Appointment with the Doctor

Posted on Fri Aug 15th, 2014 @ 4:37pm by Lieutenant Commander Charon Edomar & Lieutenant Christopher Cage M.D.

Mission: Something Amiss
Location: USS Hera - Sickbay
Timeline: MD1 - 0900

A short trip to his quarters later Charon seemed to be at ease again. The small dose of neural suppressant he had injected himself with was keeping him steady. It was a low dose because he feared to become to dependent on a drug. With the numbing effect that it had though it was a lot easier to exert the needed mental control. The slight tremor in his hands was a side effect but nothing he couldn't deal with. For now he was going about his duties as if nothing was wrong.

This duty now lead him to the Hera's sickbay. Not only was he genuinely interested in the equipment they had available here but also did he want to meet the chief medical officer on board. Reading the man's personnel file had made it clear that he would have his hands full with the good doctor. The conditions that had been issued for Lieutenant Cage's reinstatement and subsequent posting on board of a starship were quite severe. But given the past of the Lieutenant, Charon was willing to not have those events form an unfounded opinion of the man. He would try to enter the sickbay and start off without bias towards the CMO.

When he stepped through the door he put up his formal smile and looked around.

"Welcome to Sickbay, sir," said a light ethereal voice at seeing the lieutenant commander walk in through the Sickbay's doors. Up to the red-shirted blonde man glided a tall willowy alien woman with smooth, hairless, chalk-white skin and large, glassy black eyes. "I am Nurse Mayari," said the too-slender alien. "How may I help you?"

From his seat on the corner of his desk in the Sickbay's Chief Medical Officer's Study, Doctor Christopher Cage looked up at the sound of his Selenite nurse's unmistakable voice. Curious as to whom she was talking to, Cage leaned over to peek out from behind his study's doorway to see who it was. Standing there in front of the willowy Selenite was a blonde man -- either Cairn, Ullian, or some other telepathic species, by the looks of the hairless bulges that protruded from either of his temples. The blonde telepath wore a Starfleet uniform, and the pips of a lieutenant commander glinted on his red-accented collar.

When someone reacted to him Charon was glad he didn't have to clear his throat or something equally ridiculous. After taking in the almost fragile looking alien woman in front of him for a brief moment he bowed his head in greeting. “Thank you nurse Mayari, that is verry kind of you. I am Doctor Edomar. You can help me by pointing me in the direction of Lieutenant Cage.” He said and did not bother to explain anything beyond that. The idea of choosing his title instead of his rank was spontaneous and he wasn't quite sure what had made him do it.

"No one really calls me 'Lieutenant', Dr. Edomar," announced the scruffy surgeon, exiting his office and lumbering out onto the Sickbay floor towards where the blonde telepath stood. "It sounds far too respectable." Cage held out a hand in greeting. "Doctor Christopher Cage, mate. Nice to meet you."

Charon had been called many things in his time but 'mate' was not one of them. Definitively not by a Starfleet officer under his command. “In your office, Lieutenant!” Charon said with all the calm in the world. Still the stress on the doctor's rank left no room for interpretation. This was an order. Holding out his arm he indicated Cage to go first. It was his office after all and there was no reason for Charon to be rude.

Cage let his hand fall slowly as he stood there and regarded the blonde lieutenant commander for a moment. There was something off about the telepath. That much was clear. The disheveled doctor had seen enough psychological disorders, chemical addictions and illness-induced behaviors to know, even having never met the man before. Doc's glassy brown eyes caught the almost imperceptible tremor in the blonde Ullian's outstretched hand, the hint of turbulence that lay beneath those cool, placid blue eyes of his, and the hairs on the haggard Human's neck suddenly began to stand on end. Cage crossed his arms and shifted his weight slightly, readying himself to move quickly in case things got ... physical.

"I think we'd both be more comfortable out here, actually," replied Cage, his forced smile trying to mask his suspicions. "I've got to tell you, it's rare that I meet someone who snaps at me within five seconds of meeting me. I've usually got to make an unwelcome pass at them first ..."

