From One Doc to Another

Posted on Fri Dec 16th, 2016 @ 10:44pm by Senior Captain Connor McKinney M.D. PhD & Commander Jessica Deloia
Edited on on Wed Sep 12th, 2018 @ 6:00pm

Mission: My Place In This Universe
Location: Neural Medical Lab, Phlox Medical Center
Timeline: 2388/07/28 1024 (July 28 2388 1024)

ON:

It was mid-morning, and Connor lay on a biobed, synaptic Induction devices attached to either side of his forehead. His eyes were closed, his hands clenched to his sides, and a monitor above him showed neural activity to the technician that stood by his side.

His blood pressure began to rise as the memory progressed...

Somewhere down in the Cherry Pit, the seedy area of the Starbase, Connor crouched down to eye level with the child and looked into his eyes. They were quivering, looking in different directions and unable to follow as he moved a finger from side to side. The signs were there. Looking up at the parents as he stood up, Connor went straight to the point, "Your boy is showing signs of a brain tumour..." hostility and fear washing over their faces as he continued, "You need to get him to Piper Medical Center straight away...", and they grabbed the boy quickly, started heading away. The small crowd dispersed as Connor shouted out after them, "Why are you walking away?! What is wrong with you people...?!"

Running a hand roughly over his mouth, Connor stared after them. In the two days he had been down there he had discovered a growing number of those in need of medical care, welcoming his diagnosis, refusing his suggestions of treatment. Perplexed and frustrated, he snatched his backpack from off the floor, and headed away from the common area of that particular set of quarters, towards the small promenade deeper within the pit.

Feeling a rise in his anxiety levels, recognizing a need to take a moment to cool off, Connor moved to stand off to the side of what appeared to be a nearly empty corridor. He stood back against a wall, the cleanest part of one, and took in deep breaths as he tried not to obsess with his mind still going over the issue of civilians needing medical care, and not receiving it..refusing it. Why!? Frack...count back from 20...

He closed his eyes and leant his head back.

Breathe deeply...

15..14..13..

As he worked on pushing those thoughts aside, he could feel his nerves begin to calm..

7..6..5..

What he had to do was find a bar called Saturnalia, a woman named Seyla, and pass on his message to...

...to Oralia...

3..2..1...

Connor opened his eyes, and noted with a sense of relief that he was now completely alone. Pushing off the wall he continued down the corridor, taking his time as he continued to monitor his breathing, despite some unpleasant odors, enjoying the feel of his lungs taking oxygen in and dispelling it.

After barely a minute his respite was disrupted as a man came down the corridor ahead of him. Connor didn't know the name of his species, although he had seen a number of them down there in the Cherry Pit. Quiet and unassuming, they really didn't reveal much about themselves. He moved to the side so the man could pass, and briefly noted another man was now behind him.

An alarm went off deep inside Connor, and he wondered where the man had come from.

Before he had time to focus on the thought or what it meant, he was boxed in. The man in front of him didn't bat an eye or pull an expression as he quite suddenly reached out and grabbed the front of Connor's shirt...

"Doctor McKinney...", the technician leaning over him, narrowed his eyes as the Dean opened his, "How are you feeling?"

Connor put up a slightly shaking hand trying to indicate he was feeling okay.

"Did you remember anything?" the tech asked, already assuming he did based on the neural readings above. He reached a hand to either side of Connor's head and removed the rounded devices. He reached out a hand, arm bent at the elbow, for Connor to grip and be pulled to a sitting position.

Connor nodded, sliding off the biobed to have a hand against his chest, "You know the drill, Doctor..." a nurse was there, gently pushing him back down. "After a session of neural therapy, we take another look at your vitals...monitor your readings." She was concerned, he seemed to be a little shaken this time.

"You're a tough corker of a nurse, Helen", Connor said quietly, still whirling from the memory.

Jess was walking in the door when she saw what looked like a patient in distress and came over "Nurse?" She looked to Helen to give her information even as she was scanning his vitals which were sitting at a high level of anxiety. "Why was he having neural therapy?"

"Because I ordered it." Connor said, his brows a bit scrunched as he looked up at her, " 'n' you are?" he was wearing uniform pants and tank top, nothing to indicate his department or rank.

"Lt Commander Jessica Deloia ... the new Assistant CMO." She relaxed a little as his vitals started dropping into the appropriate range "May I ask on what authority you ordered the therapy?" She was seriously wondering what sort of clinic the last CMO ran.

