A Personal Favor

Posted on Wed Feb 27th, 2013 @ 9:51pm by Anthony Haelen & Lieutenant Ophelia Lysander

Mission: Episode 1.1 - "MystiQue"
Location: Sickbay, USS Yorktown
Timeline: Mission Day 02, 1845 Hours

ON:
 [[Sickbay, USS Yorktown, Mission Day 02, 1740]]

With her working day drawing to a close, Ophelia had begun the generally unexciting process of tying up various loose ends. Even in the 24th century, a physician’s work involved an incredible amount of paperwork, and Ophelia's abiding sense of organization demanded that she see to it in as structured and methodical a manner as possible. That usually meant that she gave herself a little more work than strictly necessary, but she didn’t mind, so long as she was never too late picking up her daughter from the ship’s daycare.

Nearly finished with the small stack of PADDs on her desk, Ophelia glanced up just in time to see Dr. Haelen’s (PNPC) form as he walked past her open office doorway. “Dr. Haelen,” she called out, hoping to catch his attention. “Do you have a spare moment?” She’d been meaning to speak with him all day about a very particular topic, and she didn’t want to pass up the opportunity now that she finally had a moment to spare herself.

Things had been running surprisingly smoothly for the medical department since having left Starbase 386 and, although there were only a few familiar faces to be found, Anthony felt as if he was at least beginning to settle in. He had actually been on his way over to the free-standing workstation which often served as the central information hub of the Yorktown's primary sickbay when the sound of Doctor Lysander's voice caused him to pause mid-step. The two had only known one another a short time, but her reaction during their conversation with Captain Naros had made it pretty clear she was willing to treat him as a fellow physician and not just another medical tool. "I suppose I have a moment," Anthony replied, taking a few steps back so that he was standing in the doorway of the Chief Medical Officer's office.

Ophelia nodded, just managing to hide an amused smile at his response. “Very good, Doctor. I promise that I won’t take too much of your time.” After taking a brief moment to move her stack of PADDs out of the way, she then gestured to the chairs set in front of her desk. “Please, make yourself comfortable.”

There was a moment of hesitation on Anthony's part as he debated how to best accept Doctor Lysander's invitation to make himself comfortable. His own comfort did not necessarily depend on whether he was sitting or standing. In fact, he could go pretty much indefinitely without sitting down since there was no real physical need for him to do so. At the same time, Anthony had learned that to remain standing during such engagements made others uncomfortable which is why he often relied on those behavioral subroutines meant to imitate relatively normal behaviors such as sitting at the appropriate time. He eventually made his way into the office and lowered himself into one of the chairs opposite Lysander.

As Ophelia observed his moment of hesitation, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d said something wrong. With almost anyone else, she would have been able to get some sort of a reading to gauge the situation. She wasn’t the most powerful empath in the galaxy, but she could generally get enough of a sense or feeling to help her understand the situation better. With Anthony, though, that wasn’t an option, and so she could only guess at what was going on inside his head at the moment. Smiling softly, she decided it would probably be best to just get straight to the point. “Dr. Haelen, there’s a small personal matter that I wanted to discuss with you. Well, to be more precise, I have a personal request.”

"Oh," Anthony said with a hint of surprise. The fact Doctor Lysander wished to consult with another physician was perfectly reasonable as it was often typical practice for a Chief Medical Officer to consult with others in their field. It had taken Anthony some time to achieve such status with those who had served as Chief Medical Officer under Vice Admiral Iluvar (PNPC). In fact, it hadn't been until Doctor Evans that he felt as if he'd truly been recognized as an equal member of the medical department. The fact Doctor Lysander wished to consult him on a personal matter was, to say the least, an unexpected realization.

Taking the ensuing silence as an invitation to continue, Ophelia pressed on. “I believe that I’ve mentioned once or twice that I’m a mother. My daughter, Hazel, lives onboard the ship with me, and she just turned three a little over a month ago.” She smiled fondly, picturing her fast-growing little girl in her mind’s eye. “The thing is, with my transfer and our big move to the Yorktown, I never had the chance to take her to her pediatrician for her three year appointment. In any case, she needs a new doctor now that we’re here for the foreseeable future, and I was hoping…” Ophelia turned her green gaze to Anthony’s somewhat expectantly. “Dr. Haelen, would you perhaps consider being Hazel’s doctor?”

There was another moment of silence as the weight of Doctor Lysander's request sunk in. Anthony had expected perhaps another conversation about his role within the department, some sort of establishing boundaries. Being asked to serve as her child's primary physician, while quite understandable from a logistical perspective, came as much more of a surprise.

