital to a mission. Betazoids are made very aware that we aren’t allowed to just go digging around in people’s mind,” he glanced through the glass to May. “But shutting out people’s emotions is near impossible, and what I can sense is an extremely close bond between Doctor May and Lieutenant Carson … possibly a romantic one.” He shrugged, as he wasn’t about to start spouting theories. “There are no signs of morphenolog in her system, at all; not even traces that would suggest that she had taken any of the drug in months, if she ever did at all. I am not sure what … arrangement, the two officers have, but I think that it’s clear Doctor May is giving the Lieutenant the drug … off prescription.”

Jazzin looked up, taking a steadying breath. It felt like he was turning on one of his own, here.

Ens. Lauren
Doctor

Vock nodded and said “Very well. Please make sure your exam notes are recorded in her file. Leave out your impressions as to her relationship with Carson. We will simply have to ask her. Follow me, please,” and he walked out and to Doctor May.

Without a pause, Vock said “Doctor May. You have a single opportunity to explain. I will tolerate no wavering or attempts to deflect. Now, then. You will explain why Lieutenant Carson will be seen by you and only you, why he has traces of morphenolog in his system but no prescription for that in his record, what your relationship with your patient is, and whether or not you are granting access to a controlled substance outside of normal protocols. If you are, I will require an explanation as to why. Begin.”

Vock, CMO

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