Post 21 - The Day-to-Day

Posted on Wed Sep 9th, 2020 @ 2:33am by Captain Björn Kodak & Ensign Sheldon Parsons & Lieutenant Emni t'Nai

Mission: Epilogue 1: The Long March
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Prior to Post 16 - Part and Parsons

[USS-Adelphi]
[Sickbay]
[After the Holo-Quest, prior to Post 16 - Part and Parsons]

The tricorder felt warm in Emni's hand as she passed it down Ensign Parsons' back and circled around to his front to finish her scan. To say that Parsons did not look as far along in his healing as his scans indicated would be an understatement. The man's eyes were haunted as though he wasn't sleeping well, or perhaps at all, and although he had kept his back painstakingly straight throughout her scan she could almost feel the desire to fall back onto the bio-bed and curl up in a ball. The sensation of the emotion was so strong that it took a moment for Emni to separate it from her own emotional state and lock it safely away in its appropriate emotional box.

"Well," she began, "You're healing well."

The Ensign seemed like he wanted to comment, but thought better of it.

"But I can tell the wound is still giving you pain. Have you been completing the stretches I taught you three times a day?"

Parsons' eyes bored into the Doctor. Am I doing my stretches? What the hell kind of question-- "Yes," he said sourly, interrupting his own thoughts. His emotions were infused with disdain for what he felt to be a very stupid question. "I do actually want to get better, Doctor. Can't you just wave a magic fucking light over my leg and get this over with already?" With a sigh, the young man heaved himself back up into a sitting position. "It hurts...all the time. Every agonizing minute of every agonizing damn day. I just...I want it to stop," he stressed emphatically, the quick irritability of someone who could not control his emotions sparking into an outburst of motion. Slamming his right fist into the bio-bed, he actually growled. "So tired of this," came his defeated grumble.

The wash of emotion that came from the ensign streamed through Emni like a wave crashing onto the shore, its peak full of anger, frustration, and disappointment before flowing out into a bleak feeling of helplessness. Emni waited a moment as Parsons composed himself. His emotional outburst curtailed temporarily.

"There is pain that we feel from our wounds and pain that we feel because of what caused them," she said, her tone gentle. "It might seem like they are unconnected, but that isn't the case." She felt the anxiety peak slightly in the ensign's emotional make up and begin to flow back out again. "I can treat the physical," she said, "and even that will take time, but I cannot repair the emotional for you."

Parsons regarded t'Nai with the long, glassy look of someone who was so caught up in his own whirling emotional maelstrom that he couldn't tell right from left. But as the Doctor spoke of addressing his mind just as much as his body, some of that blank stare faded away, replaced with a wave of slight resolve. "Fine. I appreciate what you are doing and I'm sorry," his emotional sense was sincere, "to explode like that. Please do what you can. I will make an appointment with Counselor Rinkhal."

Before t'Nai could reply, another voice came from behind, though the Doctor would likely have sensed Kodak's mental footprint ahead of his arrival. "Doctor t'Nai, Ensign," he nodded to both, stepping into their mutual field of view. "Mr. Parsons, it's good to see you up and around. How are you doing?" asked the Chameloid Commander, sincere concern shining in his golden-yellow eyes.

"I don't think I can answer that right now," Parsons replied. "No disrespect, sir. Still trying to figure that out..." he trailed off, giving anything to be that young man who could barely carry a drink and stay upright in Ten Forward again.

"I understand. If you need anything, Sheldon," Kodak used the young man's first name, "please, let Commander Lenek or myself know. Alright?"

Parsons nodded distractedly, this thoughts millions of light years away as he slipped down from the bio-bed. Gingerly shifting his weight with the assistance of his cane, the engineer nodded to his Captain and the assistant Chief Medical Officer. "Thank you both. I...should get going," he said with a hint of his former awkwardness. Hobbling away, it was several long moments before he slipped out of the medical ward.

"How is he really doing, Doctor?" the Commander asked, eyes trailing after the young engineer. His emotional landscape was filled with the shifting hues of concern and a desire for Parsons to recover quickly.

Emni took a breath, taking a quick review of the room to ensure the ensign's privacy before she relayed her thoughts. Convinced no one was listening in she faced the the CO.

