Inspection [Open to any member of the 3ID]

[coleman]

The only noise in the office was that of the pen scratching away on the paper in the messy scrawl that seemed stereotypical of doctors. The sheets of paper, although brand new, already seemed yellowing as the dark blue pen made out one mans fate. With a brief flurry, Bradley Coleman signed the bottom of the form before slipping the cap back on to his pen.

“Right then, Corporal. Take this form to the end of the hallway and ask the nurse to go over it. You’ll need to take the pills twice a day and with food, so I’d recommend breakfast and dinner, and that infection should clear up in a few days. If it gets any worse, or doesn’t clear up, come back straight away.”
“Cheers, Doc,” was the cheery reply as the soldier in front of him stood up and slipped on his jacket, “You’re not that bad.”
Coleman just smiled as he stood up and opened the door to let him out. “Just don’t get yourself killed out there. I’ll be so pissed off, you won’t believe it.”

The doctor took a brief look at his watch before peering upside down on to his calendar. He had a few minutes before the next person came. While the 3ID was in a quiet patch, he’d been getting around, checking that the divisional members were in good shape, especially the important Company Leaders. He picked up his keys, and walked out in to the corridor, locking the door behind him. Enough time to grab a quick coffee, not enough for a smoke though. Life was so full of sacrifices. He pocketed the keys and began walking down the carpeted floor of the building they had taken over; admiring the peace they had for once. It was something rare in the path of a medic, as there were often screaming patients, blood needing cleaning up, and people needing to be stitched up. You had to be strong to deal with it, he’d seen too many people break with the stress and the horrors, but Coleman was a fighter, albeit metaphorically in his surroundings. He just got on with it.

[MAJ Patterson]

Giles pulled up in the almost vacant lot in front of the Medical building to drop his Captain off. It had been a slow week and Henry had finally seemed to have finally earned a few minutes to himself, that pleased Giles as that meant he would have some free time as well. The Captain decided he would stop by for a check up and it seemed like as good a time as any, can never be too careful. It was a nice day though, he hoped he wouldn't be in too long, seemed a nice sit on a porch somewhere would be a nice touch.

Pushing open the door he waved over his shoulder, without looking, to Giles and stepped up to the desk. To his surprise it seemed there actually was a good looking secretary in the army for once. He was also more then happy to wait for her to finish filing whatever it was...seeing as how the bottom drawer was where it needed to go. He pulled the clipboard close so when she turned abruptly he wouldn't be caught starring instead looking like he was interested in something else. Pulling his pen out he began to fill out the fields required for the normal check up. "Good evening Captain, what can we do for you today?" she asked in a soothing voice. It was music to his ears.

He smiled as he looked back up toward her. "Hi there...Amanda is it?" Of course he could read her name tag, it was clear as day, but small talk wasn't something he was good at, figured this was a good time to try. She nodded while still smiling, how the heck did she find the time to keep her teeth so clean? Patterson just smiled back. "Nothing in particular today ma'am, just a check up if that's alright." HE scribbled his serial number into the paper and moved on down the list promptly.

"No need to call me ma'am, Captain, Amanda will work just fine."[/i] Henry turned toward the seating area while looking back and nodding to her. He took his seat and filled out the paper. She seemed nice enough, was easy on the eyes as well.

Once he finished the paperwork Seems I can never get away from this stuff. he returned the clipboard to the front desk and went to take his seat to be called back. "You can go on ahead sir, it's a slow day for us. she told him and he turned and opened the door to the hallway with multiple exam rooms sprouting off of it. "Room three if you don't mind sir." With a few steps he was at the door only to see the doc out of the corner of his eye, just in the next room, it looked like a break room of sorts.

OOC: Nahtan, I swear, if you say I've come up with some terminal illness there will be hell to pay.

[coleman]

OOC: Terminal? Nah, not today....

The perculator gurgled happily as it heated the coffee, and Coleman walked over to a filing cabinet, with the letters "HQ" written in biro on a sticker. He opened it up, flicking to the 'P's, pulling out a particular file, laying it on top.

