It won’t hurt a bit....

Posted on Sat Sep 7th, 2019 @ 4:15pm by Lieutenant JG Ilan Rol & Lieutenant Commander Carolyn Corrigan MD

2,377 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 100 - A Hatred of Atonement
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 01 0630 hours

ON:

“... hate snakes,” Cadet Chloe Winters confessed as she cautiously leaned over to inspect the contents of a specimen jar. Cleaned and sterilised - not to mention no longer attached to its owner - the solitary fang still made the medical student shudder. Logically she knew it was harmless but who said fears had to be logical?

Picking up the jar, Doctor Corrigan eyed it with a small smile. As gifts went it was unusual but it was not everyday someone came here because of a snake bite. Since then, the fang had been sterilised and kept in a tiny vial.

“Fortunately the snake was not included or I’d have shared your sentiment,” Carolyn admitted. “Do you have the appointment schedule?”

Reminded of why she had come in, the cadet handed over a PADD. “Lieutenant Rol should be here in a second and then there are follow up appointments. Mostly paediatric.”

Carolyn skimmed the list. “Okay, should be easy.... and here he is! What are your thoughts on snakes, Rol?” She asked, tossing the small container in his direction as the lieutenant approached her office.

"Better being bitten by one of these then a Klingon....or Cardassian. I speak from personal experience there." He tossed it back to her. He'd spent the night tossing and turning after his conversation with Ariana.

“Doesn’t it depend on why the person is biting you?” Chloe blurted out a millisecond before turning red, mumbling an ‘excuse me’ and making an effort at warp speed.

Carolyn grinned, “and you worry about me? Take a seat, Lieutenant. I got distracted by a Klingon and a snake - well, half Klingon - so I’m just catching up. Your routine medical isn’t due for another few weeks. Setting an example or has something been troubling you?”

He shrugged, "Just wanted to get it over with." Truth was he was a bit nervous. Hades had done the onboard exam and he'd seen the scars. This would be the first time that anyone else would. He waited for Carolyn to tell him where she wanted him next. He figured they'd go to the bio bed but was not looking forward to taking his shirt off. "Is there a private out of the way bio bed?" Somewhere preferably where his scars would not be seen.

“Of course,” she assured him. “Follow me.”

Standing she walked around the desk, gesturing for him to follow. “A benefit of not being aboard a starship is extra space and more privacy,” she pointed out as she led him in to a room hidden down a corridor. The lights activated the moment they entered and revealed a generic examination room, only this one had one wall full of drawings from the nursery class. It was a kaleidoscope of colours and shapes when put together like a mosaic.

“Anything in particular worrying you?” She asked as she prepared everything she would need.

"My back has been hurting. I have been doing a new workout routine and it's been a bit of a strain so muscle pain. Also....headaches."

Carolyn flashed him a reassuring smile, “isn’t it ironic when being healthy makes you hurt? Okay, I’ll start your blood work first and we can see about the rest. And please try to relax as much as you can.”

As she spoke she obtained the sample she needed, slotting the vial into the slot built into the terminal adjacent to the biobed. “You mentioned a new workout, is that when the pain started or was it an existing issue that the exercise exacerbated?”

He sighed pursing his lips slightly. His reluctance to answer was obvious. "It was a pre-existing issue that I never had .... looked at."

“Okay... mind if I take a look? I will absolutely look away and you can tell me when you are ready,” she promised, moving to the terminal to start writing up the medical notes. Sensing a hesitation she chided herself, quickly adding, “Or, If you’d be more comfortable, Dr Harris is on duty. I won’t take it personally, I swear.”

"No...it was bad enough with Hades." He slowly removed his shirt. He stood looking at her. "Before I turn around for you to see my back I need you to promise something."

Carolyn glanced over her shoulder at him, frowning. “That depends on what you are wanting me to promise,” she told him, “but I can promise whatever it is doesn’t need to leave this room.”

"The leave this room part is enough. That's what I was gonna say." He smiled, "Sure your not psychic?" He gave a nervous laugh.

“Definitely not,” she smiled, “but I know that sometimes our doctors see and know more than even our nearest and dearest. You aren’t the first person to feel nervous. I’m not the best myself at times.”

Rol was oddly subdued. He was not his usual annoying self. He sighed. "Ok....let's get this over with." He turned his back to her so that she could scan it. The canvas of his back was littered with scars of various sizes and shapes. They were not fresh but the skin was pale and puckered where they had been once raw.

Carolyn's eyes took in every scar, knowing as well as most that each one had a story behind them. And no scars were good ones... With barely any hesitation, she began to run a deep tissue scan, analysing the any underlying damage. "You're doing great, Rol," she assured him quietly, after a moment closing the tricorder. "Scans all done, you can get dressed."

While he did that, she transferred the readings to the terminal so she could study them better. "What kind of workout are you doing?" she asked, as if they were discussing the weather. She knew how she felt about her own scars, she did not want him to feel the same. Or for it to be the one thing he remembered most about his physical. After all he had dropped everything to bring her a mountain of chocolate just a little while ago.

"A running program and have been using the bike and weights a bit and some other .... personal forms of exercise." He blushed a bit.

"Lieutenant Rol, did you just blush?" she teased gently, gesturing for him to sit as she sat on one of the stools. "There is nothing wrong with personal forms of exercise, it does wonders for you if you are careful. I'm obligated to add that in."

He laughed, "Yes well. Warning noted."

