A Minor Boo-Boo

Posted on Mon Sep 17th, 2018 @ 2:51am by

Mission: Mission 8 - Shattered
Location: Deck 7 - Sickbay
Timeline: MD -10 - 1145 Hours
1716 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Orym Wixx walked down the hallway after exiting the turbolift. A sweet smoke trailed after him as he lightly puffed on his cigar twice. His left shoulder was a little charred from the accident. They were known to happen more on these older ships. They were built with less safety protocols for a simpler time. He stepped into sickbay and looked around for an empty biobed. No one else seemed to be around, though that wasn't exactly shocking considering the small crew count. He was used to starships with lots of people going to and fro. He let out a sigh and took a puff before pulling the cigar out of his mouth. The sweet notes of leather and cinnamon wafted lazily upward as he cleared his throat. "Uh... hello?"

Katrina was standing in the corner of the empty sick bay. There wasn't much in the way of crew on the ship and she honestly wasn't surprised. What she was surprised by was the sheer number of devices the sickbay had. While less stocked that the Ferengei ship, and possibly even Kravik's she was still impressed. She had bartered her services in exchange for a ride anywhere but Azzia. The pang of guilt she had been ignoring rippled though her at the thought of Kravik and she pushed it down. She needed to get her head examined. Why in the universe was she feeling bad for a man who owned her? Was she so used to being chattel that it didn't dawn on her that she was free? Her silent pondering was interrupted by the presence of another person. Popping around the bulkhead she noticed a blue man. She was curious to see more of him as she had only seen one of his kind before. She couldn't quite put her finger on the name she was looking for as she spoke to him. "No one is really here, but can I help you?"

Orym shook his head slowly. Typical civilian vessels, he thought. Always undermanned, lacking supplies and and always needing more. His time in Starfleet might have spoiled him to the realities of the galaxy but he tempered those sentiments. "Oh, I didn't see you there," he said with raised eyebrows. He took another light puff of his cigar and offered a smile as he pulled the cigar out of his mouth and used it to point to his charred shoulder. "If you know how to separate my clothing from my flesh, that would be fantastic, Miss erm...?"

"Katrina...you can call me Katrina." She started as she moved a little closer. to the blue man. "I might..." She started as she looked at the burn. She was sure there was a derma-hyper-generator-spray contraption... around here somewhere that would do the same thing, but she wouldn't know one if it bit her. She closed the gap between them and had to rise up on her toes to get a clear view. The burn was superficial and the the main problem was the material that had bonded with his azure skin. "Ooo..." she exclaimed before moving around the bulkhead that she had popped out from before. She had a bag and there was a tonic in it that could solve this.

Orym smirked to himself as he sat there. This young woman was very amusing as it became evident that she was clearly confused as to how to help, for the most part. He already assumed that she wasn't the chief medical officer. His eyes followed her as she went to her bag. He took a lazy drag of the cigar and said, "So uh... new around here?" He arched one eyrerow in puzzlement. Was she a nurse or something? He gathered that she was young and might have a special bag of wonders but what was she doing in sickbay?

"Relatively..." She responded as she began to take little bottles out of the bag. She would look at them intently, shake them a little, and set them down in what might appear to be a random array. She was actually sorting out the various items that she might need if what she was looking for failed. With a grin, she grabbed a small bottle and a few tools she moved back towards the cigar smoking man. "Do you mind switching that to your other hand?" She started as she moved his arm to be out straight from his body.

"Let me know if this hurts." She stated as she used a small pair of tweezers and a pair of scissors to remove the offending fabric. His first flinch triggered the need for the small bottle. Using the dropper she applied three drops to the burn and watched as the white fumes turned purple. The fabric became much easier to remove and the skin beneath looked much less charred than when she had started.

He didn't want to offend her with his cigar, despite how lovely he thought it smelled so he glanced around in a futile effort for a place to put it. Finding none, he simply let it fall out of his hand and onto the floor, which he saw was a hard, metal surface instead of carpet. It would soon extinguish by itself without any puffing. He looked back to his shoulder just in time to see the drops falling onto his arm. It started to feel as if his skin were burning even more than it had been but gave the young woman the benefit of the doubt and sat there with a neutral expression. "Kinda tingles," he uttered with an unsteady smile. "So, I guess you came aboard at Azzia also?"

"I did." She started as she concentrated on her task. In response to his tingle comment she pursed her lips and blew lightly on the wound. It was rare that the tonic would cause a reaction but typically aiding the evaporation cleared it up. She continued to remove the fabric and soon had more than half of the shoulder piece removed. She hadn't taken too much in hacking up the garment with her scissors when she had started. "You are a...uh... Tellurite?" She asked sheepishly. Her tone betraying her lack of knowledge of other races.

He belted out a laugh at that question. She was such a young, naive girl yet her ministrations on his shoulder were proving to help his burns. She had learned well by whoever had given her instructions, despite no "formal" training in medicine. "Only when I snore." He grinned at that and watched for her reaction.

Katrina looked at him confused for a moment before realization dawned on her that he was teasing her. She gave him an apologetic smile as she removed the remainder of the fabric. The man now had a hole in the shoulder of his clothing with his blue and chard skin showing through. "I didn't mean any offense." She admitted as she moved back to her bag to grab one more tincture from the array of small bottles on the table top. She stopped in front of him, the small vile cradled in he hand almost timidly. "I have only met one of your kind once... about five years ago."

"No offense taken, Katrina. I'm actually a Bolian." He examined her face as she focused on her work. "It's curious that you've met so few of my kind before. I suppose you've lived your life way out here on the frontier? That must be it." That seemed to be the most likely explanation. Bolians were a core species in the Federation, though they didn't typically have large numbers out in frontier space. He became fascinated with her little containers of various liquids and powders of assorted colors and wondered what type of training she went through.

"You could say that," Katrina answered as she dampened a cotton swab with the contents of the last bottle and set it to gently dab the wound. The original drops she had applied were already starting to work at knitting the damaged skin together. It was a mixture of Erdani eel secretions and a tea of pearlaushoba leaves. She had learned the recipe from the apothecary who had trained her. Most of his library was now tucked among the few belongings she had dared take with her. "How does this feel?" She asked as the new application brought the blue skin back to its normal hue.

The concoction started to ease the burning sensation on his skin. The smell was slightly bizarre, like old socks and bourbon but it seemed to be doing the trick. "That feels much better. Thank you, Katrina." He looked over his tunic and let out another chuckle. "I suppose a change of clothes would be next on the list."

Katrina couldn't hide the sheepish smile that crossed her lips. "I am sorry, I couldn't save more of your shirt." She finished up dabbing the wound and turned to discard the cotton. She turned her back to the Bolian in order to hide the slight embarrassment that she felt. She set to returning the contents of her bag. Taking a deep breath she turned back towards him. "Let me know if you have any trouble with it. You shouldn't."

Orym slid off the bio bed and bowed toward her. "Thanks, 'Doc'! I'll let you know how it heals." He smiled at her and then turned to leave. He got a few feet away before turning around to say briefly, "Hopefully you stick around. We could use a good healer like yourself." With that, the spun around and headed out the door before she could protest to being called a doctor.

Katrina watched as the man practically ran out of the sickbay. "I am not a doctor." She said softly to no one but the silence around her. She couldn't help the wave of pride at his words. She was glad that she could use her skills to help others. It was satisfying. She tapped her foot as a song snuck its way her head as her mind wondered to the future.

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Katrina Ristova
Civilian Healer
SS Mary Rose

Orym Wixx
Chief Engineer
SS Mary Rose