Checking in and Checking up

Posted on Mon Sep 7th, 2020 @ 9:58pm by Commander Samantha Howard & Commander Jonathan Grayson
Edited on on Mon Sep 7th, 2020 @ 9:58pm

Mission: Tal Shiar
Location: Sickbay

The alarm sounded and Jon groaned. He hadn’t gotten much sleep and drinking the wine like he did hadn’t helped matters. To make matters worse he had to report to Sickbay. He got up
Went into the bathroom, stripped off his clothes and took a shower. Minutes later he stepped out feeling marginally better, put on a clean uniform and shaved. At least looking better he headed for Sickbay.

Entering he looked around hoping to find Sam and avoid Dr. Perrim at all costs.

Dr Sam Howard looked up as the doors to sickbay opened. Her office was positioned so that she could see who entered without disrupting her work too much, just to ‘keep an eye on things’ so to speak. Dr Perrim moved towards the doors, but as Sam recognised who it was she headed there herself.

“ Hey, I’ll handle it”She said quietly, steering Jon towards one of the biobeds on the far side of the room away from prying eyes.

“ How are you feeling?”She asked quietly, reaching for a tricorder.

“Super duper.” Jon replied. “How are you feeling?” He inquired as Sam reached for the tricorder. He absently wondered what it would so.

“I can safely say I’ve felt better and I couldn't have used a few more hours sleep. The dreams wouldn’t let me, so I thought I may as well get started on that monster of a report for the Captain” She admitted sagely, running the scanner over Jon’s body.

“I can definitely relate to the dreams Sam. I think I got maybe a couple of hours sleep.” Jon admitted.

“You realise I could have given you something to help with that” Sam smiled softly, knowing the pot was calling the kettle black in that instance.

“Your readings are coming back as on track, well as good as they should be for someone who’s been through what we had to go through.” She put the tricorder down and looked into Jon’s eyes. They seemed almost haunted.

“ Do you want to talk?” She asked quietly, giving him the option.

“Sam. I screwed up and you and Lisa paid for it.” He said quietly

“ Who said you were responsible? If you really want to blame someone how about the Tal Shiar for having a secret base and traps and viruses? ” Sam challenged, using her hand on his chin so he couldn’t avoid her gaze. “This was not your fault”

“Yes Dr. Howard, if you say so Dr. Howard.” He said mimicking the voice she used with Perrim

“Oh bite me” Sam snorted, unable to hide the smile that blossomed. The 2IC in question stuck his head around the corner and vanished just as quickly.

“I think Starfleet has rules against that or they should if they don’t.” Jon bantered back.

Sam blushed a little, averting her eyes for a moment. They both had some serious issues to work through after their ordeal. “Well the tricorder says you’re more or less fine, but I’m ordering you to take the next day or so off. Care for some breakfast?”

Jon eyed her suspiciously , “Are you going to do the same and as for breakfast only if you join me.”

“Dr Perrim did my checkup a few hours ago - I was cleared to write a report for 4 hours, then told to promptly bugger off and not return for 2 days.” She admitted. “And I for once am going to pay heed to his orders or he’ll go tattle on me to the Captain… or the XO”

“He looks the type to go and tattle.” Jon replied “In this case it may be justified. Little sneak.” he added without humor.

“Oh he would - he’s a bit by the book that way - must be hankering for my job” Sam whispered back, looking around sickbay and finding that everything was in order. Even if it wasn’t it wouldn’t be her problem for a day or so. “Now, shall we eat?

Jon laughed at Sam’s comment. “Oh be a cold day in hell before he gets your job.” Jon promised her. He nodded and smiled again. “A wonderful idea. Lets go.”

“Don’t tell him that - I do want him to take over when I retire one day” Sam snorted as she waited for Jon to slide off the biobed. “Let’s blow this joint shall we?”

“Take over? I won’t trust him with a bedpan.” Jon retorted “In fact I think I’ll write an order promoting him to Chief Bedpan officer. It will be his job to catalogue the bedpans making sure there are enough for both male and females as well as any special bedpans that may be needed.” He slid off the biobed. “A most excellent idea. Lets go.”

Perrim looked at the pair with a question in his eyes as they headed for the door, thankfully haven’t not heard the entire conversation.

The mess hall was fairly quiet at this hour, most crews either having eaten before shift or after, leaving plenty of quiet space.

“So Sam, what is your stomach telling you it wants?” Jon asked as he poured them both a cup of coffee. Even as he tried to decide what he wanted.

“Coffee, thank you , and something light - just some fruit maybe. And yourself? I promise not to modify your eggs this time” Howard retorted lightly, accepting the steaming cup of coffee.

Jon chuckled, “Those eggs were good.” He admitted. “Better than that porridge in a glass.

“ Oh come on….those were the best modified porridge in an orange juice glass I could come up. Well I didn’t think it was THAT bad… come to think of it… “ Her voice trailed off as she thought about the consequences of trying her medical concoctions on her friends. Best not.

“Balony.” Jon replied. “You go sell that somewhere else Sam. “Now I agree something light, not cereal or fruit. I guess scrambled eggs it is.”

Sam tried to keep a straight face as she considered the possibility of messing with the replicator again, truth be told Jon needed to eat real food for a while, not something she’d tampered with to better its absorption into the body. Sometimes things just needed to be let be.

Jon missed her struggle to keep a straight face as he sipped his coffee. “I need some OJ. You want a glass Sam?”

