Med Alert

Posted on 10 Jul 2016 @ 9:48am by Commander Jayla Kij & Lieutenant Lucas Abrams M.D.

1,917 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Medical

Lieutenant Lucas Abrams came to stand next to one of the biobeds. He was an imposing figure, standing at an impressive six feet-seven inches tall with his long brown hair pulled back and his beard/mustache trimmed within the Starfleet guidelines. His uniform was immaculate with not a single stitch out of place, and it did very little to hide the muscles beneath. Deep blue eyes looked around what would be his new surroundings as a smile formed on his lips. This was going to be his new home now, and that was something he looked forward to.

The large man had made it a point to look up the name of the Chief Medical Officer, one Lieutenant Commander Jayla Kij. He found himself wondering what it would be like to work for her, but considering he got along with almost everyone he met, there likely wouldn't be any issues between them. He was looking forward to meeting her along with all the other crew the Black Hawk had to offer, and hopefully, he wouldn't have to meet them as they came through sickbay. For now, though, he'd stick with the task of meeting the head of his department, then get to know the rest of the crew.

Jayla- who was still on half shifts- showed up partway through the day. She smiled at Nurse Lane, who reminded her that she wasn't to stay late. She spotted her new Assistant Chief- how could she miss him? He was more than a foot taller and had to weigh at least three times what she did in pure muscle- standing nearby and shot him a friendly smile. "Hi," she said as she approached. "You must be Doctor Abrams. I'm Doctor Kij."

"I am, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Kij," Lucas said, smiling down at her. "I thought we could kill two birds with one stone. How'd you like to give me my physical while we go through the normal getting to know you questions?"

Jayla's head quirked to one side. "What a great idea," she said. "So many doctors try to put off their physicals. And, actually, now that you mention it- or I did, didn't I?- I'm overdue. How about this: I'll do your physical, and then you can do mine?" she asked, taking out her tricorder.

"I know they're necessary, so I have mine done whenever they need to be," He said as he sat down on the biobed. "I will do yours, too. Most people don't realize it, but our department is one of the most important ones on any ship. Without us, things would unravel really quickly."

Jayla nodded, opening her tricorder and starting preliminary scans. "Yes," she said. "Who would heal all their wounds when the Captain gets us all into trouble? Notice I said when and not if," she added with a grin.

Lucas chuckled. "I did notice that. So, what can you tell me about previous missions? What to expect with this one? Things like that."

"Well, last time we were supposed to be on shore leave, but a virus broke out," she told him. "Lucky for us, Trill are immune, so I was able to make a cure with the help of our Chief of Science and Chief of Ops. Oh, let's see, we've been boarded, too. That was... interesting. We got the ship back under our control by bluffing, mostly." She grinned. "I pretended that we had a plan and just waltzed into Sick Bay like there was no danger. Then, a bunch of people hidden in the jeffries tubes and ventilation ducts started shooting. It was actually kinda fun. This time around," she sighed, actually not smiling for once in her life. "Word is two Consortium Controlled ships are after a Romulan ship with a Thalaron device. I've been trying to work out what we can do to counteract it, just in case there really is a device, but I've come up empty."

"I... wow," He said, at a complete loss of words for a moment. "It sounds as though things have been rather busy for everyone lately." He turned his attention to her as she scanned him, which wouldn't reveal anything. The man was nothing but healthy except for a few minor sports related injuries he'd gotten over the years. "You've been trying to come up with ways to counteract its effects? Alone? I'm not so sure there is a way to do that, honestly. Wouldn't someone have already thought of it before now?"

"Yeah, I would have thought so, too," she said, switching to secondary scans. "But, I can't find anything at all in all of the information we have. Just a passing mention of hyronalin. And that seems... insufficient."

"I'm not sure anything would be useful, sadly. About all anyone could hope for is it being disposed of before the enemy can use it against anyone," Lucas said. "It's a bit worrisome, isn't it?"

"To say the least," she said, studying to tricorder read out. "Wow, you've gotta be like five percent body fat," she commented. "Maybe four."

"I spend a lot of time in the gym during my free time. Sitting around just isn't one of my favorite things to do. Between sickbay, and working out, there's never a dull moment. Speaking of which, what shift would you prefer I work?" He asked.

"Beta, usually," she replied. "Though sometimes I'll swap with you if you like. I remember what it's like to be stuck on Beta shift all the time."

