<USS Banshee> "Girl Talk"
- From: EnsnSaraCrusher@xxxxxxx
- To: ussbanshee@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 18:53:37 EDT
"Girl Talk"
By: Lt. SG Sara Kaelyre
The hallway between the counseling center where Jansug’s office was, and the
administration section of sick bay where Sara’s office was, never seemed so
long before. She’d walked the hallway and rounded the corner to Jansug's a
dozen
times over and had never felt the gravity she felt this time, and Sara knew
all to well why. She honestly didn’t want to talk to Jansug about this
particular case. Unlike the others she’d brought to him over the months, she
was far
less detached from this one.
The sound of giggling coming from the staff break room brought Sara’s
thoughts away from what she was going to do about Josh. Voices drifted out into
the
hallway along with the giggling and Sara paused a moment to see if she could
recognize them. She knew Jenny’s right away. Jenny, like herself, was from
the
North American south, but unlike her Jenny’s accent was thick and clearly
defined. Audrey, Sara’s surgical nurse, was also easy to pin point. Audrey
was from
upstate New York, but Sara knew her voice more from working with her for so
long rather then the hint of an accent she had. Doctor Procter was a soft
spoken woman and Sara had to smile as she listened to her friend laugh. Emily
was a
damn good doctor but rarely socialized. There were two other voices that Sara
didn’t know right off the bat and she berated herself once again for not
taking more time to get to know the newest members of her staff.
"So then what happened, Sage? Don‘t leave us hanging!" One of the voices
asked. It took a moment but it finally came to Sara. It was Monica Hovick and
her
giggling newbie side kick was Tessa Lewis.
The final voice was no surprise. Monday morning break wouldn’t be the same if
a crowd of giggling women weren’t surrounding Doctor Sage Bristo and hanging
off each word that passed her lips. "Nothing happened." Sage said in that tone
of voice that let people read more into what she was saying then was there.
"Oh come on, Sage! You really don’t expect us to believe that do you?" Jenny
said in that manner she had of talking and laughing all at once.
There was a brief pause in the conversation and the sounds of glass cups
being picked up by hands with rings on their fingers, silverware on plates,
people
shifting in their seats could be heard. Sara had many a time being in there
right along with them, so the picture of the woman moving closer to Sage to get
every last drop of detail was clear in her mind as she leaned against the
wall out side the door.
"Nothing happened, Jenny, really. She walked me back to my quarters and we
both said how much we had enjoyed each other’s company and then we said
goodnight. Nothing more." Sage finally said.
There was a collative gasp before Audrey spoke up. "Where you feeling
alright?" Another set of giggles followed inside the room, while outside Sara
held
her hand over her mouth to cover hers.
Sage groaned. "I take it that none of you have ever gone out with a Vulcan
before?" There was a pause again and Sara could almost see them shaking their
heads. "Well, nothing happens for a while. It’s, logical dating."
"Logical dating?" Audrey said. "Isn’t that an oxymoron?"
More giggling and more break room noises floated out of the room and Sara
just shook her head with a smile. It was no wonder the men on staff all
preferred
to take their breaks elsewhere. Sara was about to start back off down the
hall when the conversation picked up again.
"I’d never be able to date a Vulcan." Tessa said matter of factly.
Jenny and Sage both laughed and then Jenny spoke. "Honey you don’t know what
your missing. You ain’t seen nothing till you’ve been with a Vulcan in Pon
Farr."
"You tell her, Jen!" Sage said, followed quickly by the sound of a high five
and more giggles.
Audrey sighed. "Do you two ever think of anything besides sex?"
There was a pause before both women replied in unison. "No."
Sara rolled her eyes as she leaned against the wall again. She wasn’t sure
why she just didn’t go in and join them rather then listening in from the
hall,
but she seemed to be frozen in place.
"So why wouldn’t you date a Vulcan, Tess?" Emily asked softly.
"It’s simple," Tessa said, her voice becoming further away and then close
again as if she’d walked across the room and back. "I don’t think I could
deal
with being involved with someone I knew was going to out live me by hundreds of
years."
"Never thought of that before." Monica replied before Tessa went on.
"I mean just look at Ambassador Sarek. The man was married three times, two
of which were humans. I don’t think I could handle the concept of my husband
having one or two more wives after I’d died."
The room got quiet except for the sounds of cleaning up. Then Emily spoke up
again. "I wonder if they talked about it?" She asked out loud.
"Did who talk about what?" Sage asked.
"The Ambassador and his first human wife. I wonder if they talked about what
he would do after she died."
"I’m sure they must have. I guess." Jenny’s voice didn’t sound very sure
of
what she was saying. "I mean something like that just seems like something
that would need to be talked about. Then again he was a Vulcan and talking
about
stuff like how long he’d wait and what Amanda thought his next wife should be
like were probably illogical topics."
"Ya know I bet there would be more to deal with then just what would happen
after the human died."
"What do you mean, Tess?" Monica asked.
"Well, Vulcans age slower then humans, right, which is why the human dies
first. But what if the human and Vulcan married young. The human would grow
old
and the Vulcan would still look young. That would have to be hard on the
human. So another reason I’ll never date a Vulcan."
Sara listened closely as she hugged the padd she’d had in her hand to her
chest. Her mind kept wandering to the stories her Aunt had told her about
meeting
the Ambassador and his second human wife, Perrin. She liked that story mostly
because while the Ambassador was there her Aunt had hauled off and smacked
her cousin, something Sara’d been waiting to see all her life, but the more
she
thought about him and his life and his marriages the more something bothered
her. She just didn’t know what it was. Sara’s attention was once again
drawn
to the break room, but this time it wasn’t the sound of giggling but the
sound
of her own name that brought her back.
"It’s just like Doctor Kaelyre and the Commander." Monica said. "We could ask
her if they’ve talked about it."
"Why would they talk about weather a Vulcan talks about what happens after
their human spouse dies?" Tessa asked.
"That‘s not what I meant." Monica said. "See the Commander’s species ages
like Vulcans so I wonder if she and the Doctor have talked about what happens
after the Doctor dies. I mean if the Commander looks like she’s 22 when
she’s
62 she’s still going to look young when the Doctor’s a 102."
Sara’s body went stiff as she listened to what the young nurse was saying.
She’d never even thought of that before.
"Alright that’s enough. Lines drawn here." Sara heard Sage say. She let go of
the breath she hadn’t known she was holding and listened in again. "No fair
bringing in people who aren’t here. We don’t gossip about our own, ladies,
we’
re not engineers."
The sounds of movement in the room grew and Sara knew that the group was
getting ready to leave the break room and head back to work. She didn’t want
them
to know she’d been listening, but as her mind churned about this new set of
thoughts it felt as if her legs were made of lead. It took the sound of
Jenny’s
voice telling the nurses it was time to get back to work and the sound of
Sage’
s voice asking Emily to help her with something to get Sara to finally move.
She’d long forgotten about heading to Jansug's. She turned, padd still
clinched in her hands, and headed back to her own office. Her mind even more a
jumble then it had been fifteen minutes before.
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