Inspection: Medical

Posted on 24 Jun 2016 @ 4:30am by Commander Jayla Kij & Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,872 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 2 || 1045 hours

The next destination on Harvey's ship-wide inspection was Sickbay. Part of him filled with nervous anticipation as he walked towards the entrance to the main ward. The last time he'd been in sickbay was as a patient, and he made it a point to not return since his release. And this was even though he was privately seeing the Chief Medical Officer.

This visit could not be about their relationship. He had to remind himself that this was a professional encounter, a status request on the physical state of his crew, and anything she might be preparing for to counteract Thalaron radiation, even if there were such a defense.

Harvey arrived at the main doors to sickbay and walked inside. Unlike the rest of the ship, sickbay seemed rather quiet. Perhaps Jayla had given the medical staff some time to rest, which Harvey genuinely hoped that was the case. They'd been through a lot in the last month, and if they were going to have any luck in the nebula, they needed to rest now.

The Captain, however, did not immediately spot Jayla. He did see a nurse, and stopped her to inquire of her supervisor's location.

"The Doctor is in her office," Nurse Lane told him very politely. "She's working too hard again, all while insisting that we take some extra time off. See if you can't talk some sense into her."

"Wish me luck," Harvey muttered. In his short time getting to know the doctor outside of the uniform, Harvey had learned that she was just as stubborn as he was, even if she didn't show it as well as he did.

The Captain left the main ward and approached the open door of her office, spotting Jayla hard at work behind the desk. "I thought you were on some sort of medically ordered rest or reduced duty," he remarked with a smile.

"I was, for a couple of days," she replied with her own grin. "But, now I'm trying to make it so my staff can get some rest. It's a bit tricky, but I think I've got it worked out so that everyone is doing half shifts for a couple of days."

"Including yourself, I hope," Harvey said, claiming one of the chairs in front of her desk. "After all, what good is it if you aren't ready for what's to come either?"

"Yes, including myself," said Jayla with the air of a teenage girl telling her father that she had, in fact, cleaned her room. "In fact, I was supposed to leave 45 minutes ago, but I wanted to finish this report."

Harvey raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been on duty, Doctor?"

"Only since 0800," she answered.

Harvey checked the nearby chronometer. It read 1045. "Oh-Eight-Hundred yesterday?" he asked, not exactly dumbfounded. No wonder he didn't see her last night.

"No," laughed Jayla. "This morning. But since I was called in last night to tend to a kid with a broken arm, Nurse Lane made me promise to leave extra early today. So I said I would. She's probably annoyed that I'm still here.

"She is," Harvey confirmed, standing and beginning to round the desk to stand beside her. "So, let's not waste your overtime and finish the report. What's left?"

"Just my signature," she said, pressing her thumb to the PaDD. "And to deliver it to the CO." She turned and handed him the PaDD. "Done!"

"And I thought I'd get out of this inspection without having to carry anything," Harvey remarked, accepting the PADD.

"Oh, inspection is it?" said Jayla, half joking. "All right, is my office in order? Should it be cleaner? What else needs inspecting?"

"Looks like maintenance needs to vacuum," Harvey replied, also halfway serious. He even ran a single finger across the desk and took a look at it. "And dust."

Jayla stifled a giggle. "I'll add it to the list," she promised.

"So now what," he asked his Chief Medical Officer. "You're in for a few hours, and you're off again. Leaving Doctor Road in charge again?"

"For a bit, yeah," answered Jayla. "As I said, we all need some rest. And Nurse Lane would strangle me if I didn't take some time off."

"And so would your Captain," Harvey stated. "Yolvanda took a lot out of all of us, and even more out of you. I can't warp into another crisis and not have a Chief Medical Officer who can't focus on whether she needs a scalpel or a dermal regenerator."

"All right, all right," she relented, grinning. "I'm leaving already. Or did you want to finish the inspection, first?"

"There's not much to inspect if the crew's on reduced duty," Harvey replied. "And if you had any needs, we won't be able to fill those until after we get back to Unity, so I guess a status report is just as good as anything."

"Which I've done," she said, nodding to the PaDD in his hands. "Which means I can make Nurse Lane happy by leaving Sick Bay and not coming back until tomorrow."

He nodded. "I have a few more sections of my tour, but I can walk you to your quarters if you like." Harvey hadn't seen much of Jayla lately, and this would likely be just as good an opportunity to tell her about last night.

Seeing as she was actually officially off-duty, she supposed it was okay. "All right," she said, heading towards her office door. "I could use the company."

Harvey followed her towards the office door. As they exited, he said, "I'm sorry for not checking in on you last night. I figured you'd be busy with medical, and it sounds like I wasn't far off."

"It's okay," she replied as they left Sick Bay. "I ended up catching up with my sister. I'm going to have to introduce you two sometime."

"Sister?" Harvey echoed. He wasn't surprised that Jayla had a sister, just that she made it all the way out here. "Older or younger?"

"Younger," answered Jayla. "But everyone thinks she's older. Looks just like me other than her hair is straight and she's a couple inches taller."

"I don't think the universe is ready for two of you," Harvey commented, continuing down the corridor. "I'd like to meet her."

"She's not quite as smiley as I am," grinned Jayla. "Although it does seem to be a family trait."

"That's not surprising," he said with a bit of a smile. "So, I went surfing last night with a new member of the crew."

"Surfing!" she exclaimed, grinning again. "I didn't realize you enjoyed surfing."

"I didn't until last night," he confessed. "In fact, I've only been to an ocean once in my life. I ran into Joey... Lieutenant Corwin... last night at Talons and she introduced me to it."

"That's great!" said Jayla, honestly glad that he was making friends and finding new things to do. "Did you have fun?"

"We did," Harvey told her. "It was a great program, someplace in Hawaii, I can't quite remember the name, but I don't think I've seen a more beautiful horizon."

"You know, I've never been," she replied. "All those years living on Earth in San Francisco and I never made it to Hawaii."

"You're allowed an excuse," Harvey said. "You're not from Earth. I was born and raised in Colorado, and I had plenty of time to go to Hawaii. One day, maybe, if we ever make it out of the Gamma Quadrant." Sighing, he returned to his subject as they entered a turbolift. After instructing it to take them to the senior officer quarters, Harvey looked at Jayla, feeling a pang of guilt. "I need to tell you something."

"Sure, you know you can tell me anything," she said, a bit of concern showing in her eyes. She hoped he wasn't sick again. She didn't think she could take it.

Harvey held silent for a moment. The next few words he would say could have a hefty impact on this relationship, or whatever it was called, between him and Jayla. "Joey kissed me," he said after exhaling a deep breath.

Jayla blinked, then, after a half second's pause, burst out laughing. "Why do women keep kissing you?" she asked. "You must be far more desirable than you thought."

He was so surprised by her reaction that Harvey was actually rendered speechless, at least for a moment. Harvey had been so filled with hesitation last night to the point where he was almost wishing he hadn't gone to the holodeck, and to hear that her reaction was nothing like his own... "You're not... mad?"

"How can I be?" she replied. "It's not your fault you're so damn sexy. And you didn't kiss her- she kissed you. I suppose I should be angry with her, but," she said, shaking her head, "she's got good taste."

Harvey didn't see himself as sexy. Hell, it was hard for him to see past that uniform every time he looked in the mirror. He couldn't deny that Jayla, and even Mac for that matter, helped him to smile again. And, now there was Mila who saw him as more than a Captain, and even Joey who looked past the rank as well.

Perhaps he would feel differently, if one of those names didn't belong to a woman. He had Adam for a friend, and maybe it was worth getting to know some more of the crew. At least then it wouldn't seem like everyone was throwing themselves at him. It also made him feel like he was living in one of those fabled twentieth century soap operas.

And, in all of that thought process, he simply sighed. "But I didn't stop her," he said. "I didn't stop Mac, and I didn't stop Joey."

Jayla shrugged. "Well, it's not like we ever said we were exclusive," she said, unsure why that made her feel disgruntled.

"We didn't, did we?" Harvey confirmed. "I think I need some time to figure things out. To figure out what I want in life. To figure out what is beyond the uniform that I've allowed to define my life for so many years."

She nodded sadly. "Well, it was fun while it lasted," she said, feeling a pang that she didn't quite understand. "But, we're still friends, right?"

Harvey was a little surprised at the question, mainly because he thought the answer would have been clearer. But, he also knew that he wasn't good at always saying what he meant. So, as the turbolift came to a stop and the doors opened, Harvey said with a comforting smile, "Of course. I would very much like that, Jayla."

She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes this time. "Tennis later?" she asked, stepping off the 'lift.''

"Certainly," Harvey replied. He didn't follow her only because he still have several stops before his lunch with the new Executive Officer. "Tomorrow night?"

"Okay," she replied, giving him another grin. "See you at 1900." With that she turned to head to her quarters. She sighed sadly, but she'd get over it. She always did.

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