Posted by Cadet P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in CMO’s Office - Cadet Dawes Reporting for Duty

Posted by Lieutenant Daphne Frankenstein (Chief Medical Officer) in CMO’s Office - Cadet Dawes Reporting for Duty

Posted by Cadet P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in CMO’s Office - Cadet Dawes Reporting for Duty
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Every time P’Mala rematerialized from teleportation, she imagined she felt what a snake must feel after shedding its old skin–all her atoms rearranged fresh into whatever constituted herself.

The USS Challenger was a larger vessel than the smaller ships on which she’d previously traveled, and she didn’t know what to expect–an officer to greet her, perhaps? But the room was empty.

“They must have not known I was coming,” she thought. “Or else something came up at the last minute.”

Her uniform was pin-straight, but still she brushed at it with the backs of her hands to smooth it down. She wished for a pair of sunglasses–something to dim the room. Though she looked as calm as glass, everything inside of her felt a twinge… off.

“Computer, where am I?”

=^= “You are aboard the USS Challenger.”=^=

She’d forgotten that it took some time for her to establish a working communication with AI, both too literal minded for their own good.

“Computer, where aboard Challenger am I?”

=^= “You are in a teleporter room 2 on Deck 3.”=^=

P’Mala sighed inwardly. “Computer, can you direct me to the Medical Officer, please?”

=^=”Dr. Frankenstein, Deck 4.”=^=

P’Mala gave a slight smile out of the corner of her mouth–quick then gone. While growing up in the mountains, she’d often read classic English novels, gifts from her mother’s family. The irony was not lost on her, and she allowed herself to enjoy it.

The halls of the Discovery-class ship were busy enough, not overcrowded like there was some emergency that prevented someone from greeting her. Oddly enough, nobody batted an eye as she took the lift to Deck 4 and walked toward sickbay.

Inside, the room was cool. The noises of the machines were familiar to her and felt somewhat comforting.

P’mala stood by the door, patient, waiting for all that was still to come on this big day: her first actual assignment to a Federation ship.

Cadet P’Mala Dawes, medical

“Alex…Alex,” Daphne’s voice rang out in sickbay cutting the quiet of the space like a klaxon during a red alert. A loud crash followed by several expletives signaled something was going on in the back of the space. “Blake, don’t touch anything. I am going to get help,” the voice replied before stumbling out of the area making it appear to someone in the waiting area she either tripped or fell out of the space.

Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she let out a deep sigh. “Dr. McCall,” she snapped looking at the large glass pneumatic doors to the space. Instantly seeing it was not who she thought, Daphne felt her shoulders slump some as she took her head. It was just going to be one of those days again. McCall was always on time except for today when she had asked him to stop by the mess hall and grab some coffee. With the replicators down in the medical area, getting coffee here was paramount. Straightening her uniform she rubbed her leg feeling the impact from the ladder making her appendage fell stiff like a tree trunk.

The large bruise that was undoubtedly forming made her limp a bit until she got the blood flowing again. As she moved across the space no longer caring about appearance or a first impression. It was medical. Nothing ever here went as planned and it was the one area of the ship that if you left in better condition than when you arrived, especially with Cadet Blake doing rounds, Daphne saw it as a unilateral win for all involved.

“Hello, can I help you,” she asked the young officer standing in the space.

Lt. Daphne Frankenstien CMO

“Dr. Frankenstein, I presume?” P’Mala said, straightening her back. “I’m your new Ensign, Dr. P’Mala Dawes, reporting for duty.”

“Ah welcome aboard,” she extended her hand to the cadet. “How was your trip over? Uneventful I hope?” The end of her sentence was followed by another crash punctuated by a voice ringing out a series of swear words typically only heard on rambunctious shore leaves usually when in an altercation was occurring or when being arrested for one.

“Dr. D,” a voice said in an urgent tone.

She paused. Another loud crash echoed from the back of the sickbay.

“Ugh I could use a little bit of help. Timmy won’t stop biting me,” the voice rang out. “And he won’t come out from under the table.”

“Are you… is everything quite alright? If you need an extra pair of hands, I can scrub in immediately. We can dispense with the pleasantries later, when the timing is more agreeable.”

P’Mala’s hands itched for a medical tricorder. P’Mala felt a jolt of adrenaline. She’d always felt at home in triage, easily slipped into the role of a Vulcan fortress among the chaos.

Cadet P’Mala Dawes, medical

Daphne leaned back slightly to catch a glimpse of what was occurring out of P’Mala’s view. “Nope. I think we are good. That is Dr. McCall’s patient. He is just on a coffee run. He’ll be back,” Daphne waved off the offer of help.

“Ma’am,” the voice yelled out followed by a series of colorful expletives. “Timmy I swear if you try to bite me again I am going to knock all your teeth out and turn McCall from your primary care physician to orthodontist.”

“Blake,” Daphne called over her shoulder. “Remember bedside manner. Patients are far more willing to trust you if you do not make references about where they come from or how you are going to send them back there.” Her voice has a slightly tense but sing-song quality to it.

Turning her attention to the new cadet standing before her, Daphne continued casual conversation. “So you are here for your check-in I presume?”

Lt. Daphne Frankenstien CMO

OOC: Great posts by the way. You are a great writer. A few housekeeping tips from the site. The first is always to sign off on your post every time you post. You sign off with your rank, name, and department. That lets people know who is writing and when they finished. I signed off for you in bold in this post and your previous one so you can see what it looks like. They are not bolded normally but only to direct your attention to it. ~ Kate

“Ah welcome aboard,” she extended her hand to the cadet. “How was your trip over? Uneventful I hope?”

