The Trying of the Oath [Luke/Archangel]

[Archangel Koris]

The use of her name came as quite a shock to Archangel.  He hadn't used it in a long time and she had been perfectly fine with keeping that distance between them.  If anything, it made her feel better about the fact that the man who was her eldest daughter's father was now serving under her command.

She drew herself up straight, deliberately putting equal weight on both legs as if to prove to him that she could do it, and hoping ferverently that he wouldn't see thather knee was screaming at her that it was a bad idea.

"I'm not hurt," she denied.  "I can still protect the crew and the crew can still depend on me."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

"=/\=Computer, unlock sickbay."

The doors slid open with their characteristic whoosh. Stafford gestured at them in disgust.

"Fine," he said, his tone full of resign. "You're free to go, captain. You want your body to give out on you when you need it the most? You want to be crippled or worse? Not be able to move when you need to move, or fight? Ok by me. Leave the rest of us with your responsibility and your executive officer with this ship. You sounded like you regretted what happened on the Chin'toka. And you are abandoning ship. Go ahead."

Card played, Stafford began to reorder his diagnostic instruments next to the biobed, having seemingly forgotten her.

[Archangel Koris]

Archangel narrowed her eyes at him once again.  His dismissive tone and gestures grated on her nerves as his senior officer, but she turned her back on him, taking a few steps toward the now opened doors.  After those few steps, she stopped, her shoulders slumping and shifting her weight off her bad leg.  Of course he had narrowed in on her sense of duty and paranoia.  Only a medic with experience in psychiatry and how her mind worked could have done that with such  precise, cutting words.

"Damn you, Stafford," she said aloud.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

"You'd be damning us all if you walked out that door, captain." Stafford gave her posture and movement a critical glance. "And probably yourself. Now, on the bed, if you'd be so kind."

When Archangel had complied, Stafford scanned her knee with a medical tricorder and his frown spoke volumes. "Just like I thought. The tendons and ligaments are strained to the breaking point. And your cartilage isn't much to right home about, either. You know, you're half human and half Romulan. Vulcanoids have more muscle mass, but their frames are designed to carry it. But you, captain, might as well have the bones of a human female due to your being a hybrid. I'm surprised you have lasted this long. And respectfully, ma'am, you aren't getting any younger."

A scan of the head and torso was also revealing. "You're exhausted. So let me summarize. You're overworking a joint that was injured, not getting much sleep, and your dietary habits leave much to be desired. Your head pounds, your joints ache when you move, and you're clearly stressed and aggressive. Sound about right?"

Stafford snapped the tricorder shut with a click and narrowed his eyes at her, waiting for her response.

[Archangel Koris]

Lying on the biobed was an incredibly unsettling experience for Archangel, who sat up the moment Luke had finished scanning her, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.  She didn't stand up yet though, no matter how much she wanted to do so and bolt out of the door.

"My physiology greatly favours my Romulan half," she remarked.  "I may not have the bone density of a full blooded Vulcanoid, but they're still stronger than yours."  The comment about her age also got him a raised eyebrow, but she did refrain from reminding him about the fact that Vulcanoids, even hybrid Vulcanoids, lived far longer than humans.  In their terms, she wasn't even in the prime of life yet.

"My knee's an old injury, Luke.  I'm dealing with it," she replied dismissively.  Everything he had said about her exhaustion, joints and head were true, but she wasn't willing to admit that she wasn't in peak physical condition.  "I'm fine.  Can I go now?"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

"You may not." Stafford was already configuring a hypospray. "This should help with your headaches."

He jabbed her in the neck with the device, wincing inwardly at how close he had to get to do so. He was glad that the physical didn't have to be so intimate as it might have been. This was already an awkward experience for the both of them.

"And this is for your joints." Another jab in the neck. Stafford smelled her shampoo and hair and was flooded with memories. She still used the same products, he realized. It was an unsettling sensation and closeness for him, so he stepped back from her.

"The drugs are a temporary measure. I'm putting you on a diet." He smiled at her humorlessly. "Lots of calcium for bone health, and nutrient dense vitamin rich food. You'll find the specifics on this PADD. But that's just the fun part. This PADD is your exercise routine. We need to rehabilitate that knee. Do you have someone who can help you with exercises, make sure you do them?"

[Archangel Koris]

Archangel let out an actual growl after being stuck twice with a hypospray in quick succession, putting a hand on the injection site and glaring at Luke as she rubbed the sting from it.  It didn't help that it meant that he had to get up rather close and personal with her, closer than she really wanted him to be.  There were too many memories there.  It was a relief when he stepped back.

She narrowed her eyes at the mention of an exercise routine.  "I already have a training regimen, Luke, I don't need a second one."  The first one was certainly taxing enough.  If she wasn't very careful with her timing, she would be back in here facing him a lot more often with injuries she couldn't really explain.  As for someone to help her with them, although Gabriel was due to make a return to the ship the next time they passed by the starbase, she wasn't willing to ask him to help with an injury right off the bat.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

"You may have a training regimen, ma'am, but it's not one what will do your knee any good." Or so Stafford highly doubted. Few people knew how to exercise, anyway, let alone how to rehabilitate a joint.

