Alternate Medicine

Posted on Sun Jan 20th, 2019 @ 4:07pm by Captain Cynthia Jackson & Lieutenant Jane Sinclair MD, DVM

2,743 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Mission 0 - Christening of Legacy and Crew Arrival
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: 2261.182 0830

Dr. Jane Sinclair had only arrived aboard the Legacy the previous night, and already her arms were covered in blood, the result of a particularly uncooperative patient. Crew members were beginning to arrive and most were making the point to come by sickbay for their initial medical scans. Unfortunately, some had to be prompted to come down, and some were not the least bit happy to be in her care.

Thankfully, the blood was hers.

"I'm so sorry, Doctor Sinclair," said Petty Officer Enrique Alves, taking his small calico cat off the biobed. "Missy really doesn't like visits to sickbay. Or being in the carrier at all."

Jane could only smile. "I told you earlier, Jane is fine. And it's not a problem. Wouldn't be in this line of work if I couldn't take a few bites and scratches. Missy is in good health, but I'm worried about tooth decay. You'll want to get a supply of dental blend food before we leave Earth." She gently stroked under the cat's chin, now that she was calmer in her owner's arms. "And welcome aboard, little one!" she said in higher-pitched voice and a big grin on her face.

Alves nodded at the doctor and left sickbay, leaving Jane to clean up the workspace and prepare for the next patient, whomever it may be.

A tall woman with platinum blonde hair that swayed as she walked maneuvered into the room, making way for the owner with her cat. Cindy gave it a questioning look. She had nothing against cats but if she were an animal, she suspected that she would be some sort of bird. Her long legs were the first thing visible as she strode into the room. Her boots accentuated her height, as did the shortness of her command miniskirt uniform.

Wearing a welcoming smile, Cindy said, “You must be Doctor Sinclair!” The contagiousness of her warmth and smile was hard to deny. However, it disappeared slightly into a pensive head shake and stare at the floor.

Jane looked to the door and saw the astonishingly tall woman come in. Normally she wasn't self-conscious about her height, but a ten-inch difference was noticeable. It took a rather long time to look all the way up the legs and command miniskirt and get to the pretty face and blonde hair that was somehow still in motion. Focus, Jane! She smiled widely at first, taken in by her new friend's infectious grin, and began with "I am! But Jane is fine. You must be Captain Jackson." When the Captain looked away, her own smile was replaced with an expression of concern. "Captain, are you alright?" Jane took her by the hand and led her to a biobed.

Cindy nodded and replied, “It was the oddest thing, Jane. I would swear that I have done this before. Deja vu. Yet, I had done it some other time and not with you. I’m sure I haven’t, though. Weird, isn’t it?” Brightening up nearly immediately, Cindy continued, “Please call me Cindy. I don’t like standing on ceremony. Everyone is important. Rank is only important when it needs to be pulled. Besides, I’d rather be friends with my crew. The fact that you started as Jane makes me believe that your philosophy is the same. I’m so glad!”

“Me, too, Cindy!” said Jane, smile back on her face. She brushed her brown and blue hair out of her face. “Now come sit and I’ll run some scans. Your déjà vu is probably nothing, but it’s still worth a look. And if you have time now, we can perform your full physical?” She tapped the palm of her hand on the biobed three times and said “Up up!” As she reached for her tricorder though, she realized what she’d done. She gave Cindy an apologetic smile and lifted her hands as if to say mea culpa. “Sorry, Cindy. Between my last post and this one I spent three weeks in a vet clinic. Old habits, eh?”

Cindy laughed at the "Up up" and laughed harder at the explanation. As she did so, she threw her hair back and it cascaded seamlessly behind her shoulders. When she laughed, it was full bodied, not giggly or girlish but genuine and amused. "The last time someone told me "up, up," I assure you that it had nothing to do with this kind of exam."

Jane could not help but giggle and blush. “One step at a time, Cindy!” Jane said, halfway between surprised and intrigued by her Captain’s tone and demeanour, and also surprised by her own reaction to it.

Tricorder finally in hand, she moved to start scanning, but realized a slight problem. “Cindy, I need to ask you to lie down, actually.” She smiled widely. “Not sure if anyone told you, Cindy, but you”re quite tall! I can’t get to your bloody head to run the scans!”

"Lie down? My, doctor! Usually it is lie down and then get up...." She laughed again. "And as to being tall, you seem to have a keen sense for the obvious!" Cindy laughed harder. "Genetics and all that. I'm sure you know all about it, being a doctor and all." Thinking for a moment, she decided to inject more humor into the conversation. "If it would make your job easier, you could just chop off my legs and reattach them when you're done with the physical."

