[USS Charon, Main Sickbay]
It was quite inconvenient. Certainly, the healers were tasked with the health of the crew, but in Sakarra's view, a barely functioning starship was a serious health hazard all in itself. Not to mention that overloading consoles and failed life support systems were aesthetically objectionable.
Of course, she knew sooner or later someone would wish to speak with her about the unauthorized escape from sickbay, and possibly inquire about the status of her injuries. She just had not expected it to be this soon after Charon had survived the attack and had begun limping her way towards the Romulan fleet facilities, and sickbay was still crowded with the casualties of their desperate struggle against the Warbirds and boarding parties.
Having been able to elude both the doctors and their dogged requests to return to sickbay for several days had now culminated in a summons by the CMO, and although the young Vulcan was not precisely apt at reading between the lines when it came to humans, she was getting the distinct impression the man might hunt her down and have her dragged to sickbay by security before long.
Since such a thing would not only be quite undignified, but would very likely keep her from her duties for even longer than complying with the good doctor's request, she had chosen the only logical option and was proceeding towards the CMO's office, ignoring the glares of a few healers in the vicinity and courteously waving away one or two nurses.
One should think they would have more pressing matters to attend to.
Hardly unexpected, the Commander was not in his office and Sakarra quirked a mildly satisfied brow. Safe to assume, he was tending to a patient. So, it should be satisfactory to simply leave a message and .. as she turned to leave, she nearly bumped into a rather tall human, not having noticed his presence in the overall bustle until he was nearly standing before her.
Tilting her head upwards, the young Vulcan found herself subjected to an intense gaze out of surprisingly radiant blue eyes.
"Doctor King. I have been informed you wished to see me?"
What she had failed to realize was that the good doctor had never been the type to send nurses or orderlies, nor even the brutes from security, to fetch a wayward patient; in fact, if she had not responded to his summons, Doctor David King would have begun the manhunt personally. He had long held his patients to a high standard and had developed a reputation among the medical community very quickly after his...'career' had begun.
Turning around at the woman's voice David crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, "So the prodigal patient returns."
There may have been fire left yet in his eyes, though there were also noticeable bags underling them. Any true time for sleep had been completely elusive over the last couple of days, and would continue to be so until he was satisfied with the condition of the medical department and its facilities.
Prodigal? Head canted inquisitively to one side, the young Vulcan took note of the good doctor's stance and quirked a brow.
"Vulcans are not known to behave in an exceedingly wasteful manner, and lavish or abundant would not seem to apply, either. I am therefore assuming you are employing a metaphor."
Truth be told, she would much rather be in engineering right now, or on the bridge, coordinating repairs and looking after the million things that needed to be done after a ship had been through what Charon had endured.
And although her own exhaustion was slowly approaching the point where she would have to take a break and address her newly exasperated injuries, her estimate was she could continue to function quite efficiently for another 47.4 standard hours.
"My return, doctor King, is intended to demonstrate that I do not require your immediate attention. However, I am willing to submit to a thorough exam, if you deem such a thing necessary, once the more severely injured crew have been seen to and the ship's status has improved."
"For a people who doesn't give in to waste," David replied as he continued to direct a hard gaze in her direction. "You've been incredibly cavalier with the time and patience of my staff. Not to mention your own health. So the next time you decide to pull another stunt like you have here, don't."
The doctor lifted a hand and pointed towards a functioning biobed, "Remove your jacket and lay down."
The healer's tone of voice earned him an eloquently raised eyebrow, but Sakarra decided it would be rude to respond with surliness.
His fatigue was as obvious as the fact that the medical personnel were overworked, and his irritability towards her had at least some merit.
Still, she could not quite bring herself to let that comment pass.
"It was your time as well as mine that concerned me, ohassu."
With swift motions that belied the still mild pain lingering just beneath conscious awareness, the young Vulcan removed her jacket and stepped up to the biobed. I would take some focus to adjust her breathing and heart rate to the proper levels, but she managed after a few seconds. Abnormal readings would only serve to increase the healer's mild … annoyance.
"Surely it is more logical for a Vulcan to free a bed for another patient in need if her own injuries can be seen to efficiently and expediently by inducing a healing trance." she stated calmly as she stretched out on the bed.
