After-Shots |
Summary: | Micah gets his Muskeg innoculations. Rhea medicates. Reighner gets a hug. |
Date: | 14 ACH |
Related Logs: | None |
Players: |
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Sickbay Genesis - Deck 13
14 ACH 6735 Souls
The medical facility is large enough to hold a few dozen beds. Each bed is set with a curtain for privacy, a chair near the bed and any monitoring or medical aids needed. A nurses desk sits at the front near the hatch and a surgery area, Medical Officers area and supplies are on the far wall behind the desk. Nurses, doctors and medics man this area at any time day or night. Visiting hours are usually kept to the day and evening schedules, unless stated otherwise by medical staff.
----< Condition Three - Duty Area >----—-
Contents: Micah Reighner Rhea Medical Charts Memorial Board
Wireless 1492
Exits: [CMO] CMOs Office [O] Corridor
[PO] Psychiatry Office [RW] Recovery Ward
Special: +lhelp - Local Help Available
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Reighner is leaning over the front desk, writing on a patient chart.
Micah is starting to become a regular, or at least a common, fixture around here. Obviously just returned from a duty shift, he's dressed still in officer's blues, and enters the sickbay with a somewhat furtive step. One of the waiting area chairs is sought out and slumped into, as far from the other (potentially contagious) patients as possible.
Rhea enters Sickbay. At a rather deliberate pace. One hand resting lightly on her temple. Squinting at the bright lights. They seem to annoy her. She stops at the front desk. Where she spots Reighner. "Doctor. Good day."
"Major Zimmerman." Reighner caps his pen and slides it into his coat pocket. He straightens. "Something I can help you with?"
An admitting nurse at the front desk waves his hand to get Micah's attention. If he does, he waves the pilot toward the desk.
Micah glances briefly toward the Major, and the doctor she's stepped up to speak with. Then away again to a clock on the wall, and somewhere in the midst of it that nurse manages to gain his attention. Pushing to his feet again, he ambles toward the desk.
"Just a couple of aspirin, please," Rhea requests, idly massaging her temple some more. "I'm feeling a little delicate today." She looks decidedly hung-over. The sound of Micah's footsteps makes her wince.
Reighner furrows his eyebrows and scrutinizes Rhea the way doctors do. "Come on back." He closes the chart and passes it off to the nurse.
The admitting nurse asks Micah, "Are you waiting for somebody or would you like to be seen?"
Micah isn't much for treading softly, either. Thump thump thump. "Captain. Major." It's mumbled as he reaches the desk, and then he turns his attention to the nurse. "Need a couple of shots and a clean bill of health. Hopefully not more than that."
Rhea's brows furrow right back at Reighner. She sighs, wordlessly following him. Micah earns a low "Ensign" in reply. And a glare, for his clomping.
Reighner leads Rhea into a curtained bed. "Go ahead and sit." He pulls the edges of his white coat together and crosses his arms. "When did this headache start?"
"What kind of shot do you need?" the nurse asks.
"I don't think he mentioned a name," replies the Ensign, scowl taken in stride as he keeps his focus on the nurse. "Whatever's standard, I guess, for the personnel going down to the muskeg."
Rhea groans, laying on the bed. "A full exam isn't necessary, Doctor. I'm well aware of the source of my headache." But, for his benefit, she replies, "It started around the time I woke up this morning, after several more glasses of Picon rum than was good for me."
There's mild surprise when Rhea lays down, but Reighner quickly recovers — the way doctors do. "Yeah? How much did you drink last night?" He walks to the cart and opens it up, looking for a prescription pad.
The admitting nurse nods. "Alright. Go on ahead to the back, over there by bed three, a nurse will give you the shots."
"Sure, mate," Micah mumbles to the nurse, pivoting on his heel to head for the indicated area set up at the back of the sickbay. Dropping into a chair there, he decides to pre-emptively shrug out of his jacket.
"Just three or four. But I downed them pretty fast and that stuff kicks. And I'm something of a light-weight. I don't drink that much too often," Rhea replies. She likes the laying down. It's comfortable.
A female voice from behind the curtain says, "Next."
Reighner finds the prescription pad and puts it on the cart. Out comes the expensive-looking pen, and he starts scribbling. "Do you feel like you should cut down on your drinking?"
And it's back to his feet again. Micah could double as a yo-yo at this rate. Jacket tugged off and slung over one arm, he's dressed in a navy-issue t-shirt and tank top beneath it. The curtain is ducked behind, his manner one of nonchalance about the whole ordeal; maybe getting stuck with a needle isn't a big issue for him.
Rhea gives Reighner a long, steady look. "I feel like I should have cut down on it last night," she deadpans. "Can I have my aspirin, please, Doctor?"
The woman behind the curtain isn't dressed like the other nurses. She wears a white coat, and she also has the ubiquitous stethescope around her neck. Stitching on her coat identifies her as an almighty Registered Nurse. She puts down her telephone as Micah enters. "You're here for the vaccinations." It's said more like a statement.
"Answer the question, please," Reighner requests, voice equally dry.
"Aye." /That/ is said more like a growl. Someone doesn't have much patience for waiting his turn in sickbay. "Sure it doesn't need to be, you know, a doctor giving me the shot?" he asks, settling down and waiting to be instructed in what to do.
Micah's question seems to annoy the RN, so she doesn't answer it. She takes out a few needles from the cart. "Sit down on the bed, lift your t-shirt on whichever arm you want the shot in." Very businesslike.
