From: Christine Fontaine 
Date: Sun, 09 Mar 1997 22:10:37 -0500
Subject: USS CHESAPEAKE: After Dinner

SD 90309.2210
MD 01.2135
Scene: CMO's Quarters
Upon returning to her quarters, Lieutenant Commander Catherine Ledoux was 
immediately assaulted by two ebullient felines, intent on cheering their 
human.  Catherine, her blue eyes rimmed with red from crying, was not in the 
mood to deal with two energetic Siamese.  All of her strength, all of her 
patience had been used up during the Officers' Dinner and she didn't have 
anything left to give.
Trying hard not to inflict her mood upon her two cats, Catherine gently bent 
down and carefully pushed them away.  Whiskers, as always, was the most 
vocal, and he refused to leave the vet alone, meowing loudly and twining 
himself about Catherine's legs, almost tripping her.  Attempting to keep 
from stepping on her Siamese, Catherine headed towards her bedroom, for 
right now, she just wanted to sleep.
Determined to stay close by Catherine's side, Whiskers continued to wind 
himself around and around her legs, brushing his soft fur against her 
ankles.  As the vet took a step forward, her foot was caught between the 
cat's stomach and then ground, and, losing her balance, she nearly tumbled 
to the ground.  After flailing her arms about for a few moments, Catherine 
finally regained her balance but her patience, already thinned to the point 
of fraying, snapped.  Frustrated, she practically barked at her cat.
"Whiskers.  Get out of here!  Just leave me alone!" Catherine grimaced, 
still crying, then under her breath murmured, "stupid cat."  A moment later, 
when what she had just done finally registered, Catherine's weeping became 
more intense.  Calling out to her Siamese, she pleaded, sobbing, "Whiskers?   
Come back Whiskers.  I'm sorry baby...  Mommy's just had a rough day..."   
*A very rough day* the vet added silently to herself, still sobbing 
uncontrollably, unable to believe the way that she had treated her cats.
Having completely and totally lost any pretense of emotional control, 
Catherine just let herself go.  Losing her temper with her cats only served 
to accentuate how very, very upset the emotional vet *was*.  Catherine almost 
never, ever lost her temper with *anyone* and no *person* had ever seen the 
vet really angry.  Upset, yes.  In tears, yes.  But angry?  Never.  
Something had to be seriously troubling Catherine for her to have snapped, 
even if it was only at her Siamese.  Of course, when it came to her 
'babies', there was no 'only' about it.
Catherine normally hated causing waves.  Non-confrontational by nature, 
Catherine always tried hard not to upset anyone and she always found it 
difficult to disagree with others.  Normally, Catherine would always try to 
be accomodating, often putting other peoples' needs ahead of her own.  
Hence, her final words with Lieutenant Murray.  Catherine simply couldn't 
leave the dinner until she had assured Anne that Anne hadn't upset her. 
Just thinking about the dinner caused a flush to slowly creep up the vet's 
face, turning her pallid skin a delicate shade of rose pink.  Her behaviour 
towards the counsellor was almost inexcusable, for the woman had only been 
doing her job and trying to help.  It was just that Catherine had had a bad 
experience with the counsellor aboard the REGENT, when she had been 
conscripted for tour duty.  Ever since that first encounter, the French 
Canadian had felt very uncomfortable around the REGENT's half-Betazoid 
counsellor.  Preferring to keep her thoughts to herself, the vet didn't like 
the thought of someone rummaging around in her mind.
The CHESAPEAKE's counsellor, at the very least, was a fellow woman, even if 
she was rather striking with her unmistakably green skin.  Perhaps, in time, 
she'd be able to open up to her.  Just having someone to talk to sometimes 
eased the pain.
Lieutenant Murray - Anne - had also offered her ear.  Catherine hoped that 
the Chief Science Officer wouldn't regret her words later.  Shy and 
reticent, Catherine always had difficulty making friends, yet in Anne she 
felt that she had found someone with whom she could develop a friendship.  
Hopefully the vet's inappropriate behaviour at the dinner hadn't scared off 
a potential friend.
Whiskers, sensing a change in Catherine's mood, reapproached the vet, who 
was now sitting on her bed.  Climbing into Catherine's lap, the Seal Point 
Siamese began purring and curled himself up in a compact ball.  Reaching out 
with her right hand, the vet gently began patting the soft, luxuriant fur, 
and she could feel the rumbling vibrations generated by the cat's comforting 
purrs.  Releasing a sigh, Catherine began to relax, soothed by the presence 
of her Siamese.     
 
Releasing another sigh, Catherine realized that she would soon have to get a 
hold of her emotions.  Starfleet officers simply did not go around 'losing 
it' at the slightest provocation.  Certainly, the past couple of days had 
been difficult and Catherine, an emotional person at the best of times, had 
been deeply affected by all the changes that had taken place within a very 
short period of time.  Supposedly, nothing transpired without a reason, and 
the vet only hoped that she could find the reason behind this upheaval in 
her life sometime soon.  If she couldn't find a way to control her 
emotions...  Well, she'd simply find a way.
With those comforting thoughts, the CHESAPEAKE's Chief Medical Officer 
prepared herself for bed.  It promised, once again, to be a night of 
restless sleep.

Respectfully submitted,
Chris Fontaine
Lieutenant Commander Catherine Ledoux, DVM
Chief Medical Officer
USS CHESAPEAKE  

<< NRPG >>
Just a quick little post to get me back into the rhythm of writing...
James:  I agree that Catherine should definitely see the counsellor - 
unfortunately, she doesn't agree.   Its just that her experiences with 
the REGENT's counsellor were not all that positive...  Interesting image of 
Catherine drinking wine and singing except that Catherine hardly ever 
touches a drop of alcohol - even synthehol won't meet her lips (further 
details are in the bio )  And yes, the crying will stop.  She'll get 
herself in hand for MD 02.  Oh, and obviously Catherine hasn't read the 
counsellor's medical file yet. 
Amy: Convent for the broken-hearted?  LOL!  Well, I'm just glad *you're* 
happy to have *me* aboard, even if Bell isn't happy to have Ledoux... 
Masako & Lynn:  Enjoyed your posts :) and drills .  Ah well, it keeps 
sickbay on its toes! 
Lynn: Proto material for the follow-up on your sickbay post will be coming 
soon...
Takako: Very nice post to tie the dinner together. :)
'til later,
Chris - off to read ethics...

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