Not So Common Cold

Posted on Tue Jun 30th, 2015 @ 3:48pm by Lieutenant Nicolette De La Croix & 2nd Lieutenant Robert Lancaster

Mission: Prelude to War
Location: Sickbay, USS Manoora
Timeline: MD01: 1830 hrs

[ON]

Bobby waited patiently just inside the Sickbay with a number of the other new arrivals on board from the recent redeployment of Starfleet personnel. Even though they might be mobilizing for war, there were certain procedures that must be followed, and one of those was the dread ship's physical. With so many people living in a close environment, it was especially important to give them all a thorough checkup so that the doctors could head off any potential epidemics on the ship. The bio-filters of the transporters were wonders, but they weren't one-hundred percent effective, and not everyone had come on board that way in the first place. Bobby knew all of this, and logically it made a lot of sense, but he was one of those who absolutely hated the checkups.

The young man watched the blue-uniformed staff moving around in the room with some level of distrust, and tried to make himself a little smaller than the other people around him. That was hard though. He was tall and quite fit, and the green collar of his uniform made him stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the Fleeties in their usual colours. Maybe the deck would lose power due to some equipment failure somewhere, and he'd get to avoid this. And maybe the Dominion would turn up tomorrow waving the peace flag, ready to sit down and work out a treaty with the Federation before the war even got started. Both were probably just as unlikely.

"Lieutenant Lancaster.." the doctor called out ahead of her, her nose buried in a data padd as she left one patient's screened off bed and headed straight for his. She was prim, for lack of a better description. Effort was put into making the most of her hair and makeup to elevate her uniform to elegant instead of simply utilitarian. She moved like a woman with a purpose, brisk and confidant. "Thank you for your patience. There was a small emergency just before you came in. I'm Doctor De La Croix," she said with a small, professional smile. "You're here for your physical, yes?"

Hearing his name announced, the marine stiffened, and though De La Croix appeared at first to be too studious and fancy to be much of a threat it was obvious that the young man was immediately uncomfortable. Her smile, somehow, only made things worse, and the one he gave back in return was lopsided and hesitant. "Ah, no problem, Doctor," Bobby said. "In fact, if you need to get back to handling that emergency, I could always come back some other time..." He shifted in his seat, and made obvious eyes for the exit.

De La Croix's head cocked to the side slightly, one eyebrow arched in curiously. "Oh, I've got just enough time now to run you through the paces real quick, dear: don't you worry. Why don't you start off by giving me a personal update. Anything new since your last check up? New wounds, illnesses, lifestyle changes?"

Visions of medieval medical instruments immediately sprang to mind when she said she'd put him through his paces, and Bobby began to sweat. "Uh, no real changes," he muttered, watching her warily. "I've been pretty healthy, I think." Lifestyle changes? There wasn't too much to his life beyond training and exercise really. Certainly no dating for the likes of him. "Though I have had a bit of a tickle at the back of my throat lately. I think maybe it's my injections." He was of course referencing the Deltan pheromone suppressants he took each morning, though they were a tried and true medication with no real side effects, even for a half-Deltan like himself.

"Well let's just see.." Nica took a scan and read over it briefly, her lips twitching to the side at the readings. "Are you having any sinus pressure? Sore throat? Headache?" She asked as she opened the tiny bedside stanza and drew out a pair of gloves. "Body aches? Fatigue?"

"I don't think so..." Bobby watched her with growing trepidation. What had that look she'd given her tricorder been for? "Maybe a little tired. I mean, we weren't given much chance to pack up our things before leaving the Dromodon and making our rendezvous with the Manoora. And I usually ache somewhere, I work out a lot." Now it wasn't visions of sharp, wicked instruments that haunted him, but fears of some horrible space-plague. Sickbay was never a comfortable place for a young man with an overactive imagination.

"Here.." she said, taking his hand and pressing it lightly to a certain pot at his throat. "Your adenoids are pretty swollen. Typically a sore throat goes along with that, sometimes swelling in the lymph nodes, sneezing, coughing, light fever.." Noting the young man's pupils contract and the drumming of his pulse under her gloved fingertips, De La Croix sighed and took a step back. "Hey.. look at me. You've most likely got a brush of a cold or an exacerbated allergy giving you trouble. It's nothing to sweat over. Do you want some water?"

