Continuing Education
Posted on August 18th, 2021 by Scott Ammora and Emilaina Acacia

The engineering team that showed up to the central munitions diagnostic area had been diligent. They moved fast, they moved fluidly, and they knew what they were doing. Assuming Zoe would talk to him at all in the near future he was sure he would pass along his praises – if they didn’t fall on deaf ears. One thing Scott was sure about was that he had kept himself in check, did his observational duties, and got the hell out of the way so they could do their job. The irony of that given his track record wasn’t lost on him.

Now there was something else that he had been meaning to do. He swung by his quarters, grabbed the gift off the dining table, and proceeded to deck fifteen. There was some apprehension as he approached Sickbay, compounding with each corner turned, but he knew he had to start somewhere. And this would be, he hoped, the easiest one on his list. Rounding the final bend he saw the doors up ahead. He took a deep breath as he drew closer, his mind began over-analyzing the many possible outcomes that lay ahead.

Doctor Acacia was in her office working on one of her experiments, but admittedly her mind had been wandering. She sighed and left it to sit for a while, making her way out into Sickbay. She took a chart from a nurse and ordered some medicine for the patient, then paused as she was passing the main door. She looked at the door quizzically, puzzled by who she thought was behind it.

“Here goes nothing,” Scott said out loud to himself as the doors parted.

Emily blinked as Scott appeared. She couldn’t help but smile slightly, raising an eyebrow, “Oh, hello, what’s up?”

“Holy hell,” Scott stopped and staggered back a step, surprised. “I’m sorry, didn’t expect you to be… uh… RIGHT there.”

Emily’s smile broadened. She wiggled her fingers in Scott’s direction and exaggerated a bit to mess with him, “Psychic powers.”

Scott shook his head, “I swear it is one of the most unfair things in the universe. You can read minds, I can read PADDs. Somehow it just doesn’t seem right.” He smirked and motioned to her office, “You got a second for a quick chat?”

Doctor Acacia chuckled and shrugged, neither confirming nor denying any unfairness. She nodded and turned, gesturing for him to follow to her new, much bigger office. Once inside she gestured for him to sit as she took her position behind the desk, “Alright, let’s chat.”

“First I want to say congratulations on your promotion, uh, promotions as it were. Lieutenant Commander Emilaina Acacia, Chief Medical Officer. It has a nice ring to it and well-earned, I’m sure, so congrats.” He hadn’t sat down, but did a circle around the room, “And, I must say, I am totally feeling the new digs. My ‘office’ is a corner workstation in the munitions depot that I share with plasma rifle parts and what’s left of a phaser beam coupler.”

“I gotta say, it’s growing on me. My old office was in the Medical Research Lab, but this,” she gestured broadly, “I can fit so many more experiments in here,” she mused, “and thank you. But I get the impression you didn’t come just to congratulate me.”

Scott laughed, “Again, unfair. And yes, it’s not. But first things first. I don’t want this to be unprofessional or inappropriate, but in recognition of your promotion I got you a little something. It’s nothing huge.” Pulling a small disk from his pocket he placed it gently on her desk and slid it across to her. “I hope you like it. Actuator is on the side.”

Emily raised an eyebrow at the disk. She took it and turned it over in her hands, examining it for a moment. Then she pressed what looked like the button to activate it, watching expectantly.

A blue-green holographic orb appeared, almost filling the entire room, spinning slowly in a clockwise direction. “It’s Earth. My friend calls these things Orbs of Origin, or Origin Orbs. Strikingly accurate representations of planets, starbases, stars, whatever. You name it, well program it, and it shows it to you. It’s like a memory file.” Reaching out, he spun it with his hand and tapped the western coast of California, a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco behind Starfleet Academy appeared. “Think of it as a portable photo album, but better. I programmed San Francisco as an example.”

Emily regarded the photo for a long moment, flipping to the next photo before nodding to indicate her understanding, “Oh, okay, I get it. Thank you, this is very cool.”

He reached over and tapped the button again on the side of the device, Betazed replaced Earth in the center of the room. “I also added Betazed. Wasn’t sure if there was anywhere special to you, but you can program as many locations as you’d like. I have one that has Earth, Mars with Utopia Planitia, and Starbase 60. Whatever you feel is important to you. And, I’m glad you like it.”

Doctor Acacia spun the globe away from Betazed’s main landmasses, scanning with her eyes before pointing to a tiny island in the middle of the vast ocean. She smiled and said, “Yup, there she is! I’ll have to add my own photos, though,” she nodded, regarding it for another moment before hitting the button again to turn it off, “Very cool.”

“Yeah.” He moved to the chair and sat down. “And, as I know you know, there’s something else I wanted to chat with you about. By the way, that gift was a gift for the promotion and has nothing to do with what I want to talk about. I don’t do bribes.”

Emily raised an eyebrow, spinning in her chair a bit, “I should hope not. I like to think I’m hard to bribe,” she chuckled, “but go ahead, I promise I won’t bite.”

