ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sᴘᴀᴄᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ ( ᴏ ᴘ ᴇ ɴ )

[milagros]

CHARACTERS: Dr Mila Gallo and you.
LOCATION: Medical Bay; Dr Gallo's office.
WARNINGS: Terrible bedside manner. (I'll update with appropriate warnings as necessary. Let me know if I miss something!)
SUMMARY: Dr Gallo's door is always open.
NOTES: TL;DR since so much of her CR is taking on various weird and wonderful medical cases, and she's always referring blandly to her office hours, why not an open log. Do not feel obliged to be a sicky. Perhaps you actually want to visit her and she's generally easiest to find at work. Also, I will match whatever format you tag me in.

( one day is very like another. dr gallo has a regular case load she wouldn't have anticipated, when she first positioned herself with medical, but even so, plenty of her time is left to busy-work, as much because she's at work too much as for any other reason. but what else is she going to do with herself? there's only so many looping runs she can take, so many times she can punch a swinging bag she would never admit to solomon she's imagining lindberg's smug goddamn face on, so many hours that can be spent in communion and contemplation in the oxygen gardens. it is not accidental that very little of what she does in the hours not spent here involves anyone else, either, so there's that.

so she's here, a lot. she keeps meticulous and detailed notes - refreshes herself periodically on old case files, those belonging to patients no longer aboard the ship, because you never know. they might be back, or it might prove relevant to something else, or-- a hundred other things. she has blood samples for projects that have been indefinitely shelved due to a jump absence and paperwork to go along with it, her record-keeping slightly idiosyncratic but nevertheless thorough, and (mostly) available to her colleagues where required. she's not the most forthcoming of women, professionally or personally, and she's been known to make unilateral decisions about what is and is not need to know information.

it usually plays out in her favour. still.

she can be found in her office, which - after months - is finally starting to look like it's used by a particular person, and not just as a very clean and oversized spartan storage closet with a desk and a coathook. )

Comments

HELLO, hope this is okay

[charges]

[Krem has been...acclimating. The network is interesting, but he doesn't have anything to report, so he avoids it. Maybe he'll make an announcement one day when he has something going on, but for now, he's mostly worried about adjusting to the surroundings.

One thing he learned is that medicine here is far more advanced than in Thedas. He thinks it over for a very long time- nearly a week, before he finally makes his way down to the medical bay. There's a lot on his mind. He's made peace with himself, but...if he could change a few things, and do itsafely, then that might be for the best.

He explores a bit before he's pointed in the direction of an office, and he knocks before cracking the door open.]

Umm. Hello?

[He was a little nervous. He's faced down the Qun and taken on everything from angry old bandits to a spider infestation. This, though, made him a bit more nervous.]

THIS IS FINE <3

[milagros]

( mila glances up from her current occupation - typing her notes into official record - at the interruption, and after a moment, sets that aside and waves him in, briskly.

she is not, it must be said, the most reassuring person in the world, or the most welcoming. but neither is she unfriendly, merely extraordinarily straightforward-- )

You were looking for me particularly or for a doctor generally?

[charges]

[Krem is used to brusque people, even medics and clinicians. It grounds him a bit, and he raises his chin a little, stepping inside and closing the door, crossing his arms over his chest, dressed in everything except for the actual metal parts of his armor- leather gloves and pants tucked into boots from the ship, and a linen tunic.]

Doctor in general. I've got...an interesting circumstance, I guess you could say. I hear medicine here is different then back home, wanted to know what there was for me.

[milagros]

( mila is slowly getting used to the fact that people tend to take a while to get to the point, but her patience with the scenic route is-- only slightly more than it ever was. it's worth noting that although she's qualified for the position she holds here, she'd never worked in this way before coming to the tranquility, by preference.

it's a good place for her on the ship, certainly, but there are reasons she hadn't worked with patients in her own life. she gestures to one of the chairs opposite her desk, impassive. )

Discerning that will be easier if you can tell me more about what your needs are. Take a seat.

