The Doctor Will See You Now

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona pursed her lips. "Oh, yes, that, my bad," she mused, and then walked over to her holoboard once more. As she began typing, she narrated what she was doing to [member="Mariya Fleischer"], "I can discharge you by the end of the day, if you feel up to it. I'm writing an order to Doctor Brayaa, my specialist in physical medicine and rehab. He'll draw you up a stretching regimen that we'll send you off with." She glanced over to the blonde. "Would you like a printout or can we send it to a holopad?"

Stepping away from the board as soon as she hit tapped a finial button, presumably to wake up her therapist, Aes'ona added, "As for the bill, I was going to ask before you left. I was going to chalk it up to a workplace hazard, and have the accountants bill your employer's headquarters." She paused, thinking. "Unless that ship was the headquarters..."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"I can discharge by tonight? That's good. I am fine if you mail the regimen to my holonet account. It's littlemissmuppet@holonet.org."

A generic sounding account with no reference to her name was always useful, especially in times like this. Mariya was certainly glad to be able to leave as long as there were enough credits to settle the bill. Which was a problem to begin with. She had no idea if the prison ship was the headquarters, but it sure seemed like one. She never heard of the guards communicating with any other location throughout her jail time. In any case, it was time to do another white lie.

"Well... it was the headquarters. Haha... But no worries. I just need to clear some banking matters to get the credits over by end of the day. Is there a place where I can access the holonet?"

She needed to chase for her payment, which could be done as long as there was some form of external communication available. A military medstation might still offer such services. Baring that, she would need to slice the prison guard's banking account, since she did grab the dead guard's purse.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Nodding at [member="Mariya Fleischer"] and walking towards the bed, Aesona offered her a hand to help her stand. "There's a computer in the lounge that isn't down for maintenance," she offered. "You can use that."

After leading her back to the doctor's lounge, Aes'ona found said computer and put it down on the table for Mariya's use.

Then she got to making herself some caffe. "I hope it's okay I'm doing this," she said, referring to making herself a beverage. "We're not allowed to drink anything but water anywhere the patients can see us." She laughed, finding the whole situation of the rule funny--and it would be to most. "Someone complained about it once; said we looked like we were slacking."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Mariya was glad to get up from the bed, with some support from [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]. She had been lying down for too long, for more than a day. The little walk felt alright despite her injured body, except for the left arm hanging on the sling which dangled about rather uselessly around her chest. Along the way, she spotted several other patients lying among the wards, mostly just lying on their beds or being taken care by the nurses. Perhaps the war had yet to send in the real casualties yet. She disliked the sight of seeing people suffering in pain, despite everything she had gone through.

"Gee, thanks. I feel special to be in the staff lounge."

She hopped onto the chair next to the table and opened the holo terminal, finding herself typing much slower with just the right hand. First, she did a quick check on the littlemissmuppet account and saw the exercises needed for her rehab. She took a quick glance through before continuing on to the more pressing matter of credits availability. But before she could log into her bank account, a new message was received.

***
Dear Mary,

I understand that you have been rescued and is now staying in a safe place inside the medstation. Credits have been transferred to your newly created account for your stay in the hospital. Also, don't forget to thank your doctor friend. Perhaps she might be interested to join you for a dance or two in the upcoming ball in Arkania.

Regards
Your grandma
***

Grandma? She most certainly did not have a grandma. But looking at the way the message was crafted, Mariya knew that the Collective had tracked her down. Sure enough, a quick check on the new account registered to a Miss Mary Rehcsel contained enough payment for a week's worth of stay in a fancy hotel if she chose to. Her mood lightened up, she logged off and found herself looking at the doctor commenting about the rule of not drinking cafe in front of patients.

"Seriously? I can't believe you ain't allowed to drink a stimcaf in front of patients. Don't worry, I won't raise a ruckus about this."

She smiled and got up to the vending machine to pour herself a cup as well, joining the doctor at the table.

"Seems like I did receive my pay this month. So I think I will stay till the night shuttle comes to bring me off planet. By the way, do you mind if I call you Aes'ona?"

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

After taking a long sip of caffe that had been long-since necessitated, Aes'ona put the mug down on the table. She winked, and answered jokingly, but serious in her permission to [member="Mariya Fleischer"] to address her familiarly, "If you're not going to tattle on me, I suppose I'll make the exception."

She sobered, becoming somewhat serious again. "You can make out the payment to the FIMS--the First Imperial Medical Service."