He turned round again, and poured out the strong coffee, weakening it slightly with a splash of milk and lump of sugar. He turned around, holding the mug in his right hand and squeezing the brown file in his arm, only to find Patterson in his face. Oh well, so much for a break. He came to attention how he could, legs together, left arm straight, and spoke. "Ah, good morning Sir, wasn't expecting you for a small bit, thought I could get away with a quick break. May as well get this over with."

He pulled out a large ring of keys, and flicked through them before sticking one in the door and opening it. He took a few steps, placing the mug on his desk and slapping down the file as he walked around it. "Please take a seat, Captain."

He eased himself in to the rotating leather seat, and clicked his knuckles, flipping open the file. "Right then, Captain Patterson, Henry Ford, born 1909. This is you, right?" A silly question really, there were no other Captain Patterson's, but it was procedure. He also mused over the fact he was five years the Captain's senior. He pulled the lid off a pen, and flipped over a page, scribbling the date down. "OK then, so today I'm just going to run a few checks to make sure you aren't going to keel over. It shouldn't take more than half an hour or so, any questions?"

He paused to let the Officer speak if he needed to before carrying on. "Firstly, is there anything you can think of that may be worrying you about your health? Also, do you smoke or drink heavily?

[MAJ Patterson]

Patterson just shook his head quickly as if to say that no formalities were needed. Henry followed the man into the room and took a seat. "The one and only." he said with a smile, he hated doctors' offices, they usually were painful and you got only bad news. Last time he was in one of these things he was back in the states, it was a boring hour and some change, but it had to be done none the less. "Questions...hmmm...can't really think of any about me, but when this is over, I have a few about another soldier under my command, I know you can't speak about him, but I just wanted to get something off my chest that maybe you can look into if you have the time."

Patterson unbuttoned his uniform jacket, he knew the Doc would have to do a bit of listening, his heart and lungs, stuff of that nature. He folded the jacket neatly and laid it across the back of the chair. "Smoke or drink? Nah, but if this war keeps killing of the few hairs on my head that still have color I might start. No lectures please, I know they are bad for my health." Patterson joked, he knew it was the Doc's job to lecture the men on horrible health habits, but that was only if they already partook in them, maybe he could get out without the scolding.

"On second thought...what's the scoop on the woman at the front desk? She seems quite nice and knows what she's doing, how the heck did she end up here instead of taking the place of some moron at HQ?" Patterson was honestly intrigued by the woman not only did she know her stuff so it seemed, but she was easy on the eyes, to say that was a rarity in this area of the world would be an understatement.

[coleman]

Patterson began speaking about possibly looking in to another soldier afterwards, and Coleman nodded. "I'll see what I can do about him and what I can tell you. Being his CO, I suppose it's in your interest to know if there is something massively dangerous about him, but you first." He nodded a thanks as the Captain's jacket was removed, and he span his chair around to the bench behind him, and picked up the first tool - a mercury mamoter, used for measuring blood pressure.

As he came around, the Officer asked about the one on the front desk. Bradley just gave a smile at the comment. "Amanda? She's an open target, sir, but good luck. She had her heart broken when a Sergeant got killed in France last month, and I don't think she'll be looking at anther soldier for a while. Still, she is a fair catch, if I didn't have my wife back home..."

He coughed slightly, realising there was a chance the world's most dangerous force would be after him if he finished that sentance and wheeled his chair around the desk so he was beside Patterson. "Anyway, first things first, blood pressure. Just relax and I'll be over in a flash." He velcroed up the sleeve about heart height on the patient's arm, and inflated it quickly with the rubber bulb. He fitted his stethoscope in to his ears and felt for the brachial artery in the elbow before listening and then loosening the pressure slightly. He looked on to the meter on the desk, reading it aloud. "114 over 67. That's a very good score, a bit higher than most people but nothing to be alarmed about." He unzipped the sleeve and grabbed the clipboard off the desk and scribbled the results down quickly, also noting the lack of smoking and drinking. So far, Patterson seemed a healthy enough man.

[MAJ Patterson]

OOC: Isn't normal BP 120 over 80?

