STF

Sickbay - A Quiet Night (Open To All)

Posted Feb. 18, 2023, 7:24 p.m. by Ensign Dr. P'Mala Dawes (Doctor) (Shaun Tee)

Posted by Lieutenant Seddk Vock (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay - A Quiet Night (Open To All)

Posted by Ensign Dr. P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in Sickbay - A Quiet Night (Open To All)

Posted by Lieutenant Seddk Vock (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay - A Quiet Night (Open To All)
Posted by… suppressed (13) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Vock sat in his office. The room outside was quiet, even with the few patients that were being tended to. Such was the nature of late nights in a starship medical section… barring the odd emergency or six that starships were known for.

Vock sat reading charts and making notes for some time. When he finally looked at the chronometer, it read 0140 ship’s time. The Vulcan doctor closed the display on his desk and leaned back. He could have continued working, but for the moment he allowed himself the simple pleasure of just being… not being a doctor or an officer… just existing. It was a rare time when he allowed himself to simply exist, but the results of such times was always cathartic.

Vock, CMO

After some time, Vock stood and walked out of his office. Sickbay was quiet, and he walked to each bed and checked on the patients. As he made his way to the last, Nurse Mcaan looked up from the intake desk and said “Sir, you go get some rest. Everything is good here, and if anything changes, you know we will call you.” Mcaan liked the new CMO. He was attentive and even compassionate (as far as Vulcans could be), and he seemed to genuinely care for the patients. Vock looked over and Mcaan and inclined his head. “You are, as usual, correct. Please make sure Ensign G’lim receives his next breathing treatment and flag the notes and scans for my review when I return. And… thank you, Ensign. It is sometimes good to be reminded of the more mundane needs we all have, lkie rest.” Mcaan smiled and shook her head. “You know sir, if I didn’t know better, I would say you were making a joke.” Vock didn’t reply, he just arched an eyebrow and went to his office, shut down his terminal, and locked the door as he left.

“Good night, Ensign. I will see you in a few hours.” Mcaan nodded and said “Have a good night-slash-morning, sir.” and Vock walked out of Sickbay.

Vock, CMO

It was almost seven hours later when Vicki returned. Time spent in meditation and sleeping had rejuvenated his faculties and an unexpected communication from his father had made the morning a positive experience. Seddk walked into sickbay and nodded at the staff, answered a few questions and checked on Ensign G’lim; who seemed to be responding well to the breathing treatments. Vock paused and looked around for a brief moment. He nodded slightly in approval and entered his office, leaving the door open as he sat and began to review the notes from last night.

Vock, CMO

P’Mala had been performing inventory for a few hours, resetting and calibrating medical tricorders and counting hyposprays and vials of medicine until her eyes blurred. It’d been however long and she’d been dutifully working in Sickbay as well as she could, though, yes, only in an administrative capacity. But she missed talking to patients and the whole healing side of things.

Working with the Counselor on a treatment for her PTSD had yet proven unsuccessful. The synapse condition, she reckon, persisted. But as the days moved on, she didn’t feel like her ability had lessened–she still felt like herself. Like P’Mala.

Was she going mad? She knew Dr. Vock was around with a patient. She remembered those days in medical school. Staying up all night. Worrying about that man or woman on the biobed until they became a number. Until one shocked you to remember they were all people again.

She shivered. Maybe she still wasn’t ready.

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

“Dr. Dawes.” The CMO’s voice came to her from a nearby biobed. “Would you mind coming here a momen” vock stood next to the biobed, on which lay a female Denoblian.

“Of course, Doctor,” P’Mala responded. She put down the medical tricorder she’d been recalibrating and went to the Denobluan woman’s biobed where Dr. Vock called.

P’Mala Dawes was not overly familiar with the patient–but xenobiology was a part of her expertise. She rubbed her hands together.

“What seems to be the problem, Doctor?”

“I would like your opinion, if I could trouble you for a moment.” he asked when she arrived. “Patient presents with constant headaches compounded by silence or darkness. I have ruled out concussion, stroke, foreign internal structures, or toxicity of any kind. What are your thoughts, Doctor?”

Vick, CMO

She wished she would have brought the tricorder with her. Maybe a PaDD to look up the patient’s background.

