Here to learn

Posted on Friday February 7th, 2020 @ 6:23pm by Cadet Freshman Grade Caleb Johnson & Lieutenant Commander Nivora T'vek

1,065 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Shakedown Cruise
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Day 3 - 2130

Shortly after reporting to the Commander, Caleb decided it was time to go and meet the Chief Medical Officer, who was to be his Mentor onboard. He took the turbolift to Deck 7, and walked into sickbay, a wide smile on his face as he took in the sickbay before him. Although the ship was old, the sickbay had been fitted with the most up to date of technology. He looked around for the Lieutenant in charge, and walked over. "Excuse me, Lieutenant T'Vek?" He asked, with a smile.

Immediately T'vek was on guard, he was not used to anybody wandering into his lair that was sickbay, with a smile that enthusiastic, bar perhaps Commander Johnson and he to an extent had to appear to not distrust or loathe any members of his crew, the rest so far had been decidedly neutral or at the very least wary, nevertheless, he didn't want to make yet another crew member cry, and if this were some sort of test, forewarned is forearmed, turning from his work in sorting through crew vaccination records placing one hand imperiously on top of another fixing the newcomer with his full attention, he disinterestedly drawled, "That would be me yes,"

“Good to meet you Lieutenant, I’m Cadet Caleb Johnson, due to be starting in here as your new nurse. I believe you’re to be my mentor while I’m here.” He replied, keeping the smile despite the officers tone of voice. “I’m looking forward to working with you, I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.” He said.

"Mentor?" he enquired languidly, "it would seem that the Academy neglected to inform me, irregardless, we can use such a lapse as an example of always being prepared and flexible, two required traits of any trained medical professional, but first things first," pausing with ingrained gravitas as he mentally recalled the state of the new nurse he had been presented this morning, and her general knowledge, and given that this would be a fairly common one for any trainee to deal with, with little preamble and without missing a beat he quickly fired off a question in a manner designed to catch off balance with all the practised expertise that Romulans were known for, "Localised tenderness to the ulnar bone, no epidermal damage, moderate edema, Possibilities?"

“I would say query fracture, however I would ask for a history of the events leading to the start of this, any relevant medical history, request some x-rays potentially.” He replied, hoping he’d given the right answer.

"Stress Fracture, possibly, and a high likelihood indeed, a common shipboard injury, have you given much thought to your chosen track within the profession?" he enquired in a marginally softer yet still idle tone, fixing the Cadet with a piercing and appraising glare like stare, this one at least seemed considerably less nervous, *something that could make matters either more difficult, or simple, to mold and form.*

"So my plan is to specialise in Emergency Medicine, with possibly a minor in Wound Management." He answered, giving a smile that he was at least close with the answer.

T'vek appeared to take in what was said impassively, almost dismissively before leaning into his office before emerging with a handful of PADD's, "An admirable goal," without preamble he began handing them one at a time over to the young cadet, "In that case you shall find that I expect a brisk and efficient pace in regards to your studies, to that end, I expect these to be studied and memorised by the end of next week, as for your end goal, we can begin tailoring your studies to that pathway as your studies progress." His tone flat and aloof as with each point he had punctuated it with handing over a PADD with various subjects such as Patient Management, Unconventional Diagnosis and Everyday Injuries of the Alpha Quadrant,

Caleb nodded. It seemed like a lot of work, but something that he was sure he’d be able to handle. “When will I start practical studies in here?” He asked, eager to get into things.

With a thin smile he reached into his office for a final PADD and held it out, "as soon as you've finished reading through this, a work of my own, and one of my many specialisations," the subject of this PADD was Survivalist Medicine, "You'll be surprised how what some would consider primitive medicine, can be swifter and more effective than technological methods, both have their own faults, however when used in tandem, you would be surprised."

Caleb nodded. "Thank you Lieutenant, I look forward to learning alot from you." Caleb answered. He was looking forward to working under a hard taskmaster, but also hoped that T'vek would soften slightly as they got to know each other through work.

"You are welcome and do not disappoint," came the current reply from the imperious Romulan.

"I will try my best not to. When shall I report back to you?" Caleb asked.

"For your first day, the day after tomorrow, I think at oh seven hundred should be reasonable, you should have been able to unpack and review the assigned work to a minor degree by then," T'vek was dismissive about what was far from a minor amount of reading, his gaze now fixed on a PADD as he made several inputs.

Caleb nodded. "Thank you, sir." He said, simply.

"Ah yes, here," he murmured now handing the PADD over, "A case study I want you to review, as part of your studies we will be using this patient and their background for various exercises in the holodeck," as he did so, he did not bat an eye at having given his new charge an almost herculean task when it came to study, that or he either did not care, or simply expected that this would be done, "it has been a pleasure to meet you Cadet, and I suspect you have other matters to attend to?"

Caleb nodded, with a smile. “Thank you sir, I’ll get onto these revision tasks right away.” He replied, turning and heading for the door.

"See that you do, Cadet," returned T'vek in clipped brisk tones, as he returned to his vaccination records glowering slightly as he lamented the lack of due diligence he had so far encountered.

=/\= End =/\=

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