Thanks, But No Thanks

Posted on Tue Nov 7th, 2023 @ 2:12pm by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Lieutenant Amu Hinamori M.D.

1,377 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Starship Graveyard
Location: Captains Ready Room

The chime at the door sounded. Taiga looked up and called for the person to enter. With the door motors still broken, the door was pushed open and Doctor Amu Hinamori walked in. She was glowing as she walked in with a PADD. Taiga couldn't help but notice that her pregnancy was just about starting to show.

"Ah Amu, what can I do for you?" Taiga asked softly. She indicated for the lieutenant to sit.

Amu smiled as she made her way towards the chair opposite the desk and slid down into it. "Well Captain, I've come to see you regarding the medical depoartment."

"Oh?"

"Well sir. I don't want to put you in a difficult position or anything. I know I've done it before. But we need to assign a new chief medical officer. With us being on this planet and the recent passing of Doctor Febin..." Amu began to explain.

Taiga raised an eyebrow. "Amu, are you saying you don't want to take the Chief Medical Role?"

A moment of silence fell upon the room for a brief moment. Finally she nodded slowly. "I'm sorry Captain. But with my current condition, I'm finding it hard as it is to carry out my normal duties. I however have several candidates in mind that could easily fill the role."

"I see," Taiga said. "If you don't mind, how far along are you now?"

"Ten weeks..." Amu said as she placed a hand on her belly which was starting to bump out slightly. "I know its still early days, but if we're here for a long time... The rumour going around is that we will be... Then I need to think about what running a whole department is going to have on me and my baby."

The Captain nodded. "I fully understand Amu" She said as she stood up and walked around the desk. She could see that Amu was being serious about what she was saying and it wasn't like her to come here and turn down a job for nothing.

She made her way to the couch that lined the windows. "Come and join me over here." She said hoping to make this a little less formal and more relaxed.

Amu pulled herself up out of the chair and joined the Captain on the couch. It was squishy and soft, it seemed to just pull the weight off of her. She could now see why Taiga sat on it a lot. "I'm sorry Captain..."

"There's no need to apologise," Taiga told her. "Look, you have more important things to think about right now." she paused for a moment as she reached down the side of the couch and pulled up a flask of fresh water. "I'm afraid the replicators are still offline, so I only have water right now. Until we can get them back online we're still on emergency ration packs."

Amu smiled. "I appreciate it," she watched the captain poured out two glasses of water and held one out to her.

"Tell me, how you're doing? I understand you've been doing a fantastic job since we crashed?" Taiga asked as she took a sip of her water. The cool liquid running down her throat was soothing.

"Well, I think I'm ok. As you know we lost quite a few people. But many of the injured are now patched up at least. I'm worried about our Starfighter Pilots. Not one has made it back to the ship yet. I have a feeling when they do they will need immediate medical treatment." Amu told her. You could hear the worry and concern in her voice.

Taiga nodded. "I am worried about them. If they did crash on this planet then they should be using their survival training. If they managed to get out of the Nebula, no doubt by now they have alerted Starfleet to whats going on." Taiga smiled. "Honestly, I hope they escaped the nebula. It would mean that Starfleet would be sending someone to find us."

"You don't think a rescue ship might also get pulled down?" Amu asked.

The captain sighed. "I've thought about that too. Its a possibility, unless the Fighters took some sensor readings. Honmestly, I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket on this."

Amu nodded. There was a brief moment of silence. "Captain. How are you doing?" she said as she indicated to the captains belly.

"Oh..." Taiga said as she placed her hands on her belly. "Not too bad. Luckily for me I've not had much morning sickness, I've heard counsellor Johnson has. But right now I feel fine, a little stiff in the morning. Sometimes it feels like I've simply eaten too much. Sometimes I swear I can feel him or her kicking me in my sleep"

Amu smiled. "Well, you're only a few weeks behind me." She stated.

Taiga nodded. "Yeah. Ryuuji is worired about me and the baby. Especially since crashing on this planet. He's worried that I will over-excert myself again."

"Well, this is one of the reasons why we need a new CMO. I can't complete all the duties of the CMO whilst having my own baby. Plus, we need someone who look after us all." Amu told her with a smile. "I understand if you haven't been to sickbay recently with all thats happened. Do you want me to give you a once over here?"

Taiga pondered for a brief moment. "Well, if you wouldn't mind. I would like to know how he/she is doing in there."

Amu nodded as she pulled a tricorder off of her belt. "The Tricorder shows you at six weeks," Amu said as she ran it over her belly. "You should be starting to grow out in the next few weeks... Can I?" she said indicating to Taiga's uniform.

Taiga nodded and Amu gently lifted up Taiga's uniform to reveal the smooth skin above. She pulled it to just above her belly button and began to run a hand over her skin.

"It all feels fine as far as I can tell. Your belly is starting to get a little harder" she said as she applied some gentle pressure. "Thats a good sign," Amu smiled. "You're still a little small at this stage, but thats to be expected..."

"Expected?" Taiga asked. "How so?"

"With all due respect Taiga, you're a small woman..."

"Ah... Well yeah. I guess so" Taiga said with a smile. "I've always been tiny" she smiled.

"Size doesn't matter," Amu smiled as she ran her hand over the Captain's belly feeling for anything unusual or anything that shouldn't be there.

"Tell that Ryuuji..." Taiga joked. Amu couldn't help but let out a laugh. She knew exactly what the Captain was getting at.

"Boys huh..."

"Boys..." Taiga replied with a wink. "So, is the baby all ok down there?".

Amu smiled as she gently gave Taiga's belly a rub and a pat. "All doing very well in here. Still cooking away, no signs of anything wrong. I think you'll be fine Captain. Just remember to keep healhty and if you suspect any problems come straight to me."

Taiga nodded. "I will Amu, thanks." She pulled back down her uniform. "Oh, just so I know. If you don't have any plans on taking the CMO spot. Do you know who should?"

Amu picked up the PADD she had brought in with her. "Here's the list of candidates for you Captain. I would recommend Lieutenant Ellis over them all. Once you read his file, you'll understand," Amu told her. She pulled herself off the couch and stood before Taiga. "Captain, I still have duties to attend to..."

"Of course. Thankyou Amu. I will take a look at your recommendations and assign a new Chief Medical Officer by the end of today. Also, thankyou for the baby checkup." Taiga gave her a smile with a nod to let her know she could leave.

Amu turned and left the room, forcing open the doors and squeezing her way through them. Meanwhile Taiga picked up the PADD that Amu had left and began to read through her list. "Lieutenant Ellis huh..."

Posting by

Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Amu Hinamori M.D.
Flight Deck Chief Medic

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