Last of the medical staff to arrive

Posted on Tue Aug 23rd, 2016 @ 4:06pm by Lieutenant Ryan Rose

Mission: Zero Week
Location: Sickbay

"Sam, has PO3 Briggs reported in yet?" Ryan asked the Lead Petty Officer. Samantha Davis had so far shown herself to be a master of paperwork, and Ryan was thrilled to have her on staff. It was a luxury not many space bound CMO's received. Right now she was proving herself yet again by keeping him on task with the last of the personnel arrivals.

"He's checked in sir, but he's not due for a shift until tomorrow, 0800." Sam told him.

"Oh." Ryan scratched at his chin, thinking. Once decided, he tapped his combadge. "Rose to Briggs."

Briggs had checked into the ship a while back, wanting to make sure that he knew where his quarters were going to be and, if possible, meet some of his bunkmates before the pressure of having to try to get to know his new duty crew. None of them were in, so he just poked around the small room - comprised of the four beds (two to a side) - several cabinets and two desks, one each on opposite sides of the beds.

A door at the other end of the room led to the communal head and, with wonders, sonic showers set up. Two of the beds appeared to be obviously occupied but the other two were unknown and Briggs didn't want to get off the wrong foot by claiming the wrong bunk.

Instead, he worked to begin memorizing his route from his quarters to the medical facility, gym and - most importantly - chow hall. Other places would come later because they weren't necessary for his immediate needs.

Which is where he found himself at the moment - in the chow hall, having a late lunch. He filled up on the jerky earlier, having found a supply on the starbase, so wasn't really hungry until now. His supplies were stocked and, well, he didn't have much anything else to do until the start of his shift tomorrow morning.

In fact, except for the duty officer aboard the quarterdeck and the Ops petty officer that helped him with his room assignment, he didn't think anyone else knew he was aboard yet. Which is where he found it surprising to find himself being paged. He didn't know anybody in this sector of space - one of the appeals for him - and the name "Rose" struck a chord.

"Petty Officer Briggs," he said around a mouthful of something referred to as 'shepherd pie'. He wasn't sure what a shepherd was but it tasted delicious.

It was clear from the man's voice that Ryan had interrupted him with food in his mouth. "Sorry to disturb you Petty Officer. I know you aren't scheduled to report to sickbay until tomorrow morning, but could you swing by when you're free?"

That was the connection that he was trying to make. Rose. Sickbay. Chief Medical Officer Rose. His new CO. He hurriedly swallowed and stood, shrugging into his pack. "Okay I can take this with me?" he asked one of the chow hall staff, indicating the bowl and cup. Of course he completely forgot that the comm was still open.

"Sure, but you're boss doesn't need to konw that," the crewman said, indicating the commbadge.

"Crap!" Briggs said, shaking his head. "Sorry sir, on my way, sir. Be a few minutes, sir," he said, contemplating running, but not with food. Without waiting for the response he set out, shoveling his food along the way so that he had the rest of his lunch finished by the time he arrived. He washed it down the remainder of his juice and entered into Medical for the first time.

His pace slowed as he stared around him, wide eyed with wonder. He looked around at the space, suddenly confused that he didn't somehow find himself taking a wrong turn and winding up in the medical facilities on the starbase. This place was much nicer than any other ship facility he'd seen.

Certainly much nicer than his last posting. "Now ain't these some fancy digs," he said, his wonderfilled pace carrying him to the center of the room.

Ryan met him there with a smile. "They are indeed. I really did mean it when I said when you are free." He grinned, "But thank you for coming so soon. The Mess Hall is impressive though, isn't it. Best Starfleet food I've had."

"Well, sir, it's plentiful and freely available, that's all I can ask for and expect. And I ain't in trainin or on duty so that makes me free now, Lieutenant." He sighed as he fiddled with the dishes. "I ain't in trouble am I? For not comin by sooner? Only, I ain't supposed to start duty til t'morrow and I figure you don't need no corpsman gettin in the way afore ya 'xpect them to be there."

"No no, not at all, and please it's Ryan, or Doctor. I won't know you're talking to me if you go around calling me Lieutenant." He had an easy smile on his face. "It's just that you're the last of the staff to arrive, and I've already held the department briefing, I just wanted to get you up to date so you're not behind your very first shift." Ryan explained.

"Ah." The relief was evident on his face as he seemed to relax a little bit, shrugging his pack back into place. "Yes, sir, Lieutenant Doctor. Only, ya mind I take notes so I make sure ta git it all down right?"

"Not a problem. Why don't we go to my office so you can put your stuff down and be comfortable at least," Ryan offered.

