A Beautiful Friendship?

Posted on Sun Dec 26th, 2010 @ 3:41pm by Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti & Commander Michael Evans M.D.

Mission: Episode 1.4 - "Confusion in the Cluster"
Location: Main Sickbay
Timeline: MD01 2030

On:

Ens. Relaari (NPC) had walked the long corridor leading to sickbay more often than she would have liked over the past five months. It wasn't that she had been frequently injured, on the contrary she had barely sustained one sprained wrist over her time on the Pandora, but she hadn't foreseen the number of check-ups and health analyses a security officer would have to undergo. The doors to the bay slid open and the ensign made directly for Dr. Evans' office. She had seen more of the good doctor over the past five months than her own department head and knew that he was invariably to be found in his office. On every previous occasion he had been sitting there with his mug of coffee as though expecting her to turn up and therefore the young woman was particularly surprised when this time he wasn't only not in his office but not in sickbay at all.

She stared at the empty chair for a long moment before speaking into the empty room. "Dr. Evans?"

"Hello," sounded a voice from somewhere in the somewhat honeycombed medical section. Apparently there was someone here, though it didn't sound like Dr. Evans. There was a faint change in the atmosphere nearby from which came a much louder, "Hello, do you need assistance," as the EMH materialized from wherever he had been.

The ensign stared for a minute at the man who had just materialised in front of her. She wasn't used to dealing with holograms on any sort of a basis that didn't involve combat and wasn't certain what this man might take to be rude. "I need a physical," she reported at last, wondering if she should just come back when Dr. Evans was here.

"Of course," Dr. Haelen said as he moved to a medical records panel, "Ensign...?"

"Relaari," she provided for him.

"Relaari..." Tony repeated as he found the file, "here we are. In for your routine Security Department physical." It was more statement than question really, but he still looked at her in query.

"That's right." It was strange. The EMHs were notorious for their lack of bedside manner but as far as the ensign was concerned he was an improvement on most other doctors. Brisk, efficient and to the point. It was how she liked to work herself and always appreciated that quality in others.

"I'm sure you know the routine by now," Dr. Haelen said in his professional cheer. "If you'll have a seat on the biobed, we'll be over and done before you know it."

The ensign offered a nod of acknowledgement and followed the doctor back into the main sickbay. Obediently she hopped onto the biobed and offered him a smile. He seemed remarkably cheerful for a hologram and couldn't help but wonder why.

Dr. Haelen grabbed a PADD and began the rote medical interview: "Are you feeling well and healthy today? Any medical concerns while you're here; new or unusual symptoms?"

"No, Doctor." Relaari replied with her usual brevity.

Tony made a quick note. "Any unreported trauma, injuries, or alterations in your "normal" mental or physical state, whether intentional or otherwise, since your last physical?"

She wondered, as she did every time, what exactly an "intentional alteration in her mental state" would consist of and watching the doctor make his notes responded again. "No, Doctor."

Tony made another quick note. "Good," he said. "That just leaves a quick scan." He put down the PADD, picked up a nearby tricorder, and began performing said scan with the detachable probe. A few brief moments later he clicked it back into the tricorder and put it aside. "Everything checks out, Ensign," he smiled, indicated the exam was complete.

The young officer nodded and offered the man a smile as she hopped from the biobed. "Thank you, Doctor. That was refreshingly efficient."

Tony smiled at the compliment. He always did his best to perform efficiently and expertly. "Thank you, Ensign. I appreciate that," he replied. Leaning a little more casually against the biobed, he said, "You know it's like pulling teeth from a Rokathian Raptor to get people in here for their physicals. If they'd just report when they're supposed to and let me do my job without a fight, it would take far less time than it often does otherwise. I really don't understand all the fuss."

Now that he was off duty the doctor's persona seemed to shift and the ensign nodded with a smile. It was always nice to find someone who took a similar attitude towards responsibility as she did...even if that person happened to mostly consist of light and forcefields. "I suppose most people don't think very far beyond the present," she offered. "And think that current pleasure is more worthwhile than the long term suffering they might experience." She found herself thinking back to some of the people she had known on Farius, addicts who did whatever it took to get their next hit without consideration of anything beyond it. Perhaps all people were slaves to their pleasures in the same way.

She blinked back to the present and gave a small shrug. "People have always seemed remarkably short-sighted to me."

"My thoughts exactly," Tony said, waggling the tricorder at her. "Humans especially, it seems (no offense), are terrible about gratification for the sake of the now regardless of the increased expense later, whether it be time, discomfort, or otherwise. Just do your duty efficiently and cheerfully, and it pays off in the long run." He sighed and smiled, shaking his head slightly in his perplexion. "Well, it pleases me to meet someone with a good head on their shoulders," he said as he straightened up and put away the tricorder.

She nodded. "I have to agree. It's not often I meet someone who understands the value of efficiency." She produced a small smile before posing a question that had been on her mind for some time. "I'm sorry, Doctor, do you have a name?"

It always delighted the doctor to be able to answer this question. "Doctor Anthony Haelen, at your service," he said as he found an appropriate place to stow the PADD. He walked back and stood in front of her, pausing a brief moment and looking a little uncomfortable before he said, "I don't suppose you've eaten yet?"

The young woman paused. The question was unexpected and from a doctor it usually meant that she was about to receive a reprimand but she did her best to force her suspicion away. It wasn't that she trusted Dr Haelen exactly, it was just that she didn't think him particularly capable of fallacy. After a brief pause she shook her head slightly. "Not yet, no."

He shifted from one foot to the other. The counselor had recommended that he try finding a friend, but what he was finding instead was that it seemed rather more difficult than it sounded. She wasn't a colleague; he had no business to discuss with her, and he didn't really eat for sustenance. But she seemed nice, and of a similar mind... "I-I was wondering," he fidgeted slightly, "if I could accompany you, or if you could-would accompany me to the mess hall to take care of that." He winced. "...I mean, may I join you for dinner?" he finally finished, a slightly pained look on his face.

The ensign was a little taken aback. She wasn't often asked to dinner by anyone and she certainly hadn't expected a hologram to do so. Then again, he seemed much more interesting than most of the other people she had met on board and she liked the idea of getting to know him better. Relaari smiled and nodded. "That would be nice."

OFF

A joint post by:

Ensign Relaari
Sec/Tac Officer, USS Pandora
Played by: Lieutenant (jg) Hannah Andeti

and

Dr. Anthony Haelen
ACMO/EMH, USS Pandora
Played by: Lt. Commander Michael Evans