A Headache, a Splinter, or a Left Ankle Sprain

Posted on Mon Jan 29th, 2024 @ 12:15am by Major Erin Ishikawa & Lieutenant Commander Alexander Coleman & Major Arjut'Pelan sh'Kohlaka

2,027 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: First Deployment
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD01

Erin groaned as she she rolled her shoulder, the pain from her surgery coming back with a vengeance after her Decon experience, she hated to admit it, but Pel had been right she did need to get the dammed thing looked at. She had insisted they stop by the the MACO Operation Center first to drop off her gear. It was certainly impressive. It actually seemed almost purpose built for them rather than just a converted cargo bay and closet. Even her room was nice but she mad ethe mistake of trying out the bed for just a moment. As soon as she lied down on that bed her shoulder and ribs started screaming. It turns out the Andorian Doctors were right, plasma burns and shrapnel wounds were going to heal in a week and she couldn't just walk it off.

Her shot of pain and lack of ability to get up finally got her to admit it was time to pay a visit to the ship's Doctor, Not that the Andorian would let her not. Pel was rather insistent, almost to the point where Erin wondered if she was having to resist using the handcuffs on her belt to drag Erin to the Doctor.

Stepping into the bay she gave a little nod, certainly more impressive than most other ship sickbays she'd seen, not as expansive as a MACO vessel, but certainly more advanced.

Dr. Coleman was finishing up a few physicals and their reports in his office around the corner when he heard the doors open and close behind someone coming into Sickbay. He wasn't sure if it was just someone walking by or if someone was actually coming in, since they hadn't yelled for him like most of the rest of the crew. So, Coleman decided to head out into the main part of Sickbay and see if anyone could use his help.

Walking around the corner, he saw an officer wearing a MACO uniform and he walked over to ask, "Is there something that I can do for you? I'm the CMO, Dr. Coleman."

Pel took the lead. After being dragged all over the vessel while Erin put off Sickbay, she was ready to see this through. It was now a matter of honor. Having put hands on Erin to personally process her onboarding, Pel wasn't going to let the numbskull evade evade medical attention any further.

"The patient is a human female presenting complaints of severe joint pain and a noticeable loss of mobility in the right shoulder. Initial assessment suggests possible fractures or sprains resulting from insufficient post-surgical care." With that said, Pel took a step back and folded her hands in front of her waist as if she had nothing to do with the situation.

"And unnecessarily strenuous decon procedures coming aboard..." Erin grumbled at Pel even as she held onto her ribs. It was probably just that she pulled something, it's not like she couldn't walk, it just helped to have some assistance...

"And potential delusions derived from combat fatigue," Pel added. "Perhaps a psych eval from a qualified counselor before being cleared for active duty."

"Not to be mistaken for delusions of grandeur... procedure isn't the end all, honorary exchange Major." Erin shot back, her focus shifting from trying to talk to the Doctor to arguing with the Andorian. So unlike all the others she'd encountered this woman had managed to burrow under her skin worse than a Tellarite!

"Perhaps that is a recommendation best left to a qualified medical professional," Pel put forward with a cool, even tone of indifference. Her antennae flickered ever so slightly in time with her subdued smirk.

Coleman just stood there as the two Majors swapped tales of what was going on and how to best treat the patient that stood before him. Coleman pointed towards the main biobed and replied, "Well, to get started, why don't you hop up onto the bed and I'll take a look at what's going on with you, okay Major? Cause, that was a lot to take in." Coleman chuckled a bit as he let the young lady hop up onto the bed and he got everything squared away before beginning.

"Right yes, thank you Doctor." Erin said before turning back to Pel giving her a look as she held out her elbow for help up onto the bed. A request she didn't seem to bother acknowledging at least at first. "Really? You're going to shirk your responsibilities now?"

Pel helped Erin by the arm into a horizontal position. "Are all MACOs so forward when requesting another to take them to bed?" Her tone was perfectly professional for Dr. Coleman's benefit, as if she were learning the customs and protocols of serving on a human vessel. For Erin's benefit, Pel shot her a wink where the doctor couldn't see.

"I'm not forward..." She replied quickly, too quickly to catch her slip. "Nor am I want to be taken to bed, just help me get up... I mean on the bed. Just..." Erin turned slightly red at the wink huffing a bit in exasperation as she tripped over her words. "Bite me." She grumbled as the Doctor returned.

Coleman gathered a few scanning devices amongst other devices that the untrained eye wouldn't immediately recognize. He began scanning Erin from stern to foot, making sure to get as much information as he could before scratching his chin and saying, "What exactly did you say that you were coming in for again?"