“ Clashes with the coffee but why the hell not” Sam replied, amused at Jon’s choice of breakfast. Some people just liked things the way they were. Don’t mess with what wasn’t broken.

“ You know you could tweak that scrambled eggs with a bit of chilli..” She started.

Jon nodded, got up and went and got them both a glass of orange juice. Returning to the table he handed one to Sam. Chilli on eggs?” He questioned. “How about ketchup?”

“ Have you tried it? It’s a great metabolism booster” Sam replied without missing a beat, taking her plate of fruit and nibbling on the contents. The coffee was more her style though. Rich and aromatic, the aroma was wonderful.

“No.” He admitted. “Don’t know if I want to try it. Sounds nasty.” Jon replied

“ Don’t knock it till you try it” Sam sipped the coffee, enjoying the asy company without having to think too much - they had developed a firm and fast friendship, something she hoped would carry on well after this disastrous mission. She’d heard through the grapevine the second away team had returned, more or less in one piece although there was a radiation poisoning at one point. A time travelling device had also been located and subsequently dealt with. Wins all round?

Jon snortred., “Have you tried it ?” He challenged. He enjoyed the relationship that had developed between Samanth and himself. They had become fast friends. “Have you heard anything about the other away team?” He asked.

“ I read Perrim’s report this morning, they’re all back, one required treatment for a radiation illness, the others I believe were fine. They got time travel devices, we ended up with a megalomaniac hell bent on galactic genecide. I think they got the better end of the deal” Sam replied, using the coffee mug to warm the hands that suddenly felt cold at the memory. She needed to hold something to stop the tremors that threatened to break out. Essie was going to go to town.

“Thank goodness for that.” Jon replied. “Radiation sickness? Are they going to be alright?” He asked. He thought Sam and Lisa and himself had it bad but they at least hadn’t been hit with radiation sickness. He shook his head as vision suddenly appeared of them naked , bound and foot. He shook his head to clear the vision. “Sorry bad memories,” he said.

“ You got that right, they get you at the worst times” Sam took a deep breath and focused on calming her racing heart and concentrating on what was in front of her. Her fruit lay on the plate, her coffee almost gone, and Jon grappling with his own demons. Pigeon pair they were at the moment.

Jon looked at his plate, the eggs uneaten as he was suddenly not hungry. He took a sip of the OJ and found it bitter. He looked across at Sam and saw her pale face and imagined he looked the same way. The only way they were going to get through this was to rely on each other. Only they knew what they had been through. He took a breath and felt his heart racing. This wasn’t good. He took a deep breath and worked on calming his nerves.

“ Maybe food wasn’t such a good idea” Sam admitted, looking at Jon’s complexion. They did need to eat at some point though.

“ I have an idea, follow me” She rose and recycled both their plates, replicating a nutritious berry and banana smoothie in a travel container. From there they walked to the holodeck where Sam pulled up a program of a serene lake with gardens. They could stroll, sip, and chat without feeling like they were being judged.

Jon did as Sam requested and followed dutifully. He took the travel container with smoothie inside as they made their way to the holodeck. He stopped and looked at the program Sam had decided on. ‘This is beautiful Sam! Simply beautiful” The turning to face her. “Peaceful too, just what the doctor ordered.”

“ And if only it was as simple as that” Sam sighed, sipping the smoothie that she may or may not have modified to increase its nutritional content. “ I’ve requested Estella join us at some point. I think that she needs to know what went on. As much as I’d love to shove the last 24 hours in the deepest darkest recesses of my mind, it doesn’t work like that” She admitted, hoping she hadn’t invaded Jon’s privacy by reaching out for assistance.

Jon nodded. Good idea.” He answered quietly. Essie was a counselor, she knew him and what made him tick and he was sure she could help Sam get through the ordeal he and she shared. At least he hoped so. He sipped the smoothie, “What’s in this he asked?”

“ Mixed berries, almond milk, banana, protein, and a few extra goodies your scan said you could probably use. Probiotics, prebiotics and the like” She admitted, realising she was indeed busted.

“Oh.” He replied simply and took another sip. “It’s good. Not as good as a vanilla milkshake but still good.”

“ Vanilla milkshakes don’t rebuild your guts from the inside out” Sam retorted with a small smile “ This will, it has been one of my more...acceptable experiments” She sipped her own for good measure.

“ Have you written your report yet?” She asked.

Jon was going to reply he traded being a Romulan Guinea pig to being Sam’s but he didn’t want to hurt her so he wisely stayed quiet. “Ah. I see.” He answered. “No, I don’t know where to start or if I want to include everything that happened.” He admitted.


“ I actually found it helped to write it all down. It almost validated how I feel” The doctor shared her experience. “ I should apologize to the Captain in advance, it’s quite the lengthy read”

“I don’t know if any report I write on this no matter what the length is going to validate how I feel Sam.” He said honestly wondering if it made him look weak in her eyes.

“ Accepting that what you’re feeling is ok is the first step” Sam encouraged, reaching out and holding Jon’’s hand “ We’re in this together ok?”

His fingers curled around hers. “I’m glad you’re here Sam and if I have to share this with someone I’m glad it’s you.” Jon said. “I think back on this or the visions come and it seems surreal. Like it happened to someone else but I know it didn’t”

“ What they did to us was terrible, no one should have to deal with it. I just feel some sense of justification that some of them died down there. It’s wrong I know” She admitted “ I can heal your body, but we have to work on the mind - it’s a complex little bastard that one. I still trust your judgement, even if you don’t trust yourself”