For Carson--Mystery Illness

[smirkingczech]

Radek hadn't really planned to see Carson, even after Jill had begun to pressure him. He'd run into Meredith in the clinic when he had checked in, and gotten painkillers off her. They hadn't really helped; he still felt muzzy and sick

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[ata_beckett]

As with most days, Carson could be found in the clinic, hunched over the clinic laptop. He'd taken up an extra shift, but didn't mind it. That sort of thing tended to happen when you had a clinic staffed with less than ten people. He looked up casually when someone walked in.

"Oh, hullo, Radek."

[smirkingczech]

Radek smiled weakly when he saw Carson, raising his hand in a small wave. "Hello," he said, taking a few more steps into the clinic.

[ata_beckett]

It was a rare occassion that found Radek in the infirmary, so it was only natural that Carson's eyebrows furrowed slightly, curiously.

"Did y'need somethin'?" He asked

[smirkingczech]

Radek hesitated for a moment, thinking of just denying it, holding polite conversation, then leaving, but he knew Jill would just bring him by later if he didn't do it himself. He nodded a little stiffly. "I have been feeling...ill."

[ata_beckett]

"What kind of 'ill'?" Carson asked. 'Ill' wasn't terribly specific, after all. He gestured towards a nearby chair, urging Radek to sit.

[smirkingczech]

Radek sat thankfully. Sitting seemed infinitely preferable to standing, at the moment. "I have spent the past week in bed. It might be some sort of flu." He didn't think so, though.

[ata_beckett]

"Possibly," Carson said. Most of the time, these things were nothing to get too worked up over. He stood up to look for a thermometer.

"What are your symptoms? Headache? Any nausea?"

[smirkingczech]

"Sometimes a headache. Exhaustion, nausea, no appetite." He was quiet for a moment. "Confusion, fever. It is tender here," he said, fingers brushing over the right side of his abdomen.

[ata_beckett]

Mild aches and pains were normally associated with influenza, but Carson was more than a little worried about the fact that Radek was implying that it was localized. But he'd get to that in a moment.

"Confusion?" He asked, procuring a mercury thermometer. Yes, even little things like the fact that the island infirmary didn't have digital thermometers still irked him a little.

[smirkingczech]

"I wake up, and I do not remember where I am. I forget things. It takes longer for me to process things." This was what bothered him the most, the fact that his mind was a little fuzzy.

[ata_beckett]

Carson was running the symptoms through his head, at first thinking that it could possibly be a result of high fever brought on by infection. He actually wondered why Radek hadn't come in sooner. He touched Radek's forehead with the back of his hand, and though the man didn't feel as though he had a fever that sort of thing was never completely reliable.

"Here. Under your tongue." Carson said, handing him the thermometer.

He felt horribly out of practice just then.

[smirkingczech]

Radek put the thermometer under his tongue, raising his eyebrows at Carson in silent question. He wondered if the symptoms together meant anything to Carson, any more than they did to him.

[ata_beckett]

"The most common cause of fever is an infection of some sort," Carson explained, "Confusion could be something slightly more serious."

Listening to Radek's symptoms made him doubt very much that it was just influenza, but there was no use in getting him all worked up until Carson was sure of it. He'd seen the scientist worked up over medical things before, and it wasn't really a pretty sight.

Carson only hoped that it didn't turn out to be some sort of island disease that none of them had seen before. That would be just peachy, wouldn't it?

[smirkingczech]

Radek nodded slightly, then looked down at the thermometer, as if that could make the process move a little faster.

[ata_beckett]

After another moment, Carson took the thermometer from Radek and noted the temperature, which, while slightly above normal, wasn't at all high enough to warrant fever as a cause of Radek's confusion. At least not at the moment. His mind raced for a moment until his expression changed. He looked as if he might have just gotten an idea.

"How long has this been goin' on? The pain in your side?" He asked.

[smirkingczech]

"A few weeks. Or, I have been noticing it more and more the past few weeks." It'd only been the past week where it'd actually seemed connected to something.