Baby Boom
Who: Dr. Miranda Bailey
When: Wednesday, May 8
Where: The Hospital Clinic
Invited: Anyone
Status: Incomplete
Dr. Bailey was elbow deep in paperwork. Not that she was surprised by that. Some of the other doctors here at Gamma General had been--more fools they. Hospitals ran on paperwork. They ought to know that. Certainly anyone she'd trained would know that.
Paperwork was what kept patients alive. Records--of procedures performed and results achieved, of drugs prescribed and taken, of previous medical complaints--kept patients alive. Just because they were living on the frontier now didn't change that. It didn't make doing the paperwork any more pleasant or less tedious either, but it still had to be done. As Bailey tossed one more clipboard onto the pile of those she'd dealt with, she decided it was time to take a break from paperwork.
A quick trip down to the maternity ward always cheered her up. The rooms were full, mothers and children sleeping in the same rooms these days. Bailey made the rounds of the ward, checking up on each and every pair (or trio in one case--a pair of fraternal twins), and speaking to those who were awake. Which was most of them in the early afternoon. Bailey was struck again by how young many of the mothers were.
Not all, by any means--but many of them. It wasn't unexpected. Drop teenagers into an environment where they had no television, no radio, limited access to any kind of electronic entertainment, not even lights at night in many cases--and unsupervised access to a mostly virgin planet and the result was inescapable as gravity. Sex--and lots of it. Some of the mothers were younger than Bailey liked, but reality was reality. They were old enough to have sex and it wasn't like getting pregnant was going to destroy their chances of going to college or getting a good job, now was it?
Not that their elders were showing much more restraint. The baby boom had begun almost exactly nine months into their exile to Gamma World and showed no signs of abating. Women up into their forties were turning up pregnant in remarkable numbers.
Bailey returned to the front desk in time to see a young woman walk in. She recognized her from Friday night. Cameron Connor, still wearing the cast on her wrist. A young man Bailey also recognized from Wu's Friday night martial arts classes was with her. Bailey noted the vivid scars on his face and wondered (again) how he'd acquired them and whether that had anything to do with his participation in Wu's martial arts classes.
"Cameron, right?" Bailey said.
She nodded. "Yes."
"You having trouble with your wrist?" Bailey hadn't expected her to, so if she was that was a sign that something deeper was wrong with the injury.
"No," the young man said.
Bailey frowned at him. "Was I talking to you....?"
"John," he said. "John Kriegler. No ma'am, you weren't."
"I'm pregnant," Cameron said. Bailey looked at her. Cameron cocked her head. "I think."
"She's been--" John said, then fell silent when Bailey turned her gaze on him.
"I've been nauseous the last few mornings," Cameron said. "That's a sign of pregnancy, right?"
"Could be," Bailey said. "Let's get you signed in and we'll find out." She looked at John. "And you're here because?" she said, though she was pretty sure of the answer.
"Well, because..." John said, looking faintly embarrassed.
"It was John who impregnated me," Cameron said. John blushed a little more. Even Bailey was taken aback by her straightforwardness.
"Uh huh," Bailey said.
Note: In case you recognize the names, yeah that John Kriegler nee Connor. But this Cameron is plainly not that Cameron. She's human.
When: Wednesday, May 8
Where: The Hospital Clinic
Invited: Anyone
Status: Incomplete
Dr. Bailey was elbow deep in paperwork. Not that she was surprised by that. Some of the other doctors here at Gamma General had been--more fools they. Hospitals ran on paperwork. They ought to know that. Certainly anyone she'd trained would know that.
Paperwork was what kept patients alive. Records--of procedures performed and results achieved, of drugs prescribed and taken, of previous medical complaints--kept patients alive. Just because they were living on the frontier now didn't change that. It didn't make doing the paperwork any more pleasant or less tedious either, but it still had to be done. As Bailey tossed one more clipboard onto the pile of those she'd dealt with, she decided it was time to take a break from paperwork.
A quick trip down to the maternity ward always cheered her up. The rooms were full, mothers and children sleeping in the same rooms these days. Bailey made the rounds of the ward, checking up on each and every pair (or trio in one case--a pair of fraternal twins), and speaking to those who were awake. Which was most of them in the early afternoon. Bailey was struck again by how young many of the mothers were.
Not all, by any means--but many of them. It wasn't unexpected. Drop teenagers into an environment where they had no television, no radio, limited access to any kind of electronic entertainment, not even lights at night in many cases--and unsupervised access to a mostly virgin planet and the result was inescapable as gravity. Sex--and lots of it. Some of the mothers were younger than Bailey liked, but reality was reality. They were old enough to have sex and it wasn't like getting pregnant was going to destroy their chances of going to college or getting a good job, now was it?
Not that their elders were showing much more restraint. The baby boom had begun almost exactly nine months into their exile to Gamma World and showed no signs of abating. Women up into their forties were turning up pregnant in remarkable numbers.
Bailey returned to the front desk in time to see a young woman walk in. She recognized her from Friday night. Cameron Connor, still wearing the cast on her wrist. A young man Bailey also recognized from Wu's Friday night martial arts classes was with her. Bailey noted the vivid scars on his face and wondered (again) how he'd acquired them and whether that had anything to do with his participation in Wu's martial arts classes.
"Cameron, right?" Bailey said.
She nodded. "Yes."
"You having trouble with your wrist?" Bailey hadn't expected her to, so if she was that was a sign that something deeper was wrong with the injury.
"No," the young man said.
Bailey frowned at him. "Was I talking to you....?"
"John," he said. "John Kriegler. No ma'am, you weren't."
"I'm pregnant," Cameron said. Bailey looked at her. Cameron cocked her head. "I think."
"She's been--" John said, then fell silent when Bailey turned her gaze on him.
"I've been nauseous the last few mornings," Cameron said. "That's a sign of pregnancy, right?"
"Could be," Bailey said. "Let's get you signed in and we'll find out." She looked at John. "And you're here because?" she said, though she was pretty sure of the answer.
"Well, because..." John said, looking faintly embarrassed.
"It was John who impregnated me," Cameron said. John blushed a little more. Even Bailey was taken aback by her straightforwardness.
"Uh huh," Bailey said.
Note: In case you recognize the names, yeah that John Kriegler nee Connor. But this Cameron is plainly not that Cameron. She's human.