Please State The Naturrre Of The Medical Emerrrgency

Posted on 23 Aug 2013 @ 5:53pm by Ensign S'Ranna T'Srrr'Kharh & Commander Andreus Kohl

2,318 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 02 - 1200 Hours

[ON]

Holding her scorched paw, her furry face creased in an anguished frown, S'Ranna hurried her way to Sickbay. It was a stupid little thing, really, burning her paw on an overloaded relay, compared to some of the injuries she'd picked up at the Test Range, but that didn't make it sting any the less. She tried to flex her claws, but found she could not: perhaps a severed tendon, or a ligament? She wasn't sure; K'Rreer, her brother would know, but then he was not here.

Stepping into Sickbay, she immediately called out. "Hello? I am having an injurrry and rrrequire assistance." Her tail lashed about behind her, thumping on the deck for attention; she was in no mood to be kept waking, and her ears twitched irritably.

Over on the other side of the intensive care unit, Lieutenant Andreus Kohl was tending to an unconscious patient. Since the delta wave inducer was functioning well, Kohl made no effort to keep quiet. "Good day," he called out to S'Ranna. As Kohl took strides towards her, he eventually noticed that his uniform jacket was missing. He was in his teal tunic without the jacket, and his sleeves were rolled up. His hands were splattered with greenish goop. Kohl dropped his hands to his sides, and he asked, "Are you in much pain?"

S'Ranna, as fastidiously cleanly as any Caitian, took a half pace at the sight of Kohl's dirty, dishevelled appearance, her fur bristling. "No," she admitted, "It is a minorrr injurrry. But it does sting." At times of stress, the characteristic lilt in her voice became stronger; she was speaking in almost a sing-song tone. "I am not wishing to be rrrrude, but I am hoping that you will be cleaning your hands prrrior to attending to me."

Despite the forward Caitian's preamble about not wanting to be rude, her words still managed to sting Kohl right where he lived. The list of people who didn't think he was capable just grew longer. "Yes, I did spend some time at the medical academy before my assignment here, ensign," Kohl said with figurative acid on his tongue. Much like the sting S'Ranna felt in her paw, Kohl was quick to bounce-back after the initial stab of pain. He gathered together a smile he didn't feel and he swept a hand towards biobed two. "Now, if you'll take a seat," Kohl said in a polite timbre, "I can prepare myself to assist you."

S'Ranna padded over to the biobed grumbling under her breath, but sat down without too much further complaint, folding her tail up out of the way. She held her paws in her lap, the burned one resting atop the uninjured one, slowly flexing and curling her claws. The pain was diminishing: the burn was not as bad as she had thought, and she was starting to feel a different kind of discomfort: the possible shame of having brought a very minor injury along and made too much of a fuss.

While she made herself comfortable on the biobed, Kohl sterilized his hands and forearms right where S'Ranna could see him. He made a point of using the countertop scrub station there in splain sight, in the ICU. Kohl took the scenic route between the scrub station and biobed two, to retrieve his uniform jacket from where it was hanging over a freestanding console. In a quick and fluid movement, he shrugged his way into the jacket, closed the front, and smoothed it down his abdomen.

"My name is Andreus Kohl and I am certified as a Nurse Practitioner," he said, behaving as if he were staring anew. As if this were a brand new patient and the past 90 seconds had never happened. He approached the biobed close enough to activate the biofunction monitor, but he kept his distance from the Caitian. He watched her body language, looking for any indication she was starting to become comfortable with him. He palmed the tricorder from his holster, but as soon as he activated its display, he recognized it as an engineering tricorder he'd taken away from a Venture patient.

"I'm going to examine your paw," Kohl told her, "and from the looks of it, I expect to prescribe a painkiller and an antibiotic." While he spoke, he tapped the side of his engineering tricorder as if it were malfunctioning and then he put it aside on the prepared instrument tray. He retrieved a slim medical tricorder that was on the tray. "Do you know if you have any allergies, ensign...?"

