The Unhappy Civilian

[Nicolas Lepage 0]

Nick entered Sickbay with a very unhappy civilian in tow. The man was complaining at the top of his voice, brabbling something about manhandling and court martial. The Doctor tried to ignore the threats and convince the man to stay in Sickbay with the other civilians. He had given up trying to reason with the man who obviously did not want to understand that in a crisis, civilians too, had to put up with certain inconveniences in order to ensure their safety.

 

It was the noise that attracted DJ's attention. She'd just stepped into Sickbay to make certain her staff was aware the station was now at red alert. She couldn't miss the excited chatter coming from the far end of the room where the emergency shelter was located. Nor could she miss Nick Lepage as he finally unhanded one of those civilians. It appeared one of them had gotten away and the ever dutiful Dr. Lepage had tracked him down and retrieved him.

 

When the man had started to tell his fascinated audience the story of a Starfleet Doctor holding him at phaser point and fighting him to the death, Nick decided it was safe to leave the lot and attend to his regular duties.

 

DJ kept her distance as Dr. Lepage attempted to quell the unrest among the civilians. She quickly determined there were only a couple who seemed genuinely unhappy. Of course, the escapee was one of them. Although uncertain of the circumstances, it annoyed DJ to hear a station resident tell the story of how he was forcibly returned to Sickbay, at phaser point, by one of her staff. And he was loud about it too.

 

Nick turned around only to see a very unhappy Doctor McKinny beckoning him to join her in her office. Nick hung his head. He had a feeling he knew what this would be about. He could already hear her accusations of abandoning his post. Nick knew he had done the right thing in order to prevent the situation from getting out of hand but, somehow, he felt like it was his fault something had gone wrong in the first place.

 

So, with a deep sigh he walked over to the Chief's office, bracing himself for anything DJ might have to say. At least this time, he hadn't been any farther than the nearest turbolift and had not gotten into a bar fight over a woman. Nick grinned. That was already something.

 

Entering the office, Nick walked past DJ and stood in front of her desk, waiting for the doors to close. Doctor McKinny walked around her desk and sat down in her chair. She looked at him for a moment before she started to speak.

 

"Did you really chase that guy down with a phaser?" she asked skeptically. "And if so, whatever possessed you to do such a thing?"

 

Lepage shook his head. He had to admit that the image of him chasing down this man with a phaser did quite appeal to him but he would never do such a thing. He sighed before answering. "Well, that's his version. He complained about being held in Sickbay and I tried to tell him this was the safest place. Then he went on about how he wanted to get his blanket. All I did was tell him to stay. He went off to complain to the Captain. I thought I should let him go and try but then 5 or 6 of the others wanted to go after the guy, so I decided it would be best for me to get him back to Sickbay before anyone got hurt. I caught up with him right in front of the turbolift. Yes, it is true that I might have lost my patience at one point but never did I get violent and I didn't even have a phaser. He's just trying to make his story sound really good."

 

DJ leaned back in her chair and watched Lepage squirm. "I was wondering where you got the phaser," she stated nonchalantly.  "Thought for a minute you'd stashed one in  your emergency medkit."

 

Nick ran both hands over his face. He couldn't believe this was happening. He was, after all, just trying to do his job and here was a civilian, whining about not having his blanket and probably getting him into some trouble. "I'm pretty good with a phaser but I never saw much use for one in my med kit," Nick replied.

 

"Look, I could have been nicer but we are at red alert and this guy goes on about how he wants his blanket. I know it might cause some people to ask questions but I assure you, I didn't do anything to that guy." Lepage hated having to justify his actions especially when he knew he had probably not handled the situation very well. He just hoped DJ would not make this a big deal. Granted, this was not the first time he had abandoned his post but this time was different.

 

"Sometimes," said DJ calmly. "Diplomacy doesn't work as well as we would like it to. I'll bet the diplomats on this station can testify to that." She shrugged her shoulders. "Everyone has 20/20 hindsight. So what do you think you could have done to better handle that situation?"

 

Being glad DJ was obviously not trying to make a big deal out of this little incident, Nick seriously considered her question. He refrained from voicing his thoughts about strapping the guy to a biobed or using a forcefield to keep the civilians under control. He was a little annoyed that they had to babysit a bunch of civilians while the station was at red alert. But those were his orders and there was nothing he could do about it.

 

"I should have tried to take the man's concerns seriously and told him that someone would get his blanket as soon as the crisis would be over. It would have calmed him down and given him the feeling that someone was listening to his concerns. I acted out of frustration and the man's reaction was only logical...spite. He was doing exactly the opposite of what I told him in order to make me take him seriously."

 

He sighed again. People were so easy to understand if you only took the time. This thought worried Nick. When he had still been in med school he had sworn to himself that he would always have enough time to listen to his patients' concerns no matter how trivial they seemed to him. In theory this was an easy enough thing to do. In reality, however, time constraints made it difficult to hear everyone out. He had to find a compromise.

 

DJ shrugged her shoulders. "I doubt there was anything you could have said that would have satisifed your escapee, other than telling him he was free to leave. Here is a grown man making a big deal out of a blanket. I could understand that if he was seven but this guy hasn't seen childhood in a very long time." She chuckled in spite of herself. "He was just acting out, probably a little scared and not sure how to handle it. Unfortunately, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

 

The CMO abruptly stood and started toward the door. "Why don't you check on the status of the other emergency shelters on the station. Heaven knows, there are a slew of them. I wouldn't be surprised if we could transfer most of our guests into one of the other shelters. It's my understanding they have security officers in place should the natives get restless."

 

She turned as she stepped through the door and offered Lepage a grin. "I'm sure one of them would love to help Mr. Whiney deal with his blanket separation anxiety."

 

Nick smiled gratefully. He was glad, DJ didn't make a big deal out of this whole business. On top of that she offered him the opportunity to get rid of the civilians. Her suggestion was the best solution anyway. Sickbay was not a good place for the civilians to be in case they had to deal with casualties.

 

He got up and walked out of the office. Passing DJ he turned to her. "I'll get on it right away. Thanks," he said smiling. He walked to his desk to call up a list of emergency shelters and the people in charge of each of them.