[charges]

[Krem sits, and he makes a face, like he's considering how exactly to broach the subject. He's full of hope, but in a way that makes him uneasy, unsettles him. He feels almost sick with it. Years of thinking that maybe he could find a blood mage that could change him, and realizing that line of thinking was more dangerous than not, he'd made as much peace with himself as he could.

There were still...problems, and he wasn't perfectly happy.]

Was mostly wondering if there was anything you could do to stop, you know, female bleeding. The monthly visitor.

[He shifts in his seat a bit, sitting upright as he can., but glancing away. He's so used to having support here, what he wouldn't give for the Chief to be here, to help him with this. But he had to do this alone, it seemed.]

[milagros]

( --well. that gets her attention.

she considers for a few moments, pushing back slightly from her desk, and endeavouring not to make any immediate assumptions about the whys and wherefores. he's come looking for help; it behooves her to ensure she understands exactly what it is he needs and why before she starts flinging options around that may or may not be suitable. )

There are several options open to you, with regard to controlling or regulating menstruation. I'm going to need to know more about what problems you're having to know what's going to be the most effective and safest option.

[troops]

[Tsang had told him that Mila was the best suited person for his case. Even though they hadn't exactly gotten along well in the past, Cullen can at least hope that they can be amicable to one another- from both sides. He's generally not very good at hiding his emotions, but this is important. Evangeline is almost out of lyrium, meaning that there's almost none left on the ship, which is about to be a detriment to both of them, if they can't figure out a good solution.

Therefore, he needs the help of a medical professional. Someone who can at least definitively tell him if there's anything that can be done. If there's not, then at least they tried- but if there's anything that can help, then maybe... well, he doesn't know how much he trusts Mila or anything regarding a magical solution, but at least he'll know something.

So, he knocks tentatively on her door shortly after their conversation, dressed in his usual armor, with his elbow resting protectively on the hilt of his blade.]

...hello.

[milagros]

( it's profoundly unlikely that any of mila's patients would describe their relationship with her as 'amicable', bar maybe rick grimes, who would be obliged to include an ellipsis with its own gravitational pull. suffice to say she's not known for handling the people who come to her with kid gloves, and more for incidents where uncooperative patients were flatly informed that she doesn't waste time or resources on people who actively work against their own best interests and they could get with the program on their own health or remove themselves from her office.

so if he doesn't feel as if she's being terribly nice to him, at least he won't have to worry it's anything personal.

when she answers the door - she's sort of imposing, in person, roughly 6'5 or a little more in her high heels, built in a way that would probably be described as 'willowy' on any other woman, dressed in sleek, tailored black and with her hair (a riot of curls, since she's stopped straightening it so much lately) pulled severely back from her face to keep out of her way at work. there's a labcoat hanging up behind her, but she doesn't habitually wear it.

she regards him for a few moments before moving away from the door and gesturing briskly toward one of the chairs in front of her desk on her way back to take her own. )

What are we dealing with?

[troops]

[Cullen hasn't seen her in person, and when he does, her stature is intimidating, to say the least. He finds himself having to look up to her in order to meet her eyes, which isn't exactly something he's used to- for humans, anyway. He takes it in stride nevertheless, moving where she indicates and sitting in one of the chairs. His shoulders are set, his posture straight- a soldier in every way, but despite all of that, there's an underlying current of anxiety and reluctance.

It isn't easy to talk about. And while he appreciates her getting straight to the root of things with her first question, he doesn't exactly know how to begin explaining it. How can he tell her that the Chantry had manipulated and leashed their soldiers without proving her earlier tirades correct? That should be the least of his worries, and yet he still feels somehow defensive, as if the fault is his own.

But he's not just doing this for himself, he has to remember that, and when he thinks about it, it isn't just for Evangeline either. If any other templar comes to the ship, they'll have the same issue, unless a solution can be found. This is as good as a chance as any to find it.]

