What's cookin'?

Posted on Thu Aug 18th, 2022 @ 12:37am by

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Mess hall
Timeline: early evening
771 words - 1.5 OF Standard Post Measure

"Good evening Patrick." Lhaes approached the service point in the mess, which allowed him a peak into the kitchen. "Word has it you're trying something new tonight?"

"I am," the Human chef smiled as he stirred a small pot. "I try to cook people's native foods once in a while, and tonight I'm trying something Romulan. I found some meats on the replicator that I thought I'd try. I actually did find some recipies to go with them, though obviously I gave it a bit of a twist of my own."

He ladled up a small piece of sickly looking meat, swallowed a little at the sight of it, then sampled it. "Ugh that tastes weird," he muttered as he dished up a plateful for his 'customer'. "Here, your palate is probably designed for this sickly looking stuff that's supposed to resemble a Romulan kind of venison."

"That's very kind of you Patrick, but you really don't have to go out of your way to find Romulan dishes for me. Anything Betazoid, or Terran is very much good enough for me." Even so he did appreciate the gesture and to him, it did smell good even if the taste was something to get used to for him too. He had, after all, grown up on red meats, not green.

He glanced over the plate towards his host and frowned. "Are you alright? You look a bit, pardon the pun, green in the face."

Patrick shook his head, rubbing his stomach. "I think, this is the first time since becoming a chef, that I've tasted something my stomach really doesn't agree with."

Putting down the plate, Lhaes walked around the service point and into the kitchen. "Al right then chef, let's get you to sickbay and settle your insides. Can't have a chef go sick on all of those waiting people now can we? And if you're feeling too sick to continue, I'm sure Miss Jasmine will be happy to take over for the evening." Seeing the chef's panicked look he sighed. "We'll get to that later," he added as he guided his now patient back to his own domain.

"Not sickbay, please," Patrick begged, only mildly resisting the guidance. He didn't want to cause a scene and even worse he didn't want this to get back to Murph. The last thing he wanted, was to unnecessarily worry his husband.

Sensing the distress, Lhaes stopped walking. "Very well. Go home, and I'll come to you shortly. I'll need a medkit, give me ten minutes."

Relief washed over the Human's face and he nodded in promise. "I'll go home. Please, don't call Murph, he doesn't need to be disturbed if he's busy." He assumed Murph wouldn't be home yet, anyway.

Ten minutes later, and looking even more miserable, Patrick let the CMO into his quarters.

Concern in his eyes, Lhaes gestured for him to go lie down. "I don't think this is just a case of not sitting well," he commented as he pulled out his tricorder, "I don't think you should ever consume copper based meat again." He glanced down at his tricorder, then back at his patient. "This reads like an intolerance to me, a severe case of it." He loaded up a hypospray and pressed it against the Human's arm. "This will make you feel better, though it's likely your body will want to rid your stomach of its contents. It's probably better this happens sooner rather than later... I could give you something to speed that up. After that, I want you to rest, and stay home tomorrow."

Swallowing a few times, Patrick nodded. "Sure..." Though it was probably a promise he wouldn't be able to keep.

"Don't make me call Commander Murphy," Lhaes commented quietly, "you stay home tomorrow, you need to recover." He pressed another vial into the hypospray then again pressed it against Patrick's arm. "Give it a minute or two. Do you want me to wait?"

Patrick shook his head, going greener in the face by the second. "No, I'll be fine. Not the first time I've been s-" He got up and ran to the bathroom, waving the CMO off as he did.

Staying just long enough to make sure his patient would be alright, Lhaes left his quarters and went back to sickbay.

On his part, Patrick heaved a few times, feeling utterly miserable. He took a quick sonic shower, then crawled into bed, curling up into a tight ball in the hope of feeling better. Instead, feeling utterly drained, he fell asleep.

---

Commander Lhaes Sommers
CMO

Patrick O'Malley
Chef
pnpc Lhaes