If it's not Broke...
Posted on Sunday 23 September 2018 @ 13:46 by Captain John "Apollo" Barstow, M.D. & Lieutenant Michael Ki MD & 1st Lieutenant Cara O'Reilly MD & Lieutenant Colonel Kachiko Bayushi
Mission:
The New Collective
Location: Sickbay/USS Merlin
Timeline: Following "Welcome Back"
2223 words - 4.4 OF Standard Post Measure
O'Hara walked into sickbay. She assumed that the best way to make sure she didn't get asked any questions was to project the air that she was supposed to be there and she knew exactly where she was going. She marched, back straight and head held high right through the cubicles, looking for the one that contained the Captain. She had heard he was awake and decided that she had best give him the litany of bad news first hand.
Cara was in the middle of dictating her notes in a patient's chart when she saw a familiar redhead head for the Captain's cubicle. "Hold it right there, O'Hara!" she called out from the Nurses' Station. She jumped up and shoved her chair back so hard it slammed against the wall behind her then she rounded the counter. "No one is allowed in there," she said, firmly as she approached the Lieutenant.
In spite of her best efforts not to, O'Hara cringed when she heard Cara yell her name. And the jig is up..., She thought bitterly. It was time to change tact. She smiled an infectious smile, turning the charm up to 11. "Doctor! How nice t' see ya again!" She gushed. "I'm jus' gonna pop in an' see th' Captain. Figured he'd like t' know what's goin' wit' th' Engines... An' while I'm sure th' company down here is jus' overwhelmin'ly amazin', he'd like t' see a fresh face. Na big. Jus' a 'How ya doin'?' an' off I go. Ya know I've too much work t' do t' hang out f'r long. I won' be but a minute." She reapplied the broad smile to her features. She beamed at Cara, trying to ignore the beads of sweat forming on the back of her neck.
Unimpressed by the woman's attempt to deflect, Cara simply placed her hand on O'Hara's shoulder and turned her away from the cubicle. "Id there a part of 'no one is allowed' that you do not understand?" she asked, calmly, but with authority. "No one means, not you, not Bayushi, not Admiral du Lac...not even God. Now scat," she said, shewing O'Hara towards the Sickbay doors.
"Doc?" Barstow called from the doorway, one hand braced on the door frame, "what's up?" he asked, having heard the voices outside his room.
"Nothing, Captain," Cara called over her shoulder as she shewed O'Hara towards the Sickbay door. "Go back to sleep," then she gave O'Hara a look of warning and pointed to the now open Sickbay doors. "Out. You can see him tomorrow."
"Doctor," John said and pointed to the engineer and motioned her over.
"Captain you are on bed rest," Cara scolded, standing between O'Hara and the CO. "You need to get your happy ass back in that bed and you can receive visitors tomorrow if Dr. Ki says it's OK." She snapped her fingers and pointed to the bed. "And before you go all Command Officer....you are not the CO right now. You are just a patient who has a skull fracture and needs rest. If you need assistance getting back in bed I have two very large medics out here who would be happy to oblige me." She glanced over her shoulder at O'Hara. "Tomorrow, Stephanie," she said, warning and turned back to look, sternly, at Barstow.
The CO eyed Cara, "Doctor, I wasn't denied visitors and if the docs would like me to keep my sanity and remain compliant here you all better stop treating me like having someone who is not scanning and probing is going to cause massive diarrhea or death, understood?" he more stated than asked and sighed.
"Dr. Ki chasing everyone out of the cubicle was not denying visitors?" Cara said, gently taking hold of the CO's arm and turning him back toward the bed. "You are being treated as a man who sustained a skull fracture and concussion. If you want to be released for duty to rule over your ship from your throne before the next millennium, I suggest you obey your doctor's orders, get back in bed and allow us to do what we have been put here to do." She spoke calmly but firmly as she guided him towards the bed. "You're an MD, Captain. You know what I'm telling you is true. The last thing you need right now is to have your blood pressure go up. Do you want an aneurysm form at the site of the skull fracture? Please, don't make my job any harder than it has to be. Don't make me strong arm you back into bed and sedate you. Because I will if you force me to." She patted the bed and stepped back to allow him to make the right decision.
"There's an MD in my name too, first don't threaten again. If you're worried about a concussion sedation is the last thing you'll do. Second, give me the refusal of treatment forms so I can sign them," he said, more in frustration than anger, if she wasn't allowing people in it meant she wouldnn't allow his daughter when Bayushi came down, "if you want respect give me a little here and honor my request to speak to the Lieutenant, please," he added and rubbed his face.
Cara threw up her hands in surrender. "Fine! Have a dammed party. Endanger your health so you end up having an aneurysm burst in your brain. Give yourself a stroke so the Merlin continues on without her Captain," she said with frustration. She whirled around and stormed towards the door. "O'Hara....come on in. I give up." With that she stormed out of the cubicle and headed for Michael's office to raid his desk for his stash.
John shook his head as the red head stormed out and sat on the edge of the biobed where he'd been left, 'this'd better be worth that Lieutenant," he said and motioned O'Hara into the room.
"You sure seem to have a way with redheads, Captain," came the XO's voice from the cubicle next to the Captains. "I was bringing Sierra down to see you when I was treated to this little drama."
"Sierra can wait in my cubicle until we're done talking to Miss O'Hara," Kachiko sighed and walked over to join the Captain.
"I'm not trying to push it either...." Barstow said, "wait outside until I'm done with O'Hara so we can keep this one visitor at a time?" he asked and put a hand lightly on Bayushi's shoulder, "Ill leave the hatch open but let's not make her call security, I pissed her off enough..."
