From: Ranjani Sabarinathan (rantrek_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Dec 07 2007 - 23:17:24 PST
“Return of Dr. Kathryn MacNeil”
(contd from Shawn’s ‘Casualties’)
Location: Paris, France, EARTH
SD: 2.71202.2222
Scene: Kate’s Apartment
Stretching her arms sideways, an auburn haired woman yawned as she sat up on the bed. Eye colour changing from violet to black, Kathryn MacNeil leaned forward to pat the head of her faithful companion. William Wallace crooned, clearly enjoying the petting. Kate leaped off the bed and strode to the bathroom, singing a cheery Scottish melody. The dog, a beagle, lazily trotted to his basket and settled down.
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Scene: Street
TI: 20 minutes later
Kate was walking down the street with William Wallace trotting alongside her. The Scottish doctor’s first stop before going to work was the zoo, where she would drop off her pet chimpanzee, Mary Sue. Her parrot, Esmeralda Tharanuil remained back at her apartment. She quickly arrived at the zoo, where the caretaker, a young French woman with dark brown hair tied up in a bun waited with a smile towards the tall doctor and her companions.
“Bonjour Kate,” the caretaker greeted, dangling a banana in her hand. Mary Sue, at the sight of the yellow fruit, jumped away from her mistress’ grasp and hopped to the French woman’s side. The caretaker handed the banana to the little chimpanzee, who happily grabbed it.
Kate returned the greeting with a smile. “Bonjour Marie, how are you this morning?”
“Very fine,” Marie replied, briefly glancing at the bouncy chimp, busy having her breakfast. “And you?”
The Scot replied. “Good, though I expect to be very busy at work today.”
“That’s always the case with you, doctors,” the other woman remarked with a chuckle before adding. “But the rest of us will always be grateful for what you do.”
The half-Nuimon blushed slightly as she politely stated. “Thanks.”
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Location: Starfleet Medical
Scene: Kate’s office
“Here you go, William Wallace,” Kate cooed as she set the bowl in front of her dog. William Wallace barked as a way of thanking her before starting his meal. The Scot returned to her desk, which had PADDs scattered all over the place. Kate picked up one of the PADDs and quickly glanced over its contents. “Well I have three surgeries booked today, plus time in the ER and am working on a case with special medical investigations.” The Human/Nuimon hybrid enjoyed working at the hospital and appreciated the lack of excitement she endured during her previous assignments. However a part of her was still missing the life as a starship doctor and the thrill of working out in the field.
A chime rang and the Scot promptly permitted the visitor to enter the room. She greeted with a smile towards her colleague, an African/American human woman with short black hair in the style of a bob. “Agnes, how are you doing today?”
“Fine,” the new arrival replied. “I’m expecting a very long day, starting with meeting our new batch of third and fourth year cadets sent by the academy for their clinical rotations.”
Kate remarked, cheerfully. “That sounds like fun.”
“Yes, making them work,” Agnes quipped, dryly.
“You do seem to push them quite hard, more than anyone else here,” the Scot observed.
Dr. Thomas explained with a serious tone in her voice. “Well, they need to be prepared for the tough life of a Starfleet officer. You and I both know how unpredictable and dangerous it can be out in the fleet.”
“True.” Kate nodded in agreement, beginning to reminisce about the events that happened to her in the past year. In that one year, the twenty eight year old woman underwent trials and tribulations, which changed her life. She was assimilated into Borg due to nanites inserted into the holosuite systems on ANDALUSIA, an event that was too traumatizing it still sent shivers down her spine.
Agnes informed, jerking the Scottish doctor out of her thoughts. “Well anyway, I need to head down to the ER. The African American woman turned around and left the room.
“I’ll see you around,” Kate called out.
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Scene: Corridor-> Hospital waiting area
Kathryn walked down the corridor, smiling at anyone passing her by. She was mentally going through her upcoming case. The hybrid greeted, when a tall, Trill male approached her from behind. “Dr. Jahn, what’s going on with you?”
“I’m off to meet up with Dr. Thomas to get one or maybe two cadets from the latest batch to assist me in my cases,” Jahn answered, as the two doctors were entering the waiting area. “What about you?” He quickly inquired.
Kate replied. “Same here.” They were joined by one more doctor. The Scot groaned silently as a dark haired woman moved briskly into the room. The new arrival was Bajoran/El Aurian hybrid and sported a frown directed at Jahn and MacNeil. She halted to stand next to Kate, showing her to be a few inches shorter than the Nuimon hybrid. Kate was six feet tall. Jahn took a step away from the woman and made sure to avoid contact with the half-Bajoran doctor’s steely blue eyes.
Agnes arrived, followed by five cadets, who all looked to be solemn and nervous. Thomas turned around and addressed them sternly and at the same time juggling a set of PADDs in one hand. “Cadets! Listen carefully and I’ll only say this once.” The five students nodded in acknowledgement before the doctor continued, still maintaining the same tone. “These clinical rotations are extremely crucial in your career as Starfleet doctors. So pay absolute attention and do everything your superiors tell you. Understand?”
“Yes ma’am,” the cadets complied in unison.
Turning around, Dr. Thomas then faced her seniors and began. “Doctors, here is the latest batch of cadets who will be assigned to you for their rotations.” She handed the PADDs to them and watched intently, especially the Bajoran/El Aurian, as they perused the details of the cadets’ information. The African American, to her dismay, saw the half-El Aurian doctor’s jaws tighten. Agnes inquired, raising her eyebrow. “Is something the matter, Dr. Terenia?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Dr. Terenia Helenei informed, haughtily. “Why was a cadet, whose grades are below par assigned to me?”
