Ronin - S02E06 Aside - Doctor's Office

[Alyssa Garnet]

She looked over at the doctor as her stomach lurched.

"Think I can get somethin' for the nausea?"

She was so tired of puking.  Plus she was starving.  Starving + puking = not a good thing.

"Well, anyway...  Let's get this done."

"Yes, of course," Dr. Garnet addressed Abe's nausea first by giving her a small pill that should alleviate the constant need to vomit long enough for her to have some dinner, at least.

Once that immediate need is met, she pulls a wheeled stool beside the bed. She visibly relaxes a little, making herself comfortable. The idea, at least, is that if she demonstrates a comfortable demeanor her patient should feel more comfortable too.

"Okay Abe, if you're up for it I can take a little blood now and run a pregnancy test for you."

[Abenette Kelker]

"Yes, of course,"

The doc gave her a tiny little pill that seemed like it wasn't big enough to do anything.  If the pill's size affected how powerful it needed to be, Abe figured that the one to counteract her nausea should actually need to be the size of a sub sandwich.  She took it though and the thing worked like a charm and quickly too.

The churned slowed and then stopped, leaving only the strong pang of hunger.  She sighed in relief.

"Thank God..." Abe moaned.  "Please tell me that we have a bunch of them bitty things in supply."

Through the relief, Abe barely noticed that the doc had wheeled up a chair beside her.  She looked comfortable.  Comfortable was good wasn't it?  Why did that make her nervous?

"Okay Abe, if you're up for it I can take a little blood now and run a pregnancy test for you."

Abe nodded as her grip on the edge of them bed tightened in preparation.

"Let's get it over with," she agreed through clenched teeth.  "Got ta say though...  I can shoot a man from 1000 yards, but needles?  They freak me out."

Yes, she was a wuss.

She scrunched her eyes closed and extended the arm closest to the doctor towards her.

"Stick me already."

[Alyssa Garnet]

Alyssa allowed herself the smallest of smiles as Abe declared the apparent dichotomy of being a killer and a needle-phobe.

"Don't worry, I'll make it quick."

Dr. Garnet drew the blood with practiced ease. Of course there was a painful pinch, and it could never feel comfortable to have blood removed via syringe.. but it was over quickly. Not much blood was needed for just the pregnancy test, but given Abe's fainting spell, light-headedness was a concern.

"Okay, lie back for a minute or two. You might get a little head-rush, especially with the lack of food. Let me know if you feel woozy, but the effects shouldn't last long. I didn't take much."

She ran the blood through the medical scanner and gave Abe a few minutes to lie down and recover.

"So you're a sniper?" Alyssa asked, referring to Abe's comment about shooting a man at 1000 yards. They'll talk about the serious stuff in a minute, but a little friendly chit-chat was important. It's a technique to help the patient feel more like opening up, yes, but at the same time Alyssa was genuinely interested in knowing her crewmate better.

[Abenette Kelker]

Abe frowned a little as the doctor seemed to be amused by her dislike of needles.

"Don't worry, I'll make it quick."

Abe scoffed.

"I didn't say I couldn't handle it.  Just said I didn't like it," she groused, hating that she revealed that kind of knowledge.  One that seemed weak.  "How people could become addicts, I have no clue..."

Ouch!  OK...  It hurt.  Shots sucked.

"Okay, lie back for a minute or two. You might get a little head-rush, especially with the lack of food. Let me know if you feel woozy, but the effects shouldn't last long. I didn't take much."

Abe did as she was told.  She laid back and relaxed.  Her stomach was feeling a lot better now that the doc had given her something for it.  It was now uncomfortable because it felt like a gnawing pit of emptiness. 

"So you're a sniper?"

Abe turned her head towards the doc as she bent herself over the scanner.

"Yeah.  Seem ta have the gift with weapons.  'Least the ones with projectiles," she said proudly.  "Handguns, rifles, semi-automatics, full automatic, even gun turrets on a ship.  If'n it has bullets, I can shoot it."

She felt herself smile a bit.

"I shot a musket once and was a fair hand with a sling shot.  Oh!  A crossbow too.  Never tried a regular bow & arrow though."

She was now nervously rambling.  What was taking so long? 

"So how'd ya find yourself out here?"

[Alyssa Garnet]

"It was not the plan, that's for sure," Alyssa replied to Abe's question with a smile. "I met Tarantino and he... well, the environment he was in, grew up in, it wasn't good. We felt the spacer life would suit his needs. And I've always wanted to see the 'verse."

She shrugged.

"We'll see if we take to it."

The test wouldn't take too long.

"So tell me about your general health. Before now. Exercise, diet, illnesses, that kind of thing."