"Former CMO of Starbase 900, Dean of Magellan Campus." Connor answered as he got off the biobed, and grabbing a near by wet cloth, he started dabbing at his face, his hand slightly shaking.

She nodded as she scanned him "Pleased to meet you sir but if you would be so kind as to plonk your butt back on that bed ...I don't like some of the readings I'm getting."

Glancing over at her as he had turned away, Connor nodded. "My blood pressure." he frowned, "It will normalize shortly." He continued to dab at his neck, with visions of the memory repeating in his mind.

Grabbing a glass of cold water she brought it back to him relieved to see his blood pressure dropping a little. "What were you trying to achieve sir?"

Connor didn't answer as he glanced back to her. He accepted the glass and slowly drank down some of the water. "Thank you." he said, setting it down on a tray table. "My apologies, Doctor Deloia," his eyes darting over her as he introduced himself, "Doctor Connor McKinney." he grabbed another cold cloth and dabbed it over his face before saying, "If we can move this to your office, I'll explain."

"Of course." Nodding she walked with him into her office offering him a seat on the couch.

Connor sat down, leaning back, feeling the need to breathe in deeply. Helen came in right behind them, and handed Connor his shirt. "Thanks." he said, leaning his head back to look up at her, "Helen, can you get me some ice?"

Helen looked at him knowingly, "Right away, doctor" and left.

Jess watched him and waited for him to start in his own time.

Looking back to her, Connor took more notice of her features. She was lovely, but as he recalled what he read in her personnel record, a lot tougher than she looked. "If you would like to pull up my file, Doctor?" Connor said quietly, spreading the cloth out across one of his legs. Helen returned with a cup of ice, handed it to him, then gave Jessica a weak smiled before leaving, and closing the door.

Pulling it up, Jess looked through it as she asked "Give me the short form?"

"Post-traumatic amnesia due to cranial trauma." Connor replied as he placed the ice onto the cloth. "Twice in a one year period of time." he added glancing up at her.

Nodding Jess stared at the scan in front of her "There seems to have been a large amount of swelling and bleeding ... was that the first injury or the second?" If it was the first then the chances of him being able to ever get the memory fully back were slim ... the second and she might be able to do something to fix what the scan showed.

Not answering at first, Connor stopped doing what he was doing. His hazel eyes became intense as he finally answered, "Both." and then gestured for her to show him the scan. When she turned it for him to see, he added, "That would be the second."

Jess relaxed a bit as it seemed they might have a chance "And it says here it happened 3 months ago? With serious head trauma like you had it can take up to 6 months for swelling and damage to fully resolve."

"One year." he corrected and then shifted as he narrowed his eyes, "Are you testing me, doc?"

She gave him an impish grin "Would I do that?"

He shook his head slightly, "I don't know you...' and then breathed in deeply, admitting, "although if the tables were turned..."

"You would do exactly what I'm doing." she nodded in understanding. "The good news is that I think you are still capable of making well informed decisions even if I am worried that you are pushing yourself too soon with the therapy... at the moment you are giving your brain virtual concussions every time you force it to relive what happened ... Have you thought of asking a telepath to help?" She was thinking of the Admiral or one of the Vulcan's either of which were strong enough to access lost memories.

Connor looked away, running his hand over his mouth and jaw before returning. "I don't want anyone seeing what's inside my head." he said firmly.

She nodded curious but not really pushing "I know of someone who could access a particular memory without peeking anywhere else but the choice is yours ... I'm just concerned that you are hurting yourself with these need to know before you are healed fully ... She could give you the answers without the damage. I'd rather not tell Starfleet I let the Dean turn himself into a radish."

"No..." Connor said shaking his head, the color draining from his face as the reference of his needing to know poked at him. Reinforcing his hold on the cloth filled with ice and grabbing his shirt, he rose out of his seat.

"Take a panadol Sir ... Your head will be killing you soon if it isn't already." Jess was seriously worried about him but she wasn't going to push ... yet.

Connor stared back at her for a moment before nodding in agreement. Then he left, leaving with the need to get out of there.

OFF


Doctor Connor McKinney
Dean
Magellan Campus


Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Deloia
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
Serene Colony


Nurse Helen and Med Tech
NPC'd by Kim