So we all have stuff in our past...

Posted on Wed Sep 11th, 2019 @ 5:09pm by

1,429 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: What Stalks The Night
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Prior to 'Blue and Green' 0430

[Before]

Not bothering to dress in her uniform, Tavana was not on duty for at least another two hours, she made her way to sickbay in her exercise pants and long sleeve T-shirt. She was everything but a pretty picture as she walked rather stiffly through the halls.

[Now]

Tavana panicked a bit as she stepped into sickbay, suddenly hoping no one was around. With only essential lighting on, it almost looked deserted. At least the was certain that the CMO wouldn't be on duty so perhaps her jaw could be healed quickly without too many intriguing questions, she wasn't willing to answer, that was if she had answers at all. Her senses told her that there was someone around, but still she tried to slip out unseen.

"Don't be foolish" Acacia said sleepily, her hands folded around a mug of coffee. It was a simple statement, for this person had clearly come in with a reason and to leave without having it addressed WAS foolish.

Tavana halted her movement, immediately feeling her stomach tighten in annoyance, but of course she couldn't retort anything. She turned around carefully, but smoothly as to not to reveal any discomfort beyond her jaw, and faced the voice. "Pleash fux my jaw," she said, pointing to the bulge on her right side.

Acacia almost, almost rolled her eyes at the expression on the woman's face, but managed to maintain her control. A hand scanner appeared in her hand from seemingly nowhere, and her bright magenta tipped hair cascaded around her shoulders as the clasp popped off it, and let it fall. A word that was clearly an expletive from it's tone escaped her lips as she traced the scanner along her jaw and shoulders.

Tavana's psionic abilities were fairly limited and erratic with usually only a faint back gound 'noise' in her mind of the thoughts and emotions of the people around. She mostly paid very little attention to it, as they certainly didn't play a big role in her everyday life. However, when she was agitated or stressed and in close proximity with someone as she was now, her senses sometimes surprised her. She jerked away a little when the surgeon started to work on her jaw. She had never felt this kind of presence before. She looked human, but was certainly not. Once her momentary initial surprise and inherent suspicion faded she settled back in her previous position offering her jaw to the woman. Tavana remained as still as possible not to alert the doctor to the injuries on the rest of her body.

By default she swept the scanner down her body. A small frown wrinkled her brow as she read the readouts. Her fingers tapped on the PADD, unhappy with the multitude of injuries. "How much pain are you in?" Acacia asked as she loaded a hypo with anti inflammatory and pressed it to her throat.

"I am fine," Tavana shrugged, testing her jaw. It was still sensitive, but at least she could speak properly now. "Thank you Doctor," she said starting to get off the biobed.

"I'm not done." Her coffee was still steaming on the desk she'd been using, and her manner was a little brusque. The fractured jaw wasn't set yet, she'd only given the woman some anti-inflammatory medicine. No-one said you could leave either. You've been hurting yourself for a long time.

It was close enough for Tavana to hear that thought clear as crystal in her mind and she responded verbally, glaring at the doctor. "I can't recall asking you for anything else, just my jaw," she said in measured tones, realizing that her jaw did not feel quite right. The medication just took quick effect.

"I am not done with your jaw. Hold still." she reiterated and pulled up the scan to see where the fractures were, because there were more than one. The inflammation receding, she could now see the bruising in the muscle caused by attempting use around the broken mandible.

Tavana tried her best to relax and obey, and to draw no attention to anything else. All she wanted to do was to get out of there and hide in her quarters and lose herself in work. Once she thought the doc was finished, she tried again. "Are we done now, Doc?" she asked, even trying to be a bit friendlier.

"Not quite yet." she murmured in response. "I need you to try and relax a bit. You did a lot of damage to your mandible, its going to take a few minutes to repair it all." Custodian's patience...she's ready to bolt at the first bell.

Tavana breathed in deeply and out, resisting the temptation to clench her jaws as she usually did in frustration. She nodded and relaxed as much as she could.

"Good. That will make it easier." she praised her softly, recognizing the effort it took for her to relax even that much. I should prescribe a day at the spa. I might just take one myself too. Once the fractures were fused and the swelling had gone down in her jaw she asked "Just what were you doing to earn yourself a jaw broken in 3 places?"

"Just some sparring," Tavana answered. It was true. What she didn't reveal was purposefully set the parameters in the holodeck so that she always fought opponents against whom she had no chance of winning, with safeties off. Better to change the subject. "You project your thoughts quite strongly, or when you think certain thoughts, you are very focused," she commented. "What do you mean with a spa?"

"A spa is basically a relaxation center, which were initially found on Earth. There are many different kinds and they have differing specialties depending on the sort of treatments a person might want." The times that she had visited one, both on the holodeck and in person had been quite rewarding.

"Ah like beauty treatments and so on..." Tavana remembered. "My cousin loves them. So what treatments did you have in mind?" she asked.

"They can be beauty treatments yes. " her fingers drifted to her bright hair and she grinned. "They can also be programmed to the things that relax you. Certain scents for example, soaking in a hotspring, or getting a massage. There are benefits of course to being touched by a person rather than a hologram, but its effective as a holoprogram."

"I have had physiotherapy during preparations for combat competitions which was quite nice," Tavana mused. "But not beauty stuff... never had something like that. Climbing a rock face is quite relaxing for me," she said, immediately thinking that was properly not an appropriate comment.

"In this case, it is not a beauty treatment. That would be extra- and you could get some if you wanted to." her chuckle was soft, amused at the classification. "I would classify it as a necessary part of your recovery therapy. You cannot do your job appropriately if you're carrying around this level of tension all the time."

Tavana shrugged and tested her jaw, getting off the biobed. "Thank you Doctor, I will definitely get massages and stuff to relax me," she said smiling, ready to leave. "Incidentally, where are you from? I have not sensed your kind of presence before."

Is that good or bad? she wondered briefly before answering the womans question. "I am from Aldea."

"No wonder," Tavana said. "Aldea... you were shielded or something, isolated... there are not many of you around..." she articulated her thoughts. "I would like to hear your story some time, but for now, I have to get to work," she smiled, happy to get out of there without too many questions asked.

"We were all of those things, and nearly made ourselves extinct" her chuckle sounded a bit forced as she turned her mind away from her memories of home. "Yes. You can go."

"Thank you," Tavana said, keeping her relief out of her voice and plastering a forced smile on her face. Lots of forced stuff going on with our faces, she thought with irony, noticing the doctor's discomfort about her past. "In dealing with shit, don't get your jaw broken. Explaining it can get weird," she chuckled as she walked out of sickbay.

"Weird is right." Acacia answered wryly- before taking up her PADD and finishing up the medical charting on the woman and the litany of injuries she'd treated.

OFF

Lt Tavana, Daughter of Kretorg
CIO

Lieutenant Acacia Thomas, MD.
Surgeon

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