Welcome to the Ward

Posted on 09 May 2016 @ 3:47am by Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Ensign Jerico Stark

2,398 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 11 - Divinum Mundi
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3 Sickbay
Timeline: MD 02 0800

[ON]

It was time to turn the shift over. There was little in the way of charts currently to deal with but mostly new crew and updating crew records.
It seemed everything had been focused on getting underway and the meeting with the colonist ship. Allyndra wondered if they would have to do a recheck of those people as well.

The screen shifted and just a few more names popped up to get finished up.
She looked up as Tuula came in with her rather distinctive looks. "Good morning Tuula. Just about finished up here. I see we have a live one yet. An Ensign Stark according the list, came in but has not reported yet. Want to call him in?"

"That's too bad," replied Tuula. She wondered why people didn't want to come down to sickbay, especially not after they put so much work into redecorating the place. "Ensign Stark," she said, tapping her comm badge, "this is your friendly neighbourhood doctor, reminding you that you are due for a boarding physical."

Everything seemed to have been a non-stop whirlwind ride, from the second Jerico embarked for the Galileo to the call that had just come in for him. Although he wasn't slated to be on actual duty until Beta shift, he was already up and awake. So much to do, so much to get sorted...even for a mind that enjoyed logistics, it threatened to be a little overwhelming. With all that in mind, who could sleep?

Jerico passed through the main entrance to sickbay, nodding in greeting to a crewmember that was just leaving. He turned his attention to the gathering of doctors, but not before taking in the surroundings. It seemed like a well-put-together sickbay, as far as things like that were considered. Clean. Efficient. Hopefully he wouldn't be spending much time in it.

"Ensign Stark, reporting as ordered," Jerico said, giving a little wave. There was more than one teal-necked uniform, and he tried his best not to feel...surrounded. Wonder if any more are gonna show up...

Allyndra had turned things over to Tuula and was about to ready to leave when a young man or what appeared to be a young man with dusky skin, brown hair and eyes appeared saying he was the Ensign Allyndra had noted missing medical file on.

She moved slightly forward with that grace long polished by years of being an apprentice. "Ah, our missing...Jerico, I believe I have the name correct." she said. It came out with a bit of musical flair to it as though she was pronouncing an Akkadian name. "I am Allyndra and," Allyndra made a gesture with her left hand. "This is Tuula," again with that slight musical tone to it.

"Ma'am," Stark replied, inclining his head in greeting and repeating the gesture for the other doctor. He grabbed a spare moment to fully take in the doctor's...unique...features. Allyndra was certainly not of a species with which Jerico had much familiarity. Her eyes had an almost ethereal quality to them, pairing well with the clear chimes of her voice. Even on a ship this small, he was continually reminded that it was, indeed, a very big Federation. "I am the missing Jerico," he grinned. "Ensign Jerico Stark." His cheeks flushed slightly as Stark realized that he pretty much just repeated himself, like a broken recording. "Uh. Should I just...take a seat?"

"Of course," replied Tuula. "Just watch out for Gilbert when you sit down. I wouldn't want you to sit on him."

Jerico nodded as the other doctor gave him leave to sit. She was a unique one, as well. It seemed as if this medical staff was anything but...run-of-the-mill? He paused on his way to find a biobed, though, as the rest of her request sank in. "Gilbert?" Stark asked, glancing around. "I...ma'am? Who...or what...is Gilbert?"

"He's my pet tribble!" exclaimed Tuula. "I brought him with me to work today. He's usually well-behaved, but he has a habit of wandering off and ending up where you least expect him."

Tribble! Well, that was interesting. Jerico hadn't encountered one of the notoriously fruitful critters adapted as someone's pet, before. It was logical to assume that Tuula had the furball fixed, or else the entirety of Sickbay might be drowning in purring lumps right about now. "Yes ma'am," he repied, flashing a quick grin. "I'll be on the lookout for him." Stark did just that, making sure that there were no tribbles as he sat on a biobed. It could have been his imagination, but Jerico swore he could hear purring.

