Long Walks

[Doctor Lancelot 0]

Doctor Lancelot “Lance” Delphi made his way to the nearest lift. He’d just checked into medical, finding only a handful of staff there, not that this surprised him considering they were on leave at the moment.

 

He sighed slightly as he hobbled his way to the lift. He’d forgotten how much he hated long walks. You’d never see “Enjoys long walks on the beach,” on any personal ad of his. Hell he could barely walk on the beach with out falling, let alone stand being on his leg that long.

 

As much as he’d hated to admit it to the tribunal that had decided his career fate, he really wasn’t sure if he could swing active duty. But he reminded himself that most of the time in sickbay he wouldn’t be walking what had seemed like a marathon.

 

The pneumatics on the door hissed as he leaned back against the wall of the lift, shifting his weight to his good leg and shifting the medium size duffle to the other shoulder. Really, he’d brought most of this on himself. If he wasn’t so stubborn, there wouldn’t be any pain. He wouldn’t have a limp, and he would have been aboard the San Diego. Of course, he would have also be aboard the San Deigo when it exploded above ch’Rihan, so perhaps a little twinge – okay so some pain, was worth being alive.

 

The lift finally came to halt, and the doors hissed open. He took the well polished silver cane in one hand and pressed forward. The patina of the cane was in sharp dichotomy to the rest of his attire. His uniform was neither neatly pressed nor creased. His hair lay jumbled in several directions; though the deepness of his dark blue eyes seemed to soften the harshness of his stubbled beard.

 

As he navigated his way to his quarters, he drew more than a few looks from the random crewmembers coming and going from their leave. You’d think they’d never seen a cripple before, and then he remembered…most of them hadn’t.

 

It was a strange feeling, being looked at just for being yourself. He hadn’t felt this way in a long time, and he wondered if going back on active duty had been a mistake. But then he sometimes wondered if not having his leg hacked off was a mistake, and he’d saw how that turned out.

 

Finally rounding a corner, he came to quarters marked “Delphi, Lancelot. Ensign, Doctor.”

 

“My sum existence,” he smirked to himself as he entered the smallish quarters. He almost immediately noted that his room did in fact have a window, something he wasn’t expecting when he’d been given quarters a mid-ship. Though, he thought the view lacked in it’s appeal—the grey hull of the saucer section.

 

“Oh yes,” he said sarcastically in a slightly high-pitched voice. “Your room has windows Ensign. However, they’ll only be of use to you if you just happen to be sick during a MVAM situation, in which case the only view you’re likely to see is that of a directed energy weapon slamming against the hull. Enjoy!”

 

Rolling his eyes, he threw his bag as far as he could, a few feet, and plopped himself on the nearest, and only, couch. His leg hurt, and he needed to rest. Tomorrow would be a busy day for the newest doctor of the Agincourt.

Edited March 13, 2006 by Doctor Lancelot