Checking-In for the Check-Ups
Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2020 @ 10:05pm by Lieutenant Gunnar Arnason & Captain Luka Mahone
3,150 words; about a 16 minute read
Mission:
Equivalent Exchange
Location: Haumea Medical
Timeline: MD 05: 1428 Hrs
The first stop on his post-meeting tour of the Colony was the medical facilities, which had yet to see their pending upgrade. Lugh came alongside, as the pup refused to leave Luka the moment he was in view, but the Captain assumed it to be for the best anyways. No one seemed to mind him.
It would not take long for the trek into the facility to lead him to half-absently assisting nurses and pausing while Lugh relished in some visiting attention all over. One day, Luka decided, one day there would be more than one of Lugh. Maybe not any time in the near future... but he was sure thinking it.
Eventually he would find himself near a patient's door, where the nurses had directed him to upon asking for the whereabouts of makeshift Chief Medical Officer. There was a decent part of him that felt bad for making Gunnar stay for so long without much rest. But another part of him had realized that if he were in a similar situation he too would not be able to sit down for long.
And he would wait (more patiently than his pup) for the taller man to emerge from the depths of the patient's room, greeting Gunnar with a smile. "I hope you don't mind me dropping in unannounced."
It had been something of a hectic morning, but Gunnar's face lit when he saw the Captain. "Not at all, sir. I can't think of anyone here who isn't happy to see you any time." He glanced down at a small sound from the half-grown malamute pup nearly glowing with joy at having reacquired his person. "and Lugh too, of course."
"If I thought tearing him away from the colony wasn't going to upset the natural balance of happiness..." Luka trailed off his jest, reaching down to pat the pup on the head. "I'm not here long, sadly. There's a lot to sort out, and the Admiral has seen it fit to have me go through a few simulations and courses. All the kind of stuff that takes time out of... well, doing this. And I'd rather be here. Being present. But that's for later. Time to live in the present." Lugh let out a helpful yip. "That's right, the present. How are things here? Good? Bad? Anyone I can look at with a disapproving Captain look for you?"
Gunnar chuckled. "The only people I'm having any trouble with are civilians, so the disapproving Captain look would likely only make them more difficult." He shook his head, waving a hand as if brushing away the offer he knew might follow. "It's nothing I can't handle. Honestly, now that this virus has subsided everything has been going fairly smoothly, though I certainly appreciate how much you've been present. My last two Captains wouldn't have known me from Adam because they both avoided medical like it was the Neutral Zone."
Luka nodded into his thoughtful frown. He had his fair share of civilian patients, and while there was an equal amount of frustration, the civilians on Haumea were particularly stubborn. "Hopefully the procedures we've set in place will reduce a potential level of colony-wide epidemic if this thing rears it's ugly head during the next winter." He huffed out a small laugh. "You know, I think the issues I had were that Captains made a point of knowing me so they could avoid me like I was the Neutral Zone. Asahi was the best at it, and we were bunkmates on our first assignment together."
"Yes. In a lot of ways we were lucky the weather was so severe that most people sheltered in place on their own," Gunnar agreed. He laughed at the reference to Asahi. "Avoidance there must have been something. But I can relate. I once, very briefly, dated a pilot like that. The woman would throw herself into insane high g maneuvers but quailed at the thought of a check up." He shook his head, chuckling at the memory. "I think she dumped me largely because I threatened to sedate her in her sleep and carry her to medbay if she kept skipping her physicals."
"Oh I gave up, tied him to his bunk while he was asleep, and did the medical scan remotely. He woke up thinking it was... not medically related. That was a fun conversation to have." Luka eyed a pair of nurses that had noticed the pair were talking. He and Gunnar had certainly taken to their friendship quickly, if only due to their similar career options and interest in dogs. But he had noticed the civilian nurses were fond of the two. Overly so. "Well, aside from evasive patients and the usual medical day-to-day, I was hoping I could go over a few items with you. The Medical facilities are about to get themselves an upgrade, and I don't want it to be a surprise, especially if we end up with more Starfleet running around and potentially agitating the populace - even if accidentally."
"I appreciate that, sir," Gunnar replied. "Upgrades are always welcome, and while I know there's a bit of tension with the civilians, here at least it might help." He glanced around to sure MacGuire wasn't nearby. "Honestly, my main civilian problem is from an MD, so giving him better facilities, and potentially different Starfleet medic to grouse at, would only be for the good." And who knew - maybe Emily would find a different officer to crush on, but if she hadn't been put off by the rumors after that disastrous cupcake incident, he didn't know what would do it.
"Oh no, if my experience has taught me anything, it's that once a doctor has their sights set out on you, then it may be easier to find common ground than a diversion. Especially if you have the Starfleet badge and well, they do not." Luka made a note to later go through and make his presence known to the civilian doctors. For him, it made little sense for Gunnar to be bothered by whatever matter a civilian doctor had to give him. Even if he did volunteer to temporarily slot in for the Chief Medical spot. "But you two might find some common ground, especially if it turns out we end up with as many armaments as the Admiral seems to be willing to give the Colony. Depends on how much they like feeling safe."