Allyndra waited a moment. "Let's just hope that Olsam has not decided on fricasse of tribble." She was fairly certain that certain parts of the neutered Targ had not made it to the disposer.

Jerico had no idea whatsoever if Allyndra was joking or not about the tribble dinner. He bit back a glib comment about eating them, since...well, an animal could be a pet in one culture and food in the other. If they ever encountered a culture that kept molecularly-resequenced protein matter as pets...well. The Federation would certainly look like right barbarians.

Allydnra saw the look on the Ensign's face. "He is Bolian," as if that was all the explanation in the universe he needed.

Nodding, Jerico placed his right hand on his left elbow, giving his shoulder a little stretch. He had passing familiarity with Bolians, and knew that their palate and physiology was...unique, definitely. Stark glanced over at Tuula, wondering if the young woman had taken offense to all the tribble-eating talk. Then again, he didn't know the dynamics of sickbay. Such banter might be normal, everyday stuff for them. "I was told to report for my physical," he offered, letting the statement trail off into a slight query.

Something heavy slammed into something immobile somewhere off in the adjoining medical lab. It was followed by some grumbling. Eventually, Olsam emerged into the room carefully negotiating a medcart through the narrow doorway; almost unseen was a slight ding on one side, the result of a collision.

"Really? Dr. Voutilainen and I can tag-team you," Olsam said, abandoning the medcart in the middle of the room and snagging a medical tricorder. "I'm Dr. Olsam Mott. You can call me Dr. Olsam in Sickbay and just Olsam outside of Sickbay. Uh, 'just Olsam' being only the name Olsam without the doctor, not Just Olsam. Do you follow?"

Jerico did, indeed, follow. One didn't get out of the Academy with the ability to follow a GNDN coupling without learning to follow concepts and keep the details straight. The Bolian doctor certainly wasn't making it a picnic, however! "Doctor Oslam it is, then," he nodded, the very slight ghost of a smile turning up one corner of his mouth. Stark glanced at the Bolian, to Voutilainen (wasn't that name a mouthful...), and to Allyndra. Whatever usually went on in sickbay, Jerico imagined that it was anything but boring. "Tag away, I guess. I completely throw myself at your mercy, doctors."

"Excellent," replied Tuula, a mischevious smile appearing on her face for a moment as she clutched her wheels in excitement. "Though it is more fun when we have to use the restraints, isn't that right Doctor Mott?" she asked, reaching for her favourite tricorder, the black one with the skull and fancy lace patterns airbrushed on it.

Allydnra interrupted, "Be careful what you say. Mott will take things literally and Tuula will take the mile if given the inch." Of course she was not above sometimes getting into the tease at times especially with her two colleagues around. "Tuula he looks healthy, think he can spare a blood sample or two?"
She chuckled for a moment before heading back to the laboratory leaving Tuula to explain that to the poor Ensign.

It made Jerico smile to see the easy manner in which the medical staff interacted with one another. To him, it was a sign of a healthy department - knowing when to banter, and when to crack down to business. A routine physical was certainly something that didn't require surgery-like intensity of concentration. "I think I can do that," he said, grinning lopsidedly at Tuula. "So long as you don't take my blood with a siphon hose."

"I'm sure Allyndra's teeth will suffice," said Tuula as she began her scans. With all the new people coming aboard, these boarding physicals were starting to become routine. "So, anything you would like to tell me? Aches, pains, anything unusual?"

Jerico blinked a few times, quirking an eyebrow at Tuula. "I don't do bites until at least the third date," he deadpanned, before breaking into another grin. "Call me old-fashioned." He quietly sat back as the doctor began scanning him, watching a wall of his medical data scroll away out of the corner of his eye. "I don't have any outstanding conditions, no...other than an ache in the knee when it rains. As an Ops officer, though, it'll be my job to make sure that it most certainly does not thunderstorm on the ship."

