Return To Duty

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 10826.12)

 

 

John awakened in his biobed in sickbay, feeling refreshed after one of the

best sleep periods in his recent history. He looked up at the medical panel over

his head, and was startled to see that he had slept nearly 16 hours. 'Whatever

that nurse put in that hypo knocked me out', he thought, and was privately

grateful to the nurse. He also suddenly realized, as his stomach growled, that

he was VERY hungry. He pushed the call button for the nurse, and a few minutes

later, one came to his bed.

 

"I see we're awake," she smiled. "How are you feeling?" John smiled, and said,

"Much better, thank you, and HUNGRY. Could I get something to eat, please?"

The nurse smiled and said, "I think that can be arranged. Let me check with the

boss, first, though." She punched the intercom, and said, "Doctor, Lieutenant

Randall is awake, and is about to eat the bed linen. Do you think we can feed him?"

In her office, Dr. Gretchen Hanson, the chief medical officer, laughed and said,

"I'll be right out."

 

The doctor walked out into sickbay, and arrived at John's bed. She smiled at

him, and said, "Hungry, huh? That's a good sign. What do you feel like having?"

John, who had sat completely up, and was pleased that there was very little pain

in his leg, said, "Doctor, right now, I'm not too picky. Just something to tide me

over for a while." Gretchen turned to the nurse, and said, "Bring him whatever

he wants." The nurse nodded and left, and the doctor turned back to John.

"Here's the deal, Lieutenant. You keep down whatever you eat, and I will leave

orders for you to be released from sickbay. Fair enough?"

 

John smiled and said, "That's a deal, Doc. I have very little pain in my leg right

now, so I'm all for it." Gretchen smiled and nodded. "Good. I'm headed planetside

to talk to Dr. Hermitage again; I think it's going to take a personal visit to

reassure him." John nodded and said, "Doctor, I want to thank you for taking

care of me. As far as I'm concerned, you're the best I've went to." Gretchen

smiled at the compliment, winked at him, and turned to the nurse, who had

returned with a plate of food. "Nurse, I hope to be back soon." "Yes, Doctor,"

replied the nurse. Gretchen lifted a hand to John, who returned it, and the doctor

left sickbay.

 

The nurse handed the tray of food to John, who smiled and thanked her. The

lieutenant then began to eat hungrily, and, after only a few minutes, was finished.

He pushed the call button, and the nurse came over. "Thank you for this; it was

VERY good." The nurse smiled, and said, "You certainly made short work of that.

Now, let's see how well you retain what you just ate, and we'll go from there."

John nodded, and leaned back in his bed, closing his eyes.

 

An hour and a half passed, then the nurse came back to his bed. "How do you

feel, Lieutenant?" John looked at her, and smiled. "I feel fine, thank you." The

nurse smiled and said, "Well, I guess you're ready to get out of here, huh?"

Randall replied, "Yes, I am." The nurse smiled and said, "All right, per the doctor's

orders, you are officially released from sickbay. Here is a civilian outfit for you

to wear until you go back on duty. Take care, Lieutenant." "Thank you, nurse,"

said John, who put on the civilian clothes, and, limping just slightly, walked over

to the sickbay doors, which whooshed open at his presence.

 

He exited sickbay, and went along the corridor to the TL. "Deck 8," he said as

he entered, and, just before the door closed, thought he saw Commander Erica

Rinax enter into sickbay. The door closed, and the turbolift whisked him to his

destination. He exited the lift, and went along the corridor to his cabin. He

entered, took off the civilian clothes, and headed for the shower. He finished

showering, and heard his door chime. He put on a robe, and went to the door.

"Come in!" he called, and the door opened to reveal the figure of Commander

Erica Rinax standing there.

 

The female first officer took a step into the room, then blushed deeply when

she saw John dressed in a robe, and obviously had just finished a shower. She

began to back away from him, and mumbled, "Um, Lieutenant Randall, er, just,

um, checking that you have returned.....and, um, you are fine?" John smiled

at her, totally at ease, and said, "Hello, Commander, you caught me just

finishing a shower. Yes, I'm fine; my leg is more sore than anything right now.

I just need to exercise it, I believe."

 

The commander finished backing into the hallway, looking from side to side

as Randall talked to her, and said, "I...just wanted to make sure you were

getting along. Sorry to have disturbed you." John waved a hand, and then

went to one side of the door to spare Rinax any further embarassment.

"Actually, Commander, I would like to report for duty, if it's all right with you."

Rinax, who was obviously relieved when Randall stepped behind the door,

asked, "Have you been cleared by Dr. Hanson?" John replied, "Yes, sir, I

have." The commander nodded and said, "All right, then, report for your

next shift, and I will alert the captain that you are back on duty. Welcome back."

 

John smiled and said, "Thank you, Commander, and I'm sorry I embarassed

you. I will call the bridge in 15 minutes, if that's all right?" Rinax nodded, turned

and left, striding rapidly down the corridor. John's cabin door closed, and he

smiled to himself, then went to his computer terminal. He accessed the duty

roster, and saw that Lieutenant Eddie Freeman was planetside. He went to

his bedroom, put on a duty uniform, and exited his cabin, heading for the TL.

"Deck 12," he said, and the lift whisked him away.

 

The lift arrived at its destination, and John exited the lift, walking along the

corridor to engineering. Along the way, he nodded and smiled at crewpersons

who were clearly delighted to see him. He approached the engineering doors,

they whooshed open, and he walked inside to a mixture of gasps and shouts

from his engineering crewmates. He held up his hands, smiled, and said, "Hi,

guys, it's great to be back, the leg is sore, but I feel fine. Everyone please

remain as you were; I need to call the bridge."

 

The crew acknowledged, and resumed their duties. John walked to the main

console, and thumbed the intercom. "Enginering to bridge. Captain Ja'lale."

The reply came back almost instantly. "Ja'lale here, go ahead, Lieutenant. And

glad to see you out and about, by the way." "Thank you, sir," replied Randall.

"Just wanted to let you know I have been cleared by the doctor to go back

on duty. I am officially reporting now, sir." "Very good, Mr. Randall," boomed

the captain. "If you're unsure what to do, please report to Freeman, though

I'm sure he'll be pleased that you're back on duty." "Aye, sir, I will. Randall out."

 

John thumbed the intercom again. "Randall to Freeman, come in, please."

The answer came back instantly. "Hey, Randall, this is Freeman." "Hello,

Lieutenant, how's it going down there?" "Well, we're making progress,"

reported Freeman. "Not as much as we could be. But progress. How about

you? How are you doing?" Randall replied, "I'm doing better, thanks; just some

soreness in my leg. But, I'll exercise it out, no worries. How would be the best

way I could help?"

 

Freeman said, "If you're up for it, and don't mind working in a bombed-out

crater, I could use a little help down here." John grinned and said, "Say no

more; do I need to bring anything with me, besides the basic stuff?" "Just

the basic kit," said the acting chief. "We've got prety much everything we

need down here. The only other thing I'd recommend: bring a weapon. We

got looters." "Thanks for the heads-up," John said. "See you in about five

minutes, then. Randall out."

 

He turned, and saw Steve Davis working at the console. "Steve, you have

control here, I'm going to help the chief." Davis nodded, and Randall went

to get his kit, grabbed his phaser, checked it, put it in his holster, then

exited engineering, heading for the turbolift.

 

 

 

 

END LOG