I fear this ear I'm lending is falling off

Posted on 24 Mar 2013 @ 9:15pm by Commander Andreus Kohl & Ensign Jessica Wilson M.D.
Edited on on 24 Mar 2013 @ 9:20pm

1,716 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 04 - 0729 hours

[ON]

Wandering into Sickbay, there was something tentative about his footfalls. His body posture wasn't the straight-back saunter Andreus Kohl was known for. Rather, there was something altogether surreptitious about Kohl's manner. As much as he wanted to be here, as much as he chose to be, his skin prickled with a sensation of being out-of-place. Kohl felt like a little blinking scanner that wouldn't quite fit back inside it's tricorder.

Despite wearing the same black and teal uniform as the Gamma-shift medical personnel, Kohl shuffled helplessly at the entrance. He didn't appear to know what direction to point himself at first, and then he stalked off towards the corridor on his left. Kohl found himself striding into the office of the Chief Medical Officer almost as soon as he was aware of his decision to head there. The office was empty, and so Kohl didn't hesitate in helping himself to the replicator. He gave the computer a command, which caused a bowl and spoon to materialize before him. Kohl turned his back on the doorway to reach for the bowl.

Jessica had been tending to a patient when the officer had entered sickbay, stood around for a bit before striding in the direction of the CMO's office, which Jessica knew would still be empty at this time. She handed finishing off the patients treatment to one of the nurses and pursued the individual. She opened the door to the office and watched with bemusement as the individual went over to the Replicator.

"Can I help you, Lieutenant?" Jessica asked in order to find out exactly what was going on, this man was wearing medicals blue but she had never seen him before.

Casting a glance over his shoulder, Kohl replied, "No, thank you," in a breezily polite manner. He took hold of the spoon and scooped up a heap of congee. Once he planted the spoon in his mouth, Kohl turned towards the young woman at the doorway. He started to mumble something with the spoon in his mouth, and then he thought better of it. He swallowed, pulled out the spoon, and dropped it in the bowl. Pleasantly, Kohl echoed, "Can I help you, Ensign?"

Jessica frowned.

"Would you mind identifying yourself, Sir," Jessica said as polite as she could manage. "This isn't a restricted area, but it is a Sickbay, not to mention that this isn't your office."

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Kohl, Andreus G. Serial number TE-792-8949," he replied. The answers came out automatically --the answer he had drilled so many times-- but he managed to sound like a person more than a computer. He paused, and he considered, and he smiled shyly. "Assistant Chief Medical Officer assigned to USS Galileo."

"I've not seen you before, Sir," Jessica questioned. "Have you just been assigned here?"

Kohl inclined his head slightly. He rubbed a couple of fingertips across his lower lip, as his gaze drifted in consideration. "No," Kohl replied obliquely. He dropped his hand to his side and he shook his head. "No, I was assigned to Galileo almost a month ago."

Jessica frowned, she had been aboard for a good couple of weeks now and had seen nothing of this Lieutenant, she didn't doubt his story, but found it rather weird.

"Where have you been, Sir?"

Kohl set his bowl down on the desk with an ease as if it were his own. In reply to Jessica's question, Kohl said, "I had" --he clicked his teeth together and then went on-- "business aboard Venture. Before that, I was granted shore leave with the rest of the crew." As he spoke, he flexed his fingers, as if he didn't know what to do with his hands. He wrapped them around the bowl, again, and lifted it to chest height. "Now, if I'm Andreus Kohl," he said playfully, "that must mean you are... Ensign Wilson?"

"That's right sir, Ensign Jessica Wilson, at your service."

Lifting the spoon to his mouth, Kohl chewed on another mouthful of his breakfast. He nodded at Jessica's introduction, figuratively chewing over what he knew of her as well. "How are you settling aboard Galileo?" he asked, in an off-handed manner, and he continued to tuck in to his breakfast.

Jessica found the Lieutenant's demeanour and behaviour to be rather odd, but then she was the shy and withdrawn type so she wasn't exactly at ease with most people outside of a more business, worklike environment.

"Not too badly, getting into the proverbial swing of things now," Jessica replied.

"Oh?" Kohl asked, his timbre saying more than his words. His timbre spoke of Jessica's run-in with Stone, but he didn't put it into words. Pola had shared that with him in confidence. As he ate, Kohl studied Jessica's reactions, watching the way she was watching him. He only asked, "What have you been learning from Doctor Ni Dhuinn?"

