Waiting Room Blues

Posted on 10 Dec 2013 @ 5:32pm by Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Lieutenant Min Zhao

1,136 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: Fleet Deployment Health Clinical Center, Starfleet Headquarters, San Francisco
Timeline: MD 08 - 1030 hrs

[ON]

It was clear to everyone in the waiting room that the Bolian amongst them did not want to be there. He overtly fidgeted in his seat and muttered every time a nurse would appear and call someone's name. It was leading some to believe that he might be there for a psychiatric evaluation.

Olsam finally turned to the officer next to him, a cute young Asian woman in Ops/Engineering yellow. He checked her pips, taking note of the rank to see if he could comfortably speak his mind or not. Same rank. Good. Good. Because he just couldn't keep this to himself anymore. He didn't even bother to keep his voice to a whisper because the waiting room rules were stupid (although he enforced them mercilessly when working on the other side of the door). What effect could quiet possibly have on a patient anyway?

"I absolutely hate waiting here. I'm a qualified physician, you know. I could do this myself if I wanted. I could even do it blindfolded. It's just waving a medical tricorder around. Any idiot could do that."

The Bolian doctor prattled on before she could get a word in, almost as if he wasn't so much talking to her as at her. "Don't tell them in there that I said that; they'll just get all puffed up and start going on about years and years of medical training. Doctors are prideful misanthropes. It'll only make them want to force you to endure more tests to exact vengeance on you for wounding their delicate ego. But really, it's not like it's complex or anything. Who can't read vital signs? The computer even tells you if anything is abnormal."

As if to emphasize his displeasure, he folded his arms and slumped down in the chair like a sulking teenager.

Min wasn't sure how to respond to the rather strange Bolian beside her who insisted on carrying a rather one sided conversation with her, if you could call the prattling a conversation. She merely nodded and said "mmm hmm" as she waited patiently, her hands resting on her visibly swollen stomach.

"Sorry, I just get a little worked up about it." Rant out of the way, Olsam seemed to calm down. Although he wasn't done sulking so he stayed slouched down in the chair, belly protruding nearly as much as the pregnant Ops officer. "So... Are you here to deploy? Or did you just get back? Or it's a prenatal visit?"

Min nodded. "Shipping out. I'm being assigned to the USS Galileo." She rubbed her belly for emphasis. "Pre-Natal was last week."

"I'm here for my post-deployment. I've been in deep space for three years on the Odyssey, and I'm awaiting reassignment. I'm Dr. Olsam Mott, by the way," he said, reaching his hand over to her by way of introduction. He actually smiled, an unusual occurrence when he was trapped in a waiting room by his truly evil colleagues.

Min returned the handshake, a little unsure about the Bolian but feeling a bit more comfortable around him. "Lieutenant j.g. Zhao."

"You can call me just Olsam, or Dr. Olsam if you prefer. Uh, that's Olsam, I mean. Not Justolsam. That's probably some other Bolian. I prefer first names. Last names are just so...regulation. Very uptight and business-like and restraining. You know?" Olsam cut his eyes to look at her, then cleared his throat and squirmed in his seat. He could tell she was an unwilling partner in the conversation, but he didn't have anything else to do but talk. Or rant. Talking seemed best.

"Well Doctor Just Olsam," Min said, chuckling a litte, "If you're here for post evaluation I'm sure you know where your next posting is?"

"Nope, not yet," he said, shaking his bald blue head. "Three years in deep space has earned me some well-deserved time off-duty, and I'm using a bit of it. Did you say you're assigned to the Galileo? Isn't that a Luna-class ship? The Odyssey was a Luna - they're really wonderful vessels. Do you know your posting, yet? Are you an engineer?"

"Nova Class actually. About the same size as an Oberth but better outfitted for deep space work. My sister Jun is a trauma nurse on a Luna, the USS Wolff specifically." She leaned back a little in her chair as the baby started kicking. "I'm an Operations officer but beyond that I'm not exactly sure what my position is. I'm told it's CO's discretion at this point.

"You?"

"Right now I'm on a research team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, working on reducing the immune response to interspecies breeding. It's interesting stuff, if you like reproduction and immune systems. I'll go back into the officer pool for reassignment soon enough though." He fidgeted in his seat for a few more moments before blurting out, "Is the father of your child human?"

Min was tempted reply with the bitter smart ass comment, 'He's an asshole, not a human.' but kept that one to herself. "The father is Bajoran."

"Hmmm, Bajoran," Olsam said, almost to himself. A creased brow seemed to indicate some concern. "Did they discuss the implications of that with you during your first prenatal visit? It's a toss-up on which way the heart goes, but that's not usually a problem, really. The circulatory system is largely the same; same connections and all, I mean. Most of the time. How are they handling the gestation period? Bajoran women are due after only five months... Is the fetus presenting any abnormal growth?"

"The doctor did mention cardiac concerns but from the scans they ran, the issues should most likely be minimal. As far as gestation, I've been told that this pregnancy seems to be progressing along the same lines as a normal human one would. The exact due date is up in there air though as there's maybe a dozen cases of Bajoran/Human offspring and the gestation period has swung from six months to almost ten."

Olsam nodded. "It's hard to predict which way these things will go. Interspecies breeding is a field we're learning more and more about ever-"

"Mott, Olsam. Olsam Mott?" a nurse called, interrupting him. The Bolian sat firmly in his seat, refusing to budge. The nurse looked around the waiting room and then glanced down at the PADD. She rolled her eyes, determining the problem. "Doctor Olsam Mott?"

Olsam harrumphed and muttered to Min. "I spent almost ten years studying medicine, and she's got the audacity to not call me doctor."

Min chuckled a little as Mott disappeared with the nurse. A very strange man he was she mused.

[OFF]

Lieutenant (JG) Olsam Mott, M.D.
Starfleet Medical Corps
VM-899-6519

&

LTJG Min Zhao
Asst. Chief of Operations
USS Galileo

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