[Abenette Kelker]

Abe listened intently to Doc's explanation on how she got to be at the Ronin, even though she wasn't truly occupied.  Her mind heavily rested on what Doc was doing.  It was nice to pretend to not be interested in the test.

"It was not the plan, that's for sure,"  "I met Tarantino and he... well, the environment he was in, grew up in, it wasn't good. We felt the spacer life would suit his needs. And I've always wanted to see the 'verse."

Tarantino?  Who was that?

"We'll see if we take to it."

Abe cocked her head.

"Who is Tarantino?  Not sure if I got to meet everyone before I passed out."

Not remembering?  Is that bad?  Abe guessed it would be if she met the guy and didn't remember.

"Did I meet you all?"

Doc asked a question of her own.

"So tell me about your general health. Before now. Exercise, diet, illnesses, that kind of thing."

Abe thought for a minute.

"Health is good.  I spar with the Captain... Er Ian... I used to crew on Ian's ship, Glory, but we are here for now.  Hard not to call him that still.  Well, Ian and I spar.  I eat pretty much what I want.  Not usually sick," Abe told her then continued in a most nonchalant tone.  "Right before the crash, another ship attacked us though.  It was pretty much why we crashed.  Took a hit from a drugged projectile of some sort.  Knocked me clean out.  Fell while doing it and cracked some ribs.  All is good now though."

If she is pregnant, then she would have been pregnant at that time.  Really early on though.

"If I am pregnant...  I was pregnant when all that happened.  Is that bad?"

She felt the edge of panic creep upon her, but she gripped the edge of the bed to try to calm herself, her knuckles turning white with the effort.

[Alyssa Garnet]

Alyssa blushed a little, embarrassed that she had forgotten that Abe wouldn't know who Tarantino was.

"Sorry, no, I don't think you did meet Tarantino yet. He's my friend, we've come here together."

Not together, together. Had that been clear? She hoped so. To try and clarify that they weren't a couple would only make it feel more awkward, so Alyssa just moved on.

Abe started to worry about the effects of whatever drug she had been hit with. Dr. Garnet pursed her lips slightly as she quickly decided how to answer the question. She usually found straight-up and honest was the best policy, and Abe didn't seem like she would benefit from hollow assurances.

"Hm. I honestly couldn't say without knowing exactly what you were hit with. But whatever it was, worrying won't make it better. Whatever your condition is, we'll figure out the best we can do for you and go from there."

There, practical, realistic and straightforward. She hoped that was the right approach for Abe.

She moved back to the scanner. The result would be emitted any second...

[Abenette Kelker]

Abe was glad to hear that she probably hadn't met the Doc's Tarantino yet.  At least she wasn't losing her mind.

"Sorry, no, I don't think you did meet Tarantino yet. He's my friend, we've come here together."

Friend...  Things must be platonic.  No one really refers to their lover as just a 'friend' unless they are hiding something.  And if the doctors was, that was her business.  Abe could care less who the doctor was with  behind closed doors.

But as for the attack and the drug used?  Abe was appreciative of the honesty of the doctor, but didn't like the uncertainty of it.

"Hm. I honestly couldn't say without knowing exactly what you were hit with. But whatever it was, worrying won't make it better. Whatever your condition is, we'll figure out the best we can do for you and go from there."

Abe nodded in understanding and managed to relax a little bit.  She saw the doctor go back to the scanner.  God...  This was taking forever.

"What did you say your name was again?  I don't really want to go on calling you 'Doc"," Abe said deflecting her nervousness with more small talk.  "Unless you like it, that is."

She paused and then added.

"And is Tarantino your friend's first or last name?"

[Alyssa Garnet]

"I'm Alyssa Garnet," she clarified. "And he's Tarantino Quin. I don't really mind what you call me... Doc does have a nice ring to it though." She smiled as she thought about the movies she'd seen involving spacers and how the ship's doctor was often referred to as 'doc'. She kind of liked it.

She tapped a button on the scanner, and they finally had their answer.

"Okay, you ready for this?" Alyssa gave Abe just a second to prepare her mind but figured she wouldn't appreciate any more build-up than that. She wanted an answer, one way or the other.

"You're pregnant."

[Abenette Kelker]

Abe was happy that the doc was somewhat chatty, though it was probably for her own benefit.  Anything to keep the patient calm right?

"I'm Alyssa Garnet,"

Abe nodded.  The doc's name kinda fit.  Abe didn't know why, but it just did.

"And he's Tarantino Quin. I don't really mind what you call me... Doc does have a nice ring to it though."

Abe smiled.

"Doc it is then," she told her. 