"Mostly my potential options for after my internship, as well as able to put my training into practice," Jessica replied.

Chewing on his bottom lip, Kohl breathed in and narrowed his eyes in consideration. He dropped into Pola's chair and he swept a hand out, indicating that Jessica should feel free to sit as well. "No, I mean, what have you been learning?" Kohl asked, "Specifically. What have you been practicing?"

"It'd take far too long to go through everything I've done in the last two weeks, Sir," Jessica frowned.

"Oh, I agree. I don't have time for that. That's what your full medical logs are for..." Kohl said. As he spoke, his eyes didn't stray away from Jessica. Occasionally, he paused mid-sentence, as if his mind were multi-tasking and couldn't quite manage both streams of thought. "But what I'm hearing is that nothing you've learned has struck you as inspiring or exciting."

"I've not made any choices yet, I've been too busy getting on with it," Jessica replied with a shrug. "I've got a year of internship to decide what I want to specialise in, its a big decision after all."

"...Oh. Oh, yes," Kohl said thickly, as if he was just catching up with what Jessica was talking about after she finished talking. He left his bowl forgotten on the desk and he nodded his agreement eagerly. "I don't care much about what you decide to do when you leave. I'm just curious to find out if there's any way we can make today more useful for you. Or tomorrow. ...Next year is for ...next year."

"At this point I just want to get experience," Jessica replied, she found this Lieutenant rather odd but nothing he had said was wrong. "If anything comes up I'll be sure to let you or the CMO know."

With a nod, Kohl only remarked, "Good." Instead of saying anything more, he offered Jessica a tight-lipped smile. After a few heartbeats, Kohl said in a formal timbre, "Is there anything I should know for the alpha shift hand-off?"

"Negative Sir, all is fairly calm and ordinary," Jessica replied

"Ordinary?" Kohl asked with a suspicious lilt in his tone. He ate a couple more spoonfuls of his breakfast, and then he let out a pessimistic "heh" of a chuckle. "Ordinary for Galileo is triage and trauma," he said amiably. "What did you work on?"

"Mostly medicals, day to day injuries," Jessica replied. "It was shore leave after all so the vast majority of it was a result of that."

Squinting down at the desk, Kohl rubbed the back of his neck before he spoke. "At the Academy, were you involved in any medical research?" Kohl looked to Jessica and elaborated, "Clinical trials or writing for peer-review journals, and the like?"

"A small amount to gain the skills, but nothing in-depth," Jessica replied.

Kohl nodded vaguely, and then he asked, "Can you think of anything I can offer to make your time with Galileo more beneficial to your development?"

"Just give me a lot of chances to gain the experience and I'll do the rest," Jessica smiled.

"Well..." Kohl said, and that one word was weighted with uncertainty. He rose from Pola's chair and he took away the remains of his breakfast to recycle in the replicator. Sardonically, he continued to say, "Hopefully not too many chances. Given what that would mean for the rest of the crew."

"Well, there is that."

"Anyway," Kohl said, sounding mildly irritated as he returned to Pola's chair, "I should let you finish your medical logs for your shift."

"Of course," Jessica nodded, turned and left.

As she went back over the conversation she couldn't help but get the feeling that she didn't like this person. He had been vague, dismissive, overly inquisitve, judgemental and border line rude. In any event she had a job to do and would get on with it, if this was the ACMO it might be more irritating from now on but she would have to deal with it. After all as low an opinion that she had of this ACMO given the first impression there were others on the ship, and one in particular, that she had a much lower opinion of and she was managing, more or less, to deal with that individual. She would do the same now. Taking a PADD from one of the nurses she looked up the next patient and went off to deal with him.

Kohl watched Jessica leave, and his impression of Jessica much mirrored the impression he had left on her. From his perspective, she had answered every question about her career with a generic answer that felt designed to shut down the conversation, rather than reveal any corner of her personality. Idly, Kohl wondered if there even was a personality in there to uncover. The thought passed, though, fading quickly, and Kohl repurposed a PADD on the desk to review his schedule for the day. As long as he hadn't been shifted to gamma shift, it shouldn't matter much at all.

[OFF]

Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
U.S.S. Galileo

Ensign Jessica Wilson M.D.
Medical Officer (Intern)
U.S.S. Galileo

RSS Feed