Full Circle (written for: kajalmonsta)

[sa_shipper]

Title: Full Circle
Pairing/Group: Sakuraiba and Special Guest; Natasha Nefryt
Genre: AU. Sci-Fi, Humour, Angst, Medical Drama, Romance
Rating/Warnings: PG
Summary: The red thread woven by fate between two hearts can get frayed or even broken by misunderstood events. Eventually fate mends the breach, but sometimes fate needs a little help to bring the ends back ……….. full circle.
A/N: All conversation is in English, except where noted.

Foreword

Oubliette; A secret dungeon with an opening only at the top. ~ Miriam Webster Dictionary.
“It’s a place to put people to forget about ‘em.” ~ Hoggle to Sara in the movie, Labyrinth.
For this story, the latter is perhaps a more apt description of such a dungeon and the deepest oubliette in the Earth Defense Command is the Galileo Space Station located in a small star system 4 light years past Alpha Centauri, in other words over 40 trillion km away from Earth. The Galileo Station is a science station built over 40 years ago as the operating base for the Triad Project. Which is staffed by a collection of Xeno-Scientists; archaeologist, anthropologists, botanists, and the like who have been exploring and researching the ancient ruins of a lost civilization scattered over three of the five uninhabited planets in that system. Thus, most of those assigned to the Galileo Station specifically trained for and/or requested to be assigned to the station. However; for an unfortunate few it was either accept the transfer or leave the fleet on very unfavorable terms. These people aren’t troublemakers or discipline problems though. They just had the misfortune to land in situations where those were the only options for them.
The station is considered something of an oubliette because; it is a 12 hour flight by Star Drive away from the nearest space travel zones or corridors. The freighter class ship carrying additional supplies, visitors and to rotate crew members makes the trip from Earth only every four months and for security purposes the station must maintain a tight perimeter patrol. Meaning that, other than the freighter, only EDC fleet ships can approach the station and that doesn’t happen very often. New crew members must wait two years after they arrive to be able to either receive visitors, have their family join them or to have a leave home. It might sound like a very lonely place to be assigned, but the Galileo Station is mostly self-supporting with three large farming domes and since many in the crew of 2500 have their wives/husbands and children with them increasing the population to about 4500 so, it’s really more like a small town than a military research station……A comfortable community……..once you get used to being in the back of beyond that is……… Which is precisely where Commander Sho Sakurai M.D. now found himself heading for…….not because he broke some regulation wasn’t treating his patients correctly……he simply said ‘No’ to the wrong person……

And now, on to the story

Three weeks later; Main Cargo Bay, Galileo Research Station;
“Docking is now complete. Welcome to Galileo Station. Your stored luggage will be sent to your quarters as soon as it is unloaded.” The smiling crewman calls out across the cabin and then motions towards the freighter’s two exits. Sho unfastens his harness and waits for some of the other passengers to move by. Then he sighs and nudges his lightly snoring companion who has been sound asleep ever since they left the transport corridor. “Hmm? What?” The woman mutters sleepily and turns her head. “Hey, Dr Van Winkle, wake up we’ve arrived.” Sho says and nudges her again before getting up to retrieve their medical cases from the compartment above. Next to the seat he just vacated, his colleague Dr Natasha Nefryt, an Empathic Psychiatrist who is on temporary duty at the station to perform yearly Psych evals on the station’s staff members, unfastens her seat harness and pulls a long stretch. “Oh what a good sleep I had!” She exclaims getting up with a relaxed smile. “That’s why I love long flights so much. The white noise from the engines makes it so nice and quiet.” She says smiling. “The only down side is that now I totally starving.” Tasha whines, making a sad puppy face and rubbing her grumbling midsection. Sho laughs and hands her an apple. “I saved that from lunch. After we report to the station Commander and check out the hospital I’ll buy you dinner.” Sho says laughing as he leads the way off the ship.
Reporting to Captain Darden, the station’s commander was very brief because they met the tall Captain in the lift as he was heading down to meet with the new pilots. “Deck 5 is Science Deck. The east wing is dedicated to the Triad Project with the Hospital, all other science offices are located in the west wing. When you get off the lift, take the second left and the Hospital’s main entrance will 15 meters dead ahead.” Captain Darden explains as the lift doors open onto the station’s main hangar. “Welcome to Galileo Station Doctors.” He adds with a small salute as he steps off the lift. “I really like the Captain’s energy. This is going to be a fun assignment.” Tasha says grinning at the closed doors. “For you maybe…you get to leave at the end of January.” Sho grumbles with a shrug. “Oh lighten up, Sho. I doubt it will be that bad once you get used to being here and at least Mademoiselle LaCroix can’t follow you here.” Tasha says nudging his arm. “Tasha, please don’t even say that name.” Sho replies cringing at the memory of the woman who was the reason for him having to accept the open-ended assignment to Galileo Station and near complete obscurity for the talented and skilled young doctor, but the memories popped into his mind anyway. He had met Joyceline LaCroix, the over-indulged youngest daughter of the President of a huge inter-galactic industrial group, a little over 2 years before at the reception being held at a hotel in Tokyo for a visiting dignitary from somewhere. Unknown to Sho at that time, Joyceline had set her sights on him and would completely refuse to hear anything opposing them being together….not even from Sho…..no matter how many times he turned her down or explained that he wasn’t into women beyond friendship, she just wouldn’t back off.
