Medical Moment

Posted on Thu Sep 21st, 2023 @ 7:48pm by Commander Lorut Vila & Lieutenant Commander Frasier Greene

1,263 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: First Contact
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD02

Vila had only been a part of this mission for a little while. She'd been putting off her onboarding physical for a bit-on purpose. She hated them. Not only were they a pain in the ass, they were also painful. For her soul. She had a long, storied history of miscarriages and a stillbirth and she hated talking about it. She preferred to drink about it, and forget about it.

Still. She was the XO and needed to set...an example. She could never be a GOOD example, but at least...she could show what you should do.

She rang the chime to the Medical Bay, and let herself in. "Please let Dr. Greene know I am here," she said to the medic who greeted her. She settled in to wait.

The message of her arrival soon filtered through to the CMO who'd been expecting her. In preparation he'd read through her medical file and grimaced with sympathy at the additions of child loss along and historic abuse during the Bajor Occupation. Her prickly demeanour he noted on their earlier inductions had started to make more sense.

Threading his arms through the sleeves of his over coat Frasier while he walked headed into reception to greet her.

"Hello Commander," he smiled. "Why don't you come through?" he continued gesturing for her to follow him into the examination room.

"How are you today?" he asked smoothly.

She made a face. "I'll be better when this is over," she said. "Thank you," she stood up to follow him to the exam room. She looked around the room; it had been awhile since she'd willingly been in Sickbay. It seemed different on this side of it-when she chose to be there. She just hoped that this Dr. Greene was worth his mettle if he'd made Lieutenant Commander so fast. "Biobed?" She asked, when they arrived.

Frasier had smirked at her passing comment and facial expression - no one enjoyed visiting sickbay even for a routine physical such as this, even when injured Greene had been surprised how many officers still avoiding treatment.

"Please," the Doctor replied taking a PADD from his lab coat to make notes from todays visit. Once Vila was comfortable he gentle coached the biobed into life and immediately begun to assess the patient that occupied it.

"Any changes to your physical wellbeing since your last examination?" he asked keeping things professional as not to antagonise the fiery women and run the risk of losing a tooth or two.

Vila hopped up but sighed. "Yes. I ran into my replicator yesterday. I was uh...a little drunk," she said, pulling up her sleeve to reveal a nice gash in her right forearm. "But other than that, no. I am surprisingly healthy as a horse," she said.

"Looks nasty," Frasier observed before reached for the regen tool. "May I?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, it's ok."

"How often do you drink?" the Doctor asked next gently passing the tool over her forearm.

Vila shrugged noncommittally. "Uh...regularly," she said. Seeing his look, she sighed. "Daily. Usually only a few, but lately...it's been more than that. It's not numbing like it used to," she said. This was the first time she'd said that aloud in a LONG time. "About five or six. I prefer Kanar, but really, anything will do."

"Kanar?" Frasier glanced up with a slight grimace before returning to the wound. "Wouldn't be my personal choice. What's changed to feel you need to consume more?"

"This," she said, gesturing around. "I left my last posting rather quickly because of...a personal situation, and the transition hasn't been the easiest. Back there, I was just the Chief Science Officer. Here, I am the Executive Officer. Departmental duties are one thing. And I was doing well-had mostly stopped drinking, and was getting help and some clarity...then...my Captain..died. We were...we had a relationship going on, and he died in the middle of...well. You know," she sighed. "Later that day, I had another miscarriage-from the stress, probably. The newly minted Captain, a Vulcan, "strongly suggested" I be reassigned. Our Sectional Admiral decided that I couldn't get in too much trouble out here, I guess," she said. "Kanar is definitely not for the faint of heart," she said. "And while I'll spare you the "the only good Cardassian is a dead Cardassian" speech, I can at least give them that they made some damn good vintages," she said.

"I never considered the Cardassian's to be connoisseurs," Greene smirked before back tracking to the heart of conversation. "My condolences on your loss, and how things transpired afterwards, everything was in chaos that day even now we're still picking up the pieces," he shook his head to disturb the memories.

Vila made a face. "Thank you," she said, simply. She was glad he understood, and didn't question it further-like "what the hell were you thinking?"

"I'd like you to make a series of appoints with Counsellor Campbell to continue in your healing process, and to explore avenues on handing your workload. Hopefully we can reduce your consumption over the longer term," he switched off the regen tool having repaired the injury. "How does that sound?"

Vila sighed. "The Admiral beat you to the punch. I have direct orders to see her at least once a week," she said. "We were supposed to start yesterday, but got called to the Shuttle," she said. "So tonight." She sighed deeply. She was still not convinced. "And the Captain gets a full attendance report. I will tell Campbell to include you." She said. She fully intended to carry on as she had been, though-it had been working just fine for her the past twenty five years or so.

"Maybe there's a medication or something that can help with the cravings..." she trailed off. It was her way of asking for help, even though she was loath to do so.

The Doctor recognized this was probably hard for her speak about and admit to especially as they barely knew one another. Again his was empathic is his reply: "Thank you, I would much applicate that. I could prescribe you a course of Naltrexone which should help take the edge of your cravings and offer a sense of calm if you'd like."

Vila considered a moment. "Ok. I will try it. Will it make me sick if I drink anyway?" She asked. She had tried something before. But she had fallen off the proverbial wagon and gotten violently ill-so sick that she had spent three days in Medical. She really didn't want to do that again.

Now typing onto the data pad Greene paused to respond to her question: "No, it's safe to use in conjunction with alcohol intake. Just don't go too heavy otherwise they'll neutral one another."

She nodded. She couldn't promise, but she'd try. "Ok, thank you. I understand." She was a bit sad-the prospective of being violently ill might be the deterrent she needed while she dried out.

The Doctor smiled softly but didn't comment sensing she needed a moment to comprehend. Instead, he took down the readings from the bio bed updated the Commander file accordingly.

"Aside from your potassium levels being little on the low side which should be easy amend with some dietary adjustments. Everything else checks out nicely." Greene concluded. "You're free to go unless there's anything else you wish to discuss?"

"Nothing further, Doc." She hurried to her feet, and was out of there in a flash.

 

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