New Doctor

Posted on Wed Apr 13, 2016 @ 5:33pm by Commander Caleb Ryan & Civilian Opal Oliver (Deceased) Dr

2,478 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 8/1900

Caleb had finished his shift later than he expected. Much later, actually. There had been several meetings with Federation brass over his handling of the Ferengi situation – or lack of handling. He felt like an ass for hiding behind ‘orders’. Caleb had not found the idea a good one, but the captain had bypassed him completely in handing down the order, and with everything else he was dealing with on the station, he had dropped the ball. Because his daughter had been among the detained, his motives had been called into question.

Caleb grabbed his cane as he headed out of his office. With all the tension, his leg was acting up again. He had missed his appointment with Dr. Telamon for his leg treatment. She had probably already headed off duty. He thought he would stop by to check, though.

Caleb pulled his Social out and called Aleczandra. She didn’t answer, however, so he just left a message that he would be late and not hold dinner for him. Since the Ferengi incident, Aleczandra had withdrawn a bit. He knew it likely had to do with what she had done with the ambassador’s aide, but he couldn’t help feeling she was keeping something else from him.

The doors to Sickbay slid open and Caleb hobbled inside, looking around. He didn’t see Amia, but that didn’t surprise him.

Opal was the on-call doctor tonight. She saw the lieutenant commander come in and came out of the office to see what he wanted.

"Good evening. I'm Dr. Opal Oliver. Ollie to my friends. I'm the civilian doctor on base. I hope that's not a problem? I do work very closely with Lieutenant Commander Telamon and her staff, but I'm not military. Is that a concern? Shall I send out for a Starfleet doctor or can I persuade you that the civvie touch can be good too?" she smiled, her blonde hair contrasting confusingly with the deep black irises that took over her normally hazel-based eyes, indicating that she was showing her Betazoid side right now.

Caleb was a bit taken aback. Dr. Oliver was quite attractive, but it was the golden blonde hair that made him freeze for a moment. It was so like Mika’s, the way the light shown in it, the way it framed her eyes.

The eyes. Caleb focused on the eyes, the exact opposite of Mika’s blues that Aleczandra had inherited, along with her mother’s blonde hair. He gave Opal a faltering smile. “Ah guess you’ll do, Doc,” he said. “Ah was scheduled to have a bit more surgery on mah leg this afternoon, but Ah’m afraid work caught me up and Ah missed mah appointment,” he admitted. “Ah guess Ah can reschedule. Ah don’t want ta bother ya’ll.”

"It's no bother at all, and I'd be pleased to catch you up with your scheduled surgery so you'll still be ready for the next phase, assuming this isn't the last treatment." She moved to pick up the padd on the side and load up his details. "What's your reference number?" She looked up at him and added, "Or name, rank, and serial number?" She smiled at him. Not at all bad! she thought with a slight flutter already. Perhaps this isn't going to be such a boring shift as I thought!

Caleb stared uncomprehendingly at first as his brain tried to catch up. “Oh. Ryan, Caleb. Lieutenant Commander,” he said, and rattled off his number. “No, this isn’t my last treatment,” he said. “Second, actually, in a series.” He pulled his eyes away from the doctor and looked around sickbay. “Where do you want me to go?” he asked.

"Cubicle One please," she replied, accompanying him to the assigned side room. When they were established in there, and she had the bio-arch raised to scan and monitor him and his vitals, she fed in his details and brought up his medical record. "Ah yes, I can see what treatment you have been having. Yes, a whole course is prescribed. I'll go ahead and start the next session, and if you like I could schedule the next ones too. Just so you know when to expect your appointments, etc.," she explained and began to set up.

"Would you like any music to while away the time you're here? We have a vast selection of all kinds of music: modern, contemporary; previous centuries. What's your preference?" she asked.

Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Well, maybe some Merle Haggard or Willie Nelson,” he said, slipping off his shoes and starting to undo his belt. He paused in embarrassment, gazing at the younger doctor. “Just not that stuff my daughter listens to,” he said with a handsome smile, finally pushing down his trousers. The large surface scar was still there, coming out from under his regulation boxer briefs, marking where the deeper tissue damage had occurred three years ago. He carefully folded his trousers at the end of the bed.

“Dr. Telamon was doing the treatments. Ah’m afraid Ah missed her.” He got up and sat on the bed, rolling up the side of his boxers to expose the damaged portion of his thigh. “It’s not pretty, Ah’m afraid.”

Opal programmed some music and then returned to take a look at the task in hand. "It's a lot prettier than it was." She tried to be complimentary because he was right; it was quite badly scarred, even now.

Noticing his puzzled look she realized that he couldn't know how she would know that, so she explained. "I looked at the files. I needed to know where you had got up to with Amia and what was the next treatment plan. I hope you don't mind, but there were medical images, naturally. Before, in between treatments, and some for results so far.”

“No, that’s totally fine, Doc,” Caleb assured her. “Ya need ta do your job.” He flashed her a handsome smile. “So guess Ah shouldn’t monopolize all your time, so we should get ta work.” He eased himself back on the bed, looking over at the pretty doctor.

Opal set to work and the session of regeneration went well and relatively quickly.

Whilst she was working, Opal concentrated and was unaware that she was pulling down her brows and looking as if she was frowning. As the work lightened up a little and she got the results she was working for, she looked up at her patient and smiled, her whole face relaxing again.

"There, I think that's enough for you to endure today!" she said, hoping that it was a joke and that he hadn't been in any discomfort from the treatment.

"Are you feeling okay?" she had to check.

“Yes, Doc,” Caleb said, flexing his leg a bit. It was still a little numb from the local anesthetic. “Thank ya. You have a gentle touch,” he said, flashing her a handsome smile. He’d watched her work, her pretty brow furrowing in concentration.

Caleb put a hand on Opal’s arm to steady himself as he swung his legs off the bed. “Sorry,” he apologized in case he squeezed too hard.

"No need to be sorry," she replied gently, looking at him with a long, appraising gaze. "Shall I reach your cane over? Or would you like to try just a couple of steps first? We might be best to leave any real exploratory exercise until tomorrow to let that repair settle, and we don't want you overdoing anything just because you can't feel it through what's left of the anesthetic."

“Just a couple steps,” Caleb said. “Ah hate that damn cane.”

He eased himself to his feet. There was definitely numbness in the area. He couldn’t quite tell much with the anesthetic still in play. Suddenly, though, his leg buckled and he fell forward. Instinctively he grabbed onto the nearest thing, which was Dr. Oliver, and they tumbled onto the bed together.

"Oh dear!" she exclaimed as they fell. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. What happened?" She was so busy trying to ascertain why he had fallen at first she was distracted from the situation they were now in. As she tried to look into his face to see if he was in pain, she felt she ought to get disentangled and grab a scanner to check him over, but with his weight on her, and his closeness, and a sudden realization dawning that set off warnings in her head about what might be seen to be "inappropriate feelings towards a patient". She made no attempt to struggle free.

It wasn't obvious whether her first thoughts were that if she forced her way out from under him she might be hurting him, or if the very first was about moving in a way that might give him the wrong, or even right, idea, or perhaps it was how beautiful and deep his eyes were and how she should resist thinking like that, but then again, how could she unfeel something that she clearly had felt quite profoundly.

“No, Ah’m fine,” Caleb said, getting his arms set to try and keep his body weight off of the petite doctor, to not crush her. “Guess Ah wasn’t quite ready. Ah’m so sorry, Doctor. Did Ah hurt ya?” His dark eyes gazed into hers, struck by the striking coloration. He managed to shift his weight to free a hand and gently brush a lock of blonde hair from her face, his finger tracing delicately over the pretty doctor’s cheek. Her soft body pressed against his hard, muscular frame stirred primal needs in him, needs he’d not had met for two years, and his body reacted as it should.