"Physically, he's healing. He's still in a great deal of pain and will need the cane for the foreseeable future, but he's doing the work he needs to do on that front. Mentally? Emotionally?" She looked down at her hands a moment. "His physical recovery would be faster if his emotional one didn't seem so tenuous. Certainly the physical pain is impacting his day to day. Anyone with chronic pain fights an uphill mental battle to even feel they're surviving the day. But that coupled with the emotional struggle... He cycles between feeling angry and hopeless and I can tell he is tempted to give in to both."

Kodak took the ACMO's report in slowly, mentally parsing the information as it was received. He nodded along as the details unspooled, this own thoughts turning darkly to past experiences with such kinds of injuries as well. "I know that struggle intimately. I suspect many of us do," the Chameloid said somberly. "Hopefully between our expert Counseling and medical staff, Mr. Parsons will make the recovery he desperately needs. And speaking of our crack medical team, that's actually why I am here." He gestured towards the office in rear of the medical ward, typically used by the Adelphi's Chief Medical Officer. "Let's chat in there for a moment, hmm?"

Without waiting, he led the way into the small office. Previously, the desk had been adorned with a few personal affects from Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Grey, MD. But those effects had been removed, leaving the desk looking quite spartan in comparison to its prior state under her care. In fact, looking out into Sickbay through the office's windows, those same personal effects now decorated a desk in the smaller office next door, which had been empty a day prior.

"Doctor Grey is in the midst of transitioning her career a bit. I'm sure she'll fill you in on the details when she can," Kodak smiled kindly, "but she's decided to become our new Chief Surgeon. Trauma Surgery is her specialty and while she's been a fantastic Chief Medical Officer," pride radiated from the man, "I very much agreed with her idea to more closely work on the surgical side of things. She was great at the everyday care of the crew but," he noted, "I'm exceptionally thrilled to have her on-call as needed for surgical cases. However, that does leave us in a bit of a situation..."

Leaning back against the desk, the Commander offered t'Nai a wide grin. "As Assistant Chief Medical Officer, you are the logical and best choice to step into Doctor Grey's shoes as CMO. It's quite a bit more paperwork and reporting, I won't lie. But," Kodak's good humor effused the small office, "Doctor Grey and I both believe you are up to the task. Elizabeth will be here to support you however she can, but the day-to-day runnings of Sickbay would fall on your shoulders. Any chance you're up to the challenge, Doctor t'Nai?" There was mischief and expectation in both his grin and the wash of emotion coming from the Chameloid.

It was hard to surprise Emni. She could usually sense something like this in the anticipatory way that the speaker's emotions gave them away. So it was to Kodak's credit that Emni didn't already see this coming. She knew whatever he had wanted to talk about wasn't bad news. The CO had radiated confidence laced only with a slight sadness the flavor of nostalgia and respect as they walked to the CMOs office.

And so it was that Emni was caught off guard.

"I would be honored, sir," she said as her emotions caught up to her. A smile graced her features. "When will the change go into effect officially speaking?"

"I'm pretty sure it just did," the Commander chuckled. "The office and all that goes with it is yours. That said, Doctor Grey has an immense amount of experience. While she might technically outrank you, Sickbay is your show, Lieutenant. Though I do encourage you to put Doctor Grey's surgical talents -- and the talents of all of your staff, really -- to good use," Kodak noted warmly. "As always, if you need anything, please let Commander Lenek or myself know. We'll make sure you're set up for success as best as possible. Congratulations," he smiled wide, reaching out in expectation of shaking hands.

"Thank you sir." Emni said trying to infuse her handshake with all of the confidence and competence she hoped she could bring to the job. "I won't let you down."

As the Chameloid CO released her hand she looked about the office space. "If we start now I should probably get to wrapping my head around next week's staff rotation."

"You're very welcome," Kodak nodded with a hint of his former smile. "Try a quarter rotation at a time. They get better sunlight that way." He held the deadpan face for several long moments before chuckling. "Sorry, bonsai grower joke. Don't mind me," his smirk returned as he tossed a parting wave to the doctor. "I've every faith you'll have your department in your preferred shape in no time. Good day, Doctor," the Commander offered warmly before slipping out the way he'd come.

*** A post by... ***

Ensign Sheldon Parsons
Engineering Officer
USS-Adelphi

and

Doctor Emni t'Nai, MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS-Adelphi

and

Commander Björn Kodak
Commanding Officer
USS-Adelphi