(2530-03-15) Donna meets Dr. Harris
Summary: Donna and Dr. Harris chat during a calm day of work.
RL Date: 2019 Mar 15
Related: None
donna harris 

Eavesdown Clinic

At this small hospital, the medical staff is trying their best to help people with very limited means. There's a reception/triage desk for those hoping to see a doctor and a waiting area littered with plastic chairs. Posters on the wall remind people to get their regular check-ups and vaccinations.
Through a set of swinging double doors is the main, open room of the clinic. The charge desk at the center creates a gathering point for staff, where they discuss cases with each other or work on one of the two cortex terminals available. Three full exam rooms line one wall, equipped for emergency medical situations. Opposite those are a few specialized rooms: one for the part-time dentist, and another small room with equipment for ear and eye exams. There is a break room for the clinic staff, and various storage spaces. A walk-in closet with a securely locked door holds the clinic's supplies of drugs and expensive equipment. A hallway leads off to the patient ward.


It was, currently, a slower day in the Clinic. Doctor Edwin Harris is currently in the break room fixing himself a cup of coffee. He usually didn't drink the stuff, but last night was long and he hadn't even pulled a shift at the Clinic. Coffee in hand, he exits the break room into the main room of the clinic and glances around to see if anyone was waiting to be seen.

Donna has been on shift, doing her usual thing. She's now at the nurse's station, going through the records and updating the things that need updating. Looking up as the doctor appears, she sends him a soft smile. "Doctor. I have the films back from Young Mister Bax, if you want to take a look." A boy of about 10, Charlie Bax, took a tumble and came in complaining of leg pain.

"Ah, yes. Thank you nurse.." Edwin speaks while walking to the nurse's station and sets his coffee mug down. "Question is, broken or fractured, and if broken is it a clean break. Amazing what the human body can and cannot withstand." Just saying it idly while going to take a look. He's seen worse images and he's had to deal with even worse patients - so at least this was something a bit more on the lax side of clinic life.

Donna nods to Edwin, pulling up the scans on the screen and stepping back so he can drive. "It is both the strongest and most fragile thing in the Verse," she answers, picking up her own mug to take a sip of its contents… which are belied by the words boldly printed: Instant Nurse. Just Add Tea. The scans - which are probably actually fancier than today's X-rays - show a fracture across the left patella, and when switched to a different level the also reveal muscle strain around that same knee.

"You sure you're not talking about something like a heart or a brain?" Edwin quips, trying to make a joke - sort of. He looks over the images and makes a little 'tsk' sound. "Alright. I believe he's been able to straighten his knee so I don't think surgery is necessary.." He flips back and forth between the two screens. "Looks to only be a partial fracture too. But I don't want him being able to move his knee too much and end up worsening the injury. Lets give him some anti-inflammatories, see if we can get the swelling and strain to go down a bit. Then we'll look at casting his knee."

Donna smirks a bit, and answers, "I mean the entire thing, head to toe." She nods as Harris makes a decision, and picks up a tablet to start punching up the order. She pre-fills most of the form, then offers it over for the doctor to verify. "I'll get him started on it right away. My own boy broke his arm recently, so I know they don't like staying immobile."

The form is taken and Edwin signs off on it so that the nurse can get started on getting the boy well. "Thank you nurse. If anything becomes amiss be sure to keep me informed." He says that much more while handing back the tablet and then shifts back to pick up his coffee mug that states he is the number one brother. "How's the rest of the ward doing? Did Miss Kline finally get some sleep after the melatonin dosage?"

Donna accepts the tablet back, and answers with a single nod and the words, "of course." She makes a slightly sour face when he brings up Miss Kline, and says, "no, unfortunately, she was up all night, asking us to try more things. We did what we could to make her comfortable, but it wouldn't take for more than about twenty minutes at a time. At least Mrs. Wisniewski slept right through it all." The perils of shared hospital rooms. "Did you want to check on Miss Kline, or anyone else?"

Edwin frowns and then gives a nod of his head. "Yeah, let me get Miss Kline's records. See if maybe something got missed. It's good to know her roommate was able to sleep thru all that. I can't think of anyone else I'd want to check on at the moment." He offers this and then takes another sip of coffee.

Donna nods again. "Let me get Charlie started on the anti-inflammatory, and I'll catch up with you in Miss Kline's room, in case you need a hand there." She checks quickly to make sure she has the right tablet with her, and her mug, and heads off to do that - it won't take long.
Miss Kline is irritable, fussing with her monitor leads as if she wants to rip them all off and get the hell out of there.

Edwin looks over Miss Kline's tablet of information while walking into her room, his mug left behind at the nurse's station for the moment. He does knock before entering and then looks the woman over fussing at her leads and he frowns. "That's not going to get you anywhere else fast, Miss Kline. Please. We are doing what we can to help you…" Irritable, sleepless, fussy… "Tell me, again, when did these headaches first begin?"

Savana Kline looks up rather guiltily, then flips that over to accuse the doctor instead. "Can't you fix me, and let me out of here already?" the olive-skinned woman moans. "I told the other doctor all about it. I get them once or twice a year, ever since I remember, but this one's been going for three straight weeks now. Can't you give me something for it?"

Edwin frowns a little while looking that tablet over once more. "I understand it's not anyone's keen idea to spend their time cooped up in a Clinic. We are trying to stave off the headaches, but we also want to make sure you're able to get some decent rest before we let you go." He explains in a gentle tone. "Have you had any other symptoms? Nausea? Fever? Anything like that?"

"Stomach cramps," the woman moans. "But that's probably just because the food here is go se. I feed my cats better than this." She probably doesn't. She probably doesn't even eat better than this herself. She's just one of those who loves to complain. Mrs. Wisniewski is quietly knitting away, keeping her own counsel, with the curtain pulled so the two don't feel any need to try and make conversation. "What do I have, anyway?" Savana grumbles on. "The other doctor wouldn't give me a diagnosis. Is it that icky-so-something virus? I knew I was going to get icky-so-whatever-it-is."

"The food here is better than something you could get out in the market at those random stalls." Edwin comments, keeping his tone gentle and even. He sets the tablet down and walks over to Miss Kline's bedside, pulling a little flashlight from his pocket. "Sensitive to lights? Sounds? Anything like that?" Asking this even as he makes to shine that flashlight in her eyes to check how they dialate. "It's not the icky whatever you call it virus…we'd have you being treated for that already if it was."

"Ow. Yes, all of that. My head's throbbing, I ache, I itch, I can't sleep… c'mon, what can you give me?" She seems to think that by complaining louder, it's going to somehow get her a better result. A male voice in the next room shouts, "shut up over there already!"
Donna slips quietly into the room, taking things in.

Edwin frowns a little more and then turns away from the bed just in time to see Donna slip into the room. "Honestly if I didn't know any better I'd say she's withdrawing off something…" He speaks lowly to the nurse and then punches some orders into the tablet before handing it back to the nurse. "Start her on a saline drip, push some anti nausea thru, and…lets try a low grade sedative. I'm going to be a little more aggresive in forcing her body to let her sleep and see if that helps. Do we know if she's had an MRI recently?"

Donna glances from the patient to the doctor, leaning in for the quiet conversation. "We could add a tox screen to her blood labs?" she suggests, then takes the tablet to glance over what he put there, confirming it lines up with what he just said aloud. She nods, "right away. I suspect that'll help curb the groaning." She pauses long enough to be sure the doctor doesn't have any additional comments.

Edwin nods. "Yes. Lets do that. Cause she mentioned itching. And she was fussing with the monitors. It's likely a withdrawl." Couple times a year too. Ah well, still he smiles as the nurse speaks up to acknowledge his orders and he turns back to Miss Kline. "Alright. Just let me get a few more tests ran, we're going to give you something a little stronger to see if we can at least get you to rest for a few hours. I'll be back around later to check up on you." Then he side steps that bed and sort of shakes the curtain before peeking on Mrs. Wisniewski. "How are you feeling? Need anything while I'm here?"