To put some distance between them, Sho even transferred to another hospital…..twice; first to the Lunar Base and then to the big EDC base in Bethesda Maryland, but eventually she followed, appearing at his apartment at random times with some horrendously expensive gift and completely disrupting his life. Finally, 6 months ago, Sho moved into quarters on base, hoping that would convince her to leave him be and it seemed to work ……..or so he thought. Then 3 weeks ago Sho was called to the Chief of Medicine’s office, waiting for him there were both of his parents. All three, it seemed, had been approached by a woman who turned out to be a professional matchmaker hired by Mrs. LaCroix with instructions to arrange an Omiai meeting between Sho and her daughter. Sho was mortified that Joyceline had gone so far as to involve both his parents and Admiral Chang. However his commanding officer had been ok about it after talking to his parents. “Sho, Miss LaCroix and her mother have seriously crossed a line here, involving me in their personal campaign.” She told him and then when Sho was about to apologize again, the silver-haired career officer had smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry, Commander I’m on your side in this and I have a solution….if you are willing to hear it.” She had added and Sho nodded.
The Admiral then went on to explain that she had received a request to select a General Specialist from her command as a replacement for the Chief Medical Officer of the Galileo Space Station who was retiring soon. Originally Sho wasn’t on her list of candidates because she wanted to keep his skills at her hospital, but after that matchmaker showed up at her office and she spoke to Sho’s parents, she changed her mind, hence the meeting that day. “As you know because of the Triad Project, Galileo Station has had a very high security rating ever since it became operational 42 years ago. So, not even Director LaCroix’s considerable influence will be able to get her past that.” Admiral Chang had explained. That was all very true, even though Director LaCroix had yet to enter the picture, but Sho knew that was only a matter of time until he did. Besides the high Security regulations the only other positive thing Sho saw in his accepting the transfer to a forty year old Space station in the middle nowhere was that it meant being promoted to full Commander. When they get to deck 5 a couple of minutes later, the lift doors open on a wide, clean area with a large version of the emblem of the Triad Project set into the floor. The friends look around in surprise. The area looks almost new rather than 40 years old. “Now the Captain said to take the second left and the go straight, right?” Tasha says and Sho nods and turns to lead the way.
The hospital is large, bright and well-kept. Dr Xavier Delgado is waiting for them in his office. “Ahh finally you’re here, Dr Sakurai.” He says with a relieved sigh and waves them to the two chairs in front of his desk. “Dr Sakurai, I know that you were expecting to have a two month transition period. I’m sorry but that isn’t going to be possible now as I’ve had to accelerate my return to Earth due to my wife’s health. We will be leaving on the Poseidon at the end of this week.” He explains and then goes on to describe her condition and explains that the treatment requires a zero G environment. Sho is familiar with that condition. Sho, knows that it’s not life threatening at the level Dr Delgado described, but without proper treatment it can worsen very quickly and the best facility to treat it is on the Lunar Base. “Don’t worry about things here Dr Delgado, I learn fast and Dr Nefryt will be here until January if I need backup.” Sho says with a smile. Then the elderly doctor gives them a short tour of the hospital ending with showing them the office Tasha will use for the evals. “Dr Sakurai, Dr Nefryt, I have rounds now so I’ll leave you to get settled in. Again I’m sorry to be leaving so soon after you arrive.” The elderly Dr says as he leaves. “He’s really worried about her, Sho. I hope everything will be alright once they get to Earth.” Tasha says with a sigh.
“The Zero G lab at the Lunar Base is the best facility around for her condition, Tasha and they caught in pliantly of time for effective treatment, so don’t worry.” Sho explains. Tasha nods and wanders over to the large window along one wall. “Oh wow, Sho! You’ve got to see this! The central planet, Primus, is like right there.” She says pointing out the window and waving him over. “Yada….I’ll pass. I don’t need to be reminded how high up we are.” Sho replies waving a hand and Tasha laughs, then her stomach sounds off again. “Ahh sounds like that apple wore off. Come on; let’s go ask where the dining hall is.” Sho says and hurries out of the office. “Note to self; arrange for curtains for the office.” Tasha says to herself before she follows her friend out. “Well that would depend on what you would like to eat, Doctor Sakurai.” The Nurse is saying when Tasha catches up with Sho. “What do you mean?” Sho asks. “Let’s see the hospital has a small dining room on the main level and there is a general dining hall on every other deck the top one is entirely vegan though. The one on this deck is east of the lifts on the right. Also if you go out to the civilian areas there are all sorts of small cafes and restaurants.” The Nurse continues ticking off things on her fingers. “Spanish, Chinese, French, Japanese…just about anything.” She adds and Sho turns to Tasha.
“OK. Tasha what sounds good to you? Remember I’m buying.” He asks. “Food.” Tasha replies grinning. “But since we’ll probably be having lunch here most days I say the general dining hall as it’s the next closest place.” She adds. Sho thanks the Nurse and follows her directions to the dining hall. About half an hour later, the two are chatting and laughing over their meal when Sho suddenly freezes mid-sentence. Tasha winces visibly and glares at Sho, but then her expression turns curious. “Really? He’s here?....Where?” She asks and quickly looks around. She and Sho have been friends for a long time, so she knows about the young man he was in love with back in college. He’s never told her any real details, but she knows that their break up still bothers Sho a lot. Sho drops his head and lifts a hand to hide his face. “Oh wow, Sho he’s much better looking now than in the pictures you have.” She says when she spots the tall man walking towards the exit with three others. “Tasha, stop staring and turn back around or he’ll see you.” Sho hisses tugging on her arm with his free hand. “Well if you weren’t projecting like a randy teenager, I wouldn’t have looked.” She replies chuckling softly as she turns back to him. “Sorry.” Sho mutters and looks down at his meal, breathing deeply. Neither of them sees the tall man glance their way with a curious expression as he and the others leave.

