McCoy
x
Jaylah sat stiffly on the cold biobed in the stark white medical room. Dr. Bones had given her a flimsy white paper gown to change into before leaving the room. She did not like dresses, but she liked this paper dress the least of all. It would rip with the slightest bit of physical activity, and it didn't even fully close in the back.
She stared longingly at her clothes piled haphazardly on the chair in the corner, wishing Dr. Bones would just come back in the room already. She had been avoiding his attempts to see her in the clinic ever since they arrived in Yorktown. She had seen him poke James T with his strange tools, and James T did not appear to enjoy the experience. He'd gone so far as to shake his head at her from over Dr. Bones's shoulder when he approached her about needing an exam.
She had planned to evade his annoying insistence until she left Yorktown, but apparently she needed to have a full physical to enroll at Starfleet Academy. Given her options, she felt more comfortable with Dr. Bones examining her.
There was a knock on the door, before it slid open just a little. "Are you ready in there?"
"I am ready, Dr. Bones." Jaylah answered, and swinging her feet back and forth as she watched the door slide the rest of the way open.
Dr. Bones walked in with a frown on his face. "I've told you that it's Dr. McCoy."
Jaylah smiled at him. "I know what your name is. I like Dr. Bones better."
He sighed heavily before muttering, "Thanks, Jim."
Jaylah bit her lip. Truthfully, it was James T who introduced him as Dr. Bones.
"Alright, so the Federation has never encountered your species before, so this is going to be a little more… invasive than your routine physical." Dr. Bones stated.
Jaylah nodded. "That is why you wanted me to be naked. The nurse explained it all."
Dr. Bones shook his head, pulling a small metallic device out of a drawer. "Can you lie down?"
Jaylah swung her legs onto the biobed and fell onto her back. Dr. Bones stepped up to stand over her, and held the device above her body. She stared suspiciously at it as he pulled it wide to reveal a screen filled with things that made no sense to her. Dr. Bones studied the images with a singular focus, before pressing a few buttons, and closing the device and putting it away.
Jaylah stayed on her back as he pressed a few buttons on his pad. "Your internal organs are similar to humans. There are a few distinct differences. It looks like you're got three kidneys?"
He looked at her like he wanted an answer, so Jaylah shrugged. "What is a kidney?"
Dr. Bones nodded and rolled his eyes. "Of course. Your stomach is also considerably smaller than your average human. Probably to make more room for this—" Dr. Bones turned his pad to show her an image of a small oval shape "—any idea what that might be?"
Jaylah studied it. She did know what it was, but she didn't know what to call it in English. "It is my rhogair. It holds nutrients in my body if I go long times without food."
"Really?" Dr. Bones asked, sounding genuinely intrigued. "That explains some of the results from the blood tests."
"What results?" Jaylah asked, fidgeting from her prone position.
"What? Oh. You seem to require significantly less nourishment than most beings of your size and build." Dr. Bones answered. "You also have a protein in your blood that indicates a faster than average healing rate."
"Do humans not heal well?" Jaylah asked, mildly smug.
"We heal just fine. Just… not as quickly as you do, apparently." Dr. Bones answered, still studying his scans. "Your reproductive organs don't appear to work like most mammals, though. There's a membrane around your, I assume only, ovary."
"That is bad?" Jaylah asked.
"No. I don't think so, at least. At first glace, it looks like it's just part of your physiology. Do you have a menstrual cycle?"
"What is a menstrual cycle?" Jaylah asked.
"It's different for different species. In humans, the female's body prepares itself for pregnancy, and if she doesn't become pregnant by the end of the month, then her uterus sheds it's lining and begins the process again."
"This happens every month?" Jaylah asked.
Dr. Bones nodded. "Do you experience anything like this?"
Jaylah shook her head. "I can only become pregnant at certain times a year."
"Do you know when those times are?"
"I only know when it happens. Not when it is coming."
Dr. Bones nodded, making notes on his pad. "What are the symptoms?"
"I am hotter, and my skin is more sensitive. My stomach, here—" Jaylah touched her lower abdomen "gets bigger and softer."
"How much bigger?" Dr. Bones asked.
Jaylah held her index finger and thumb apart in indication. "It is not much bigger. It is round like a ball, and soft. I do not even need bigger pants."
Dr. Bones glanced at her hand, before making another note. "Your body is likely making space for a baby. Any other symptoms? Is it painful? Any cramping?"
Jaylah shook her head. "Sometimes I get distracted more."
