It has come to our attention... (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 29 Nov 2014 @ 4:52am by Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D.

1,100 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3, Sickbay
Timeline: MD04 - 0645 hrs

[ ON ]

Only a few moments had passed between pushing himself away from the computer console in the medical lab and shuffling over to Sickbay. He wasn't on duty for several more hours, but the results of his research weren't the sort of thing that he could just sit on.

Tuula had been moping around the workplace for days and even someone as oblivious as Olsam Mott had taken notice; her training wasn't exactly suffering, but there had been a certain inattentiveness that hadn't seemed like her. Over the next several days he'd watched her during duty, noting changes from her ordinary pattern of doing things, before finally deciding to do a little independent investigation.

An individual's medical records weren't exactly sealed, but neither was it common practice for a physician to review his or her colleague's records, especially at length. Most of the information anyone needed was provided in the file's summary - recent medical visits and issues, medications and the like. Medical history beyond a couple of years was usually neglected in the deep recesses of the file, gathering digital dust. Until, of course, someone had need to dust them off, as Olsam did. Or, rather, as he thought he did. It wasn't exactly violating any privacy laws or medical ethics to have a peek in the file - after all, there was clearly something going on with her - but it probably wouldn't have settled well with an ordinary doctor. Thankfully, he wasn't an ordinary doctor.

"Dr. Allyndra?" Olsam said, standing on his toes to get a good view into the chief medical officer's office.

Allyndra was just putting on the finishing touches of the few charts so she could hand off to Doctor Mott. He was puttering around in the lab using the console there before she vacated the office to him when he called to her. She looked up, "Yes?" He seemed worried. She doubted he was running any tests but then he had been busy since coming in this morning at the labs console.

"I'm a little worried about Tuula," he said, stepping into her office. He produced a PADD and slid it across the desk to the Akkadian, motioning to it with his hand. "She hasn't quite been herself lately and... Well. I may have pried a bit into her personal life at one point; some Bolian ex-lover of hers is serving on board in engineering and I just couldn't-... Well, suffice it to say I had a talk with him, and I learned a few things." He waved his hands, as if to dismiss the entire incident, not wishing to implicate himself in the debacle any more than was necessary.

"I tried to broach the subject with her once, but it didn't go particularly well so I let it drop. Until a few days ago when I noticed changes in her behavior; on a hunch, I did some investigation into her medical history and discovered some... Well. Some things that I believe may continue to be a distraction for her and potentially interfere with her duties."

Olsam motioned to the PADD again, took a seat in a chair opposite his direct superior and leaned back while she read over the information. The most obvious of the PADD's contents was Tuula's aborted pregnancy roughly a year before her life-changing accident, clearly linked to Petty Officer Ardon Zuwtt through Bolian genetic markers. But of greater concern were the results of his forensic analysis of a string of relatively minor injuries prior to the pregnancy itself - taken individually they were just cuts and bruises and the like that could have been caused by anything to anyone but taken as a whole they represented an almost certain case of physical abuse. After their discussion, Olsam not only suspected that Zuwtt was the culprit but that his continuing presence on the ship was likely to cause trouble for his resident physician.

Allyndra looked at the PaDD and made a face. There was what Mott was saying but also the fact that while technically medical records were available to any qualified individual, to access them in such a matter bordered on misuse of private information. However, she reasoned, if what was here could be affecting Tuula's work and outlook then it played a vital role.

"So her former lover you are implicating as an abuser. If I read here though, the timeline between last known contact and the termination of the pregnancy would not implicate him. Still...," Allyndra mused, "I am sure certain emotional things have been brought up. It is a wonder she even got pregnant." Allyndra looked up at Mott and made a half-smile. "Your Bolian physiology is remarkable but in its remarkability makes it...shall we say problematic for non-Bolians. Have you found it a problem working with her?" Allyndra asked wondering if perhaps there might be some aminosity being carried over.

Olsam shook his head. "Not at all. We have a good working relationship - she's an attentive student and a competent physician. We chit-chat throughout the shift, and I've never felt she was projecting anything on to me. But there's definitely something going on with her lately, and I thought we should speak to her when she comes on shift. Just to clear the air and see if there's anything we can do to help her, a little friendly intervention. She doesn't strike me as the type of person to ask for help, at least not about this."

"Good morning!" The conversation in the office was interrupted by a loud greeting in an all too familiar Finnish accent. Tuula looked like a raccoon with dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep as she rolled into sickbay, but she was trying to at least pretend to be a morning person in a sort of mind over matter exercise. "Good morning, Dr. Mott, Dr. Allyndra," she said as she made a beeline for the office replicator. "One mocha latte, with a double shot of espresso. And a whipped topping." As the drink materialized, she took it in her hand and turned back to her colleagues. "I've got that progress report on Abbey's recovery ready for your review, Dr. Mott, and..." Tuula paused, seeing in the eyes of her colleagues that something wasn't quite right. "...what?"

To Be Continued...

---
Lt Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (J.G.) Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Olsam Mott, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed