Exhaustion and Yoga

Posted on 07 Apr 2016 @ 3:59am by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Commander Jayla Kij

1,854 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: USS Black Hawk
Timeline: MD 6 || 0700 hours

Harvey stared at himself in the mirror. He knew he hadn't slept well since being shot, but today he actually felt worse than being phasered at close range. His face actually started to show his age, or so he thought, as he spotted bags under his eyes and noticed that the whites had become slightly bloodshot.

It had to be something in the air on New Risa. He hadn't felt this bad since being on the planet below over the last couple of days. But, the rest of the crew had seemed just fine, as did the population on the planet below. Surely he was just tired.

He sighed. That had to be it.

Harvey turned and looked at his bed, thinking it would be so easy to climb back in it. Though the Black Hawk was orbiting the planet, life aboard the ship maintained its normal pace. Today, just like all other Tuesdays, was the Yoga class. If Doctor Kij wasn't on the class's roster, he'd be truant. Alas, he'd have to go.

Like this. Exhausted.

The Captain looked at himself again in the mirror. He closed his eyes and inhaled a deep, calming breath. After holding it for a moment, he exhaled, then opened his eyes. It seemed to have been enough to jump start his energy, but who knew how long it would last. Stepping away from the mirror, Harvey left the room. A few minutes later, he arrived to the yoga room where class was just about to begin.

Jayla, who was also a bit less perky than normal spotted him as he entered and gave him a winning smile. "Good morning!" she said cheerfully. "You look like you haven't been sleeping well. I hope you're not over working yourself."

"No no," Harvey replied, taking a look at the crew members who had gathered for class. From what he could tell, the class was less than half its normal size. No doubt they were enjoying the planet below, or otherwise engaged on a duty shift. "I'm pretty sure your limited duty order is still in effect."

"Good," she said as the instructor stepped to the front to start the class. "And make sure you're getting enough sleep, too."

Harvey narrowed his eyes wondering if it was Jayla or Doctor Kij he was just talking to. He then wondered if he'd been with her long enough yet to recognize a different or if in fact they were the same person. "Easier said than done," he muttered.

Jayla grinned and turned her attention to the instructor. The class was much the same as others and at the end, Jayla was feeling much better. She was still tired, but at least she no longer wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep. She felt like she could handle the patients with odd symptoms today. "Feeling any better?" she asked Harvey as the class broke up.

Harvey yawned in response. "You know, I can't tell. My body feels both relaxed and tired. I don't understand it."

"Probably haven't been getting enough sleep," she said, half sternly. "Taking it easy includes getting more sleep."

"I tried," Harvey replied. "For ten hours last night I tried."

She stared at him for a moment. "You laid there awake for ten hours?" she asked. "Why not go to Sick Bay for some sedatives?"

"Not awake," Harvey replied. "I'd close my eyes, and hours would pass, but it felt like seconds. Didn't feel like I slept at all."

"I see," said Jayla, nodding. "So, it's a lack of deep sleep. I'll bring you some melatonin tonight. It should help."

"I don't know why I feel this way," Harvey said, realizing that they were now alone in the room. Perhaps it was time to head back to quarters to shower and report for duty. "The last week has been really quiet."

"Probably just expecting something to happen that's never going to happen," she said, as they headed towards the door. "I do that, sometimes, when things have been insane and then they calm down."

"It's really just been in the last couple of days." The door opened, allowing them to enter the corridor. "I got a lot of sleep on the way to New Risa. Since the night of the follies... I don't know..." Harvey closed his eyes and rubbed his left temple with his hand.

"Hm," said Jayla, sounding puzzled and also a little concerned. "Maybe we overdid it."

Harvey couldn't help but chuckle. "Trust me, that's not it."

Jayla grinned, realizing how ridiculous that idea was. "Well, you should come to Sick Bay later and I'll make sure nothing else is wrong," she said. "There could be a medical reason for it."

"Jumping to conclusions, are we?" Harvey asked. "I'm fine. I've booked a hotel on New Risa for tonight. Maybe a change of scenery is what I need." Even as he mentioned it, he felt a tickle in his throat, but managed to keep from coughing.

"All right, if you're sure," she said. "Would you like some company or would you rather be alone?"

He, strangely, hadn't thought about asking Jayla to accompany him. Perhaps it was due to all those years of being alone. "I'd love it if you came," he replied, part of him hoping he hadn't offended her by asking after the fact.

"If you're sure," she said. "I really don't mind if you want some time to yourself."

"If you can help me sleep," Harvey countered with a yawn, "then I don't mind at all."

"I'll do my best," she promised. "And I'll bring melatonin. A little extra help can't hurt, after all."

"Indeed it can't." He opened his eyes and spotted a turbolift. "I hope you're having a better day than me."

"Me, too," said Jayla. "We had a lot of people show up with sore throats yesterday. One who was having trouble staying awake. They called me in to take a look at them, but I couldn't see any source of irritation. No fevers, no redness or swelling. Hopefully it's just a minor bug they picked up on the planet."

Harvey shrugged. "We've all been breathing recycled air for weeks. Maybe there's something native to the planet we forgot to review for."

"Possibly," said Jayla. "I'll check into it. I might have to add antibiotics to the environmental control systems. Again. Had to do that on the Frost," she explained.

"Can you add something soothing to it?" Harvey asked, actually joking. "Something that'll knock out those who need a good night sleep?"

"Sure," she joked back. "A little melatonin for everyone! The whole ship gets to sleep tonight. Too bad we haven't got an android. Or a phantom command to run the ship."

"There's always auto-pilot," Harvey suggested, stopping at the turbolift. "Or pick ten lucky people to watch the bridge and flood everything but Deck One." The doors opened instantly, and Harvey stepped inside.

"We'll have a lottery," she agreed. "Or just make the cadets do it. Do we have a command cadet on board?"

Harvey thought about that for a moment. "We have... seven total? But there's only one in red. The one with the same name as the Eugenics warlord..." He sighed, his mind not clear enough to think of her actual name.

"Eugenics warlord?" she said, confused. "I have no idea who you're talking about. The cadet or the warlord."

"Both. I don't think they're related, but they have the same last name. What is it.... John. Con. Something..." He looked at Jayla for a moment. "You coming?" he asked, wondering if she was going to enter the lift.

"Oh, right," said Jayla, but she stood there for a moment, a look of deep thought on her face. "I was going to do something," she said, stepping onto the lift, "but now I've forgotten what it was. Oh, well, it must not have been important."

"Maybe you need some sleep of your own," Harvey quipped. "Deck Two," he instructed the computer. The doors closed and the lift began to move.

"Probably," agreed Jayla. "Which is crazy because I just got off two day's leave. During which I really didn't do much."

Harvey nodded. "Because dinner with an administrator and a natural spectacle doesn't qualify as much," he elaborated with a hint of sarcasm. "Maybe we need to refer some of the crew to the local doctors since you've got a few people on leave as well?"

"They should mostly be back today," answered Jayla. "I think I can handle it. There haven't been a lot, after all. I've only got the one that I kept in Sick Bay for observation. The rest of them went back to their quarters with orders to rest. Hopefully that's the end of it."

"Let's hope," Harvey replied as the lift stopped and opened its doors to deck two. "The last thing this ship needs is a bunch of sick people and a sleep deprived doctor."

"That's the last thing any ship needs," said Jayla, stepping out of the lift. "If it keeps up, I'll have to contact Yolvanda's medical personnel to see if they've encountered this before."

Harvey followed her down the corridor. "It's probably just some kind of allergic reaction. New Risa sees a lot of species come through. It's likely someone just brought along a case of alien flu."

Jayla grinned. "Alien flu, indeed," she said. "I just want to crawl back into bed and stay there the whole day."

"If I didn't have two days of work to catch up on, I'd join you." As soon as those last three words escaped his mouth, Harvey looked around the corridor, wondering if anyone had been around to hear them.

Jayla grinned, catching his quick glance around. "If there aren't already rumors, I'd be disappointed in the Black Hawk's rumor mill," she told him.

"The Black Hawk does not have a rumor mill," Harvey countered, entering his quarters. He actually didn't believe that, knowing how quickly word travelled around the ship.

Jayla snorted. "Sure it doesn't," she said, shaking her head. She didn't follow him, though. She had to get ready to see patients, so she just headed to her own quarters. After all, he'd know where to find her if he needed her.

The door closed behind Havey, and only then did he realize that Jayla hadn't followed him inside. He turned to stare at the empty spot beside the door. While they hadn't yet defined what they had, Harvey realized there was part of him that missed her by his side. The other part reminded him that he wore four pips and she was the ship's doctor, a woman responsible for the physical well-being of over five hundred people. She had work to do, and so did he.

They were just going to work. Nodding in confirmation with his mind, Harvey turned to head for the shower. He had only a few minutes before he had to be on the bridge. Until tonight...

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