Charon's expression never wavered. He stepped past the nurse and towards the office. “Very well.” He said. “If I have not made myself clear enough doctor, that was an order.” Charon stepped into the doctors office and stood in front of the desk, waiting for Cage to follow suit. Who was Cage trying to kid? They weren't going to discuss the terms of his parole in front of the medical staff.

"Mm-hmm," answered Cage, making sure to keep his distance as Edomar moved towards the office. The idea of being stuck in close quarters with someone who might be emotionally disturbed was not something that the doctor was looking forward to. A stray thought went his old office at the Mercy Clinic back on Farius Prime, and the black-market Romulan disruptor that he had kept strapped beneath the desk for this exact situation. "After you, then," said the doctor, the forced smile still present upon his rugged features. The scruffy surgeon kept an eye on the Ullian's hands, and noticed the tremor again. He followed Edomar into his office, taking care to keep the door behind him and the telepath in front of him. As they both came to stand in front of his desk, Cage smoothly picked up the medical tricorder that he had left there. Cage folded his arms again, his eyes remaining fixed upon the blonde lieutenant commander as his fingers deftly activated the tricorder and initiated a baseline vital sign scan. "Now then," said Cage, taking care to keep his voice calm and soothing. "How can I help you, mate?"

Charon looked the Doctor up and down. Did that man really think his behaviour fooled anyone? He shook his head. “Firstly, Doctor, I am the first officer and you are going to call me by either my rank or an appropriate substitute while we are within earshot of any non senior officers. Secondly, I am here to inform you that I will be participating in your continuous evaluation. For your information your current evaluation began when I entered sickbay just about a minute ago. So far there is room for improvement.” Charon noticed the defensive stance the doctor had taken up but he didn't care. He had things to say and the doctor would have to listen for now. “To be honest after reading your file I expected more of you. You were a damn fine doctor and if you can manage to act like a Starfleet officer again if only for the time you are on this ship then we are going to get along just fine.” He stepped a bit closer to the doctor and fixed his gaze on the man's dark-brown eyes. “I am not the cold-hearted bastard that I must be sounding like right now Cage. I respect you as a colleague and I am aware of your difficult history but I am not willing to cut you any slack because of it. At the first sign of trouble I want you to contact me without delay. That is indeed not an order but a honest offer.”

He stepped back and turned. After walking a step and turning back around he continued his impromptu speech. “I scheduled regular sessions with the ships counselor for you and I am going to conduct irregular drug screenings until I feel that I can trust you to not do something you would regret later.”

After a long moments pause, Cage took a deep breath and finally stepped forward, slowly holding his hand out to the blonde lieutenant commander. "You're going to shake my hand now," said Cage, his dark brown eyes noticeably less glassy, more focused. "I offered it to you only a few seconds ago, in greeting and friendship, and you chose to respond by barking orders at me." Cage steeled his eyes and gave the Ullian a tight smile. "Rude and unprofessional, I know, but what can I say? I believe in second chances." Cage moved closer, his hand still extended towards Edomar. "And I don't believe in judging books by their covers. So ... you are either going to show your true character, and shake my hand ... or you are going to show your true character, and refuse."

Charon saw the man open up but it seemed like an act to him. Forced and somehow off. But he guessed that he would have to make due with what he got from the doctor. This was going to be one long mission Charon feared. “You are indeed!” He said when he accepted the offered handshake. “But then we all posess the ability to change don't we?” He added and let go of Cage's hand. “And as far as my … 'true character' is concerned doctor, you do not want to meet me on one of my bad days.” 'And neither do I.' He added in his head.
With that the little get together was over for him and really he had gotten a better idea of what he would have to deal with than he had hoped for. “The Captain is planing a meeting of the senior staff later. You will be informed soon enough. Be on time doctor. And by all that is holy to you get in a regulation uniform for it. That is if you still remember how to replicate one. We are after all on a a starship and not in your living room.” He addressed the issue of Cage running around in scrubs looked a lot like he was wearing pyjamas. Cage had even visited the captain in those from what Charon had heard. He had to smile in the end but also had to shake his head on so much brazenness from someone who was on parole.

 

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