Quinn's Doctor Appointment

((Note: this thread is a doctor's check-up for Quinn, which Xin would take pains to make private for the modest captain. However, if your character manages to find them and has a compelling need to interrupt, feel free to write yourself in. This will take place sometime next day, preferably late afternoon.))

Xin had privately instructed Quinn to meet him in the sickbay sometime this afternoon. Although he knew she was dreading it and would be dragging her feet about it...er...foot, she would show up eventually for two reasons. One, this ship was not huge. Xin would find and harass her until she reported for her check up. And she knew he would. Second, and probably most important, is that despite her irrational fear of medical attention, he was almost certain that the captain was more tired of the pain than she was afraid of Xin checking up on it.

The doctor had set up the room special like for Quinn's appointment. There was a Chinese paper screen in the corner with a paper hospital gown slung over the side, a soft blue sheet over the hospital bed, and for some inexplicable reason, a crudely made wooden box sitting on a nearby counter, rectangular in shape that went about 3-4 feet lengthwise and was about a foot tall and two feet across. What kept it from being a whole box was the top, which seemed to be comprised of two panels that could slide off, and the end of it, which had two large circles cut into the wood. ...huh.

The doctor himself also looked quite professional. Besides his always impeccable personal appearance, he also was dressed quite like a doctor today. He had donned his white labcoat and smock, with some white rubber gloves to complete the ensemble. And now, he played the waiting game.

As predicted, Quinn was trying everything in her power to extend her absence in the sickbay. She busied herself with chores in the morning and bothered Shai about messaging a few folks. The captain was great at finding a lot of things to do when there was something to avoid. Knowing that Xin or Shai would come to harass her at some point, she left the ship altogether after gathering a large pile of laundry, and after dropping it off in town did a little shopping.

Being out in public with her crutch made Quinn realize how much she needed the situation sorted out with a new prosthetic. Feeling a little guilty, she quickly returned to get the laundry and flew the shuttle home. By the time she came hobbling into the mess hall it was an hour or two past her scheduled appointment time, but despite the logical side of Quinn's brain telling her to high-tail it down to meet Xin, she sorted the laundry out on the table instead and started food for dinner. She didn't spend too much time - simply got some rice started and made hard boiled eggs. A note left beside the laundry notified everyone to get what they wanted tonight - Quinn wasn't going to play chef.

The captain made her way downstairs, peering guilty toward the sickbay as she nosily made her way. Her pulse had elevated the moment she stepped onto the cargo bay floor, but it wasn't anything too disruptive - simple discomfort for being the one Xin would spend his doctoring energy on. What Quinn wasn't prepared for was the formality of the visit. Not that the sickbay was really all that formal, what with the contraption he'd built and the painted koi, but the doctor's doctory appearance and just seeing a hospital gown were enough.

"Sorry I'm la-" As Quinn rounded the corner she stopped short. The pieces fell together to create a picture that blocked out reality for several moments, Quinn's eyes going wide as she backed into the wall involuntarily. Her crutch dropped to the floor as both hands sprang up to shield her eyes, and she had to swallow several gulps of saliva that suddenly crowded her mouth. Don't throw up, don't throw up... became her new mantra as she stood with her eyes tightly closed, trembling lightly. "Jus need a minute," she said, after the nausea had passed enough for Quinn to speak.

She briefly considered yelling at Xin for looking so doctor-like, but realized that was kinda unfair. Maybe it was necessary to explain to the man just why she was latrophobic, but that information hadn't even been shared with Shai, by far her most trusted friend. After a few deep breaths, Quinn lowered her arms and leaned her head back into the cool wall. "Do I hafta put that thing on?" she asked, weakly motioning to the gown.

