May 30 16:51:37 106 PA
From Chronicles
For anybody who's ever been hurried through the Knights' examination room, the surgery room would offer a rather generous mix of the nostalgic and the surprising. The most apparent difference in this room is the lighting: it has a large variance of different settings and powers, though all of them supply much better, and clearer light than is found in the rest of the hospital. Under the light switches is a simple sign that says, "If you leave any lights on, the cost will be paid for with your newly freed salary," and as such, very few people ever so much as enter the room. In addition to this luxury of lighting, the room is kept sterile, all the surfaces gleaming, with the smell of antiseptic permeating everything.
The same sparseness that exists in the rest of the hospital exists in this room as well, though. The sinks for the surgeon and nurses to scrub can be found crammed into a corner, with nothing but a sheet to separate them from the rest of the room. The table itself is only slightly more distinctive than those found elsewhere in the hospital - having a moveable and adjustable overhead lamp, a place for an IV to hang, as well as a modular design to allow for the patient to be feasibly be put in a number of different positions.
Really, the only other things of note are a few cabinets, a small tray, and a rather heavy-duty looking safe.
Nearing the end of the normal working day, but the hospital lives twenty four seven, and still the patients come. Maya has done her share of surgery time, and has retreated into her lab, leaving a message for Joachim that she needs to see him when he gets a moment to breathe. Her music is on, loud, and she is sat at her computer, peering up at some results. Beside her, there is the picture of him on the clip board , and apparently she is trying to sort out some problems, because she is talking to it softly.
Taking a break from his threefold job of the day - dealing with the light construction, taking a shift or two working the floor, and then working out all the paperwork for the previous two - Joachim finally makes his way to the laboratory. Upon entering, he'll give a cursory look about the place, to see how it's all sitting, "So, everything still coming along?" he asks, hands sliding into the pockets of his labcoat.
A press of a button and the music goes off, Maya twisting on her stool, the same movement as she turns the clipboard around. "All working fine. There are the blood results done, and a few other jobs on the go but..." She frowns, "There was something. I had a patient, someone I sort of know." She reaches for the carton of drink, taking a nervous swig. "I thought I should tell you something, before someone else does."
Joachim chuckles lightly as Maya finishes her imperative, his attention shifting fully from the rest of the room to the woman in front of him. "Seems t'be a recurrin' theme in my visits," he says, eyebrows raised. "But I'll wait for you t'tell me what seems to be the trouble before comin' to any kind've conclusion. The patient?" he asks, moving to pull up a stool.
Maya shifts nervously, sitting on her hands, biting her lower lip. "It isn't anything serious, I mean they aren't hurt, and I treated them. But they asked me something personal, about my feelings about something, and I wanted to know what was in their mind so I used telepathy on her." Her gaze stays on his face, worried hazel eyes with a wrinkle between them. "I wanted to make sure that you knew, before I go and apologise." She waits, looking obviously nervous.
Joachim nods as the brief tale is told. "Well, it is a little bit of a display of bad judgment, really," he says with a slight frown. "It's nothin' too terrible, but I'd like you t'think before you do anythin' like it again." he gives a shrug. "Everybody deserves their privacy, an' we really don't need t'be garnerin' that kind of reputation - so if you'd refrain from doin' it again, with the only possible exception bein' an emergency..." His look is serious, and his gaze heavy with a look of slight disappointment.
Maya's gaze drops to the floor and she nods mutely, her cheeks flushing. A tiny slump in her shoulders speaks loudly about the message going home. "It was stupid, not just bad judgement. People don't normally get under my skin like that." She nods, giving him a quick tight smile, finally lifting her gaze to him. "I'm sorry." Those words are blurted out, her cheeks flushing a deeper shade of red.
"Just make sure that you think before you do anythin' else of the sort, next time. Discomfortin' the people we're here to help might ultimately drive 'em away. An' it might, potentially be a good idea for you t'try an' keep your personal life a little bit less... impactin' on what goes on here. At least when it might lead t'somethin' that might reflect poorly," Joachim says before his smile once again returns. "But, I'm sure I can trust you t'take care of that in the future."
The flush deepens and her gaze drops, missing the smile, a faint wince in her face. "It isn't actually my personal life..." She starts but stops, shaking her head. "Yes. I'll take care of it." She replies finally. A long pause before she looks up, a small frown on her forehead. "Are you married, with someone or something?" She asks bluntly, hazel eyes studying his face. "I mean, I know its none of my business but I see you every day and I just wondered."
Joachim's eyebrows rise at the question before his gaze drops, his mind running elsewhere for a moment. Rallying back, with just a slight hesitation and sadness in his voice, he says, "I'm quite unattached, if you don't consider the constant pulling of this place and what work I can do elsewhere as unattached."
Maya's gaze studies his expression in silence for a moment before hopping from the stool and launching an enthused hug, her mouth turned down at the corners. When she steps back, her cheeks are flushed again, "You looked so sad." She explains the hug away, turning to grab up her drink, a distraction for a moment and a way to hide her face as she takes a sip. "I think that means you are unattached." She comments quietly.
The unexpected hug is taken in stride, Joachim simply shaking his head and laughing after it's all over. "Yes, well. Sometimes life has a way of throwin' wrenches in the most well-made an' seemingly inevitable plans. It's nothing really t'speak of, and I'm afraid I may've been bein' overly dramatic. There's always lots of work t'be done, and while I'm sure it'd continue without me, every little bit counts."
