Which Doctor's Apprentice (Backpost Pt 1)

Posted on Wed Aug 27th, 2025 @ 12:16pm by Lieutenant JG Kally Kellerman & Ensign Henry Taylor & Cass'e'Indira & Tessa di'Orion

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Kally's Office
Timeline: Concurrent with Land of the Living Part 1

IC:

Kally had been trying to rush through her actual work in order to carve out some personal time. She was going through the daily reports when she heard the doors to Sickbay open and footsteps approach. She looked up as a beautiful young woman appeared in the doorway. "Well hello," she said, smiling. She then saw a similar woman with black hair and tattoos come up next to her. She realized who they were and swallowed. "You're Cass, the one who stopped the intruders," Kally said, recognizing her. "I owe you a thank you."

Tessa began to glance around interestedly with a wave as she recognized what the blonde in front of her had done, the giving of the attention to Cass. That one, no smile on her face and the four chevrons engraved in purplish tattoos under each cheekbones gave a slight inclination of her head as she glanced around, identifying each of the people in sickbay before eyes came back to Kally. "There's no need to thank me, My Lady, I was only doing what was asked of me. I arrived in time, that's all." She glanced at Tessa, "It looks safe enough, I suppose."

"I told you!" Tessa said in an exasperated voice, "This is the temple of healing, as it were, even if they don't follow Urd specifically. And since the ship isn't under any threat of invasion and we're approaching the Veil, there isn't a need for *you* to be here, Cass. I know this sort of thing bores you, besides, I have Lady Kellerman here to keep an eye on me and make sure I don't get in trouble, right My Lady?" The younger girl gave the doctor a look of desperation.

Kally looked between them, reading the room. "Absolutely," she said. "I will look after her as if she were my own family." She walked up to Cass and looked her in the eyes. "You may entrust her safety with me," she said, formally. "And as for you..." she gave the other woman a smile and dropped her voice, leaning towards the other woman's ear. "There is very much a need to thank you, and I would be honored if you'd visit my quarters so I can do it properly."

The look that Cass gave her betrayed nothing. It wasn't anything personal, but she was bodyguard to a young woman and that was effectively her entire life's purpose now. "My Lady, I cannot and it was my assignment to clear the invaders by the Captain. I owe her more than you could imagine for saving Her Grace from Trarim, this was merely a partial payment." There was a sigh as she turned her attention to Tessa again, "I'll be back in a few hours, don't do anything untoward, and remember who and what you are." Another look to Kally as if she was about to question her about something, then inclined her head, "My Lady."

"My hero," Kally said formally and curtsied. Once Cass had walked out of her office, Kally turned and walked back to her desk, jumping up and sitting on it, crossing her legs. "Now, what is it I can do for you, young lady?" she said, looking at Tessa.

With Cass'e'Indira gone, Tessa suddenly seemed to relax a bit and rocked back and forth a bit on her heels, "Well, My Lady.. Milady.. Not sure which to use here, I mean you're in charge and everything...but, that's not what you asked." She took a breath and exhaled again, "I'm a Second-class Priestess of Urd'a'Neta, that's our Goddess of Healing, effectively what you would consider a doctor or at least medical professional. I'm skilled in surgical techniques as well as burn care and other general medical techniques." As she spoke she ran her right hand up her left forearm, where a tattoo wove around, looking almost as if it were a vine, with several 'leaves' and other 'stems' which ended in blank locations, as if waiting for a new leaf. The vine itself ended just past the elbow, whereas her right arm was completely bare. "I just want to be of use, not just sit in a room waiting to get home."

"I can respect that," Kally said. "I'd imagine it's rather boring. But...you're...a surgeon? I mean, no offense, when did you study medicine? Kindergarten?"

"Officially? Four years ago.. No, it was almost five years ago when I dedicated myself to Urd officially, but I had begun to study anatomy the year prior. I passed my qualifications for the First Class when I was thirteen and was fifteen when I was escalated to the Second Class." She indicated halfway up the forearm with the first and the elbow at the second, "You can see my qualifications, well... If you knew what you were looking at." She gave a shy smile.

