Looking for the Doc

Posted on Wed Dec 3rd, 2025 @ 11:59pm by Lieutenant JG Kally Kellerman & Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronan Drake
Edited on on Thu Dec 4th, 2025 @ 12:14am

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Deck 7 > Sickbay
Timeline: After Last Mission Before New Mission

The doors to Sickbay slid open the moment Ronan Drake approached, parting with a soft hiss that carried the familiar scent of sterile air and humming equipment. An orderly and a nurse moved quickly between biobeds. Panels blinked. People whispered, crisp tones. It was busy, but not chaotic given the lack of staff. Controlled movement. Controlled voices. Ronan walked in like none of that applied to him breezing past Crewman Yang who called out to stop him. Ensign Henry Taylor, the Head Nurse, looked up immediately. He stepped into Ronan’s path with a diplomatic smile that barely lasted a second.

“Petty Officer Drake. How can Sickbay assist you today? If you need treatment, I can help you.”

Ronan did not slow. “Not here for you.” He slipped right past the nurse with a clean sidestep that forced Henry to pivot in place just to keep up.

“Sir, you can’t just barge in,” Henry called after him. “Doctor Kellerman is in a meeting!”

Ronan gave a dismissive flick of his hand without even turning around. “Relax. I am not here to get in the way. I am here to make sure she hears something important. And I am not waiting in line.”

Henry tried again, Erika following him as a witness. “You need authorization to interrupt a Doctor when--”

Ronan kept walking. “Got it. I am authorizing myself.” Henry’s mouth opened, but the petty officer was already past him.

The doors to the Chief Medical Officer’s office slid open automatically. Inside, Doctor Kally Kellerman sat across from a very young crewman. The kid was perched on the edge of the chair like she was awaiting judgment from a tribunal, padd clutched in both hands. Kally looked up mid-sentence, eyebrows raised.

Ronan did not pause.
Ronan did not knock.
Ronan entered like the door belonged to him.

Kally looked up sharply, eyes widening just a fraction. The young crewman twisted around in surprise. Ronan offered a polite smile that did not match his tone. “Apologies for the interruption, Doc. Urgent matter.”

He walked straight to the crewman. Not threatening. Not rude. Just confidently inserting himself into the space like someone used to clearing runways.

“Crewman,” Ronan said evenly, gesturing toward the door with a small wave of his fingers, “you are doing great, but the doctor needs a moment.” He placed a steady hand on the back of the ensign’s chair. “Up you get.”

Tessa blinked. “I was--”

“Yes, you were,” Ronan said, already guiding the chair back and the ensign to his feet. “And now you can finish later. Off you go. Fresh air. Hydration. Cadet things.”

The poor kid found herself standing, padd hugged to his chest, looking at Kally.

Kally tried to interject but Ronan offered her a quick, almost innocent smile before gently steering the girl toward the doorway with a firm but friendly hand on her shoulder.

Kally gave Tessa a brief shake of her head to not resist and just let him escort her out.

“Thank you for your time, Crewman. Truly. You are a star. Go be one somewhere else for a minute.” Henry appeared at the office entrance, looking horrified. Ronan gave the girl a tiny push in Henry’s direction. “He will escort you.”

Henry pulled Tessa to him protectively and glared at Ronan. “This is completely improper.”

Ronan reached between them to tap the office door panel, closing it in front of the ensign and the crewman. He turned back to Kally, expression shifting to something far more serious. “Doc,” he said, lowering his voice, “we need to talk about the Chief of the Boat.”

He stepped forward, tone losing all humor. “Something is not right with him.”

He waited.

The office was quiet now.
No students.
No nurses.
Just the doctor and the pilot who had barged straight into her world.

Kally typed a quick message on her terminal to Henry to stand down from whatever he was about to do, and sat back in her chair behind her desk, crossing her legs. “All right,” she said, her tone flat and unamused. “Sit down and explain.”