IC: Patterson nodded as he rolled the questions around in his head about the young Corporal in his unit that he was concerned about, but he pushed them aside for when the check up concluded. He didn't want to throw his power around to get the info, but he was more looking for some advice and possibly someone else that could keep an eye on him without arising suspicion.

Henry shook his head when the doctor mentioned a Sergeant being killed in France, too many were being lost to pay a price that, in his mind, was paid the moment the first drop of blood hit the ground. War was a horrible business, but it was the business they had all signed up for, whether they liked it or not, you just had to push that stuff in the back of your head and hope it never resurfaced. But that did mean that she was available, although probably rather guarded. "Sorry to hear about that." he said as nonchalantly as he could.

The doc preceded to check the Captain's blood pressure, routine stuff. So long as there was no probing then this would be easy enough. It got Henry to thinking how many of his own men were behind on such small things that could, if left unchecked, ruin their lives. He figured he'd ask when would be a good time to schedule unit wide check ups, over the course of a month of course, it would even help him to have a reason for that Corporal to be watched as well.

"Before I forget to mention this, the big wigs back at HQ have decided to put deadlines on supplies, medical stuff is being hit the hardest. Seems there are convoys of the stuff heading to the front lines and around twenty percent of it is being lifted by our own men, seems they are trying to get high or selling the stuff to those that do try." He hated what all this had come too. "They want to have the stuff watched more closely so now it can't go out unless it's scheduled, gotta have all orders in by the twenty-sixth to ship on the first and the eleventh to ship on the fifteenth, otherwise it seems we will have to do without...least for the time being, once they realize what a dumb idea it is I'm sure it will be remedied another way." Sad it would take lives that could have easily been saved to fix the issue. "So stock up, I'll approve any orders you send my way and fight them tooth and nail to get it."

[coleman]

OOC: 180/20 is borderline dangerous, JT.

Coleman just looked up from the sheet as Patterson began talking about dissapearing medical supplies. That was not good at all. "I think we're good for supplies, but I'll take a look in the stores later and put in an order if we need anything." He finished scribbling and picked up the stethoscope again.

"Pulse next, sir, if you wouldn't mind unbuttoning your shirt. Just checking you have a good pulse rate and a regular pattern. Important stuff, if your ticker is dodgy you may be deskbound for the rest of this war." He gave the Captain chance to oblige before diving in, placing the ear plugs in to position and putting the cold head on to the Captain's left pectoral. He moved it around slightly until he could hear clearly before stretching his arm to pull his sleeve back and display his watch. He started mouthing slightly as he counted it for a thirty seconds and half turned to write down the result. "83 BPM, again, a good score. Do you work out much, sir? Please don't move, I'm not quite done yet."

The last sentance came as Patterson started moving. Coleman took a few moments to pay special attention to the heartbeat before nodding in a satisfied manner. "Good rhythm, you sound healthy enough." He moved the stethoscope again slightly to listen to the Officer's breathing before giving another nod. "Your breathing sounds good too."

[MAJ Patterson]

OOC: I'm aware 180/20 is in fact very dangerous...that's why I asked if 120/80 was normal as what you said I registered at was above normal at 114/67

IC: Patterson nodded as the good Doctor said he would check, this messed up 'fix' so the army called it was beyond ridiculous, but he was grateful that the man would still check none the less knowing he was in good supply of medical gear and vaccines and the rest of the medical stuff that Patterson had no clue about. He gave a quick nod as the then unbuttoned his shirt. the instrument felt as if it were frozen when not in use, it hit his skin and almost sent a chill up Henry's spine. "Wow." he muttered under his breath. "Work out? Well I try to get a good run in in the mornings, but beyond that it's always hit or miss. I try to go to the gym before I have to hit the sack, but it's never a guarantee, probably make it half a dozen times in a month. Enough to make me wish I did have the chance to go everyday anyway." he said with a big grin. Coleman was an old man as Patterson was, well they were old by military standards. He felt able to freely talk with him, his last XO was a young buck that lived the young life, his current XO was a bit better, far more respectful for sure, and he kept the ranks filled as best he could, but Coleman, well he seemed like a down to business guy, course Patterson had known the guy all of three minutes, he's make a final call on the matter before he went to sleep that night.

