Lets Get Physical

Posted on Sat Apr 26th, 2025 @ 12:43pm by Lieutenant Gabrielle 'Gabi' Shimoda & Lieutenant Sara'draphia T'eseri

2,449 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Impending Midnight
Location: Sickbay, USS Missouri

ON

Having dumped her bag in her quarters, Gabi had spent a moment alone to recover from the encounter with Harris and Lakret on the starbase. Her heart raced and mind ached as she recalled the interaction. It had rattled her; memories from her misspent early career were dredged up, the feelings, the digs at her professionalism. Walking through the corridors of the Missouri, she felt somewhat at peace with the fact that soon they couldn't get to her, and the mission would keep her mind focused on what was most important.

On to the next job, the physical in sickbay was a routine, though often dreaded part of checking in to a new assignment. It was an opportunity to be poked and prodded by Starfleet's best and brightest medical minds. Starfleet personnel lined the room on biobeds under the scrutiny of the medical personnel, no doubt in the same boat as Gabi.

Across the room, Gabi saw the woman directing it all. A Nissari. Somewhat unique for the time and the place. She found that quite interesting.

"Doctor T'eseri?" Gabi asked, heading toward the CMO. "I've been instructed to report to you for my medical check-in."

Turning to face the new arrival, Sara gave her a warm smile, "excellent, well then, welcome to sickbay. If I could get you to take a seat on one of the biobeds, we can get your check done"

"Sure thing," Gabi nodded. She slipped onto the biobed with a quiet wince. Her body gave a quiet protest as she settled on the examination table.

noticing the wince, Sara took a mental note of it as she grabbed her medical tricorder and started her scans, "so, Is there anything that you would like to tell me? Any issues that you have noticed lately?"

"Just a thing in the turbolift."

"Thing with the turbolift? What happened?" Sara pressed as she finished up her scans and started to put them into the computer. She could see there was a little bit of physical damage from the impacts with the turbolift. Judging by the locations, the lift must have dropped suddenly and just as suddenly stopped.

"I believe the gravity systems failed. I was raised to the roof, then thrown back down... not an experience I'd like to repeat. I have to admit I'm," The Lieutenant paused, hesitating, "Sore."

Sara nodded, "I don't doubt that. well, you haven't sustained any major damage. With a little rest and a warm shower, you'll be fine." she said, giving Gabi a smile. "and keep out of any more unstable turbolifts, doctor's orders"

“I’ve been sticking to the Jefferies Tubes unless I’m in a hurry, believe me. It was enough to give me elevataphobia.” A rare joke from the Lieutenant was accompanied with an even rarer reciprocated smile. But as the moment passed, Gabi tilted her head slightly. “So, Doctor, where did you grow up?”

Sara’s smile only grew. It wasn’t very often that people would ask about her own people, “I grew up on the homeworld of my people, Thyra. It’s quite a beautiful planet, 95% of its surface is covered with deep, blue oceans, under which we build grand dome cities and even built our starships. The one land mass on our planet was left mostly uninhabited short of a weather monitoring station that rarely had anyone operating it”

As she spoke, the computer gave a quiet beeping sound that concerned Sara. Walking over to a nearby display, she pulled up the alert as she continued to talk. “As I’m sure you can imagine, my people have the ability to breath underwater and dive the deep depths of my homeworld without any need for an exo-suit. In fact, I was told about a movie from Earth that quite appealed to me, the Little Mermaid. Ever seen it?”

“I can’t say I have,” Gabi replied. She watched the Doctor with concern, her eyes shifting a little as she detected that subtle shift in body langue. Gabi’s voice faltered slightly, trying to hide her own alarm. “I’m, uh, I’m not an Earther. But it does sound… intriguing. What’s it about?”

"it's a story about a female mermaid, a marine species with a fish like tail, and her desire to explore the surface world and potentially gain the affections of a prince. Classic princess story" Sara explained as she looked over the scan results, "have you been having trouble sleeping lately?"