Jane couldn't help but laugh at the idea and kept the joke going. "Of course the first thing my Captain tells me to do is something incredibly difficult. Probably wants to not have any scarring or trouble walking afterwards, either! Though mother always did say 'Jane, just wait, one day someone will walk into your life and tell you to chop his or her legs off, and that's how you'll know!'" She quieted a bit and blushed again. She gathered her hair and tried it into a rough knot, keeping it out of her face. "Mother is a silly one. Now, can you please lie down? I'll run some scans, and then we'll do the heart-stress test and a few others. Won't take too long." She pointed to the strange inverted stairmaster on the wall.

Cindy decided to comply with the request and laid down. "Get up, lie down. Should I start panting now, too?" Cindy teased. "Pinch and prod. I assure you that I am in tip top shape. Are you an athlete, Jane?"

Jane chuckled at the idea. “No I am not,” she said as the ran her tricorder over the Captain’s body. “I know I should try something athletic, get more fit. Maybe I just haven’t found the right sport? I prefer cooking and playing music. I’ve not explored much of the ship yet; do we have a music room?”

Cindy shrugged. "I believe so. I was more concerned about having racquetball courts. I'm planning on creating a league," she replied happily, her hair moving slightly, almost as if it was expressing happiness.

“Hmm,” said Jane, nodding slightly. “I’ve never played, but I’d try it. Please let me know when you start the league.” Her initial scans finished and she set her tricorder away. “Well there’s nothing out of the ordinary right now. Perhaps an excess of happiness, but that never killed anyone.” She stepped back grabbed Cindy’s hands, pulling her up to a sitting position. “Tell me if you have any more of these deja vu episodes, okay? Now follow me into the anteroom, and I’ll have you do some exercise, get your heart rate up, make sure you’re as fit as you say.”

Allowing herself to be pulled into a sitting position, Cindy nodded her agreement regarding the "episodes." She was certain that it was nothing. "All these commands, Jane.... You vying for my job?" Cindy asked with a giggle in her voice as she followed the doctor.

Jane put on an obviously faux stern expression. “Now, Cindy, you know very well that the rank of Doctor is above Captain,” and then she turned it into a big smile. “But we don’t care about rank, do we?” She winked in Cindy’s direction. They reach the anteroom. A computer stood beside a biobed that was tilted away from the wall. A pair of steppers was on the wall. “Now, would you kindly” — she put emphasis on the polite request — “strip to your skivvies and sit down? These uniforms aren’t good for exercising in. It’s okay; I’m a doctor.” She smiled again and closed a curtain to give the Captain some privacy.

The moment that Jane asked Cindy to strip, she started to do so without waiting at all for the curtain to close. "As you wish," she simply said. She kicked off her boots and put on some slippers. Now in nothing but her navy blue bra and panties, she pushed the curtain aside, nearly having walked into it first, and said, "One of these days, I should learn to wear an exercise bra to these exams. Guess I'll just be extra bouncy on the treadmill today." She shrugged and smiled at the Doctor.

Jane laughed at that. “I’d say I should enjoy the show then,” Jane began, again a bit surprised at herself. Cindy’s bubbliness was infectious. “But that would be unprofessional. I’ll save that language for when I play doctor instead of serve as one.” She moved to the computer screen. “Now please lie down, feet on the pedals, and start running. I’ll slowly increase the pace. I’ll be monitoring your heart rate, blood oxygen level, blood sugar, and other figures.” And if I’m being honest, I’ll watch your figure, too. Goodness! She thought.

"We only live once. Enjoy yourself!" Cindy answered before lying down where directed and started peddling. Her pace was brisk to start. However, it was very dull for her. Her heart rate hardly moved. "Would you like me to go faster, Jane?"

“Yes, let’s get you to 135 beats per minute,” Jane said. “We’ll keep it there for a minute, then increase to 150, then 160. We won’t take it much higher than that just yet. Readings from should give me a good sense of cardiopulmonary health. You keep stepping faster, and I’ll increase the resistance.” She adjusted some dials, and began to see the effect on the results. “Let’s work your lungs out too. Have you talk a bit. Tell me about yourself, Cindy. All I know about you so far are CO, Commander, prefers a first name basis, tall, stunning, and infectious laugh.”