The following night;
The welcoming reception for the new staff is being held in one of the restaurants in the civilian sector. The message they each received that morning giving them directions to the restaurant also said that dress is casual, meaning no uniforms. Dr Delgado has Sho and Tasha meet him and his wife at the shuttle port before continuing to the restaurant. “This is how Captain Darden greets all the new arrivals, no uniforms no rank showing so everyone can relax and enjoy themselves.” Mrs. Delgado explains as the elderly pair introduces the two young Doctors to some of the other guests. “There you are my pretty butterfly!” A voice says that makes Mrs. Delgado laugh like a young girl and makes Sho who had turned to look at something Tasha was pointing out freeze like a statue again. “Hey, hombre that’s my lady.” Dr Delgado is saying and all three laugh. “So you are really retiring this time, Ojisan?” Masaki replies. “Si, Mi Amigo! Since my replacement arrived on the Poseidon yesterday, we can leave for Earth much sooner.” Dr Delgado tells him. Tasha’s senses pick up on the emotional exchange between them. Concern directed at Mrs. Delgado. “Ah, I’m going to miss you my pretty butterfly.” Masaki says giving the elderly lady a warm hug. “Mi Amigo, let me introduce you to my replacement since your rock crawlers tend to be the hospitals most frequent clients he should know your face, si?” He says gripping Sho on the shoulder.
Unable to keep looking the other way now, Sho slowly turns around only to see the tall man’s bright smile fade to a carefully neutral expression. “But ladies first, si?” The older man says nodding to Tasha. “This is Doctor Natasha Nefryt who is doing the staff psych evals this year. Dr Nefryt, this is Masaki Aiba, PhD the Galileo’s Chief Science officer and the current Assistant Director of the Triad Project.” The smile returns briefly as Masaki extends his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Doctor Nefryt.” He says and Tasha returns the greeting in Japanese which gets her a bit brighter smile, but the neutral expression returns when the older man turns to Sho. “Ojisan, I already know Dr Sakurai.” Aiba says calmly before the older man can continue the introduction. “Sakurai Sensei, it’s been a while.” Aiba says in Japanese and bows politely. Sho returns the greeting and bow and their conversation ends there. “Ojisan, since I’m heading down to Tertius the day before you leave and will be tied up in meeting on the new project every day before then, is it alright if I kidnap my pretty butterfly for a little while?” Aiba asks smiling at the older man who nods and smiles as they walk away. Dr Delgado turns to say something to Sho, but is interrupted by the hurried approach of a young man. “Excuse me, Dr Delgado. Mr. Parker asked me to find you. He didn’t say why, just that it was very important.” He says and the older doctor nods. “Oh, what now? I talked to him just before I left the hospital today…..Ay yi yi that man really needs to learn to relax more….!” He says pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. “Alright Sam lead the way. Excuse me Dr Sakurai, Dr Nefryt this won’t take long….I hope.” The older man says as follows the young man.
Tasha sighs and turns Sho facing her and gives him a hard pinch on the arm. “Itai! Tasha what was that for?” He asks jerking his arm back. “Because you’re projecting so loudly that a latent empath would feel it.” Tasha replies. “Gomen, Tasha. I should have realized that he’d be here too….I going to go back.” Sho says and starts to turn but she grabs his arm again. “You’re the Chief Medical Office, Sho so that’s not an option, and you know it.” Tasha says and then she waves one of the waiters over and takes two champagne flutes from the tray. “Here, Sho. Drink this and get a grip, okay?” Tasha orders as she hands the slender glass to her friend. Sho shakes his head. “Doctor’s orders, Sho. One Shot.” She adds nodding to the glass. He sighs and takes the flute from her and drains it in a few swallows. “Good boy.” Tasha says taking the empty glass and then handing him the other one. “This one too.” She orders and Sho gives her a look. “Normally I would prescribe a single large shot of something a lot stronger, but the bar is on the other side of the room. So, you will have to make do with champagne.” Tasha explains and then nods to the sparkling wine. Sho grins and does as he is told. “Ahh that’s better, you aren’t projecting as bad now. You know, it still amazes me how effective just the taste of alcohol can be in distracting someone who is upset.” She says. “Thanks Tasha.” Sho replies. “Come on, Sho we should get you some food before the alcohol hits your bloodstream.” She says taking the glass from him and setting both on a nearby table.