"Not particularly," Gabi replied, her jaw tightening. She felt the weight of her words, a lie of omission, a violation of her personal code. It wasn't entirely untrue; she was sleeping, just... with a little chemical help. She tried her best to keep her words even. Dismissive. Deflective. "Odd hours, high pressure, stress. It messes with the body clock. I'm sure you know how it is."

"normally that would be true, however your body tells me a slightly different story" Sara said, turning to face Gabi, "while it's only trace amounts, I'm detecting signs of a sedative in your system, which tells me you've used a sedative within the past 24 hours. You wouldn't be able to tell me why that is could you?"

Gabi sighed. She wasn't going to lie to a Starfleet doctor, especially not one with her charts right in front of her. No amount of obfuscation or operative tomfoolery was going to save her when science was on T'eseri's side. "Just something to help me sleep. As I said, stress, strange hours," oh, and space sickness, a bout of gastroenteritis from questionable cuisine and nightmares featuring the shredded emerald-splashed remains of a Vulcan scientist. "Is there anything you found that I should be concerned about, Doctor?"

Sara gave Gabi a frown, "trouble sleeping and strange hours are not acceptable excuses for abusing sedatives Ms Shimoda. Constantly taking sedatives to sleep not only covers up the underlaying cause of what is causing your insomnia but will also have detrimental effects on not only your body but also your mind." she said as she walked over to stand in front of Gabi with her arms folded. looking the woman straight in the eyes, Sara gave her a look of disappointment, "Sleeping using sedatives does not allow your body to properly reach REM sleep, and thus can prevent your body from healing naturally and prevents your subconscious mind from processing the experiences and emotions it need to for your mental health. Besides, the longer you take a medication, the more your body becomes resistant to its effects, eventually resulting in the medication becoming useless when it is actually needed. I imagine you would prefer not to be awake if and when I have to operate on you"

Giving a moment's pause, Sara gave a sigh, "I have no choice, you will remain here overnight for observation. You will not be given any further sedatives unless absolutely necessary." She said before she walked over to retrieve her PADD and started typing, "I will inform the Captain and the Commander about this and request that you be placed on light duties until we can deal with whatever is causing this."

"Doctor..." Gabi sighed, her gaze narrowing a fraction. "I understand your concerns, though don't you think this is a bit heavy handed? I remind you, you detected a trace. I'm sure you and your staff have better things to do than babysit someone who needs a cup of tea and a lie down. I give you my word, I have no sedatives, I... ran out." Not untrue, there was no way she was getting another vial on the Starbase. "You can monitor me, fine, but I refuse to be sidelined on a whim, not on the eve of this crucial operation. I'm sure you can think of a more suitable alternative."

Giving a moment's pause, Sara gave a sigh, "I have no choice, you will remain here overnight for observation. You will not be given any further sedatives unless absolutely necessary." She said before she walked over to retrieve her PADD and started typing, "I will inform the Captain and the Commander about this and request that you be placed on light duties until we can deal with whatever is causing this."

"Doctor..." Gabi sighed, her gaze narrowing a fraction. "I understand your concerns, though don't you think this is a bit heavy handed? I remind you, you detected a trace. I'm sure you and your staff have better things to do than babysit someone who needs a cup of tea and a lie down. I give you my word, I have no sedatives, I... ran out." Not untrue, there was no way she was getting another vial on the Starbase. "You can monitor me, fine, but I refuse to be sidelined on a whim, not on the eve of this crucial operation. I'm sure you can think of a more suitable alternative."

Considering Gabi's words for a moment, Sara thought through her options. Technically, she could pull her off duty under her medical authority, but that was a little extreme in this situation. After a moment's of thought, Sara came up with a compromise, "fine, I won't keep you from your duties, but I would like you to wear a monitor for the next couple of days so I can monitor you sleep cycle to ensure the use of sedatives hasn't negatively impacted your ability to actually reach REM sleep. Is the acceptable?"

"Very well. Thank you, Doctor," Gabi nodded. Crisis averted, for now. She watched the medical officer for a moment, despite being a bit alarmist, she appreciated the efficiency with which the other officer conducted herself. "So, how long have you been aboard the Missouri, Doctor?"

