A Cold Defeats All

Posted on Sat Jun 25th, 2011 @ 5:50am by Major Leroy Mangalia & Lieutenant Commander Leanne Bowen

1,423 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Shades of Gray
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Back Story

ON:

After the meeting with his Corporal, Leo made his way quietly to Sickbay. Captain York and Chichire had both told him to get it taken care of, something he planned on doing any how. Leroy tried to stay healthy, but it almost never worked. This was the first time in years he had gotten a cold, and he didn't know how it had happened. Stepping into Sickbay moments after starting to wonder about the cold, he sneezed, stopping a nurse dead in his tracks.

"A Marine thats sick," the young man said, sounding like he was going to be sick from the thought of it.

"Germaphobe?" Leo asked with a smile, keeping the coughing at bay, but only barely. He could hear himself starting to wheeze.

"The true term is Mysophobe Marine," the Nurse said. "And no, I'm just worried about those that have a weakened immune system from this or that procedure." As the man stopped talking, Leo started hacking. His coughing had been kept at bay long enough, and it was coming out if he wanted it to or not. Doubling over, trying to breathe, he didn't notice the nurse scurrying back, and erecting a level two quarantine barrier around Leo.

Leanne heard several loud coughs to her office. She stood up and walked out to find out where it was coming from. As she found her male nurse standing outside a barrier around a marine. "What's going on?"

The nurse looked back and stepped a little further back. "We have a stubborn Marine that wouldn't allow his body expell mucus when it needed to, so it's not forcing its way out. I haven't had a chance to do a scan to see what it is as of yet, or where it came from."

"Thank you, nurse. I'll take it from here," she said as she approached a console, letting her fingers dance on it. "So, Captain Mangalia...be still and let the scans search you. When was the last time you went on an away mission?"

"I was on the away mission to that planet where the away team..." another racking cough that silenced him, but no mucus. "Disappeared. The one we're leaving now?"

"Oh...that's when my nurse got sick by drinking the water from the surface, as the containment didn't filter the liquid properly. Germs must be lurking around down on that planet," Leanne said as she kept her eyes on the console, waiting for it to finish the scans on Leo. After it beeped, "We have a diagnosis. You have a walking Pneumonia and bronchitis mixed in. I want you to lay down on that biobed and we are going to keep the barrier around you."

Leo nodded and hopped up on the bed, then lied down. "So how are we going to fix this? And what in gods name is Walking Pneumonia?"

Leanne chuckled. "It's an old term...meaning a kind of bacteria in your lungs that is not making you any sicker as you are up instead of being in bed. It can be contagious." Her fingers danced on the console, "Another scan and I'm going to give you a synthetic antibiotic that will kill it in 24 hours. Bad news...you will have to remain quarantine for 24 hours after I give you the medicine as well as something to get your cough suppressed...breaking up that mucus."

"Your kidding me right? I have to stay in quarantine?" Leo glared at the Doctor. "And what if the Calypso comes under attack while I'm in here? What then? Just stay here and try to feel better?" He wasn't happy about having to stay in Quarantine, and wouldn't stop trying to find ways around it until he was ordered to do so by either the Captain or Damon.

"No luck in getting out of this one, Mister Mangalia. Your second officer can take over in your absence which solves the problem...", she said as her fingers stopped dancing. She walked away from the console and went over to a cabnet of instruments. "Keep up your whining, I'll make it 36 hours here. You don't want to run around the ship throwing your germs on others." Leanne picked up a vial of liquid and set it into a machine. "We need to get started...," she paused to put in another vial of liquid and pushed a button, causing the machine to spin inside, mixing the contents to create the antibotic. "This will take a minute."

"Yes Ma'am," Leo sighed,being grateful that he had already met, and guaged his Second Officer. "So, what exactly are you doing? I mean, what are you going to inject me with and how?"

"I'm going to put this synthetic antibotic into a hypospray and injected it into your carotid artery of your neck. I will..." she paused to remove the vial after the machine has stopped, "put on a mask to come through the quarantine field to do that."

"Alright," Leroy said, relaxing. "I didn't know if you were going to get some robotic arm to do it or not..." Closing his eyes, he tried to take a deep breath to calm himself, only to be racked with a huge bout of coughing, doubling him over on the bed once more.

Leanne shook her head as she felt bad for him. She put on the mask and set the computer to allow it to recognize her DNA, letting her walk through the quarantine field. With the hypospray in hand, she touched the tip to his neck and waited till the hissing sound stopped. "Okay, it is in your system. Do you want a sedative to sleep? I recommend that you get some rest."

"No sedatives," Leo said looking at the Doctor. "I'm already stuck here for a day, I don't want to be drugged." He started coughing again, and this time, it was lighter. "But you're the one in charge right now Doc, you're the one that's going to be taking flak if something goes wrong."

"Okay, I'm going to keep the quarantine field around you for a couple of hours to prevent the illness from spreading. You get some rest and I will come back to check on you." The doctor walked through the field and dispose the empty vial from the hypospray.

Leo lay back, looking up at the ceiling. He wanted to sleep but it wasn't going to be easy. After almost two and a half hours of laying there, he looked over. "Alright, you can sedate me. I'm not getting anywhere on this thing."

Leanne figured that he was not comfortable being in sickbay, but she can't risk it to send him to rest in his quarters. She picked up another hypospray and slipped in a vial of medicine. "I'll give you a mild sedative." She walked through the force field and injected it into his neck, this time on the other side. "Sounds like your cough is easing up..."

"I'm ignoring the coughing," Leo said looking at the Doctor. "As much as it may hurt, I have to ignore it... can't show signs of weakness."

"You have to cough or otherwise...you will get sicker and you will be confined to sickbay for longer than a week. Is that what you want?"

"No Ma'am, I guess not," Leo said. He started to let himself cough, and stopped himself from stopping himself. "It just doesn't feel right doing this Lieutenant."

"At some point in life, we all get vulnerable as it is the body's way of getting you to rest, the weakness, so, you should not let that bother you. I'm not here to give you sympathy, but to get you better." She looks around sickbay, "As a matter of fact, there are only three people in here so far...me, you, and a patient you can't see. One nurse is on break right now, but her duty is to the other patient. Relax..."

Leo nodded and lay back, relaxing slowley as he closed his eyes and tried to do a meditation technique that hardely ever worked. He didn't feel it, but he was drifting off to sleep, and was soon gone to the world, his body fixing it's self with the help of technology.

As soon as the Marine Commanding Officer fell asleep, she backed out of the force field and left to get some work done.

OFF:

Lieutenant-Commander Leanne Bowen, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
USS Calypso

Marine Captain Leroy Captain
Marine CO
USS Calypso

 

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