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USS Endeavour: Sickbay fodder

[LtJr. Khelleshar sh'Zenne |  Near midnight | USS Endeavour | Sickbay's  Corridor ]
Attn: @Mathis
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Shar stayed on her feet in front of the Sickbay door and sighed. She didn't like doctors, she had NEVER felt at ease around them. Maybe because her shreya had healed her throughout her childhood and she didn't really needed a real doctor till the Chekthora, but more likely because the time she spent in an Andorian infirmary, after the loss of her antenna, was one of the worst moments of her life. In fact she had been avoiding this visit for a week, but she couldn't help it any longer. She sighed again, shifting the weight from one foot to the other. That the Medical Officer was a betazoid, did not help either. Nor had she ever felt comfortable around telepaths: not knowing to what extent they might be rummaging through her brain. She had spent a lot of time pushing the worst and darkest of her past as deep as she could and she didn't want them to be accidentally brought to the surface because a curious telepath decided to mess around her mind.

She gathered willpower to refused to sigh again, fitted her jaw and threw back the antennae. "Come on Shar, you're not like this, you attack head-on with your forehead high. Move that scrawny ass" she told herself. Showing much more determination than she felt, she stepped forward, entering the opening range of the door. The access to the sickbay opened with a slight hiss and the andorian  put herself inside the aseptic room. She had chosen the Gamma shift because she knew that the whole ship was emptier, most of the crew asleep. And because she was hoping that Lieutenant Kobol  wasn't working at that time. And, mainly, because Chief Vasiliev had almost kicked her out when Shar had insisted on doubling the turn again.

She looked defiantly around. Most of the biobeds were empty and staff was scarce. At the moment her plan seemed to work perfectly. When she found the nurse with the most faint-hearted attitude, she smiled to herself and strode toward him. Well, she rather staggered bravely towards him. With sincerity, she mostly half dragged a leg while holding her painful side. And she gave a plaintive grunt throughout all the process, finally staggering and falling in the middle of the room, shooing the nurse as if he were a scared klazh.

The worst suspicions of the operations officer came true when she saw the doctor approaching with a concerned face. The damn Betazoid. Shar hurriedly tried to collect herself and stand up, but when she leaned on her left leg, she was unable to hold herself straight. The andorian growled a curse under her breath and looked at the doctor, who loomed over her like a bird of prey with unfathomable black eyes. "Well Doc," she panted, bending the antennae toward the doctor as politely as she could, but unable to keep her tips from trembling nervousnessly. "I think it's obvious that I need some help ..."

Re: USS Endeavour: Sickbay fodder

Reply #1 –
[ Lieutenant Elro Kobol | Sickbay | USS Endeavour | @Numen
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Soft music from a popular symphony orchestra on Vulcan played through Doctor Elro Kobol ’s office off to the side of Endeavour’s sickbay. The door was open, giving him a partial view out of his office, but he wasn’t paying much attention. He had a PADD in his hand and was leaning back in his chair with his feet up on his desk, relaxing as he read the latest Starfleet Medical Journal. He almost always came in to his office early to relax and get some reading in before Alpha shift, where he wouldn’t be tempted to go back to sleep. Other PADDs lay scattered on his desk including reports, novels, letters, and the like. If he was lucky he’d get through more than found their way to his desk by the end of the day.

He heard but didn’t react to the main sickbay door opening as he swiped to the next page of the article entitled ‘Nanites in Genitronic Replication, Successes and Limitations.’ One of the attending nurses would handle their walk-in, getting Elro only in a serious situation. He looked up though, concerned, when he heard something, or someone, hit the floor hard. He stood up from his desk, setting the PADD down and muting the music as he walked out of the office.

What he saw surprised him, to say the least. An Andorian female had collapsed awkwardly on the floor and she was shooing Nurse Thompson away. Even on the floor, the woman had a fierce bearing and Thompson looked over to Elro with a scared, questioning look. Elro suppressed a sigh as he made his way over to the operations officer on the floor whom he hadn’t met yet. When she saw him, though, he sensed her immediate… was that annoyance? It emanated from her like a signal light. She’d apparently heard of him, and for some reason didn’t like him. Elro suddenly wondered if this was a bad sign about how the day was going to go.

He grabbed a medical tricorder from a station as he passed, kneeling to scan her, wanting to make sure it was safe to move her. “Hi, I’m Doctor Kobol , let me help you up to a bio bed here. Can you tell me what happened?” Thanking himself for his dedication in the gym, he was able to easily assist her up and to the nearest biobed, where he continued his scans, linking his tricorder to the bed and its scanners to assist in diagnosis. He was reading multiple contusions, lacerations, mostly minor, but also internal injuries such as badly healed internal bleeding, minor hairline fractures, and signs of a possible, recent concussion. He looked up, at her, unable to hide his frown. None of these injuries were recent. He waited to hear what she would tell him though before speaking.