"Did you have plans?" Maya perches back on her stool, holding her drink in both arms, watching him over its brim. "You can always ask me to help...I mean I'm not attached either and there isn't anyone who'd miss my time outside of this place. I often work over night just to get things caught up." Almost eager, she offers him a smile that might be shy, different from the usual grin.
Joachim simply shakes his head at the offer, "Any plans I had regardin' that, were over an' done with a long time ago. But so far's help goes, so long's you keep this lab up an' runnin', well, I'm not sure there's too much else that I can ask of you. Maybe if I come up with anythin' else to try'n help all the refugees, or the people over in Laramy..." another head shake, "There's always so much to do, really. Make sure you keep these overnighters in check, though."
Maya studies his face, her teeth catching on her lower lip before she replies, giving him a broad grin. "I'll do that, but you should share worries you know. They sit heavy on one pair of shoulders." She shakes her drink, testing its contents for amount before taking another sip. "I'm sorry I'm so troublesome." She comments abruptly, giving him a direct look. "I don't mean to be."
Joachim laughs, rising from his seat and turning away, aware of the inappropriateness, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just that I'm sure I've given the same advice to many people before. I'm quite all right - promise. And so far as you causing trouble, well, it's nothing to worry about. Just so long's you're keepin' an eye on it all, an tryin' to not cause any, there's no problem."
Maya ducks her head, a brief flush rising in her cheeks as he turns away. "Well, you know." She laughs, the sound nervous, discomforted and she puts her glass down on the desk. "I'm trying not to." A hesitation, "Not trying to cause trouble I mean. I will apologise to Emayn." The last is a promise.
"Then there's no problem," Joachim says, smiling. "Thank you for keepin' me informed. It's always nice to have a head's up on somethin' that might come up later. Otherwise, how's the lab comin' along? You gettin' everythin' you need?"
Relief does light up her face, and her grin returns in full force. The new equipment is set up all around her and she has been using it for a few days. "It is great! I can't think of another piece of equipment I need really." She bounces down from the stool, bouncing across the lab to show him something. "See, here, this can analyse the blood, giving me a detailed composition..." She turns, her enthusiasm perhaps daunting.
Joachim's smile lightens as Maya's does, following her as she moves. "Well, it's good to hear that you've managed most of what you need, because with everything else that's coming in, we'll likely be a little bit more pressed than we have been." When she turns to the machine, Joachim moves in close to it, eyeing the setup.
Maya turns from the machine, the movement abrupt, unaware of him behind. She stops dead in front of him, eyes widening slightly before she steps back again, reaching to touch the machine as if it were a lodestone. "If things get sticky, I mean, if we...the hospital that is, gets low on cash, I can take a paycut. If it would help." Her gaze lifts to his face, a faint flush in her cheeks, lips parted slightly.
The sudden nearness of Maya simply causes Joachim's eyebrows to go up, leaving a slightly awkward pause before she takes a step back, and begins talking. "I'm sure that won't be an issue. We have a fairly constant stream of small donations that cover most of the salaries," he says shrugging. "It's just a matter of the reserves, and special funds which grow and dry up. But I don't expect too much of an issue on that front."
His sudden nearness doesn't help her composure, and she swallows nervously, turning away to shut the machine down. The movement doesn't hide her face from him, and the flush on her cheeks. Nor does it hide a briefly screwed up expression, as if she was cursing inwardly. But when it is shut down and she turns back, it is with the grin. "Good. Because I just agreed to share a flat with someone."
Joachim chuckles at the flatness of her comment, "Well, then that should cut what you need to pay in half, thus making you the perfect person to have their salary slashed." His smile remains wide as he watches her, the series of expressions flickering by. "And you really shouldn't be offerin' th'man in charge of costs cuts you can't really afford. There's always the off chance that he'll take you up on it."
Maya tilts her head back, looking up at him, an odd expression on her face for a moment before she grins again, determinedly. "I can always cut back on something else." She comments softly, her back to the machine, her hands resting lightly on the side it sits on. "And we both know I'm not here for the money." Those words are softly spoken before she steps around him, moving back to her computer, her back to him.
"Ah, well, now you're just tryin' t'hurt my feelings," Joachim says at the final comment. "Implyin' that I don't pay my people enough. Purely hurtful, that is." Turning back to the machine she indicated, he eyes it for a few moments, not quite poking it, before calling over his shoulder, "And just because you can doesn't mean you should. In any case," he straightens, turning back to Maya, "Is there anythin' else? I should probably be gettin' back on the floor."
Maya gives him a startled look, his back to her, eyes widening before she hides it when he turns back. She hesitates for a moment before she shakes her head with a smile. "No, nothing, Director." She replies softly, giving him a warm grin before she hops from the stool, offering him a hug before he leaves. For once, she leaves the choice to him.
What kind of actual choice turning down an offered hug is, is anybody's guess. Taking it, though perhaps keeping it somewhat shorter and stiffer than any Maya would give, Joachim nods. "Alright, well, if you need anythin' else, you know where I can be found," he says as he turns to leave, hands moving back to their pockets.
Maya gives a typical maya hug, tight and warm before she releases him, after he does. She steps back, shoving her hands into the pockets of her white coat, nodding at him as he leaves. The moment the door closes, she is sat at her desk, and drops her head into her folded arms, with a groan. "God, Maya, you are so pathetic." The mutter is under her breath, before she sighs and returns to work.
