Posted by Commander Amelia Manning (Executive Officer) in CMO’s Office: checking in

Posted by Lieutenant Elaine Janvier (Chief Medical Officer) in CMO’s Office: checking in

Posted by Commander Amelia Manning (Executive Officer) in CMO’s Office: checking in
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Amelia Manning liked her job, for the most part. But there were days when half of her seemed to be missing. She missed the pace of engineering work, the buzzing of the inner circuitry running through her veins, and the loud hum of the warp core driving the beating of her heart. Those days she found herself on Main Engineering, and when asked, she would tell them she was checking in, to see if everything was running smoothly. Eventually, she started learning the names of some of the officers running around, doing the job she had once done herself. And she envied them. As she spent more and more time around Engineering, especially in the later shifts, it was no longer possible to hide it. She found herself making friends, and that had been how the poker game she ran on Tuesdays had started.

Today however, Manning was running through the several departments, actually doing her monthly check in with the different department heads. As she sat behind her desk with a steaming cup of Orange Pekoe, Amelia went over her schedule for the day. She had been up and running for a few hours, holding her weekly Senior Staff round-table first thing in the morning, and then taking two hours to review the reports that had come in the night before. Then, she had met with Harris before lunch and discuss the same reports she had reviewed, she had had the time for a quick bite from her own office’s replicator, and plan what her afternoon was going to look like. That day she was planning on hitting Medical and Science, leaving Security and Engineering for the next day.

As she placed her empty cup on its saucer, Amelia took her PaDD and walked out the door. Her wrist chronometer marked 14:03. She was running behind schedule.

It didn’t take long for Amelia to get from her office to Sickbay, even though she took five extra minutes to catch up with NE Wilkinson who she had bumped into in the turbolift.

At 14:12, Manning was walking through the Sickbay doors, cutting rapidly through the biobeds and the medical officers currently on duty, stopping only at the CMO’s office’s door. Without even looking around, Amelia palmed the chime and waited at the door.

Cmdr. Manning, XO

Amelia could tell the exact second the chime rang through the CMO’s office as a serious of excited yaps answered through the door.

A smile crossed Amelia’s lips. She realized she hadn’t been in sickbay in a while. The only thing she had done was to take care of a few cuts and bruises after their latest run, but that had been it. Hopefully she would manage to keep it that way. However, Enj brought a happier atmosphere to one of the crew’s least favorite places on board a ship.

Elaine startled at the sudden noise, “Enj shush,” she scolded lightly, pushing her work to the side. Enj, looked back over his shoulder to watch his human make her way to the door. His tail wagged with anticipation. Reaching the door she scooped up the wiggling dog and held him under one arm as she opened the door.

Expecting one of her subordinates, Janvier’s face flashed a brief look of surprise before she smiled warmly. “Commander Manning,” she greeted putting a firm hand on Enj’s head to prevent him from wriggling out of her arms, “Come in.”

Manning gave Janvier an equally warm smile before mouthing “Hi” to the small dog on the CMO’s hands and extending out her hand for him to sniff. Following the doctor inside the office, she let the door close behind her.

The CMO’s office had changed in the year that Janvier had come to the Dresden, that differed it to other DH offices. For starters there was a dog bed, and a dog bowl next to Elaines desk. In the middle of the dog bed was a well chewed rabbit toy as welll as a couple of pillows. Elaines desk currently had reports stacked on it that she had been working her way through before Manning had shown up and a holoimage of Enj. A pile of medical and (a scattering of) psychological textbooks were piled on the other side of her desk. More were on the shelves along with a couple of jars of sweets and a jar of dog treats. At the very top was a pile of blankets.

Across from her desk sat two plain chairs, pushed to the back wall for more room. What was more noteworthy, was the three awards hung modestly on the wall behind them. They were hung in such a way that anyone sitting in the chairs wouldn’t notice them. The first of the three was her Graduation honours award, but the other two were slightly too far away for Amelia to see from the door way.

Lt. (j.g.) Janvier & Enj, CMO

“I see you have your hands full, Doctor.” Amelia said with a smile, motioning with her chin to the books and reports on the table. “I promise I will try to make this quick, so I won’t take a lot of your time. I know what it is like to be drowning in reports.” She chuckled. “Although, I have to say, this is the most welcoming sickbay I have ever been in. Starfleet should allow more animals to be brought on board. They certainly liven the space.” The warm smile never left Manning’s lips as she watched Enj with clear joy in her eyes.

Cmdr. Manning, XO

Elaine smiled with pride, she ruffled Enj’s head and set him down on the ground where he immidately ran over to Manning and started sniffing around her ankles looking for more pats. “Enj know’s how to work a crowd,” Elaine agreed, “I am almost certain some of our visitors are here just to see him. And don’t worry about the reports I’ll get through them eventually.” she fell silent as she watched Enj rare up on his hind legs, clearly deciding that he wasn’t getting enough pats, and used his front paws to beg.

Amelia laughed joyfully. “I can imagine!” She said before leaning over and patting Enj and on the head “Aren’t you a cutie?”

“Enj down!” The doctor commanded when she’d deemed the attention-seeking had gone on long enough. Enj’s tail stopped wagging as he returned back to standing on all four feet. With the same air as a scolded child he trotted over to his bed and curled up in it with a big sigh. “So what brings you here Commander?” Elaine asked focusing her attention back on the senior officer, “Is there something I can help you with?”