P’Mala took Dr. Frankenstein’s hand and was pleased with the authority behind her CO’s firm shake.

“I took the teleporter, and when I rematerialized, I admit I was a little disoriented,” she admitted.

“Dr. D,” a voice said in an urgent tone.

Dawes paused. Another loud crash echoed from the back of the sickbay.

“Ugh I could use a little bit of help. Timmy won’t stop biting me,” a voice rang out. “And he won’t come out from under the table.”

“Are you… is everything quite alright? If you need an extra pair of hands, I can scrub in immediately. We can dispense with the pleasantries later, when the timing is more agreeable.”

Daphne leaned back slightly to catch a glimpse of what was occurring out of P’Mala’s view. “Nope. I think we are good. That is Dr. McCall’s patient. He is just on a coffee run. He’ll be back,” Daphne waved off the offer of help.

Dawes let her shoulders relax, just a little. Now that the possibility of immediate medical emergency had passed, she took a quick chance to examine her surroundings as Dr. Frankenstein dealt with the cacophony of shouts from inner sickbay, just out of P’Mala’s sight.

Turning her attention to the new cadet standing before her, Dr. Frankenstein continued casual conversation. “So you are here for your check-in I presume?”

“Yes, absolutely. My orders suggested the check-in first, then I believe I must visit with the ship’s Counselor before I am allowed to start of duty.”

P’Mala paused. “I will be frank–I am not even sure where my quarters are, yet, either. When I came aboard, nobody was in the transporter room to greet me.”

She felt her cheeks warm slightly. “Not that I mean to complain, of course. This is my first assignment. I’m just feeling…”

It was uncharacteristic for P’Mala Dawes to be at a loss for words. But she had gotten used to the small apartment she shared during Starfleet Medical, and now standing on this ship, she very briefly missed it–her room with the photograph of her parents at some dinner with a Qowat Milat sister, the lofted bed she’d put together herself.

“Overwhelmed,” Daphne said letting out a small laugh. “Like you are back to being a fourth-year cadet at the academy and have no idea where to go or what to do? Totally normal,” she waved it off and leaned against the reception desk behind her. “I remember when I started my cadet cruise the first thing I did before any check-in was call my mom for a pep talk. I mean I was a doctor,” Daphne shook her head feeling a slight embarrassment rise to her cheeks, “but the duty nurse scared the hell out of me. You are going to do great here.” Daphne instantly liked the new cadet. She was eager, highly intelligent, and ambitious, but also had a way of making you feel like you had known her for years after a hello. It was going to serve her well. Patients would read into this and trust her immediately which in the middle of a crisis was more important at times than an actual medical procedure.

“I’d like to do what I can to find my niche here. To help,” she said, peering into Dr. Frankenstein’s eyes.

If absolute candor worked for the fighting nuns of what had been Romulus, perhaps it world work for her in this sickbay with this commanding officer.

Cadet P’Mala Dawes, medical

OOC: Thank you so much, Kate, for your kind words and guidance. I’m used to a slightly different RP system so hopefully I am doing this right! I’m looking forward to RPing with you and everyone else and will appreciate all the advice! -Shaun

OOC: Hi Shaun! Welcome to the Challenger! I’m just popping in to welcome you and say well done with your first posts, great writing and seeing your Characters inner thoughts and feelings is fantastic. Don’t be afraid to ask advice and when you feel ready, you can start your check-in with the Counselor as well.

Another tip, in STF we don’t normally physically rearrange the writing as we go into different spots. It’s part of our ‘don’t auto another persons character or writing’ type of way we do things. We typically just add our replies and comments for our characters and go from there. Partly because at times that can lead to outcomes, responses or incidents that the other writer/s don’t intend with their chars, and partly because sometimes people don’t see it if there are a few involved and it can get confusing.

I hope that wasn’t too confusing lol, I know a couple of other sites encourage chopping and adjusting other peoples writing, but here we typically focus on our own Characters responses, although adding bits between the other persons text like above is totally fine.

-Dave

OOC: Hi, Dave! Thanks for having me, and for your kind words about my writing as well! I plan on starting my Counselor thread shortly! Thanks for the feedback about how to post “replies” as well. I hope to assimilate well into the RP style here and appreciatethe guidance.

-Shaun

IC:

“Well let’s get you checked in and then see about helping you find your quarters.”

Daphne Frankenstien CMO

P’Mala nodded, internalizing what Dr. Frankenstein had said. She would be fine. She chalked it up to the teleporter, to all the change, the new environment. She approached Dr. Frankenstein, felt a warmth from her that was quite reassuring, a mutuality of respect.

“I’d like to get my med eval done first,” she said. “Then I have an appointment with the ship’s Counselor. I wouldn’t mind figuring out my quarters and getting some of my belongings from one of the cargo bays.”

P’Mala thought about her boxes and craved a jar of her Appalachian grandmother’s home-canned tomato juice, rich and slightly mineral. She remembered how unusual Kentucky was, compared to Vulcan. Sure, both had mountains–very different ones. But many of the people were so emotionally present.

By now, she’d made a lot of peace between her two sides, and tried to make the best efforts to explain herself to others.

P’Mala’s cheeks twitched, a little wryly. “But of course, as my commanding officer, I defer to you. When I earned my first doctorate in Kentucky–well before I joined the Academy–I was younger and my behavior, at times, could come across as… not as I intended.”

Cadet P’Mala Dawes, medical

OCC: If you don’t mind, am I replying in thread appropriately? I don’t want to mess up the reply chain! :) -Shaun

Bump