Donna gives a firm nod, tapping the tox screen into the tablet and turning on her heel to set off on a mission for that saline bag and the other medications.
Mrs. Wisniewski looks up, startled at the sudden attention. "Oh, no thank you. I'll ask the nurse something when she comes back. Otherwise I'm tip-top." Hopefully she will be when they're done with her, anyway. She probably has the right balance of drug haze going on already to help whatever condition she's in for.
Donna isn't gone long - returning with the supplies and approaching Savana's bedside. "Good morning, Miss Kline," she greets pleasantly. "I'm going to set you up with an IV, and some new medications, like the doctor ordered. Are you left or right handed?"

"Very well. Just let us know." Edwin replies and then turns about to head out when Donna comes back to begin Miss Kline on the medication orders that he had given. With a nod of approval he steps out into the hallway again and walks back over to the nurse's station where his abandoned coffee mug sits waiting for him to take another sip. Just another day in the life, so he moves around to sit at one of the stations and begins looking over medical reports for the rest of the ward while waiting for tests and other such things to get done.

Donna takes about fifteen minutes sorting things out with Miss Kline, and then whatever it is Mrs. Wisniewski wanted. She emerges at last, making a stop at the charge station as a matter of routine, to check for updates. As things seem to have calmed, she addresses Edwin. "How's the day treating you? Anything else I can help with?"

"The day's been treating me well enough, and yourself?" Edwin asks this while looking up and over at Donna. "Mostly quiet save for I guess Miss Kline. Hopefully the sedative will allow her some rest while we do the toxin screen." Saying it again for…good measure? Or maybe he was just trying to reassure himself. "I…can't think of anything else I need help with. Unless you've an idea on someone else I might need to take a look at?"

"Doing well, thank you," the nurse answers, with a soft smile. She nods her agreement at the comment about the sedative, adding, "it did look like withdrawal to me too, but the test will tell us. I asked Marvin to prioritize it. You've seen the full set that we've got at the moment." It's one of those blissful, quiet moments that you hear about sometimes. "Have you worked here long?" she wonders.

Edwin nods and then smiles. "Ah, appreciate the quick thinking on that. For giving the toxin screen priority." This much and then he sits back in the chair he borrowed some. "Doctor Hill mentioned yesterday was pretty quiet except a couple things here and there. So it does make for nice days." He lifts his mug to take another couple gulps of coffee when he hears that last question. "No. Not long. About a month maybe? I'm fresh off internship at Osiris Medical. But it was nice to be able to come home and work locally.."

Donna gives the doctor a nod. "It's quiet enough that there was a chance, so I took it," she says. Labs get triaged, too. Hearing his answer, she blinks. "Oh… I must have missed your start then, as I was still getting my feet under me. I thought you were here first, but I started about two months ago. In that case, welcome… or I should say welcome /home/."

Edwin smiles and lowers his head a moment. "Thank you. At least this way I can keep an eye on my family…difficult as some of the members can be…" Like his sister, whom has already caused enough trouble in her own way. "No. Well, maybe as a resident of the planet, cause I was born and raised here, but as a doctor? No." He smiles then. "You seem to have found your feet quite well."

Donna smiles and gives a small, knowing nod at the doctor's comment about family. "You come back with more than you had, then," she points out. "And thanks. I've been familiar with this clinic for a long time. Knew it was where I wanted to work, as soon as we decided to move here. I lived on Osiris when I was young. How did you like it there?"

"Osiris was nice yeah. Got along with people great. Met my now ex-boyfriend there so that was an experience…" Edwin offers before finishing off his coffee. "Persephone's always been home though, and I'd like to see some changes so that there's not a lot of suffering here. I know that's a big task, but…I think these people deserve it." He offers this much more. "I'm sorry, I don't even think I've caught your name.."

