[snip]

‘’Oh Faith wanted to ask, are you concentrating on a particular area of study ?’’ Cross asked.

“No, nothing in particular,” Faith replied, “because of my background, my knowledge is in paediatrics and gynaecology, so for Starfleet I need to concentrate more on combat casualty care, like this burns victim, and on immunology, for all the weird infections and viruses we discover out here, and xenobiology, as I know little about that. But do know what is expected of me. I’ve been to Starfleet Medical before, I just got kicked off the Triage Nursing course for various reasons I don’t want to discuss.”

[snip]

The plastic surgeon for now was done with treating the burns and left the minor ones for the nurses to deal with then he turned to CMO ‘’I’m going to the science dept to make sure that the skin grafts shall be ready when needed. Advanced therapies for burned wounds involve application of bioengineered artificial skin substitutes to overcome graft rejection as well as topical delivery of mesenchymal stem cells to reduce inflammation and accelerate the healing process ‘’ and before Cross could put a word in he shuffled his way to the science dept .

‘’I think he said more words to me now then he did in a year! ‘’ the doctor exclaimed but she had other things on her mind ,approaching Faith and leading her away from the others Cross asked ‘’ Faith, my dear friend are you leaving us for good? If so why? ‘’ .

She had never forgotten that Faith was ready to take care of her baby since Cross had no family to call her own…she was ready to sacrifice her career for Miriam’s child.

“I’m only going to Starfleet Medical, and you encouraged me to do that, but I don’t have any plans to return to the Merrimack if I graduate. No! I need to begin a life of my own,” Faith replied. “I’ve told you before about how the Captain rescued my mother and I, so I have this great debt to him, but it’s a debt that I must have repaid several times over now. I hate this position of Yeoman. I’m his personal assistant, but I’m his dogsbody - I feed the cat and empty its litter tray - I’m a general household servant rather than a secretary. I spend a large part of the day just picking up PaDDs left behind. And I could have been… I could still be so much more. I could have been a Doctor like you! So, staying on the Merrimack just holds me back. But of course I’ll miss you all if I did leave permanently.”

Cross listened as her long time friend said she was indeed going to leave ‘’Your uncle would understand ,you’re a grown woman now and can make your own decisions ‘’ the doctor made eye contact ‘’ I shall miss you Faith ‘’ Cross hugged her ‘’You were always good to me but please don’t be angry with Glen, cause in his own mind he’s still keeping that promise and probably is unaware that you are now reasoning as an adult ‘’ Cross managed a smile ,then taking a deep breath she continued ‘’I once left everything behind to pursue my dreams of becoming a doctor ......guess now its your turn to do the same ‘’.

Yet Cross wondered how Glen would take such news, was he aware of Faith’s feelings or perhaps he was waiting for the moment when his niece would decide to leave and had already contemplated that day would eventually come?.

“Yes, my feelings exactly! Why do you ask if I’m planning to leave permanently anyway?” Faith asked Miriam. “You knew I was going to study at Starfleet Medical, and it’s not like after that fateful mission… as if you’d ever want me to take care of your baby!” Faith laughed.

• Faith, yeoman