To Good Health and Friendship

Posted on 08 Dec 2022 @ 4:57am by Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair MD, DVM & Ensign Autumn Cole

2,509 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: S3 Episode 5: Diplomatic Incident/Hydaransz Again (Incidentals)
Location: Medical

[ON]

It had been discussed her going in for her coming onboard physical, the night before. And Autumn was determined to do just that. Besides after the first initial meeting she had at the party, Autumn wanted to get to know the ACMO a bit more, and it was Doctor Sinclair who convinced her to join the rest of the group. Feeling pretty good after that meal that Commander Dodd had made her, before she went to sleep, Autumn had a cheery smile and waved at those who she passed by.

She did pause though to get some coffee for the Doctor, and a pastry just in case she needed it. Then resumed her travel to Sickbay. Upon entering, Autumn looked around then asked one of the staff there where she can find Doctor Sinclair.

"Hello, is Doctor Sinclar in? And I have coffee for her." Autumn greeted them cheerily.

Nurse O'Dowd pointed into the office. "Right in there, Ensign," she said.

Jane sat at the desk, doing paperwork when she overheard her last name in a familiar voice. She looked up and saw the nurse directing Autumn her way. "Yes, come in, Ensign Cole," she said with a smile. "I'll see anyone with coffee to offer," she joked.

Autumn gave an answering grin. "Well I also brought some pastry, I didn't know if you liked chocolate eclairs or a doughnut so here they are?" holding up the bag which held said items, walking inside towards the desk. "Here you go." carefully placing the coffee and the pastries upon the desk, breathing a mental sigh of relief that she didn't spill.

"So yes here I am for the appointed exam." Autumn added.

"Well, thank you," Jane said with a bow of her head. "We'll leave these here for now. Let's go to the biobed for your exam, yeah?" She gestured with her arm toward the nearest available spot. "Take a seat," she said before finding a medical tricorder.

Autumn blithely complied, a smile going from ear to ear. "Last night you seemed to be having fun with the others, and that you are good friends with the crew. That to me is a good sign of a good bunch of people."

"They are indeed that," Jane said as she scanned her patient. "I'll admit I don't know them all very well, but in the months since coming aboard I've become good friends with Mr. Hawksley, Ms. Falk, and Mr. Dodd, and served on an away mission with your immediate superior officer. Any information I should know? Past or current medical issues?"

"Well I broke my right arm when I was younger, was learning how to roller skate. Dislocated my shoulder when doing an aerial silk dance. Got kind of stuck in one maneuver, but its all better now. I definitely needed to go in to physical therapy to strengthen the shoulder once more." Autumn reported. "That is about it."

"Silk dance?" Jane asked, incredulous. "Not to be unprofessional, but that sounds fantastic. I remember seeing performers doing that when I was little." She closed her tricorder, set it down, and picked up a PADD. "How are your eating and exercise habits?"

"I routinely do exercises, mostly dancing as that helps me keep me from klutzing out." giving a light laugh. "And I enjoy eating but in moderation." Autumn answered. "I do my best to eat a balanced meal or even have smoothies both green and some with fruit."

Jane nodded, making a few notes. "Keep at it, then. You look like you're in excellent health. What about sexual activity?" She looked up to Autumn and met her eyes. "I'll remind you that this is a safe space. We find ourselves in the same social circle, so I feel it necessary to assure you that I'd never violate a crewmember's privacy. This is to offer you health advice or medication, as needed or wanted." And she was a professional, even if inside she was fairly certain Autumn got laid when she left with Dodd, or at least tried to. Smooth, she remembered thinking at the time.

"Sexual activity wise, it's been a while. And last night I had realized that I had drank more than I thought. On an empty stomach to boot, made me a bit more tipsy. Commander Dodd was very much a gentleman, he made certain to get me home. I'm embarrassed to say, he ended up carrying me as I would have done a faceplant into the floor. Talk about saving my dignity." Autumn smiled softly. "He fixed me some food, stayed there until I got changed into my pajama's and once I got into bed, he went to his quarters."