The friends don’t talk as they walk into the room where the buffet is set up and make their selections. In all the years that Tasha has known Sho she has never sensed or seen her friend this upset about anything. Not even being transferred to the so remote space station upset him as much as seeing Masaki Aiba again and it is starting to worry her. “Ne, Tasha…...” Sho begins as he sets the shrimp he was about to eat back on his plate. “Did I sense anything from Dr Aiba?” She finishes the question for him and Sho nods. “Not much overall, Sho. There was a genuine affection and concern for the Delgados, especially Mrs. Delgado. His greeting to me was sincere and my replying to him in Japanese did surprise him a bit. Dr Aiba was really excited about that special project he mentioned.” She explains with a small smile. “But, towards you, I couldn’t really sense much of anything at all except that he knows you. He really shut down at that point until he spoke to the Delgados again.” She finishes and Sho sighs looking down at his plate. He doesn’t mention it again and when they come out of the buffet room about 20 minutes later they run into the Delgados again and find out that Aiba had already left. “His team has an early meeting, so he went home to sleep.” Dr Delgado tells them when Tasha asks. Then the older couple walk over to the buffet.
Sho relaxes a bit more after hearing that, but Tasha can still sense a lingering tension in her friend. After about an hour or so later when Dr and Mrs. Delgado are ready to leave Tasha and Sho leave with them, using the excuse of still getting their ‘station legs’ to cover their leaving early. The corridor where their quarters are located is completely empty; Tasha can’t even sense anyone around other that Sho and a handful of people who are sleeping. So, before they separate to go inside their individual rooms Tasha lightly touches her friend on the shoulder. “Look Sho, we’ve been friends a long time now so I won’t get mad if you say it’s none of my business, but I have to ask.” She tells him and Sho nods for her to go on. “Just what happened between you and Masaki Aiba ten years ago, Sho?” Tasha asks. Sho sighs and turns to her. “Tasha, I know that you are asking that because you are worried about me, and I’m really grateful to have such a good friend. So, I won’t say that it’s none of your business.” Sho replies and then he takes a deep breath. “But I can’t answer you….” He says and looks down for a moment. “…..not yet…okay? I just need some time to think.” Sho adds looking back up at her. “Good enough, Sho.” Tasha replies. “Just remember that the Dr is always ‘real in’.” She says pointing at her door……. “So long as I have a nickel….I remember.” Sho finishes for her. “Oyasumi nasai, Sho kun.” Tasha says as she opens her door. “Dobranoc, Natalia.” Sho calls back as he walks down the corridor.
At the staff meeting at 10 AM the next morning, when they were officially introduced to the rest of the senior staff, again Sho was still very nervous and upset at seeing Dr Aiba, but was in better control than at the reception. Also like the previous evening Tasha kept sensing the same weird ‘non emotion’ from the tall archaeologist whenever Sho spoke or someone else drew the group’s attention to him. That wouldn’t be the only time that she sensed it from him over that week either, especially when Sho was attending the same meeting as Dr Aiba. At those times questions and/or responses from either were kept to a polite minimum. If they happened to be in the dining hall at the same time, or just passed each other in the corridor there would be a silent nod from Dr Aiba if anything at all. Tasha wanted to say it was indifference she was sensing from Masaki Aiba, but at the same time that didn’t feel quite right. From Sho on the other hand was a mess. Tasha kept sensing the same mix of conflicting emotions she had at the reception. But there were so many emotions overlapping each other and constantly shifting through her friend for her to put any kind of identification to it. At meetings he wouldn’t make eye contact with Dr Aiba at all and when they met by chance, Sho was always the first to move aside. Just what had happened between them 10 years ago to make them like that now? Tasha wanted to ask Sho again, but she knew he wasn’t ready. After Dr Aiba’s team left for Tertius, Sho relaxed a good bit and when the Delgados left the next day, he no longer had time to worry about much of anything except running the hospital.
Two Months later;
Maybe it was a good thing that there was no transition period and that Sho basically had to hit the ground running after Dr Delgado left the station so there was no time for awkwardness or ‘feeling’ his way around the staff. Maybe it was because Sho had always dove head first into any challenge that his career presented to him. Maybe it was a bit of both, but whatever the reason before he knew it two months had gone by and somehow during that time he was able to gain the trust and respect of the entire staff of the hospital. Just as Dr Delgado had predicted, over half the patients that came to the hospital each day were transported up from the various archaeology teams on the planets below the stations. Most of the time it was minor things like cuts, scraps, or simple fractures. But due to the fact that some of the odd minerals present in the soil of the planets could turn even those simple injuries very serious very quickly, so every injury no matter how small each had to be treated as an emergency case. Complicating things was that the wounds would not respond to modern treatments like micro-transporters, dermal regenerators and such. All treatment had to be done the old fashioned, hands on way. With wounds stitched close and bandaged. Even medications had to be administered through IV since Hypo-sprays wouldn’t work, but once those minerals had cycled out of the body then modern techniques could be used to speed the patient’s recovery.
During his off duty time Sho studied the hospital’s case archive going back to the beginning 40 years before. Those early cases were the scariest for him, because some of the patients who died back then initially had very minor injuries like superficial cuts, or scraped knees, and so forth which were usually just cleaned and covered by the person while still at the work site. However; within a few hours their condition would suddenly and mysterious worsen often resulting in death from either cardiac or respiratory arrest. The doctor at the station caught onto this quickly and once they began to treat every single injury suffered on the surface as a life threatening one, the number of deaths went down to almost none in less than a month. Deaths still happened but those were only in the cases of very severe injuries or where a large amount of the minerals had gotten into the patient’s blood. Swallowing or breathing in the dust did no harm at all. Sho spent several hours each day going over these old case reports as well as any side research done on the minerals themselves. Something bothered him about how all the patients who died because high mineral content in their blood always died one of two way, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on what that was.