Then Aes'ona paused, delving into some thought. "No one needs me right now," she started. "You saw how busy we are. Until someone calls me--" she tapped her right cheekbone, right below her small headset comm "--I can stay to keep you company?"

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"I know when to keep a secret," she said. Her previous military experience had taught her all about discipline. Breaking rules were fine, as long as one was not caught. She had her fair share of bending rules and was too rebellious at times to behave properly. When one of the ex republic chancellors left the Republic, she went along with her to join the underworld cartel. All in the name of friendship. She made a quick login back into her bank account and made the payment to the FIMS account mentioned by [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"].

Why it was called First Imperial Medical Service instead of First Order Medical Service? She had no idea. Perhaps Imperial sounded cooler. Whatever the name was, she successfully made the payment and inform her new friendly acquaintance.

"Alright, payment done. And sure, I can do with some company."

She felt a little guilty lying to the good doctor about her identify so far, but she decided it was too early to reveal her true self. She decided to wait a little more till she was safe in the shuttle later. For now, it was nice to talk to someone after being stuck in jail for so long and enduring a series of injuries.

"Aes'ona... did you always wanted to be a doctor? I mean, I never actually decided on a career path. I just took whatever it was available."

That was the truth, even though Aes'ona might think of "Mary" referring to her prison guard role. Mariya had worked for a Hutt gang because she had to survive. Joining the military was to avoid prosecution. Moving to the underworld cartel was for friendship.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona sighed and took a long sip of her caffe again in an attempt to calm her nerves. True, they were already a bit frayed by her apprehension for the troops fighting on the front, but thought on the question [member="Mariya Fleischer"] just asked never failed to upset her.

Of course, she didn't hold it against 'Mary', not at all. She did not know; it is unfair to expect one to skirt around a difficult topic that they do not know was difficult for you.

Upon lowering her mug again, Aes'ona began, "That's a little true for me, too. It was a question of survival." She sighed heavily once more. "Have you hear...I don't know if I should even talk about it." A half-smile, half-hearted. "You'll get the wrong idea of the Order."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Hmm... sounds like you have something to share."

Mariya wondered what it was that would make the doctor unhappy about the order. Was the doctor forced to join the First Order to survive? If so, perhaps they had something more in common than she had expected. It had been a while since she last opened up about herself and be vulnerable. Perhaps she could start the ball rolling. Telling [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] who she really was a sign of her vulnerability, and it would generally encourage the other party to open up as well.

But what if the doctor reacted badly and asked security to arrest her on the spot?

It was a gamble she somehow decided to take. Something told her the doctor was trustworthy enough. There were some people who would just make your skin crawl during the interaction. And then there were others who would make you feel comfortable enough to talk about things openly. Mariya decided that Aes'ona belonged to the latter. Her intuition and deduction was usually correct, something she attributed to her line of work. Perhaps there was more, but she never questioned it.

"Aes'ona? I would like to say something."

Emerald eyes stared at the strawberry blonde in white with a solemn look. "I'm actually not a prison guard. I actually escaped from the prison. I was an outlaw in an underworld cartel for a while. Got tossed into jail by authorities after the cartel collapsed."

A good pause to let everything sink in. She had no idea what the doctor would think about her, but it felt alright to let everything out of the bag.

"My name is Mariya Fleischer. So erm... you can forget about 'Mary' and just stick to Mariya."

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona blinked and few times behind her caffe cup before slowly lowering it onto the table. She appeared to be in a state of shock from or in the mist of processing the news...actually, she was probably experiencing both.

After what seemed to her to have been a long minute, Aes'ona simply repeated, "[member="Mariya Fleischer"]. Prison. Cartel."

Suddenly, a violent shiver ripped though the doctor's torso and traveled up to her arms, causing her to jerk her mug and for a few stray drops of the brown liquid to spatter over some papers--though she failed to notice. "Hutts?" she asked, grimacing slightly. Clearly, she was not a fan, but, really, who was, what with the slugs' infamous stereotype known throughout the galaxy?

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Erm... "

Mariya was not surprised by the doctor's reaction. All the while, [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] had thought that she was helping to save the life of an injured prison guard. But suddenly the good doctor found out that the guard was actually a sneaky prisoner who had been lying to her. Not exactly the best way to get into someone's books. Honesty always seemed to hurt.

"Hutts? No. More like a tall pirate queen. A redhead brawler called Saede Taggart*. Infamous in Velusia." Mariya explained herself, though sometimes she wondered if her memory was really working correctly. There were countless rumours that the Saede Taggart she had followed was just a droid who thought that she was the real deal. But Mariya felt that she knew the truth. Saede Taggart was as real as she could remember. The brave swashing pirate queen who ran the Crimson Ferrets Revenge. Droid or not, Saede was the undisputed queen of The Galactic Underworld who held the whole place together. Mention the queen's name or TGU and people would suddenly become much more respectful.