“I’d like permission to join some medical training meetings. I know I am still certified for field triage and such, but I’d like to be able to do more. I’m a good medic and I am smart.” He stood up, the energy buzzing through his body – half nervous to have asked the question, half nervous to receive the answer – and he started to pace. “I know I screwed up when I got here, and our first meeting was a complete disaster. I paid the price. My actions were, I’m not going to lie, because I was scared. Atlantis, right out of the gate, was a bit more intense than I realized it would be. And, I faltered.”

Emily watched him pace, touching the tips of her fingers together. She paused and thought for a moment, then decided to point out, “You still haven’t really apologized for that.”

He dropped his head, “I know.” It was hard for Scott to apologize in any situation. You could call it pride, you could call it stubbornness, you could call it being flat out stupid. It was even harder when he still felt he was right to some extent. But, in this moment, after telling himself that he needed to try and be a better person, he had to. “Doctor Acacia, Emilaina, please accept my sincerest apologies for my flagrant disregard for your abilities, the protocols of Sickbay, and my terrible attitude. I’m sorry.”

Emily blinked, then smiled widely. She waved a hand, “Please, my mom calls me Emilaina when I’m in trouble. Emily is fine,” she laughed, “and thank you! I can tell just how hard that was for you, so I appreciate your effort,” she took a PADD from her desk and typed into it, “So you want to join the field medic trainings? Those are already worked around the marines’ schedules, so that one’s probably best. If you last a few months in those, maybe we’ll bump you up to the nurses’ training sessions and we can see where we feel like going from there.”

If I last? Please, I could teach the damn class, Scott boasted internally. “I’m sure that I’m more than up to the task,” then it was his turn to blink. “Whoa, wait a second, did you just say nurses’ trainings? Like, to be an on-call medical assistant here in Sickbay if needed?”

Emily tilted her head, “We could train you to be a nurse’s assistant, yes. Anything more than that, you’re looking at a long layover in San Francisco. I’d be happy to write a recommendation for you to Starfleet Medical, if you’d prefer to be a doctor.”

“Are you serious?” His eyes widened.

Doctor Acacia stared at him intently, a small smirk playing on her lips, “Why would I joke about that? Do you want to be a doctor?”

“I never really felt I had the… what’s the word… demeanor for it. Or the mind. I always felt drawn to the marines, though I never really had the brawn. I guess that’s why I’m where I’m at now: just smart enough to be a medic and just enough brawn to hold my own in the trenches.” It was an awkward sentence, but it was one he had said on numerous occasions to numerous people. It felt mediocre, but undeniably true.

“Well I don’t know if you have the demeanor to be a nurse’s assistant either, but I’m willing to try that route with you. You’d have to get used to following doctors’ orders, even nurses’ orders. You strike me as the kind of guy who might get frustrated with that sort of thing. So if you want more medical education I support that, but I can only offer what I can offer from a starship. It’s up to you at the end of the day,” Emily tapped her chin, suddenly having an idea, “You could also be trained to be an assistant in the Medical Research Lab if that would scratch your hands-on itch any better.”

“I’m sure Weston would approve, but that’s his domain. I’m not really a bookwork and data kind of guy. I like to get my hands dirty,” he paused, rethinking his words, “with weapons and ammunition that is. I try and keep them clean when working medically, of course.” And he grinned.

“Well nurse’s assistants do basic procedures, you might be called on to place IVs or administer medicine, but I don’t think even that would feel like getting your hands dirty to you,” the doctor tapped her fingertips together again, “am I wrong?”

“As long as the end game is saving a life, I’m sure it’d qualify.”

Emily shrugged and shook her head, chuckling softly, “Alright. Two months in the field medic training, that’s all I’ll make you do. If you can handle it, we’ll train you to be a nurse’s assistant. Deal?”

“Deal. Thank you, Emily, Commander, I appreciate your faith in me, and for forgiving my transgressions. Wasn’t my best first impression I’ve ever made, but also not my worst, which I’m sure you can imagine.” Scott moved towards the exit, pausing in the doorway, “I may have a chip on my shoulder, but I appreciate your honesty and understanding. No wonder you’re an excellent doctor.”

Doctor Acacia smiled and nodded, “Of course. Happy I could help. I’ll send you the schedule for your training,” she mused, waving as he seemed to be leaving. 

He moved into the main Sickbay area and stopped, turned around and leaned on the doorjamb nonchalantly, looking at the newly-minted Chief Medical Officer, “Oh, and while you’re at it, we should schedule my physical. I don’t want to be the only crewmember who misses out on that joyous experience.” Scott winked.

Emily checked the roster on her desk console and sure enough, Scott was still on it. She reassured him, “Well you’re not the only one, we’ve had a few setbacks,” she tapped the console, “Are you busy now?”

“And spend some more time in this beautiful Sickbay? I think I can fit it in.” He laughed, “Let’s get it over with.”