S'Ranna watched the little display unfold with amusement in her eyes. Though no expert on medical equipment, she recognised an engineering tricorder. However, she chose to make no mention of it: it did not feel polite, or judicious, given Kohl was about to loom over her with a hypospray, to go poking at his errors. "Not to any medications, that I know of. Therrre arrre some pollen types that do not agrrree with me, but I am thinking they will not be a prrroblem herrre in Sickbay."

Using the tricorder's interface, he activated the scanners in the biobed to study the injured paw and the biofunction monitor behind her showed him the tissue damage in detail. When S'Ranna told him about her allergies, Kohl nodded at the information, but he still used the computer to identify the young Caitian and access her medical records. While he swept through the chart for allergies, he asked her, "You are Ensign S'Ranna T'Srrr'Kharh, yes?"

"I have the honour of being S'Ranna T'Srrr'Kharh, yes," she replied, subtly correcting his pronunciation of her name. She watched him work: he seemed careful and skilful as a nurse protectioner, although she would have felt more comfortable with a doctor. Rank snobbery, of course: her brother was a nurse, and a wonderful healer.

Having stepped away, Kohl returned to his patient's side with a couple of hypospray cartridges in hand. He loaded one into the hypo on the instrument tray and he started off by applying the analgesic. "Tell me if the pain doesn't go away," he said softly. Kohl cleared his throat and he said again, "T'Srr'Kharh. That feels familiar. Saying that name..."

"T'Srrr'Kharh," S'Ranna corrected, gently but firmly purring her name, eyes half lidded as the analgesic kicked in: the skin of her neck tingled, then went numb. She continued flexing her paw until nodding approvingly: the pain had receded, and it felt like she was dragging a dead weight around.

But a little mispronunciation notwithstanding, S'Ranna was proud of her heritage. "We arrre a verrry old and notable clan. I have many family memberrrs in Starrrfleet. I am not surrrprrrised my name is being familiarrr to you."

As she spoke, Kohl prepared the antibiotic hypospray. He injected it into the side of her neck and he watched the biofunction monitor to keep watch for her body's reactions. "But, you don't know K'Rreer, do you?" Kohl asked.

S'Ranna's tail twitched as the intramuscular injection made its way into her bloodstream. "K'Rreer?" she said drowsily. "I know many K'Rreers. It is being a most common name on Ferasa. My own brrrotherrr, a nurrrse, is K'Rreer."

Her mind was a little clouded by the medication, and it had taken her a moment to catch his meaning. "You arrre knowing a man named K'Rreer T'Srrr'Kharh?" she asked, golden eyes flicking wide open.

"If he served aboard the USS Berengaria," Kohl said, "I know the very one. We worked together in Sickbay there." Kohl held his medical tricorder close to S'Ranna's paw and he watched for the new readings on the monitor. The sensors showed him the burn wasn't very deep, didn't pervade through the tissue. He decided he wouldn't need to refer her to a surgeon, nor worry about shock. He wouldn't need much more than a dermal regenerator.

S'Ranna's tail shot upright behind her. "Yes, yes, indeed! The Berrrengarrria indeed!" Comprehension dawned in her eyes: she was so distracted she didn't pay any attention to the scans bleeping about her paw. "So, you must be Andrrreus the Arrrgelian."

When Kohl had first said his name, she had not registered: whether obscured by the pain, thrown by his pronunciation, or simply overlooking the coincidence. She had also been unable to place his scent, and taken him for a human. Now, she remembered the references in her brother's subspace messages.

"K'Rreer mentioned you to me. Ha! What a coincidence!"

Kohl was taken aback, momentarily, by S'Ranna's outburst. His posture stiffened awkwardly, while he adjusted the settings on a dermal regenerator. He pursed his lips and stared hard at the small cylindrical device. "I, uh, I do hope he spoke kindly of me," Kohl said, "And if he did not... Well, it's all true."

S'Ranna chuckled. "I am afrrraid he did not tell me too much eitherrr way. He said you werrre a verrry competent nurrrse," she said, encouragingly, before, in a more quizzical tone, "And also something about - potterrry, was it? Orrr sculpturrre?"