One afternoon, just after lunch, Sho was studying a set of cases from 6 years before when suddenly an alarm sounded from his computer and a new page flashed into view surround by a dark red border. A level one emergency. Sho quickly read the information. A series of lightning strikes from a massive thunderstorm up in the hills on the main continent on Tertitus 12 km north of one of the excavation sites had caused a landslide that had crashed into the dig site where a team of 42 were working. Damage to the site was extreme with whole sections collapsing on the workers within. Sho didn’t read any more. He touches a flashing icon to forward the information to every Nurse’s station and doctor’s office. Then as he is hurrying towards the door, Sho touches the com link on his collar. “Computer issue a class 1 emergency alert. All rescue teams to the transporter, STAT…..All Hands to duty stations.” The computer acknowledges the command a second later and then the alert sound off in all working areas of the hospital with the added comment of ‘This is not a drill’.
Sho runs into the ER just as the first rescue team transport. He called for two other nurses to follow him and stops at the Nurse’s Station in the ER. “Lieutenant, I want you and these two to start calling around we’re going to need every pair of hands we can get.” Sho orders. “Aye Sir, but I’ve already sent the signal to all the off duty staff.” She replies. “No Lieutenant, that isn’t what I mean.” Sho tells her. “Every single staff member is going to be needed for this emergency as we are the best trained for it, but there are still other patients in this hospital needing care. I want you three to start calling everywhere from the Marine contingent to the small clinics in the civilian sector and gather as many people with medical experience as you can and get them here to back us up. Then get absolutely everyone in the hospital down here!” Sho tells them before heading towards the transporter that is signaling incoming transport. For the next few hours the ER looks like a scene of utter chaos with doctors, nurses, and med techs running every which way but it is actually running smoothly.
When the last group is transported up, Sho who has just finished with his fourth patient hurries over to the transporter. Even with the thick coating of dust covering the victims, one quick look and he can see that they are all badly injured. “Why weren’t these people in the first groups brought up?!” Sho shouts at the chief medic. “Sir, these three were in the first section that collapsed and we only just got them out. Scans showed that they all have a toxic level of both red and yellow dust already in their blood.” He reports sadly and hands Sho the data pad which he refuses to take. “Are they dead yet?” Sho asks scowling. “No Sir, but…” The medic replies and Sho cuts him off. “But nothing, if they are still alive they get treated! Now, take these people to the main operating room, it’s the only space not being used!” He yells and the medics get moving. Sho looks around quickly he spots Tasha just coming from a treatment room and Dr Morgan Lawrence, who is quickly changing his muddy shirt in the hall and yells for them to follow him and bring whoever they can grab. “I just sent three highly critical cases to the main OR we have to move fast to get them stable!” Sho tells them as they run after the medics. One of the injured workers is placed on the operating table while the other two are treated on the gurneys they arrived on. All three are stripped save for the rescue team’s pressure dressings and the multicolored dust is washed off so their injuries can be uncovered and treated. Even the pads on the gurneys are removed and kicked to the side to prevent the dust on them from getting back on the bodies.
Other nurses and doctors begin arriving and soon each patient has three doctors working on them. As he is cleaning the dust from the woman on the gurney before him, Sho uncovers a medical warning tag that says that she is highly allergic to peanuts. “There aren’t any peanuts here, Ma’am so that’s one thing we won’t have to worry about.” He tells the unconscious woman as he continues clearing the dust off her. “Dr Sakurai can you come over here!” One of the Doctors working on the second man calls out “Morgan take over here. Sho tells another of the doctors working on the woman and hurries over to the other man. “What the?!” The same Dr yells taking a step back. “What wrong Dr Michaels?” He asks. “He coughed just now and a rash appeared on his chest and then vanished again.” The older Dr says and just as Sho looks down, the man coughs again and the weird rash appears again only to vanish after a second or two. “That almost looks like hives except I never seen hives that appear and disappear like that.” Dr Michaels says and things start clicking in Sho’s head. He looks at the Nurse who is entering something on a data pad. “Let me see that for a moment.” He says reaching for the device and then quickly scans the information on it. “Been here a year is allergic to willow tree pollen. No willows planet side though.” Sho says handing the data pad back to the Nurse.
Then he quickly goes over to the patient in the middle and asks for his record. “Kimara Koyichi san....” Sho recognized the name because he was moderately allergic to animal hair and had decided to get regular treatments for it so his small son could keep the puppy his late grandfather had given him. Sho quickly looks between the three patients and suddenly the puzzle suddenly sorts itself out. “Damn! We’ve been reading the symptoms wrong!.....Hey, listen up, everyone! It’s anaphylaxis not a poison reaction! The minerals in the soil are somehow causing a severe allergic reaction in their blood! “That why their condition worsens so quickly!” Sho calls out to them. “Morgan, Tasha, administer 30cc’s of epinephrine straight into the IV line!! Right now!” He tells them just as the nurse slaps a syringe and alcohol swab into his hand and repeats the order back to him. Sho wipes the port in the IV tubing and injects the medicine. “Each of these people is being treated for a moderate or severe allergy.” He says pointing to each patient while they wait for a reaction. “Which mean they already have elevated antihistamines levels in their blood! I think that has been slowing the reaction from the mineral. Giving them epinephrine should counter the reaction enough to stop the anaphylaxis so we can concentrate on their other injuries.” Sho says and crosses the fingers of his free hand. A few short moments later all three patients start breathing easier and their heart rates drop closer to normal. “Yatta!” Sho shouts. “Commander Young, pass the word to all staff doctors to watch for signs of anaphylaxis and treat accordingly.” Sho shouts and the head Nurse nods “Aye aye, Sir” Then she hurries from the room. For the next hour or so the only conversation in the concerns requests for surgical tools and such things as the pressure dressing are removed and the other life-saving work begins. The woman who was the least injured is the first to be taken from the OR with Morgan following close behind.