"Great..." Gunnar sighed. MacQuire wasn't that much worse that some of the grouchier Starfleet doctors he had dealt with, but the awareness of civilian vs Starfleet had somewhat limited his usual options for handling that. At the news of armaments though, his brows rose. He had no idea what MacQuire's opinion might be there, but he himself had decidedly mixed feelings. "Is there a reason to believe we might need an extensive upgrade in armaments?"
"That all depends on who you ask." Luka felt pretty safe giving Gunnar his most candid opinion of the matter. This trust did not stop him from looking about, gesturing for them to take a small detour down one of the more vacant halls in the facility. After they had done so, and Luka took himself another look, that was when he decided to let loose. "Starfleet's worried that Haumea is in a perfect location for either potential terrorists to set up camp or simply as a target. It's remote enough that I disagree with that, but having Starfleet here to begin with... It might have made it more of a target and less of a camp spot."
Gunnar's jaw clenched, hand tightening on his PADD so hard the casing creaked as the potential for terrorists brought a near flashback - a sudden sharp recollection of the agony from a pain stick applied to an open wound. He took a deliberate breath, fighting it back. "I...," He swallowed, gathered himself, grateful for once for a complexion so pale that the blood draining from his face probably didn't show so much. "I hope your assessment is correct. But perhaps if Starfleet is alert to the possibility they can prevent it."
Luka eyed the other man's subtle body language. But, as soon as Gunnar spoke, his gaze snapped back up to the conversation. He chose his next words carefully. "I want to remain optimistic. Admiral Matthews has given me multiple documents on what we're about to receive in terms of security technology, a thought Lieutenant Winslow looked eager to dig into. Between our security and engineering teams, I'm sure we'll be alright. Not air-tight, but as safe as possible. I'm more worried about what the civilian leadership is going to say than I am about any sort of outside threat."
There was slight pause as Gunnar weighed that. He was in general an optimist, or used to be, but he had come a long way back toward his old self and was not going to let a mere possibility derail that. Turning his mind to Luka's concern, he pursed his lips, considering. "My experience there would be that it will vary civilian to civilian. Some will welcome greater protection, others will see it as militarization that shifts the balance of power further toward Starfleet, and most will likely have no firm opinion as long as it doesn't interfere with their business or day to day life."
"That was my fear." Luka fell silent. "With Civilian Director Stone having to give up his position for family matters, I was hoping we would find a director sooner rather than later. But of course, we're not that lucky. Maybe I should think about actually running the colony, or at least taking advantage of that training course, just in case we run into other issues." The sight of Seshi running around frantically and performing all of Oliver's duties hit him hard. He was surprised the woman wasn't in the hospital herself.
Making a mental reminder to check in on her before he left, Luka offered a weak smile. "But that would defeat the purpose of not interfering with the civilian aspects of this colony. And I expect after illness, riot wounds are the last thing you'd like to tend to."
"Certainly something I would prefer to avoid," Gunnar agreed. He'd seen one riot, and that was quite enough. "But I'm not concerned about it escalating to that point, at least not at present. I'm firmly in favor of civilians governing the civilian side of things, but having the training in running a colony might be helpful for you in terms of relating to the council and getting a better idea of where and how our cooperation might be appreciated."
Luka leaned back against the wall. His cheeks puffed up as he drew out a long breath, letting his face settle into the thoughtful frown he kept revisiting over conversations such as this. "I have no intention of actually running the Colony. I can barely put my pants on the right way without running into issues. I don't know how I would be expected to run something quite like this if I can barely manage that... But it's good to hear that I'm not the only one who believes the civilian population should be in charge of what they have created. It's just making sure the Admiral sees that as well that might be the big issue." He looked down, where the young pup stared back up at him, eagerly awaiting interaction. "And besides, if I'm working myself harder than I should be, I won't have any time for this guy."
"I'd rate you rather more competent than that," Gunnar chuckled. "But I understand not wanting to run things." He contained a sigh. Sofia had taken a lot of the admin duties, but he'd be glad when he could go back to a purely medical role. "It does help though to have some background on what the people tasked with running it have to deal with. Though," he looked down at Lugh's expectant face and smiled. "nothing would be worth neglecting this fellow."
"I can't disagree there. There's a lot of work ahead of all of us, regardless of how many duties I end up with." He gave pause. "... But we'll have enough hands soon enough to accommodate all that. Maybe a few extra dogs to go with it too. But we should talk about something more positive. Like medical upgrades, which we're definitely receiving. Did Davna send you the specifications of the equipment we're about to receive? I'm excited for it."