...magic in my world is dangerous. I believe I told you that before. Templars counter magic, but they cannot do so naturally. [Debatable, but there's really no proof either way, and so he glosses over that fact. It's not important right now.]

The Chantry gives them a substance called lyrium, which fuels their abilities. I'm told that it isn't found in other worlds, but it's- integral to ours. It's... [He shakes his head, his posture dropping slightly as he glances off toward the wall.] ...it's a tool. And a drug.

[He pauses there, letting her draw her own conclusions from that.]

[milagros]

( lyrium. before he's finished his elaboration, she's already pulling her device back over to her so she can access her files, the transcriptions of her handwritten notes, and bring up the relevant...

samara amell. she hasn't thought about her in a while, but no, a skim of her old notes gives quick confirmation that he's almost certainly talking about the same substance. it's not a thrilling start, but at least whatever he needs, she's not going to be walking into it completely blind. )

An addictive substance, ( she says, reading from her notes and glancing up at him. ) Effects including dementia, paranoia, memory loss, obsession and the 'restoration of mana'. ( the air quotes are audible. magic in their world vs magic in hers is fundamentally very different, and that's the sort of thing she'd associate with sleeper-authored fantasy novels if she were in her own context.

if she were in her own context, mind you, she wouldn't be seeing patients or, frankly, hearing 'dr gallo' nearly so often. )

A component part of a tonic that adversely affected an earlier patient of mine and, I understand, everyone else who drank it. Feel free to continue.

[troops]

...how do you know that?

[He thinks back, and- Fenris, maybe, with his tattoos, but why would he have needed to come here? No, there are other options, it could exist in another world, it could exist here, for her to know about it...

Hope flickers across his features for a moment and he leans forward in his chair, curiosity outweighing apprehension.]

-that's not a complete list of effects either, but- who was your patient? [HIPPA doesn't exactly exist in Thedas, so he doesn't really see anything wrong with asking. Sounds like a mage, if they were talking about lyrium's effects on mana, and he doesn't think that any of the mages here have had problems with lyrium in the past.]

Medbay

[atent_dead]

[Granny is basically a fixture in the medical bay. She's used to working, and work she will. She's been here long enough to know to lay in supplies in preparation for anything.

Currently, she's brewing a slightly foul smelling concoction. Which conjures up certain images in combination with her black dress and black pointed hat.

She nods a greeting.]

Ain't too many of ye left who're used to usin' all the newfangled things here.

[milagros]

( mila acknowledges both the greeting and the remark with a brief incline of her own head, paperwork tucked under one arm and a tray of test-tubes in the other hand. blood samples, by the looks of things, which tend to form a large part of the work she does whether she's doing it magically or otherwise.

there is some kind of something about the fact that brisk and tall and all in black, mila probably better fits the stereotypes about witches from weatherwax's neck of the woods than her own. )

People come and go. ( it's noncommittal. in a few months, she will have been here for a year - assuming she's still here, in a few months. )

[atent_dead]

They do. Second time 'round for one of 'em.

[Simon had been the one to recruit her to the department originally, a different Simon.]

Seems to happen in batches sometimes.

[milagros]

As I recall.

( a number of doctors had joined the department roughly around the time she'd made herself at home here; none of those, including simon, remain now. there are two people in the department with a modern medical background, and that background is still something different to what the tranquility is actually equipped for. )

Perhaps we'll get a half-decent surgeon with the next jump.

[atent_dead]

Don't seem right hopin' more folk'll end up in this mess, but it'll happen with or without us doin' it. And can't argue with what we need.

[She pokes at the brew. She still doesn't trust the technology here to not give out. But better someone else using it than her.]

[strayed]

[It's been more complicated than Cora really likes, the steps Cora's had to go through to get to this point. Several months ago, she likely would've given up, short temper and frustration snapping through what little patience she had. She's learnt better since then, enough to stick with it, to hold onto the certainty that it was worth it to make sure someone who needed help got it.

