From: Bethany \ (mouse3of3_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Dec 14 2007 - 12:46:00 PST
"Raw"
Cont. from "Explanations"
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Location: GS-2
Stardate: 2.71214.1428
Scene: Medical Area
Tam sighed and reached to rub at her neck. It was starting to ache after several hours of hunching over biobeds, aiding the medical staff. They hadn't exactly needed a counselor immediately on GATEWAY, so she'd been tapped to help with the emergency treatments instead. She had a feeling, though, that within a day or two she'd have people lined up outside her office door, from both the PATRIOT and GATEWAY. It wasn't that she minded the nurse work, but she didn't often spend this much time doing it. She tried to avoid it, actually; more than one standard shift's worth meant that it was the kind of emergency where people died.
Right now, the sickbay was slowly emptying. Triage was long since over; minor complaints had been treated. The ships were the ones handling major surgeries and treatments. Even the senior officers-- the ones that were the worst to get in over "minor" complaints like fractured ribs and lacerations that they kept tearing open-- had been treated or were unharmed. **Now if only it really were over. I need sleep, and so does everyone else.**
At that moment-- like her plea had been heard by a higher power-- a voice broke into her thoughts. "Go lie down. You look like you're ready to fall over."
"What?" Tam was half-expecting to see something obviously supernatural, but no. It was a human woman in a medical uniform, with a open, genial face. Commander Davidson? **Of course it's a human. Most of the people here are humans. What was I expecting, a Prophet?**
"I said, go lie down," she repeated. "You've been working for hours, and we all need breaks. A couple of people have already gone, now it's your turn. Take a couple of hours off, get something to eat, then come back. You'll be needed soon enough."
"I--"
"Go. The medical staff's offices are open, and most of them have sofas. You can sleep there." She turned away, obviously considering the discussion closed.
Tam wasn't stupid. She left immediately, heading for the offices. It took her a couple of tries to find one that didn't already have someone sleeping there, but eventually she settled in one of the junior officer's spaces. It was cramped, close with the smell of smoke, and the sofa was uncomfortable, but it was a quiet place where she could sleep, which she promptly did.
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Time: Two hours later
Scene: A mess hall
The computer had woken her and directed her to one of the mess halls. None of the replicators were working, of course, but somebody had found some crates of ration packs and was passing them out. Having taken one, she settled at a table to eat before returning to sickbay. She'd eaten over the last few hours, but that had been a nutrient bar just to keep her going, gulped between patients. Luckily, there was no one that she knew here, likely to join her and talk at her. She felt too raw for that.
To be exposed to so much humanity... She had spent the days between RESTIN-II and the jump to GATEWAY in her quarters, away from the crew. She hadn't wanted company, she had wanted to think.
Tam had only heard about the closure of the Temple on returning from that mission. She hadn't been keeping track of the transmissions regarding her planet very closely, and her brother's last message had been light on news. It had taken until her aunt found out, returning from her own rescue trip, and messaged her to ask if she had heard. And she hadn't. It had been three months and she hadn't yet heard. And for the Temple to close... A large part of that time in her quarters had been spent meditating and praying, but she hadn't gotten any closer to an answer. Why would the Prophets betray their people, especially with so many in need of passage through the wormhole? Why would they take away the Orbs?
But if the pleas of their people didn't move them, her own wouldn't either. Right before the jump to the Gamma Quadrant, she'd covered her shrine with a cloth; she didn't want to think about the Prophet's desertion.
And here she was going over it again. Tam pushed away the remnants of her dinner, and the thoughts of her faith. Nursing her wounds had to wait until she finished with everyone else's.
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NRPG: So, hi. I'm sorry this is fairly character-centric, but I was requested to write a Bajoran's reaction to the situation, and Tam is feeling pretty torn up about it. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens, there have been a lot of great ideas flying around.
Bethany B.
Ensign Tam Niala
Counselor
USS PATRIOT
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Feb 17 2008 - 03:10:49 PST