Before responding, Agnes edged closer to the taller Bajoran hybrid to get away from the cadets’ hearing distance. “Dr. Terenia, with all due respect,” Thomas began defending her choices. “Cadet Platok wants to specialize in cardiology as her major and I believe it would benefit her immensely if she worked under you for this rotation.” She glanced briefly at the cadet, a Cardassian/Vulcan hybrid, whose black eyes were fixed on Terenia.
Helenei rejected the junior doctor’s suggestion. “Dr. Thomas, I want a cadet who has a gift for medicine and is a top notch professional. Cadet Platok doesn’t show the aptitude required to work on my cases.” She narrowed her eyes in the direction of the young Cardassian hybrid.
MacNeil interjected, calmly. “You can’t exactly come to the conclusion without taking the chance to work with her.”
“Stay out of this, doctor. This is not your concern,” the half-Bajoran snapped, glowering. Kate’s cheeks flushed red as she decided to not argue any further, in case it caught the cadets’ attention towards them.
Agnes, unwilling to give up, argued. “Doctor, Cadet Platok is a good and eager student…”
“You’re out of line, doctor,” Terenia hissed, her words filled with venom. “I want another cadet and that’s an order, Lieutenant Junior Grade.”
Kate, hoping to diffuse the tense situation, offered. “Agnes, I’ll take Cadet Platok under my wing and she can have Cadet Hitchcock, whom I feel will satisfactorily meet her requirements.”
Helenei agreed, curtly. “Fine, I’ll take Cadet Hitchcock.”
“Well, that’s settled,” Agnes sighed. “I’ll go inform the cadets of their assignments.”
After Thomas left them to organize the cadets, Terenia glared at MacNeil and stated, sardonically. “You’re lucky we’re of the same rank, otherwise I would have reprimanded you for interfering in a business that doesn’t concern you.”
“Sorry you feel that way, Helenei,” Kate replied, sighing. The conversation did not go any further, when Agnes returned with the cadets. The Scot produced a welcoming smile as she greeted Platok. “Well cadet, we’ll head to our first case.”
The Cardassian/Vulcan hybrid nodded. “Understood, ma’am.” At that moment, MacNeil’s eye colour shifted from hazel to purple.”
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Scene: Terrace
TI: Few hours later
Kate sighed heavily as she was observing the cityscape below. William Wallace trotted around the area, sniffing his surroundings and basically enjoying the opportunity to be out in the open. The setting of the sun meant the day was over for most in the city, though the Scot had three more hours to go before her shift ended. The Eiffel Tower, Paris’ landmark stood out under the evening sky, a sight the half-Nuimon admired. The wind was blowing, bringing about a chill to the doctor.
The Human/Nuimon hybrid’s thoughts drifted to a particular Andorian neurosurgeon, Dr. Aerdan Jos. A wave of emotions enveloped her all of a sudden such as guilt, regret, fear, shame and melancholy. Ever since her reassignment to Starfleet Medical four months ago, Kate had regretted not speaking to Aerdan before leaving E4. The Scottish woman wondered if she was really emotionally incapable of committing to a relationship since the assimilation. She had contemplated sending him a communiqué to explain herself, but was too afraid to do so.
“Dr. MacNeil, what in the name of 88 hells are you doing out here?” A deep male voice chided, breaking the doctor out of her thoughts. “It’s quite chilly at this time of year.”
Kate turned around and smiled weakly at a middle-aged Bolian who joined her at the ledge. “I needed the fresh air, chief,” she replied, politely.
The Bolian doctor, the hospital’s chief of staff, nodded with concern in his blue eyes. “I can understand the feeling.” The two remained silent for a few moments, enjoying the lovely sight facing them. “Actually, doctor, I wanted to speak to you about something,” the blue man spoke, breaking the silence.
“About what, Dr. Pomodo?” Kate questioned, peeked with interest.
Pomodo, a Captain by rank, scratched his bald head before explaining. “You once expressed your concern over the fate of your biological mother’s people, the Nuimons after the wormhole closed.”
“That’s right,” the Nuimon hybrid nodded, grimacing. “I’m anxious over what’s happening there.”
Commodore Pomodo informed, gently. “Well as a matter of fact, I just came from a meeting with a starfleet command representative and they wanted me to let you know, you need to go to DS3 tomorrow to report for your new assignment.”
Kate’s eyes grew wide in disbelief and suddenly shifted colour from blue to hazel. “Did they give you the details of this assignment?”
The Bolian shook his head and sighed. “No, except that you will be a starship CMO again and that it is only temporary.”
“I wonder why,” the Scot pondered. “Well, I will need to start packing tonight.”
The chief informed, producing a warm smile. “Your shift has officially ended, doctor.”
“Thank you, sir,” Kate acknowledged, wondering what the Bolian’s mention of her birth mother’s race had any connection to her new assignment.
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NRPG: I’m happy to be back and look forward to writing with everyone here :) It’s been four months since I last wrote, so my writing will look rusty here and hopefully after a few posts, I will be back to my usual quality. Kate will temporarily be CMO of one of the NPC ships that is part of the fleet coming to the GATEWAY and this is a way of getting her to the station where she will later take on her role as medical consultant. I’ve been writing this post for a while to show what Kate has been doing during the time between her departure from the PROPHECY and prior to coming to the station and Kim said I can send this one now.
Great posts, everyone! I enjoy reading them a lot :)
Ranjani Sabarinathan
Speaking for...
Lieutenant Commander Kathryn MacNeil, MD
In between assignments
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