"I was recovering from surgery and during decin to come aboard, I think I tweaked something and now it's hard to bend over or turn to my left. I was shot and slightly blow up on Berengaria..." Erin said, reaching into her arm pocket she pulled out a data packet the Andorian doctor gave her. "This has a treatment record on it."

Coleman put the scanning device down and pulled up all the information on the device and read it over. "God, it looks like you've been through the ringer more than once. Looks like the Andorians could have done a bit of a better job at removing some of the fragments from the device that seems to have blown up and the burns. Not saying that they didn't the best that they could, but it could have been a bit better with everything. Lean back. I want to take a real good look over you and see what they have done for you."

"Andorian chirurgeons know not to remove every shard in the preliminary operation," Pel offered. "Those are reserved for post-op procedures which are not life-threatening." Why she was offering medical advice was unclear. Same with why she was even still there.

"They were more focused on keeping me alive at the time and had many more of us who were worse off than me afterward." Erin said with a grimace as she laid back. "I don't think they expected too much strenuous movement so soon after."

"Well, by the looks of it, you're going to need a bit of corrective surgery to help make sure that nothing is long term. The good news is that I think I can do it non-evasively, but I'd have to check on a few things before I know if I can or not," Coleman replied as he looked over a few scans and checked on some records. Coleman wanted to make sure that he had all of the information he needed before turning back to the two women and saying, "Well, the good new things is that it looks like I can go ahead and fix this up for you today, if you'd like me to, Erin?"

"Might as well." The MACO groaned as she leaned back a bit. What a day this had turned into... "As long as it doesn't take too long. I've got over a hundred troopers to get processed through the ship. Not to mention a CO to report to sooner rather than later."

"They are already being processed," Pel helpfully offered. "Perhaps some of troopers have even made it to their quarters and laid on their beds before reporting anywhere useful."

"Plus, we don't want to mess it up anymore than it already is. You don't want to keep coming down here to see me, now would you?" Coleman asked with a rueful smile on his face as he got the first of the items he would need to work with to fix the officer's last surgery. Coleman smiled as he gave Erin something to make sure there was no pain with the procedure and asked her, "You ready for this?"

"As I'll ever be." Erin grimaced as she psyched herself up for another procedure. Hopefully it won't take too long, she didn't exactly relish the idea of another surgery but that's what needed to be done? "Just try not to totally take me out of action while fixing me. I don't think we'll be sitting around on Earth for too long.

Coleman began the procedure and he started working as he replied, "Yeah, I think I've heard that we'll be shipping out soon enough. Before too long, we'll be out there on the front lines and fighting the big old baddies, the Romulans. What do you think they look like? I've heard nobody, not even the Vulcans, have seen them."

"We never saw them, their troops were in full isolation suits, we didn't have a chance to stop and gather intel." In reality they had very little chance to stop at all, the constant falling back, explosions plasma bursts cutting their troops and the civilians in their charge down. It wasn't exactly something Erin was eager reminisce about.

"Many warlike cultures mask their faces behind images of monsters and demons and other ferocious things," Pel offered. "It is often meant to project fear of a unified force into the hearts of their enemies."

"I've learned quite a bit about several cultures from our little area of space that have had their moments in History like that. The Vulcans, back before they let go of emotions, had several warrior castes that used masks to cover themselves and make it harder to identify each other in combat. So many interesting facts about the Vulcans though," Dr. Coleman said as he began the procedure.

----SOME TIME LATER----

Dr. Coleman finished up the procedure and made sure that everything was closed up before slowly waking Erin back up. he made sure to make it nice and easy for her, so that she wouldn't jolt up and undo the various parts of the procedure that Coleman just did. Once she was a bit more awake, Coleman asked, "How do you feel?"

"Like shit..." The MACO grumbled as she quickly closed her eyes after looking up with a grimace at the dimmed sickbay. "But I think I can breath again without it feeling like I've been stabbed in the ribs." That was down to the shrapnel she took Erin supposed. "Thank you."

"Good! I'm glad to hear it! It'll take a few days for it to completely heal, but even if we see some action anytime soon, you shouldn't have any issue with combat readiness. Just promise me that you won't try to get your ribs kicked in or stabbed anytime soon for me, will you?" Coleman replied with a small smile on his face as he helped Erin back up into a sitting position on the bed and handed her a mirror to show her his handywork before handing her the uniform jacket.

"I would like to avoid being shot, stabbed or stomped on if I can avoid it." Erin said with a slight grin. The scars would heal but never quite disappear, not that she minded, they were a reminder of the battle. Not just the battle but the fragility of it all. Plus they looked badass and as the saying goes, chicks dig scars.

"I appreciate it Doctor thank you." Ideally she'd like to relax but Erin had too much to do. Check on her MACOs, get herself settled and finally report in for duty.

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