"Yes," Kohl said, and he nodded with some relief. "Yes, that's all true. I do enjoy sculpting. Sometimes I even enjoy it more than talking," he said. Kohl moved the dermal regenerator close to S'Ranna's paw and set about healing the burned tissue. "Is K'Reer faring well these days? I can't say I stayed in touch."

S'Ranna's eyes opened wide as she watched the dermal regenerator working, the dark skin beneath her her lustrous fur rippling and smoothing over, the singed fur disappearing in a healing glow, the tissue knitting. Even through the anaethetic haze, she could feel the tingle of tendons reforming: no doubt she would have a little stiffness, but already the wound felt next to healed.

"K'Rreer is well," she confirmed, looking up. "He is engaged to be wed: assuming I can arrrange leave, I will be seeing him earrrly next yearrr on Ferasa forrr his bonding cerrremony. And he has his Chief Petty Officerrr exams soon, though I do not know how confident he is: we tend not to talk 'worrrk' when we exchange subspace messages. If you like, I can pass on a message forrr you?"

"No, I should reach out to him," Kohl replied with a gentle shake of his head. He continued his ministrations on her paw, carefully applying the regenerative radiation. "I suppose I owe him my congratulations and best wishes."

The blue light gently thrummed and with a satisfied squeeze of her fist, S'Ranna could feel full motion returning to her paw. "K'Rreer told me you werrre a fine nurrrse, but it is most rrreassurrring to see it forrr myself," she admitted. As always, once an injury was healed, she felt bashful about how minor it had been, and knowing how busy the medical staff were with more serious patients, she was starting to feel a little guilty at taking up so much of his time, her tail shifting restlessly on the biobed and ears twitching.

Still looking at her paw, Kohl smiled softly. "Thank you, S'ranna," he replied. "Yes, a fine nurse." Kohl tapped the dermal regenerator with his thumb and the regenerative energy flicked off. Looking up to meet her eyes, Kohl set the tool aside and he asked, "How does it feel now?"

S'Ranna stretched both her paws out in front of her, squeezing one then the other, curling and uncurling her sharp claws. After a moment of this alternating, she nodded, giving an approving swish of her tail. "Verrry good indeed!" She peered down at the pad of her paw. "I cannot even see wherrre the burrrn was now."

"This is a scar-free zone you're in," Kohl replied flippantly. "We'll send you back to your department head better than new."

"Thank you, Andrrreus. Arrre therrre any 'afterrrcarrre' things I will need to take carrre of, orrr can I go strrraight back to worrrk?" S'Ranna swished her tail busly, feeling rather lively as the anaesthetic steadily wore off.

"I'm giving you full medical clearance to return to work," Kohl replied. He had an eye down on his tricorder as he made that note in her chart. "You should have your regular range of motion right away. In fact, I want you to come right back here, if you find your paw is stiff, or sore, or starts moving of its own volition."

S'Ranna hopped down off the biobed, landing on her paws with a happy mrrr of contentment, whiskers, tail and ears all twitching. "I will do so Andrrreus, though if my paw starrrts moving arrround of its own volition, I fearrr it may have morrre to do with the Borrrg than a plasma burrrn," she chuckled.

"But I must thank you for her your verrry prrrompt and courrrteous trrreatment. K'Rreer spoke trrruly when he told me that you werrre a highly competent nurrrse. I am looking forrrwarrrd to finding the experrrience of serrrving with you as fulfilling as did my dearrr brrrrotherrr."

"That's very kind of you," Kohl said, but the compliment stung. Another reminder that he was perfectly competent as a nurse first. S'Ranna had no way to know it was his competence as an officer that was being called into question by Starfleet Medical. Perhaps he was better off as just a competent nurse, Kohl wondered. All he said was, "I think you'll find the experience of serving aboard Galileo entirely fulfilling indeed."

"I hope so too," S'Ranna replied, bowing once more and adding a tick-tock swish of her tail by way of parting gesture, and then pacing out of Sickbay to return to the Shuttlebay and further upgrades to the auxiliary craft.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign S'Ranna T'Srrr'Kharh
Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

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