Xin turned around casually, striking quite the contrast with the electric blue wall and koi fish. Upon seeing Quinn's reaction, his face immediately dropped in concern and he rushed over to her. Gently, he held her up by the shoulders in case she felt faint and began swaying. "Quinn? Quinn, zhèn nǐzìjǐ qǔyuè.*" He studied her covered face curiously, wondering what had prompted this reaction. After a moment, the observant doctor pulled away, untied his smock, and unbuttoned his labcoat. She was left with Xin in nothing more than a black undershirt and black slacks. The only thing remotely doctorly now were the rubber gloves. He stood back and allowed her to look at him and accept that it was just Xin, her medic that had more ink and piercings on his person than most ancient uncivilized tribes. Xin didn't try to understand other people's irrational fears, he just worked around them and didn't ask. He quirked a curious and worried brow in her general direction. "Gènghǎo?**"

Assuming she answered in the affirmative, he looked to her next question. "Well, uh...no, I provided it for your modesty, because I will need you to remove your clothes except for your undergarments. If you'd prefer to use a sheet, that's up to you. Or I could grab you one of my shirts." He offered kindly, with a professional politeness.


_______________________________________________
* = calm yourself please.
** = Better?

Quinn had gone from feeling guilty, terrified and angry in the span of about a minute. She settled on embarrassment mixed with light fear from the lingering visions, the shadows of which were still etched behind her lids. Opening her eyes, Quinn peered at Xin with some relief and nodded, then quickly looked toward the screen and waiting hospital gown.

"It's fine," she answered quickly, interrupting the last of Xin's alternatives. She carefully leaned down and retrieved her crutch, then used it to help herself back up. Once situated, Quinn moved toward the screen and disappeared behind it. She stood there for a couple minutes, mentally chastising herself while she flexed her hands and tried to ease the last of the trembling. She opened her mouth but closed it again quickly, not wanting to add to the awkwardness by telling Xin that what just happened didn't leave the room. Plus, she already knew he'd keep it to himself.

Quinn leaned her crutch to the side and began to undress. She wondered briefly if tank tops counted as undergarments, but decided she didn't care and kept it on anyway, mostly because she didn't have another option. The gown slid from view as she felt it in her hands, then put it on.

The woman reappeared and made her way toward the hospital bed, where she stopped beside it and squinted suspiciously at the weird box. "My new leg gonna pop out of that?" she asked, trying to lighten up.

"Something like that." The doctor muttered vaguely. Abruptly switching topics, he motioned for her to sit on the sickbay bed while he grabbed a few tools; namely, his stethoscope, an otoscope, and an ophthalmoscope. "I'm sorry I gave you a fright." he mumbled meekly. He'd probably never admit it, but he was rather embarrassed that he had scared the captain so much. After hearing every single rutting patient complain about how they fear/hate doctors, it starts to wear thin and one tends to ignore it and just do their job. So he couldn't help but feel a little insensitive. Not that he could be blamed, I mean, he had no idea Quinn was so afraid of doctors and hospitals. Still... "I assure you, I don't wear that getup out of enjoyment, like others might." He grinned here, trying to inject a little humor into the room. "Just for sanitary purposes. Could you please untie the back of your gown for a moment?"

He walked around to face her back, donning the stethoscope and warming the receiver slightly with a few breaths before pressing it against her back. "Tickles me, hundreds of years of medical advancements, they still can't manage to make these things warm all by themselves. Try coughing, please?" He listened to several spots on her back, all in succession. Then he headed towards her ears with his otoscope. "Just try to relax, no need to be so tense. I'll be performing routine checkups on all permanent crew members, so you're just the first. Try and talk, it'll rest your nerves."

Still eyeing the box, Quinn took a seat as she waited. She sat unnaturally still, eyes closed as she fought back a new but more subdued wave of nausea. "Fine with me you don't wear that get up," she said, glancing quickly Xin's way before she shifted and sat a little straighter. She stared blankly at the floor after the man asked her to untie the gown, and after a little shake of her head, reached back to accomplish the task. After some fidgeting she managed to undo the knot. As an afterthought, Quinn reached up and over her shoulder to pull up the back of her tanktop.

