A shaky start

Posted on Sun Jun 2nd, 2024 @ 5:39pm by Lieutenant Avira zh'Kenarh M.D. & Petty Officer, 3rd Class Lottie Daglish

Mission: Contagion
Location: Main Sickbay
1142 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Lottie hummed to herself as she went around the sickbay starting a sanitation process for each bio bed. It was one of her favourite processes as part of her extended duties. She could have gotten Cusack to do it but there was something simple about doing that type of thing in her opinion that kept her grounded and reminded her of why she became a nurse. She had become a nurse to escape her family which and certainly ended with her escaping far and wide with nearly 10000 light years but who was counting.

“I definitely need to try and get some new music.” She decided as she set the last one to sanitise.

The humming and ruminating was suddenly disrupted by the clattering of a medical tray on the floor, followed by a string of loud and colourful Andorian cusses. Avira immediately went to pick up the vials and hypospray she had dropped on the floor. "I'm fine, it's fine." She immediately called in the direction of the other occupant of the sickbay, hoping to avoid having to have a conversation about this.

Lottie quickly turned at the sound that rattled across sickbay and frowned. "Of course, you are fine Doctor," Lottie commented as she moved to help start to pick up the items that had been scattered. She found it strange that the woman had instantly gone to say she was fine. "And it is all fine now." She added as she picked up the final vial.

"Let me just, I can handle it." Avira had put the tray in the floor and was putting the hypo perifirals back on when the nurse had arrived to help. "I don't need your help" both of them worked quickly, though, and her protest did nothing to deter Lottie from assisting. When everything was stacked neatly back into the tray she picked it off of the ground. Try as she might, the metal tray rattled it's contents as she went to put it away where it needed to go


The doctor might not have needed her help but she was going to have it whether she wanted it or not from the nurse. As the contents on the tray rattled Lottie took it from her and put it away to be sanitised again. “Just because you can handle it does not mean I can not help Ma’am.” Lottie stated simply.

"I thought you might have had better things to do than to clean up after my clumsiness." Avira shoved her hands in her lab coat pockets, still feeling the slight tremble as it slowly ebbed away. It wasn't going to be long before she could no longer safely ignore the jitters that had reared their ugly head since they left the starbase slash carnivorous plant. As she slowly walked back towards the desk set against the far wall of the sickbay she hesitated. The tremble was subsiding and the initial stress and panic ebbed away. "Nurse?" She turned, "I apologise." She figured that actually addressing the frustrated response she had given increased her chances of Lottie keeping thus particular exchange to herself.

Daglish said nothing in response to that as she found the correct location and glanced over at the senior officer. It had just been them once upon a time and Lottie prided herself on having good relationships with everyone under and above her pay grade. “No need to apologise Doctor.” Lottie assured looking her over again.

Avira took her seat behind the desk and sighed, a little more loudly than she had intended to. Her antennae curled up at the awkwardness of it all. She was sure the nurse was going to comment on it.

The nurse came over to the desk slowly and just stood there awkwardly for a moment before she decided. “Anything you would like to talk about?” She offered trying to be thoughtful around the woman’s potential need to talk and discuss the events of the last week or so.

"We've gone over the shift rotations and the necessary additional medical training for our new emergency staff. I don't think there's anything left to discuss." Avira was almost proud at the deflection away from her personal strife.

The nurse levelled the woman with a look that would have made anyone else shrink under it but she knew the Doctor would not but she would know that the woman at the very least was on to her. "If you are sure doctor but I saw the shaking, that is not you. I know we are no longer a duo but I am still here for you."

It felt much more like a personal attack to hear someone say to her that she was shaking than the fact that she had noticed herself. For her entire professional life she had been about the steady hand. The unwavering rock in times of stress and crisis. That steady hand was now shaky. Unreliable. Approaching useless. "It's some residual effects from the t'Sayxrosia. Now that we're back onboard it'll peter out." If it really had progressed her dormant genetic defect there was no knowing what the consequences would be, and there certainly wasn't any reason to believe that those effects would revert themselves. That's not generally how degenerative nerve diseases tended to work.

Lottie took a step back seeing that the woman was not at all taking it how she wanted it to be taken and nodded. "I am sure it will do I just wanted to help if I could. It's part of my role as your.... your nurse." She decided on the safer term of nurse. She counted herself as everyone's friend onboard but did not want that thrown back at her.

"It is appreciated," Avira gave an appreciative nod, it was good to have people that cared enough to notice these things. It wasn't something she was used to really. It had been one of the reasons she had kept her concerns to herself. Only the Captain and Darru were aware and she was certain of their discretion. Perhaps soon one of the efforts she had taken to find effective medication, or even a cure, would yield results. Until then she just wanted to avoid thinking about it too much. Situations like these didn't help.

Lottie nodded. "Good. Well, I will leave you to whatever it is you need to do for the day and I will get on with cleaning up stuff." She decided thinking the awkward conversation had come to an end without any real resolution or understanding but the nurse would come back to it eventually she was sure of it.

"Much appreciated, Nurse Daglish." Avira turned to the screen in front of her. There was no way she was going to get something useful done today, but it was what was expected of her.