"My breathing? Sounds good? As opposed to...?" Patterson didn't really have any other way of trying to get the man to talk, so he figured he might as well play dumb while trying to see if the man smiled as well. This was already a boring enough process to begin with, if he had to sit there for a half hour in silence he'd possibly shoot Giles for saying hello in his chipper way he had been of late since the loss of his house in the divorce. Poor guy was starting to slip, shaved only once a week it seemed, almost started a brawl in the DFac, and well he just looked like he slept in his uniform...many nights in a row. Patterson couldn't blame him though, his world had been rocked something fierce, Patterson was just trying to keep what was left of the man in line, he was probably off getting drunk with the bit of free time they had anyway.

[coleman]

Nodding and giving a wee smile to the gym remark, Coleman popped down the stethoscope and made a quick note. "My breathing? Sounds good? As opposed to...?" Patterson gave the small question, and Coleman happily responded.
"Well, you could have an erratic and random breathing pattern which isn't good as it can indicate that maybe one of your lungs is weaker than the other, or you're not pulling enough oxygen in to your blood. Something not good at all."

One test left before he had to break the bad news to Patterson, but he wanted to break the silence. "That's quite a strong southern accent you have there, sir. Which part of Alabama are you from, or have I completely screwed up the state?" A simple enough question as Coleman felt around, pulling up a small rubber hammer. "Recognise one of these? Just going to test your reactions."

He walked around the desk and casually swung the hammer in his right hand. "I take it you don't have a wife at home then, being interested in our Amanda out front..." He cut the sentance in half once he was sure Patterson was paying attention to the talking and smacked the hammer down on to the Captain's knee and quickly began counting seconds under his breath for the reaction time.

[MAJ Patterson]

"Fair enough, well glad that I can breath properly then." Patterson answered, a little surprised that the doc was able to conjure up such a professional response to a question posed just for a laugh, sort of reminded him of himself. Then the man really surprised him, granted Patterson's accent wasn't hidden in anyway, but nailing his home state off the bat was impressive. "Well guessed Doc, the heart of Dixie it is. The center of the heart of Dixie, hometown of Carolton to be precise. You a well traveled man?" the still slightly amazed Captain asked.

Then the Doctor pulled out one of those odd looking rubber hammers. They never changed shape or size, or even color for that matter, just always the same looking odd contraption. Henry nodded as Coleman came closer, then asking about a spouse, or lack there of to be precise. Then he smacked one of his knees, just below the cap, causing his leg to jump abruptly. "Gets me every time." he said with a small smile. Well I've tried giving it a shot here and there, but I've been a military man for the majority of my life, just never seems to work out with the distance, long periods of time with no communication, women are funny about those types of things. Interested? Well yeah, you could put it that way, maybe it's the war, maybe it's the lack of intimacy, maybe my body is telling me it's time to find a new line of work and settle down. Whatever the case maybe, she caught my eye, course I don't know who's eye she wouldn't catch for that matter." Patterson probably stayed on the subject a bit too long, but it was a Doctor's office, confidentiality and what not, he figured letting his guard down for a moment couldn't hurt much.

[coleman]

"Good reactions," Coleman noted. He seldom met a soldier that didn't, really, they all knew how to react when explosions were going on. He sat for a moment and listened to Patterson as he made a quick note in the file. They were almost done with the basics, all he needed to check up on. He started talking again. "I wouldn't think about settling down until this war is over, especially if kids get involved. You miss so much of them." He twisted a photo frame around. "That's my boy. The only reason I joined up was to make sure he didn't have to. In the hospital I used to work in I'd see dozens of lads that were only slightly older than him wounded horribly."

"Anyway, we don't need to delve in to that, um, subject. I just need to do one last thing here. It says here you're in need of another tetanus injection. I hope you're not afraid of needles, sir." He stood up and walked over to a small tray, picking up a needle, small phial, a bottle and a pack of cotton buds. "Would you mind rolling your sleeve up, sir?"