Lt. (j.g.) Janvier & Enj, CMO

Manning smiled as she watched the small dog trot silently back to his bed before turning back to Janvier. “Ah, you know, the usual. Checking in with the departments, seeing if everything is running smoothly, if there’s any complaints… or compliments…!” She added. “It doesn’t have to be all bad.” Amelia shrugged. “Same old, same old.” She gave the doctor a pained smile. “I bet there’s ships where departments and department heads need to kept in check. Fortunately the Dresden is not one of them. But Command so mandates, and so it must be done and filed.” She said with an apologetic sigh. “How are things running?”

Cmdr. Manning, XO

bump :)

“I’m sure there are departments like that,” Elaine agreed, wondering what kind of department an impatient, ambitious person like her ex would have. A surge of sympathy for his co-workers and subordinates rushed through her before she was able to push it away. She hadn’t seen him since the Acadamy. “I can see why department check in’s would be necessary. It’s probably not a bad idea for you and the Captain to know the status of all the departments, good or bad.”

She gave one of her gentle smiles, and walked over her desk, and picked up her half-compiled notes. “Sickbay is running well. It seems to have become more lively since I started bring Enj along with me frequently.” Janvier handed the notes over to Manning, a random assortment of things the Doctor had noticed either through observation or from sorting through her reports. “Staff attendence seems to have improved, although I don’t know if their focus has,” she chuckled, “Enj seems to have learnt a few new tricks since we’ve arrived, but I let that one slide since it keeps the long term patients entertained.”

Lt. (j.g.) Janvier, CMO

Taking the notes in her hand, Amelia nodded. A soft smile of her own playing on her lips. “I’m glad to hear it.” She chuckled at the mention of Enj’s new tricks. “I think Enj here is a good morale officer. It is good to have a distraction in the workplace every once in a while. It keeps the mind working for when it is actually needed.” She grinned, looking at the small dog curled up on his bed.

“He is a good morale officer.” Elaine agreed, “I don’t know how he does it but he always seems to know the right thing to do to comfort someone. It’s made him pretty popular. Sickbay always gets more visitors when Enj is around.”

“Sickbay is one of those places that people are happy to complain about. But… as nothing had reached my ears so far, I was under the impression that everything was running well. I’m glad to know I was not mistaken.” Manning paused for a moment. “Do you mind if I keep these while I write my report? I like to go over things at my own pace…” She said pointing at the notes the doctor had just handed to her.

“Take them, they’re just notes I take in between reports so I don’t have to always rely on my memory. They help but I don’t necessarily need them.” Anticipating the end of the First Officers visit. Elaine sat back down at her desk and picked up the report she had put to the side when Amelia had stopped by.

Finally, eyeing the psychological textbooks open on the desk, Amelia sighed slightly, as if battling within herself whether to ask what was on her mind. Shrugging ever so slightly, she made up her mind.

Elaine glanced up, noting that the other woman hadn’t taken her leave like the doctor had expected. Her eyebrows knotted together in a frown. She was just about to probe Amelia about what might be bothering her, when she spoke first.

“I know this is not very orthodox, Doctor… and it’s probably going to sound like a weird question but… I couldn’t help but notice the psychology textbooks you have open. I was wondering, how much do you know about telepathy or telepathic brains?”

Cmdr. Manning, XO

bump :)

Elaine glanced at the textbooks Manning was referring to and back at the Commander. “I’ve been studying that as a bit of a side hobby of mine. Most of what I’ve been researching has been about trauma, abuse and PTSD. It covers a little bit about telepatic attacks and how that would affect the brain. It wouldn’t be fair to say that I have an extensive knowledge, however. I wouldn’t call myself a specalist, but I do know more about telepathy than your average doctor.”

Amelia nodded at the Doctor’s words. Her eyes still on the books.

“Was there something in particular you wanted to know? Even if I don’t know the answer, I have access to an extensive book collection,” she guestured to the books on the table, with an amused grin, “This is just the half of it. I have more in my quarters that would likely be able to supply the information you want.”

Lt. Janvier, CMO

Manning’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at the extent of her book collection as her gaze met Janvier’s. She smiled jovially before a darker expression settled on her face. Amelia sighed. “Do you mind if I sit?” She said motioning to one of the chairs.

“To be honest, Doctor, I haven’t thought about this in a while… my life has been a flurry of activity and… you know… some things are not pressing enough and they eventually fall to the back of your mind…” She paused momentarily, visibly trying to piece her thoughts together in a way that made sense.

“I was posted on board the USS Vanguard on my first assignment. This was in…” Manning thought for a bit. “… late 89… so six and a half years ago…” Surprise showed in her face fleetingly at the realization of where she had gotten and how long ago it had been. “We were… approached… to put it lightly, by a god-like entity that called herself Sola. She seemed to take a liking for me at the time and chose to communicate to the crew through me… if that makes any sense.” Manning said, hoping she was being clear enough. “To use a term I particularly dislike, she ‘possessed’ me, if you will.”

“Now… I don’t remember the times when Sola took control of me. I just remember waking up somewhere different or having people looking at me weirdly when I came back to. Eventually we managed to send her away, but the question as to why me remained.” Amelia paused momentarily to catch her breath. “After the incident, the Van’s Chief Medical Officer ran some scans of my brain, and he discovered that I have a paracortex. There’s no telling whether it’s active or inactive, or whether I can even tap into it, but shortly thereafter I moved to OED V and I never followed up on it.”

“My brain scans from then should be on file, I am happy to take new ones if necessary, but I was wondering if there was a way I could find out more about it? I never had any issues since then, and as far as I know, I can’t read minds.” Manning chuckled. “My family is as human as it can get… or at least that’s what I thought. But… I don’t want to be caught off guard like I was then, and I want to know exactly what is going on there. What would you recommend, Doctor?”

Cmdr. Manning, XO

bump :)