Review – Colleagues
Colleagues brings together a doctor and a not quite yet veterinarian.
Background
For a monthly prompt about mentors, I decided to visit and put together two characters who had met before, but not under these individual circumstances. Joss and Dr. Morgan had met in Fortune, but Joss was a rather young child at the time, and Morgan was just settling on Lafa II for his retirement. I was pleased to have the opportunity to trot out Dr. Pamela Hudson as well.
Plot
Later Days
As much a story of identity as it is of growing up and imparting wisdom to a new generation, the story opens with Joss asking Pamela if he can interview her.
She acknowledges that her life has gotten busy since she married (Treve). Plus she has a plastic surgery conference to attend. She instead suggests her Uncle Cyril, noting that he is a retired orthopedic surgeon and would probably love the company and welcome any questions Joss might have. Joss agrees, but not before accidentally calling her ‘Pam’.
When Joss gets to Cyril’s, he’s got a cake baked by Lili. The elder gentleman welcomes him in and they have cake while the doctor’s cat, Mimi, does figure eights. Joss asks about practicing medicine. He allows that veterinary medicine is different, but he is still looking for some guidance and advice.
Cyril, who asks Joss to call him by a childhood nickname of Skip, tells of a time when he failed to help a patient. It was not due to a lack of education or supplies or time. Instead, it was a treatment during the Earth-Romulan War, when a Xindi ally was injured. Morgan did not treat him as expeditiously as he should have, and the Xindi lost an arm. Morgan instructs Joss to be fair and as impartial as possible, and to not just treat cute animals or those where the owner is pleasant or wealthy.
Story Postings
- Colleagues on Ad Astra
- Colleagues on Fanfiction.net
- also, Colleagues on Fictionpad
- Colleagues on Wattpad
Rating
The story is rated K.
Upshot
I like this story. It gave me a chance to shout out to some characters that I like, and to provide some more depth for Morgan. There is even a brief shoutout to Tommy Digiorno-Madden and his on-again, off-again relationship with Cyril’s granddaughter, Cindy. My peers agreed, and they liked the story enough that it won the monthly challenge at Ad Astra.
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