Takes a Thief

Posted on Wed Jun 25th, 2025 @ 1:22pm by Ensign Ezmyrae Varin & Lieutenant JG Edward Mitchell

Mission: Pandora's Box
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD7, Late Morning
1584 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

As the doors to Sickbay opened, Myra knew that she was technically not supposed to set foot back in the place until her next duty shift, which when accounting for the time Dr. Ame had set aside for her to study several case files, was at least twelve hours away. The prospect of her empty quarters wasn't appealing, however, not when settling Lieutenant Zade into her quarters had rattled Myra's nerves more than she'd prepared herself for. It hadn't been the original plan but the compulsion existed, clawing away at her conscience, to alter the rotation to make sure she was personally allocated to the older Trill's next check-in. It would cut into Myra's sleep schedule but that didn't matter. That wasn't the point.

Moving quietly, having cultivated quite a knack for unintentional stealth, the young doctor checked the chronometer and swung the medkit in her hand up onto one of the benches. She could check everything back in herself before heading out, she reasoned, there wasn't really any need to bother one of the technicians.

"Stealing supplies again?"

Eddie was right behind her; and close enough to startle. With a trademark grin, the nurse folded his arms and glanced at the medkit Myra was handling. "You honestly think I'd get to where I am today without having the eyes of a hawk? I know everything that goes on in this sickbay; it's why Doctor Ame keeps me about." He leaned over her and closed the medkit. "You want prescriptions, you follow the rules," he added with a wink.

As much as it was likely the exact response being sought, Myra's expression moved very quickly through the flushed embarrassment of implied deviance to a near-cultural indignation that did nothing for restoring her natural colour but did add a little extra life to her eyes. "I was returning items, actually. I've just finished setting up Lieutenant Zade's quarters for remote care."

"Well in that case..." he leaned over and started making a show of straightening the items she was messing around with. "You should make sure everything goes back to where it came from properly." With a pleasant, mildly amused smile, he took a step back and crossed his arms. "So how is Lieutenant Zade? Convalescing as she should be, or climbing the walls as I suspected?"

A flare of genuine anger caught Myra off-guard. The conversation with Zade had been taxing, certainly unexpectedly awkward, and the whole point of returning to Sickbay had been to preoccupy herself so she didn't sit and dwell on it. "If she could climb walls, there'd be no need to confine her to quarters."

It was an unnecessary attempt to misconstrue the question as a literal possibility but the confrontation hadn't started with her. Turning back around, Myra made a point of reorganising the equipment the way she'd had it and picked up the first to activate sterilisation.

"She'll need her obs done in six hours. I'm happy to do it."

"Generous of you. What are you after?" he smirked, waving away the notion. "No, but seriously - coming in on your off-hours, putting yourself forward to do extra work...are you trying to catch Dr Ame's eye?" He leaned in. "I don't mind handing off some of my drudgery if so."

Though she hadn't been on board long, Myra knew she hadn't done a great job of going out of her way to make social connections. Aside from the occasional brief stop-over, she'd avoided the mess entirely and eaten her meals alone in her quarters. She'd managed to only use the gym when it was fairly empty and the two times she'd put in a booking for a holodeck, she'd cancelled within ten minutes of making because it involved leaving her space. There was no reasonable, rational way that anyone could know much about her, least of all have figured out or invested much care into how to navigate her sensibilities. It didn't really help, though, not when the sting was potent enough to provoke unwanted moisture that dispersed only by application of extremely fast blinking.

"You know what," she replied without actually answering, "fine. Here." The reclipped medkit was shoved at the nurse as eye contact was avoided entirely. "I'll get out of your way." Myra knew she'd lost her grip on professionalism, the last few strands were only enough to keep her from including what she thought of Mitchell's attitude.

"Huh-wha-?" Eddie grunted, taken aback. It was rare that the affable nurse was perceived as anything but genial and friendly. He set the medkit down quickly and tried to catch her eye. "Ensign. Something going on that I don't know about?" His tone shifted sharply from over-friendly to cautiously professional.

If pressed to be entirely honest, Myra barely heard him. The cumulative stress of the past few days, piled on top of the conversation with Zade that had rattled her more than was comfortable, flooded her mind with the impulse to just get out whilst simultaneously freezing her to the spot. "I'm just tired." It was a weak excuse though probably not without some truth.

"Just?" He echoed, angling his head so it was lower in an attempt to catch her eye. "I've been doing this job long enough to tell when a patient isn't quite being honest with me. Don't make me refer you to Dr Savin..."

"I've already spoken with him." Rather than her earlier defiance, Myra spoke only with deflated resignation and a hint of weariness that had more to do with the exchange than her current energy levels. "It's not been an ideal start to my first assignment." For the benefit of being convincing enough to entirely avoid the impossible aspects of her cumulative mood, Myra managed an ironic half-smile. "I would have preferred a little more time before dealing with my first casualty."

"I see." There was a pause, where Eddie considered making a light-hearted remark in response. But his professional instincts took priority. "Well, we don't always get to choose in this job," he finally noted. "One of the injured from the surface raid?"

"Any of them." Myra hadn't been on board long enough to form attachments beyond a general sense of empathy. "Though I was working on Lieutenant Zade when they ceased resuscitation attempts on Ensign Rimmel." If she was honest, the entire experience was a haze, particularly since the Security Chief's situation had monopolised so much of her attention. What had initially been an attempt to provide a realistic explanation that didn't actually force confessions she wasn't inclined to share suddenly warranted a deeper frown. "And no," Myra continued after a moment, raising her eyebrows as she made eye contact again. "We may not have a choice but that doesn't have to render us callous. I am tired, I am sad, and apparently I am also a criminal nuisance." Whilst not as angry as she had been earlier, there was still a bite of challenge to the Trill's tone.

"It's a good job you're in sickbay, then," Eddie noted. There was still a hint of that light-hearted tone but he had tempered it with something approaching 'big brotherly' instead of simple jest. One of the things that he had to rely on as a nurse was the ability to 'mother' patients without seeming to. A lot of it was in the voice. "I could quite easily just order you to get some rest and a hot meal. But...since I don't want you hating me forever..." He glanced over his shoulder. "Dr Ame has a half-bottle of springwine in her office. I could prescribe some for medical purposes. If you don't tell anyone, I wont either."

Despite everything, Myra furrowed her brow in partial amusement. "One minute you're chastising me for trying to clean up after myself, the next you're prescribing non-preferred methods of mood enhancement." Folding her arms across her chest, the Trill leaned back against the bench and added, "Sounds like a case of 'takes a thief to know a thief'. I don't think we need to start raiding our superior's personal supply."

As much as the nurse's disposition seemed to swing back and forth like a pendulum, Myra was astute enough to recognise that was probably partially her fault. Even though she hadn't been on board very long, there was still something to be said for having made no effort to get to know any of her colleagues. If Mitchell's desire wasn't actually to accuse her of anything untoward, she could at least appreciate his bluntness.

"Thief? I should be offended," Eddie remarked. "I've never stolen anything from Dr Ame. But since anything in sickbay could strictly come under the banner of medical supplies, I believe you might say I requisitioned a dram once or twice. Now, are you going to stand around accusing me of committing crimes all day, or are you going to take my advice and give yourself a break?"

"We're only still standing here because you accused me first."

It was petulant, even as a jest, but Myra was too tired for regrets. Her smirk lacked any heat, however, and as quickly as her hackles had raised, they flattened entirely under the strain of physical and mental exhaustion.

"Fine," she consented, stepping around him to make her way towards the door, though she turned back long enough to toss, "But you better not complain that I left you a mess to clean up."