Quinn breathed a little laugh she didn't feel at the stethoscope comment. She coughed when told as the instrument left little circles of cold on her skin. When Xin finished the shirt was pulled down, Quinn's hands balling into fists as they planted on the bed beside her.

"Oh... right," she said, trying to take Xin's advice and relax. Another quick glance confirmed the man to still look like the tattooed freak she knew. She laughed a little then, though it wasn't exactly a happy sound. God, she was being ridiculous. She sighed and dropped her hands in her lap. "Good idea... what is it... preventative medicine or whatever?" It hadn't occurred to Quinn that the man would want to keep up with everyone's health and not just the occasional gunshot wound. She liked the idea for everyone else.

Quinn started to lean away as Xin approached her with a new instrument, but she caught herself and tried to relax. "Yer too skinny Doctor - I won't fit in one of yer damn shirts." It was kinda cute though, for him to offer.

He addressed her last comment first. "I'll have you know I'm very sensitive about my girlish figure." Xin deadpanned, hopefully amusing the nervous captain. Next, the doctor smiled in response to Quinn's question and spoke as he checked her ears and eyes. "Well, yes, that is part of it. Regular checkups can find something that wasn't visibly symptomatic yet and prevent it from getting worse before it begins to affect the livelihood of the patient." He continued talking languidly as he pushed through with the exam at extreme speed, hopefully easing Quinn's nerves some so she didn't have to think that doctor's offices were somewhere you laid in repose for hours and days on end. Holding out a thermometer out to her and gesturing for her to put it under her tongue, he wrapped a pressure cuff around her upper arm and slowly pumped some air into the tool, looking at the gauge as he did so. "However, another great aspect of the check-up is establishing the doctor-patient relationship. Now that I am aware of how your body functions normally, I'm far more equipped to treat you when you're sick or injured because I know what 'well' looks like for you. By that same token, you're now more aware of your body and what works for you medically, so say I am immediately unavailable due to illness, injury, what have you, you have an idea of how to treat yourself, or, how to instruct another doctor on how to treat you. Works out for everyone, really."

As if perfectly cued, the thermometer went off and Xin took it out while decompressing the cuff and removing it. "Blood pressure and temperature seem normal, well done you." Last but not least, he placed his hand at the base of her throat, feeling for any gland swelling. "...seems you're a picture of health, Captain." With that, he replaced all his tools so it was just him, Quinn, and the mystery box that still hadn't identified itself. "May I see the painful area?" ...what a delicate way to refer to the place where Quinn's leg used to be. How they hadn't come up with something more sensitive and medically accurate than 'stump' was beyond Xin.

Quinn breathed a little laugh and rolled her eyes at Xin's comment. The speed at which he worked did indeed help to put her mind at rest, that coupled with the talking distracting her, though she certainly wasn't at home. She couldn't help but lean away during the eye exam, but the discomfort largely stemmed from a violation of personal space rather than past trauma. Xin's normal appearance really had brought Quinn back to reality.

Her blood pressure would be a little higher than normal considering the nerves, but it wouldn't be anything alarming. As Xin could see, Quinn was in fine health aside from her leg. She nodded a bit as Xin went on talking, and leaned a bit to try and watch the arm on the pressure gauge twitch with her heartbeat. It was probably a good thing the thermometer kept her from talking, as she looked rather skeptical about the second half of Xin's speech on the benefits of regular checkups.

When the thermometer was removed and Xin congratulated her on her health, Quinn responded with a pathetic-sounding 'yay'. She cleared her throat some when he went on to venture about her leg - she was happy he hadn't used the term that went along with being an amputee. She'd often wondered as well why the term had stuck. Stump was just plain insulting.

