Again with that noise
Posted on Thu Oct 8th, 2015 @ 1:50pm by Captain Julius Whitlam & Lieutenant Nicolette De La Croix
Mission:
First Strike
Location: Sickbay
[ON]
Sickbay. He knew that this was where some of his crew may well come to die in the next few hours. Julius Whitlam stood in the doorway and looked around at the blue-collared doctors, nurses, medics and assistants making their preparations, making sure medical kits were fully stocked and equipment functioned. There'd be no time for that later.
He admired the cool, almost detached way most of them went about the task and wondered whether they allowed themselves to think of the grim reality of their job ahead. Did the triage choices they would make plague their thoughts as his own thoughts were plagued by heavy decisions he had to make. In many ways, he thought, they were similar. The decisions these people made would determine who lived and who died. Much like my decisions.
"Morning captain," Nicolette called out as brought an armload of data slates to the triage station nearby. Something in the man's distant expression made her think that this wasn't an emergency- at least not a physical crisis. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing, Doctor," the captain replied, shifting his attention to the CMO. As he snapped out of his reverie, he also became all too aware of the awful noise coming from the overhead speakers. He knew it was there to make people relaxed, but to his tone deaf ear it was just a buzzing nuisance. It was off-putting to hear it, but he did his best to ignore it.
"How are your preparations coming along?" he asked, making an effort to sound conversational.
"Very good actually," she said, tucking the instruments into a bin. "We just finished with a preparedness meeting with my triage teams to make sure that we were all up to date on technique and terminology. It may seem so trivial, but one transposed number or a simple miscommunication in a medicine's name can be disastrous. Especially when no one has time and everyone's stressed.." the doctor's voice trailed off a little as she took in the way that the captain was standing the expression on his face. "Sir, you seem a little off. Do you need to step into my office?"
The captain shook his head and waved a hand dismissively, "No, no; it's fine," he said, then pointed to his right ear. "Congenital amusia," he added. "The music may be soothing to some, Doctor, but it's just irritating to me. Nothing to worry about, though."
The doctor's eyebrows raised slightly. She took three steps back towards the block of offices off to the side and leaned around it for a moment. "Janey kill the music!" she called out, before returning to where she stood, nonplussed. "So preparations.." De La Croix continued as if the conversation had never veered. "The preparedness meeting went well. I won't know how well until the first rush and the reality of it all sets in. Most of my team are still pretty shiny, captain. The worst they see is Orion mumps on a regular basis."
"That's true of most of the crew, sadly," Whitlam said as the music stopped and he felt the relief of quiet ambiance. "All we can really do is help to build up their confidence, lead by example, and trust in their training. As long as you're there to set that example, Doctor, I'm sure they'll do fine. So look after yourself, too."
Nicolette smiled warmly. She still wasn't sure what to make of the captain- whether he was just as nervous as all of the other crew or if he was just slightly distant. "We'll do fine. Don't you worry. Just make sure all the rest of your crazy folks are doing the same and we'll come through this just fine, sir."
Captain Julius Whitlam
Commanding Officer
and
Lt. Nicolette De La Croix
Chief Medical Officer
