3.
Julie McKenzie sat alone in the clinic working on her recall roster. It was a tedious part of the job, but someone had to do it.
There were only four-hundred-thirty crewmembers aboard The Enterprise, so it wasn't as if they would be overwhelmed with exams anytime soon. But some of the crew were due for their annual exams, some were overdue, and it was Julie's duty to see that everyone was up to date.
She saw a few familiar names on the list and smiled. Some were people she came out of the academy with; a few others were former patients from the residency program.
She glanced up at the clock on the wall and wondered what Dr. Paine was up to.
After Dr. McCoy's exam that morning, Liza in seeing him to the door; became so deeply engrossed in their conversation she ended up seeing herself out right along with him. That was three hours ago. Liza's sudden infatuation with McCoy, and knowing how naive Liza could be at times was a little disconcerting to Julie. Whatever was going on, she hopped it wouldn't end in tears again.
It was almost lunchtime and if Liza didn't return soon, Julie would have to go to lunch by herself. She hated that idea. She knew she would eventually make a few new lunch buddies but right now she was thinking she was a little bit lonely and a lot a bit bored.
Blowing off the recall roster, Julie leaned her elbows on the desk and rested her chin in her palm, drumming her fingers on her cheek wishing for something better to do.
Just then the doors swished open and a crewman was steering a dark haired engineering officer into the dental clinic waiting area. The officer was apparently injured and was holding a bloodied towel over his mouth.
Julie jumped up from her chair and rushed to his side, taking him by the elbow and guiding him to the nearest dental chair. His brown eyes were wide with pain or fear; she couldn't be sure which, but she immediately paged Dr. Paine to the clinic.
Then she began to evaluate as much as her credentials would allow, first by scanning vitals. His blood pressure was a little high but that was expected under the circumstances. Everyone always seemed nervous to be in a dental chair, she considered it pretty normal.
She made her notations on a PADD and asked, "My name is Leiutenant McKenzie, I'm Dr. Paine's assistant. Sir, can you tell me what happened?"
He shook his head afraid to speak. Julie pulled on a pair of exam gloves, looking to the young crewman for an explanation.
"He busted himself in the mouth with a pair of lineman's pliers, ma'am."
"Lineman's pliers? Ouch. Okay, lemme look." She gently pried the officer's fingers away from his face and removed the towel. His upper lip was lacerated and was already beginning to swell. It would probably need sutured. She used a piece of gauze to lift his upper lip and looked at his teeth. He winced.
"Sorry," she said apologetically. "I know this hurts, but I really need to look."
The first glaring flaw in the man's dentition was a missing left central incisor. Julie contained her alarm and asked him to open. There didn't seem to be anything else wrong with his tongue or teeth, other than some slightly chipped enamel on his lower incisors and a lacerated labial frenum.
"Okay…. okay, I think we can fix this. Can you give me your name and serial, Sir?"
"Lieutelah Comman'er Mothgom'ry Thott," he grimaced but continued with effort, "Eth E one nine theven five four Tee."
Julie repeated the information as she typed it into the computer, accessing his dental records.
"Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, S, E one nine seven five four T?"
Montgomery Scott sighed, "Yeth."
The crewman looked impressed. "You understood that?'
"Sure, took a training course on it," she kidded, winking at her patient.
With his records now viewable on the vid screen, standing orders allowed Julie to turn her attention to a radiographic scan.
She slipped a sensor behind his remaining anterior teeth and asked him to hold it there, paralleled the scanner with his nose and squeezed the trigger. It made a short beep and the radiograph appeared instantly beside his chart on the vid screen.
She gave him some gauze 4x4's for his bleeding lip and looked at the scans, making mental notes. No obvious bone fractures, no root tip.
As far as she could tell, the tooth had been knocked out clean.
Julie took an ice pack out of a supply cabinet and activated it. She handed it to him and he gingerly placed it over his sore mouth. Mr. Scott laid his head back in the chair. His eyes told her if he could have smiled, he would have.
"Do you know where your tooth went?" she asked and Mr. Scott's eyes brightened. He shifted in the chair, pulled the tooth out of his pocket and held it out to her.
"OH! Okay, hang on." It wasn't the best way to treat an avulsed tooth but at least he hadn't swallowed it. Julie opened a kidney pan from a peel pack, lined the bottom with gauze and poured some sterile saline into it. She let Mr. Scott drop the tooth into the solution and then examined it. Aside from the fact that it should be in his head and had been handled roughly, it didn't appear to be in bad shape.
The door swished open again and in walked Dr. Paine followed by the captain and Dr. McCoy.
"Sorry I took so long," Liza said. "Captain Kirk and the doctor were giving me the grand tour."
She smiled at her new patient. "What have we here?"
Julie began briefing her, "Well, it seems our chief engineer had an altercation with a pair of lineman's pliers.... the pliers won. Number nine looks to be completely avulsed. He brought the tooth with him and I have it soaking in sterile saline." She pointed to the kidney pan on the mayo tray and continued. "Dental records and periapical scan are on the vid screen, I didn't notice any anomalies on the scan..... His vitals are good. He 's a pices, enjoys Shakespeare, candle-lit dinners, and long walks on the beach….."
Kirk and McCoy laughed at Mr. Scott who was rolling his eyes. Liza turned from washing her hands looking rather perturbed.
"Sorry Doc, just tryin' to lighten things up a little for Mr. Scott here." She smiled a comforting smile at him and patted his hand, which was griping the arm rest so tight, his knuckles were turning white. His eyes darted up at her and she felt him relax.
Liza jerked a disposable gown over her dental smock, snapped exam gloves over the cuffs and said, "Well, let's get you numbed up and we'll see if we can replant that tooth for you Mr. Scott."
Julie made herself busy with setting up for the procedure while Dr. Paine reveiwed medical history and explained to her patient what they were about to do. The risks, benifits, other treatment options and prognosis were also discussed.
The desciptions were enough to make Captain Kirk and the crewmen turned a Vulcan shade of green and they excused themselves. But Dr. McCoy asked if he could stay and observe with Mr. Scott's permission.
"That okay with you Mr. Scott?" Liza asked.
He shrugged and mumbled something incoherent.
"He said he doesn't care and that you should call him Scotty," Julie clarified.
Dr. McCoy looked at Julie and asked, "How did you understand anything he just said?"
Scotty muttered and Julie gave the same answer in unison "Took a training course on it."
McCoy looked baffled at them both and the dental assistant and chief engineer quietly chuckled.
Julie couldn't help but think Mr. Scott was cute.
Distressingly cute.