Chapter 8: Sarah = Regina
"I'm not an invalid. If it's a training session I should come out and supervise the situation," Kate said as she followed Mike up towards the bridge.
"You've made your point X, but Dutchy is leading the session. End of discussion," Mike replied.
"Why are you doing this?" Kate asked.
She didn't care if she openly criticised the CO in front of other sailors; she had had enough of his behaviour. She tried to do her job properly and all Mike did was to stop her from doing so. She had made a roster for different exercises they could perform. Today was an exercise out in the RHIBS and while she had done all the preparations she was not allowed to go out.
"You want me to broadcast the reason, hmm?" Mike asked threateningly.
Kate stopped in her tracks, shocked. There were only three other people on this ship who knew about her pregnancy, the reason Mike used every time to stop her from actively doing her job. If it was possible Kate wanted to keep it that way a little bit longer. She would tell the others when she was ready for it.
"I thought so," Mike said, knowing he had won this round. "Now go and relieve RO. He can go straight to the boarding room," Mike ordered.
Kate sighed. For five days now the only time Mike talked to her was when he was giving her orders or giving her information which, of course, was always work related. Why couldn't he be glad for her or at least supportive?
"What's up with the boss and the X?" Dutchy whispered to Charge.
"It beats me. She must have done something really stupid for him to be so aggressive," Charge whispered back.
Kate could hear the two sailors but ignored them. She hadn't done anything wrong. Mike would have to explain his reasons sooner or later. He couldn't mention her pregnancy but he was the one who would have to come up with a reason to keep her away from the action.
Instead of doing something exciting Kate would be stuck babysitting Sarah for the next four hours and there was nothing she could do about it.
"RO you are…" Kate opened the door to the wardroom and walked in, expecting RO to be quietly sitting with the patient, but instead he was sitting on the other side of the room with a book in his hands.
"You are to go to the boarding room," Kate said slowly, amazed at what she saw.
RO wasn't only wearing the mask they were required to wear when they went near Sarah, but he also wore a medical jacket, medical gloves and had a cap on his head. He looked like a surgeon about to go perform surgery.
"What is wrong with you?" Kate asked while she quickly checked Sarah.
RO ignored her question and put his book down and was about to remove all his unnecessary protection.
"Oh I'm glad," he stated.
Kate had seen RO being inconsiderate before but this was the top! Kate wondered if he had checked on Sarah at all during the time he had been responsible for her.
"RO, wait!" Kate said while she closed the door and blocked it so RO couldn't leave the room.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked again.
"I'm protecting myself, ma'am," came the simple answer. "This woman has TB and I want to make sure she won't contaminate me."
Kate looked up to the ceiling. Doctor Howard had explained that wearing a mask was sufficient to protect yourself but RO was terrified he would contract the disease anyway.
"There's a woman in this room RO. A woman who has feelings. What if she had seen you like this?" Kate asked.
"Don't worry X, she slept the whole time I was here. Now, do you think there's time for me to go and check with Doctor Howard before I go?" RO said while he stripped off the white jacket and rolled up the sleeve of his uniform.
"You see this spot keeps itching," he said as he showed her a red spot on his arm.
They had all been injected with some fluid. Doctor Howard had explained that if they had contracted TB it would become a hard spot on the arm and meant they were producing anti-cells. If that didn't happen they hadn't contracted TB.
"Doctor Howard is off duty at the moment and we're not disturbing him," Kate said clearly before RO would demand to see the man.
"Let me see it," Kate said while she grabbed RO's arm and felt if the red spot had become hard.
"There's nothing wrong with it," she said with a smile, hoping it would settle RO down before he would wake up Sarah.
"With all due respect ma'am, you're not a doctor. I want Doctor Howard's opinion," RO protested.
Kate pulled him out of the wardroom by the arm and stood in front of him.
"Now listen. Doctor Howard has been on duty for a long time. He's entitled to some rest. Your arm is fine and there's no need to disturb him. Go down to the boarding room and stop fussing. That's an order," Kate said sternly.
