12. Proslo
12
PROSLO
“ I f you don’t mind, I’d like to read for a bit while we wait for the groceries to arrive,” my bride said, picking up her Kindle.
I felt relieved that she wished to amuse herself for a short while, actually. Not that I didn’t want to spend time in her company, but I really needed to get with Michik and get him up to speed so he could ensure my duties were covered. As Assistant Chief Medical Officer, he was, of course, a very competent male and our medical staff were among the best in all the Fleet, so I knew I was leaving things in very competent hands. That didn’t mean that he didn’t need to be given details to allow him and the others to do the very best job possible.
“That sounds great, actually,” I admitted. “I need to go to Sickbay and meet with my second and do a handover.”
“Oh! Right, because you were on your day off and came straight to get me and all that.” She smiled. “Will you be back in time for lunch?”
I gusted out a sigh. “A late one, yes.”
She patted her stomach. “After eating two beignets and having three cups of coffee, I’m good for quite a while, so I’ll wait for you then.”
I pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m sorry. You’ll have to put the shopping away by yourself.”
“Well, I gotta tell you, I am pretty darn good at putting groceries away. Been doing it for years, yup, sure have.”
I chuckled. “I’ll make it as brief as I can and hurry back to your side.”
She shoved at my arm playfully. “Go on, away with you. The faster you get there, the sooner you can get back. And I gotta figure out how to sync this to the Fleet Library system without losing what I’ve borrowed this month already.”
“You could read using your tablet,” I pointed out, straightening up and smoothing down my trousers. I hadn’t bothered wearing a shirt today, as I wasn’t going planetside nor was I treating any patients today.
“That’s cool and all, but this feels more familiar.”
I nodded in understanding, palming the door sensor to go out. “If you need anything, just ask Xeranos. Simply say his name aloud first to get his attention.”
“Maybe he can make sure I’m syncing this correctly,” I heard her mutter as the door closed behind me.
Several minutes later, I entered Sickbay.
“Chief Proslo!” Lillian gasped, seeing me. “I thought you’d gotten matched? And wasn’t today your day off anyway?”
I smiled at her. “I’m here to see Michik and hand off my cases for the next two weeks.”
“Oh! Yes, that makes sense. He should be right out. He was just giving Darla a check up.”
As if on cue, one of the exam room doors opened and Commander Gundar’s very pregnant mate waddled out.
“We’ll see you again in two weeks,” Michik told her and she nodded. “We’ll send the appointment time to your tablet before the end of today.”
“Thank you, Michik. I’ll try to get Gundar to come along since you’ll be doing the 4-D scan.” Darla caught sight of me and smiled widely. “Chief Proslo, how is newly mated life treating you?”
I grinned back at her. “Very well. We’re off tomorrow for an elopement followed by our honeymoon, so I thought it best if I came to do handover with this male here sooner rather than later.”
“Likthir,” Michik called out to one of our senior medics, “go check on our post surgical patient in Alpha wing, please.”
“On it.” Likthir hurried off. “There, everything else can be handled by Lillian and the rest of the team while we speak in the conference room.”
We adjourned to the indicated room and I quickly apprised him of my upcoming appointments and existing active cases who’d been admitted.
“Well, I was already up to date on most of these, seeing as I’ve been covering your two regular days off. Don’t concern yourself with a thing. Sickbay will be in good order when you return.”
I clapped him on the shoulder as I stood up to leave. “I never had a moment’s doubt.”
“Have one of those fruity umbrella drinks for me,” he replied. “They’re sweet but satisfying.”
“I will,” I promised him. Any particular one I should try?”
“Whatever they say their signature one is. You can’t go wrong then,” he advised. “Especially if it has rum in it.” He licked his lips and I decided to bring him back a bottle of local rum if possible as a thank you.
“I’m going to quickly go round and say good-bye to my patients,” I told him. I wanted them to hear about my taking leave from me and not find out when I simply never showed back up. That would have been unprofessional.
I was done a lot sooner than expected and decided to stop and pick up a fresh bouquet of flowers for my own blossom of humanity. I also stopped by Taco Taco and picked us up some lunch as a sort of apology for leaving her alone the rest of the morning and part of the early afternoon. Okay, a very small part, but still. It was only our second full day of mating and I’d gone into work. I felt like a terrible mate.
Reaching our front door, I steeled myself, determined to show her how much I treasure her and regretted having to leave her for even such a short time. Remembering how I’d seen it done in the vids, I went over the mental checklist, eager to not miss a thing. Flowers, check. Food so she didn’t feel as if she had to cook or replicate anything or feel bad that I came home from work and did so, check. That left only one thing left to do - go inside and greet her. I opened the door and stepped inside.
“Honey, I’m home!”