Play Silly Games

Posted on Wed Dec 1st, 2021 @ 11:27am by Lieutenant Commander Calvin Morgan & Captain Abigail Laurens

Mission: Double Bind
Location: Captain's Ready Room

Abigail sat on the chair, staring at the toes that were starting to discolour. With a heavy sigh she reached up and tapped her commbadge lightly. "Captain Laurens to Commander Morgan. When you're finished with the Caetoveans, please report to my ready room." There was a pause, a moment of silence where it was clear the comm was still active before she spoke again. "You may want to bring a medical kit."

Having already finished with the Caetoveans, Calvin had been sitting in his office documenting extensively. He knew this paperwork would find its way up the chain of command eventually. He replied simply with a "Understood" before closing the comm. He grabbed one of the preset kits and walked steadily to the turbo lift. Tone of voice indicated it wasn't dire, but it wasn't nothing either. After approximately 15 minutes, he rang the chime to the ready room.

"Enter," the order was given and the doors parted, allowing access to the ready room. Abigail looked up, offering a faint smile to the medical officer as he entered.

Stepping into the Ready Room, he looked at the Captain, "Captain, what seems to be the problem?" His mind already seeing her as a patient. Skin tone and color looks okay, Respirations regular and unlabored, eyes tracking, responses seem normal, alert and oriented... Calvin's internal monologue continued to work down a check list as he moved up to the Captain and set down his kit.

With her chair in closer to her desk, Abigail's knee could be seen drawn up in front of her, but her foot had remained hidden from view. Pushing the chair backward, she shifted her position so both feet, one sans boot, were on the floor. "The desk jumped out in front of me while I was pacing," Abigail offered by way of explanation, figuring that it might at least buy her a few points in humour rather than explaining that she'd kicked the desk, hard, while swearing in a language she'd hoped her First Officer wouldn't understand.

Calvin nodded with a smile, kneeling down slowly in front of the Captain to closely examine the foot. He opened his kit with a smooth practiced motion, his focus still on the foot. "I am sure the desk learned its lesson," He said as he very gingerly palpated the foot with one hand while scanning with a tricorder.

"Mmmm..." Abigail smirked, a smirk that turned into a grimace. "I'm quite sure there's nothing broken or no serious damage, but I'd like to be able to walk properly before we go down to the surface. Any chance you can work some magic?"

"Lets see what potions I have with me today," He replied, playing along with the magical theme, gently letting go of the foot and shifting to focus on the med kit. "If you want it to really work, you'll need to keep it elevated for a bit and let your foot do its thing." His fingers drifted over vials until he found the one he wanted, popping it in the hypospray. "Would also suggest a toe guard on the inside of your boot with an extra thick sock so you don't tap it on anything. It'll be sensitive for a couple days." He palpated the foot for a moment before injecting with the hypospray.

"I'll see what the replicator has on file," Abigail responded noncommittally. She leaned back in the seat as he worked, her eyes drifting toward the windows again and the planet beyond. "If only it were so easy to solve all the problems in the universe," she murmured softly. "Just replicate something and voila, problem solved. We can all move on and live happily ever after."

Checking over the foot again and seeing no immediate adverse effects, he returned the hypospray to the med kit and moved over the replicator, punching in the exact dimensions and materials needed for the toe guard. "Had a patient once, back end of an engineering department while I was still slumming it as a corpsman. Couldn't get much equipment in, and if the transporters could have cut through the radiation, it would have been a simple fix in Sickbay. Made a few off the wall off protocol decisions with him. I did what I thought was right. Even got into some trouble. Hard decisions. But I did what I thought was right. And I still cherish that patient for that reason."

Abigail smiled at the advice hidden between the words in the story he told. "Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets, I know that we've made the right decision, to help them." She sighed. "It's just so complicated, and I don't want our help to do more harm." She paused for a moment. "Have you ever had to make difficult decisions Commander Morgan?" she asked softly. "Had to value one life over another? Chose who to save? Knowing that your decision causes someone's life to be lost? That their loved ones will lose someone they care about, someone they love, because of decisions you've made?"

Calvin smiled as he repositioned, sitting on the chair he dragged closer, removing the obstacle of the desk between the two. The smile was joined but a certain hollowness in his eyes. "There have been a few. Some were a decision between two patients both on death's door. Some were mistakes on the table, or factors not recognized until too late." Calvin paused, moments in history crossing his mind. "There are two memories to each situation. The one as it was happening, and the one just after where all the factors are finally learned. Both are accurate, however only one can be judged fairly, and not based off the other. The hurt, the grieving will always look at the one just after. You have to focus on the moment. You're not all knowing." He emphasized raising his hands and looking around. He paused for a moment

"You can only know two things at any given point. Here." He pointed at his head. "And here." He pointed at his chest. "Life is a game of poker, not chess. You can only see your hand, and every decision is a gamble. You just have to trust yourself."

Abigail nodded slowly. "I know you're right," she said quietly. She straightened her back, holding her head high and drawing in a deep breath. "Right, let's get this thing in my boot. My shuttle will be ready shortly. It won't do for the Captain to be late."

Calvin nodded quietly, helping her with the toe guard in the boot before assisting the Captain out of the Ready Room and to her next task.