Setting The Example

Posted on Sat Jan 11th, 2025 @ 3:50pm by Lieutenant Liam O'Riley & Lieutenant Erin Cussen

1,006 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Medical Complex
Timeline: Current

Liam walked into the reception area of the medical complex wanting to set the example for the rest of his team . Walking up to reception "Good morning, I'm Lieutenant Liam O'Riley here for my boarding physical" he commented figuring he may as well get this seen to while he had the chance.

Looking up from her work "Good morning Lieutenant, yes by all means we certainly can do that for you" the young Ensign replied with a smile "Let me pull up your medical file and forward it to the Doctor; it'll only take a moment."

"There all set" she replied then stood "If you'll please follow me this way" as she headed towards the interior of the complex.

Once inside she turned "Please have a seat and the Doctor will be with you momentarily."

Liam sat for a few minutes when he looked up seeing a Doctor walking towards him. Standing "Doctor, I'm Lieutenant Liam O'Riley here for my boarding physical" he stated with a smile.

Erin was happy for any interruption at the moment and eager to meet the crew. With no hesitation she left her reading to meet with the another crew member. "Good morning, Lieutenant," she said smiling as she stepped forward. "Nice to meet the man the keeps this boat together," she grinned, stretching her hand out to greet him.

Shaking her hand with a smile "I'm certainly going to give it my best shot" Liam replied "And it's nice to meet the women who's going to keep us all healthy and patched up" returning the compliment.

Erin chuckled at his response as she led him to her office and the examination area where signs of her personal touches were already visible. There were some decorations, but most striking was the potted plants along the side and several others hanging or standing in startegically placed holders, giving the otherwise stark environment an inviting and natural feel and look."Please take a seat," she asked and indicated for him to sit in the adjustable examination chair she had helped design. The half circle that served as a backing and the arm rests automatically scanned the vital organs and rest of the upper body. The revolving seat and its support scanned the lower body. The results were displayed on a screen to the side which both doctor and patient could see. The medival tricorder was only used for more in depth scans if required.

Taking a seat O'Riley couldn't help but notice his surroundings "Nice touch adding some greenery to tone down the antiseptic feel. Most medical facilities seem so sterile and stark" he commented with a grin.

"I agree," Erin responded. "I don't even like to term "sick bay". It sounds like everyone here is sick, or have to be sick to be here. And that is not true,". When Erin switched on the unit, it whirred softly into action, two continuous blue lights moving from left to right in the back of the chair and up and down at the bottom. The results were cast on the display for both to see. "Heart lungs, circulation, no issues," she said as a diagram of his cardio-vascular systems were displayed. Next, the nervous system, followed by the gastro-intestinal, endocrine, skeletal and muscular systems were displayed one by one. Using her fingers, she pinched the lower thorasic and lumbar sections of his vertabrae and surrounding muscles on the monitor to draw it into a three dimensional image for better examination. She manipulated the image and wideling her fingers, enlarged the area, to the point that they could see individual muscle cells. "You must have some discomfort in your lower back?" she asked.

Looking at the screen seeing his....well....insides he grinned "Nice toy there Doctor; can that predict my future" grinning even more "To answer your question....yes....at times....but it's usually after I've been working in confined spaces for long periods of time" Liam concluded.


Erin had to laugh, enjoying his sense of humour. "I see in your future some pilates classes, to strengthen those lower back muscles," she said with a grin. "I recommend that you use ..." she said as she searched for a specific one, "PL 34A and work your way up. The default programme has a female instructor and usually a few women in the group, but you can change it of course, so you don't feel too intimidated. As for the rest of your future..." she said peering into the image as if it was a crystal ball, "if you continue to look after yourself like you do, you should live a long happy life."

Liam gave a light chuckle at Erin's response "Now that's what I like, a Doc with a sense of humor. Usually when I say something like that I just get the look....like I have two heads or something" he replied "As far as the pilates classes I may as well give it a shot for a month or so and see if it helps; for the record I don't have a problem with a female instructor" then he paused "So a long and happy life huh.....I can handle that."

"While I'm here if there's ever anything you need from an engineering perspective, please don't hesitate to contact me; that's what I'm here for" Liam stated with a smile.

"Thank you, I tend to break things, so I may take you up on that," Erin grinned.

"Good, that'll give me job security" as Liam chuckled lightly "Looks like I've taken up enough of your time Doctor, so if you'll excuse me I need to get back to engineering; have a pleasant rest of your day " he replied then paused "And those classes are on my to do list" as he turned and left medical.

"Good, have a good day too" Erin said. "At least you didn't break my new chair," she quipped with a dead pan face.


Lieutenant Liam O'Riley
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Valkyrie

&

Lieutenant Erin Cussen
CMO
USS Valkyrie

 

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