Re: USS Endeavour: Sickbay fodder

Reply #2 –
[LtJr. Khelleshar sh'Zenne |  Near midnight | USS Endeavour | Sickbay]
Attn: @Mathis
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The andorian allowed to be dragged down to the biobed, seemed stubbornly refusing to answer the medical officer. Reality was that her mind was running at full speed, trying to make an excuse believable enough that it didn't raise many questions. Or better yet, hide enough of what has really happen that it wouldn't sound alarming. But Shar had never been good at lying, she was too straightforward. Even too much for her own good.

After what seemed like an eternity to her battered body (and barely a second for her agitated mind) she sank down on the stretcher with a sore grunt, and she looked straight into Kobol 's face. She tried, but was not able to avoid a slight shudder.  His eyes looked like a well to the void. Maybe his expression was likeable but those eyes... She could see how his gesture changed slightly as he was receiving the data from the medical tricorder and tried to fill the silence.

"Well ..." she began to say, without being too sure of how keep going. She smiled slightly trying to gain time, in that odd and stiff way of her people. "I could say that I've been a little stressed lately" She knew the answer was vague, but at least it was sincere. She had lost count of the double shifts she had made. Either she couldn't remember clearly the last time she had slept beyond a couple of hours of oblivion, collapsed anywhere in her quarter by sheer exhaustion, without even removing her uniform. But she needed to keep herself busy. She really HAD to keep herself busy. Keep her mind involved in something else so she didn't need to remember what date was at that moment.

She saw with faintness how the biobed began to show its readings in yellow and red lights. Shar had hoped to be able to go through the sickbay only for a short session of bone-knitter and dermal regenerator, but she wasn't going to be so lucky. Their antennae faced each other for a second, which would be equivalent to a shrug in a human. She would need to develop her answer a little more."My reflexes aren't what they used to be lately. I should have stopped that punch but I didn't see it coming" Shar frowned,  still frustrated that she had fallen into that obvious trick. If she had been concentrated as she should, she wouldn't have take such blow in her side. She had been careless. One of her antennae whipped, reflecting her frustration. "That Rajuc jerk has been pounding me in the same spot every time he can the past ten days. What a moron " And the blockhead had enjoyed found an advantage. If she hadn't that damn bruise, she would have erased that crooked smile on his face days ago.

When she realized she had said more than she intended to, Shar pursed her lips, huffy. What she least needed now was being banned from the gym by medical prescription. Or got that dumb Rajuc into a problem. It was hard enough to find a sparring partner who didn't shy away from receiving a few wounds every training session. Or that she received them. Actually, the ensign had not asked too many questions or complained, which was pretty convenient. Only today he had refused to continue the training, mostly when Shar had been on the verge of a blackout.

Despite her reluctance, she looked into the doctor's eyes again, seeking his reaction to her words. She couldn't avoid a slight chill facing those black eyes. "So ...?" She asked tentatively.

Re: USS Endeavour: Sickbay fodder

Reply #3 –
[ Lieutenant Elro Kobol | Sickbay | USS Endeavour | @Numen
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The readings continued scrolling past on the biobed’s monitors and Elro’s tricorder as he considered how best to approach this, both medically and socially. The last thing he wanted to do was push her further into delaying seeking medical treatment in the future when she needed as she had clearly done this time, but he also couldn’t not talk about how dangerous her activities had been. “Stressed would certainly be a way to put it,” he said with a small smile before looking up from his tricorder to meet her eyes again.

He waited as she continued to explain what had happened, alluded to getting into a fight, or more likely: multiple fights. “I thought the first rule of fight club was that you weren’t supposed to talk about fight club.” He said with a smile, quoting a very old Earth movie that he’d watched in the Academy, introduced to him by his roommate at the time, a human enthusiast of these old, two-dimensional ancestors to holo novels. He wasn’t sure Kell would get the reference, so he waved a hand in a ‘never mind’ gesture. “Go ahead and lay down on the bed for me, I’d like to get started on your treatment, we can talk while the biobed begins."

He waited for her to lay back on the bed, offering his help if she needed it, and set the bed to start the repairs. It hummed and various lights shown down from the part that closed over her midsection. “As your doctor, let me first say that anything you tell me is held in the strictest of confidence. My job is to make sure that you’re healthy and fit for duty. I don’t report anything to your department head or the Captain or XO unless I’m forced to, which I’m hoping won’t be the case. More often than not, it's not."