"What would you like to know, Jane? I'm pretty much an open book." She started peddling faster. Her breathing started to increase but not greatly. "I think I'm going to have to work much harder than this in order to get my heartbeat up, Jane. This is hardly exercise to me." With that, Cindy's pedding increased to a point where she might be breaking into a sprint. Between breaths she asked, "How...is...this?" She turned her head at the Doctor and smiled as her heartbeat started to increase into the 120s.

Jane was impressed. “Okay, well, you might be the most fit person I’ve ever met!” She started giggling again. “Readings are coming in, at least. I can keep increasing the resistance until maximum. Or, I have another idea to increase your heart rate, but it’s not exactly the most professional idea I’ve ever had.” She smiled widely and suggestively.

"Now...that's...amusing!" Cindy replied as she started to push harder, her body starting to bead some perspiration from her brow and neck. "I exercise...every...day. It is important...to...stay...fit."

“So I am told, and so I tell my patients,” said Jane, increasing the resistance further. Heart rate was getting to 130. “I enjoy a nice swim. And if I’m on-planet I walk a lot. What sort of exercise do you do?”

"I love...competitive sports. Really...gets...my...juices...flowing." The perspiration started to run down the sides of her face. "You're starting to make me sweat, Jane...." Jane would have noticed that Cindy's eyes were green when she walked into her office. However, now, they were a cool blue.

“That’s good!” Jane said happily. “Keep going. You’re doing great. Heart rate now at 140. And I’m reading an increase of serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine. You’re loving this, aren’t you? Increasing resistance. We’re almost done.” Jane’s eyes left her monitor and she looked down at Cindy on the biobed, seeing the sweat really start building. “Hey,your eyes match my hair!” she exclaimed happily. “What about any other hobbies. Other than exercise or competitive sports, what do you like to do, Cindy?”

"Exercise is my main hobby," Cindy admitted. "I...hope...you find...nothing wrong...with that." Perspiration started to build and her eyes started becoming even lighter. She was enjoying the exercise. "Though, I am...a people person.... Like psychology.... Classic literature is nice.... Something about it.... How...about...you?" she asked huffing and becoming more determined to go faster.

“Well I mentioned cooking earlier,” Jane said. “You’ll have to let me cook for you sometime! I’m pretty good at it. And I play piano and like to sing. I also love learning new things. I’m soon to start some remote-learning courses on massage therapy.” The machine was at maximum resistance and Cindy’s heart rate was stable at 155. “Looks like I have what I need here, Cindy. You can stop now.”

Cindy stopped and got herself up. "I'd like that! Lord knows that I like eating!" Sweat was glistening on much of her upper body. "And who would not like a massage. I bet when you learn that, you'll be in high demand." She giggled sweetly. "But my goodness, I think I need a shower now. I won't need to hit the gym today, that's certain."

Jane found a towel in a cupboard. The exam now over, Jane admitted to herself she had a bit of a hard time maintaining professional detachment with the sweaty beauty in her underwear mere steps away. But she could push through that for now. Or try to. “I’ll need to look these figures, er, readings over more closely, but at a glance I’d say you are indeed in perfect health.” She passed Cindy the towel. “I’m afraid the only shower I have here is the medical decontamination shower, which probably isn’t what you’re looking for. As for cooking, I have some stores of food from home being shipped in. Some for the crew, and some for personal use. They’re due to arrive the day before we launch. Perhaps a few days once we’re underway, once we’re settled into a routine, I can come to the Captain’s Mess and prepare you something?”

"I'd like that," Cindy admitted as she toweled off. "For now, though, I had better get into my clothes, walk back to my quarters and take a shower. I'd walk back like this but I think it is too early to start that kind of talk, don't you?"

“Probably for the best,” Jane agreed, nodding and smiling. She passed Cindy back her uniform and boots. “I’ll let you know if any of your readings merit further tests, but I doubt any will be necessary. I hope next time I see you in my sickbay is for your next quarterly physical and no earlier. But I also hope to see you before launch. Maybe a drink sometime?”

"Absolutely!" Cindy exclaimed with a smile. "I want to know all about that blue hair that you've chosen. Catch up with me anytime. The door is always open."

“Thank you,” Jane said. “I’ll come find you sometime.” Just then, a Vulcan woman wearing a blue miniskirt uniform entered sickbay, looking a bit lost. “Cindy, if you’ll excuse me, I think she’s looking for me. Talk soon, yeah?”

Cindy said, "As I said, the door is always open." With that, Cindy went back into the changing room and got into her uniform before leaving the medbay.

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