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When the kids came to Sickbay ...When the past doesn't match the present...or the future

Posted Dec. 4, 2021, 12:55 a.m. by Civilian Evrilla (Chief Medical Officer w/ specialty in Pathology) (Leonora V)

Posted by Civilian Jessa Novar (Child) in When the kids came to Sickbay …When the past doesn’t match the present…or the future

Jessa sat in the room looking at the trays piling up in the corner of the room. It took every ounce of restraint not to throw them out into the middle of sickbay. It was not because someone had made her angry of the food was unpalatable. It was because it was just sitting in the room. Jessa had overheard the men at her door joke when the doctor brought in her tray that she was lucky because the nutraloaf was going to make her friends in sickbay wish they were dead the second it hit their stomachs. Jessa knew the Elders were too smart to eat anything these people gave them and if they were not eating, she wouldn’t either. It was still hard though sitting in the room with the food when she had not eaten anything solid in two days.

Getting up she paced the room thinking about everything that had transpired over the past few days. So much of what the Elders had promised had come true. They had said the crew of this ship would be hostile and aggressive. Zala Tsu warned Jessa they would end up in the brig but not her. Because of her age, Zala Tsu had said they would isolate Jessa in some form, which they had. Her hand moved up to the small tender area on her neck. Mardusk said it was Zala Tsu. Jessa knew it could not have been. They needed her but every time she replayed the event in her head, it did not make sense. So many things did not make sense right now.

Evrilla was well aware that Jessa wasn’t eating, and more than that, she was well aware of the consequences that could have for her health. Clearly, the only course was a secret plot, with the best spy on the ship… her daughter.

Tatyl slipped inside Jessa’s room, still wearing her backpack from school. Slipping it off and setting it by the door, she met Jessa’s gaze with a wink and a finger over her lips. She bounced over to the older girl’s bed, standing on her tiptoes in an attempt to level the playing field. “I’m Tatyl.” Her greenish hand hung in the air between them as she stared Jessa down, waiting for her to take the offer.
-Tatyl

“I’m Jessa Novar,” she looked back and forth at the kid and the people outside the door. Of all the things that had surprised Jessa, the little blue mini-me of the doctor moving around was not one of them. Jessa had had some sporadic contact with the blue-skinned doctor but it was short and fleeting. She assumed it was because the woman was tending to the other person that had been hurt and that Jessa was not her immediate patient. Jessa hoped it wasn’t because the woman did not want to deal with her.

Tatyl beamed at the implied permission.

“You know they might get mad seeing you in here,” Jessa hooked her head at the door. “I’m so glad to meet you but I don’t want to get you into trouble. Are you sure you are allowed to come in here” she smiled. The little girl was several years younger than Jessa but it was nice to talk to someone. Sitting in the room was lonely and she could only sleep so much to pass the time.

“Well… Nooooooo. Nurse Briza didn’t tell me not to, and my amma says I can go anywhere that isn’t explicisiously marked off.” Tatyl’s butchering of ‘explicitly’ only added to the child’s charm.

“Expliciously marked off the places are the best. Makes me feel adventurous,” Jessa smiled warmly at the child. “There is a garden back where I live and you are not supposed to go it in but there is this tiny, tiny waterfall that empties into a pond. In the springtime it is full of tadpoles. Sometimes I sneak in and just watch them swim around. It makes me happy.” Jessa felt a weight lifting off her chest. The only thing she had talked about was business recently. It was nice to share a memory.

“Baby frogs!” Tatyl whispered, enthralled by the very idea of amphibians.

“Are you going to school,” Jessa pointed at the door. “I like school but hate math.” Jessa wrinkled up her nose and shook her head playfully at Tatyl. The little girl was adorable. She had a bright smile and was so cute when she put her finger over to shush Jessa earlier. Where the little girl came from Jessa had no idea but she was glad she was there.

Jessa

Tatyl giggled joyfully. “I just came from school! I have lotsa fun stuff in my backpack!” Tatyl eyes grew wide, a reaction that would seem exaggerated in an adult, but fit perfectly on her face. “I have colors! Do you wanna color?” She didn’t wait for a response before running to grab her backpack off the ground and upending its contents onto the floor. A PADD clattered against the ground, a coloring book of Mandalas, colored pencils rolling every which way, and something Evrilla had snuck in: Fig bars, still in sealed packaging.
-Tatyl

“Lemme help you,” Jessa got down from the bed and started picking up the pencils. Moving around the room she found the small packages of wrapped food. For a split second, Jessa debated about stuffing them in her pocket. Her belly was full now but that could change in a second. Picking it up small packages, she held it in her hand before grabbing the last of the pencils and moving next to Tatly. “Here we go,” she helped the little girl put the pencils in the box. “Now should we color on the floor or the bed,” she asked. Wrinkling up her nose, Jessa looked at the bed and realized that was never going to work.

Getting up Jessa pulled her blanket off her bed and spread it on the floor. “How about we sit on this,” Jessa laid down and made room for Tatyl next to her. Grabbing the coloring book, Jessa opened it and froze slightly. Her heartbeat increased slightly and she leaned to the left looking out her door. Picking up a pencil Jessa began to flip through the pages of the book slowly. She had no idea what the symbols meant at the bottom of the pages but she was pretty sure it was their numbering system. She scanned each page long enough to make it look like she was selecting a picture to color instead of trying to find what she was looking for. Several pages in Jessa found it. The line and the hook. “Can we do this one,” Jessa asked Tatyl. “I like the flowers on it.”

Tatyl nodded vigorously. “They’re supposed to be chrysanthemums. From Earth.” She searched around in the box, offering a deep red pencil to the older girl.

After a few seconds Jessa said in a casual tone, “I miss going to school. Seeing my friends. Wanna play school,” she let out a laugh and dropped her head like it was the funniest thing in the world.

“How about you pretend you are the teacher and I can be the student. Miss Tatyl,” Jessa smile using a sing song voice. “What number is this,” she pointed to the bottom of the page?” Jessa held her breath hoping the little girl would play along. She had never in her life hoped for something as bad as this.

Jessa

Tatyl barely refrained from tilting her head curiously. However, growing up amongst blind children she was no stranger to reading labels, instructions, or whatever else didn’t come in a convenient writing system. “It’s 14! Cause on the far right is the ones place, and that’s a 4, and the left one is the tens place and it’s a 1. So you add them, one ten plus four ones!” Why the older girl wanted numbers of all things, instead of letters Tatyl wasn’t sure, but the faint echos said she REALLY wanted them.
-Tatyl


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