Dr. Steven Franklin sat down and looked over the medical facilities that he called home. It was quiet now, a rare occasion on the station. Usually a variety of illnesses, injuries and mysteries created a never ending parade of patients through his domain. A parade he was thankful for, even if it was causing him to lose more than a bit of sleep. But the challenge of his work gave him a thrill like no other, and he lived to treat and discover even if it cost him some rest. Even now he felt as though he should be doing something.
The doors opened and Franklin looked over, but no one appeared. Just before they closed Ambassador Delenn's head poked around the corner, looking to see who was inside the room. Reluctantly she entered the room and continued to look about before approaching the doctor.
"Ambassador, always a pleasure. What can I do for you?" he asked.
"Me? Nothing. In fact I don't know why I came by, I'm sure you're busy..."
"Not at all! This is the first time I've had a breather in days." He continued in a lowered voice "Quite frankly I was wondering if I was alone on the station, it's so quiet. Are you sure there's nothing I can do for you?" Ambassadors didn't just drop by medlab without a reason, and Franklin was a little suspicious.
"It's nothing much, it can wait."
"I see. You'd rather come back where there are other people here" the doctor said with a grin; the next thing was usually a question being asked 'for a friend'.
"Perhaps you can help me. You're from Earth, so you know about this Christmas holiday."
"Of course. Try coming from Earth and not knowing about it!"
"Yes, I understand. Well, I was given a gift that was probably supposed to be given to other people but I got curious and...well...had a problem."
Franklin waited, but Delenn hesitated. "Go on" he prodded.
"It's just that...I don't know how it happened...but it got stuck!" she exclaimed as she quickly held out her hand. On her right thumb was a band of gold that was worn between the knuckle and joint. Her finger was quite red to the point of becoming purple and appeared swollen much larger than the ring. "There were five rings, so I put one on each finger. The other four came off easily, but the fifth was a little tight and now I can't seem to remove it no matter how hard I try! Maybe they were supposed to go on my toes, but it's too late now."
Franklin examined the thumb. "It looks like you've really worked it over trying to get it off, and it became swollen as a result; no wonder you can't get it off."
"What can you do?"
"Well, we could administer an anti-inflammatory that might do the trick, but it will take some time before it might be effective."
"It hurts now!"
"I have tools that can cut it off; it won't harm you, but it will damage the ring" he warned her. "Your finger should recover shortly after, though."
"I don't care, I can't go around with a discolored thumb that hurts. Just do it quickly, please. I can cover it up afterward."