Pulling a tricorder from his hip the doctor pulled it open and began to run a basic medical scan. As he watched the readout David continued what was becoming a frustrating debate, "And would it not be most logical to accept treatments that would make repairs more quickly, or at least could help speed up your own efforts?"
"Of course."
Fascinating, how humans insisted on lecturing Vulcans concerning logic.
"Should time and circumstances permit such a course of action, and there is no other with more pressing needs, it would be imminently logical."
While Sakarra's tone of voice was even and melodious, it also carried a barely discernible timbre of mild exhaustion.
"However, if I have caused you and your staff undue troubles, I must ask you to accept my apology."
David sighed as he continued his scans. Practicing medicine was an almost-perfect career path. There was only one thing that kept it from being -the- perfect career: patients. No matter how long you had been at your job the patients would always assume they knew better than the trained and practiced professionals. Apparently Vulcans were no exception.
"It seems that your body has done a decent enough job of starting the repairs," he finally said, not responding to her statement. "I'm going to start you on a regimen of metabolic enhancements to help and will be restricting you to light duty only for now. I could help get rid of some of those unsightly green bruises you've got, but I think they'll be fine as long as you take it easy."
While he was not one to fold to anyone's will but his own when it came to his practices, Doctor King was well aware that even Vulcans had pride (though they'd never admit it).
Light duty? While the ship was practically falling to pieces?
Sakarra felt inclined to comment this with a huff, but thought better of it. He was trying to be reasonable.
"That will be acceptable, doctor."
Unsightly green bruises aside; she did still feel mildly disheveled. Perhaps she should take the time and rest after all … well, after she'd checked on the progress in engineering.
Finally, she relaxed ever so slightly on the biobed and looked up at the healer, exhaling slowly.
"While I am here, would it be possible for you to give me a preliminary report on casualties? I understand you will have more pressing matters to attend to, however I should appreciate a brief listing of personnel unable to return to duty for the foreseeable future."
Mr Chernienko is going to be off his feet for a while," replied King as he assembled a hypospray and injected its contents into Sakarra's neck. "But on whole I feel we made it out pretty lucky. The numbers could have been, or maybe even should have been, much worse."
As he moved to fill the hypo with a different medication the doctor added, "A full report will be available for the department heads by the end of beta shift."
"That is greatly appreciated, Doctor King." The young Vulcan held perfectly still while the healer busied himself with the hyposprays, and she had to be careful not to relax too much or she might have actually dozed off.
This had been the longest Sakarra had remained resting in one place in … she quietly quirked a brow at the timeframe her mind presented and had to actually make a small effort to stop a minute frown from appearing on her serene face.
After applying the second injection to her neck David returned the device to his waist. "Well, if you really want to show appreciation you can start taking the words of my staff seriously. I assure you that we've got your best interests in mind."
Not to mention that it was just plain irritating. There were days, David admitted to himself occasionally, that he greatly missed the days of inflicting wounds instead of healing them. As soon as there was an opportunity he decided to spend some time breaking some photonic neck. But it would have to wait.
"I do not doubt that, ohassu. And let me point out that it is only your best interest I have in mind, as well as that of your staff and the rest of the crew when I insist on using every advantage my physiology may give me, be it temporary or not."
She sat up in one swift, fluid movement and politely inclined her head to show appreciation for his efforts.
"Will that be all?"
With a slight shrug the doctor nodded, "I suppose. There's not much else I can do that won't include keeping you here for a couple more hours." He raised a hand and pointed it at her, "Though if I find out you're not complying with the light duty order I'll pull you back in here myself."
Although it might have been an interesting experience to see how the man would have gone about pulling a Vulcan anywhere, Sakarra decided it might be prudent to tread lightly for the moment.
"Understood." She nodded, radiating nothing but her kind's impenetrable calm, before retrieving her jacket. Thankfully, he had failed to set definitive parameters for what he considered 'Light Duty'.
Securing a loose hairpin, the young woman pivoted around and strode towards the doors.
[End Log]
Cmdr David King
Chief Medical Officer
&
Lt Cmdr (then Lt) Sakarra Tyrax
Chief Helm Officer
USS Charon