"Woah," Kally said, eyebrows raising. "Well, I gotta say, I admire your dedication, but I'm not sure I want the competition." She gave a wry grin. "But I'm curious to see what you can do. Should we pop over to the holodeck and test-drive a few scenarios?"

"Of course, My Lady." Tessa smiled. By now, after over three months aboard Chimera, she knew what the holodecks could do, even IF she were still amazed by it. Something new like this would never grow old. "I'm more used to arrow and blade wounds, but I can handle internal injuries as well. And I'm not familiar with your medical technology, but I assume that I won't be tested on that at this point?"

"Ah..." Kally said. "I kinda did have that in mind," she said. "Well, let it not be said I'm not versatile." She hopped off her desk and grinned. "Come on. We'll play around with a few scenarios and work on your diagnostic abilities."

"Don't let my lack of technological knowledge make you change your plans, My Lady." Tessa said eagerly as she followed Kally from right next to her, "Diagnosis is more important, yes, but I have had good experience with surgery. Is it 'old fashioned' to you? Given everything I've seen on board, you would probably consider it barbaric even, since it does leave scars after everything heals properly. Proper immediate intervention can sometimes be ugly but saves lives if taking the time to get them to a properly outfitted medical suite would kill them."

"We used to have a joke growing up that goes, 'yeah, but did you die?'" Kally said as they stepped out of her office. "If you save someone's life, a scar is an acceptable consequence. We have tools that can remove it after the fact, or prevent it entirely, but if you know how to save a life without all the fancy bells and whistles, that's a valuable skill in its own right." She paused, seeing Tessa's eyes staring past her with concern. She turned and saw Henry standing there, as still as a statue. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were staring, unblinking, at Kally's new charge.

Kally watched him for a moment, raised her eyebrows in surprise, then turned back to Tessa with an evil grin. "Perhaps we have our first patient here. He seems to be catatonic. What's your diagnosis, Doctor?"

Tessa stilled her face as she went over a brief mental prayer and closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, then blinking rapidly a couple times that made it almost look as if she was fluttering her eyelashes at Henry before she regarded him carefully, eyes scanning over him as she approached in the tunic and skirt that had left her legs bare from the knees down to just above the ankles. Physically, there was nothing wrong she could see without a more detailed examination, no markings on the exposed skin, which could likely rule out substance introduction unless it was injected. Her eyes made their way up to his and one hand came up, index and middle fingers extended as she used motion to try to get his attention.

Henry remained motionless and slack-jawed. When his mother was sick, she'd told him stories about angels and how they were radiant beings of light and how they would take her some place wonderful. He'd never put much stock in it, but now he was beginning to wonder if she had been right. He stared at the young woman in front of him with undisguised awe. She looked to be close to his age, and she was actually looking at him, even smiling and waving at him. He couldn't take his eyes off her and as she approached, his brain locked as he tried to recall protocol for greetings in Sickbay.

That having failed to get his attention as she walked closer, she noted his eyes followed HER themselves, "Milord?" She asked in a kind and gentle voice, "Are you all right?" She peered up into his eyes to evaluate them and his expression, which was completely slack-jawed. Pupils were normal from what she could tell, but she couldn't introduce light to see if they were reactive directly. She reached up to his chin and gently turned his head towards the light, yes, they were reactive to light as they constricted, even though the eyes never left her, then nodded once as she released his face, it coming back down.

"Oh dear, oh dear," Kally said, coming up behind her and looking up at Henry. "A clear case of Lupercalia."

"Lupercalia?" The young woman looked over at Kally and questioned, "Not a term that is appearing to translate very well, can you explain it to me?"

"Oh it's a very common illness among young human men," Kally said, sympathetically. "Nearly always fatal if untreated. Symptoms begins with a loss of vocal control, lack of blood flow to the brain, and eventually a complete shutdown of all their higher functions, resulting in a drooling neanderthal who can only grunt and point and sometimes howl at the moon." She bit her lip to keep from laughing both at her own thoughts and his complete lack of notice of what she was saying.

