Strong Personalities

Posted on Thu Jun 13th, 2019 @ 6:29pm by Commander Hades,MD & Lieutenant Commander Carolyn Corrigan MD

2,254 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 98 - A Raid on Peace
Location: Sickbay SB400 -- Memory Post: USS Mercy, Sickaby
Timeline: MD03 0845 hours

ON:

Hades was in sickbay. They had just arrived and Corrigan had insisted that he go back to sickbay by hover chair. Once she had been satisfied she'd sighed the release. He had decided to go back to his quarters where Kalani was waiting for him. He thought back to his encounter with Corrigan just after he was injured.

Both of them had strong personalities. He sighed thinking of the confrontation and shook his head as the memory flashed through his mind. Carolyn reminded so much of...He shook his head. He couldn't do it. He couldn't go down memory lane. This was...too much.

After the injury, the loss of his sister.... but none the less his mind went to his confrontation with Carolyn. He wondered if he should tell her the truth...he had to trust someone. Kalani knew but...Maybe, just maybe he should tell Carolyn. He shook his mind from that thought but he did go back a few hours to her questions and to when he'd found out he'd lost another sibling.


=/\=Prior to arrival at SB400=/\=

Of the exact point she fell asleep she had no idea. After the next shift came on duty, she opted to curl up on a chair near Hades bedside; deciding to keep him company while he slept. Sometime after the fifth revision of the planned surgeries and before she could start on version six, the PADD slipped out of her hand and seemed to make an almighty crash as it hit the floor.

She woke with a start, throwing off a blanket that had appeared as she snatched up the PADD. Sitting back up she offered Hades an apologetic smile, not sure if he had been awake already or not before she decided to make enough noise to wake the dead. "Sorry," she said quietly. Needlessly, really, given he had his own room. "Didn't mean to wake you. How do you feel?"

Hades smiled slightly. He was pale and word but when he spoke there seemed to be a strength to him. "It's fine. I was awake. Just running through some medical lists...did you get everyone out of the cave?"

“The marines did,” she assured him. “I was a little preoccupied by the knife in your back.... and what medical list? You are supposed to be resting.”

He grinned, "Pffftt. I'm fine. Everyone is working and I'm just sitting here." He sighed, "Alright. How's the work going? Are the EMH's functioning right? I'll be up in a few hours to help." He said. He clearly was in no shape but Hades didn't know the meaning of the word rest.

“We can argue about the last part later,” Carolyn said after a long moment. “The EMHs all did brilliantly. Although engineering pulled one for some reason right after your surgery leaving us an OR short until I got back. I still haven’t had a good reason why... other than that, everyone did brilliantly well in a bad situation. I couldn’t have asked them to do more.

Oh, and the first baby delivered on the Mercy. Currently in need of a name but otherwise healthy. I thought you’d like to know.”

He gave a nod. "Excellent." He remembered a pregnant woman. "Did the mother survive?"

“No,” she admitted with reluctance. Losing a patient, or in this case effectively making a choice between two bad choices, did not sit well with any doctor. Now they had an orphan on their hands. Possibly two.

He sighed, "I see."

“Why did you leave and head to the cave?” She asked suddenly. There was no anger in her voice, just confusion because she still could not make sense of it.

"Vulcans are telepaths... I sensed someone probing my mind and I was able to know where from." It was the truth. He quickly turned the subject. "It's a good thing I did. Those people needed our help. The cave is a natural shield for scanners. We need to get that information to T'Mira so she can put it in the report." He sat up a bit. The pain was gone but there was a stiffness between his shoulder blades. "Now then. I have rested enough." He wasn't well enough but he wanted to get back to work. He felt... ashamed being here when everyone else was working hard.

“Sit still and rest,” she told him. “Besides, I have questions. Like who the Reman was who followed you into the cave... And why did you hit him?”

Hades sighed, "He's...a long story. Why on Earth did you follow me?" He asked.

“You left. The one thing I stressed to everyone. But you left anyway. Of course I followed you, I had no idea what was going on. Please, I’m exhausted ... just tell me what is going on?”

Hades sighed. "It's complicated."

“Of course it is,” she muttered, her expression hard to read as she got up and retrieving his chart. If he didn’t want to explain she couldn’t push him. And who was she to talk when it came to keeping secrets? Though she had told him more about her past than she usually shared with anyone, it did not make it a two way street. And he was still the commander of the ship and her senior officer.

She rubbed the back of her neck as she studied the data, weighing up options. “Restricted duties, four hours maximum and any signs of your condition deteriorating you are back here. No strenuous activities and no hitting big red buttons. In two days we can review. Sound reasonable?”

He smiled, "It does indeed." He studied her. "Now I am the commander of this ship so I order you to go rest. We can activate the interface LMH...the one with the red nose that looks like me. Really liked that one."

“Definitely not,” she stated, rolling her eyes. “Bad enough we were an EMH down... and I have patients to check on. Including our newborn. I should have planned for more doctors with NICU experience. Better add that to the list for next time.”

"Carolyn Corrigan you will go and rest for a few hours take a nap. The doctors can handle things and if something should arise you will be called. That is an order." He couldn't help brothering her. She was so like the sister he'd lost but he would not admit that to her. He guarded his past. He trusted her it was just that life had shown him how trust could be abused so many times that he wasn't anxious to have a repeat.