"She did." Gunnar grinned. "I only wish we'd half of them when that virus hit, but with the extra diagnostic equipment and lab resources we should be more than ready for whatever else the planet throws at us. In fact, we may put it use sooner than the next cold cycle. Now that spring has begun I'm starting to see symptoms that look like allergies."
Luka blinked, nearly expressionless as he processed the thought. "Look... Like allergies? But could be something else? Maybe I'll have to draw up plans for emergency triage sooner than we thought. Do we have a source of commonality with the allergy symptoms yet? We might get lucky, if we can find an allergen, we might be able to develop a safeguard-.... I'm doing the medical doctor thing again, aren't I?"
"Yes, but I'm never going to complain about that," Gunnar replied with an amused chuckle. "Besides, I started it." A little more serious, he opened a file on his PaDD and offered it Luka. "Mild respiratory symptoms, which did have me worried at first, but itchy and/or watering eyes and elevated histamines all point toward allergies. Anti-histamines work, but I'm sure those affected will appreciate it once we identified the source and develop medicine to remove the reaction completely. Some of this new equipment for both medical and science should help with that."
"You're not, but I feel like if I go too far, Davna and Sofia might think I'm about to hop into the role anyways. I had toyed with the idea of pushing to make the Starfleet presence a medical research facility. Just think of all the potential we could find on a new planet full of resources. And we could work to make that all sustainable; we wouldn't be asking as much from Starfleet if we had our own way of creating medicines out of the natural resources-" He stopped abruptly, holding up a hand. "... Right, allergy-symptoms."
He took the offered PaDD, perusing the results upon it, shoulders lowering as the tension left them. "As long as it continues to just be these symptoms, it looks like it's a little less than 'obnoxious' for the time being. Allergies we can deal with. Another little epidemic?... I may pitch the idea of a triage to the Admiral before Lieutenant Colonel Bradley spies the information. I'm not sure how Marines deal with epidemics... at all."
"The same as everyone else," Gunnar replied. Despite a personal bent toward pacifism, he was fairly comfortable with Marines. T'Ango was a Marine after all, Dosadi rather than Starfleet, but she'd been part of a SF Marine unit as an exchange officer so he'd gotten to know a fair number of them. "Just much more efficiently." He flashed a smile. "I'll talk to Bradley about the allergies though, just to be sure he knows to point any tough guys ignoring symptoms to medical for treatment."
"Hoooowwww about we wait till Bradley comes to you?" Luka suggested, a crackle of sudden nervousness in his voice. Gunnar might not have minded them, but Luka had a number of other experiences. And, while he expected Shaun was not the type to perform acts of terrorism, the sight of the ever-present Marine-green did not dissuade Luka's apprehension. "If he does. They have medical facilities upon the Titania they can utilize. If we're needed, we can step in, right?"
Okay, then... Gunnar had to wonder what kind of person Bradley was to inspire that reaction. "If you say so, sir." He looked back down at the list of upgrades. "It looks like there's a new EMH, and additional holo-emitters, which will make it a lot more useful. Right now the one we have is basically limited to the operating room and one exam station."
"Exactly." And Luka was back to normal, as if Bradley had not even been brought up. "I was hoping to go over the structure of the hospital with you and Sofia at some point, at least when we get our first module down so we can take a better look at the size of things. I've been told a number of times that it's so many kilometers or so many feet long and wide, but I have no sense of that. I'm sure you and the Commander do... An EMH, I'm a little more hesitant on. Does it say what kind we'll get, or just... say that we'll get one. There are so many models and personality types these days, the last thing I think we need is someone so grumpy."
Gunnar chuffed a laugh. "If we get a grumpy one, I'll have it deal with Dr. MacQuire. Seriously, though, I'll go over the lay-out and we can discuss what should go where with the Commander when she's available."
"Sounds like a good plan." Luka removed himself from the wall he was leaning against. "I guess I'll leave you to it for now. I ran off from Davna earlier, but I'm sure she has a number of different items to bring up with me. The 'Commander Koplo threatened to redecorate your whole office' report was what I left off with."
"You better get back then," Gunnar agreed. "Unless you're partial to bat'leth and mek'leth displays on every wall."
"I absolutely am not." Luka's frown turned determined. "I'll be getting back to Davna sooner rather than later then... I would be mortified to find out how she's dealing with him. You may see a patient swooping in today if it goes the way I think it will - we can replicate Klingon plasma, right?"
"Yes." Gunnar nodded. It might have been meant as joke, but he hd no illusions as to how a confrontation between a pushy Klingon and Divash would end and it wouldn't necessarily surprise him if the same was true of Davna. "Go rescue him. I'll look this over and make some notes for the next meeting."
"Mm." Luka gave one last look down the hallway. There were days where he missed how much less complicated helping people seemed as a doctor. "Come on Lugh, let's go. Before Davna decides to take matters into her own hands, hm?"
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