"Yes, sir," Briggs said as he followed the doctor toward the office, juggling the dishes with one hand while he removed the PADD from one of the pockets on his thigh.

The office was much bigger than he expected to see - but it shouldn't be a surprise considering the medical facility. Truth be told, the last medical section on the last ship he was on would fit inside this office alone. His eyes roaming the room found a bar on the wall behind the desk and he stopped there for a moment. He didn't know why the doctor would have that on the wall, but he most definitely knew why he'd have one. Fortunately, he had access to the ship's gym so his jealousy at the little luxury was only minor.

"Uh, Doctor Lieutenant Ryan," he said, tearing his gaze away from the strange fixture, "Ya mind I use the replimat thing to get rid'a these dishes? I don't want the remnants offa my lunch to be stinkin up your office."

"Oh geez, of course. Sorry." Ryan had noticed the man was holding dishes, but it hadn't really registered. He had three other items on his mind, and that one peculiarity hadn't really made itself known. "And help yourself to anything else you want while I dig up the information for you."

"Thank ya, sir," Briggs said as he returned the dishes to the replicator and ordered up an extra large ice tea for himself, in a closed cup with a straw, so that he didn't risk spilling it all over the CMO's fancy desk. Having done that, he set his PADD for voice recording and waited to be briefed.

Ryan pulled up the needed info then explained things to Briggs. "I'm sure you know more about it then I do." He grinned. "This is actually my first starship assignment."

Briggs shrugged. "Well, it ain't so difficult, ya just patch up the ones that need patchin and tell off the ones that doin' stupid stuff that gets 'emself hurt. But," he sighed. "I see we got lots of Marines on this ship and after recent stuff they had me doin', I'm thinkin' maybe it's time to do the class on proper care of the feet again. And maybe for the regular crew as well."

"Not a lot of marching done here." Ryan grinned, "but if you can get it by the Marine Commander and want to run with it, be my guest."

Remaining quiet for a bit while he let that sink in not a lot of marching done here, Briggs finally spoke, but cautiously as if he were expecting trouble for speaking up. "Sir, ya ever serve with Marines afore?"

"Served no, treated, hundreds." Ryan replied, his gaze questioning. Clearly, he was missing something here, and was curious for Taylor to explain.

Briggs played with the top straps of his pack while he shrugged. "Well, sir, the Marines, they ain't just about marchin all over the place, though, you'll see they'll be doin plenty a'that also. But they gonna be runnin all over the ship at all times and then there's lotsa downtime for'em cause they ain't got much else to do with their time and they judge themselves by physical prowess."

He dared to look up at his CO to see how much trouble he was getting himself into for speaking his mind, realizing he didn't ask for permission to do so. "Earlier, I heard tell sum'a them plannin a way to break down the door to the lower level gym cause they got told they ain't allowed in 'lessen they pass some sort of physical test and they ain't knowin what that is or when it is but they got locked outta the gym anyhow."

"I was teasing about the marching." Ryan replied, rather out of context to the current conversation, but it was where his brain had stuck, and he couldn't move passed it until it was out of his mind. "I wouldn't deign to interfere with how the Marine CO handles his department, and gossip doesn't interest me." Ryan hoped that would be enough for the Petty Officer to realize he had no interest in being drawn into well, whatever it was. He thought the man's view of Marines judging themselves by their physical prowess to be borderline prejudice, but he had to admit he knew very little about the goings ons inside a Marine unit, he couldn't speak to the matter. "Was there anything else?" Ryan finally got his train of thought back on track.

"Yes, sir, I mean no, sir," Briggs said, flustered as he dropped his gaze to the top of his pack and frowned. Just keep your mouth shut and 'yes, sir' and 'no, sir', he reminded himself. "I mean, I understand 'bout you not wantin to have gossip and rumor, sir, and I know I'm just an 'listed corpsman and you don't hav'ta worry 'bout me steppin outta my place, sir. I just do what ya and the others tell me ta do, that's it."

Ryan gave the man a calming smile. "I'm a doctor first, and an officer second. You don't need to worry about stepping on my toes, unless of course you are worried about literally stepping on my toes." He teased. "I'll see you in the morning, Briggs."

"Yes, sir," Briggs said, standing and putting on his pack, the dismissal evident and - truth be known - he wanted to get out of there before he did something even more stupid than speaking out of turn. With that, he walked quickly out of the office and, despite wanting to look around the medical facility a bit more, decided it was best if he left and removed himself from the CMO's presence until the next morning when he had to start his first official duty shift.