IC Inbox

[lightconductor]

If you have a message for me, Dr. John Watson, please leave it here. I shall certainly get back to you as soon as I can.
- JW

Comments

[astrogator]

[She nods. She's still hopeful. She has to be; if her career's to be ruined by something like this, something utterly beyond her control, then what's the use in fighting it at all?

No. No, there's the trouble. Even if she wanted to give up, roll over and die, she can't.]

It'll pass. [With much more confidence than she feels.

She takes a few deep breaths. Her heart rate is elevated, her breathing a little quicker than normal, but there's no sign of a physical cause.]

[lightconductor]

[He frowns a little at that heart rate, but that? That could be anything. That could be someone who's just a little anxious. That could be Ari having rushed here from somewhere else.]

Are you nervous about doctor's visits, lieutenant?

[He turns away to grab a blood pressure cuff, and moves to slip it on her arm.]

[astrogator]

A little.

[It's a quick answer, as if that's what she's supposed to say, that's what's easy.]

Actually- shipside, the only times I ended up in the infirmary and seeing a doctor, instead of just picking up supplies, I was badly wounded. Nervous enough about that, I guess.

[She's not the sort to book in for regular checkups, although she can hardly be blamed for that, considering how closely monitored she was in childhood. She does seem to have a certain amount of trust in Watson, as she lets him slip the blood pressure cuff over her arm before asking:] What does that do?

[lightconductor]

A sphygmomanometer. It's for measuring blood pressure. Try to hold your arm still. It will get a bit tight, but only momentarily.

[He starts pumping it up, eyes on the dial.]

It's true that a bad experience does rather... make it difficult to seek out medical care at other times. I know that myself.

[astrogator]

I was always healthy, before. I'm supposed to be, genetically. I can get injured like anyone else, but the only time I was really sick was when a novel pathogen from an unexplored planet got onto our ship, and even then I recovered more quickly than the others. I guess I never needed much in the way of medical care.

[As she speaks, Tayrey has been holding her arm still - and she's very glad of the warning now that the blood pressure cuff gets tight. If she hadn't known the sensation would be momentary, she might have worried that it was malfunctioning!

Her blood pressure is within normal adult range - just about. Which isn't a particularly good result for someone her age who exercises as much as she does.]

I'll admit that I tried to avoid it - my experimental genetics meant I was constantly in the lab being tested as a child. But I trust you - at least as far as I can trust anyone here. Whatever I find, you won't use it against me.