Posted by Crewman Morag McHoan (Ship’s Midwife (retired)) in At the swimming pool - Cross .

Cross remembered the swimming pool and she was not about to miss it , for who knows if she would ever get the chance to swim again when the crew would be called back to the ship and leave the station for good .

In her new bikini the female doctor first dipped her toes in the clear water of the pool ,her thoughts went back to her childhood and the little house she lived in with her grandfather and idiotic , capricious mother .The beach was just five minuets away and although rather small, she used to spend hours collecting colorful seashells and swimming in the water .She knew that what looked like sand on the seabed was actually clay ,still the place was special to her .Further away from the sea was a swamp, Cross smiled remembering how many times her grandfather would come looking for her telling her to avoid the swamp especially in the dark. Last but not least was the cliff , as a child she would often look out of her bedroom window at the lighthouse before being tucked in bed by her dear grandfather. Bitter sweet memories.

She eventually dived in the water ,there were other people around but as far as she was concerned she was all alone ....... for the time being blissfully happy while floating idyllically in the pool.

Cross didn’t notice the frail and decrepit old woman, who had been very slowly swimming widths of the pool, near to the diving board, and she almost dived on top of her. It was good for her arthritis and her leg muscle weakness.

“Can ye watch it whaur ye ur jumpin’ in th’ puil!” Morag shouted at the doctor. “Och it ye!”

She quickly surfaced not quite knowing what hit her …that is until she saw the midwife .

Her first reaction was one of surprised ‘’ Darn Morag how come you’re still alive ?’’ after a few seconds the female doctor did ask if she was okay , lest she’ll stand trail for the killing of the ship’s midwife.

“Nae, aam nae deid yit!” replied Morag. “Ah did hink ‘at eh’d gain haem tae Inverness, but it waur jist a dream if a body ay th’ crew. An ‘at waur fower years pest noo. Th’ Merrimack been wanderin’ th’ stars an’ ne’er took me back! But, nae, aam nae deid yit!”

‘’Oh ‘’ Cross replied catching a word here and there ‘’ Em… well I’m glad to see you’re still alive ‘’ and without asking picked the frail old woman and got her out of the water .

She isn’t dead yet. She once thought that she had been returned home to Inverness, but was only a shared dream that the crew experienced four years ago. The Merrimack has continued on its voyages of exploration and never took her home.

The female doctor did wonder why she had been left on the ship all these years ‘’ Morag why don’t we ask the Captain if you can stay here instead of boarding the ship ?’’ .

“Thar’s aa thooght!” replied Morag.

Cross reasoned the Merrimack was no place for such an old woman ‘’ With the pool at your disposal it would be good for your arthritis and who knows you might get to practice being a midwife now and then with so many women around and ships coming and going ‘’ she suggested while putting on her dress over the bikini.

“Och aye!” she agreed. “Thar ah am tay auld fur ‘at.”

Then another thought passed her mind. She had told Joe she would stay with him.

Can I leave my career path for the man I love ? Could she trust Joe that he would not leave her yet again? If he loved her was he ready for a commitment and they’ll have their own family , for her heart ached to hold her own child in her arms that won’t be abducted ....never to be seen again.

“Ye seem woriat abit somethin’ else?” she asked.

‘’Huh?’’ Cross came back from her thoughts ‘’ Na its nothing ‘’ she replied. The CMO knew that the midwife had been on the ship back then but she did not really know how much Morag knew , so opted to say nothing .

‘’Put your clothes on then and we’ll try to find the Captain’’ Cross suggested hoping the retired midwife would have come to a decision by then, that is if she wanted to stay on the station or get back to the ship.

She helped the woman get up on her feet and slowly started to walk but Cross was again lost in her own thoughts and the dilemma she faced.

“Och aye!” she replied, though Cross might have to wait awhile as at her age it was difficult to anything quickly.

From the station commander. =/\= Attention USS Merrimack, all senior staff report to Lieutenant Commander Grafton in briefing room 2 in 20 minutes. =/\= .

‘’That’s our call !’’ Cross exclaimed ‘’Could you hurry up cause at this pace will arrive after the briefing is over’‘.

And again Cross would be seen all wet from swimming in the pool ‘’ I hate my life ‘’ she uttered under her breath.

“I’ve ne’er bin seniur staff afair,” Morag told her.

• Morag McHoan, Ship’s Midwife (retired)

‘’Ya ‘’ Cross responded ‘’But ya nee to find thy Cpt and ....’’ The female doctor stopped as she realized that her vocabulary was being to sound much like the midwife .
Taking a deep breath she looked at Morag ‘’ It would be best if I leave while you make your way at yur own pace ‘’ Cross did not wait for a response instead without any hesitation quickened her pace .

Cross CMO.