When You Need a Friend

Posted on 23 Mar 2016 @ 4:27am by Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Anderson & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim

2,104 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo: Sickbay
Timeline: MD94 1235hours

[ON]

Having dropped the vials off with the phlebotomy area for their analysis which would be uploaded within minutes to Mott, Eric found that he had some free time o his hands for a couple of minutes. It was rare that this would happy, the Galileo was a busy enough ship that the small medical department were kept busy with patients, reports or just stock taking.

Rubbing the back of his hand across his forehead, the nurse thought back on the comment which his last patient had made regarding his boss. It made him wonder, was there more happening with the Commander than she was letting on to others. It also lead to the question on was it his place to ask...it should fall to Mott or even Tuula but neither of them had been paying close enough attention to realise that perhaps Warraquim wasn't in a good place right now.

His mind made up, Eric turned on his heel and moved the short distance to the office in question, pressing the chime in order to alert the woman inside to his presence.

Allyndra had checked on a few things in the lab before heading to the office. There was much to do still. It was not just going through patient records and updating who had come aboard but also who needed to come in. There was that and there was also the updates on the search of the records beneath Warraquim House for any clues as to hints what may have made the difference between the Akkadians here and in the mirror universe. Somehow they had avoided the destruction, found a way forward but some place some part in history had been slightly different. The chime sounded and she sighed and blanked the display before saying, "Enter."

As the doors slid open, Eric popped just his head in as he looked around briefly for Allyndra before tracking her down, "Boss! Got a sec? I...ah...wanted a quick word?"

"Come on in, what is it?" she asked the tone being clipped a little more than she was wont to do.

Eric hesitated for a moment as he realised that perhaps he wasn't welcome but he's made a promise to the patient outside and a promise wasn't something he was about to break. "Ah...permission to speak frankly Ma'am?" They didn't typically go by formality in sickbay but in this case and given what he was about to say, the nurse wanted to ensure that his ass was fully covered.

"Have a seat," Allyndra waved a hand. "And of course tell me what it is." She said that in a nicer tone realizing she had been a bit more clipped then was her wont to do.

Eric hesitated for a moment more before moving to the seat. He knew the woman enough to see that finally she seemed to have returned to her old self. "Well...see...Ill be frank....we've noticed lately that you've been acting strangely...well I say we I mean I...Mott wouldn't recognise an issue even if a woman paraded naked in front of him with the message pinned to her chest and Tuula is too love struck. And the rest...least said the better! So...care to spill what's been on your mind? Sir...Ma'am...Boss..."

Allyndra cocked her head and sat up straight. "Allyndra, if you were Akkadian I suppose Mother would work." She filed away the information on Tuula, she knew she had somethings going on, Jyn for example but wondered now if this meant she had moved on. "There are many things Eric, a lot happened in the mirror universe, then on Akkadia. Life had been complicated lately."

"Would you like to talk about it? Eric to Allyndra that is...I'm told I can be a good listener, an even better sounding board I'm told at time." Eric'a smile was soft as he sat back into his chair and crossed one leg over the other as the ankle. Although his words and smiles showed the hunour, the depths of his eye showed how serious he was with the offer."

Allyndra knew what counseling looked like after all she had been in that position herself before. "What do you know of Akkadian physiology?" she asked, "and no you don't have to give the whole thing just that you have some familiarity with it."

"Well...I've some familiarity of you, would that count?" Eric was loath to admit that his knowledge was very limited given only once of the mans race being in Starfleet.

Allyndra pursed her lips. "Very well, but I shall invoke confidentiality here." She looked at him pointedly and then went on.

"The remark in the sickbay was not flippant. Our race has the ability to heal completely from very severe injuries." She held up her left hand, "You would never know I have lost three fingers on this hand." She flexed them and then put it down. "When we were in the mirror universe Tuula's counterpart there was searching for a way to heal her spinal injury. She knew about Akkadians and when the ship was captured she used me to further her research. We may heal completely but we experience the pain of the injury. It was very unpleasant to be cut open in one's own sickbay."

Eric blinked...he wasn't sure what he had been expecting to hear but this was certainly not it. He certainly hadn't expected her to be so blandant. While sympathy filled his eyes, it was sympathy for the situation she had been lead into, not for the woman herself as she was obviously strong to have come through what she had. " I can't even begin to understand or imagine what you went through...no matter if the fingers of your hand grow back or not, the deeper scars can't ever heal."