"He's so dreamy, but way out of my league. He's educated, intelligent..." she put a hand over her mouth as her eyes widened. "Oh gosh I think I have crush on him. Ooh not good, not good." Autumn's face colored to a rather dark pink. "Oh this won't do well at all. He doesn't need an ensign to get in the way of his job as XO." Autumn giving a little bit of a sigh.

"He is a good man," Jane said, setting down her PADD. "A gentleman in every respect. He and I go hiking on the holodeck every now and then." She smiled. "I don't think you have to worry about your crush, Ensign. You're both grown adults and can make decisions about your lives in a healthy and informed way. And your secret is safe with me." She picked the PADD back up and kept working. "If you need anything like birth control or professional advice, just let me know. Now, anything else you might want to discuss?"

"I think I need an update on the birth control. I am due for that very soon." Autumn mused, "And what do you do for fun on your personal time, well, besides going hiking. I do know that my boss, Thyra likes to do exercises in the mornings and on fridays the whole department get together to do a little bit of bonding for some fun and games."

Jane looked through her patient's pharmaceutical file. "I like to cook, but haven't found a good way to do that here. I also sing and play piano, and I love to swim. I have a good holodeck program of a pool with an attached hot tub and sauna. It's available for anyone, look up Program Sinclair-One."

She found the spot on the chart, and indeed identified that her birth control was to expire soon. "The formulation of hormonal birth control we have on board is a bit more advanced than the one you received from your last doctor. It's good for three months, and it won't interfere with the last bit of medication still in your system. It's effective to 99.975%, which is higher than your last one. With your permission, I'll administer it now and schedule you for more."

Autumns eyes widened, "Oh yes please that would be a good idea. Thank you." she responded. "I love the piano, I don't play well, but I do play the flute of which I dearly love. And your program sounds lovely. Maybe you and I can play together doing a piano and flute duet maybe? And you can watch me in my aerial silk practice sometime too. What do you think?"

“I’d like that,” Jane said, standing now at the pharmaceutical replicator. A capsule materialized, which she put into a hypospray and injected into Autumn’s neck. “All of that. I’m thinking of organizing some kind of music night for the ship. There are a few musicians aboard.” She put the hypo away and entered some data into the PADD. “I have you scheduled for follow-ups every three months. The computer will remind you beforehand. In the meantime, keep eating right and exercising.”

"Thank you Doctor Sinclair, and if you don't mind I can call you Jane when we are not on duty?" Autumn giving a bit of a smile. She liked the bedside manners of Doctor Sinclair and looked forward to when they can talk music and have a little bit of fun together.

“Only if I can call you Autumn when we’re off duty,” Jane said with a wink. “It’s a pretty name.” She briefly debated making a joke about the seasons, but chastised herself. oO Never joke about someone’s name. Worst case, they’re offended, and best case they’ve definitely already heard it. Oo

"Okay its a deal." Autumn holding out her hand to shake Jane's. "and thank you. Mom knew I was going to have red hair so she decided to call me Autumn as that is when the trees are the prettiest all dressed up in their gold, reds and orange colors. Talk about the trees putting on a fashion show right?"

Jane giggled. “Actually on my homeworld the biochemistry is different. Plants are different colours most of the year… the original colonists figured chloroplasts evolved multiple times with different functional chlorophylls, whereas on Earth it only evolved once. So our Autumn is quite dull, with everything going brown, and Summer is the colourful season.”

"Oh that is actually interesting!" Autumn exclaimed. "Definitely need to see some images if you have them of the trees showing off in the summer time. Or do you have a holoprogram of where you live?"

