Just a little something

Chapter 2

Lt. Malcolm Reed had been back on the bridge exactly three minutes when the little icon at his station started to blip a warning at him that there was a power fluctuation in one the units in the Armory. He sighed softly and called for Ensign Deitrich to come and take over his station on the bridge so he could investigate the problem.

Deitrich arrived and he quickly headed down to the Armory.

Malcolm briefly wondered if this was the day he would get absolutely nothing done on his to-do list. He even had a short list today: 1) Three mile run on the treadmill before breakfast, interrupted because the treadmill lost power at mile 1.2 and unceremoniously dumped him off the back end. Luckily, no one else was around at 0500 to see his humiliation; 2) Senior Officer Weapon Qualification at 0900, postponed until a later date because the cargo vessel arrived with the special delivery of holiday merriment for the crew. Captain Archer had been in the Armory when the message came from the bridge, saw the frown on Malcolm's face, and promptly prescribed him the duty of helping Hoshi with the decorations in the Mess Hall; and 3) Complete the Tactical and Armory Duty Roster for next week at 1600, now pushed back until after supper because of the power fluctuation.

He activated his scanner as he arrived in the Armory and isolated the wall panel that held the problem. He pulled off the panel and set it down and ran his scanner over the unit inside. It looked like an easy fix, he'd just have to pull the unit out, do a quick diagnostic, and re-initialize the programming. If that didn't work, they had a spare that he could switch it out with. He quickly unhooked the two release latches and tugged. The unit did not budge. He stuck himself into the wall panel and shined his pen light around the unit. He spotted a third latch and frowned. It was in a rather awkward spot. He sat down and leaned against the wall and stretched his arm out between the wall and the unit to reach the latch.

Bloody hell! he cursed himself as he felt metal slicing his forearm. He grabbed hold of the latch and pulled. He quickly removed his arm and grabbed a towel to slow the bleeding. He went back to the unit and tugged, thankfully it came out.

"Lieutenant, what happened?" Ensign Tighe questioned as she came in for her duty shift.

"I got a cut when I went to unlatch this unit, I'll be fine." he tried to downplay the fire burning up his arm as he sat the unit on the work bench.

"I'll run the diagnostic, Sir. That's bleeding an awful lot, you should have Dr. Phlox take care of it." she crinkled her nose at how fast the towel was changing colors.

He nodded, "Thank you, Ensign. I'll be back shortly." He shook his head and wondered if this day would ever end.

As Malcolm walked into Sick Bay, the ever present and upbeat Denobulan doctor smiled brightly. "Ah, Mr. Reed - What do I owe the pleasure?" he questioned. The doctor quickly spied the towel and ushered the Tactical Officer to the sink.

"I had a disagreement with a piece of metal and much to my chagrin, I think the metal won." Malcolm tried to make light of the six inch gash as the doctor unwrapped the towel to take a look at the damage.

"I think you're right, the metal won." Doctor Phlox nodded as he rinsed off the man's forearm. He noticed that his patient flinched. "Is there a burning sensation?" he asked quickly.

Malcolm nodded and willed himself not to pass out. He was sure that if he did pass out, the doctor would keep him and run a multitude of tests on him.

The doctor quickly got a hypo out and injected the medicine into his arm. Phlox watched as his patient's breathing evened out and his arm relaxed. "Better? No more burning sensation?"

"It's stopped. Thank you." Malcolm tried to smile.

"Good." Phlox pulled out his medical tools and quickly sealed up the gash. He nodded in satisfaction as he ran the scanner over the man's arm after he finished. "All better." he smiled brightly. He went to retrieve his PADD, "Now, tell me about this metal that you had a disagreement with - where is it located?" he questioned.

"In the Armory, in one of the wall panels. Why do you need to write that down?" Malcolm asked.

"Because that piece of metal is oxidized and needs to be removed immediately." Phlox stated.

Malcolm frowned, "Oxidized metal doesn't cause a burning sensation." he pointed out.

Doctor Phlox nodded in agreement, "You are correct. Evidently, it didn't react well with the salve you've been putting on your arm to get rid of that allergic reaction you had a few days ago. The good news is the rash has gone away and you can stop putting that salve on your arm."

Malcolm closed his eyes and said a quick thanks - the salve had a nasty feel to it, like it had small pebbles in it. He opened his eyes and realized he'd been too quick to say thanks.

Doctor Phlox was pulling down another jar from his shelf and walked over to him. "This will ensure that you don't come down with anything from that cut." Phlox handed him the jar.

Malcolm eyed the purple gel, then opened the lid slowly. "Ugh! This smells worse than the last one! Is this really necessary? Don't we get tetanus injections for prevention?" he complained and quickly sealed the lid. He wrinkled his nose, he could still smell it. He could feel his blood pressure rising for the fifth time today.

Doctor Phlox raised an eyebrow at the Lieutenant's complaint. This was normal, that they went back and forth on his treatment and how long his recovery would take. The thing that was not normal was the man's blood pressure elevating so quickly. "Have you been feeling okay lately? Any extra stress added?" he questioned as he analyzed the readings on his scanner.

Malcolm ran his hands over his face. This day was not at all going as planned. He sighed in resignation, "Run whatever tests you want." he laid down on the examining table and crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes.

Doctor Phlox quickly shut his dropped jaw and slid the man into the imaging chamber.