Opal blushed, but her eyes never left his. This was happening much too fast and she wasn't sure what she should do. She knew all the rules about how doctors and their patients should react to each other and not get involved, but something powerful was happening and she was being swept into an alarming current which was hard to resist.

"I...I'm sorry..." was all she could say as her color rose more.

“Nothin’ ya need ta be sorry about, ma’am,” Caleb said. “Mah own clumsy fault.” Carefully he eased himself upright, no longer trapping her as he settled on his own two legs. He didn’t even feel a twinge in the bad one, so the treatment must have taken again. He helped her up and stared at her and then looked nervously away, very aware of her as more of a woman now and not a doctor. He coughed into his hand. “Thank ya.”

"It's my job, but it was also my pleasure," Opal replied. "It's always so satisfying to be able to give a patient some relief from pain or problems."

She wanted to say more about why it was her pleasure, but she knew that was totally unprofessional and unacceptable. Shame though, as he was really very attractive, and she wanted to say something that might get some reason or time to see him away from the professional 'doctor/patient' relationship.

"I... er..." she began, but trailed off with a blush rising to her cheeks.

Caleb was reaching for his pants to pull them on again and looked over at the doctor. “What is it, Doc?” he asked her. That blush really made her look even prettier, if that were possible.

"I was thinking we ought to put your next session into the calendar?" She hurriedly found a reason for him not to leave so soon.

“Sure thing, Doc,” Caleb said, fastening his pants and giving her a smile. “When is your schedule open?” he asked, mentally checking his own. Too bad Jessica wasn’t here. She would have it already called up on a padd for him.

Opal sensed, but wasn't sure if she was being paranoid, a sudden drifting off of his attention. She let it go and looked up an appointment in five days' time.

"If you'd prefer, you could see Amia again?" she offered, wondering if he had lost interest in herself or modestly thinking that perhaps she might have imagined that he had ever had such an interest. There was every chance that it had been a figment of her own desire that he might, rather than an actual real event.

“No, no,” Caleb said, offering an awkward smile. “Five days is just fine,” he said, putting a hand on her arm briefly before removing it, unsure if the touch was appropriate. “You’re a fine doctor.” He couldn’t help but look her over again before catching himself and returning to her pretty face.

Opal felt herself flush from cheeks to deeper inside and then back again, even more pink than at first. She was made braver by the rush.

"Thank you," she said. "I was wondering if perhaps I could be a fine friend as well? If that's not too presumptuous... Please feel free to tell me in no uncertain terms if that's inappropriate."

“Oh. Well, a man can never have too many friends, can he?” Caleb said. “Of course, Doctor. Uhm…Opal,” he corrected. “Ah mean, if we’re friends.” He flashed her that smile of his. “And call me Caleb, then.”

That smile made her flush again. "I'd like that Caleb," Opal replied with a delighted grin.

Caleb was taken aback by the doctor’s smile. “Yes, well, perhaps I’ll see you on the Promenade sometime…before my next appointment. I’ll buy you coffee…or ice cream, or whatever you like,” Caleb told Opal.

Opal smiled again. "Yes please!" she replied with warmth that showed she meant it. "I'm a great ice cream fan and they do some amazing recipe ices in Jacko's, on the top floor of the Promenade...." she trailed off a little, realizing that she was being a little forward since he hadn't actually mentioned a date or time, so he had probably just been being polite. The blush was back due to these latter thoughts.

“Ah know the place,” Caleb said. “Mah daughter likes it.” For some odd reason, he worried about what she might think of him having a daughter.

“Ah should go,” Caleb said hurriedly. “Thanks again.” He gave her a lingering look and then quickly left Sickbay, confused by his feelings toward the pretty doctor.

Opal watched him go, taking in and mentally trying to examine the feelings she knew she shouldn't be having, wondering about what was in store for her where this man was concerned.

FIN

Lt. Cmdr. Caleb Ryan
Chief of Security/Tactical

Dr. Opal Oliver
Civilian Medic

 

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