The next step...

Posted on 29 Aug 2016 @ 7:09am by Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D.

1,354 words; about a 7 minute read

OOC: This post is set shortly after the Ep.11 post "Destroying Love"
http://stgalileo.com/index.php/sim/viewpost/3773

[ON]

Running down the corridor Jaana still couldn't believe it. With the padd in her hand she ran as fast as she could to her quarters. She had to tell Tuula. Arriving there she almost ran into the door, when it didn't open as soon as she wanted to.

"I got it. I got it!" she yelled to her sister. Upon seeing her sister she quickly forgot what she wanted to say. "What is going on?" And after seeing what she was wearing she said. "What are you wearing?" Even for her sister's odd dress code this was very abnormal.

Hearing her sister's voice, Tuula looked up from her chair. She had been crying for some time, and by now, she had streams of mascara running down her face. She hadn't changed since her earlier interaction with Olsam, and was still wearing the leather corset, garter belt, stiletto boots, and the cuffs, collars, and chains from her ill-fated attempt at finally winning over the man of her dreams.

"Jaana?" she said, her voice faint as she choked back her tears.

She knelt next to her sister's chair before saying on a calmer tone. "What happened? Who do I need to kill?"

"Olsam rejected me," cried Tuula, looking at Jaana for a moment before holding her head in her hands again, wondering if she should be embarrassed at her attire for the first time in her life -- not necessarily because of what she was wearing, but because of what it signified. That she had been rejected. "He came over... I thought things were finally happening, and then..."

"...it didn't happen?" Jaana finished her sister's sentance. When they were little they could finish each other's sentences all the time. But as they started leading more separate lives they lost that ability. Realising they could again made her feel a bit sad over the reason she was so happy just seconds ago. And the fact that her sister was hurt by someone on the ship, intentional or not. It was a awful timing for her to leave the ship.

"Are you sure he had the same intention with your uhm... relationship?" She never understood her sister's affection for the other doctor. "It wouldn't be the first time for Olsam to completely miss something."

"He told me he didn't want to have intercourse with me," replied Tuula through her tears. "I thought we had something, the way he would look out for me, the way he would look into my eyes in sickbay, and the way his hand would oh so gently brush up against mine during surgery..." She tried to choke back tears. "I'll never find true love..."

"Offcourse you will," Jaana said as she stood up and got her sister a glass of water. "You just need to find the right one. Just like aiti always says, there is a lid for every jar."

"Yeah, but usually the lid doesn't tell the jar that it doesn't want to have sex with it," countered Tuula, taking the glass of water. After taking a big sip, she put the glass aside and reached over towards Jaana. "Sorry. It's just so embarrassing being rejected like this and having to go to work with him tomorrow. I dressed up all sexy for him too... I mean, what man wouldn't want a piece of this?" she asked.

As she did so, Tuula tried to offer Jaana a smile, but it came out rather halfhearted. And between her ruined makeup and all the bizarre leather bits she was wearing, she looked a little more scary than sexy.

"If it's really giving you a problem, working with Olsam, you can always request a transfer." Jaana said.

"No," replied Tuula, wiping away hear tears, "things are good here. Allyndra is great; and in this sickbay, I've finally found a place where people accept me for who I am." She paused for a moment. "Besides, I couldn't leave you all alone out in deep space, could I?"

“Well, about that,” Jaana studdered. She didn't want to hurt her sister. She handed Tuula the padd that contained the information about her PhD and her transfer.

Tuula took the PADD in her gloved hands and quickly scrolled through it. Partway through the PADD, a worried look appeared on her face as she realized that her sister would be leaving the Galileo.

But then, before Jaana could react, Tuula threw the PADD aside and pushed on her wheels, sending herself bounding towards her sister. As she was about to run into her, Tuula wrapped her arms around Jaana’s waist and hugged her tightly, some of the metal rings on her outfit pressing into Jaana’s skin. “Oh my god!” she exclaimed, looking up at Jaana while not releasing her from her grip. “This is awesome! I’m so happy for you!”

“You don’t mind? I can decline the offer.” She said with worry. “I don’t like leaving you like this.”

Tuula released her sister from her hug and grabbed her by the forearms. "Are you nuts?" she asked, the buckles on her cuffs rattling as she shook her sister. "This is a huge opportunity! It's like your dream job! You should take it! Don't make me tell mom..." she added in a joking tone, knowing that their mother would be shocked if she didn't take it.

"I won't deny I've always wanted to do this," Jaana said. "But I can't leave you like this. And don't pull the mum card. I'm very sure she rather has us together to look out for each other then apart."

"I'm the big sister," countered Tuula. "It's up to me to look out for you, not the other way around."

“That’s bull,” Jaana said a little louder then the tone she had used earlier. She hated it when her sister used those stupid 5 minutes to get her way.

"Well, it's true," shot back Tuula as she placed her hands on the wheels of her chair, in the same manner that someone might place their hands on their hips. "I'm not going to sit here and let you pass up on your dream job just because of me. You're taking that job."

“But,” she stammered again. “what about you? Who’s gonna look after you?”

Tuula shook her head and chuckled a little at Jaana's protectiveness of her. “I can take care of myself,” she replied, though between her outfit and her smeared mascara, that was questionable. “I managed to get myself through med school, remember? How hard can a simple starship assignment be?” She bit her lip for a moment before continuing. "Besides, it might be nice to have a roommate who doesn't leave her socks on the floor..." she added, using humour to deflect the situation and conceal how much she would miss Jaana. “You know how difficult that makes it for me to get around…”

Taking a deep breath, Jaana realized that she wasn't going to win the argument. And that as hard as it was going to be to say goodbye to her sister, that this was her dream job and that Tuula would be crushed if she gave up on her dreams because of her.

Several years ago, the shoe was on the other foot. Tuula was on the verge of giving up her life goal of becoming a doctor after her accident, when Jaana gave her the push that she needed to go back to the academy. Now, it was Jaana's turn to follow her dreams.

Reaching over, Jaana gave Tuula a big hug. "You're the big sister," she replied. "Just make sure to visit me next time you're in the neighbourhood."

"Great!" exclaimed Tuula, trying to conceal her tears of joy at the new opportunities for her sister. "Maybe we can even stop by Charles' shop and get another matching tattoo!"

Jaana just shook her head. The first was painful enough; she didn't know how Tuula did it. "Don't push it."

[OFF]

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