"You do realise I haven’t actually signed this release, right?" she commented drily, which was far more diplomatic than she was about to say. Even as she said it she finished signing off on the report, saving it to his medical records.

She was pushing her luck on something he had already made an order but the fact he had even made it an order just made her inherent stubbornness kick in. Especially when he was being equally stubborn about getting back to work.

He studied her. There were times when he treated her like a kid, he didn't realize it but he did. His stubbornness was legendary and he'd never encountered anyone who matched it until Carolyn.

"Hmmmmm well finish signing that," he said unaware that she had. "Then I will make it an order."

"Is it this part I sign? I can't recall..." she mused, sticking her tongue out at him just as the door to the room opened and Nurse Ashley walked in.

"Dr Hades, good to see you. Everyone has been asking for you," the nurse said as she nodded at him, smiling. "Carolyn, you asked me to come and get you when we were ready? Vitals have been strong all night on reduced O2, I think now is as good a time as any and we can move the NICU nurses to support the other areas?"

"I'll be right there," Carolyn promised, watching her go. She looked at Hades, handing him over his medical file, all signed and in order. "Let me do this one thing and then I'll let McLintock run everything for a few hours. Please."

He sighed, "Alright. I will go visit the bridge and then I'll take it easy." And he would be in his ready room where he could keep an eye on things. He greeted Ashley, "Good work today Nurse Ashley."

The door hissed open and in walked T'Mira. She gave a nod to the woman and then studied Hades as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you getting up."

Hades shrugged. "Cleared for duty."

T'Mira turned to Carolyn. "Did he bully his way out of sickbay?"

"Ha! He wishes," Carolyn muttered. "He has healed exceptionally well. Better than we would have anticipated. So he is cleared for limited, light duties. Four hours, maximum. Reviewed in two days. No exceptions. Please make sure he sticks to it. He has a department to run when we get back."

T'Mira looked at him. "You stay in bed while I speak with the doctor. Adults need to talk now."

Hades glared at her but listened.

T'Mira pulled Carolyn off to the side. "I understand there was an infant recovered from the colony."

“In a manner of speaking, yes. We delivered a baby, the mother was a little over eight months but her injuries were fatal, why?”

T'Mira pulled out a PADD that she'd had behind her back. She opened it tapped in a few numbers and then handed it to Corrigan. "Is this the mother," The images was of a Vulcan female smiling.

“No, the mother was Human,” Carolyn said, “and we’ve been unable to trace any family so far. She is premature but doing well. Aside from her, three more children were rescued, only one of Vulcan heritage though. We are attempting to trace any extended family...”

She sighed. "Good. Have you come across this woman?”

Carolyn glanced at the picture again. “Yes.... I believe so. There were facial injuries so it’s hard to say for certain. She had sealed shut the door of a nursery. The marines had to take out half a wall to get in. That’s where they found the baby. If it is the same woman, I’m afraid she didn’t make it.”

T'Mira held back a sigh, "What of the child...did the child make it?"

“Yes, perfect health,” Carolyn said slowly, “why?”

She sighed. "That is Laga. She is my half sister and Hades' full blooded sister." She sighed. "Hades must not hear of her death now...not until we reach the station."

“I’m sorry for your loss. But I will not lie to him. And he will find out eventually,” Carolyn countered. “Wouldn’t honesty be better? And we are going to get a DNA hit the second we get the chance to run it if it hasn’t been done already.”

"Trust me Doctor, I know my brother. He will need to get this ship back to the station. Just don't...bring it to his attention. It is not a lie...its an omission."

“Even for a Vulcan that is pushing it,” Carolyn snapped. “And while I’m not lying am I allowed to ask why our chief engineer took the EMH offline the second his surgery was done? I don’t know why but I sure as hell know we were a doctor down when we needed one.”

"Fascinating." She said. "I promise I will speak with the engineer and tell her to give you an explanation straight away." She cleared her throat. "May I see the child?"

“Level four, room 5,” Carolyn told her, enjoying the slight hint of surprise on the woman’s face. “I’ll let them know you are coming. I need to be in NICU, perhaps you would like to omit some things and finish speaking to your brother? And I meant it, four hours max or I’ll have him confined to quarters.”

As she spoke she realised this wasn’t Hades she was speaking to, the attitude she knew she could just about get away with may not go down well with her. Not that she was sure she cared all that much. Everything to do with Hades just kept getting more ... complicated.

T'Mira studied her. She wondered if her brother always allowed the woman to take the borderline insubordination tone with him. "Thank you. Just a reminder, Doctor." She said in a typical Vulcan tone. "While Hades is not on the bridge I am officially in command. "While my brother may tolerate insubordination I do not." She gave a nod and walked out.

“Go me,” Carolyn muttered to nobody at all.


=/\=Present Time =/\=

Hades sighed. He'd overhead T'Mira and Corrigan. That last part brought a pain to his soul unlike any other. He'd lost another sister. T'Mira had told him that Sopek the child's father was on his way to the station. He'd spent some time with his nephew in sickbay. It had been a shock hearing Laga was dead.

The thoughts of his sister slowed his progress and it took him longer to het to his quarters. By the time he'd reached them he barely felt in control, he was warn and tired.

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