"It is why I wanted something to freshen up sickbay, something to make it nicer. Something.....I suppose to make it not quite look the same way. Still...it is other events that happened shortly that have occupied my mind and brought back other memories." Allyndra paused not knowing quite how to say everything. "Perhaps a bit of my past might help, for it is what weighs on my mind really now. Do you mind if I tell you?"

"Boss...cheering up sickbay won't help....Your wounds go deeper than that. Changing sickbay would be like wall papering over the cracks, the cracks are still there and eventually will become a problem again." Eric let out a slight breath, running his fingers through his hair, "Go ahead. I'm always open to knowing more about the people I work with."

"We grow up in a House, a Guild as it where. Mine is House Warraquim. It is considered the most powerful on the planet. I lead a pretty much standard life but an incident in my youth lead me to......well catch the eye of the House Mother, the person in charge of the Guild. I got to learn more then many others, and many thought that I was on track perhaps to take her spot one day. I was married once, our marriages are all arranged but still he was someone I still fell in love with deeply. On my first matron flight my husband was killed in an accident. A year later, none of children returned from the sea. I was distraught and too much reminded me of him and my loss to the point that the Council decided to send me off planet. I thought that an end to most of my involvement with the dealings of the House and the Council. Instead, when I got to shore leave I got a message to come home to Akkadia and found out that I was named as successor to lead the House. Ryaldi, the House Mother passed while I was there and I have become the head of House Warraquim. Yet, I have found a life out here as well and now I find myself torn between duties here and duties there." She smiled wryly. "Just when life seems to be going fine, like riding a gentle breeze you feel confident, then a thunderstorm blows up and upsets everything."

Eric didn't need to understand the ifs and whys, the woman's conundrum was one which faced a lot of people at some stage in their lives; having to make a choice between two lives, both of which have different meanings in your life. "Do you feel if you returned to Akkadia that you would be doing it because you yourself want the life your being offered and the responsibilities it brings with it? Or do you feel you'd be doing it because you feel that you are obligated to do so?"

"That is an easy one to answer. I never expected it and thus more the obligation to do so," Allyndra smiled. "However, we are brought up expecting to fulfill obligations. I have managed to what is the Earth term? 'Strike a deal?' with the Council. If one of my K'tareth, children," she added so he would understand. "Returns, when of sufficient age and sufficient intelligence, she would take my place as functional head, I would still remain nominal. It is a sort of like a regency. The problem lies in the if. A year though, a year to see what path will be laid out." She shook her head. "So, so much so soon has been a bit overwhelming."

"I can only imagine. in just a short few months you've been tortured and potentially had the life you'd planned for yourself in Starfleet turned upside down." Leaning forward in his chair, Eric studied the woman a little more closely, "it's only normal to feel overwhelmed but as you yourself have said, you have a year. There's no way to predict what will happen in a year, you need to continue to live your life while you wait."

"And with duties both here and there. I am sure it will be a most interesting if busy year. Thus, hopefully you can see why I get...what is the Earth term? Stubby......no that's not it, small... Ah! Short, that is it!" She nodded as she got the right term. "At times."

Eric laughed at the woman's choice of words as he rested his forearms against his legs before clasping his hands together infront of his knees. "Short it is. Is the Admiral and Captain making it easy for you to be able to spread your time between here and there?"

"They do not even know, nor do I wish to inform them at this time. Let's jus say that time between here and there is not going to be problematic." She made a slightly sly grin, like one who has a secret but is not going to tell it. In her mind, she thought that Win might get more then another chance at the Fold Ship.

Eric wasn't sure how to reply to that or even read it, instead he just smiled a little and put it down to the woman's eccentric element. "Just make sure that you don't give yourself too much to do. If you spread yourself too thinly between here and Akkadia you won't be doing anyone any favors; least of all yourself."

"Understood. Unfortunately, it seems that life gives us challenges at times." Allydnra nodded. "Perhaps if you do not mind, we can talk later as things go on and make sure I am still on firm footing."

Eric smiled at this, a very surprised but genuine smile. "Of course...I would say that my door is always open but given us nurses aren't afforded doors at the best of times just track me down and we can always do coffee."

"Then we have....I believe it is called a date then." Allyndra nodded and then added, "Thank you, and for understanding my outburst, we try to be resiliant but things can take a toll."

Eric wasn't quite certain how to reply to that but choose to just put the date comment down to the woman's inexperience with human idioms. Nodding his head, he flashed the woman a final smile before moving from the room; ready to return to normal transmitions, the nurses' mind focused on moving forward while filing away the outcome of this meeting in the back of his mind.

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LCmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Anderson
Nurse
USS Galileo

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