"I only arrived a short time ago" Sara answered before she turned around and walked over to a nearby cabinet to retrieve the medical monitor, "I'm looking forward to serving onboard this ship. It's quite the fascinating piece of technology" Sara returned to Gabi, pausing for a moment, "i'm going to attach this to you just behind your ear. That way you can wear it without it causing you any issues" she said, holding out the device in her hand. it was a small, circular disc with a few flashing blue lights.

Gabi eyed the device suspiciously. Her jaw tensed a little when she saw the flashing. "V-very well."

"it's ok, It won't hurt you I promise" Sara said, hoping to calm Gabi's concerns, "do you have an aversion against technology like this?"

"Uh..." Gabi found herself oddly on-edge. She tried to cool her jets, but the blinking device continued to unsettle her. She took a deep breath and stowed her anxieties. Not here. Not now. "Not-not normally, no. I apologise, I don't know what came over me. Proceed, Doctor."

Pausing for a moment, Sara placed the monitor on the biobed beside her, "come on, this has clearly made you uncomfortable. You won't be able to focus on your work if you're distracted by the monitor. Now tell me, what's wrong?"

Gabi’s eyes lingered on the device as it blinked away. Her own reaction had caught her off guard, even she was searching for answers. “I’m… I’m not sure. Maybe it just reminded me of something. It’s never been an issue before. Maybe I’m more tired than I thought.” Gabi shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, “It’s okay. Please, Doctor, put the monitor on.”

Giving a sigh, Sara sat down beside Gabi on the bed, "Gabrielle, please don't force yourself into any decisions, I may not be a qualifies counsellor, but i'm here to listen if you want to talk about something. Now, I can tell that the idea of the monitoring device is bothering you. Why do you think that is? What do you think the device reminded you of?"

Gabi stayed quiet for a moment, eyes on the floor. Then her eyes flicked back to the device. “I’m not sure. That’s what bothers me the most. That monitor is harmless, I know that, but when I saw that blinking… something made me… uneasy.”

"so it's the blinking that is causing you distress? Interesting" Sara said, picking up the device, "if it would make you feel better, I could try to replicate an alternative to this device that doesn't have any external display?"

Gabi hesitated. Her instinct was to brush it off, insist in that blinking device and to say she was fine. But the doctor’s concern was genuine, and that counted for something. She offered a faint smile. "That would be great. Thank you."

Taking the monitor back to the replicator, Sara brought up the technical specs for the monitor and quickly removed the display. It was surprisingly easy, so Sara chose to save the altered design for future use. After replicating the new design, she returned to Gabi and held it out for her to inspect, "is this more comfortable for you?"

Gabi took the device into her hands and looked it over. She nodded. “Perfect, Doctor. Thank you for making the effort.”

"You are most welcome, I find a nice positive relationship between doctor and patient helps with treatment and helps to build trust" Sara said in response as she moved around to Gabi's side, brushed back her hair and placed the device just behind the ear, "Now you may feel it for an hour or two, but you should become accustomed to it before long. Please do not remove it unless absolutely necessary, the device is completely encased in hardened plastic, so it shouldn't be troubled by water or a sonic shower."

Walking back around to stand in front of Gabi, Sara gave her a smile, "so, is there any other physical issues you wish me to look at?"

“No, I don’t think so,” Gabi replied. “But I think I’ll take that shower to ease those aches when I get to my quarters. If there’s nothing else, I’ll wait for your summons to go over your readings.”

Taking one last scan, Sara gave Gabi a nod, "nope, we're all finished here. You are as fit for duty as I can make you currently. Go get some rest and I'll see you around the ship" she said before giving Gabi a warm smile.

“Much obliged, Doctor,” Gabi returned the smile and slipped off the biobed. Again, giving a wince and hobbled toward the door. The spook paused and turned, knowing now she was under a level of scrutiny that could only be rivaled by those who fell under her own microscope. “And… thank you.”

OFF

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