Not A Freak - Just Sick

[DrDMatthews 0]

Brought to you by Debbie, Bryan & Merina.

 

 

Myra Donatelli was floating on cloud nine. She was positively giddy and she couldn't help it. She hadn't been this happy in weeks...no....months. That's right! It had been months since she'd felt this good.

 

And why was Myra so giddy? Because some poor soul was on his death bed, stricken with a rare and always fatal disease called Calkins. Heck, if it weren't for the fact the patient was in stasis, he would already be gone. But someone had finally done something right. They prolonged the patient's life via the stasis unit and promptly shipped him to the Molokasi Center. Myra was so pleased! She simply couldn't believe her luck!

 

Most people would feel at least a little guilty for relishing the fact another being was so critically ill. But Dr. Donatelli was not like most people. She was the primary research physician working on a cure for Calkins. She'd been at it for years. This patient was a dream come true for Myra. He represented a chance to finally test the latest vaccine against Calkins.

 

Their new vaccine was actually developed almost a year earlier. She had personally supervised numerous simulations that showed this was the breakthrough they had long awaited. But there was only one way to know for sure. They needed a live patient to test it on.

 

As she approached the small conference room, Donatelli again glanced through the medical file of Lt. Xavier Crispin. She'd printed hard copies of the file for herself and the other two members of the team. She drew a deep breath and calmed herself before stepping into the sparsely furnished room.

 

Melia Miana was already seated at the well worn table. "Where's Mr. Swane?" asked Myra as she walked in.

"He'll be here shortly," replied?

 

The words were barely out of Melia's mouth when Swane hurried into the room and quickly took a seat. Donatelli looked at him disapprovingly. "I'm so glad you could make it," she quipped sarcastically as she handed him his copy of Crispin's medical file.

 

"Sorry I'm late Ma'am...I got sidetracked reading a report on Bendii Syndrome in Starfleet Medical Today. It was quite interesting. " replied Swane, a bit annoyed at Donatelli's remark.

 

Myra forgot all about Swane's tardiness as soon as she opened the red file folder on the table in front of her. She was in such a good mood over the turn of events, she couldn't bother with being annoyed at her assistant.

 

"Doctors," she began calmly. "I have.....fabulous news! A test subject is on his way to us....and he's alive."

 

"What's the occasion that Starfleet's decide to send us a live test subject. Usually we're not so privileged"

 

"I can't believe it's a live speciman", Melina said.

 

"He'll be here in a few days," Donatelli continued quickly. "And he is a perfect candidate for our vaccine." She looked at her assistants who were clearly surprised by her announcement. "I've given each of you a copy of his medical file. Please take a few minutes to review it and then we'll discuss our next step."

 

Swane took the copy of the medical file off the table and began to look at it. Melina followed suit.

 

 

=/\= Patient File: Xavier, Crispin W. =/\=

Patient's Full Name: Crispin Warren Xavier

Starfleet Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade

Current Posting: USS Reaent, NCC 3345-G

Position: Science Officer

Species: Human

DOB: Unknown

POB: Ariel IV

HT: 6'2" / 1.88 m

WT: 187 lbs / 9.35 hg.

Hair Color: Blond

Eye Color: Green

Medical Review: Dr. Junivar El'Far, Chief Medical Officer, Starfleet Academy

After a thorough examination, I have deemed Mr. Xavier to be in perfect health. He is ready to report for active duty immediately.

Due to his apparent old age I have noted some aging in his bone mass, but nothing life threatening.

 

 

 

Myra gave Swane and Miana no more than a couple of seconds to review Crispin's file. "Suffice to say, our patient was in excellent health until a few weeks ago." She glanced at the two younger physicians. "So just skip to the last page of the file. That's where you'll find the good stuff."

 

Jonathan and Melina glanced at each other as they quickly followed orders and turned to the last page of the file. There wasn't a lot of information but there didn't need to be. The bottom line was that Mr. Crispin had Calkins disease. If the data was accurate, his disease was so advanced he should have died within hours after stumbling into his ship's Sickbay. Fortunately, he'd been placed in stasis immediately after diagnosis and then shipped to Molokai.

 

Myra continued without missing a beat. "When he arrives, our first job will be to insure he's stable. I'd like to get him into the lab within five minutes. Then we confirm the data in the medical file. With all due respect to our colleagues on the Reaent, around here, we don't take anyone's word. We run our own tests."

 

Donatelli looked around the room as she continued speaking. "Once the tests are complete, we begin treatment."

 

"Are we going to wake him up first?" asked Swane.

 

Myra nodded. "Yes, but only partially. We need his metabolism functioning at a higher rate so we can determine if the vaccine is doing its job. But we should take this slowly....very slowly. If we see things aren't working out, we'll have enough time to put the Lieutenant back into full stasis before the disease runs its course."

 

Myra Donatelli paused. She carefully studied the expressions on the faces of the two assistants working with her on this project. There was no sign they disagreed with her approach but neither of them seemed overly enthusiastic. Myra really didn't care. She was the primary and they would do it her way.

 

"If there are no questions," she asked calmly, "we'll end this meeting now. Our patient should arrive around 0800 hours tomorrow. Get a good night's rest because there won't be much sleeping around here until Mr. Crispin has been restored to good health."

 

With that, she quickly gathered her belongings and headed toward the door. Swane and Miana remained in their seats. They were both reading through Crispin's medical file. It was essential they all be thoroughly familiar with their patient long before he arrived at the center. She was pleased to see the two junior members of the team carefully reviewing the file. Myra had already memorized it from the inside out.

 

As the doors swished open, Donatelli turned to address her young colleagues. "By the way," she began in a disdainful tone. "There will probably be a few....gawkers in the shuttlebay tomorrow when our patient arrives. Some at this Center seem to think Calkins patients are freaks....with two heads and eight eyes. They want to get a look at a living, breathing victim of Calkins."

 

Swane and Miana were now staring at their boss. "That's all the more reason to get Mr. Crispin into the lab as soon as possible," continued Donatelli. "He's not a freak....he's just very sick."

 

Myra immediately turned on her heel and left the room, not bothering to wait for any questions or remarks from her two assistants.