"She's family, you know. My family. I always see her as my elder sister," her voice felt hoarse suddenly. She picked up her cup of stimcaf and took a long drink. She had never really shared her true feelings ever since the whole Underworld Cartel collapsed. There was no one else for her to talk to. Everyone was gone. The pirates, the bounty hunters, the Mandalorians... everything.

"I'm sorry. It's... a painful memory. Still, it was wrong for me to lie to you when you were so helpful in treating my injuries."

*OOC: The link is external but is not meant to serve as a personal gain or distraction to this community. There is only 1 place which has Saede's real bio and is there.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

"...Well," she began slowly, thinking over her response as she gave it, "[member="Mariya Fleischer"], I'm just glad you got off that ship when it went to hell." A small shiver aftershock. "I don't know what you've done, but no one deserves a cruel and usual death." A death at the tentacles of a loose rathar, for example, alone in space without whatever one called family to wish them farewell.

A small half smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. "And I know how to keep a secret too."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

The blonde looked at [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] for a long moment, the words sinking in. The doctor was more kind than she had expected.

She began to laugh. Laughed at herself for making up a whole "Mary" identity because she was afraid. Laughed in admiration for the doctor's fearless action. She doubted the First Order would be kind to the doctor if they ever found out what had happened. She also laughed at the bitterness that she felt when the past caught up with her.

The past. Everyone was gone.

The laugh turned into sorrow as the bitterness lingered inside her. Mariya swallowed the rest of the stimcaf and felt something wet rolling down her eyes. She missed everyone. All of them, gone. All she did was to lie in prison and pretend that she was alright. That was her form of escape from reality.

"I... I'm sorry..."

She buried her face with her right hand. She was supposed to ask Aes'ona about her comments about the First Order and her survival. Somehow it ended up with her crying. She hated to admit it, but the doctor reminded her of things she had always regarded as important. Kindness. Friends. Family.

Mariya was tired of being an iron lady.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Doctor Aes'ona Terrani could treat and diagnose illnesses and injuries for hours on end, days on end if pressed. She had been a practicing medical student, and then professional, for nine consecutive years, but she had not been a real person, not to mention a friend, since at least that long. So, when [member="Mariya Fleischer"] buried her face in her hands and began to cry, the doctor found herself at a loss: she did not know how to fix this.

And then, a flash of memory. Her father, one day when he returned home on leave from the base to find her curled up, back to the couch, as if she was shunning the books and papers and datapads spread all over the living room floor before her. She was silently crying, finally surrendering to a particular concept she could not understand no matter how hard she wrestled with it.

He immediately dropped his uniform's coat and hat, and his messenger bag, to cross the hallway, kneel beside her, and pull her into his arms.

Aes'ona got up and moved seats to be closer to Mariya, but hesitated to make much physical contact. Some people did not respond well to it, so she normally refrained from touching those whom did not either require it or initiate it.

She settled for a gentle hand on the blonde's left shoulder.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

She felt a touch on her shoulder. Had to be Aes'ona who was reaching out. Mariya looked up and sure enough, she was greeted by the doctor who was now sitting next to her. She appreciated the gesture, though somewhat amused by the refrained touch. She would not mind a nice hug, and decided she would just initiate it herself. Her left arm was still in her sling, so she moved in closer and embraced [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] with her right.

"Just... give me a moment. I just need to collect myself..."

There was something comforting about hugs. If Mariya were a doctor like Aes'ona, she would probably know that a nice happy harmone called oxytocin was being released in her body to make her feel better. There was a lack of love since young, but she still knew the miracles of hugs, even though she could probably never be able to explain why in medical terms.

The moment seemed to be lasting longer than usual. Mariya was clearly enjoying the warmth she was receiving from the doctor. She wished the moment would just last a bit longer...

Just a bit more before someone else stumbled into the staff lounge. That would be awkward.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona returned the hug, careful not to bump [member="Mariya Fleischer"]'s injured arm even though it was in a cast. She allowed the moment to last longer than it should have, probably for their current level of acquaintance.

