Welcome to Sickbay

Posted on Wed Aug 6th, 2014 @ 9:35pm by Lieutenant Christopher Cage M.D.

Mission: Something Amiss
Location: USS Hera - Sickbay, Deck 12
Timeline: MD1 - 1015

"Welcome to Sickbay. How can I help you?"

The airy, ethereal voice that had spoken came from an impossibly-thin, female alien humanoid that stood at the center of the expansive infirmary. The alien was tall, with a disproportionately large head, and big, glassy black eyes. The alien's chalk-grey skin looked glossy to the touch, and was completely hairless. Upon her too-slender, feminine frame, she wore the teal-accented uniform of a Starfleet sciences division officer.

"Hello," answered the newcomer, in a deep, rumbling voice. "My name's Christopher Cage, miss. I'm the new Ship's Doctor."

The alien woman nodded her head, her otherworldly face showing nothing but a serene expression. If she was at all startled or confused by Cage's unusual appearance, she didn't show it. "Welcome again, Lieutenant," she said, her voice light and hollow. "I am Nurse Mahina Mayari. I was told to expect your arrival. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Mayari held out a stick-thin, three-fingered hand to the Chief Medical Officer, and the large, scruffy man stepped forward to take it. Her skin was smooth and cool to the touch, and her grip slight and delicate. The contrast between her dainty hand and his big, beefy one was not lost on Cage, and for a moment, he feared that he might accidentally hurt her if he returned her handshake too heartily.

"Pleased to meet you, love," Cage said with an easy smile.

"Come," Mayari beckoned, gently. "Allow me to show you around the Hera's Sickbay." Cage hoisted the duffel bag he carried up higher on his back and followed after the strange, skinny alien nurse.

"This is the Emergency Response Unit," said Nurse Mayari, waving a thin, chalk-grey hand at their immediate surroundings. "As you can see, we are, thankfully, not very busy at the moment. Over here is our Emergency Triage Suite, with its Casualty Intake Area and Resuscitation Area. There is our Trauma Surgical Suite. Off to the side, you can see the Emergency Response Team Dispatcher's Desk, and beyond that, the Sickbay's Emergency Medical Transporter Hub. That is from where we coordinate our paramedics, who are always waiting on-standby."

Cage nodded to the ERT Dispatcher and the two Medics who sat around the smooth contoured desk by the Transporter Hub. The three medical officers paused their animated conversation to return the new doctor's silent greeting with polite smiles, then went back to their conversation. Cage followed Mayari as she glided slowly forward, and headed toward the central area of the expansive Sickbay. Here, Cage observed, were 4 biobeds, arranged in each of the four corners of this central area. Around each bed was a circular field generation grid, that glowed with soft white light. At the center of the room was another contoured desk, from which all of the biobeds could be monitored. The nature of the doors was such that one could quickly move from the Emergency Response Unit, through here, to the three other areas located to the left and to the right of them.

"This," continued Mayari in her soft, hollow voice, "is our Intensive Care Unit. This area operates as a 'Nightingale Ward', as it were, giving the attending nurses at the center of the room a full view of all ICU patients in their beds. Over here is our Biohazard Support Suite. Up there, you can see our Quarantine Suite, with its Decontamination Chamber. This over here is our Isolation Suite, equipped with a Null-Gravity Chamber. And we have designated that area there, with its Bio-Stasis and Cryostorage Chambers, as the Morgue. Hopefully, we will never have to use it."

Mayari extended a willowy arm to her left and announced, "If you go through the archway on your left, you will enter our Primary Care Unit. There, you will find our In-Patient Recovery Bay with its 12 beds, where we place most of the patients that require extended, non-life-threat care. The Primary Care Unit is also where we stage our Post-Operative Recovery Suite, and Physical Therapy Suite." Holding out another slender arm to her right, the strange, grey alien said, "Through the archway on the right, you will enter our Medical Operations Unit. There is where you will find your personal office: the Chief Medical Officer's Study. Sharing that office with you are your Assistant Chief Medical Officers, each with their own desks: the Desk of the Chief of Surgery, the Desk of the Chief of Medicine, and the Desk of the Chief of Nursing. In the Medical Operations Unit, you will also find the On-Call Lounge, where most of our on-duty doctors and surgeons relax when waiting for a call. The MedOpU also houses our Medical Records Archive & Library, the Medical Storage Bay, where all of our equipment is stocked, and last but not least, our Medical Laboratory & Pharmacy."

Cage felt something jitter inside him at the mention of the Sickbay's Pharmacy, a jitter that the large, scruffy doctor wanted desperately to pretend did not exist. Here he was, back to working again in a real medical facility -- without supervision -- and that was great ... but it also meant exposing himself to all the temptations that having unrestrained access to a well-stocked pharmacy, offered to a recovering chemical addict. Cage quickly turned his back on the archway that led to the Medical Operations Unit, and tried his best to smile and act like nothing was wrong. Cage did not know if Nurse Mahina Mayari knew about his past and his demons. If she did, he wanted to prove that he'd overcome those dreadful urges. If she didn't, he definitely did not want to make her suspicious.

"I'm really, very impressed," answered Cage in a gravelly voice, his hand scratching at the stubble on his face. "This looks like a really great facility, you've got here."

"A great facility that you've got here," corrected Mayari, her voice soft, sincere and encouraging. "This Sickbay -- this entire Medical Department -- belongs to you, now, Lieutenant."

Cage shook his head with a smile. "Please, love. None of that 'lieutenant' business. Just call me 'Doc'."