Sho’s patient is finished next, but he stays behind as the man is wheeled from the room and goes over to Tasha. “It’s been a long time since I was a resident on surgery rotation Sho, but it seems my hands haven’t forgotten what to do.” She says deftly tying one last suture on the man’s left leg. “Ok, that’s it. All nice and even.” Tasha continues handing the suture set back to the nurse. “Dress the wounds and move him to the ICU.” She instructs before stepping back and looking around. “Man, this place looks like a mud bomb went off, Sho.” Tasha says chuckling softly at the muddy mess in the once pristine and sterile operating room. “Yeah it does, I’ll arrange with Captain Darden for some extra help or the maintenance crew is going to demand hazard pay to put this right.” Sho replies as they leave as well and walk to the Nurse’s station. When they get there the Head Nurse, Commander Young, hands him a data pad containing information on the emergency. Sho rubs his eyes tiredly and reads the report quietly. 46 total injured including three rescue workers. 10 fatalities, 6 on the surface and four that were in the first groups brought in, whose injuries were so severe that successful treatment would have been difficult even with modern technology. At the end of the report it gave the elapsed time for the emergency call. Sho checks his watch briefly to confirm that surprising bit of information…..It was just past 5 pm now. So, from when the alert sounded to when the last patient was logged into the ICU. His staff had stabilized and treated 40 patients in just over 4 hours. Sho grins to himself as he enters his code to accept the report and hands it back to her. “Thank You, Commander Young. Please let the staff know that I said ‘Very Well Done’.” He adds returning her salute.
“Aye aye, Sir.” The commander replies also smiling. “Ah, Dr Nefryt, Dr Aiba arrived about an hour ago to check on his people. He’s with Mrs. Kimara in the consult room now.” The Nurse tells Tasha motioning down the hall behind them. While he was reading, While Sho went over the incident report, Tasha had been picked up several overlapping emotions moving through Sho’s weary mind. Sorrow, joy, surprise and then a lot of pride but after the Nurse spoke to her……there was only…. grateful relief mixed with fear……Tasha nods more to herself than the older woman. “Thank You Commander. Please hand me that lab coat and I’ll go talk to her.” Tasha asks and the Head Nurse hands her the long white coat. “It’s a bit big on me, but at least it covers the mud.” She says rolling up the too long sleeves and buttoning up the lab coat. “I’ll buy dinner later, okay Sho?” she asks and Sho nods.
About an hour and a half later in Tasha’s office;
“It’s open, Sho.” Tasha calls out in the quiet office, then the door slides open and a cleaned up Sho walks wearily into the office. “Sorry to interrupt your meeting, but this won’t wait.” She says over her shoulder and Sho chuckles. “Ii ne, Tasha. I was just being ‘talked to’ by Mr Parker about supplies for the extra cleaning crews.” He replies grinning as he sits down and Tasha chuckles. “What did you need to see me about, Tasha?” Sho asks. Then Tasha picks up a figurine from the shelf and walks around her desk to the chair facing him. “Something that I’ve let go on for way, way too long…..” She says and sets the figurine on the desk. It’s a coin bank of Lucy from the peanuts cartoon sitting at her psychiatry stand. “But since I called you there’s no fee.” She says turning the little sign attached to the bank from ‘out’ to ‘in’. “Nani? What are you talking about?” Sho asks says confused. “You and Masaki Aiba.” She replies turning to face him as he sucks in a shocked breath. “In all the time I’ve known you, Sho I’ve pretty much stayed away from the subject of Masaki Aiba because I knew it bothered you.” Tasha says then sits forward in her chair as Sho looks down. “Then that first day at the dining hall your shock at seeing him almost knocked me out of my chair and you then were such a bundle of nerves the rest of that day that it was sort of funny. But the next evening at the reception when he came over to talk to the Delgados it happened again, but it was way different. You were so shook up at meeting him again that it really worried me. That’s why I asked you about it later on. You asked me to wait that night, so I did.” Tasha says and reaches to take hold of his hand and Sho looks up at her.
“Sho, you’re my friend and I can’t let you go on like this any longer. I know from those old photos you have, that you two used to be really close friends. What happened to change that?” Tasha asks knowing this time he’s ready to answer her. Sho takes a deep breath. “What you said doesn’t quite describe our relationship, Tasha. We were a whole lot more than just friends. We were inseparable, like two halves of the same whole.” Sho tells her with a sad smile. “Well that explains your reactions whenever Dr Aiba is around.” Tasha replies smiling also. “But it still doesn’t tell me what happened.” Tasha adds getting serious again. “Then I messed it up, Tasha….I let myself be persuaded into ending things with Masaki for what I thought, no I told myself it was for the best….but I found out way too late that I was wrong.” Sho admits with a sigh. “From an inseparable couple to how you are now…..That’s a big switch, Sho. Could you maybe fill in the picture a bit more?” She asks and Sho nods. He starts at the beginning, telling her how they met at a mutual friend’s birthday party and eventually became friends. Then he talks about how Aiba was working at his family’s restaurant in Chiba while going to a junior college part-time.
