[snip]

Hunter had entered sickbay with the Orion still screaming, he slowly put her on one of the bio beds. Her screams could be heard all over sickbay and Kate was quick to make her way towards them. ‘’What’s wrong doctor? Why is she screaming? Where did you find her ?

The doctor did not respond, just took the medical tricorder and started scanning. If D’Nesh wanted to scream he was not about to stop her tantrum. The nursing officer tried her best to calm the young woman but to no avail.

As the doctor read the scan he frowned ‘’Kate could you please turn her on her side ‘’ she was about to ask why but thought better of it .Hunter bend slightly down and raised her top uncovering her back …he just stood there staring ,curiosity took the better of Kate and she too looked only to be shocked by what she saw .
‘’Doctor are those scars all over her back,oh the poor girl ,who could do such a thing to her ‘’.

Hunter straightened up ‘’Her name is D’Nesh,she was a slave girl before being freed ,who knows what she went through, its no wonder she was afraid of me .Keep her in sickbay for a day or two be gentle and kind and ask the nurses if they could spare some decent cloths ‘’.

He was about to leave when he suddenly turned around and told Kate ‘’ Just tell her I’m not the monster that many make me out to be’‘.

Kate eyed Hunter as he left * What the hell was that about * she thought to herself .Turning her attention to the orion young woman she spoke to her as a mother would talk to frightened child ‘’Now,now dear stop crying I’ll take care of you there’s nothing to be afraid off, that man is a doctor and very kind ‘’but D’Nesh was far from convinced ,the nursing officer had no idea about the altercation between him and Joe that D’Nesh had seen.

With big wide eyes open she moved her head from side to side ‘’No ,no,no he looks nice from the outside but inside he’s brutal,wicked,horrible and cruel ,I know because I have seen his kind ‘’ she had obviously been traumatized for it brought memories of the past .
Kate didn’t know what to say instead told the Orion girl to try and rest , shall bring her food later on and some nice clothes. D’Nesh turned into a fetal position closing her eyes while Kate covered her with the sheet and quietly left her bedside.

Joe after leaving Miri early in the morning was making his first stop sickbay. He hadn’t even gone to the Fantail yet. He stepped into sickbay and saw the Orion girl all curled up. He clenched his fists, breathed deeply, and whispered to the girl. “Are you alright Missy? Do you need anything?”

Cross since she woke earlier then Joe was already in her office ,seeing Joe making his way to the Orion girl ,the doctor frowned .He did not even stop to tell her good morning .Was D’Nesh more important to him then she was ? .

D’Nesh opened her eyes and nodded she remembered he had not been exactly kind to her and got angry when she called him ‘sweety ‘. Sitting up she started screaming again ‘’Kate..Kate..Kate ‘’ .
The nursing officer was about to leave sickbay after her shift was over but on hearing the Orion girl screaming she rushed to her side ‘’Don’t be afraid its Joe the barman,you’ll be helping him and he’s a kind man ‘’.

Making a visual sign for Joe to step away from the bed ,Kate told him about Hunter giving her a medical ‘’She’s fine except the scars on her back .I totally agree with Hunter when he said ‘’Who knows what she’s been through… so please Joe be kind to her ‘’.
Kate omitted to say the Orion girl was scared of Hunter for reasons unbeknown to her .

Meanwhile Cross never took her eyes off Joe, Kate and D’Nesh.

Joe looked at Kate as she spoke. He nodded at every point she made and every piece of advice that she gave him. He stepped back away from the bio -bed and said to Kate. “Just take care of her and tell Hunter he should be more worried about what might happen to himself. ” He then said in a soft voice to the girl. “I’m going to go down now and start breakfast D’Nesh , is there anything you’d like me to bring up for you? ”

She quietly shifted her eyes from Joe to Kate and back and was about to say something when D’Nesh saw the male doctor enter ‘’Its the the beast he is back ‘’ pointing at Hunter who by now had gone inside Cross’s office .The Orion stood up and wrapped her arms around Joe’s neck… If Kate seemed to trust this man then he must be respectable with an excellent moral character .

’’ How’s things Cross?’’ he asked referring to the patients in sickbay ‘’As bad as they can get !’’ the CMO replied as she pointed to her suppose partner ‘’ She must be using those pheromones of hers to attract Joe to her… darn if I’m going to let that happen ‘’ she stood up but a hand that was usually soft and tender with the patients was strong enough to make Cross fall back in her chair.

‘’Relax my dear ,I did her medical yesterday and she does not emit any pheromones ..remember your days at the academy not all Orion female do’’ he then proceeded to take the pile of Padds, the last thing Hunter needed was to be distracted by foolish idiotic, irrational and absurd ill-judgement.

Juggling the pile of Padds Hunter nearly collided with Joe who just happen to be leaving sickbay ,the look he gave him was of pure murder .The doctor was about to ask him what he was doing in sickbay but then thought it was better to say nothing at all and instead bent down to gather the Padds scattered on the floor.

Someone was watching everything that was being unfolded, the security that was stationed at Sickbay Richard Sharp ,he saw the look on Hunter’s face on seeing Joe who’s own demeanor resembled Hunter’s .With the door wide open he saw Cross, her eyes seem to be on fire .The Orion was still screaming at the top of her lungs and Kate was as white as a sheet ,she was supporting herself next to the wall as the room started spinning around, with Joe’s words still echoing in her head.

Richard had already taken out his cellphone just in case he needed additional backup ,the only sane person was doctor Kim who with the help of a nurse was encouraging a rather confused patient from the blown ship to sit up in bed.

Ade had been in his office, trying to concentrate on a game of Poker. He had Four of a Kind in a game of eight players and had wanted to play, but with all the noise going on outside he had folded, and asked them if he could have some time out of the game to see what the problem was.

Ade stepped out of his office to see what all the screaming and shouting could possibly be about. He saw Joe looking flustered, Hunter carrying a stack of PADDs that slowly tipped one way and then the other, a screaming Orion female - where did she appear from, Cross almost so mad that you could see steam coming from out of her ears, like in those animated shorts from the 1900’s, and Kate in the middle of it all, trying to herd cats.

Then came the dentist the security thought to himself.

“Hey, I know you’re not doing this on purpose, but it’s getting a little loud,” said Ade. “I’m trying to get something urgent done, so could you be a little quieter?”

Hunter looked up ‘’Shut up Ade ,what’s the urgency are you counting teeth!’‘

“That’s clever! ‘Come up with that all by yourself, or did you learn it in the Anger Management class?” Ade replied.

Cross stood up ‘’ Urgent? What are you doing that’s so urgent!’’ she retorted back.

“What I do is my own business, you should know that this is no way to run the department… and the Nursing Officer over there doesn’t look well!”

While Kate fainted.

• Ade, Dentist

  Joe was disgusted by the entire thing. Led D’Nesh from sickbay immediately. He could not for the life of him understand why all these people were having what seemed like a group meltdown. So it was that he got the frightened girl out of the sickbay full of screaming people. The way he looked at it was part of his duty as Counselor to keep D’Nesh from losing her mind. It was only a scant few minutes later that Joe had the Fantail opened and ready for operations. D’Nesh it seemed had become quiet and subdued thanks to blueberry crepes.

  Joe Milligan Barman / Counselor