This was not going as Ophelia had expected. Then again, she hadn’t really been sure what to expect of this conversation in the first place. As Dr. Haelen continued to stare back at her in silence, she felt the need to further explain. “Hazel’s really a good girl, and she has a very sweet disposition. She’s healthy, too, but of course she still needs regular checkups to ensure she stays that way. I suppose that it would be easy enough for me to see to her care, but I don’t like to blur the line between mother and doctor.” When it looked to her like Anthony was still not ready to give a response, she delicately cleared her throat before speaking again. “But if you’re too busy, or have enough patients now as it is, I do understand,” she finished, smiling to show that there would be no hard feelings.

"No, no..." Anthony replied hastily. He certainly hadn't intended to give her the impression this was something he was unwilling to consider. Quite the opposite in fact. "That is to say..." the hologram continued somewhat flustered, "Yes. I would be happy to attend to your daughter's medical needs."

Feeling herself start to relax again, Ophelia smiled more brightly. “Oh, good. Thank you, Dr. Haelen. I’m so relieved.” At least that was one more task checked off her to-do list, and one of no little importance to the young mother. Whatever concerned Hazel concerned Ophelia the most. “Do you have any questions for me, or should we just schedule an appointment for Hazel and go from there?”

Anthony thought for a moment. Despite the fact Lysander was looking to another physician to oversee her daughter's care, there was no doubt in Anthony's mind that she was well-versed in her own daughter's health. "We certainly need to schedule an appointment for your daughter," he said slowly, "though I imagine that shouldn't be too difficult to work out. Is there anything you think I should be aware of?"

”Well, as I said before, Hazel is in general a very healthy child. But like any mother, I still worry,” Ophelia said, her tone of voice turning thoughtful. “Like me, Hazel is the result of interspecific relations. She’s predominantly human, Betazoid from my side, and even more Vulcan than I am, since her father was fully half Vulcan. Fortunately, there have never been any complications due to her mixed heritage, but I do fear that she’ll be susceptible to the different medical conditions that can be found in each species as she grows.” Thanks to the common genetic heritage of most of the species in the quadrant, complications in children like Hazel were usually very rare. But as a physician with some firsthand knowledge of all the things that could happen, Ophelia would likely always be overly concerned about her daughter’s health.

"Understandable," Anthony told her as he shifted somewhat in the chair, "and certainly something to be aware of as far as things which might affect her future health. How is she...behavior-wise?" Despite the vast store of medical knowledge contained within his programming, Anthony knew that his practical experience working with children was relatively limited. The Tethys, because of its design, had been primarily a tactical vessel with little to no accommodation for crew family members and only a few of the Pandora's crew had chosen to have their families living aboard ship. Anthony could only think of two individuals he might have considered proper frames of reference for child behavior. Even then, neither of those young men had been what most physicians would have considered "normal".

Ophelia couldn’t quite hide a slightly exasperated look. “As I said, Hazel has a very sweet disposition, and for you, she’ll be a perfect angel,” she predicted confidently. “For me, though, lately she’s been…a little unpredictable. It’s the move, you see,” she was quick to clarify, sighing quietly. “Hazel was born and raised on a starbase, and by transferring to the Yorktown, I removed her from the only home she’s ever known. At the moment, she’s still adjusting to such a dramatic change, but I’m sure that she’ll be back to her usual self once she starts to feel comfortable in our new home.” At least, Ophelia sincerely hoped so. Although she was sure she had made the right choice for them, she wouldn’t really start to feel at ease in their new life until Hazel did too.

"Also understandable," Anthony said. He could certainly empathize with the feeling of being removed from one particular life situation and having to adjust to a new one. Perhaps that would be the best place to start with Lysander's daughter. "I'm sure everything will be just fine," he continued with a smile, "Just let me know when you would like to schedule her appointment"

Ophelia smiled warmly in return. “I can’t thank you enough, Dr. Haelen. Truly, this means so much to me. I hope if there’s anything I can ever do for you in return, you’ll let me know without hesitation.” Turning her attention momentarily towards her computer terminal, she intended to look up a time that would work for the appointment when she noticed the current time. “Oh, the time’s gotten away from me,” she sighed, immediately pushing away from her desk and rising to her feet. “Hazel’s waiting for me at daycare, so I’d best be on my way. Until tomorrow, Doctor?”

"Of course," Anthony replied, rising in tandem with the Chief Medical Officer, "I look forward to it."

OFF

A Joint Mission Post by:

Lieutenant Ophelia Lysander, MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Yorktown

and

Dr. Anthony Haelen (PNPC)
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Yorktown
Played by: Capt Naros