“Now near is she to her annual sleep cycle?” P’Mala asked. “I’m sure you’re aware that Denobluans hibernate for about a week each year. On that matter, do we know how long she slept during her last sleep cycle?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

“Excellent beginning, Doctor. The patient completed their cycle four months ago. They rested uninterrupted for three days. Patient states that is mostly normal as she averages between three and five days per cycle.” Vock replied.

Vock, CMO

“Three days is a little light, but not outside the bounds of acceptable behavior,” P’Mala murmured. “Does she exhibit any other symptoms, any recent changes in behavior or work, any interpersonal stress?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

Vock replied “No changes in behavior or interpersonal stresses… although patient did recently begin a romantic relationship with another crew member. Has been going on for approximately six standard months. Patient states that the relationship is, quote, ‘wonderful and the best thing to happen to me in years.’ Partner is Bolian, and there is no known cross-species medical contraindications for such a pairing.”

Vock, CMO

“You know,” P’Mala began. “At the Academy, as a joke, when some cadets didn’t know the answer to a question, they’d just write in, ‘Bolian Flu.’“

“If you’ve ruled out any obvious physical or psychological trauma, what sort of scans has the patient been through already? Any anomolous readings?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

“Excuse me for a moment, Doctor,” P’Mala said, leaving the room and then returning with a medical tricorder she had been recalibrating.

“Do you mind if I scan the patient?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

Vock stepped back and said “By all means, please.” and he gestured to the patient.

The scans showed nothing abnormal except for a very low level of dopamine.

Vick, CMO

“Dopamine levels seem low,” P’Mala muttered.

Heck, P’Mala hadn’t produced enough adequate dopamine or serotonin in years–but this, plus the headaches triggered by silence or darkness…

“This is where I’d run full bloodwork, maybe a head and chest scan. Check for parasites or infection, and I’m sure you have done all of those things, Mr. Vock. I think that… I think that… Denobulans, was she? Could it be that she’s… alone? Alone in her quarters? They are such a social species. Does she seem to improve once she’s in Sickbay?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

If Vulcans ever smiled, Vock would have. “Well done, Ensign. Her dopamine levels, while low, have shown steady improvement over the past hour. And you knew that social norms are a significant factor in health care.” He paused for a moment and then said “I am confident in your abilities, Ensign.” He took pucked up a PaDD tapped a few commands. ” You are hereby back to full duty status. You may begin your rounds now… Doctor.”

Vick, CMO

A feeling bloomed deep in P’Mala’s chest that she couldn’t easily break down and identify at all–but on the corners of it were a deep gratitude for the CMO.

Unconsciously a single tear ran its way from the corner of her eye and she swatted at it with the back of her hand but did not change or tone or expression.

“Wonderful news, Doctor. Thank you. I am quite eager to get on the rotation again, despite–” and she held her tongue.

She was still working through the everything else–the neural changes, the naceint trauma. But now was not the time.

“Despite that fact, I do think we should prescribe this patient some mandatory time in Ten Forward each week. Or perhaps, before bed, they could holo chat with their loved ones–to prevent these symptoms from bringing back to the Sickbay. Thoughts?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

“A pragmatic solution, Doctor.” Vock said. If he noticed the tear, it didn’t show. “And taking a non-pharmacutical approach is always the preferred route to recovery, if possible. Please fill out the appropriate documentation and note the record, Ensign. Thank you.”

Vock,CMO

P’Mala nodded. “Yes, Doctor. I’ll send the file along to you for final approval she said,” But even to her, her voice sounded like it was coming from another’s body.

She practically floated back to the cubicle where she had been calibrating medical tricorders earlier and opened up a PADD, and began filing a report.

CMO Dr. Vock lead attending, Dr. Dawes, assisting. Female Denobluan. Suffering physiological symptoms stemming from psychosocial isolation…

Pretty soon, she would very able to attend to her own patients once more, though she still had work to do. Her own trauma was still there, and her neural paths were changed. But that didn’t necessarily mean worse.

She hit send on the report and sat there for a moment before collecting the tricorders and replacing them where they belonged. She still had a lot of questions for the CMO and was thinking through where to even start.

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes


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