Second One To Know

[DrDMatthews 0]

By Debbie Matthews & Merina

 

At times, Sickbay was a very loud place. The sounds of equipment whirring and alarms beeping and too many people talking at the same time....it could easily grate on ones' nerves. More than once, Debbie Matthew had been forced to retreat to the relative quiet of her office in order to escape the bedlam. But that was not the case today.

 

Reaent was in drydock. Major repairs were just getting underway. Rumor had it the ship would be out of commission for about three months....maybe more. But one thing was for certain.....over half the crew had been reassigned. The medical department had been especially hard hit.

 

Most of the "transferres" had already left the Reaent, heading home for leave before reporting to their new assignment. A few of the remaining crew had also taken off for leave but so far, the seven remaining in medical were still aboard. Under the circumstances, Debbie was grateful they'd chosen to stick around for a while.

 

A couple of days earlier, Aidan had proposed and of course, Deb accepted. So far, the only person she'd told was Gracie Allen. Deb was planning on speaking to her family later in the day. In the meantime, she wanted to talk to what remained of her staff. The wedding was in five or six weeks. She was hoping they would be able to attend. At the same time, she knew they all needed some time off...time away from the ship...time to recover from the trauma of their last mission.

 

And so it was that Deb walked into the now empty and extremely quiet Sickbay. She wasn't expecting to find anyone there but, to her surprise, Merina was sitting at one of the consoles. She looked up as Deb entered and the CMO waved to her. "Can I see you for a minute," she called as she continued into the office.

 

Turning off the computer, Merina went up Deb and asked, "You wanted to see me?" She hoped nothing was wrong or too serious that Deb wanted to talk to her about. Hopefully, it was good news other than her staying aboard the Reaent, while it was in for repairs or whatever is going to happen.

 

Deb motioned for Merina to sit down and smiled. "Yes," she replied lightly. "I'm glad you happened to be here. I was wondering what your plans were for the next twelve weeks or so. I'm told that's about how long it will take to complete repairs."

 

"Well, I had hoped to visit my parents for a while, but their at Earth getting their ship done for repairs. It would take time for a shuttle to get there and back, so I don't have any plans for the next twelve or so weeks," Merina replied as she sits there patiently.

 

The CMO smiled nervously. "I hope you will take some time off, Merina," she said earnestly. "But maybe you could leave in five or six or weeks. That way, you would be here for the wedding."

 

Merina looked at Deb slightly confused,. "Wedding? You're getting married? To who?" The poor Cait had so many questions to ask. Calmly she said, "Five to six weeks, that's in the middle of repairs. Where do you plan on having the wedding? What are trying to do to me, take one of my so-called 'nine lives' as you humans put it."

 

Merina's reaction tickled Debbie. She leaned back in her chair and laughed as the Caitian's eyes went wide and her ears twitched. "Trust me," giggled Deb. "I'm not trying to take one of your nine lives. We can't afford to lose anyone else around here." The CMO smiled warmly at her long time cohort. "But yes, I am getting married and the lucky guy is none other than Mr. Ridire." Her smile broadened as she continued. "The wedding will be here, aboard the Reaent...in one of the holodecks. I've been assured there will be adequate power and with two-thirds of the crew gone, there will be plenty of room for visiting friends and family."

 

She paused and leaned forward in her chair. "So what do you think? Will you stick around until after the wedding?"

 

With her head slightly tilted down, looking around, with a little smile, Merina looked up at Deb, "Of course I will. I wouldn't miss it for the galaxy," she replied.

 

Deb smiled brightly. "Great!," she exclaimed. "It means a lot to me that you'll be there." Her expression suddenly became a bit more melancholy. "But after the wedding, I insist you take a nice, long leave. You're going to need to rest up." The CMO frowned slightly and sighed. "Because when we all get back to the ship, we'll have a whole new team to break in."

 

"Of course, Deb," Merina said with a smile as she got up to hug Deb. "With all that's gone on here, I think it's the medical staff who needs more of a vacation than anyone else."

 

The CMO walked around her desk and embraced Merina warmly. "Thank you for everything," she said as the two physicians parted. "I'm really glad you'll be here for the wedding. But in the meantime, start planning your vacation. I'll probably work you to death once we the ship is up and running."

 

As Merina nodded and smiled at Deb, she replied, "Oh don't worry I will. I'll make sure that I'll bring something back for you and the commander, as well as myself." Then Merina headed back to her desk in main sickbay, she started making plans for her near-by vacation.