Life--It's Complicated, Part 1

Posted on Thu 10th Nov, 2022 @ 4:41am by Makila i'Hartelhai & Arik Telsamvi & Lieutenant Commander Lanis Dhuro MD & Lieutenant JG Kellian Michaels
Edited on on Tue 15th Nov, 2022 @ 6:34am

770 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: A Fresh Perspective
Location: Main Infirmary, Deck 83
Timeline: MD 1, 1715

Today has been a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day, Kellian thought, thinking of the children's book title to give himself something to feel amused by. The attempt wasn't working. By turns he wanted to yell and scream at Muffet Langston for a good couple of hours more--or cry for her. Since he knew she wouldn't appreciate his tears, he was left with wanting to yell and scream. He took several deep breaths to calm himself before entering the infirmary's main lobby. It set off a coughing fit that made him feel more tired than he already felt.

"May I speak wth Dr. Addams?" he asked the yeoman at the front desk.

"I'm afraid she's not in, Lieutenant," the yeoman said. "Could Dr. Dhuro help you? And you might want to let Dr. Kyra have a look at you."

"Dr. Dhuro's her back-up?" Kellian frowned. "This is more of a forensics issue. Does he do that?"

"He's the Chief of Surgery. For forensics you'd want Dr. Grey, who is on leave today."

Kellian sighed. "All right. Please ask if I may speak with Dr. Dhuro."

A perky, green Orion nurse escorted Kellian to Dhuro's office and pressed the chime.

The door opened. "Come in, Lieutenant; have a seat," the Bajoran doctor said, waving Kellian to the guest chair. Kellian sank into it gratefully, and Dhuro glanced at him. "What can I do for you?"

Did Dhuro's office have to be so hot? "I came to inquire after Dr. i'Hartelhai and two children from Brown Sector who were beamed directly to the infirmary from there."

"Brown Sector, you say?" Dhuro began tapping his PADD. "All three of them are in quarantine and are being treated for fungal exposure. The younger child has a severe case of it and broken bones, as well, all of which are being treated." We're trying to locate his parents." He gave Kellian a questioning look. "Dr. i'Hartelhai and the older boy are under a security hold. They're suspects?"

"Suspects?!" Kellian felt his ire at Muffet boiling up again and fought to clamp it down. Every time his throat tensed, he had to cough again. "No, sir, they're not suspects; they're witnesses," Kellian said, forcing himself not to shout invectives. He calmed his voice. "They're the ones who apparently found the body we sent in earlier today. Dr. i'Hartelhai called it in to Security. The boy was terrified, the last I saw him. They might turn out to be suspects--though I doubt it--but we will determine that after doing actual police work. I need to question them--or the boy, at least."

"Not Makila?" Dhuro asked and gave Kellian a questioning look.

"I'm personally acquainted with Makila," Kellian said. "I'll have to ask someone else to interview her."

"Ah. Understood." Dhuro nodded. "I can take you to them, at least. Come with me." He pulled a small medscanner from a drawer in his desk and ushered Kellian out.

* * *

Makila had spent the past two hours with a hysterical Arik, trying to calm him to the point where she could think. She needed to calm herself as well because she was beyond furious.

Her eyes glittered with cold fury as she cradled Arik in her lap like he was a child. He'd dropped with exhaustion and she'd been careful to keep him calm with mind and gentle words. Her hand stroked through his dark hair, and she rocked him gently.

The door to the quarantine area slid open and admitted Dr. Dhuro and Kellian. Kellian muttered, "Thank God!" under his breath at the sight of Makila and hurried over to the containment field where she sat with the boy from Brown Sector. "We got the child out; he's still alive and here in the infirmary, being treated."

"And I believe we'll be getting the two of you out of here, as well," Dhuro said to Makila and Arik as he scanned them. "Fungus-wise, you're cleared to leave; you had minimal exposure, and the treatment you've received has gotten rid of what you inhaled. Have you had anything to eat?"

He pinned Kellian with a glare. "You aren't cleared, Lieutenant. I'll send a nurse in here with a hypospray for you. I might want you here for observation overnight, since you clearly breathed in a lot more of the stuff. Get the hold on these two lifted on the security end, or face Dr. Addams' wrath at using her infirmary as a brig and keeping her intern confined for other than medical reasons. I'll leave you all to sort things out."

(To be continued.)

 

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