The Two Doctors

Posted on Thu Aug 22nd, 2024 @ 1:38am by Lieutenant Unri Kavressa MD & Commander Qui Ra-Graveii & Lieutenant Silva

1,800 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 1.01 - "Ad Astra"
Location: Cetacean Ops, USS Carina
Timeline: MD 03, 1023 hours

ON: [[Cetacean Ops, USS Carina, MD 03, 1023 hours]]

In all Kavressa's years of service, there had been relatively few occasions when she'd been required to make any sort of 'house call'. Most of the time, her patients came (or were brought) to her. True, there were those instances when perhaps she was summoned to another part of the ship for an emergency response or had been part of an away mission, but most of the time, she was doing her work within the dry, sterile environment of sickbay.

...which made her appreciate all the more what she was doing now. As an Arkenite, she was perfectly capable of operating within the drier environments most other species required. But when the call came in requesting a visit to cetacean ops, she jumped at the chance. It was an opportunity, not only to connect with her patient, but also to spend time in her natural element. Surrounded by thousands of liters of water, she couldn't help but feel freer and more at ease. The current, such as it was, flowed around her. And she could sense the movement of other beings nearby.

Her focus, however, was on the being directly in front of her - a large humpback whale named Silva. Lieutenant Silva was one of the Carina's cetacean officers. Although this was only Kavressa's first time meeting her, Silva seemed to have no trouble striking up conversation. She would let loose with a series of acoustic sounds and the device in Kavressa's ear would translate into Federation Standard.

"No, no," Kavressa replied, "everything seems to be fine." She paused momentarily for her words to be translated back, glancing down at the tricorder strapped to her wrist as she did so. "I would say you're doing quite well," she continued, "Just maybe try to avoid any culinary...experiments...for the next few days." Another series of sounds, followed by a translation that would have made Kavressa laugh, had they not been underwater.

[[Chief Medical Officer's Office]]

Ra-Graveii sat motionless in the chief medical officer's office. To some they may think he was day dreaming. To the fellow medical staff, an absent seizure. To him though, his mind was working over the new staff coming onboard the vessel. He had met most of them briefly as they onboarded, but had not had the chance to sit with most of them.

After a deep breath, he leaned back in his chair and took in his surroundings. The muffled noise of patients and maintenance permeated through his office door. His office was tidy to the point of almost compulsion. His desk only held a few items, each squared and in their proper place. One of these items, a PADD, was removed from its spot by the owner and he scrolled the list, looking at the current on duty roster.

His communicator chirped at his quick tap, =/\= Lieutenant Kavressa, report to the Chief Medical Officer's office as able. =/\= His voice coming through neutral and monotone. He waited to tap his communicator to close the line after he received acknowledgment.

[[Cetacean Ops]]

The sound of the chief medical officer's voice came through clear on the receiver in Kavressa's ear. She reached up, gave it a tap. "Understood, doctor," she replied, "I will return as soon as I am finished here." Again, she waited for her response to be translated back. Although she may have been able to understand what she was saying under the water, it was almost certain Ra-Graveii would not (at least, not without the aid of translation).

Once she was reasonably sure the message had been transmitted, she tapped the device again and returned her attention to the patient before her. Another glance at the readouts on her wrist tricorder told her everything was indeed looking good. "We should be all set here," she said to Silva, "If anything comes up, don't hesitate to call."

Silva responded with a low rumble followed by several clicks. She waited until Kavressa had put some distance between them before giving a good thrust with her tail and heading off deeper into the facility. Kavressa, for her part, allowed herself a moment to watch Silva go. Then, she turned and swam toward the nearest airlock.

[[Medical Deck]]

Having left behind the waters of cetacean ops, Kavressa made her way rather quickly back to the Carina's primary medical facilities. Passing through the main lobby, she caught sight of a few individuals seated around the space, some conversing with their neighbors while others appeared to be reading or taking in their surroundings while they waited. When she came to the welcome desk, she acknowledged the attendant with a smile. "Morning, petty officer," Kavressa said.

"Morning, doctor," the attendant replied, returning the smile in-kind.

One of the things Kavressa had always enjoyed about working in medicine was the hospitality her colleagues and co-workers showed. And the Carina's staff was proving to be no different. Kavressa had managed to meet quite a few of them already just through little engagements like this (and taking a moment to indulge them). But there would be no stopping this time. As much as she would have loved to chat more with the person, she'd been summoned by the chief. It was probably best if she didn't take any longer getting there than she needed to.