Dr. Bones asked her some more questions about her body and its workings. Jaylah laid calmly on the biobed, answering them. He was efficient and detached, and Jaylah mimicked his tone while she answered his awkward questions. She wasn't a healer. She knew very little about her body's inner workings.
"Okay, I'm going to get you to sit up now." Dr. Bones stated, setting the pad aside.
Jaylah sat up, swinging her legs back over the edge of the bed. Dr. Bones motioned for her to sit closer, so she slid to the very edge of the bed.
"Okay, so scans are all well and good, but I need to do a physical exam. If you're uncomfortable at any point, I need you to say so, okay?" Dr. Bones looked her right in the eyes as he spoke.
Jaylah nodded. "I understand. I trust you, Dr. Bones."
He nodded. "Okay, then."
The exam itself was physically uncomfortable, but she felt calm the entire time. Dr. Bones untied the back of her paper gown, and moved it out of the way, but never fully removed it. She was grateful. Certain parts of his exam were more invasive than others, at one point he'd had her lean back and place her feet in little holders while he examined inside of her. She wasn't sure what he was expected to find in there, but maybe humans had more up there than she did. Dr. Bones explained everything every step of the way.
"Okay, we're all done here." Dr. Bones stated, stepping back from her.
Jaylah nodded. "I am healthy, then? The Academy will be happy?"
Dr. Bones shrugged. "You're sort of our point of reference, here, but I'd say you're as healthy as you can be. You're blood work does indicate some mild malnourishment, which is a little troubling, considering how long we've been here at this point."
Jaylah shook her head. "My rhogair is refilling itself. Once it is full, my nutrients will be better."
"You sure about that?" Dr. Bones asked, "I've heard you don't eat much. Admittedly, with the size of your stomach, you would need to eat less than the rest of us, but still."
Jaylah wrinkled her nose. "Food here is not good. I only like mashed potatoes, carrots, and whiskey."
Dr. Bones laughed. "You've got about a third more taste buds than humans do. It'll take trial and error to find food that agrees with you. Have you tried programming foods you like into a replicator?"
Jaylah nodded. "I do not know the words in English to program them. There is fruit from Altamid that is very tasty. And a candy my father used to give me. I would like to program them into the replicators, but I do not know the ingredients."
"My mother used to bake this strawberry rhubarb pie, but she never told anyone the recipe. No matter how hard I try to get it replicated, it never tastes quite right. Ma took the recipe to her grave. It's a damn shame." Dr. Bones sounded a little sad for a moment.
"What is wrong with the replicated pie?" Jaylah asked.
"It's always too sweet." Dr. Bones answered. "I know it's not quite the same problem you're facing."
"At least I have found mashed potatoes. They are very delicious."
"That they are." Dr. Bones agreed. "I'll give you a minute to get dressed."
"Why?" Jaylah asked. "You have seen all of me already."
Dr. Bones paused from heading toward the exit, "It's to be polite."
"It is polite to pretend you have not seen me naked?" Jaylah asked, sliding off of the bed.
"Exactly. I'll meet you in the hallway whenever you're ready." Dr. Bones laughed, leaving the room.
Jaylah got dressed, and exited the room. Dr. Bones was waiting patiently. She looked him up and down, and crossed her arms. "Do you have more doctoring to do?"
He nodded. "I'm in the clinic until five."
Jaylah suppressed a frown. "You will write a report about me?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I can read it?" Jaylah asked.
"You interested in xenobiology?" Dr. Bones joked.
"I don't know what is xenobiology." Jaylah answered.
Dr. Bones made a face at her. "It's alien biology."
"Then the file will not be xenobiology to me." Jaylah stated.
"I suppose not." Dr. Bones responded. "I can send it to you when it's done."
"Who else will you send it to?" Jaylah asked. How many people would be reading about all of her natural functions? What would he be saying in it about her? She didn't mind Dr. Bones knowing all of her bits and pieces, but she didn't know if she wanted other people to know them too.
Dr. Bones didn't seem to notice her concerns. "I'll be uploading it to the Federation database. That way, no matter where you are in Federation space, if you need medical attention, the details will be available."
"So everyone will be able to see how my insides work?"
"Essentially." Dr. Bones agreed.
"What about—" Jayla paused, unsure how to phrase her question.
"What about what?" Dr. Bones asked.
"Will your report have details about my outside parts?" Jaylah asked, feeling a heat rush to her face. She was not a modest person, but she did not want strangers throughout the Federation knowing about the birthmark on the inside of her thigh.