"How often checkups need performin'?" Quinn pulled the gown up and started to unwrap the bandaging around the limb. Despite daily care edema had been a problem of late, and it looked bruised, swollen and the muscles atrophied. "Been wrappin' it and sleepin' with it elevated... knee's been botherin' me for a few months now." Sure enough, the joint seemed stiff, moreso than the last time the doctor had taken a look, and it was warmer than usual to the touch.

Xin smiled at Quinn's doubtful look. "Well, it's true. For instance, my body temperature runs slightly lower than most adult men. I average around 35.7°C while the normal temperature is 37°C. So if I was being treated by a doctor who did not know me, he might attempt to raise my temperature and in affect, would give me a slight fever. That's just one example, Ms. Doubting Driscol." He began to look at the amputated limb, giving Quinn a moment to realize he would be placing his hands on it to examine the tightly cramped muscles. He applied a slight hint of pressure that would probably bring simultaneous pain and relief. "Full physical checkups are only once a year, and just for safety, we should probably do small checkups intermittently." As he continued to gingerly press against the leg, he nodded, as if silently confirming something to himself.

Finally, the doctor confirmed this out loud. "Well, I'm sorry to see this has gotten so painful, but the good news is that I think I know why. I think the reason your muscles have tensed so much is that you're suffering from phantom limb pain. It's one of the reasons you're so hard on your prosthetics; your leg wants to reject it immediately because it's operating on the supposition that the rest of it is still there. Keep in mind, this is only a theory at the moment, but you do exhibit those symptoms." He removed his gloves and tossed them aside, heading over to the box at last. "Now, I saw this being used as therapy for other amputees when I was in academy on Osiris, and they had a good report of success." The box, while not heavy, was awkwardly shaped and not easy to carry, so it took the doctor a moment to saunter back and place it on the bed with Quinn. "If you would for me, please, step through these two leg holes." Hopefully Quinn would manage to slip her leg in one hole and push the stump as far into the other one as possible.

Quinn stared blankly at the doctor as he explained his theory on what was going on with her leg. "Phantom... what?" she asked, her expression changing to one of concern... over Xin's sanity. As Xin got closer with the box the woman's brow lifted higher, and after hearing his instructions, Quinn shook her head slightly. "You want me to... get in the box." It wasn't really a question - obviously that's what the doctor wanted. Once again doubtful, she sighed and reached back to retie the gown.

The odd name tickled a memory in the back of Quinn's head and she paused. "Oh... you mean... feelin' it after removal?" She started to look rather uncomfortable with the subject matter, and slowly turned on the bed to better face the contraption. "Thought I was crazy, wakin' up from it hurtin' so bad... hasn' done it in a while." As if the trauma of being shot multiple times in the leg wasn't enough, Quinn had been forced to wait to receive treatment for weeks after the injury, even after she arrived at the hospital. It took more than a year after the surgery had been performed for the lower half of her left leg to stop throbbing in constant pain, despite its absence from her body, though the other symptoms Xin had noticed had yet to resolve.

Feeling stupid, Quinn shifted her right leg into the box and used her hands to position the stump properly.

As soon as Quinn was set, Xin instructed her, "Now, if you please, point your feet and hold that." ...huh? "And I do mean feet, please attempt to mirror the sensation of pointed feet in both legs and hold until I tell you to release." Here he paused a moment, and an uncharacteristically soft look came over his face as he gingerly patted Quinn's shoulder. "Now, I don't want you to be alarmed or angry at what you're going to see next. I assure you that this isn't my idea of a sick joke, it's genuinely therapeutic. All right?" Assuming Quinn gave an affirmation, Xin silently removed the top panel that covered her uninjured leg. And Quinn would see...two legs. Two healthy, identical legs pointing their toes like a ballerina.

Now, after the inital shock, she would realize that there was a mirror separating the two panels and she was seeing the reflection of her healthy leg. Still, the illusion was very convincing and perhaps even somewhat frightening. Xin continued to hold Quinn's shoulder in reassurance, completely prepared to support her if she swayed.