“Masaki had this habit of switching majors frequently. When I asked our friend Ohno about it he told me that, that was just Aiba’s way. That he had a lot of different interests so he was pursuing them. Ohno also said that he had done the same thing before settling on art as his major. I didn’t quite understand it since all I wanted since middle school was to be a doctor, but everyone is different, ne?” Sho asks and Tasha nods. The story continues with Sho talking about when Aiba suffered a Spontaneous Pneumothorax. That was when Sho realized that his feelings for the hyper, lanky guy went a lot deeper than friendship and how happy he was when he found out that Aiba felt the same. “Masaki still has the scar from the emergency surgery. He told me that he kept it to remind himself that he has limits and to not overdo things.” Sho explains and then gets quiet again. When Sho starts talking again he tells her about the older Doctor, an old friend of his father who was also Sho’s mentor. He told her how that doctor always helped Sho in planning the path of his career, introducing him to particular academies for extra study or helping him get into important seminars and so forth. “After what happened with Masaki, I sort of slacked off a bit. My grades didn’t fall off or anything like that and I was still following my plan, I just stopped attending some of the seminars and such because I wanted to spend more time with Masaki. He wasn’t asking me to do that, in fact I didn’t even talk to him about it. I just did it. The seminars I skipped weren’t essential to my degree anyway and I felt that being beside Masaki was more important.” Sho explains.
“Did your mentor know you were skipping those seminars?” Tasha asks and Sho explains that the older doctor had gone out of the country to be a guest lecturer at another university a few months before and that when he came back he wasn’t angry about Sho skipping the seminars, but he was disappointed. Sho’s mentor had met Aiba before and didn’t dislike the pleasant young man, but he did feel that Aiba wasn’t serious about his studies either, since he still attending school only part-time and had yet to settle on a career path. “At the time, I repeated what Ohno had told me before, that not everyone studies the same way and that Masaki was just really curious about a lot of different things and that I knew he would eventually find that one thing that he wanted to do.” Sho tells her and goes on to talk about how at the start of his senior year an amazing opportunity suddenly landed in his lap. A chance to finish his undergraduate degree at Keio’s Lunar Campus as well as gaining a place in their pre-med program which would greatly accelerate his career path.
“I actually planned on turning it down, Tasha because it would mean being apart from Masaki for almost five years except for holidays and breaks. I told myself that I could graduate just fine at the main campus and get into a good pre-med program on Earth with no problem and then go on to the EDC’s medical school which was my end goal anyway. I would still be a doctor. Going to the Lunar campus would just accelerate that a lot and open more doors for me.” Sho tells her and then shrugs. “When I told my mentor what I wanted to do and why. He was upset and he reminded me of how many times Masaki had shifted study fields in the last year and said that in his honest opinion that wasn’t likely to change either which would leave Masaki with no real prospects for the future except taking over his family’s restaurant one day. Then he told me that he felt he would be letting me down as a family friend and a mentor if he didn’t counsel against my throwing away what might be a once-in-a lifetime opportunity just because I wanted to stay close to Aiba.” Sho’s story continues with him telling Tasha that less than two weeks later that Masaki not only changed majors again he also started going to a different college and that what his mentor had said began to make a terrible kind of sense.
“That was the first time we really fought, I mean we’d had arguments before, but this was different. I can’t even remember all of it, but I think I did most of the talking….or yelling though. I just….I couldn’t make myself stop. I remember saying some really terrible things to him and then I just packed my things and went back to my parent’s house. Three days later I was on the shuttle to the moon.” Sho says and looks down with a sigh. Tasha senses that the next part will explain a lot so she waits for him to go on. “A few months after I entered the EDC Academy, just before you and I met, I came across an old article about this famous researcher having completed a special research project using a group of young people from around the world. The article talked about how the students in the project had to come up with different ways to earn enough credits for a bachelor’s degree in a field assigned to them by the researcher rather than just attending a full university and they weren’t allowed to say anything about the project. 50 high school graduates from 20 different countries were chosen for the project, but only 32 finished it.” Sho says shaking his head. “Then when I found the section that talked about the students in particular I got a shock. The very first photo was of Masaki with his sunny smile and in the caption under the photo was his name with a full bachelor’s degree in science listed beside it.” Sho tells her and looks down. “He really was working on an actual degree and I never noticed it. He adds with a sigh.
“I remember one of my professors talking about that project in my freshman year at university, Sho. He told us that the researcher caught some serious criticism over the project at first, but then he ended up winning an important award for it.” Tasha says and Sho nods. “Masaki was the star student of the program. He took nearly 200 classes at more than a dozen different junior colleges all over Tokyo and Chiba and attended something like 75 lectures and seminars at museums and such. Even when he was in the hospital that time he took online classes and every single course he took had some sort of a scientific aspect to it. When he was finished 60% of the credits he earned were in archaeology which was the field he was assigned. I was really proud of him for that.” He says looking up at her with a smile that fades with his next thought. “When we broke up, he had just two semesters left, so he was actually a bit ahead of me in getting his degree.” Sho admits with a shrug. “Sho, after you found that article, why didn’t you get in touch with Dr Aiba and try to mend things?” She asks and Sho shakes his head and looks down again. “By the time I found that article, it had been almost 6 years since then and I had hurt him so very much when we broke up that I felt certain that he would never want see me again let alone talk to me and now it really seems like he’s moved on, so it’s too late.” Sho says and looks down. “I had something really precious and I threw it away, so you can say it, Tasha…’You’re an idiot, Sho.’…..I deserve it..” He adds with a sad sigh and closes his eyes as tears threaten.
