He's Alive

Posted on Mon Jul 25th, 2011 @ 10:19pm by Lieutenant Torrna Maliya MD & Ensign Andrexi Callai MD

Mission: Tomorrow's Arizona
Location: CMO's Office
Timeline: following 'Guts, Gusto, and Grousing...'

Maliya sat in her office, a cup of steaming Jumja tea to her right. She was engrossed in a paper she was reading, one of the latest works published by her old friend Naria Xaal, now a Captain of the medical ship, the USS Salvador Mazza. She'd heard through the gossip chatterbox that were her med techs and nurses that he'd gone up to see the Commodore to perform a physical on him. Maliya was going to do that herself, in a way that left Cowell no other way but to comply, but it seemed that her Assistant developed guts and went to take his chances with the Ancient One.

She knew he'd come down to Sickbay afterwards, and then she'd talk to him. She'd instructed Nurse Wildman to send him to her office when he arrived. Until then, Maliya enjoyed her paper.

"Hi," a voice spoke up. Andy Callai stood outside the office, leaning around the corner through the open doorway. "You wanted to see me?"

Maliya looked up, scrutinizing him a bit. "You survived," she stated.

Andy's forehead creased in confusion. "That's what--" He glanced back into Sickbay proper at the staff which suddenly seemed to be making themselves mysteriously busy. He straightened and returned his attention to her. "Why does everyone keep saying that?" He jerked a thumb toward the other room. "Crewman Greer said he was shocked I still had all my... umm... extremities attached," he added with a look of puzzlement.

Maliya chuckled, "Have you ever heard of Nathan Cowell before?" she asked as she leaned back, arms crossed on her chest, looking at him amusedly.

"I don't think so," he said as he leaned against teh door frame and folded his arms across his chest. "Why do you ask?"

"The man is a living legend. Old, grouchy, a well of medical knowledge...and he's sent many a young buck back crying and really messed up in the head...or worse." she said, fighting a laugh.

"Oh." He nodded slowly in consideration. "Something that would've been nice to know an hour ago," he spoke up, cocking his head around to project the statement toward the busy enlisted crewmen in the other room.

Maliya laughed, "Well, it's what happens when you go hunting for people instead of me, whose job that is." she said, observing him. "Let me rope them in next time? The ones that try to sideswipe a physical." she wasn't really asking, but she liked Andy enough to award him that courtesy.

"All... right...," he said hesitantly, a bit confused by the request.

"I'm the one with the removal authority?" she offered.

The confusion deepened. He gestured idly toward the hidden speakers built into the ceiling. "Did he call you?"

She shook her head, "The techs were talking about it, and I checked your location. Serously though...I hunt people down, not you, got it?"

"All right," he said. Then he held up his hands defensively and repeated, "All right!" as he sensed she wasn't quite convinced by his statement. He drew the tricorder from its holster on his hip and offered it up. "Do you want to review or should I just update his record?"

Maliya remained quiet for a moment, she didn't want to have to do this. "Kid, I could have bitched you out and ordered you not to do it again. I did you the courtesy of talking to you before asking you not to do it again." she said, "There's such a thing as procedure that we have to follow, much as I hate it."

"I wasn't..." Andy took a hesitating, confused step further into the office. His face tilted to the right as he studied her, tried to make some sense out of the emotional impulses she was throwing out. "I apologize. It wasn't my intention to go around you. He missed his appointment. I just-- you were busy. I wasn't, so I thought I'd go ahead and take care of it and save you the trouble."

Maliya nodded, "It's alright. Next time just ask me beforehand, so if nothing else I can say I sent you so you don't get the flack." she then flashed him a grin. "So..." pointing to the seat across her, she continued, "What was it like? Details! Details!"

Andy dropped into the offered seat with a frown. He'd already decided he'd never be able to understand Humans. They were such an odd species, always saying one thing while thinking or meaning something completely different. And while they always spoke of their compassion, of taking care and watching out for others, on occasion they seemed to take a perverse pleasure in causing those same people difficulties -- witness, those who had so willingly allowed him to go to the Commodore without warning him of the potentially explosive consequences, then standing by to enjoy the results of those consequences. Humans were strange. And now he was beginning to wonder about Bajorans, too. "There... isn't really much to tell," he said slowly. "He kept asking me why he should let me run the physical. What made me qualified to do it."

Maliya facepalmed, "Sorry you had to go through that. I would have warned you had I know you were going up there." and she genuinely would, "But look at it this way, you've done what many were unable to, and you have a story to tell. I'm proud to have a gutsy Assistant." she smiled at him with genuine affection.

"I've dealt with worse," he brushed off the discomfort he had felt. "Try doing a field reduction on a Nausiccan's compound femur fracture sometime." He grimaced and shook his head morosely. "It," he chose his words carefully, "did not go well."