...and so, Kavressa continued onward. She made a brief stop at her own office (just long enough to drop off her things) before proceeding from there to her final destination. Upon arriving at the door, she took a moment to compose herself, then reached out and pressed the chime to signal her presence to the occupant inside.

[[Chief Medical Officer's Office]]

He let the deep inhale go slowly, "Enter," he responded. He moved one PaDD back onto the pile, as if he were cleaning up a dirty desk.

The door opened and Kavressa entered to find Doctor Ra-Graveii, the Carina's chief medical officer, seated at his desk. She wasted little time crossing the threshold and made her way to a point directly opposite the man. "Lieutenant Kavressa, reporting as ordered," she said, standing to attention. In her experience, things tended to be a little less formal in the day-to-day comings and goings of a ship's medical department (often out of necessity). But for a first time, face-to-face meeting such as this, it was always a good idea to do it 'by the book'.

Ra-Graveii looked up from his desk after situating the PaDD onto the proper pile. He removed his glasses from his face and gently let them hang from his neck. "Lieutenant Kavressa, it is a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance. I apologize for not seeing you sooner, our schedules have not aligned until today. I like to make it a point to know my entire staff. Have you settled in well?" His cloudy eyes searched the Arkenite up and down.

"Totally understandable, sir," Kavressa said, "Always a busy time, these transitions. And with so many new folks coming aboard for this mission...that's a lot to keep track of. I've only been here a few days, and my appointment list is already as long as a vel'kah. But, rest assured, the returning staff have been doing an excellent job. They've been quite helpful in getting us 'newcomers' acclimated."

Ra-Graveii nodded as he stood. Sitting had not ruined the crispness of his uniform. His stature did not bring him eye level with Kavressa, but his confidence balanced the difference. "Transition time brings much chaos unfortunately. I'm glad the department has been welcoming, I would expect nothing less of them. Let us walk," Ra-Graveii stated, stepping towards the office door and offering Kavressa to step out first.

Upon the senior physician's invitation, Kavressa stepped out of the office and back into the private corridor. She waited a few steps away for the commander to join her.

Following the fellow officer out Ra-Graveii set a comfortable pace walking back down the administrative area towards patient care areas. "What areas of medicine interest you the most?"

"Family and emergency medicine are my primary specialties," Kavressa replied, "though, we did spend some time while I was on the Pemberton helping rebuild some of the public health infrastructure on Tarento IV. That, to me, was pretty fascinating. Made me realize how much I'd taken for granted that a good, strong approach to public health was the norm. Always has been on Arken II, and quite a few other worlds in the Federation, too. But when the system is damaged (or worse, undermined)..."

Ra-Graveii nodded slowly at the trailing of the statement. "It is unfortunate the circumstances we find some. Brings true joy to be able to help others in such a facet." Their comfortable pace brought them into the first of the patient care areas. This section was devoid of patients, but peppered with medical and maintenance staff. The equipment in the room was in various stages of deconstruction. "The system cannot help without first helping itself," he added. "I believe strongly in the commitment of the self to the pursuit, and equally of the self to the hive."

A moment of silence passed between them as Kavressa pondered Ra-Graveii's words. She could tell, from the way he spoke, that this was not some mere abstraction for him. Rather, it was very real observations borne from years of his lived experience. Even the fact that he was sharing it with her said something about who he was (and what he might expect from those who served with him).

As they neared the end of the space and to another set of corridors, Ra-Graveii slowed the pace to a stop and turned to the fellow doctor, the fellow officer. "I must check on the maintenance teams, and have patient rounds soon. Which I believe you have as well. I look forward to your time onboard Carina. I will see you at Grand Rounds tomorrow Lieutenant Kavressa?" Ra-Graveii asked the question, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, sir," Kavressa replied.

She stood watching as the Efrosian physician continued onward in the direction they'd been heading, waiting until after he'd rounded the corner before she turned back the way they had come. There was, indeed, a lot for them to do before departure (and increasingly less time to do it in). The report on her visit with Silva still had to be finished and, as he'd said, there were other patients, too. But despite all that, Kavressa wasn't feeling pressured so much as excited. This, she decided, was shaping up to be exactly the assignment she' been hoping that it would.

OFF

 

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