He inserted the needle through the diaphragm of the bottle, and filled it up with the amber liquid, and placed it down as he upended some rubbing alcohol on to the bud. He gave Patterson's arm a quick wipe with it for disinfectant, and felt with a gloved finger for the vein in the arm. He position the needle, and with a final "You may feel a small pinch" plunged it in and pressed on the plunger. The vaccine rushed in to the Officer's blood as he pulled the needle out and pressed a small plaster over the top of it. "You'll need to wait around for about fifteen to twenty minutes to check your arm doesn't fall off or anything else inconveniant like that.

"Oh, and for your question if I'm travelled, I've seen a fair bit of America, I've been to Canada and Mexico. This is my first time to Europe though, I just wished that somebody had told me there was a war over here."

[MAJ Patterson]

Patterson listened as the Doctor talked of how war will strain a family pretty harshly, course the military life would do that anyway, but war had a way of making everything tough for those involved one way or another. "Yeah, I know what you mean about the family deal, the military life can be a hard one." Patterson looked on at the photo of the Doctor's son, he was a healthy and strong young man, but before Henry could reach out to take a closer look at the picture Coleman set it back on his desk, seems it was a hard matter to speak of for him, and the Captain didn't blame him one bit for wanting to keep his personal life sheltered from those that may end up in a body bag the next morning.

Patterson slightly dropped his head as he heard the good Doctor speak of an injection. Great. he thought to himself, he had no fear of needles, but it wasn't exactly something sane people looked forward to. "They don't bother me any, might as well get this over with." Patterson turned his head slightly to see that his sleeve was already rolled up from having his blood pressure checked earlier in the encounter. "Sleeve, rolled. Check." he stated as Bradley turned and wiped his arm.

Soon there after the stick came, "Ah, that's the stuff." he laughed slightly as he joked about it. After all this was one of the few time periods he ever had for free time and he was sitting in a Doctor's office, he might as well try to enjoy it, least he didn't have to see the Doc putting on the gloves and spreading lubricant all over them, that would have made for not only a terrible day, but also a possibly harmful one...for both of them.

Patterson laughed a fair bit at Coleman's statement about not knowing there was a war. The only people that didn't know about the war on the face of the earth were indigenous tribes to far off places that had yet to be touched...and those lucky enough to have lived before the war hit. "So...if that's all and I have to be here for a little bit longer, I still needed to speak with you about a slightly personal matter." he said, clearing his throat afterward and looking up to look the man in the face.

[coleman]

OOC: I honestly could not think of anything to write.

The Corpsman made a few closing notes in the record, signing for the innoculation and gently closed the manilla folder. He pulled the elastic band around it and stood up, walking over to the cabinet by the door and lay it on top for sorting later.

He turned back towards the desk and began walking to his chair and settled down, feeling the leather creak slightly underneath him. He twisted so he was facing Patterson. "A personal matter? I'll just tell you one thing now, sir. The army doesn't pay me enough to go down there. We have a rather large man called 'Bill' who specialises in that department if you need that." He cracked a smile to indicate a joke as he leaned back in his chair, reaching for the half-drunk coffee mug. He took a mouthful and grimaced, it had turnedcold and quite disgusting over the appointment. Great. Just great.

[MAJ Patterson]

Patterson watched the Doc close up the folder and square things away. He stood up and stretched his sleeves back down his arms be fore reaching over and grabbing his jacket. With a slow twist he halfway tossed the jacket over his head and let it slide down his arms in place. He buttoned the jacket before sitting back down, only to his disgust the man on the other side of the room wanted nothing to do with the matter Patterson wanted to speak of. Odd, the place was more or less empty, but if that was his preferance the Captain could not change it, it was not an order, only a friendly favor really.

"...aha...well I understand, I will not keep you any longer then." he said with an unbiased tone about it. Granted he wanted to give the man a look along the lines of what the heck crawled in your tail end and died? but he refrained from such a gesture as now he was a bit pissed off to say the least, but no need in sparking unrest in the ranks. He simply nodded and stepped out...

...making sure to smile nicely and tell Amanda goodbye on his way out the front door. Giles would be along shortly.

[Daniel Brennan]

Mod Post:

[/center]

No life-threatening disease? Awww.

CP:
Corpsman Class one: 8CP

Captain Patterson: 9CP


~Dan[/colour]