Ronan dropped into the chair, sitting the way a man does when he’s not here to impress anyone. One arm draped over the back. One knee out. Relaxed, but in the way a knife on a table is “relaxed.”

“Alright, Doc,” he said, voice carrying that dry, streetwise edge. “Since you asked so nicely…”

He tilted his head, studying her a moment before laying it out.

“It’s the Senior Chief. He’s not right.” A beat. No softness to it.

“During Enlisted briefing less than a hour ago , he clutched his head like someone jammed a live conduit in his skull. Nearly toppled over. Had to grab the table to stay standing.” He lifted an eyebrow. “And you know Enor. He’s built out of duranium and bad decisions. If he looks like he’s about to fall? Something’s damn well wrong.”

He made a small circular motion with his hand. “He shakes it off. Pretends nothing happened. Gives orders like he didn’t almost face-plant in front of half the department.”

Ronan leaned forward, voice dropping lower, sharper.

“Then he lies to my face. Says he’s heading to Sickbay after checking on morale.” A snort. “Soon as the turbolift opens, he walks the opposite direction. Didn’t even try to sell it.”

He shrugged, casual in the way Ronan was always casual right before saying something that cut.

“I’m not here because I enjoy barging into your office and getting your staff in a twist. Although your nurse was something cute, and I'm not talking about the man. I’m here because the biggest, toughest ass on this ship is cracking, and he’s too stubborn to admit it.”

His eyes met hers, no bravado now, just blunt truth. “This seems like Doctor type stuff eh?”

Kally stared at him a moment, thinking to herself. "I'll look in on him," she said, making a note on her terminal. "Is this his first time displaying these symptoms?"

Ronan huffed, shifting in the chair like he was weighing how much trouble the truth might buy him.

“First time I’ve seen it,” he said. “But I’m not exactly his drinking buddy, am I? Senior Chief and I don’t… bond. Man treats me like a malfunction he can’t log in the system, and I return the favor. So if he’s been doing this before, he didn’t do it anywhere near me.”

He flicked his fingers carelessly. “You want a better read, ask his little shadow. Petty Officer… whatever his name is. The one glued to Enor’s hip every shift. Bet he’s seen things he hasn’t worked up the nerve to report.”

Ronan leaned forward then, some of the rough humor dropping out of his voice. “But what I saw today? That wasn’t a headache. It wasn’t battle fatigue. It was like someone whispered in his ear and he was answering back.”

He shook his head, tone quiet but edged. “You fly long enough, you see people crack under pressure. This wasn’t that. This felt… wrong. Like something else had its hand on him.” He met her eyes, steady and blunt. “So no, Doc. Might be my first time seeing it. Doesn’t feel like it was his.”

Kally nodded. "All right," she said. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention." She stared at him as he looked at her. "That means we're done here," she said, pressing a button on her desk, opening the doors to her office.

Ronan held her stare a moment, measuring whether she was actually done or just done with him. Either way, the message landed.

He pushed up from the chair with a loose, easy motion, like a man who’d walked out of far worse offices than this one.

“Yeah,” he said, smoothing the front of his uniform. “Figured as much.”

"And Ronan?" she said as he turned to leave. When he turned back, she gave him a hard look. "You will never treat my staff like that again. Are we clear?"

Ronan nodded once, accepting her warning without argument.

“Clear as starlight, Doc.” He turned to leave, the swagger almost gone… almost. As he hit the doorway, he let a little of it slip back in, leaning just enough toward her to toss a quiet parting line over his shoulder. “Still gonna compliment the cute nurse, though. Man’s gotta keep morale up somehow.” He stepped out of the office—

—immediately nearly colliding with Henry, who was standing way too close to the door with a padd clutched like a shield.

Ronan sidestepped him smoothly. “Easy there, big guy. Didn’t mean to scare you twice in one day.” Ronan just grinned, gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder he definitely didn’t want, and strolled off down the hall as the doors slid shut behind him.

Tessa walked up to Henry and patted his arm reassuringly. "At least he thinks you're cute."