"I'm na sure if it is, sir. That's alotta fussin' ova l'il ol' me." The Chief responded with a grin. However I thought I should deliver th' report in person." The grin faded quickly.
"What's going on, Lieutenant?" John asked.
Stephanie cleared her thoat. "Life support is operational, thanks t' tha' blue fella we picked up from VX. He's proven t' be useful... An' he's an Irishman... Well, Irish by way o' Andor, but a Mick nonetheless. Warms m' cold, black heart. Can we keep 'im? Please?" She asked that question much in the same way a child who had a puppy follow her home from school would ask her parents the same question.
The Captain chuckled, "you're bad as my daughter," he said simply and nodded then motioned for her to continue.
"I've had teams workin' around th' clock since th' attack. Impulse is still down, we need to retrofit 'em with new thermal cowlings. They're workin', and if we absolutely need ta we can go t' impulse, but we'd melt through 4 bulkheads in th' process. Seemin'ly th' same story with th' warp core. Sarah is up an' runnin', but I wouldn't recommend goin' t' warp until I've sorted out th' structural problems with th' port nacelle. Microfractures an' minor bucklin'." Stephanie sighed heavily. "I've conscripted most o' th' senior staff. I've got Miles' people lookin' f'r outer hull breaches, Sav voulenteered t' realign th' main deflector. I'm elbows deep in retunin' Sarah, and we've still got both th' dorsal shield emitters, th' ventral phaser array an' th' ODN lines on th' bridge... An' Imma install a seatbelt on th' center chair on th' bridge." She grinned. "Th' butcher's bill f'r this one is gonna be at th' very least another 12 hours, and even as such, I would suggest gettin' th' once over at a Starbase after we're done. Those Borg bastards did a numba on us."
Kachiko then spoke up from the hatch, "I have extensive experience with phasers, Lieutenant. Used to be a Tactical Specialist, so it was expected that we did most of the work on weapons systems. Lend me a crewman as a gofer and I'll get on it."
Then she turned her attention to Barstow, "I'm going to leave Llewellyn in command while I assist in getting this boat back underway, Cap. I'm not cleared for bridge duty anyway. Now I'm going to go back and keep Sierra company until I can bring her to you. It's probably best to avoid aggravating any more redheads." Kachiko smirked up at O'Hara.
Michael finished his paperwork in his office and got the report on what happened with the refusal forms. He was not going to enjoy what he had to do. He stepped into the cubicle and smiled faintly. "Captain I cannot accept these forms. I cannot in good conscience to this crew allow you to return to duty in the potentially unstable condition that you are in. The best that I can do is so long as these guests to not cause and distress then they can stay." He paused for a moment and then added with a chuckle "At least until visiting hours are over."
"I'm an inmate myself, Doctor," Kachiko sighed, still leaning on the bulkhead just outside the hatch.
Apollo shook his head, "that's fine, I was just getting frustrated, doc," he said and looked between the officers, "alright, Commander, and aye, let's not not piss off the red heads....." he said then trailed off as he realized even the computer avatar was a red head, "and we can't put in to starbase, you should have everything you need to do the repairs.....do what you both need to, but, get us running, we can't let the Borg keep going."
"I'll get it done, Cap'n... Somehow," O'Hara sighed heavily, realizing how much work she still had ahead of her. . "But these Borg are pretty damned odd. No threats o' assimilation, no warnin' t' lower our shields... Just straight t' 'We're gonna kill ya now'. An' they sounded upset. Did someone shit in their breakfast cereal?" She shrugged and took in a deep breath, sighing again. "M' first deep space mission and we run inta th' Borg. I picked a bloody great time t' leave San Francisco." She sank heavily into a chair. "I don' suppose th' good doctor'd be willin' t' give e a hypo o' somethin' t' keep me awake... I'll na ask her. She seems pretty high strung as it is."
Kachiko shook her head, "No, Stephanie. I want you to go in the next cubicle and lay down. Call down your assistant and give him orders, then you're taking a long nap."
"I won't have you passing out on us or hurting yourself with stimulants," Kachiko's tone indicated that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "I need you well-rested. We're far from finished dealing with these Borg and I need you in top shape for our next encounter."
"Twas a joke, Commanda," Stephanie rolled her eyes. "I know better than that. I'll stick t' my raktijino. I've too much work t' do t' fritter m' day away in bed. Say what ya will about Klingons, but they make an amazin' cup o' joe." She looked around to make sure Cara wasn't listening in. "Besides, if I asked, th' good Doctor'd probably have me committed or somethin'. She does na strike me as th' type who takes a joke very well..."
Kachiko shook her head, "There's no discussion, lass. You're taking a nap. Stephanie, I need you at your best and you have capable assistants. Delegate and get some shut eye."
"I'd na be able t' sleep here commander," O'Hara responded. "Th' place smells like a hospital an' there's too much noise.. If yer gonna order me t' nap, at least let me do it in m' own quarters. Th' comfortin' smells o' whiskey an' vomit put me out like a light," She smiled weakly hoping the commander would be able to recognize her dry sense of humor at work. " Could pro'lly do with a shower an' a hot cup o' Raktajino, too."
"Alright, I'll see everyone in the morning....Doctors Ki and O'Rielly, I'd like a word," John said and sat back on the biobed, this whole situation was going to be interesting.....
Captain John "Apollo" Barstow
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin
Task Group 47-A Commanding Officer
Task Force 47
Commander Bayushi Kachiko
First Officer, USS Merlin
Stephanie O'Hara
Chief Engineer
USS Merlin
Dr. Cara O'Reilly
ACMO
USS Merlin
