Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Assistant Chief Medical Officer) in Side sim: Family Revelations

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side sim: Family Revelations

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Assistant Chief Medical Officer) in Side sim: Family Revelations
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Solal had been distracted the last few days, and that was unlike him. Always logical, he was typically focused and efficient. Not lately. Whenever somebody asked him, he claimed there was nothing wrong. But it was obvious there was, he just wasn’t getting things done as quickly. Or he kept asking patients the same question more than once.

He’d been writing to V’alura for a while now, first about a science research project she’d needed the opinion of a medical doctor for, and now… well he wasn’t sure. There was no official reasoning behind their correspondence. They talked about their hobbies and lives and work and other mundane chatter Solal typically preferred to avoid. And yet, he always looked forward to her letters, checking daily to see if one had come in. Reading them and her stories, or rarely, watching videos of her, usually music related as they both played an instrument.

Her request for him to submit DNA for medical research though, was out of left field and had surprised him. And at first, he had simply planned to say ‘yes’. And then he’d realized that submitting his DNA could open doors he’d rather leave shut. Information about his biological family he simply did not want, for pesky emotional reasons he pretended not to have.

One morning when he arrived in the primary Sickbay for duty though, he looked much more focused and like his normal self. He’d made a decision regarding the DNA query. Falling back on the logic he found so much comfort in, he’d decided that giving his DNA was the logical thing to do. That if not for V’alura than in the interest of medical research into half-Vulcans, it was worth doing. He’d sent her a letter informing her of his decision and that same evening when he went back to his quarters, another letter was waiting for him with instructions on where to send the sample. He was a doctor, so he could collect his own, but he’d need help with the actual collection part.

There was only one person Solal might consider asking and he didn’t actually know her all that well at all. She would keep it to herself, of that Solal was sure. So, the next morning at a time he knew Doctor Bonner would be in her office he headed straight there and rang the chime on the door.

~ Solal

This was the part of the morning that was Alexis’ least favorite. They had been without a head nurse for awhile, a new one soon to arrive, and it had fallen on her to make the nurses schedule. A task that Alexis didn’t mind doing, but there were so many conditions. This nurse wouldn’t work with this doctor or other nurse and this one had to because of their specialty, but not on this day of the week. For Alexis she felt like people should be scheduled based on their skills and leave their interpersonal issues outside of sickbay. But Dr Walker had told her, on her very first day posted to the Ogawa, that some of the staff could not be scheduled together or in certain areas. And so here she was trying to navigate all of that.

Then her chime rang. “Enter.” As the door slid open she was surprised to find Dr Solal on the other side. “Dr Solal, come in, have a seat.” She waved at the chair. “What can I do for you?”

Bonner, AMO

Solal headed in and took a seat, sitting silently for a moment, as if deciding what and how much to tell her. “I… need help with something.” He pulled the letter with the instructions for the samples up on the PaDD and then gave it to Bonner. “I have been working with and writing to a scientist on the USS Ark Angel, Lieutenant V’alura Belmont. There is medical research that could very much help her personally, but they need more data on half-Vulcans. I’ve decided to help her, but I need help getting the DNA samples the doctor has requested.” That seemed like a good amount of background knowledge, without too much personal fluff.

~ Solal

Alexis nodded in approval. “That is quite supportive, Solal. I think we often forget, as researchers, that we can contribute just as much to the growth of our fields and others by being participants as well as researchers.” Perhaps that is something she should discuss with Dr Walker. Encouraging others to participate in research studies outside of the Ogawa. She took the PaDD and read it over. The researcher asked for a variety in DNA samples and for several skin cell samples for other tests. She nodded, “This should only take about 15 minutes to collect, 25 total to make sure it’s labelled and stored correctly for transport. Do you want to take the samples now, or do you need to return later?”

Bonner, AMO

“Now is good,” Solal said, near instantly, then added, “If you have the time.” He’d rearranged his schedule to accomadate enough time. It had meant rescheduling a few appointments for later in the day, taking into his time for other work, but he could catch up on the other work another day. “The study has to do with some kind of drug… I believe V’alura wouldn’t want me to say more than that.” She’d seemed embarrassed about it, or ashamed perhaps. She told him because she needed to ask him to give the samples. He didn’t think she’d have mentioned it yet if it weren’t for that.

~ Solal

Alexis stood up, the schedules would keep for a half hour. “Of course. Her confidentiality is important.” It was a tenant of medicine and research to protect the information of patients. Just because she and Solal were neither the doctor or researcher they should violate the woman’s privacy. “Let’s go into the main bay.” All the labs were up by primary sickbay, but they had all the equipment to take samples in secondary sickbay. She stopped at one of the storage cabinets and grabbed a sample collection kit and brought it over to the biobed. “Alright I’ll start with the DNA samples.” She loaded an empty vial into the phlebotomy hypospray, “Do you prefer the inner arm, shoulder, or neck?”

Bonner

Solal nodded and stood, following her out into the main bay. He took a seat on the biobed and waited for her. “Whichever is best for you and the sample, I don’t mind.” He just wanted it done so he could stop thinking about it. He needed to meditate again. He needed to let go of his worries about what information they might find with his DNA. It wasn’t logical. It was unlikely giving DNA for a study would find any biological relationships. Horribly unlikely. But the idea still bothered him. And then there was the fact that they could uncover some horrible genetic disease he was going to get or something. He just didn’t want to know.

~ Solal

Alexis pressed the hypo to Solal’s shoulder and drew a full vial. Then she pulled out a swab, “Inner cheek swab.” Sher used the cotton tip to collect a sample from Solal’s left inner cheek and then she slipped it back into the tube and sealed it. Then another dish. “This one will tingle and itch a bit as I remove the hair and follicle.” With those collected she made sure each had an intact follicle and then sealed the dish.

“Now the doctor has requested skin cell samples, collected three ways: a punch biopsy, a shave biopsy, and an excisional biopsy. Do you prefer a local anesthetic?”

Bonner

Solal rolled his shoulder once she was done collecting the sample, then opened his mouth obediently. The blood in the vial was a typical shade of Vulcan green, however when tested, there would be human impurities, proteins consistent with the human blood type of his human parent. The hair didn’t bother him too much, either. But when it came to the skin samples… It was logical not to deal with pain he didn’t have to, right? He nodded to the anesthetic.

~ Solal

Alexis waited for him to roll up his sleeve and then injected the anesthetic. She gave it a moment to take affect and then began collecting the samples. The first used a special circular tool to remove the sample, then she used an old fashioned razor blade to scrape the sample from his arm, and finally the laser scalpel to remove the last sample. Then she set up the dermal regenerator. “2 minutes.” She turned to the samples and made sure they were labelled with the appropriate collection process. “Do you prefer to send in your samples anonymously? My name will be on the forms for the collection, but we can leave your name off if you prefer.”

Bonner

He looked away while she took them, then let his arm rest under the regenerator. The local made it a quick and easy process and once the regenerator was done it would be just about like nothing had happened at all. “I know.” He thought about it a moment and then replied, “Annonymously is better.” Then they’d still get their data and with any luck, he’d never have to hear about it again, except for maybe if it ended up helping V’alura or not. He looked up at Bonner, “Thank you.”

~ Solal