Dr. Bones's eyes widened slightly. "Of course not. Jaylah, there won't be any personal details about you in the report. Anything personal is going to be put into your medical file, where it'll stay. The only people that will see it are doctors that you're seeing, and only when it's medically necessary."
Jaylah nodded. "Because it's polite to pretend you haven't seen me naked."
Dr. Bones smiled at her. "Because it's polite to pretend I haven't seen you naked."
"Have a good working day, Dr. Bones." Jaylah smiled back at him.
"Go have some fun for the both of us." Dr. Bones requested, walking away to a work station.
Jaylah left the clinic, and went straight to her quarters. She laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She wasn't familiar with this part of life in the Federation. On Altamid there was always something the needed to be done. For years, she spent every day working on the Franklin, to one day escape. She spent her days learning to speak English, making repairs on the ship, scavenging the planet for parts that she needed, and maintaining her traps. She didn't know what to do with herself anymore.
The crew of the Enterprise was always willing to spend time with her, but they all had jobs to do. Any members of the crew that weren't working on finishing construction of the new Enterprise had been assigned to duties in other parts of Yorktown while they waited. It was the middle of the day, and there was no one to spend time with. She was alone in her room, with nothing to do and no one to talk to.
She turned on her music, and sighed heavily. She could read another book, or maybe she could take a walk. She'd read so many books in the days since arriving in Yorktown, and she'd already seen all of the areas of the space station that she cared to. Her eyes fell onto the replicator in the corner, and she thought about what Dr. Bones said about his mother's pie. It was always too sweet.
She went to the replicator and asked for strawberry rhubarb pie.
It looked messy, but Jaylah sat down and took a bite of it. It wasn't good, but she ate a few more bites, rolling it's filling around her tongue. She then returned to the replicator, made some adjustments, and asked for another piece of pie. She did this a few times, never enjoying any of it. After several attempts, she decided that she had made it less sweet by a considerable amount.
She had no way of knowing if it would be anything like Dr. Bones's mother's pie. Did Dr. Bones miss his mother's pie like she missed her father's candies? There was no way to get her hands on his candies, but with enough efforts Dr. Bones could have his mother's pie back.
She waited until a little after six before going to his quarters with her end result. She rang the bell to his room, holding the pie in front of her.
His door slid open, "Jim, I told you I'll meet you at the damn bar."
Jaylah stared blankly at him as he stepped up and saw her. "Jaylah?"
"I brought you pie." Jaylah stated.
Dr. Bones looked down at the plate in her hands. "What?"
Jaylah rolled her eyes impatiently. "I am trying to find your mother's recipe, but I do not know what it is supposed to be tasting like. I need you to tell me what changes it still needs."
Dr. Bones stared at her. "Why?"
"Because I am nice!" Jaylah snapped. "Let me in and eat this pie."
Dr. Bones stepped back from the door to let her in. Jaylah walked in and quickly dropped the pie on the table. She turned and stared expectantly at Dr. Bones, who just continued to stare confused at her.
"Are you going to eat the pie, or not?" Jaylah demanded.
"I'll eat it. Why am I eating it?" Dr. Bones asked as he took a seat at his table under her stern glare.
"Because I am nice!" Jaylah answered. "And I am sad that you do not have your mother's recipe, so I am going to find it."
"Got a lot of free time, do you?" Dr. Bones raised an eye brow at her, taking a forkful of the pie.
Jaylah shrugged. "I have no jobs to do. Only time to pass."
He took a bite, and she stared at him while he chewed impassively. She grew increasingly impatient while he took his time.
"Well?" She demanded. "What changes I need to make?"
He swallowed and shrugged. "It's not sweet enough."
Jaylah scoffed. "You said it was always too sweet!"
"Yeah, but you made this not sweet enough."
"Argh!" Jaylah grunted. "I will try again. What other tastes do I need to put in?"
"Ma's pie was a little sweet and a little tart." Dr. Bones answered.
"What is tart?" Jaylah asked.
"Sour."
Jaylah nodded. "I will try again. I will bring you more pie tomorrow. It will be better."
"Why?" Dr. Bones asked. "And don't just say because you're nice."
Jaylah frowned at him. "Because I have a lot of free time."
Dr. Bones smirked, standing up from his table. "You want to go get a drink with the Captain and me, instead? It'll probably be more fun for you."
Jaylah started at him. "There will be whiskey?"
"Is Andoria colder than a penguin's balls?"
Jaylah stared at him. "What?"
Dr. Bones rolled his eyes. "It means you're damn right there'll be whiskey."
"Then I will go to the bar with you."
"Then follow me."