Massive Monday Midday Meeting of Malcontent Medical Misfits

Posted on Mon Jul 29th, 2024 @ 7:52pm by Lieutenant JG Kally Kellerman & Ensign Henry Taylor & Lieutenant F'Arra MD

Mission: Doing What We Do Best
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: After Physical Hindrence

Kally had--once again--cleaned up the mess in Sickbay and was now sitting cross-legged on a biobed, juggling three tricorders. She'd sent word out to all medical personnel, all shifts, to report to Sickbay. She figured she should at least meet her staff while she was here.

With a reduced crew came a minimal medical staff. One doctor each, not including her, and two nurses or medtechs each shift, and the ship's counselor. A medical staff of a baker's dozen for a crew of around 250. Still, that was a better ratio than a Galaxy-class ship. And now that she was there, they might as well keep Sickbay staffed correctly. So, there she sat, patiently waiting for her loyal minions to show.

The lanky frame of Doctor F'Arra came through the doors. Labcoat over her uniform - with the tailoring modification for her tail. The calico Caitian regarded her new boss, who sat on the biobed juggling, and wheeled a chair over. "Welcome, Dr. Kellerman." Her gruff voice sounding like the words had been scraped over gravel.

"Thank you, Doctor F'Arra," Kally said, suddenly tossing a tricorder across to the new arrival. Kally caught the other two and put them in her lap. "I've read up on your work here, and I'm glad you're on our team."

The feline-esque reflexes allowed F'Arra to snag the tricorder out of the air without so much as a blink. "The Captain asked me to come on board when the she was last at 614. There was a bit of a scuffle between a couple of the crew, some personsal drama." That was as far as she'd go, telling someone else's story. "I patched the folks up, and the Captain asked me to come aboard. She had no Medical head at the time, so I stepped in as Acting Chief of Medical."

"Ah," Kally said. "Well, I'm sorry if I'm stepping on any toes. My transfer here wasn't quite my idea. I hope this won't interfere with how we work together, though. I'm not the micro-managing type, so you'll have a good amount of autonomy on shift. Especially if I'm not on with you."

"I'm not management type." F'Arra replied. "Trust me, there was a reason I was 'Acting' Chief. You're welcome to the job. Means I can get back to treating people."

Kally looked up as the doors opened again, depositing a tall, male Ensign. "You're violating Sickbay sanitary protocols by being on that biobed," he said.

"Or 'Hello' as some people like to say," Kally said. "You must be Ensign Taylor." She looked at Doctor F'Arra and nodded to him. "Meet our new head nurse."

F'Arra's golden eyes took in the sight of the Ensign. "Mm." She almost grunted. "I thought I was the abrasive one around here."

It was intended as a joke, to break the ice, and she grinned. Elongated canine teeth and all. "A pleasure to meet you, Ensign."

"Likewise," Henry said. "And I'm not trying to be abrasive, I'm just pointing out an issue. I don't want anyone written up on their first day."

"Threatening to get me written up within five minutes of meeting me," Kally said. "I'm almost ironically impressed. With balls that size, we should definitely hang out some time." She gave him an appraising glance. "In the mean time, considering I've cleaned this biobed twice today, I'll clean it again and it'll be perfectly fine if and when we need it."

Henry gave a shrug and sat down in a chair.

As they waited, a few more members of the staff came in and took seats. Kally did a quick headcount and saw they were still four people short. "I take it Delta Shift isn't here?"

"They probably were already asleep when you sent the notice," one of the nurses suggested.

"The computer should have put in an alert to wake them," Nurse Taylor said.

"Except I didn't list this meeting as urgent," Kally said. "So I'll catch up with them later. And our counselor seems to be holding out on us, but I'll track her down as well. So! Welcome, everyone!" She gave them all a smile. "For those of you who don't know, my name is Doctor Kally Kellerman. I am the ship's new Chief Medical Officer. I know a change in command can be rocky, but given we're a small group here, I'm hoping we can roll with this punch. My hours will shift over the next few weeks as I try to get to know each shift, so my apologies if I'm not here when you need me, but if you call I will do my best to show up alert, dressed and ready. At worst, two out of three." She gave a small smile to the mildly amused chuckles she received. "So please continue to do your jobs, however going forward I would like to make it a rule that at least one person is to be in Sickbay at all times. If no one is here, and someone comes in, there's no one to call for backup. I understand we all need a break, but someone has to be here. I've been here for a few hours, and no one came in until now."

The members of the current shift looked properly embarrassed and Kelly pressed on. "So long as Sickbay is clean, organized and running smoothly, and so long as everyone shows up to an emergency, I'm fine with being a bit relaxed here."

Henry looked like he was about to object, but she stopped him with a look. "We'll discuss the rulebook later," she said.

She looked back to the crowd. "Other than any Starfleet Regulations I may currently be overlooking, any questions?"

F'Arra, who was titularly being replaced, was trying to act as though this didn't bother her. Truthfully, it didn't. Yet, she felt as though she needed to 'show' it didn't bother her, for the smooth transfer of the Department Chair. She did, however, raise a hand. "What's your personal policy on crew members only wanting to deal with a particular member of the medical staff?"

There were a couple of shaking heads from the assembled crowd. They knew who it was. "I got a patient - stubborn, fool-hardly, likes to throw themselves into danger. For some reason - and I don't know why - they want me to treat them. Only me."

Kally mulled that over. "Life is about choices. So, if this individual decides to grace us with his presence, and you aren't available, they can choose to wait and suffer, or they can choose to be treated. If it gets to the point where their life is at risk, we'll knock them out and save their life, and then they can wait for you to administer the pain blockers. A few rounds of that should set them straight."

She looked around the assembled crew. "Well, if that's the worst of it, back to duty, or back to whatever you were doing. Beta shift starts in a few hours so please be on time. Dismissed."

Henry stood and went to a station in Sickbay, his lunch effectively wasted. He didn't look pleased, but Kally didn't have time to worry about that right now. She'd deal with him soon enough.

She looked at Doctor F'Arra. "My office, please."

As they walked into her office, Kally said, "I want to know everything about this patient you mentioned," she said, then stopped as she saw the flashing light on her console. She accessed her messages. "Evidently I'm being summoned When I get back, please fill me in?"

At F'Arra's nod, she left Sickbay in the Catian's capable paws and headed out for her first house call.