Physician heal thyself

It was that time of year; physicals. He had put it off long enough and Star Fleet were almost at the point of giving Andrew a direct order to report to Sickbay for his annual physical. The old proverb Physician heal thyself! had never been more relevant as he skulked out of the turbo lift on Deck 7 and headed to the main Sickbay.

Walking through the corridors Andrew smiled at the clean, pristine bulkheads. The air in the corridors had that musky smell hanging in the air, like the windows of a hovercraft hadn’t been opened after it rolled off the production line. He took in a couple of deep breaths, the smell was almost intoxicating and he couldn’t get enough of it.

Andrew forced a smile onto his face. He was stalling, yet again. Almost at the door to Sickbay he rounded the corner and walked into the medical centre of the ship. The Luna class vessels were equipped with the most up-to-date medical technology available in the Federation and the Janeway, so new off the production line, had the best. The doctor inside Andrew almost leaped for joy as he looked over the brand new equipment. The Captain, however, was already thinking of how long it would take until his Chief Medical Officer was asking for better resources. The dichotomy he was facing made him smile. Who would have thought it that the little fat kid from Australia would become the Captain leading a ship into an unknown region of space?

The sheer wonder of it all was overwhelming.

Stepping further into the room he noticed a young man with an ensign pip on his collar, “Ensign, please find Doctor McConnell and tell her I am ready for her.”

The young man turned on the spot at the sound of the voice, the sight of the Captain shocked him into attention before blurting out the words, unceremoniously, “Yes, sir.” He hurried out of the waiting room towards the Doctor’s office to which he knocked on the door.

“Sir, Captain Stone is waiting for you.”

The small office was still terribly bare. Kally had put out the usual pictures which had decorated every one of her desks since graduating the academy. Centre stage was a photograph of her twins as toddlers with cheeky large grins and beside that was a photo all four of her grandchildren during the winter festival on Betazed, at that point their ages ranged from six to about ten. It was while debating where to put the latest addition when a young officer knocked and then bustled into her office “Sir, Captain Stone is waiting for you.” He stated with such gravity that it was as if Sickbay now revolved around this one fact.

“I’ll be out in a moment.”

She placed the image of a year old baby on desk, her first great-grandchild. One day there definitely wasn’t going to be enough space, the fact that Kally herself was still going to be fertile for at least another hundred years... she’d just have to get a bigger desk she reasoned.

Leaving her office, she found the Captain and extended a hand, having to look up at the taller officer, “I don’t believe we’ve met yet Captain, it’s a pleasure. Doctor McConnell at your command.” She said with a smile.

“Now if you could just follow me over to the biobed, we can begin.” As she made her way over to the empty bed, she asked him, “how have you been feeling Captain?”

Andrew was left waiting on the spot for a few minutes while the young officer scurried off with a look on his face as if relaying this message was crucial to the running of the Janeway. The corners of his lips curled into a smirk as he imagined what the ensign was thinking.

While the Captain waited he rose up on to the balls of his feet and then lowered and rocked back onto his heels, it was an old ballroom training exercise he used to do when he was nervous before a competition. As he did this action a few times he bit his bottom lip and suddenly was thankful that there were no crew stood near him. If they had seen him doing this they would have thought he was crazy.

The moment he stopped himself rocking Doctor Kallisto emerged from her office and immediately held her hand out for him. He returned her smile and took her hand, giving it a shake; not too strong but strong enough to ensure that she didn’t think he was limp handed.

“The pleasure is mine, Lieutenant,” he said. “Welcome aboard.”

Lieutenant McConnell’s service jacket was very impressive and the one that shone out from a bunch of mediocre applicants. Her century of life gave her the experience that he knew would be vital in order to work with Commander Landry as his Assistant Chief Medical Officer. He wondered why she wasn’t at a higher rank in her career, but he put it down to that not everyone was as obsessed with rank progression as Andrew was when he was in the lower ranks, plus she may just love doing her job and promotions aren’t that important to her. Despite the reason he was sure that she would be as talented as her references said she would be.

Andrew followed the Doctor to the biobed as she asked her question, “I’ve been feeling perfectly fine, Doctor, fit as a fiddle as they say back on Earth.” He smiled as he sat up on to the medical bed.