A smile threatened to cross Tessa's face and she raised a hand to cover it from Henry's view while she looked away and an unseemly giggle game out, but her face flushed a slight red. This man found her attractive? On Trarim, there were some that had shown an interest, but her 'master' had turned them down instantly, but that had been a different scenario. She was no hostage now and schooled her face to impassivity again, "I see, and how does one usually treat this malady?"

"Well, typically treatment involves ensuring proper nutrition via dinner, followed by aerobic activity, an extraction of built up testosterone and a good night's sleep. However, given the particulars of this situation, I think we'll have to go with something a bit more fast-acting." She came around Tessa and brought her hand up swiftly and gently smacked the back of Henry's head.

Henry blinked rapidly and looked around as if waking up, then looked down and saw Kally's expression and Tessa's and blushed heavily. "Sorry," he said. "I was coming to file a report and um...I um..."

"Uh oh, relapse," Kally said, raising her hand threateningly.

"No, I'm...I'm fine," Henry said. He looked at Tessa again, trying to keep his wits about him. "You're Ensign...I mean I'm miss...hi," he said finally.

Kally grinned knowingly at him from behind her protege. "Tessa, may I introduce my Head Nurse, Ensign Henry Taylor. Henry? This is Tessa. She's going to be interning here."

"Well, congratulations," Henry said, offering what Kally was sure was the first genuine smile he'd shown on board.

As Tessa was introduced, albeit informally, she bent her knees in a very slight curtsey, only so much as the occasion merited given the company and formality level, "Priestess of Urd'a'Neta Second Class Tessa'e'Sera di'Orion." She omitted the rest of her title because it wasn't relevant to this situation, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ensign Henry Taylor. As my first patient, I wish your treatment had been gentler, but it appears that Doctor Kally has administered it rather effectively."

Henry swallowed and tried to give a formal bow. "It's...an honor Miss di'Orion," he said, the title flying right past him. "And, thank you for your attention...I feel much better." He gave Kally a brief frown before adopting a more neutral, serious expression. "The sooner we can discharge Mister Enor, the better," he said, handing Kally the padd he'd been carrying. "He's insisting on breaking recovery protocol left and right, and his...visitors," he said, diplomatically avoiding calling Katie out by name, "have not been signing in and out properly per protocol. It's making it very difficult to properly file reports."

Kally took his padd and glanced at it. "I'll speak with his primary visitor," she said. "And I'll see about having her escort him to his quarters to continue his recovery. At least here, we can ensure he is recovering." She shook her head at Jadizon's stubbornness to avoid just resting. "Hold down the fort, Henry. We'll be in holodeck one."

Henry nodded and his face softened again looking at Tessa. "Pleasure meeting you, Miss," he said again. "I'm sure we'll love you. Here. Having you....here...excuse me." He turned and walked quickly back to his work station, the back of his neck turning red.

"You have embarrassed him." Tessa stated in a whisper, so as not to draw his attention to it, "But it wasn't in malice, I can see. He's distracted by me, that is clear to see, I didn't even have the chance to correct him. The 'di' in front of my surname is only there so I don't have to announce the rest of my title, because it's indicative of my noble title." She pondered for a moment, "If you'd like, I could have a talk with Mister Enor's primary visitor? I could likely convince them to leave him alone here for a while longer."

Kally looked toward the recovery rooms and shook her head. "No, Tessa, you couldn't convince her of that if you used every power at your disposal," she said, gently. "Nothing's keeping her away from him."

"I'll leave them in your hands then, My Lady; but, you wanted to see what I can do? I'm ready whenever you are." Tessa seemed eager to do just that, because it's what she actually liked doing.

Kally looked at the girl and grinned. "Sounds good," she said. As they walked to the door, Kally put an arm around Tessa's shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "And call me Kally," she said.