Tasha mutters something in Polish about stupid, stubborn men as she gets up and walks across the room. A few moments later he hears her come back next to him. “Kimi wa Baka, Sho chan. But then again, so am I.” An all too familiar voice says. Sho’s eyes pop open and he looks up at the speaker. “Masaki?!.... Nani?! .....when?....” Sho stammers jumping to his feet. “He’s been here all along, Sho.” Tasha says stepping around the tall man. “So, yes he heard everything…..finally.” She adds in a slightly smug tone. “Sho, that whole first week I kept sensing the same things from you two. You being a bundle of mixed up emotions and Dr Aiba giving off this weird non-emotion whenever you were around.” Tasha explains and both men look at her. “Then today when Commander Young said that he had arrived at the hospital, Sho your relief that he was alright was almost palpable, but there was also some fear mixed in and I though …what if Dr Aiba had been among the wounded….so I decided that enough was enough.” She tells them, Sho looks down as she goes on to describe her meeting with Aiba after she talked to Mrs. Kimura and sent her off with a nurse to see her husband. “I thought it would take more convincing to get him to come though…..But it seems I had some unexpected help……from Mrs. Delgado…..ne Aiba san?” She adds crossing her arms and giving Aiba a pointed look. “Un. Before they left for Earth, Mari chan scolded me for half an hour because she finally realized who Sho was.” Aiba admits with a soft, embarrassed chuckle as he turns slightly away and rubs the back of his neck. Then for a long moment the two men just stand there silent. “Now, you two, I’m going to go take a walk up to the agro-domes. They have some great herbal headache remedies. Could take an hour or two, so make good use of it….Doctor’s orders, okay? Chao!” Tasha says with a sly chuckle as she leaves the office.
Both men look up at her sudden departure and then back at each other. After a long, slightly awkward moment, Sho breaks the silence. “Hontoni gomenasai, Masaki.” He says and starts to bow, but Aiba stops him by gripping his shoulders. “What for, Sho chan? We both made a lot of the same mistakes and if we start apologizing for them now we’ll be at it for hours.” Aiba says lowering his hand. “Probably so.” Sho replies with a small chuckle as Aiba steps forward and wraps him in a tight hug which the other man immediately returns. “I missed this so much, Sho chan…..just being able to hold you.” Aiba says softly into Sho’s ear. “Hai, me too.” Sho replies hugging the taller man tighter. Then Aiba says steps back from the hug to take hold of the older man’s face with both hands and the other lightly grips Masaki’s arms. “Sho, when I saw you that day in the dining hall, I couldn’t believe my eyes.” He says smiling. “As soon as I got back to my office, I looked at the full passenger manifest for the Poseidon. Before I had only checked that all the new project staff had arrived.” Aiba tells him and drops his hands to Sho’s shoulders. “Then at the reception, when I came over and spoke to Mari chan, your shoulders got so stiff, that I thought you were still mad about me not being serious about getting a degree, so I hid my feelings……or I tried to.” He adds massaging Sho’s shoulder lightly. “And I thought your expression was because you couldn’t forgive me for hurting you like that when I ended things.” Sho admits quietly and for a moment neither man speaks. “Masaki, do you think it’s possible for us to start over?” Sho asks looking up into Aiba’s clear brown eyes and the other man smiles. “Sho, I think when you friend said to make good use of the time she was away, that what she actually meant was that we should stop thinking about our mistakes and listen to our hearts.” Aiba says and moves back closer to Sho. “What does your heart want, Sho chan?” He asks and Sho replies by smiling as well as he draws the taller man into a long, slow kiss.
A little over two hours later when Tasha returns to her office, it is empty. She closes her eyes for a moment and then smiles at the lingering emotions in the room. “Wow, that must have been some kiss, Sho.” She says quietly as he walks over to her desk. When she looks down, next to the Lucy coin bank is a short note with two nickels on it. She grins and chuckles to herself when she reads the note. “You’re very welcome, you idiots. And thanks for leaving before you left impressions in here that would take a day of white sound to clear away.” She tells the note as she picks up the two old coins, drops them into the bank, and turns the little sign from ‘The Doctor is {in}’ to ‘The Doctor is {out}’. Then she puts the coin bank back on the shelf. The next morning, Commander Young tells Tasha that Sho had just called to say that he would be a bit late getting to the hospital and. “After everything that happened yesterday, I’m not surprised that Dr Sakurai slept in today.” The older woman says as she is sorting patient records in preparation for morning rounds. Tasha just smiles and nods. Two hours later when he finally arrives, she goes to his office to find her acrophobic friend standing to one side of the wide window in his office. He is happy….a lot happier than she’s sensed in him in all the time she has known him. “You know, Tasha I just realized that I can see Tertius from here.” Sho says pointing out the window at the green planet in the distance. “And if I stand here it’s like looking at the moon from Earth.” Sho says smiling. “Hmm……. Sooo that would make Aiba san the ‘Man in the Moon’ eh?’ Tasha says and Sho’s face goes bright red.
Fin~