Call The Doctor!

Posted on 02 May 2012 @ 1:23am by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D.
Edited on on 02 May 2012 @ 3:08am

2,159 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - XO's Office
Timeline: MD05 - 0100 hours

[ON]

The latest list of crew orders had come as a little bit of a shock to John. Amongst the myriad of crewmen, ensigns and other enlisted positions being brought on and off the ship, there was one that had shocked him a little more than most. It seemed that their Chief Medical Officer was required elsewhere....the orders had not been greatly detailed, but had mentioned something of an epidemic on one of the recently established Cardassian colonies, and that all experienced medical staff were being relocated.

Frowning, John continued to read through the transcript until he saw something that caught his eye, and was going to need his attention straight away. Reaching across his desk, he tapped the communications panel.

=^=Holliday to Sickbay - Doctor Ni Dhuinn...could you come to my office please? I need to discuss something with you. =^=

Looking up from her desk, Pola found herself frowning as she recognised the voice. Why on earth would John be calling her. She was fairly certain she hadn't done anything to warrant the XO needing to deal with her directly...at least she hoped she hadn't. Pushing back from her desk, the young Doctor headed for the nearest turbo lift. "Eda, can you hold down the fort for me? Any emergencies give me a shout and if I'm not back in an hour, send a search party starting at the XO's office." Winking at her medical officer, Pola reached up to hot her combadge.

=^=On my way Sir. Doctor Ni Dhuinn out. =^=

Making her way to the nearest turbo lift, Pola continued to go through the last few days to isolate what she'd done wrong.

The orders in front of him were plain; a simple change in the hierarchy of a single department aboard the ship, but John was excited to have the opportunity to handle this himself. Usually such issues were handled by the commander of the vessel, but Lirha had seen fit to authorise him to act in his stead, leaving John to smile contentedly as he saw her authorisation code on the orders passing them onto him.

Readying himself, John waited for the door to chime, so he could try his hand at something he had wanted to do for a long time.

Alighting on deck two, Pola was raising a hand to press the chime on the XO's door. Finding her hand to be shaking, she pulled it back for the moment. She come to the conclusion the must be throwing her off of the ship. She didn't know why but she knew John...well she kinda knew him. He normally did things by the book, therefore of there'd been a problem he'd have called Robin and Robin would have called her out.

Shaking her head vigorously, Pola forced herself to press the chime. Suck it up Pola. If he's gonna throw you off of the ship then fight him over it. You won't take this lying down!! Pola smiled nervously as she realised, if only she had the same fight her mind and thoughts had.

As the chime sounded, John called out with his usual instruction to enter, absent mindedly checking through the orders on his PADD once more before going any further. As he looked up, he saw an obviously nervous looking doctor approaching his desk. Of course she probably had no idea why he had called her here, and it wasn't every day that you were hauled in front of the XO unless you had done something to break the rules.

"At ease doctor, before you strain something....take a seat."

John motioned to one of the two empty chairs sat on the other side of his desk, usually vacant but today being used for something a little more important than the usual status reports and duty rosters that this desk was accustomed to.

"So...how are you? Settling into Sickbay alright? Learning the ropes well enough?"

strain something? Maybe he'd pulled a muscle dancing and he was blaming it all on her and he'd worked it to kick her off of the ship. Forcing herself to take a breath before she started to hyperventilate. Gratefully taking the indicated seat, Pola carefully lowered herself onto it, not taking her eyes off of John for a second.

As his words started to penetrate her thoughts, the Doctor wonders if this was a test. Why would he be asking how she was getting on? Uncertain what to do, Pola just did what came naturally, "Well Commander, it seems to have been going well. EMH has been fixed and we managed a conversation. One of our science officers gave me a through education on sickbay scanners and albeit there's a few crewmembers I've had to lecture, I seem to be settling in well...Well I think I'm settling in well...aren't I?" Maybe that was it, maybe she'd lectured a wrong person and they'd complained.

"I've heard nothing negative about your performance so far Doctor - in fact I've just been reading through a transmission from Command praising you so far on this assignment....I wonder....would you be ready for a new challenge? Something bigger to get your teeth into?"

John leaned forward over his desk, putting the PADD back down to his right hand side and bringing his hands together across the centre of his console

Watching John in absolute confusion. If reports were so full of praise why were they throwing her off of the ship? wait....new challenge? Pola raised a hand to rub her temple as she continued to look at John in confusion.

"New challenge? But I'm already ACMO here...Do you want me in a different department? Wait...I'm being transferred? But I didn't request a transfer...I like it here..."

Hearing her words trail out, Pola realised they were kicking her out. All the people she'd met, even the EMH flashed through her mind. Looking at John straight on, Pola pulled herself up straight.

"I can work harder, take on more shifts, do more work. I don't mind, as long as I get to stay here."

