Star Trek : Athena

Episode 2: Apple of My Eye

Stardate 2264.174

Doctor's Log.

Survived another dole gamma shift. Dr Osler is resting after assisting me.

I've seen a lot of brutal things but nothing takes the cake like this. Ensign Green fell off a platform and broke her back in three places, not to mention the possibility of head trauma.

Other than that, there's nothing more than the mundane. Most injuries are from the engineers; burns, sprains, and a few abrasions.

Due to the delays, several crew members have not been fully vaccinated. Specifically a total of 133 crew members.

Gorlax Measles—despite its funny-sounding name—is no joke.

On a separate note, Lieutenant Nitu did message me last night. Due to the unusual number of strange and frankly bizarre accidents, I was unable to answer them.

I just hope that it wasn't anything too important.

"Good morning, Doc!"

"Morning, Greg!"

Jenner plastered on his smile as greeted the yeoman.

The caffeine in his system made him jittery but eager to get through his shift. The previous night someone from the gamma shift had their leg crushed while doing repairs on the shuttle crafts.

Naturally, he'd been the first one to call since Dr Osler had a three-day shift and needed his rest.

He had spent the majority of his night using the bone knitter and the dermal regenerator so that the crewman would be able to walk without having to worry about using crutches for the rest of his life.

The worst part was only the fact that he had to go to physical therapy 3 times a week.

A small price to pay for his life. That's how he justified it.

Jenner had allowed himself to sleep once the man was sedated and out of danger.

He made his way to sick bay, a PADD in his hand with a list of crewmen who hadn't gotten their booster shots.

Doctor Osler was already in sickbay, humming an off-key version of 'Living on a Prayer' as he lined up vials of vaccines he had painstakingly generated. He inserted them into the hyposprays, ready to sting whatever poor soul had missed their appointments.

"Mike!" Dr Osler greeted, his old eyes lighting up behind his glasses. "You look like hell."

Jenner didn't correct him on the use of his first name. He set his PADD down and got to work at his station.

"I certainly look better than our patient last night."

"Oh, yeah. Nurse Whittle told me." he tutted. "Can't believe something like that could happen here. It's a good thing you were there."

"I only did what I'm trained to do." Jenner shrugged.

"You work too hard." He said.

"You know." Jenner brushed the invisible lint off the front of his shirt. "You're not the only one to tell me that."

"I'm sure your mother had more words about that last time I met her." Dr Osler chuckled. "Don't mind me, Mike. I'm an old man. I've seen too much in space."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir."

"As long as you keep it in your heart too."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.