Back To Sickbay

Posted on Friday 5 October 2018 @ 01:12 by Lieutenant Michael Ki MD & 1st Lieutenant John Kayhill

Mission: The New Collective
Location: USS Merlin Sickbay
1025 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

John had let the XO slide off to talk to the Captain and tried to make it seem that he hadn't snuck away from Sickbay in the first place. It was probably a good thing he had come back as the pain reliever he had been given by the corpsman was starting to wear off and his cuts, bangs, bruises, and missing hand were starting to hurt. It wouldn't be too long before the real pain would start kicking in.

Michael had not slept in quite some time. All of the patients that streamed into Sick Bay came first, especially the Captain. He sat in his office rubbing his temples as he stole a cup of saki without anyone seeing. O'Hara had the right of things. Sometimes alcohol was simply needed. he thought as he savored the warmth. He saw a Marine Lieutenant looking about. "Whelp duty calls." he said to the empty room.

"Lieutenant have a seat on one of the biobeds and we will be right with you." Michael said with a smile as he fetched the instrument tray.

John gave the doctor a thumbs up and said, "Sure thing, Doc. I'll be on the one with racing stripes."

He got on the bio-bed and loosened his tunic some. As he did, he was noticing that he was getting tired. It had been quite a day. He didn't want to lie back though because after this, he was going to need to see his troops, what was left of them anyway.

"Other than the visible is there anything else that we should be looking at." Michael said as he used the dermal regenerator to close the open wounds. It seemed that this Marine had been run through the ringer.

"Well, the whole cave complex we were in was a recently exposed dilithium deposit, along with unfiltered dust", John said. "So a lung check would probably not be a bad idea. How are the civilians and my crew doc?"

Michael initiated the scans of the Marine's respiratory system. "Aside from a few bumps and bruises your team will be fine. The civilians are suffering from some minor malnutrition and dehydration. But they will be fine, thanks to all of you." Michael took a cursory look at the results of the scans. "You know you should take better care of yourself. I am showing signs of varied injuries. Just a word of caution the body can only take so much punishment." Michael spoke with an edge of concern but he knew the Marine would simply shrug it of, that was the nature of all Marines.

"I completely understand doc", John replied. "I wish the rest of the universe did. I'd love to be armed with a combat throw pillow rather than phasers and knives. I guess till then, doctors like you are going to have to prod leathernecks like me about not getting beat up so much, either throw training or live action. So, speaking of battle scars..."

He held his arm with the missing hand up.

"Do I speak with you or engineering about this?"

He smiled and seemed to be taking the loss well, for now at least.

Michael chuckled "Quite so, such is our lot in life." He looked at the missing hand. "I think we can take care of that here." Michael went over to the medical replicator and accessed the Lieutenant's medical file. Sure enough there were the specs for the mechanical hand that he used. Within moments the replicator produced the hand. "Well let's see now..." Michael said as he approached John. "Hold your arm as still as possible." The Doctor placed the hand on the man's wrist and listened for the slight click that meant it was locked into place. Then he reached over to the instrument tray and picked up a small tool that resembled a toothpick. Using this tool he reconnected the wires that received signals from the Lieutenant's brain and sent them to the hand. "There that should do it. Give it a try."

John flexed his hand and looked quite shocked. A smile crept across his face though and he flexed it again.

"I didn't realize you could connect them so fast now", he said. "So, what do I need to be aware of with this?"

"There is not much difference from your original hand. I used the specs that were in the database to make this one. Perhaps the only thing is to be careful and work slowly with it at first. The connections can be a bit sluggish and may take a moment to get used to." Michael replied with a smile, he was glad that even in the midst of all this he could bring a smile to a patient's face and brighten his day just a small amount.

"So no bar fights anytime soon", John said with a grin. "Gotcha. What about, maintenance I guess you would call it. What happens if it is damaged?"

"For that you can see engineering or myself. But I do recommend that you become familiar with it yourself. Perhaps you can execute your own repairs once you are familiar with it. Also, if you get any severe headaches it could be an issue with the connections causing a loop in your nervous system. This could lead to seizures or worse. So make sure you come see me." Michael spoke with a smile but a tone of concern in his voice.

"Ok, I will make sure to do that, as I don't relish the idea of shaking around on the ground", John replied. "And I think I will get used to the hand before I pickup a took kit for it. Am I good to go doc?"

"Yes Lieutenant you are free to return to full duty. Just take care of that new hand, we can't keep making more." Michael smiled as the Marine left. It seemed that for the good doctor he did not have to go far on this ship to make friends.

1st Lieutenant John Kayhill
Marine Commanding Officer
USS Merlin

Lieutenant Michael Ki MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Merlin