After Quinn seemed stable enough, Xin muttered, "...and flex, please." When Driscol did so, she'd feel a huge release in both limbs. The end of the amputated muscle would hypothetically relax and be a great pain relief. Pain Quinn might not have even been completely aware of. "Feel free to do small stretches, whatever helps you relax." He grabbed a pad of paper and pen to jot down some notes. "What sensations are you feeling right now, physically?"

"Okay," Quinn allowed, pointing her right foot and agreeing to 'point' the left, though she didn't do anything with the stump. She glanced toward the doctor when he put a hand on her shoulder, looking a little weirded out but wanting to be agreeable at this point. "Okay," she said again, peering at the box with a creased brow.

Although the blonde had figured out what the box was probably for, she was completely unprepared for what she saw. Quinn's breath caught in her throat when the lid was lifted and she was suddenly unaware of Xin's steady hand or even her presence in the sickbay. Her eyes flickered when Xin spoke again, and after taking a few moments to continue staring at the scene, she did as instructed. At first not much happened, as Quinn had started to resist the idea after the initial shock, though as she watched the mirror image and pointed and flexed again a new sensation traveled up the normally painful end to her left leg.

"Well I'll be damned," she said, lifting her hand when a rogue tear fell down her cheek. She chuckled sheepishly as she wiped it away. "It uh... it feels okay. Better 'n I ever remember it, fore the surgery." She glanced toward Xin, watching him write and again rubbing at her cheek self-consciously. "It feels kinda cold? Relaxed." Quinn shifted some but paused shortly after, wrinkling her nose as added pain shot back up her left leg. She rolled her shoulders and concentrated on the mirror image, moving her right foot until the cramping relaxed.

"I... uh," Quinn frowned as she struggled with what she wanted to say. "Is this... supposed to... well how's this supposed to help when, you know." She gestured toward her leg and the mirrored one. "I ain't in it?"

Xin shook his head in an unconscious move to try and shrug off Quinn's embarrassment. He might seem too cool for school sometimes, but he wasn't without feeling. And he could obviously understand why this might be emotional.

As he continued to write down Quinn's thoughts and his own observations, he answered off-handedly, "The cramps should slowly start to be less frequent, less intense. And it's not some miracle cure, it's physical therapy. Try to do about fifteen minutes of small exercises a day, you should be seeing faster results. I built that box for your personal use, feel free to take it back to your bunk." He finished scribbling his last note, then looked up with a small smile. "Also, I took the liberty of ordering a new prosthetic, should be at the post office when we get to Bellerophon." Then he made shooing motions towards the Chinese screen. "Now get dressed and get the hell out of my sick bay."

"Yessir," Quinn mumbled, maneuvering her legs out of the box with a bit of a smile. She snatched up her crutch and retreated to the screen, too happy to discard the hospital gown for her own stained clothing.

The box was picked up somewhat awkwardly with her other hand and balanced on her hip. Although she'd never admit it, she was pretty antsy to be able to try it out in the privacy of her own room. "Thank you fer orderin' one," she said in response to the new prosthetic. She retreated some toward the door. "Been savin' up for somethin' nicer. May have enough fore the year's out, jobs keep rollin' in... you mind lookin' into that? Not sure where to start the search." The particular make and model of the prosthetic she'd had for years had done reasonably well, but it certainly wasn't the best money could buy. Hard times had caused Quinn to use some of her savings for necessities, but she still had a little put aside.

The doctor nodded to her request, busying himself with tidying up the already pristine med bay. "My brother-in-law owns a medical supplies company, I always order through him. Cheaper. So when you know what you want, just lemme know!" It was funny, how the small things could reveal someone's personality or frame of mind. Just by the way Xin alided "let me" to "lemme", it seemed as if he had already begun picking up on the habits of Quinn and Shai by being around them so long. He waved her away, with a small quirk in his lips that could almost be called a bashful smile.

((In case you were curious: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_box))