"Sounds good, though, I can come in whenever you need me to," Lucas said, offering her a lopsided smile. "Like I said... I like to keep busy, so if you want me on call, I can do that, too."

"Glad to hear it," she said with a smile. "We're always being called for something or other. Well," she added, snapping her tricorder shut. "You're the picture of health. Switch places?"

"Yep." Lucas stood up and held his hand out so she could pass the tricorder over to him. "Hop on up, and I'll make this as painless as possible."

Jayla grinned as she handed over the tricorder and jumped up onto the biobed. "Isn't it always painless?"

"Most of the time," Lucas answered with a grin of his own as he began the scan. "That would all depend on if the scans reveal anything major that might require surgery."

"Well, I think I'm safe then," she replied. "What made you decide to go into medicine?" she asked.

Lucas continued his scan, reading the results as they appeared to him. "The need to help people. I can remember wanting to do that ever since I was a little boy. It's always been a huge interest in my life. So, I went to the Academy, then after I graduated, I went to medical school. How about you? What made you decide you wanted to be a doctor?" He glanced at her with a smile before turning his attention back to the device in his hand.

"It was actually my mentor, Saraja Jelic," she said. "I was joined far too young and so my parents sent me to live with her, thinking she could help me cope. She did. I came to think of her as a second mother in the two years I lived with her. She was a doctor and she was always complaining that Starfleet didn't have enough doctors, so I decided to try it. Luckily, I love it."

"Loving it is a good thing. It means you're less likely to suffer from burn out," Lucas stated as his brown furrowed. "Huh... I'm seeing signs of a potassium deficiency here. How have you been feeling lately? Any cramps in your legs or arms, tingling or numbness...?" Of course, there were more symptoms, but since she was a doctor also, he didn't feel the need to run through them all.

Jayla's brow wrinkled. "Muscle twitches," she said. "Mostly my left eyelid and both triceps and calves. I didn't think anything of it, really. Hm. I wonder what's causing it. Take a blood sample and we'll analyze it- but you know that," she added sheepishly. Doctors tended to take over their own physicals and check-ups.

Lucas grabbed what he needed to take a blood sample from her, then began the process. "Have you been sweating more lately? Vomiting? Using laxatives? Drinking more?" Of course, his tone was not accusatory. These were all just routine questions he'd ask anyone that came to him.

"No, I- oh!" she said, suddenly remembering. "I have been sweating more lately as a result of more physical activity. I've been laying a lot of tennis and taking Jiu Jitsu from the chief of security. I didn't even think that an increase in physical activity would change anything. I've been playing sports all my life. But then again, I'm not exactly young anymore."

"That could explain the drop in your levels," He said, setting the blood sample aside. "They're not too bad at the moment, just on the outside of good, but it's enough that I want to monitor it. There's no need to monitor for cardiac arrhythmia's at this point, either. A supplement should actually take care of the problem, but I'm going to want to check you out again in two to three days."

Jayla resisted the urge to just do it herself. "Absolutely," she said with a grin. "What do you think, 5 milis to start out with?"

"That sounds like a good place to start. We'll continue to monitor your levels just to be on the safe side," Lucas said, retrieving a hypospray and loading a potassium supplement into it. He reached out to lower the collar of her uniform and pressed it against her neck to administer the medication. "Eating a banana before you know you're going to be working out might help, too, or something else that's rich in potassium. We don't want you getting to a place where you need to be monitored for cardiac arrhythmia."

"Definitely not," agreed Jayla. "How does everything else look?"

"Everything else looks good," He said, offering her a smile. "Other than your potassium levels, I think you're good to go."

"Well, that's good," she said, hopping off the bio bed. "Thank you very much. Now nurse Lane doesn't have anything to complain about."

Lucas nodded his head and put the equipment away, then picked the blood sample up. "No problem, and it's always nice not to give the nurses a reason to complain. Do you want to analyze this, or would you rather I do it?"

"I'll let you do it," she said. "I've seen enough of the labs to last me a lifetime."

"Then, I'll take a look at this, and let you know what I find out, then. Remember, we're going to check you again in a couple of days to make sure everything is looking better. If it's not, then we'll have to continue with the supplements," He said.

"Yes, sir!" she said, only half jokingly. "I've got some reports to catch up on. Can you keep an eye on things out here?"

Lucas cracked a smile. "Of course. Let me know if you need help with anything. I'm looking forward to working with you, Doctor Kij."

"Same here," said Jayla, and with a final grin, she turned and headed to her office.

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