Better to be safe than sorry

Posted on Monday, 24 August 2020 - 6:38pm by Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali & Lieutenant Ryan Rose MD

Mission: Operation: Dreamweaver
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: 2393 - MD1 “Prior to the Counsellor and the Engineer”

{ON}

T’Lanna walked into Sickbay and looked around for Ryan, she had a problem that she wanted to see him about. Her Borg implants tended to irritate every now and then but one area in particular was giving her a problem and she needed to get Ryan’s opinion on it. The last thing she needed was anything going wrong with the implants that had become part of what kept her body functioning.

"hhhh" Ryan took the stylus out of his mouth, with a little slightly embarrassed smile. "Hey T'Lanna." He finished the sentence much more clearly. He then put the Large PaDD down, so he could give her his full attention.

“Hi Ryan” T’Lanna smiled warmly. “I’m having some problems with the area of implants around my brain stem. They’ve been irritating a lot the last couple of days and it’s starting to give me headaches. I’m not sure if there’s an infection or whether it’s just inflamed, it does tend to happen to areas with implants every now and again.”

Ryan nodded. "Let's take a look." He set up the nearest bio bed. "The usual questions." He smiled. "Any new shampoos, lotions, soap?"

T’Lanna shook her head. “Nothing out of the ordinary, I learned that lesson a while ago. I used to keep trying new things when I was at the Academy, until I had a compete breakout all along my skin surrounding my implants. That wasn’t much fun I’ll tell you! I spent a whole week in Sickbay under observation until the doctor could sort it out.” She shook her head. “Actually ... I’ve been getting a lot of nightmares.”

"Well that could be any number of things." Ryan put the tricorder in his pocket and gave her his full attention. "Do you mind telling me about it? I normally wouldn't pry, but in this case, it might be medically relevant."

“It’s the same one over and over, the one I had on the shuttle in the nebula before we found my mother.” She paused for a moment. “Raith and I somehow shared the same one, it’s what brought us together funnily enough. Eyelaya was concerned it could be node failure but I think we’ve more or less ruled that out.”

Ryan nodded. "Was it the exact same dream, or just similar?"

T’Lanna paused to think about it. “I ... think it’s the same, just some detail becomes clearer to me from nightmare to nightmare. Things my mother says, finer details.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe it’s just me trying to work the nightmare over in my head night to night. I am still trying to make sense of it.”

"You have bonded with Raith correct, in the physiological sense?" Ryan was trying to organize all the facts to try and trace down the root cause of her nightmares. "If so, it could be something there."

T’Lanna nodded. “That’s true, I hadn’t considered that. Commander Soral did say that bonding with a Human could cause problems if not done properly.” She paused. “I hope it’s not that but maybe I should also consult with Soral just to be safe.”

Ryan nodded. "I'd recommend that." He pulled over a stool to sit beside her. "Let's be open to all the possibilities. Perhaps it's just a flare up? I mean I go through times when my nightmares seem to happen every night, sometimes for no discernible reason. There's been enough stress recently to more than justify some troubled sleep."

T’Lanna nodded and smiled. “That’s true, we both work in stressful roles too which I guess doesn’t help the situation.”

"I don't think it's your implants, but let's have Eyelaya run some scans as well. We'll figure it out." His gut feeling said it was bond related, but he didn't know enough about Vulcan bonds to make a definitive conclusion.

T’Lanna nodded. “Any sign of a rash or irritation around my implants? I do get it every now and then but the itching is being pesky at the moment.”

"There's a bit. I can take care of it." Ryan grabbed the needed supplies, then gently moved her hair aside and used a specially designed cream on the area of the irritation. "It seems to flare up during times of stress?" He asked. "That's very common with skin issues, well with a lot of issues actually."

“It flares up anytime” T’Lanna breathed a sigh of relief at having the cream put on. “The downside of having implants in my body. Nothing I can do about unfortunately except for getting medical treatment.”

"Yeah, sorry about that." Ryan finished up. "I wish there was more I could do."

“Not your fault” T’Lanna smiled. “You didn’t make me Borg, that’s just the way it is. Are we all done?”

"Let me get you some fresh cream. I'd let Eyelaya take a look as well, she's probably got some better options than I do to be honest." Ryan replied

T’Lanna nodded. “Of course. I appreciate everything Ryan. You’re a good friend and a great doctor.”

"Flattery gets you free office visits." He teased. "Let me know if it keeps flaring up, and if Eyelaya has anything new to offer ok?"

She nodded, “I will and watch out or I’ll be forever invading your office!” She grinned playfully. “The cream will most likely work to settle the irritation, it usually works for me. If it doesn’t I’ll get us all together and we’ll see what the three of us can come up with.”

"Excellent plan. Don't forget, my under the desk is your under the desk." He smiled. "Really, my door is always open, no worries."

T'Lanna grinned and nodded making sure she had her topical cream before heading on her way.

{OFF}