A Students Guide to Navigating Starfleet

Theo & Charles

Charles was exhausted, it was only his second day in the clinic but the long hours from the day prior had definitely been a testament to his own physical and mental capabilities. Other students had warned him about the long hours of his first internship, but he hadn't realised just how tiresome it would be. He sunk into the leather chair and scanned his medical index for a list of today's duties. Just like yesterday, he was to conduct routine medical exams for the current aviation students. It felt weird doing medical exams on his colleagues, a lot of them appeared apprehensive, making it difficult to conduct the exams in the first place, no matter how many times he suggested he was under doctor-patient confidentiality. By the end of the day even he was beginning to question his capabilities. The bell chimed and a sweet incoming voice entered his room.

'Your first patient of the day is here'

'Thanks Lucy, send them through'

He stood up, finished the last of his coffee which was now cold, threw it in the bin and put his white coat on.

The doors opened, he recognised the sandy blonde hair, prominent jaw, broad shoulders, Theo...Charles let out a groan that was only conceivable to his ears. Theo paused in his tracks and looked around.

'Ah I'm here for my aviation exam...do you know when the doctor is going to be here, I've only got about twenty minutes'

Charles let out a laugh. Did he expect anything less?

'You're acting doctor is here; He emphasised 'and if could be so kind and remove your shirt, so we can just get this over and done with, that would be great'

This time Theo laughed. 'No no no, there must be some mistake, these medical exams are important, they basically determine your place in this academy in the first place—'

'Yes I am aware Mr James, but unfortunately for you, and me, medical students are currently undertaking these exams as a part of our course, now if you could please remove your shirt and sit on the bed, believe me when I say this, I don't want to be here anymore than you do'

Theo's brows furrowed together but nevertheless he obeyed, he untucked his red shirt and removed it before sitting on the bed. Charles grabbed his medical tricorder and walked over to Theo, his head already starting to hurt.

He went over the routine procedure, which was now engraved into his long term memory 'Just so you know everything you say is under patient, doctor confidentiality, however I am a mandatory reporter, so if—'

'Woah woah woah, mandatory reporter?'

'Yes...if you present with any suicidal tend—'

'Jesus Christ I'm not suicidal'

'I never said you were...now if you let me finish, we can get onto the exam. As I was saying, I'm a mandatory reporter and everything I do needs to be backed up by a manual exam too'

Theo rolled his eyes, 'how long is this going to take?'

'Believe me, I'll go as fast as possible'

Charles scanned Theo's body, first checking all vitals, heart and lung capacity appeared normal, oxygen and blood pressure were within range and good muscle to fat ratio. He put his tricorder down and proceeded for the manual exam. He put the stethoscope onto Theo's chest, listening attentively to the beat. Charles could feel his breath on his forehead, it felt weird being this close to him. The only other people that had come this close to him were the hundreds of women he slept with every week. The thought made Charles disgusted.

'Can you take two breaths in'

Theo obeyed. His muscular chest rising and falling over Charles' hand. Charles proceeded towards the back of him, placing the stethoscope in the small of his back and asked him to breathe again, before pulling away. 'Good news is that everything seems to functioning fine'