Familiar surroundings

Posted on Mon Feb 10th, 2020 @ 10:30am by Lieutenant Noah Reed M.D. & Commander Taeler Santu M.D.

Mission: In the Family
Location: Deck 7 - Main Sickbay
Timeline: MD-01 1000 Hours
1132 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

The doors to the sickbay opened and Santu stepped inside. It was odd how all sickbays gave her the same feeling. The smell was always unmistakable. It took her back to the first moment she stepped inside. Finally made it through the Academy and was ready to start her residencies. Fresh-faced, eager to meet any challenge head-on. Stepping inside rekindled that feeling, this time for her role as First Officer, "Doctor Reed?" She called inside.

Noah Reed was in his office going over the previous night's duty log when he heard his name from the main ICU area. He stood up and walked out of his office to see a Bajoran woman with a red collar and cuffs. "Commander Taeler?" He had studied the command staff roster earlier that morning and knew about the first officer. He didn't think there were many other Bajorans aboard so it stood to reason. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a wide smile.

"The pleasure is mine, I read your paper on Tholian trauma care," Santu remarked and put out a hand to shake his, "Very insightful."

Reed shook her hand and laughed softly. "Oh, that? Yes, it was very fascinating to discover the initial readings, especially since its all we have to go on. I'd be happy to go over the details of my findings with you at a more convenient time if you wish." He paused and then said, "What can I help you with today, ma'am?"

"I was just making the rounds, as they say." Santu smiled and looked around the medical bay, "and I have to admit I was quite curious to see the medical facilities onboard a state of the art vessel such as this."

Reed nodded and looked around as well. The sickbay was smaller than the ones you'd find on bigger vessels, which made sense. However, the layout was very comfortable and open. He didn't anticipate any problems. "Oh yes, the facilities here are quite nice. A few consoles still have the protective plastic on the display buttons." He grinned and pointed toward his office. "Would you like to take this in my office or were you on your way somewhere? I don't want to keep you..."

"Not at all, I'd love to get acquainted," Santu smiled. She looked around the sickbay as they approached the CMO's office. She had never had an all-new sickbay to her disposal in her, admittedly short, time as a Medical Officer.

Noah showed her into his office and walked over to the small replicator. "May I offer you something to drink, ma'am?" He wasn't quite sure how long she planned to stay. Part of him wondered how many other things she must need to attend to after visiting sickbay.

"Lemon iced tea, please." She looked around the office as she took a seat in the visitor's chair of the room. It was weird to be in a place like this and not be in charge, or at the very least have an active role in the department. "Are you fully staffed? Or are we still waiting for additional personnel?"

The commander's tea materialized in a swirl of sparkles along with a hazelnut coffee. Noah took them both and handed Santu the tea before sitting down opposite her. "The other three doctors have all reported aboard. I believe we're just waiting on a few auxiliary staff to arrive. Most of the nurses have started work. Not too shabby, I'd say." He smiled before taking a sip of his hot coffee, savoring the flavor for a moment.

As the doctor answered Santu took the moment to enjoy the sweetness of her own brew, not as great as that one café in San Fransisco that she could never find after, but close enough. "Good, good. Well. let's hope it's never necessary, but I hear we have a pretty advanced medical hologram installed as well."

"So the engineers told me," Reed replied dismissively. "The truth is, no matter how hard some may try, nothing will beat the hands-on experience of a real doctor. If that weren't the case, why not have an entire crew of holograms?" he asked with a chuckle.

"The positive effects of a pleasant bedside manner, I reckon." The holographic doctors were a lot of things, but they couldn't hold a candle to the medical professionals in Starfleet when it came to bedside manner. Santu enjoyed her drink, the sweet cold washed down rather nicely, "Didn't they try something like that at some point? Fully automated vessels?" She couldn't quite remember, but she knew it hadn't been very successful. The whole needs-of-the-many philosophy seems nice in theory but on the grand scale of things could mean the automated fleet might choose to explode a sun in order to deter a Borg invasion.

Doctor Reed nodded and squinted his eyes faintly in recollection. "I have an engineer buddy that was on a project like that. He said it was a big failure. At the end of the day, there are so many things that can shut down power on a starship and render holograms offline that it just isn't feasible to withhold squishy bags of meat." He let out a faint chuckle at that. "For all the technology we can invent, we can't beat bone, muscle and tissue as a reliable agent of exploration, despite our brittle natures."

Santu raised her glass of iced tea and smiled, "Here's to us meat bags." She smiled and took a sip. It was good to talk with another physician. She had the feeling that they understood each other on a much better level than other people around the ship. She finished her drink and looked up at the chronometer on the wall, "I think I should be heading out, got a bit more ground to cover before we depart."

Doctor Reed rose from his seat and set his glass down. He smiled warmly at her and nodded his head. "I'm sure you have many things to attend to, commander. I wouldn't want to keep you away from all those exciting 'management' tasks." He grinned and gestured to the office door. "My door is always open to you, ma'am."

"The same to you, Doctor Reed," Santu extended her hand and gave him a firm handshake to go along with a friendly smile, "I hope I won't have to see you in any professional capacity. No offence."

Reed chuckled and held up his hands. "Oh, no offense taken! I hope we only interact in positive ways as well." He let go of her hand and watched her exit before sitting back down at his desk. He was very confident that he was going to enjoy his time aboard, especially with a fellow doctor on the bridge.

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