Fitz is still a stranger to her, really, evident enough in the very brief introduction when she meets him in the main of the medbay. Cora doesn't linger in it - she isn't who he's here to see. She leads him through to Milagros' office, knocking once before opening the door.]

I've got the patient I told you about here to see you.

[She says with no further expansion, fully expecting Milagros to remember the conversation from over a month ago.]

[milagros]

( mila is momentarily blank, and she'd probably stay that way if not for the fact that cora is a trainee in the medbay; associating the number she was texted from with the girl who she sees occasionally at work had meant for a periodic reminder that she was still expecting to hear from her again. so this is that.

she sets aside her communications device and gestures them to the chairs opposite her desk, straightening. )

Thank you, Cora. Please feel free to sit.

[technologist]

[ It's all a bit formal and rushed, which is only awkward in the sense that everything to do with this is awkward; he should be grateful that Cora doesn't expect small talk, probably. Fitz stays quiet, trying not to idly wring his hands as Cora makes the blunt introduction.

The offer to sit seems to register on a half-second delay, then Fitz offers a slight nod of thanks as he slides into one of the seats. Sinks into it, more like. Great posture isn't exactly his strong suit, and the mild desire to crawl right back out the door doesn't improve it.

Realizing that he probably looks like a big baby, however, he deliberately straightens, sitting forward a bit as he speaks. ]

You're a— you've got experience with neurology?

[milagros]

I have experience with treating neurological issues.

( that isn't exactly the same thing; the clarification is to a purpose, and she glances at cora briefly, neutrally, before continuing. her previous conversation was brief and how much of it was passed on, she can't guess. )

My medical background is primarily in research and development - biological and medical engineering, pharmaceuticals, etcetera. I focused on prosthesis and drug development. However, I am also a witch, and my abilities in alternative healing methods are substantially more versatile than my general practise license.

( congratulations, everyone on this ship is fucking magic, even the aggressively competent nerd queen with like, eight doctorates. )

As I've previously discussed with CMO Tsang, I am fully capable of diagnosing and treating a range of neurological defects and injuries. Ordinarily, this would be the part of our consultation where I informed you of your alternatives if you're not comfortable receiving treatment based in witchcraft; unfortunately, our staffing situation means those alternatives are largely not available to you.

( because mila's gp license and research background make her roughly the most qualified person on staff in terms of modern medicine. if she can't do it without magic, neither can anyone else. )

[goodnightgoodluck]

[ Finding his way around is becoming more hassle than its worth sometime, but here at least, he may have stumbled his way to one of his priorities. Finding the med wing is one of the high things on his to-do list, and finding a person in charge... Yeah, that'd be a plus.

When he sees the woman in the office, Crane pauses outside the door, then knocks lightly on the frame. ]

Hey, there. You the woman I want to see if I'm looking for the person in charge of this place?

[milagros]

( this interruption does not, on second glance, merit actually pausing in what she's working on. she did look up, however, so he perceptibly has her attention; it's less of a dismissal than it is being efficient. she can still be working while she has this conversation. )

I'm Dr Gallo. You're looking for Chief Medical Officer Tsang, whose information I can give you, unless there's something I can help you with?

[goodnightgoodluck]

You might be able to.

[ This lady is definitely all work and no play, but Crane pretty used to that. He steps inside but hovers near the doorway. ]

I used to, uh, pick up supplies where I came from. A lot of medical stuff half the time. I mostly wanted to make sure that you guys are stocked, and if you're not, check what you need.

[ That's his main reason. But there's something else on his mind as well. First, though, he needs to make sure there's no one going without on the medical end. /too used to this ]

[milagros]

( mila tilts her head, considering that. )

Did you arrive with something useful? What we don't have stocked, we produce or substitute.

[goodnightgoodluck]

[ ...Well that gets into the second thing.

He fishes in a pocket, before bringing out a small finger-sized air shot vial. The substance inside is bright blue. He holds it out for her to take. ]

Depends, I guess. Ever heard of Antizin?