"There are some good holoprograms," Jane answered. "In fact, not long ago I took Remington -- sorry, Commander Dodd -- hiking at the Causacester Wood. That one is mostly verdant, but if you try the Dorbrook Woodland on the Northern continent, there you'll get a mosaic of colour." She turned around to put away the spent hypo, but realized something and came back. "Oh! Fair warning. The holodeck increases the artificial gravity by default if you load a Vega Colony program. Don't be surprised by it."

"Okay, just how much would the gravity be?" Autumn asked. "At least by half again that of Earth?"

“Not quite that high,” Jane said. “Depends on where you are, but in general you’re looking at 1.3g or so. Not enough that it hurts to live there, but enough to disrupt you if you’re not used to it.” Then she grinned and spun on the balls of her feet for emphasis. “And grow the natives shorter and denser,” she added with a giggle.

"Denser? Hmnnnn.." Autumn got off the biobed and walked over to where Jane was at, "If you are from a planet that has more gravity that would mean, you are stronger than what you look. Um if you don't mind my doing so, may I have a feel of your arm, like say flex your bicep?"

Autumn was curious to see if the muscles had a different texture to them, a different feel.

“Please!” Jane flexed her right arm in a Rosie the Riveter pose and held it so Autumn could see and touch it. “I don’t really work out, so I could be stronger. But my bones are great. I’ve never broken one, despite a lot of rough play as a kid.”

Autumn ran her fingers along Jane's bicep, noting that there was, well to her, a difference to her touch. She then tested her own bicep then back to Jane's "Wow there is a difference there. More of a density? A different texture?"

“It’s mostly density,” Jane replied, smiling. “Genetically I’m still human. There might be slight differences that come from what we eat, the composition of the plants and animals that are raised on one planet versus another, but the density is the major factor. It’s the same with most bones, especially in the arms, legs, and spine. In medical school we looked at cross sections of human bones from Earth, Mars, and Vega IX, and you can tell right away which is which.”

"That is pretty intriguing, I had no idea. Does this mean that the plants and animals have a different taste due to the density of the planet?" Autumn was finding this all intriguing. "Or does chicken taste like chicken, no matter where you are from?"

“A little bit,” Jane said. “For meat, at least. Plants are basically the same. But for meat, once you cook it down it isn’t much different. The proteins relax and reorganize when you cook. Someone with a supremely talented tongue can differentiate a steak from an identical cow raised in different gravities, but the average person can’t tell it apart if prepared properly. For chicken, dark meat tastes a tiny bit different but white meat not at all.”

"That sounds pretty interesting. I will have to find that out myself, and to see if my taste buds are refined enough to taste the difference." Autumn mused. "And I am making my mouth water just thinking of that." giving a light laugh.

“I’ll have my mum send me something next time we’re back at Starbase,” Jane said. “A preserved chicken maybe. I owe…someone a home cooked dinner and I can save some pieces as a test for my new friend Autumn,” she added.

Autumn gave an eager nod. "I am looking forward to that. And I would love to add you to my list of new friends. I like you." giving a light laugh. She gave a sigh, "I think I had best let you get back to work, and thank you for the examination. We've got to get together and hang out sometime."

“I’d like that,” Jane replied, smiling, before clearing her throat and standing more upright. “Return to duty, Ensign, you’re in good health. Come back if you need anything else, or if you’re injured or unwell.”

Autumn nodded then on impulse she gave Jane a quick embrace. "Thanks! I will make certain to do that. I also will need to meet, Commander Cahill at some point, just to well, get to know her. Always a good policy to get to know fellow crew members." she released Jane from her embrace and smiled once more.

“Good call,” Jane said, grinning at the embrace, Autumn apparently being the sort of friend who wasn’t afraid to show affection. And it was very nice to really make a new friend like this. “Doctor Cahill is good people. Introduce yourself at some point.” She walked her new friend toward the door. “Lots to do, so back to it. See you around, Autumn.”

"Okay most definitely." Autumn replied, then because she was getting ready to step outside of medical back into the work world. "Thank you Doctor Sinclair." and with that and a cheery wave Autumn left.

[OFF]

 

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