After the hug ended, she got up and began washing their mugs off in the sonic sink. She was unsure what to say, so she said nothing, but was more than willing to give Mariya all the time she needed.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Mariya was grateful for the hug. It was definitely longer than one would have allowed, though the doctor seemed pretty quiet about the whole thing. Judging from the way the doctor had been treating her, she was pretty comfortable the doctor had a good hear. Perhaps [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] was just someone who preferred to express her care in her own way. That was fine with the mercenary, because sometimes she struggled to find words to express herself in situations which required a softer touch.

The bad news was that the whole place was pretty quiet, saved for the sound of the running tap used to wash the mugs.

"Ahem..." the mercenary's attempt to restart the mood. "Well, thanks for... everything, Aes'ona."

Not exactly the smoothest of words, but Mariya assumed the doctor would understand what she meant. Thanks for the care, treatment and keeping her secret. She wished to repay the doctor in her own way. Aes'ona seemed to be rather reserved about her earlier comments about the doctor career. Perhaps... if only she could find some way to make the doctor open up a little.

"I am not sure if others have mentioned this, but you have a good heart. Definitely not someone I would expect to be in the First Order, but that's not important. I'll definitely love to hang out with you again..."

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Shutting off the water, Aes'ona began drying the mugs, one by one, turning towards [member="Mariya Fleischer"] and leaning back on the counter as she did. She smiled, but it seemed a little sad.

"It's no problem," she replied. Then she offered a dry laugh despite herself in response to the mercenary's observations. "You're not the first person to tell me that." She paused, as if she was frightened to continue, but did anyway. It was only a moment, so either she wasn't that scared or scared at all but just searching for appropriate words. "I'd say 'most of the Order's forgotten common human decency', but I haven't met many officers off of this station, and the ones that come though seem friendly enough." Another pause. "So I'll take your word for it."

She began to fiddle with her silver First Order shield choker necklace. But soon after, she dropped it and smiled, truly happy this time, again. "I'd like that."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Well, I am not sure why you are in the First Order..."

Mariya paused, guessing that it might be a little personal. Perhaps the doctor would tell someday, if she was feeling up to it. But she seemed pretty happy with the idea of catching up again. Perhaps that ball event at Arkania asked by her "Grandma" would be good to let the doctor have some excuse to travel. She no longer had to pretend to be "Mary", but the invitation would still stand. The only catch would be the distance. Arkania was not exactly close to the First Order's borders, so the flight might take a while.

"...anyway, I got an invite to a ball and I am allowed to bring someone along. Mind you, it's a little far away at Arkania. But I expect it to be fun though. So... what do you say? Bring your best dress along and have some fun?"

She glanced at the doctor who was leaning against the counter, noticing the way [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani] was fiddling the tiny little choker necklace around her neck. She made a mental note to ask about it later.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona again felt unsure what to say, this time only to [member="Mariya Fleischer"]'s first comment, so she ignored it though she had heard it.

Then she laughed as if she found it funny. "A dress?" she repeated. "Not really my style." It was a strange statement, seeing as her casual attire included a skirt, but maybe the doctor meant the general concept of a ball, especially once that required so much space travel. Travel time usually took away from the levels of productivity she was used to, but extended travel time always presented more opportunities to catch a glimpse of space--something the minor spacephobe was not so keen on.

However, she offered, "But it sounds fun. If I have time, I'll get one down at the station promenade." She had finished drying the mugs, and slid them behind her before motioning to the treatment bullpen outside. "Though, statistically, we're bound to pick up soon. When is it? Soon?"

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"I don't like dresses either. But the event is black tie, so I reckon most people would be dressed in their best. Of course, the other option is to wear a suit..."

Mariya shrugged her shoulders at her suggestion. She only knew one woman who had pulled it off once. The very pirate queen herself. She quickly forced herself to change her thought, before she got all sentimental again. Anyway [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] seemed interested and was only worried about the timing. She had no idea when it would happen since the message did not mention a specific date, but she reckoned it should be soon.

"No idea about the date. But it could be quite a while later. Perhaps my hand would have healed by then. In any case, I'll drop you a holomail when the details are confirmed. Hopefully you could make yourself available and take a day off or two. I mean... won't you want to take a look at how people found a way to live in an icy cold planet? Maybe they all lived in igloos or something... haha. But seriously, promise me you will make it. Would love for you to come and have some fun."

Emerald eyes landed on the necklace around Aes'ona's neck again. That little silver piece of jewellery seemed very important to her, but the blonde still had no idea what was the significance.

"Erm... one more question? Regarding your necklace... it seems important?"

She tried her best to find a way to pose the question innocently, though she was not sure if it really worked. She did not want to sound nosey, but her curiosity was killing her to know more about the doctor who seemed pretty private.