RO was about to protest again but stopped when she looked at him with wide eyes.
"Yes ma'am," he said defeated.
Kate reapplied her mask before she went back inside. She would much rather be out on the RHIB while she still could. At the end of her pregnancy there would be enough time for paperwork and sitting behind a desk or watching sick people but at almost ten weeks she wanted to do more than that.
The room smelled like it had been recently disinfected. Kate shook her head. RO must have been pretty busy while he was supposed to be watching Sarah. Kate put down the items she had brought in with her and sat down next to the young woman.
Sarah's notes were hanging at the end of her bed. This was the first time in two days that Kate had been on watch again so she wanted to read what had happened to her in the meantime.
With the notes in her hand she looked at Sarah and to Kate's surprise the woman looked back at her.
"Hey," Kate whispered.
The woman turned around and looked around the wardroom.
"The other man," she said, turning her face back to Kate.
"Doctor Howard?" Kate asked, thinking she was looking for him.
"No, you called him RO? He was here before you came," the woman explained.
Kate smiled and shook her head.
"No, RO has gone for now," Kate answered. "My name is Kate. We don't know yours," she said pulling up a chair so she could sit down.
"Regina. Regina Simpson but everyone calls me Reg," she told Kate.
Finally they had a name and soon she had some more basic information about Reg. Kate told her about the TB and where she was. Kate wondered if she really understood all the information but that didn't matter at this moment. It was so exciting to be able to talk to the woman.
"I have been awake for a while but RO? Is his name really RO?" Reg asked. "Well, he was a bit weird so I pretended to be asleep."
Kate nodded.
"He's our radio operator that's why we call him RO. I'm sorry about him. He is a bit eccentric but he's a good man. I hope he didn't offend you," Kate worried.
Reg shook her head and tried to sit up.
"No, he didn't. He was reading his book most of the time," she answered. "Uhm Kate, when do we arrive in Australia?"
Kate shrugged and wondered if it was a good idea to tell Reg the bad news. She really sounded hopeful when she asked about the return and Kate didn't want to stop the good mood she was in but at the same time she couldn't lie to her. Kate looked at Reg to see if she could anticipate how she would take the news but all she could see was a hopeful look.
"I really need to go home," Reg pleaded.
"We can't," Kate sighed. "We're placed in quarantine."
Reg was quiet for a while and Kate didn't know what to say. She felt sorry for the girl who probably had tried to go home, only to end up in the middle of the ocean, sick, before being picked up by a warship.
"Can I get you something to drink?" Kate asked after a few minutes.
"A cup of tea?" Reg asked forlornly.
Kate nodded and stood up.
"I'm going to the galley and get you something. Is it alright to leave you on your own for a few minutes?" she asked.
Reg gave a simple nod and Kate left. Not much later she returned with two steaming cups of tea. There were so many questions Kate wanted to ask Reg. She had another eleven weeks to ask all of them but which question should she ask first?
"You have been mumbling a lot the past few days," Kate said when she sat across from Reg again.
Reg frowned and started fidgeting with a piece of the blanket she had wrapped around her legs.
"Nothing we could really understand. Bird, our youngest member on board, thinks it sounded like numbers and letters," Kate explained.
Reg shrugged and avoided looking at Kate. "I don't know," she said.
"It doesn't really matter right now," Kate tried to ease her. "The main thing is that you're awake now and we can talk. You'll remember what it was."
"Yeah," Reg replied absentmindedly.
"I'm sorry Kate, but I'm still really tired. Would you mind if I went back to sleep?" she asked.
Kate shook her head. "Of course not. I'll be here when you need me," Kate answered.
The room became quiet again and to Kate's surprise Reg fell asleep pretty soon. For a second she had thought it had been a tactic so she didn't have to talk but maybe she had to revise that idea. Kate picked up her book and started reading. The idea of babysitting the patient could do with a revision as well. It wasn't so bad after all.