241407.xx ¦¦ JL Doctor Scarlet Rogers & Lieutenant Commander Tierney Rinehart ¦¦ Little not so secrets

Posted on 241407.03 @ 3:16pm by Lieutenant Scarlet Rogers MD & Commander Tierney Rinehart

Mission: Where no man has gone before.
Location: sickbay

Of all the lows the ship could have thrown, this had to be the lowest. It was degrading, defiling -- downright wretched and Tierney was completely powerless to it's call.

A physical.

In the past she'd always been able to report straight to Star Fleet for her physicals and bypassed the ship doctors for anything other than treatment for injury -- but her protection through SFI was, in fact, discontinued the moment she decided to offer a firing solution on one of the other ships. She was an outlaw and now castigated and ostracized by all sects... Including the crew of the Enterprise for her potential to be a double agent as they ran for their very lives into the deepest depths of uncharted space to escape the insanity that awaited them in Federation space.

She sighed, tucking an errant strand of strawberry hair away from her face, and sat waiting for the inevitable discovery. Her secrets. The ones that knotted in her belly and brought about about flashes of childhood jeering and senseless attacks for being... Different. Different in a world where different should have been embraced. It was a strange place, indeed, where a half-breed of unknown origin would be attacked by half-bred Romulans. Such a strange world indeed.

"Ms Rinehart?" The young CMO walked in behind her after she waited for Thelin to fall asleep before she left, "You here for your physical?"

"That I am." The Commander responded, turning to face the doctor. Sometimes being in Intelligence had it's perks, the smile she managed to plaster across her pretty little face was almost genuine in it's greeting.

"I've seen that look a thousand times and each time it P.." she paused before she cursed, this morning had been stressful, "frustrates me because it's not as if what I do is invasive. It's not as if we're all like Harold Shipman."

The doctor's indignation made Tierney chuckle and shake her head, "No. I suppose not." She replied, "However," She began to add, her hand rolling flippantly on it's wrist, "We generally only go to see doctors when we're ill or injured. It's easy to see where we psychologically connect doctors with bad things." Bad things indeed, the Commander nearly shivered at the thought.

"Consider the miracle of life, that we also provide and making sure that you don't get ill in the first place," Scarlet raised an eyebrow, "Unless there's something you want to tell me, you will sit through this physical and you won't complain about it." Scarlet had had enough for the day. She had too much on her mind.

"If you consider life a miracle not not a simple given." She shrugged, ribbing the other woman verbally. Tell her? Some of the stuff the young Commander could 'tell her' would have set her head spinning regarding her physiology -- but she simply shook her head and hopped up onto the bio bed. Let her find out the hard way.

"I think you should just tell me," Scarlet noted the women's uncomfortable nature.

A slender pale strawberry brow arched high over one of Tierney's eyes "With all due respect I'm disinclined to do your job, doctor."

"Do not test me Commander," Scarlet hissed, "I have had a bad enough morning as it is, do not add to my list. I do not like surprises."

With a sigh, Tierney eyeballed the doctor sidelong and allowed her tongue to soothe over the fullness of her lower lip. "Computer..." She started, locking eyes with the other woman, "Dim lights to forty-five percent." and with a chirp, the computer did as it was instructed -- the lights dropped to deep shadows. The freckles that lay spangled across the young Commander's skin instantly illuminated, shining softly in their star-like luminescent quality. "I'm not human... Not entirely."

"Firstly, how difficult was that to tell me," Scarlet looked at the woman not too surprised, "Secondly, what is and what is not off the record."

"More difficult than you know." Tierney replied flatly in the dark, eyeballing the shimmering spots across her exposed skin. "The records on my mother's race have been sealed for the most part. There's only been two found and neither one can recall where home was." She shrugged lightly, "I'm just the lucky product of a human falling in love with the slave he rescued and the two living happily ever after." Another shrug. "I don't advertise my differences, doctor. The hair is a dye job and I stay out of the shadows. I bleed pink. Everything else doesn't need to be discussed. I'm not a science project or a pet."

Scarlet adjusted the lights back to normal, "All I need to know is that you're healthy, I don't care if your human or frog." She smiled lightly.

"Then we have an understanding?" Tierney asked, her eyes blinking to adjust to the new brightness.

"Yes," she smiled, "My duty as a doctor is only to make sure everyone is well. Unless you turn out to be ill because of your genetics or become a threat to others because of yourself, then I don't mind. I will put it on record but make it doctor patient confidential."

"Good." The redhead nodded and crossed her legs, settling in a bit more, "then let's get this show on the road."

Scarlet started to quickly examine the woman, "You never know, you may find your roots whilst were out here in the wilderness."

Cocking her head off to one side, Tierney gazed at the doctor sidelong and silently mulled the thought for a fair minute, the medical tri-corder beeping all the while. "Truth? I'd been starting to secretly hope so, but I'm not counting on it. From what I understand the population is in peril. Females are more highly sought after than Orion slave girls, more rare. I wouldn't doubt it if some of my..." Tierney stilled her tongue, "not important. We'll see what happens."

"Regardless, You may," she started taking noted in a separate PADD about the unusual physiology, "I'm just making notes, for the sake of 'just in case' scenarios. I will all be confidential and if you are ill, I'm the only one with access."

"Totally understandable." The Commander's blue eyes closed for a moment, observing the quiet peace of the sickbay as she set about easing her fraying nerves. When she'd accepted the post with Star Fleet Intelligence, she'd never in a billion years thought it would come down to where she was now. An outlaw. Homeless. On edge. Disclosing her secrets to strangers.

"As far as I can tell, what you do have is working perfectly fine, although I would caution you to reduce your stress levels," the doctor stood up straight and placed the PADD down, "If you have any problems, including a scratch, you come to me, not anyone else, you ask for me specifically."

"Aye, Doctor. Thank you for your understanding." The woman responded, hopping off the biobed, "I'll try to relax." And with that, the Commander took her leave, knowing full well the exam was over and she was free.

Scarlet looked back at the PADD at the notes she had made, re reading them before filing them as confidential and clearing the screen.