Abe knew exactly what it meant when analyzer finally completed.

Now was the time to face the music.

"Okay, you ready for this?"

"Not really," Abe confided.  "But I have ta know."

Then there was the answer.

"You're pregnant."

A baby...  She and Ian were going to have a baby.  Abe took a few deep breaths and managed somehow to keep her composure.

"'Bout six weeks?" Abe asked.  She wouldn't let herself get to emotional right now.  She needed to take care of a couple of things first.  "Are there tests that can be run ta see if that drug that they got me with during the attack did any damage?"

A baby...  Her mind was still churning on the fact that she was going to be a mom.

"I know that we don't know what was used, but is there anythin' we can do ta make sure it's healthy?"

A baby...  Suddenly, she couldn't help but smile.

"Ian's goin' ta be so excited," she told Doc.  "But I don't want anyone else to know for now, dong ma?  We need ta figure some stuff out first 'fore we go 'bout sharin' with Kuei or anyone else."

Was it going to be a boy or girl? 

"Can ya do that for me?"

[Alyssa Garnet]

Abe had a lot of questions, of course. Dr. Garnet set about patiently answering each of them.

"Yes, six weeks."

"Yes, there are a number of tests and checks I will run on you and the baby to get a sense of general health. If there are any complications, we will figure out how to address them. But best not to start worrying about what ifs and maybes, okay? We'll work through one thing at a time."

Alyssa smiled as Abe smiled, thinking about Ian being excited. That was good to see. It was big news to find out she was pregnant, but under all the worry and concern, there was joy. That was important, and made Alyssa happy to see.

"Of course, all of this is absolutely confidential. I take that seriously."

It was just occurring to Alyssa that patient-doctor confidentiality probably was a little harder to maintain in a shipboard environment. Everyone living on top of one another, the natural human inclination to ask about each other and talk casually about co-workers... She would have to keep herself aware of that. Also, would the Captain expect her to share medical information about his crew? She could see an argument for him having a right to know; she would need to check the medical standards and practices for ship's doctors, just in case it was different, but for now she would speak to no-one about Abe's condition except Abe.

"Now, I think it's important that you get some food, so I recommend we wrap this up and go eat. We can start the tests after you've had time to eat, and process a bit. How does that sound to you?"

If Abe was adamant on starting the tests now, Alyssa would agree to stay and do that before eating.

[Abenette Kelker]

"Yes, six weeks."

Abe nodded.  It was what she expected.  It was right before Ian left to go see about Glory.  Their child was conceived right on this ship.  That endeared her a bit to this place.

"Yes, there are a number of tests and checks I will run on you and the baby to get a sense of general health. If there are any complications, we will figure out how to address them. But best not to start worrying about what ifs and maybes, okay? We'll work through one thing at a time."

Abe nodded again.

"So it's a bit of a wait and see kind of thing," she surmised.

Abe was relieved that Doc seemed to be ready to keep her confidentiality.

"Of course, all of this is absolutely confidential. I take that seriously."

But she could see an underlying battle occurring in the Doc's mind.  She didn't strike Abe as someone who was knowledgeable in the ways of how ships like theirs were run.  Granted, she should probably tell Kuei, but Abe didn't want her to.  At this point, it wasn't any of his business.  It wasn't impeding her job at all.  It's not like she needed to go out and purchase maternity body armor yet.

Abe cocked her head at that and wondered if they actually sold anything like that.

"Just...  Just don't say anything until I can figure things out, dong ma?"

Abe hoped that she would keep it quiet because she did indeed need to figure this out.

Plus, she needed to tell Ian.

"Now, I think it's important that you get some food, so I recommend we wrap this up and go eat. We can start the tests after you've had time to eat, and process a bit. How does that sound to you?"

Her stomach was feeling very much better.  The drug that the Doc had given her was a miracle.

And her stomach growled then.  Quite loudly.

"I think that would be a great idea," she said with a laugh as she hopped down off the table.  "See you upstairs.  Gonna go get some grub.  You should come up rather fast.  Victoria's soup is something to experience, especially since she's passed and all.  You'll never get another chance."

Abe moved to where her boys and armor were at and quickly put it back on.  The she rearmed.  Tiny Tim on her ankle.  Sam in her shoulder holster.  Dude at her hip.

"Thanks again, Doc.  I really appreciate it."

[Alyssa Garnet]

"You are welcome," Alyssa said earnestly as they wrapped up their conversation. She was so glad she was able to be of service to someone so immediately.

"I'm just going to go find Tarantino, and then I'll follow you up to the galley. And if there's anything... just let me know."

Maybe she'd even started to make a friend. That would be nice.