Check Ups

Posted on Jun 08, 2014 @ 9:44am by Commander Jacob Crichton
Edited on on Jun 08, 2014 @ 9:45am

Mission: All Our Yesterdays

= Check Ups =
(cont'd from "Long In The Tooth")

LOCATION: USS DISCOVERY
SCENE: Sickbay
STARDATE: [2.14] 0607.2023

“Follow the light with your eyes, Commander.”

Jake Crichton sighed. “Is this really necessary, doctor?”

“That’s the thing about medical tests,” Dr. Bonnie Reardon replied as she picked up a penlight at shined it into Jake’s eyes. “It’s hard to tell which ones were necessary until after you’ve done them.”

“Aaaack!” Jake said, closing his eyes involuntarily against the bright light.

“Keep them *open*, Jake,” Reardon said. Her tone was still even and professional, but Jake could tell she was starting to get a little exasperated with him.

“Doesn’t that thing have a lower setting?” Jake asked, blinking his eyes several times trying to eliminate the purple, phantom-spot that floated in the center of his vision. “Maybe you could just make it as bright as a sun?”

“I’m checking your pupil dilation,” Reardon said. “The quicker I get this done, the quicker I can give you a clean bill of health. Now quit fussing and keep your eye open.”

“Look, I’m *fine*,” Jake said. “It’s just a little bump on the head-”

“According to Commander Stonn, you were unconscious for at least a minute,” Reardon said. “That’s more than just a bump.”

“Right,” Jake repeated, more to himself than to Dr. Reardon. “According to Stonn.”

He’d been feeling troubled ever since Russ had come down from the bridge to check on him. Russ had asked him a few questions about his injuries (or rather the *lack* of them), and when Jake had mentioned that he’d been with the Vulcan ExO, Russ had cleared out in a hurry. Something about the line of questioning, and the way BaShen’s expression had changed when Jake had mentioned Stonn, had left Jake confused and a little worried.

“You’ve got at least a mild concussion,” Reardon said. “And I need to make sure you’re not going to start bleeding out your ears the second I put you back on active duty. Now once again, follow the light with your eyes. Don’t turn your heard.”

Jake grumbled, but complied. The light was so bright that it was a genuine struggle to keep his eyes open.

“You know, I heard a rumor they invented machines to do check for this kind of stuff,” Jake said. “I can put in a word with the captain, maybe we can get some installed before our next mission.”

“Very funny,” Reardon said. “Scans can miss things, Jake. Sometimes the old ways are better.”

“If you break out the leeches, I’ll make a run for it,” said Jake.

“Pupil response is normal,” Reardon said. “Good news, Jake. You’re fine.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying for the last half-hour,” Jake frowned.

“Would have been 15 minutes if you’d just cooperated with me,” Reardon said. “I’ve given you something for the pain. Take the rest of the night off and we’ll see how you’re doing in the morning.”

“The morning?” Jake blinked. “No no no, doc, I need to get back over there. I was this close to-”

“I don’t care,” Reardon said, cutting him off with a raised hand. “There are other engineers, Jake. *I* heard a rumor that some of them even know what they’re doing.”

Jake frowned again. “And you’re telling me I need to come back tomorrow before you’ll clear me for duty?”

“That’s what I’m telling you,” Reardon nodded.

“You know I outrank you,” Jake said.

“I’m sure the captain will throw me off the ship the next time we’re at a starbase,” Reardon said. “Until then, I’m still your doctor. Now if you experience any dizziness, nausea, vertigo, or anything else out of the ordinary, contact Sickbay immediately. Understood?”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Jake asked.

“Contrary to what you might think, I don’t actually like checking my patients for potential brain damage,” Reardon said.

“Only potential?”

“Your brain isn’t damaged,” Reardon said, giving him a half-smile. “But I don’t know that I’d say it’s working correctly.”

“Doctors…” Jake grumbled, standing up and walking over to the counter where the damaged exocomp he’d recovered from the CENTURY was laying. He picked up it, gave it a once over, then looked over at Reardon.

“I hate sickbay, you know,” Jake said. “Gives me the creeps.”

“I feel the same way about maintenance corridors,” Reardon said. “Take it easy, Jake.”

---------------------------------------------------------

SCENE: Crichton’s Quarters

When Jake came in, his eyes went immediately to the computer console on his desk. A tiny green light was flashing on the console, indicating a message waiting for them. Jake smiled, setting the exocomp down on the desk and turning on the computer.

The message was from Xana. It was more planning about her and the kids coming to visit, and Ben and Dahlia staying with Jake aboard the ship for awhile. It was good to see her. He hadn’t been aboard the DISCOVERY for long, but walking around that empty place, wearing that damned environment suit the whole time, had made it feel like *days*. It was nice to have a message from his wife to come back to, to know that somewhere out there were people who loved him and missed him.

Jake thought about sending a message back, but he decided against it. Not now, anyway, not right after getting injured while exploring a mysterious Starfleet derelict. Xana hadn’t quite come around to Jake’s career, and Jake wasn’t sure that she ever would completely, but she had decided to trust in him enough to let their children come and stay with him, and Jake didn’t want to give her any reason to doubt that decision.

Besides, he was fine. The doctor had even said so.

**Of course, if you’re fine, why *not* message her?** he thought.

Jake decided to ignore the internal contradiction in his reasoning and instead turned his attention to the exocomp. It looked bad: one of its magclamp feet was a shattered ruin, and there was a large dent along its side. Jake remembered seeing its lights still blinking when he’d come to on the CENTURY, but the lights were off now. Jake decided it had powered itself down, possibly as part of an internal repair protocol.

Jake grabbed one of the spanners from the array of tools that were scattered over his desk. He hadn’t quite finished finding a home for everything yet, but his quarters had improved in terms of organization and cleanliness after he’d heard that Xana and the children would be coming to visit. Still, he resolved to get all his engineering tools squared away before they arrived, just as soon as he had a free moment. And right now, the exocomp, as well as the mystery of the CENTURY, were occupying too much of his attention.

A moment’s work was all it took for Jake to reactivate the machine. The lights blinked on slowly, as if the exocomp was awakening from a deep sleep. The machine beeped at him once, low and steady, and in spite of everything Jake laughed.

“I suppose you want five more minutes?” Jake asked.

The machine beeped at him again.

“No can do,” Jake said, shaking his head. “We got work to do.”

The exocomp beeped a third time, then fell silent. It’s lights flickered intermittently, and some of the servos on its outer chassis buzzed weakly. It would take some time for Jake to get the machine back up to full functionality, but at least the damage didn’t seem too severe. And the sooner Jake could get it working, the sooner he might be able to use it to find out what happened to the CENTURY.

“Sturdy little fella,” Jake said, putting the spanner down and picking up a different tool. “Well, let’s see if we can get you back in fighting shape, huh?”

======================================================
NRPG: This one’s a little shorter than I wanted. I had some stuff come up today that needed my attention, which cut into my writing time. Still, I hope you find it satisfactory!

Shawn Putnam
a.k.a.
Jacob Crichton, Commander
Chief Engineering Officer
USS DISCOVERY