He walked over to adjust some settings on the bed, she would begin to start feeling a lot better now as the internal tissues were being repaired. “I understand that it’s common for Andorians to bottle up negative emotions and let them out in controlled ways, and you certainly wouldn’t be the first to channel that into a violent sport like boxing or cage fighting or whatever it is you and, Rajuc was it, are doing. Is that what this is? A way to relieve stress after rough days?”

Re: USS Endeavour: Sickbay fodder

Reply #4 –
[LtJr. Khelleshar sh'Zenne |  Near midnight | USS Endeavour | Sickbay
Attn: @Mathis
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Shar tilted her head slightly at the obscure reference to "the fight club".  She had no idea what the CMO was talking about, but of course if she founded a kind of shady society to beat herself up as much as she and that Rajuc jerk had been doing in the last weeks, the first norm that she would impose surely could be in the line of  “we not to talk about it”, of course. The fewer explanations she must tell their immediate superiors, the better. In fact, except for brief messages to their personal consoles, she barely spoke to the ensign and their interactions outside the gym were limited to slight nods, acknowledging the presence of the other. The Andorian sloftly wringed her antennae, confused by the clairvoyance of the doctor and his smooth smile.

Luckily, the medical procedure prevented her from having to add anything else and the woman just obeyed  the gentle doctor orders, thanking him for his help and collapsing again on the stretcher. She didn't like to show how weak she really was at that moment, but given the events of the last few minutes she must swallow her pride and let the betazoid do his job. As soon as the biobed activate the recommended procedure, she felt immediate relief, the throbbing pain that had accompanied her for more than a week wherever she went quickly vanished. The andorian also discovered that some pains that she wasn't even aware of feeling were appeasing too. Shar allowed herself to let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her tense muscles, closing her eyes. She just needed to enjoy that feeling a little more. Maybe she could finally rest at last without ...

The doctor's soft voice took her out of her train of thought  and forced her to tighten her muscles again at the mention of a possible report to her superiors. Or worse, to the Beast's betrothed.

"Let's leave your cousin the XO out of this. Right Doc?" She quickly replied, opening her eyes again and rising to her right elbow, her tone more anxious than he intended. "What would further worsen my health right now is a face-to-face encounter with him and his beloved Not-So-Blue. I'd rather have a whole pack of Alneesh step on me than see her resting bitch face again." She grumbled, dropping back into the biobed, covering her eyes with her hand, exasperated. "I can't stand her..."

Kobol 's voice continued flowing soft and calm, and when he started the same old story taught in the Academy's inter-species relations classes, Shar disconnected her brain for a moment and concentrated only on the melodious sound of the doctor's voice. The Ops officer had a good ear for music and knew how to recognize a good voice when she heard it, so she focused on it while trying to calm the anger that flooded her every time she mentally visualizing the engineer's face. "I just needed she didn't stick her nose where it doesn't belong  this week, you know, Doc? That she just let me do my work alone, but she has the ability to be where you don't want her to be, being plainly so blunt so ... insufferable. Just now when Layiss had ... " Shar's antennae rose stiffly over her head for a moment and then droped lazily towards the sides of her head. "Sorry, Doc, this is not really a medical thing, I'll be fine, really" She quickly added, composing a grin as false as the altruism of a Ferengi.

Re: USS Endeavour: Sickbay fodder

Reply #5 –
[ Lieutenant Elro Kobol | Sickbay | USS Endeavour | @Numen
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Elro had to hold back a grin with the reference to Commander Ducote and Chief Engineer Tiran. Elro had started to develop a good working relationship with Ducote but didn’t know Blue all that well yet. The two of them were excellent at their jobs, by reputation, but neither had the reputation of being the most charismatic in the world. Elro tapped on the biobed control panel, checking the progress of the procedure, nodding to himself at the good progress. He listened carefully as Shar told him everything she was comfortable telling him. “You’re right, everything between you and Commander Tiran is between you two, though I would be remiss not to recommend a visit to chat with one of our counseling staff, but that’s up to you. Also, I’m pretty sure we’re not related,” he finished with a smirk.

He let that silence sit for a minute while he ran a dermal regenerator over her external wounds, working with his usual calm and precision. He wasn’t likely going to get her to trust him completely in just one visit with just a few words. He let a good amount of time to by without saying anything, just letting the healing process happen. As her treatment came to a close, he thought of a few more things he might be able to say to her that could help. He hoped.

“Alright, you can sit up again, but be slow and careful. Procedures here notwithstanding, your body is going to need some time before it’s at 100% again.” He waited for her to sit up and be comfortable as he pulled over a stool, so he didn’t seem to be ‘talking down’ to her. “Here’s what I propose. I don’t know what kept you from Sickbay for so long without getting treated, but it needs to stop. Some of this damage was days away from permanent, some of it lethally so. In the future, come in and see me. The computer can tell you who’s on staff at any given time. I promise a no-judgment situation with no need for reports up the chain, so long as it all stays as your typical non-lethal sparring injury situation. Deal?”
 

