Gossip With a Purpose / Time Not Wasted

Gossip With a Purpose

Month 9 Day 16

1622 Hours

Jane Burke

Jane found Drake conversing with her helmsman just outside the messhall entrance.

“Did she want breakfast or dinner?” Bugalu asked.

“She started by asking for dinner, then apparently decided it was time for breakfast, so I don’t know. I suppose as long as you bring her food, she’ll be happy.”

“Will do. Thanks, Doc.” Bugalu went inside.

Drake turned, looked behind Jane. “No Smitty tonight?”

“I don’t expect he’ll join us for supper for a week,” she returned. “All his technical manual updates and magazines came in while we were on shore leave.”

They moved inside, joined the line to select their supper. “His enthusiasm can be a bit galling,” Drake stated.

“Are you trying to tell me you haven’t spent the better part of the day perusing new medical journals that arrived?”

“Well, I don’t let it get in the way of my meals.”

“Very commendable,” Jane told him drily. “Smitty will come looking for food when he gets hungry enough.”

“It is a survival mechanism.” They were each busy selecting their food for a time, and then they found a small table against a wall to share. Keeping his voice low, Drake said, “Guess who had trouble sleeping today.”

Jane gave him a questioning look. “By ‘today’, do you mean last night? Or today?”

“Today.”

“Well, that probably narrows the possibilities to the A and C shifts. Mostly.”

“It’s MacDowell,” Drake revealed.

“Again? Really, Duck, how many times do I have to tell you to find out what her problem is?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I may have stumbled on it when she showed up at sick bay this afternoon covered in bruises from repeatedly falling out of bed today. And if I’m right, there could be a fairly simple way to fix it.”

“Good. What’s your theory?”

“Well, she didn’t have the problem until she got here, to the Fireball. This last shore leave, the first couple nights were a little rough, meaning she was startled awake a few times, but nothing really bad. Today she had a miserable time trying to sleep, and it turns out she went to the gym and sat at weight station C for a while before she went to her quarters and to bed.”

“Weight station C,” Jane muttered, wondering why that was so important. “Oh! She’s a heavy-worlder!”

“That’s right. I introduced her to weight station C myself, shortly after she got here, and it wasn’t long before she was using it every day. Then Smitty put variable gravity on treadmill C, and soon she started using that every day, too.”

“So you think her bad dreams weren’t of failing, but of falling.”

“We know she hates zero-g. After spending time in what is normal gravity for her, I’m not surprised if her brain gets confused when she’s trying to sleep in what seems like too little gravity.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to make her stop using the variable gravity stations.”

“Not unless I have to,” Drake answered, and paused to butter his bread. “I was thinking of having Smitty adjust the gravity on her bed. I mean, he did it for Takor’s nest.”

“In reverse, but I take your meaning. I’ll talk to him about it.”

“Good. Because she fell out of bed so many times today, gave herself so many bruises all up and down her back, I’m not completely certain she’ll be able to work tonight.”

“She might surprise you. There isn’t much that keeps her away from her work.”

Time Not Wasted

Month 9 Day 16

2131 Hours

Bugalu

“You’re still here?” Dr Davis whispered as she came in to check on her patient.

Bugalu set his book aside. “Did MacGregor give her a sedative or something? She’s been sound asleep since I got here. When I heard she was in here, I figured she was back to sleeping 10 to 15 minutes at a time again.”

“No sedative, just a cold blanket. He even told her when the blanket wasn’t on, she could use the computer, so maybe he had similar thoughts about how well she’d sleep this evening.

MacGregor came in behind her. “Maybe I didn’t expect her to sleep. I thought she was up for the day.”

“I am,” Mac stated, eyes still closed. “I just came down to get patched up, and as soon as the first cycle of the blanket gets done, I’ll do some computer work.”

“That blanket has been on cold this entire time?” MacGreg asked.

“No, it’s been cycling regularly,” Davis stated.

“What do you mean? What’s going on?” Mac asked, and stifled a yawn.

“You’ve been asleep since I came on duty,” Davis told her. “It’s nearly 2200 hours, and time to figure out if you’re capable of working tonight. So let’s turn off the cold blanket, let you warm up a little and see how you feel.”

“It can’t be that late,” Mac stated. “I just got here a few minutes ago.”

“It is that late,” Bugalu told her. “The breakfast I brought you is stone cold, but if you are getting up now, I will happily take you to the messhall for a fresh one.”

The 2 doctors gently removed the heavy blanket and laid it aside. Mac slowly raised up onto her elbows. “Oh! That feels much better!” Still moving carefully, she moved herself around to sit on the edge of the exam bed, gingerly stood up. “Still a twinge in the ankle, but the rest of me is just dull reminders of what they were.”

“So you will be reporting for duty tonight?” Dr Davis asked.

“Sure!”

“Good. Keep the ankle wrapped until you get off duty. Take it easy; no working out or running for a week. I don’t want you aggravating the injuries. If you think you need to come back, do. Anything else, Dr MacGregor?”

“Just a couple questions, trying to clear up something. All those weeks and months you were suffering from bad dreams, what were those dreams about?”

Mac’s face went pink. “Oh. That.”

“One theory we had was that you were afraid of failing probation. Which seemed a natural thing to worry about.”

“I gave up that theory when she was still having problems sleeping after she passed probation,” Bugalu stated.

“Yeah, it didn’t seem to make sense after that, but...” MacGreg sighed and shook his head. “I’m tired of guessing, Mac. Why not just tell us what your nightmares are about?”

Mac swallowed. “Well, I did have dreams about never passing probation, but those weren’t the problem, not really. According to pa, I’d never be anything but somebody’s wife and the mother of a dozen kids. And I’d already dumped that idea, so the test was just another expectation for me to ignore. And the longer it took me, the more determined I became. Because it wasn’t a lack of knowledge. But then the nightmares started. Just once in a while, and then every day. Then every hour. And such stupid, childish nightmares! I was too embarrassed to admit I was having nightmares about falling.”

“Falling?” Bugalu repeated, unsure he had heard her right. “You mean, like slipping and falling?”

“Falling off a cliff,” Mac corrected. “Falling off a building. Or down an elevator shaft.”

“No wonder you lost interest in sleeping,” Dr Davis stated.

“Well, I know I’ve said this before, but I think I’ve got an answer for you. Come see me tomorrow.”

“Let me guess; you’re going to have me sleep under a cold blanket, since I managed to do it today.”

“No, but I’ll hang onto that idea as a plan B,” MacGreg told her. “Now go, get some food and get ready for your shift.”