It was Early morning, Ally had been on shift for barely an hour when the doors to the sickbay opened and Rico walked through them. His rostered day off, he had kissed his girlfriend goodbye and a happy day at work, and headed to the Ogawa’s gym closet. It was really more like a closet to the strongly built Chief of Security, his wide frame making the confined quarters of the ships gym seem slightly claustrophobic to him.

He walked in with one shoulder hanging clearly lower than the other, his good hand supporting the elbow of his limp arm. “Ally?” Rico called out as he looked around, spotting Lavonne and Sharevonne off to one side and smiling nervously in their direction. If he looked at them too long, they would likely feed him something full of bad fat and carbs, and it wasn’t yet carb day. Off duty, his attire currently consisted of gym shorts and sneakers, and a tight fitting grey tank that meant the unnatural shape of his left shoulder was clearly visible as he supported it, around his neck a pendant that he had been given by one of the children he met on Orion. It was a nothing pendant, a piece of cheap junk the child had found and made into a pendant, but to the child and to Rico it meant more than anything that Latinum could buy.

“Hey ladies, is Ally around? I have a surprise for her.” He smiled painfully at the two friendly nurses, stopping near the middle of the sickbay.

Lt Vanhall, CoS