When he felt the swelling she'd directed him to, the young man's eyes went wide. He swallowed, hesitantly, and supposed things did feel a bit sore. Had he been coughing? It seemed so...strange, this idea that he might be sick. He'd never gotten sick, not that he could recall. Bobby's hybrid physiology made it a little more difficult for the more common illnesses that plagued either Terrans or Deltans. His eyes met the doctor's, and he didn't quite hear her comforting words. "A cold? I think I need to lie down." With that he, the marine who prided himself on both his fitness and courage, lay back on the bed and lifted a hand to hold his forehead.

"Oh.. okay.. Make yourself comfortable then and I'll just help you get better." Reaching under the bed for one of the many folded coverlets gave the doctor a moment to question herself on whether or not thank of the counseling department had shown up as her her last peek at the manifest. It'd still been wide open as far as she remembered. Nica twitched the sheet over the marine and smiled at him reassuringly. "I'm going to get you something to bring down the swelling and help you stay comfortable. We'll get you better in no time, okay?"

The doctor motioned back over her shoulder for one of the nurses coming in with the shift change. "Madine, I need you to grab me a few medications, please. Piroxicam, phenergan.. correlate weight and check the chart for medication flags." Catching the nurse's odd look, Nicolette just smiled a little wider. Her gut said that leaving Lancaster would be a serious issue. Whatever was going on with him wasn't relegated to only a cold. As the scans were mostly clear she wasn't worried about a life or death issue as much as she was the possibility that there was some sort of psychological trauma adding to the mix. Maybe severe fatigue and being under the weather mixed with the stress of the scramble for readiness just cascaded down for him. She touched the hand that was pressed to his forehead and squeezed his fingertips lightly. "Robert? Tell me about what you're feeling. Are you dizzy? Is there pressure?"

The blanket seemed to comfort him some, but he looked absolutely miserable otherwise. Bobby nodded his thanks as De La Croix told him she would fix things, eyes no longer looking at her with wariness but now with absolute trust. He settled down as she ordered medications, surely she had everything under control. He could vaguely pick up on her confidence, but then realized emotions around him weren't as clear as they were normally either. That brought another bout of panic, and he didn't stop to think that it was his agitation that had disrupted his concentration and not some minor illness his mind had inflated into something dire. "Yes, dizzy," he muttered. "I feel a little light-headed, like after pulling too many g's in the simulator."

Nicolette nodded as he spoke, watching his face as much as absorbing the words. "The inner ear reacts to pressure whether it's sinus or external. We'll get you fixed up. The medication that I ordered will bring down the swelling, act as an antihistamine and anti-vertigo and also a calmative. You'll be a little tired for this first dose, but once the swelling comes down and the vertigo passes- and no other symptoms arise- I'll send you back to your berth with something that won't make you drowsy. I'm pretty confident that you'll bounce back quick with a little rest, medicine to control the symptoms and supplements."

Madine returned with the loaded hypospray and passed it off to Nica. "No flags."

"Good. Two shakes of a lamb's tail and you'll be feeling much better Robert. Just relax, maybe nap and 45 minutes or so you should feel markedly better." De La Croix took his left arm and gently pushed up his sleeve rather than exacerbate the poor man's already tender adenoids to apply the hypospray. "Quick as a wink- and it's done. Just relax."

De La Croix's words and soothing tone had the desired effect, though being injected with medicine probably helped a lot as well. The pilot began to relax almost immediately, the tension draining out of him if not all the worry. He was sick! It still surprised him that it had happened. Maybe he'd picked up some bug since coming on board. Starships were like little sealed containers with all sorts of germs, right? The Manoora could have had a mixture of them that the Dromodon hadn't. "Thank you, Doctor," he said, settling down and getting comfortable. A nap did sound rather nice, and the young man yawned widely for a moment. Then he smiled at her, "And please, you can call me Bobby. All my friends do."

"All right Bobby, I'm Nica." The woman said with a small smile. "I'll keep an eye on you as I work, you just rest up."


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2nd Lt. Robert Lancaster

and

Lt. Nicolette De La Croix