Birds of a feather

Posted on Sun Jan 26th, 2025 @ 10:55am by Lieutenant Jade Celes-Johnson & Lieutenant JG Charlotte Soller M.D.

1,346 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: New Crew, New Mission
Location: Starbase - Infirmary

Having taken some time out from sitting around temporary quarters, Jade had left her husband to have fun exploring his new ship and meeting new crew, whilst she went in search of the Starbase Infirmary. She wasn’t sure if the Iroquois had a CMO assigned yet or not but no doubt she’d find out once they got aboard.

As the doors to the Infirmary swished open, Jade made her way inside. It felt odd for it to be so quiet with so many Starbase crew aboard but it would soon be bustling with people going about their daily duties. Her senses picked up on someone even though she didn’t see anyone.

“Hello! Anyone home?” She smiled as she looked around curiously.

A young looking woman, seemingly in her early to mid twenties popped her head around one of corners. She gave the obviously pregnant woman a small smile. "Hi..." she said. "Can you give me a moment, just finishing with these hyposprays."

“Sure” Jade smiled and nodded. She couldn’t help but wonder if the young woman was a nurse, or maybe a junior doctor, although she didn’t ask out of politeness.

A few moments later, the young woman emerged from around the corner. Her bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the bright lighting and her hair was dyed bubblegum pink. "Sorry about that. I'm still organising things in here. How can I help?" She asked sweetly.

“Actually I was just touring, seeing who had arrived. I sensed there was someone here...” Jade paused. “Where are my manners!? I’m Jade Celes-Johnson, the USS Iroquois’ new Chief Counsellor.”

The woman smiled. "Well, welcome to the Infirmary. I'm Charlotte Soller, although you can call me 'Lotte'." She replied with a smile.

“Thank you Lotte, please feel free to call me Jade.” She smiled warmly. “I figured I might as well check in for my Medical here while we wait to get onboard the Iroquois. I’m not sure if there’s any medical staff assigned to the ship yet. I hope you don’t mind me asking but, are you a medic or a nurse?”

"Neither," Lotte smiled. "I'm the chief medical officer of the Starship Iroquois. I Gained my MD only two weeks ago." She said. "I was snapped up quickly for assignment here, I'm just checking everything is good to go before we board." The young doctor explained a hint of pride in her voice.

“Wow! Straight from gaining your MD to the Iroquois” Jade smiled. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised we all get assigned to Starships or Starbase straight out of the Academy these days. It’s been a long time since I graduated the Academy, class of ‘85, Seems a very long time ago.”

Lotte smiled in response. "Well, it seems as if there is a decline in doctors on Starships these days. It's probably why I ended up here so fast..." she glanced down at the woman's stomach for a moment. "You don't mind me asking... but... how far along are you?"

“Ohh erm six months” Jade smiled proudly. “We’re having a son. He’s kind of our miracle, long story short I was pregnant once before, there was an attack on my ship and my injuries...” she paused. “Our baby didn’t make it. The doctors said we’d have to wait a few years to be safe to try again. That was...11 years ago, so we’ve more than waited long enough.”

"I'm sorry to hear that happened to you." Lotte replied. "However, a miracle baby is an exciting thing to happen!" Her eyes seemed to sparkle again. "When was your last checkup? I'll be running the standard crew physicals once we're aboard, but I can get a head start if you like?" She asked eagerly.

“Actually I do need one, my last prenatal was a couple of months ago. They did say once I reached the third trimester I’d need to attend regular check ups, my previous injury left some scar tissue and some minor damage from what I understand.”

Lotte clapped her hands together. "Well then! You'll officially be my first ever patient!" She exclaimed happily as she rocked up and down on her tiptoes. "So, if you'd like to sit on a biobed? I can get you a stool if you need helping getting up onto it?"

“No need” Jade smiled warmly. “I’m sure I can manage” she moved to the nearest biobed and carefully took a seat. “Do you need me to lie down?”

"That's your decision." Lotte said softly. "Whatever you feel is most comfortable."

“In that case I think I’ll sit” Jade smiled. “Getting back up is always the fun part, My poor back is strained at the best of times.”

"I can help with that if you like?" Lotte replied as she happily picked up a tricorder from the side trolley. She removed the little 'wand' that slotted into the back of the scanning device and began to slowly run it up and down Jade's body. "I'm just running a basic 'once over' scan. Then once I can see everything is good overall, I can focus my attention on your little one."

Jade nodded. She had to admit she was worried incase any complications were to set in at later stages. “It is nerve wracking, I know I shouldn’t worry about any complications but I do. Our son is very precious to us, we’d both be devastated if anything happened to him.”

"Well, let's have a closer look shall we," Lotte smiled. She focused the scanning wand over Jade's rounded out stomach. Her eyes darting from the tricorder to the wand as she did so. "From these scans he seems perfectly fine. Although he is a little small, but that's nothing to worry about. He's still got a lot of growing to do yet." Lotte assured her. "Do you feel regular movements?"

Jade nodded. “Do I ever! He’s a very active baby.”

Lotte nodded still maintaining the smile on her face. "That's a good sign." She told her. "I can see there is a little bit of what's showing as skin irritation... oh wait. Stretch marks maybe?" She asked.

“I think so, I have a few of those. I’m half Drax we differ from Humans in that Drax are green blooded much like Vulcans, copper based blood. It created a few problems for my mother when she was carrying me, yet I don’t seem to have had any problems as yet. Maybe it’s because I’m half Human as well just as my son is mostly Human.”

"Well if there's any miracle it's the way our bodies work. Somehow, it seems your baby will have Human blood over Drax, probably due to more dominant genes," Lotte replied as she studied the reading on her tricorder.

“Really?” Jade was surprised. “Our blood types are different and yet there’s no incompatibility between us? That must be a first.” She smiled.

"It's rare, but it can happen." Lotte explained.

Jade nodded. “So I guess I carry on as is? I do plan on cutting down on my hours soon though I don’t plan on totally giving up my duties until my baby is born. Then I’ll take my maternity leave time.”

"Yeah. Looks all good to me." Lotte replied. "Although, I think we should have bi-weekly checkups. Going to weekly the closer to full term."

“Agreed” Jade nodded. “I’m aiming to be a model patient, so you’ll have no arguments from me.”

"Good. I'll make sure you add it to both of our schedules." Lotte said with a smile. "Anything else you need from me?"

“I don’t think so” Jade smiled warmly.

"Well then. I'll be in touch. If you need me for anything, I'm just a comm call away!" Lotte told her with a warm smile.

Nodding Jade headed on her way, she was sure that she & Lottie would get along just fine.

 

RSS Feed