Re: USS Endeavour: Sickbay fodder

Reply #6 –
[LtJr. Khelleshar sh'Zenne |  Near midnight | USS Endeavour | Sickbay
Attn: @Mathis
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Shar received the proposal of a visit to chat with one of our counseling staff with a raised eyebrow, imitated almost perfectly by the position of the antennae, which gave her a double disapproval demeanor. "Look at my medical file Doc, my visits to the counselor are regular every fifteen days, as mandated by the command headquarters. Although if you are talking about  visit them with my friend Not-So-Blue... that wouldn't end too well. I think I'll pass" What she kept to herself was that after so many years dealing with professionals about her angry issues she had developed a special ability to said nothing about or cover up the worst parts of herself and leave the query as quickly as possible. Batter herself in a fight pit or work shifts after shifts until exhaustion had been considerably more effective in keeping her mood in the right place. It may have gotten out of hand sometimes and she'd ended up a little bruised as in those moments, but in general, she could deal better with physical pain and fatigue than with the alternative. Yeah, maybe she had been out of line with the last brawls with Rajuc, but she could handle it. She had arrived at the infirmary on her own feet, which undoubtedly demonstrated that she had everything under control. Undoubtedly.

Shar dropped back onto the stretcher and closed her eyes again, letting the doctor do his job. In the calmness of the sickbay she could only hear the electric buzz of the dermal regenerator and the soft rustling of the doctor's clothes as he moved around her. That as a whole created a kind of white noise that cradled the andorian, gently sliding her towards unconsciousness. How long had she been without sleep? She couldn't remember it, but the general feeling of well-being, the absence of pain and the purring of the devices were doing wonders for her. She just needed a minute more and maybe ...

The doctor's voice, announcing the end of the treatment, tore the andorian from the arms of the dream, making her give a small jump on the biobed. She sat with a fluid movement, rubbing her eyes with one hand and leaving the other resting on the edge of the bed. When she looked at her knuckles she was surprised at their colour, she was so accustomed to seeing them bruised, with the dark indigo blue of the bruises and the blood accumulated under the skin that didn't even remember their natural colour. Had she always been so pale? By the blood of the Water Guardian, she could almost be an Aenar. She rubbed her face again with both hands, trying to wake herself a bit, and arranged her disheveled hair as best she could, until she got her mohawk to stand up again, more challenging than she felt at the time. She yawned and blinked confused for a moment, halfway between sleep and wakefulness.

Nevertheless, she was forced to get with it quickly when she saw the doctor pick up a stoll and prepare himsel to give her a scolding. Unconsciously she clenched her jaw another time, leaning forward slightly and keeping her hands tightly pressed on the edge of the stretcher. The melodious voice of the doctor and his treatment without too many questions had made her lower her defenses, but she had to expect that the health-care provider tried to impose his authority sooner or later.

The doctor's proposal took her completely by surprise, as well as the description of the extension of her injuries. She cocked her head again, confused, not knowing very well what to answer, staring with her blue eyes in the doctor's pitch-black ones. She opened her mouth, ready to answer, closed it again, opened it again and let out amused snort. The minutes lengthened between both of them, while the andorian evaluated the sincerity of his proposition. But unlike the man, she couldn't read the thoughts of others so she just nodded solemnly. "I promise to stop by the Sickbay if I let that asshole beat me up too much in one of our sparring sessions, as long as you are on duty. All right, Doc, done deal." The andorian's antennae gathered momentarily in front of her, showing her amusement at the situation. However, there was no irony in her voice.

She stood up and offered a hand to the doctor, in the human style. "I feel like it's going to sound pretty bad but I hope we don't see each other too soon, or at least that if we do, we don't meet here." Shar bowed, using her shoulders rather than her neck and prepared to turn around. As she did so, her eyes fell on a screen near the door. Among the profusion of information offered, there was the date and time, both in Stardate and in the different time measures of the main species of the Federation. When her eyes fell on the date shown under the Andorian characters, Shar shrank slightly, and her antennae fell to the sides of her head. According to its calculation, it was the anniversary of her sister's death. It finally arrived. She clenched her fists to dig her nails into her palm and stood up again, doing her best to hide her mood. "I wonder if that half Klingon idiot will be available for a small fight" she idly though. Now that her feelings weren't deafened by physical pain, guilt and sorrow settled heavily in her chest, to the point of making her take a hand to the heart to try to alleviate that almost physical sensation. She took a long breath.

- FIN
 
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