Pride and Pain

Posted on Fri Apr 3rd, 2026 @ 4:29am by Ensign Cha'joga & Lieutenant Darla Kennings & Ensign Emily Bowman

1,095 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: Shadows of Diplomacy
Location: Sickbay, USS Scharnhorst

You'd know something was wrong with her if you looked at Cha'joga right now. Mostly because she clutched at her bicep as she made her way through the hallways and into Sickbay, where she'd been told someone would be waiting for her.

Emily was starting to feel weary after the parade of crewmembers coming in for their onboarding. She'd just finished resetting the biobed she was working at when the doors to Sickbay opened, and a bloody Klingon walked in. She walked over quickly, "Doctor Kennings!" she called as she reached the crewman. "What happened?"

"I injured myself during training." Cha'joga grunted to the attractive young nurse that immediately ran to help her. A hiss escaped her teeth as she removed her hand, revealing a nasty gash that was still bloody and left her hand purple and sticky as she pulled it away.

"Okay over here, quickly," Emily said, guiding her to the empty bed. "Sit down, don't lie back."

"I shall not take too much of your time. I'm sure there are others who require it more." Cha'joga added, as she was led over to a biobed and made to sit down. Nausea gripped her for a single terrifying second, causing her to grit her teeth and steady herself by her remaining good arm. That'd be the blood loss, surely.

Darla walked over quickly, scanning the wound. "Congratulations, you missed the bone," she said, then looked at Emily. "Get the wound stabilized and we'll need a coagulant and then one whole pint."

Emily nodded. "Yes, Doctor," she said, quickly. She grabbed an instrument tray and picked up the sterilizer, cleaning the wounded area, ignoring the blood that got on her hands. Once the area was cleaned, she picked up a hypospray, administering something to slow the blood flow and numb the pain, then went off to get some replacement plasma.

Darla picked up a dermal sealer, aiming it at the wound. Two arcs of plasma lanced out, quickly knitting the flesh together and closing the wound. "Lucky for you, you didn't sever major arteries," she said.

You could tell Cha'joga really, really wanted to scream, by the way her eyes widened, and the muscles in her jaw tightened as if she were consciously keeping it closed - it's hard to keep the habit down even when the sensation is dulled, after all. Yet her Klingon pride won out, and only a hiss of displeasure made it through her teeth.

"When the wound had closed to something manageable, Darla switched to a dermal regenerator and sealed it, removing the scar. "All right," she said after a few minutes, "lie back and we'll get you finished up. Want to tell me what you were doing?"

"I was rappelling with the rest of my department." The Klingon grumbled as she lay back on the biobed. "I tied my seat sling and descended the rock cliff without looking before making contact with a sharp stone and falling to the ground." Her chest rose and fell in ragged breaths and her eyes fluttered as sweet relief flooded her core. "I shall endeavor to not be so zealous next time."

"Being zealous is less the problem as is being observant," Darla scolded. She looked over her shoulder and gave a whistle. "Need a screen!" she called out. A crewman quickly came over and pulled a solid privacy screen out of a slot in the bulkhead, bringing it around the biobed and cutting them off from the main room.

Emily slipped in behind the screen before it got all the way around, inserting the plasma container into the biobed's intake port. She activated the bed and prepped an IV stent, inserting it smoothly and letting the plasma begin flowing.

Darla grabbed scissors and quickly began cutting away the clothing, exposing the rest of the slashes and scrapes along the ensign's torso and legs. "All right, lie still and we'll have you patched up shortly."

Cha'joga sighed deeply as she was relieved of her uniform, leaving her clad only in her underwear. "Yes, I shall deign to 'observe' better next time." She conceded with a grunt as the cuts, scrapes and bruises along her stomach, chest and thighs were revealed as well - both old and new.

"I appreciate the deigning," Darla said, cleaning and closing each wound individually. She had to get a bit personal, removing the ensign's bra, but by the time she and Emily were done, the Klingon was fully healed. "I removed the serious scars to avoid complications, but if you wish to keep the minor ones, say so. Otherwise, we'll get you cleaned up and find you something to wear."

Cha'joga did not protest as the CMO removed her bra; she'd never been shy about her body anyway. A soft, rattling breath escaped her as she sat up and traced a hand over her bare skin, once more pristine and free of scar for the most part. It'd been some time, actually.

"The minor ones can stay." She said, glancing at the CMO as she leaned back, supporting her weight with both arms. "They are... reminders that I am still Klingon. That I have claimed as many victories as any of my people." There the explanation ended. She wasn't here to trauma dump and take up more time than needed.

Darla raised an eyebrow, but gave a small shrug. "As you wish. Now, how about your name, Ensign?" she said, picking up a padd.

"Cha'joga. Daughter of K'Nara," the Klingon stated. There wasn't much use stating the House she technically belonged to; it wasn't as if they'd ever treated her like one of their own anyway.

"An honor to meet you," Darla said, nodding. "I'm Doctor Darla Kennings, and this is Nurse Emily Bowman." Emily nodded her head in greeting. "And as we say to so many of our guests, I hope we don't see you for quite some time." She gave a wry smile and handed the padd to Emily to add her notes. "Now, if you'll wait here a moment, we'll get you some clothes."

"Yes, ma'am." Cha'joga nodded and crossed her arms under her impressive chest.

Darla and Emily stepped out and a moment later, an orderly came with a simple set of full body pajamas. She laid them down on the biobed and told Cha'joga to take her time getting dressed, and she was free to leave when she was ready.

Honestly, it was better than nothing. Cha'joga took her time changing before leaving sickbay to get changed in her quarters.

 

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