Donna takes all of that in attentively, nodding along slightly. She smiles at the mention of the ex being an experience, but leaves that be. "Donna McKellen. Donna's fine, though," she answers. "That's a commendable wish, and definitely the right place to be coming from when working in a facility like this. Some doctors, and nurses," she allows quickly, "don't get it… they either try to change the clinic to suit them, or it beats them down until they leave."

"Way I see it, you can't come to a place like this and expect to run it the way most hospitals are ran. It just won't work. There's a community here, a backbone. And it doesn't break easy." Edwin offers before giving a soft chuckle. "I hear that Jude and Doctor Hill are trying to get…something…going. If memory serves me…" Trying to remember, but then he shrugs. "So what drew you to want to work here?"

A smile forms on the nurse's lips again, totally approving of the doctor's statements. "Exactly. Yeah, there's plenty that can be done, and some ideas getting started." Somewhere, somehow, there must be. Donna considers the question for a moment, and says, "well, sort of the same thing. I wanted to be where the help was really needed. But also, that I know the clinic already, and the Docks, as much as an offworlder can. You know the Guan-Yin? We used to stop here a lot." She blinks and self-edits. "They. They did."

Edwin gives a nod of his head. "I'm familiar with the Guan-Yin. Never got to go aboard it, but I remember seeing it docked here from time to time." He says this much and then glances down at the computer once more, tilting his head as he studies a couple images on the screen. "I commend you for coming back to something familiar so you could continue your calling. It says a lot about a person I think."

Donna smiles as she learns that he does know and remember the Goddess. Her smile grows a touch at the praise. "Thanks. I'd be nursing, regardless. I've worked on New Melbourne and Paquin, and on board the Guan-Yin. I definitely want to be helping those that need it most, and that part comes from my years on the ship, before I was even a nurse. So what about you? What drew you to medicine?"

Edwin seems to think on the question for a moment. "My sister. I always knew I wanted to be a doctor, but when my sister began to lament to me about certain issues she was having, it drew me more into finding a field where I can help people." That much explained before the computer bleeps and he pulls up the toxin report from Miss Kline. "Why would anyone take Thisdrugodine…that'll give anyone a massive headache if they stop taking it all of a sudden…" He motions for Donna to come look at the results.

Donna listens to his answer, once again taking in the words with focus. She gives another small smile, satisfied with the response and not asking what the issues were. As the conversation shifts back to Miss Kline's drug of choice, the nurse steps closer to read off how much was in the woman's system. Frowning a bit, she says, "well, it offers a sustained high for longer than most other drugs that you can get in that price range. The trick is to not go cold turkey, as you say. She's going to be hurting for a while." She says all of this with a certainty that goes beyond textbook knowledge.

"Bet you anything these one or two times a year she gets headaches is when she can't afford or find supply around here…" Edwin surmises and then shakes his head. "Well we can keep pushing saline and keep her sedated…just enough to let her sleep. But you're talking like it's almost something you're familiar with… so how do I help her now to get her out of the clinic and on her merry like she so wishes?"

Donna nods her agreement with the doctor's assessment. "Yeah. Well…" she goes quiet, thinking about the question. "Unfortunately, this is one of those tough calls, which is not my place to make. Either you try to get her into a program… see if she'll accept it. Or, you cut her loose. Let her get back to her merry, and her dealer. We can help with symptoms, but if she's not ready to treat the disease, we can't get very far."

"Guess we'll let the sedative wear off and then once she's fully alert we'll give her the options. It'll be tough but..you're right. If they're not ready to fix themselves we can't force the fixing." Edwin agrees and then finds Miss Kline's tablet to set a note that he's to be notified when she's awake.

Donna nods rather grimly. "Exactly so." She draws in a long, cleansing breath and lets it out slowly. "Anything else you need from me? I'd like to go check on Charlie again. And I'll keep you updated on all developments."

Edwin nods. "Yeah, that's it. Thanks again and please do let me know how Charlie's doing when you check on him." He looks into his mug. "I think I need for coffee anyway…" Said with a chuckle.

Donna flashes another smile and says "will do." And with that, she's off.

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