"Okay, back to the back pain.... Some of the scarring is extensive, the surrounding tissue is affected so naturally if you are trying to use those muscles, they aren't as strong or as capable as they should be," she told him, gesturing to the monitor. "You said you never had your scars attended to … can I ask why? They aren't new so I'm guessing they happened when you didn't have amazing doctors like me or Hades around?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "The Cardassian doctors tried to help. My step father was...insistent that they were removed but I was told it was impossible. Then...then became a cautionary tale."

"I don't understand what you mean - cautionary tale?" she asked, frowning as she inwardly fumed at what so called 'doctors' had failed to do. While perhaps removing them was beyond their abilities, it was like a blindfolded med student had been left to try and patch him up at the time when most good could have been done.

"A reminder to treasure every moment." He shrugged. He seemed to withdraw. In all the time Carolyn would have known him he was the annoyingly optimistic soul who was chipper and fun but a darkness settled over him and his face paled to reflect the memory. "Oddly," he said, "I owe my life to Dukat."

"Want to tell me about it?" she offered, leaving it out there to let him decide. It wasn't the lieutenant most people knew. But that was nothing new in these walls. Under normal circumstances, she'd send him to counselling. But that would have been far too ironic. "Or you can tell your doctor to shut up. Choice is yours."

He thought a moment. He hadn't talked about this with anyone. Even Hades knew the partial story. "I was going to become a monk on Bajor your know? Wanted to go all the way to the Vedek council. But the story really starts when I was a child." He sighed. "We were in Galitep. I was sick....my mother, to save me, volunteered to go to Terok Nor. My father...blamed me for that. I was eleven when I joined the resistance, 13 when he died. By that time my mother...had fallen in love with her Cardassian keeper Adekat. They truly loved one another." He sighed. "I was the only one who...didn't hold it against them. In a way he treated my mother better then my father did."

Carolyn listened quietly, not wanting to interrupt him. "I can't even begin to imagine what that was like for you," she admitted. "Or your family. And eleven? Wow... I'm guessing that isn't where your story stops?"

He sighed, "Not really. I was educated at he monastery. I joined so I could give my brothers and sister an education and shelter. That was the deal. It was a great time for me and I was finally living and seeing my siblings grow. It was a week before my 18th birthday. I was summoned to Terok Nor. My sister...half sister was born. I was herded to the wrong shuttle and wound up on Empak Nor. There I was thrown into the mine processing centre. Gul Porket was...an enemy of my step father so he figured he'd take me. I spent a year and a half there." He sighed. "The records were of course altered to reflect that. Whips were the favoured lesson teachers of the Cardassians who didn't like when I tried to escape. Some of those are from there."

“I am so sorry,” Carolyn breathed, finding it hard to really picture what that would have been like. Eighteen months ... and his only motivation was looking after his family. “You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to but the other scars ... those are not from whips...”

He sighed, "No. Not from whips but other means, A dark reminder that trading one hell for another is not always the best option." He seemed to snap out the fog. "A longer story perhaps requiring much chocolate. In the end my step father, with the aid of Dukat, rescued me. I made it in time to see my mother. She was ill. She begged me to take my half sister with me. I did. My family, my friends turned from me seeing me as a collaborator. I was sworn in as prylar but...I knew I did not belong. My mother passed later that year and my step-father wanted to honour her by saving all of us children. My brothers would have nothing to do with me so I took my sisters and we made a life on Earth. I knew I had to go and become a counselor. To help others who were within the depths of despair.

“You are a good brother, Rol. And son. Your sisters were lucky to have you,” she observed, not dwelling on his one hell for another comment. “And you know I never say no to chocolate.”

He smiled, "It's not about being a good brother or son. It's family." He sighed. "So what do the tests say?"

“That you should try knitting,” she teased as she leaned over and called up the images for him to see. “Obviously the scarring extends to the surrounding areas. I’m recommending physio. It will help strengthen and improve flexibility - something your personal workouts will benefit from. Lieutenant Thompson is a miracle worker, believe me. If the discomfort is impacting your daily routine we can give you something to ease it in the meantime. Or chocolate works too.”

She flashed him a reassuring smile, “that aside, you passed with flying colours. Congratulations, you get a year of freedom.”

He smiled. "That is good. I think I will take something for the pain." He put on his shirt and then slipped into his jacket with some pains. "Carolyn...Can I ask you a personal favour?"

“Of course you can.... but I don’t know how to knit,” she warned him as she prepped a hypo.

He smiled, "Can we keep what I told you completely confidential?"

“Please, like you have to ask!” She muttered with an eye roll, shaking her head as she administered the hypo. “This is a long lasting pain reliever so it will take about half an hour to truly let you feel a difference but personally I found it better than most and side effects are negligible unless you are Bolian. And you’ll have a physio referral sent by the end of the day.”

He smiled, "Thanks Carolyn. I appreciate it. How about dinner tomorrow? I feel like I haven't been out in ages."

“I tend to find trouble but if you are brave enough then I will be there,” she said.

"Excellent a new restaurant you might like opened and I have been dying to try it."

“Don’t you want to have a night with whoever is helping with that personal exercise?” She asked.

He smiled, "To quote Hades, it's complicated."

“I’m prone to violence when I hear that word too much,” she warned. “And I will be buying him a thesaurus for his birthday.”

Rol threw his head back and laughed. "Oh I love it! You must take a holo of his face when he opens it." He needed a good belly laugh and she'd given it to him. "You are one of a kind.”

“All part of the service,” she told him as she headed for the door, shaking her head. One of a kind. Yeah, right. “See you tomorrow and do not put off physio.”

"Will do."

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