[snip]

Faith looked up from her job emptying the bedpans, as Dr. Cross returned to Sickbay. She could see Joe leaving had deeply affected her.

The door of her office was open, behind the desk was doctor Hunter, as Cross entered she took a deep breath. It did not take a person with a high mental acuity to realize she had been crying and the male doctor knew all to well the reason why .

He stood up and closed the door to give the CMO some privacy, walking over and putting both hands on her shoulders, knowing full well the relationship they had between her and Joe ‘’I’m so sorry Cross ‘’ he whispered, at that moment she took him rather by surprise wrapping her arms around him and sobbed her heart out ‘’I’ll never hear him calling me Miri ever again ‘’.

Now it was Hunter who tightly held her close to him, expressing sympathy and showing compassion as her body shook with each and every sob. The male doctor stood silent ,knowing there where no words to ease her distress.

Outside in Sickbay, Faith returned to her duties but also began to cry. She remembered how she had felt when Crewman Doolittle had left the Merrimack. She had been heartbroken, but it did result in her most productive period writing her novel. I must finish that one day, she thought. Still, Miriam had lost Joe from the Merrimack, not once, but twice, and there wouldn’t likely be a third time either.

• Faith

By now Cross had stopped bawling her eyes out ,Hunter took out chair for her putting a glass of milk in front of the female doctor. Cross eyed the milk ‘’The last time I was given a glass of milk was at the age of four or five by grandpa!’’ still thirsty as she was she took it.

Hunter then opened the door since Cross had finally composed herself ‘’Do you want to head to your quarters for some rest,I can give you a mild sedative to help you sleep ?’’ he asked but Cross shook her head ‘’Its best that I check on some patients ..keep my mind off things ‘’.

The male doctor nodded yes its for the best he thought.

Ade came out of his office to discover why it was that so many of the nurses were bawling in Sickbay. When he heard that Doctor Cross and Faith were in tears too, he just rolled his eyes and when back inside his very small office. He guessed that it was because Joe Milligan had left. It was unlikely to be because that quack psychiatrist had left. Always the mercenary, Ade was quite happy that Stan Wong had left as It meant that he might get his, slightly larger converted cleaner’s cupboard, for an office instead.

Ade had little to do as a Dentist but his workload had increased more recently after the crew had been joined by a few big-fanged alien species including the Catian, Cara Meow, and the twin Ontarian Raptors, Bogg and Badd. It was still nothing like that one time they had found the parasitic calcareous aliens.

• Ade, Ship’s Dentist