"You do these exercises every day, follow the diet, and remain in good shape. And you are in good shape, captain, other than the issues we covered today. I am going to give you some leeway and some trust. But I am also going to be watching. If I see you continuing to favor your knee I will know you aren't doing your exercises. And I will personally make sure you do them. Neither of us wants that. Sound good, captain?"

[Archangel Koris]

No, it doesn't do me much good, and I guess I'll just have to hope that you're never on duty if something happens in a training session, Archangel thought to herself.  She knew that her medical file was full of broken bones, lacerations and phaser burns that had had to be treated with no explanation other than 'training accident'.

"I will try, ensign, but I can't make any promises," she replied, attempting to keep things as vague and non-committal as possible.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

Stafford resisted a strong urge to roll his eyes. It was a blatant sign of disrespect in Starfleet to do so, but perhaps that was precisely what Archangel was sending his way, as well.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," The medic said, shaking his head. "You must make time to eat regular meals with this diet. It's good, I programmed it myself for bone health. I wouldn't give you a bad diet."

He took the PADD from her and called up the meal plan. "Who wouldn't want to eat milk with a few meals a day? Chocolate, strawberry, plain, you can't lose. Lots of cheese. I'd prefer you to eat cottage cheese because of the longer lasting protein in it, casein. Good veggies like broccoli, cabbage, and okra. Pasta, rice, noodles, bread. Anything with fortified flour, really. Oh, and plenty of bone in fish for those fatty omega 3 acids. Salmon, sardines, things like that."

He was very close to her, but he didn't notice as he talked on about food and exercise, both things that Stafford loved.

"And the exercises aren't hard. You can replicate the equipment yourself and just follow the PADD. I only worry about you following up on it. It will strengthen your knee without surgery. Granted, joint injury isn't all that invasive, but it's still better for your body if you help yourself along."

[Archangel Koris]

"I don't doubt that you wouldn't give me a bad diet," Archangel replied, shifting slightly away from him as he moved closer to show her the PADD.  They may have ben back on better terms, but that didn't mean that she was comfortable having him in her personal space yet, nor was she sure if she ever would again.

The lists of foods he was reeling off made her feel ever so slightly ill at just the thought of eating them. "Is there any reason this can't be replicated into a ration bar or something?" she asked.  The mention of surgery on her knee didn't sit well with her either, knowing that she had undergone a couple of operations on it already and it was still bothering her.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

At the mention of a ration bar Stafford couldn't help but laugh. It was a full throat, top of his lungs, belly laugh.

"That's you, all right. Yes, it could be turned into a ration bar." The medic waggled a disapproving finger at her, like a parent who had caught their child with their hand in the cookie jar and was half amused. "But you could also speed up the entirety of Shakespeare on the holodeck and watch it in a few days as opposed to seeing it on stage. No, I think not. Learning to appreciate sitting down and eating your food and enjoying it will go a long way towards easing that aggressiveness of yours, captain."

Stafford left the PADDs with her and stepped away. "Think about it, captain. You finish up a dish of salmon steak with zesty lemon butter and some collard greens and noodles. You head over to the far bulkhead and begin to your isometric exercises, winding down from your day. Perhaps some music. Congreve said that, 'Music has the charm to soothe a savage beast.'"

He smiled at her, pleased to be on a subject he so enjoyed. "And right now your poor, neglected body is a savage beast. That's my prescription, ma'am. Some rest, relaxation, good food, and good exercise."

[Archangel Koris]

Archangel wasn't sure whether or not to be offended by Luke's laughter when she suggested just eating a ration bar rather than having to eat a full meal.  As such, she frowned at him, then shuddered at the thought of the meal he was describing.  There was no way she could sit down to something like that.  Her meals, when she took them, were fast and sly, as if she was afraid of being caught with the food.

"I'm afraid that just isn't going to happen," she replied, shaking her head.  "I have neither the time, nor the inclination for something like that." Or the courage.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

Stafford was past fighting with her. His treatment was sound, easy, and would enrich her life. You can lead a patient to water but you can't make 'em drink.

"Fine by me." He told her. He'd said his piece and didn't want to repeat it just as much as she probably did not want to hear it. "You can replicate the ration bar later on tonight, I just have to program it into the computer." Or, more likely, ask someone from engineering to do it. Stafford had very little skill when it came to machines or computers.

"And the exercise?" He prompted. "Too little time, can't be bothered?"

[Archangel Koris]

With the physical examination part apparently over, Archangel slipped off the biobed, standing on her own two feet again.  It was a more comfortable position for her, although not physically.  She disliked being in any position of vulnerability.  There were very few people she willingly allowed to see her in such, and only a marginally longer list of those she unwillingly allowed.

"The exercise is incompatible with my current training regime timewise" she replied.  "Taking on the one you're offering means putting the other on hold, which isn't possible."