He sat quietly for a few more seconds, tapping his lower lip in thought. "Uh. I guess it's in my medical file, but my body doesn't react well to formazine. As in, it tends to stimulate me into being awake for a few days straight. And metorapan brings a nice, splotchy array of spots to my complexion."

"No metorapan then," replied Tuula as she continued with the scans. "So, aside from controlling the weather on the ship, what do you do for fun," she asked. Having been told that some people for some reason considered her morbid, she was trying to work on her small talk. "Any hobbies? Sports, antiques, extreme body modification?"

Stark listened to the whrr and bleep of the various pieces of medical equipment, his mind working to keep up with the mechanical sounds. Sickbay had always been an area that interested Jerico, even though he didn't necessarily want to spend a lot of time hanging around in it. The prospect of a whole area full of tools and doodads that he wasn't familiar with was tempting, though. "Well...no body modifications. I read a lot," he shrugged. "And I really enjoy swimming. It's too bad there's not room on the ship for a real pool."

"Or a real sauna," added Tuula as she kept her eyes on the medical readings. "I try to get a swim and a sauna in at least weekly. Of course, holodeck time is limited, but I'd be willing to share a holodeck if you don't mind being next to a slow swimmer."

"A sauna would be phenomenal..." Jerico agreed, quirking a quick and playful grin. "Replication's fine, but the saunas on Risa have to be felt to be believed. The benefits of having dual citizenship on a 'pleasure planet...'." Normally it annoyed him to have his father's homeworld thought of as just a stopover for pent up Starfleet officers. But the saunas were amazing. Smiling broadly, Stark nodded to Tuula. "I'd love to do some swimming some time! That sounds great. Holodeck time being the premium that it us, we could team up and double our chances at booking one. I think? Actually," he drawled, quirking an eyebrow, "my math might be suspect on those figures."

Allyndra was headed back to the office after finishing in the lab and overheard that word again. "If you would not mind a third party I have never had a sauna and am curious. As a senior officer I do have certain privileges on such times."

"That sounds great!" exclaimed Tuula, closing up the tricorder as she finished the scan, before pausing for a second and placing a finger on her chin. "You... don't happen to be prudish, do you? Traditionally, one saunas in the nude..."

Grinning broadly, Jerico gestured toward the other doctor. "There we go," he said to Tuula. "We've got ourselves an in. Sauna time it is." His attention was briefly attuned to the slight clap of the tricorder closing up. It made some part of him smile to see that Tuula didn't treat her equipment badly. Some officers felt like, just because starships had the ability to replicate things, they had carte blanche to bang and slam things around. The way a person treated their items was often a reflection on their own personality. "Prudish?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow again. "Well. I'm half-Risian, and hold dual citizenship. Growing up, I spent every summer there...right up until when I got into the Academy." His next grin was quirkily playful. "I think that should sufficiently answer that question..."

Allyndra smiled. "While Tuula knows that Akkadia has a certain formality and dress, that does not mean we are body shy as she might have seen at the Irsemia house." There was that somewhat conspiratorial look. "Very well I am quite interested in this sauna since I have heard about it so much. Let me know when it fits with your schedule."

"I think we have a plan," Jerico replied, reaching up to tuck a short strand of brown hair behind an ear. His hair wasn't really that long, but it was more of an idle gesture...the gesture of someone who just realized that they had agreed to sit naked in steam with superior officers. Tuula and Allyndra were both oviously attractive (and he supposed the Bolian was okay, too), so that wasn't the problem. It just...wasn't something you expected to do with your superiors. Strange new worlds and all that, Jerico thought, grinning inwardly. That's what it's all about. "You all are great problem-solvers. Perhaps you should consider transferring to Ops...?"

"I think I am fine here," Allyndra replied with a smile, "and I would not let Tuula go without a fight. She is a wonderful doctor. Anyway, I look forward to the experience."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Jerico Stark
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LCmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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