"Woah woah woah, who said anything about a transfer Lieutenant?"

John looked now equally as confused as his colleague as he listened to her desperate pleas to avoid something that wasn't ever going to be happening, not as far as he was concerned anyway, after all, he had come to trust the young officer and had no intention of having her shipped off to some far flung medical centre as long as he was XO of the Galileo.

Picking up the PADD that he had just deposited on the desk, he tapped a few commands to bring up the orders he had been reading, albeit in more concise and censored form to make it suitable for a junior officer to be reading.

"Doctor Hilyer has been transferred off the Galileo....the Cardassian relief effort has hit a barrier with some kind of plague, virus, disease, I don't know exactly what - medicine never was my top subject. So...we need a new Chief Medical Officer....and Command are offering it to you first, in the interests of an efficient and effective handover of duties."

Listening to John, Pola tried to take it all in. Seeing the confusion on his face, she almost missed his next words. Robin...transferred..Cardassia....bit she'd only seen him.... slowly she realised she hadn't actually seen him in a while. Pola had but it down to him being alpha shift and her beta but come to think of it, there'd been no little notes today of work she'd needed to do.

As uncharacteristic as it was for her, the Doctor found herself lost for words as she leaned over and took the offered PADD. There it was all in writing with the Captain's authorisation at the bottom. Turning the PADD over thinking there might be something on the back to get this to make more sense, Pola finally looked up at John.

Parting her lips to try say something, Pola found she still couldn't find any words. At the age of 28 she had finally made CMO..how proud would her Grandmother be of her right now. Biting down on her lip, Pola reread the PADD once more, before looking back up at John. Her voice slightly husky with emotion, she handed the PADD back, "I promise I won't let you or the Captain down Commander."

"I take it you accept the offer then Lieutenant? I'll make the necessary updates to the ship's log and your Starfleet records...Commander Saalm and I have every faith in you....Chief Medical Officer at your age, that's an impressive feat...something to write home about I'm sure! If e there's anything you need, then let me know."

Looking at the console in front of John, Pola wondered if her parents would even care. Pulling herself back together, the news was starting to sink in further. The confusion on her face was starting to be replaced by her usual natural smile. "No I can't think of anything right now..Will this mean a transfer to alpha shift? Or would I continue on beta?"


"Well that's up to you...I can work the duty shifts easily enough but it really does depend on your preferences, now you're a senior officer, there's a little bit extra weight and responsibility, but there are also some extra perks. If you want to change shift, we can make that happen, as long as we can replace you with someone else..."

John tapped a few controls in front of him to bring up the duty roster at current, ready to make any changes if they were necessary.

Shaking her head, Pola smiled more. "I'd prefer to stay on beta. It's easier to take care of the majority of the crew on this shift as they would have finished alpha shift. I can do a slight rejigger of staff to ensure sufficient cover for alpha and of course, I'll always be on call of I'm needed. I seem to be in early for my shift as it stands anyway. I have a good staff Commander. It may be small but everyone pulls their weight and more, especially now as we are helping to cover counselling until I have Drusilla on her feet."

"Very well, I'll leave it in your capable hands until further notice then Doctor. If anything changes then I expect a report for shift changes to be passed across my desk before anything happens though, understood?"

Pola nodded her head as she went through sickbay and the roster in her head trying to see how things may work

."The only possible change will be a replacement for Doctor Hilyer but given we are a head down now, I intend to leave things as they are and evaluate how it goes. If it's not working I'll be onto your with the new roster Commander. Um...is there anything further I need to know or be aware of?"


"At the moment? Nothing that I'm aware of Doctor, although if anything comes in from Starfleet on one of the next datastreams I'll make sure it's routed down to Sickbay for you....if that's everything, you have a Sickbay to run now?"

John smirked and shifted in his chair slightly. He could not believe that she had originally come into his office full of fear and trepidation that he was going to have her transferred away from the vessel. John was well aware that he came across as being rather overbearing when he wanted to be, and generally liked things to be done his way or not at all. That was something that he was learning to change working with some of the more...varied...crewmembers aboard the Galileo, but for now, he was happy the way things were going.

Unable to prevent it, a grin spread across Pola's face. Her sickbay. It really was all hers now, with the title CMO. Nodding her head absentmindedly, the Doctor got up and walked across the XO's office with a slight spring in her step. Reaching the door, something came to mind which caused her to turn back as the doors open, "One further thing Commander...I hope you don't think that this gets you out of late night visits and dancing." Grinning broadly, Pola left the office, heading for the nearest turbolift before John changed his mind about the promotion.
Laughing at the reference his colleague had made to the events of a few nights ago, John found himself feeling a little unprofessional for a moment, before restoring his otherwise blank outer faade.

"I'll make sure I keep the doors locked, and a phaser under the pillow....." He joked to himself.

[OFF]


Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo


Lt JG Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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