"Arguably I should drink more, to raise my tolerance," Rhea replies to Reighner dryly. She sighs. Giving him a serious answer. "In general I'm not a heavy drinker, Doctor. It's never been one of my favored vices. I suppose I just forgot where my limit was. It happens." A brief, pointed look at him.
Hesitating a moment longer, Micah finally gives an audible huff of breath through his nose, and tugs up the arm of his t-shirt. It's the right.
Reighner nods. He doesn't, however, seem to be veering away from this line of questioning. It looks like he signs the prescription. Laying his elbows on the cart, he asks, "Has anybody ever talked to you about your drinking, and if so, do you feel annoyed when it happens?"
The RN rubs Micah's arm with an alcohol wipe. By way of conversation, she asks, completely disinterestedly, "What are you going to be doing down on the planet?"
"Aside from right now, you mean?" Rhea deadpans at Reighner. She sighs. "No, Doctor. In general, I'm not much on self-medicating with anything heavier than caffeine."
"Have you ever felt guilty after drinking?" Reighner asks dryly. Those deadpans are bouncing off of him like arrows on armor.
"First, I'm going to catch me a swamp beast. A big motherfrakker. Then I'm going to haul it back on the raptor, and let it loose on the Genesis, and see how many people it eats before they manage to contain it. I'm taking bets right now, you want in?" Hey, ask a disinterested question and you'll get a ridiculous answer. Micah's got an utterly deadpan expression on his face while he says it.
Seems the RN will have the last laugh, as she jabs Micah's upper arm with the first of the three needles. Then comes the other two in quick succession.
Rhea continues to shoot deadpans at Reighner like arrows. Bouncing or not. "It did cause me to ruin gentleman's leather jacket in college once," she goes on dryly. "But he never called me again, so I can't say I felt all that bad about it, in retrospect. So, no."
Not entirely prepared for that, the mouthy pilot lets out a few choice curse words when that first needle jabs him. "What pissed in your cornflakes this morning?" he grumbles just before the second snicks in. By the third, he's at least shut his mouth and is watching the opposite wall silently.
Reighner rips off the top, filled-out sheet from the prescription pad. "Let's say it's morning. Do you feel like you need a drink as an eye-opener?"
Micah's question seems to annoy the RN again, so she doesn't answer him, again. She removes three circle bandages and applies them over the three holes made in his skin. "These shots have been associated with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in ten percent of patients. They should subside within a week if they develop."
"Just the usual bottle of Sagittaron potato whiskey to chase with my morning coffee. Is that unusual?" Rhea deadpans some more at Reighner. She sighs. "No, Doctor. I don't drink in the mornings. It's sort of recommended you go to Engineering sober. Something about the wires."
"Yeah. Ta." It's flipped off like he could have used his middle finger instead, and the young Ensign slides off the bed in order to grab his jacket and book it for the door. There might or might not be a 'bitch' muttered as he sweeps out; it would certainly take some careful listening to catch it.
Reighner nods. "You can get up now. Congratulations, you've passed." He gives her a prescription for a drug not called aspirin.
The RN doesn't seem to mind. She dutifully records the immunizations and calls in the next patient.
Micah leaves for Corridor 13B [O].
Micah has left.
"Thanks," Rhea mutters, still dry, taking the prescription. She peers at the drugs she was given. "What exactly is this? And should I not operate heavy machinery after I take it?"
Reighner explains as he lifts the curtain, waving her through, "It's a drug similar to aspirin, but more effective for alcohol withdrawal. It doesn't cause drowsiness. The pharamacist can explain the side effects when you get that prescription filled, but I remember it to be well-tolerated."
Rhea grins. "You're an officer and a gentleman. Thanks again." She sits up, looking rather sorry to get out of the laying position. Though she doesn't take off yet, regarding Reighner for a moment. "How are you feeling, Doctor?"
"Better," Reighner replies, but in a tone that suggests that he doesn't want to talk about it.
Rhea nods, sliding off the bed. Getting on her feet. She's rather eager to get her prescription filled. "Good. Doctor Reighner, I…" She trails off. Not knowing what to say. "…Take care of yourself. I'll see you later." With that, she leaves him to it.
Reighner seems to consider what she said. As she passes by, he says, in an abrupt departure from protocol, "Rhea."
Rhea stops, turning. "Matt…" she says quietly. "If it were me…I'd be an absolute wreck. I won't say I'm sorry. It sounds so hollow. But if you need someone to talk to…" She trails off, shrugging.
Reighner tries a full smile, but it just comes out weak and nostalgic. "Thanks." He pats her on the shoulder, in an 'I'll be okay' sort of way. "Let me know if the headache doesn't go away in a couple of hours."
Rhea nods to Reighner. Half-turning again to go. But, again, she doesn't quite make it. Then, abruptly, she reaches out to hug him. It seems an instinctive gesture. And she's not a large woman, so he's in no danger of being crushed.
Reighner is taken by surprise, but he manages an ultimately uneven and awkward squeeze. "I'll be okay," he mumbles, putting into words his original meaning.
Rhea is squeezes back, tightly, before she lets him go. "I'm not sure how okay any of us are right now. But, we'll muddle through." She gives his shoulder a parting pat, then finally exits for real. To score her drugs.
Reighner stays by the curtain, watching her go for a moment. He shakes his head, grins just slightly, and turns around to stow away everything back in the cart.