Let's Get Medical (backpost)

Posted on 11 Feb 2016 @ 4:42am by Commander Jayla Kij & Ensign Kelly Khan

1,190 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Rude Awakening
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 8, 1300 hours

"Everybody needs somebody
Everybody needs somebody to love...someone to love.
Sweetheart to miss...sweetheart to miss,
Sugar to kiss...sugar to kiss.
I need you, you, you
I need you, you, you
I need you,you, you, in the morning..."

The opening of a song sung from youthful lungs filled the air with enthusiasm as Cadet Fourth Class Kelly Khan entered sickbay, the last of it trailing off as she made her entrance. "Cadet Khan reporting for physical," she told a nurse with a smile.

Nurse Joshua Hurley gave the cadet a lop-sided smile. "Right this way," he said, leading her to a bio bed. "Hop right up here and I'll tell the Doctor you're waiting."

Kelly returned the smile and went to sit on the biobed. "Thank you," she said.

Jayla appeared only moments later, all smiles as always. "Good afternoon, Cadet," she said cheerfully, pulling out her tricorder. "How are you today?"

"I'm one step closer to being the best pilot alive," Kelly said. "How are you?"

"Well, when you put in that way, I suppose I'm one step closer to being the best doctor alive," said Jayla with a grin as she started her scans. "Any medical complaints or concerns?"

"Does love of chocolate count as a medical issue?" Kelly asked her, liking the doctor's attitude and friendly demeanor.

"Some doctors would say so," answered Jayla. "But, I would think there was something wrong with you if you DIDN'T love chocolate." She studied the tricorder readings. "Everything looks good," she said. "Blood pressure's a little high, but it is for most people when they come in here. I'll check it again before you leave."

"I had a doctor order me to cut back to one hundred grams a day of it for a while when I first entered the Academy, but that was due to my medical condition at the time," Kelly said. "I'm doing much better now, though."

Jayla nodded. "I see no evidence of any hardening of the arteries," she said. "So, that's good. I'm glad they found out what the problem was and were able to correct it. We'll keep an eye on it, though, to make sure you don't have a relapse."

"That shouldn't happen," Kelly said. "It was genetic and the doctors took care of it. I spent a few weeks in medical getting treatments."

"Yes, but we'll keep an eye on it even so," Jayla said. "There's no such thing as too safe."

"As long as I don't have to restrict myself on chocolate ever again," Kelly said. "A hundred grams a day is a tiny amount. I need it to live."

Jayla raised her eyebrows. "I should tell you that there is a lot of theobromine in chocolate, and it can cause problems if you get too much of it," she said. "The first signs of theobromine poisoning are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and increased urination. These can progress to cardiac arrhythmias, epileptic seizures, internal bleeding, heart attacks, and eventually death. You might want to cut back a little. You know, if you want to live."

"But..but...I need it in my life," Kelly insisted, her eyes going wide at the possible effects of too much. "I mean, you'd have to eat a ton of it a day for that to happen, right?" She waited for the doctor to laugh, but didn't think that the woman was joking.

"Not a ton," answered Jayla. "Quite a bit, but not as much as you'd think. Just be careful, okay? And if you notice any of the early symptoms, come to me immediately." Part of it was a scare tactic, but it was born of a sincere concern.

For a moment, Kelly wanted to bite the Doctor, but restrained herself. She had gone through the same thing when she first entered the Academy when the medical issue popped up. "I will," she said a bit sullenly. "I always heard that the replicrap the replicators put out was good for you, anyway. I have a stash of real stuff, though, so I'll make it last until we get back to a safe base."

"It's a necessary evil," agreed Jayla, moving on to check the Cadet's eyes and ears. "And it doesn't taste half bad, either. Granted, it's not as good as the real stuff, but..."

"I'd be willing to share a little if you, uh, didn't mention the theobromine poisoning again," Kelly offered while she hoped the doctor wouldn't take it as an attempt as a bribe and put her on report. "I have chocolate from all over the Alpha and Beta quadrant."

"I won't mention it if you promise to cut back a bit," countered Jayla, closing her tricorder and stowing it in her pocket. "If not for theobromine, then for your figure. You won't keep that fast metabolism much longer."

"I run, swim, dance and do gymnastics," Kelly said. "I also practice two forms of martial arts. But...if you don't want any chocolate..."

"Who said I didn't want any?" asked Jalya, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Just keep all that up and you'll probably be okay. But, still cut down."

"What defines cutting down?" Kelly asked.

"At least by a quarter, but preferably half," answered Jayla. "Granted, if you drop down to twice a week, you can actually eat more. Not a lot more, though."

Kelly took note of the fact that the doctor didn't ask exactly how much she ate and nodded as she began to make calculations in her head to double her normal intake while dividing by half and reducing that by a quarter which would mean that since she was just told she could eat more would result in her eating more than normal. "I'll try," she said, her eyes twinkling merrily at her own cleverness.

Jayla spotted the twinkling. "No fuzzy math," she ordered. "I'd prefer to get you back down to 100 grams a day, average, but I'll be happy if you just decrease from whatever you're eating now. I don't think I want to know how much. Just watch for funny symptoms, okay?"

"Yes, Commander...Doctor," Kelly said, mentally cursing herself to keep her face neutral next time. "I promise."

"All right, you're cleared for duty," said Jayla. "Just make sure you don't end up here with that thing we talked about that I promised not to mention, okay?"

"You have my word," Kelly said solemnly. "Did you need to check my blood pressure again?"

"Oh, that's right," said Jayla, taking out her tricorder again. She repeated the preliminary scans. "Just as I suspected," she said, snapping the tricorder shut again. "Normal. And now you are officially cleared for duty."

Kelly smiled and hopped off the biobed. "Thank you, Doctor," she said. "Maybe I'll see you later with some chocolate you can take off my hands." With that, she turned and headed out of Sickbay.

Jayla grinned as she watched the Cadet leave. "I have a sneaking suspicion that she'll be back," she said to no one in particular. "And it won't be to bring me chocolate."

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