One Last Hurrah

Posted on Tue May 26th, 2015 @ 6:27am by
Edited on on Tue May 26th, 2015 @ 1:36pm

Mission: Prelude to War
Location: USS Dromodon Gymnasium
Timeline: One Day Before transfer to Manoora

[ON]

Ninety kilos.

Ninety kilos was what he could bench press these days. Since his accident, one of the first things he did after his recovery; was to get his upper body strengthened. Ninety kilos wasn’t really anything to him. He lay there on the bench, his tank tee soaked with sweat. He inhaled and exhaled as he pushed the bar up and dropped it down slowly to hover just about his sternum. He kept his attention on the clear blue eyes that looked down upon him; her petite hands ready to grab the bar if needed.

Those clear blue eyes belonged to his best friend, Jana Williams, the Chief Medical Officer of the Dromodon. The two worked out together, had dinner together, did extra curricula together. Nothing but friendship would ever happen between them, her proclivities lied with women, and his with men. Though, his proclivities didn’t lie much with anyone these days. He hadn’t been with anyone since the accident; he accepted that, even though Jana would tell him otherwise.

With one more push upwards, he locked the bar in place, and sat up gingerly. After the accident, it had taken him months to get his core strength back. Having his torso strapped to a chair twenty-four seven had been unacceptable. So, he worked hard, harder than he ever had to get strong. Now, he was stronger then most, his chair the only thing truly holding him back. Though, he didn’t consider it a hindrance. It was truly apart of him now; he had accepted this fact a long time ago.

“Good set,” Jana said as she handed Ren a Starfleet issued, gray towel followed by a water bottle.

Giving a nod of thanks, Ren took the towel, and water bottle. He gave his brow a quick wipe, and took a swig from the water bottle. After another moment, he moved deftly from the bench to his chair without so much as a thought. Still wearing his fingerless gloves, he pushed himself forward in one fluid motion. Not far from the weights area were a bunch of mats. He stopped short of one of the mats, locked his chair, and then gripped his legs to move his feet from the footplate to the deck. Giving himself a wide birth, he slid from his chair onto the deck, and laid back onto the mat.

“Do you have a person set up to do this on the Manoora?” Jana asked as she kneeled down onto the mat, placing her water bottle and towel to the side. She scooted closer to her friend, lifted Ren’s right leg, and braced it against her shoulder to start the stretch. Though she would have preferred Ren did this daily, she was grateful he agreed to four days a week. She placed her petite hand on Ren’s kneecap and pushed down gently. Over the years, Ren’s legs had changed. They had gotten smaller in size, the bone density had become lower, and the muscles had atrophied. The exercises that Jana did helped to preserve what little was left.

Placing a hand behind his head, Ren shook his head. “There wasn’t much time to even think about it in all honesty. We leave tomorrow, I will just have to set everything up once I’m settled on board.” At the mention of that, he could sense how sad and disappointed Jana was. He was going to hate the idea of leaving Jana behind, especially with the uncertainty of what was going on with the Dominion, but duty was duty. If war broke out, her expertise was going to be needed just as much as his.

Jana bent Ren’s leg at the knee and pushed the bent knee toward the man’s chest. “Well, be sure to set something up as soon as you can, you don’t want these exercises go too long with doing them.” She fell silent as she pulled Ren’s leg straight and laid it down gently. Then she went to the other leg and repeated the exercises she did on Ren’s right leg. “What about Bobby?”

“What about him?” Ren asked, as his dark eyes shifted toward the ceiling.

Shrugging, Jana said, “Well you two have gotten to know each other over the years. Besides me, he seems to be the only other person closest to you. Or at least the only other person you trust.” Ren had talked about Bobby on a few occasions over the years, but there was not much detail in those talks.

Ren nodded. Jana knew him better then he probably would have liked, though she was his best friend, he still didn’t totally let her in to his inner most thoughts. Those inner thoughts were never going to be unlocked, not by anyone. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

Jana hummed in thought. “Why not?”

“It’d be awkward,” Ren answered. “Also, I’m his CO. People would talk I’m sure.”

Jana rolled her eyes.

“What?” Ren said. “Gossip goes around a starship faster then warp nine. Even if people don’t say it out loud, it doesn’t mean I can’t sense it.” Which was true, he never prodded of course, but that didn’t mean he didn’t sense others thoughts.

“Mhmm,” Jana hummed. A bit of a smirk formed on her lips as she laid Ren’s leg back down onto the mat. She reached out to have Ren grab her hands, once he did; she pulled him into a seated position. She watched as he spread his legs wide and lean forward to stretch the hip flexors, the hamstrings stretching as well. “Well, it’s just something to think about, anyway.”

“Okay,” Ren conceded. “Do you have my medical records ready, along with the special needs stuff.” He lifted his torso up. “I just always worry that the records won’t get to the new ship.” It was truly a worry that he had. He was a man who was pretty independent, but he had special needs. It was much easier to go in with a medical record to hand over to the doctor then have to explain. However, much to his dismay, he ended up having to explain anyways.

“That’s a reasonable assumption,” Jana responded. “But yeah, I have it ready for you. I’ll be sure to drop it by your quarters later.”

“Well don’t eat, I’ll make you dinner,” Ren said. He brought his legs together, planted his hands firmly onto the mat, then slid over to his chair. Backing up to the chair, he placed his hands then pulled himself up into the chair. He adjusted himself, and reached up to pull his legs up. He placed his hands on the rungs of his wheels ready to push off. He watched Jana get up, grab the two towels, water bottles then was at his side. “So, like nineteen hundred hours then?”

Jana looked down and offered her best friend a smile. “That’s perfect, it’ll be our farewell dinner. So, make sure it’s good.”

Ren looked up and mirrored the smile. “Nothing but the best for you my luv, nothing but the best.”

Laughing, Jana placed a hand on Ren’s shoulder and squeezed. “You are such a liar,” she said as the two made their way to the exit of the gym.

Ren shared in the laugh.

[OFF]

Captain Rennan Aamas
Fighter Leader
USS Dromodon

Lt. Commander Jana Williams, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
USS Dromodon
Written by: R. Aamas