“Not
one word, Crane!” The threat was
delivered slowly and succinctly as Cdr. Lee Crane, the submarine Seaview’s
captain, entered the cabin of the boat’s Executive Officer, and Lee’s best
friend, Lt. Cdr. Chip Morton. It
momentarily stopped Lee in his tracks.
But as Chip’s expression turned ever so sheepish, the grin Lee had had
on his face made an instant return. He
finished walking into the cabin, shut the door behind him, and settled into
Chip’s desk chair before speaking, looking across the room to where the blond
was propped up on pillows, laying on his bunk.
“Just
came to check on an under-the-weather member of my crew,” he said
innocently. But the sparkle in his eyes
was clearly visible.
The
blond muttered a few indecipherable comments before his expression turned even
more sheepish. “Okay.” The word still came out with a grumble, and
he sent Lee a bit of a glare as he continued.
“So, say ‘I told you so’ and get it over with.”
Lee
gave him a wide-eyed, totally innocent look.
“Now, would I do a thing like that?”
Chip
sent back twin blue lasers. “In a
heartbeat,” he growled. Lee burst out
laughing. The harder Chip’s glare
became, the harder Lee laughed. Finally
Chip relented and grinned. “Not like I
don’t deserve it,” he admitted.
Seaview
had left port two days before. They’d
been home just over a week, and before that they’d made a run into the
Mediterranean on a project for the Cousteau Society. They’d stopped for several days in Naples,
Italy, so that Admiral Nelson could attend meetings on the state of health of
the sea and discussions on ways to improve the pollution that was causing
increasing problems. During that time
most of the crew had at least twenty-four hours of shore leave. Neither Lee nor Chip had been off boat that
long at one time, but they had made several trips to area restaurants that Lee
knew about, and also had done a bit of shopping. Lee had picked up Christmas presents for
several people, including his mother.
He’d then had to listen to Chip rag on him to not forget where he put
them by the time the holiday, still several months off, rolled around and he
needed to wrap and mail them.
Lee
had gotten his own bit of retaliation when Chip decided that he was going to
buy himself a new pair of stylish leather shoes. The pair he picked out certainly looked good
– slender and sleek, made from rich black Italian calfskin. While they were laced and low-heeled, with no
adornments, they weren’t exactly normal navy issue. But as Chip was quick to point out, there was
a lot on board Seaview that wasn’t necessarily standard navy issue. Seaman Riley’s surfboard came instantly to
mind by both men and they shared a grin.
Lee, however, pointed out that the shoes looked a little too slender and
sleek to be very comfortable standing around in all day. And Chip had grudgingly admitted that they
were a tad snug. But with the salesman
ignoring Lee and slathering Chip with compliments on his fine choice of style,
how well they looked on him, etc, as a salesman with his thoughts of a fine
commission filling his mouth with words of praise could all too quickly
produce, Chip ignored Lee’s warnings and the sale was completed. Chip did assure Lee that while they were snug
now, the leather would quickly break in and they’d be ‘perfect.’
Chip,
while not vain in the least, still couldn’t help himself and showed off his new
shoes to Seaview’s officers and crew when they got back to the boat. To a man, everyone complimented Chip on his
stylish new footwear and they became part of Chip’s new daily uniform. Lee thought that he caught a few slight
grimaces on his friend’s face as they neared home but when he brought it up,
Chip just shrugged and said that he didn't quite have the shoes broken in
enough; that by the time their week in port was up and they headed out again on
one of Admiral Nelson’s periodic charting missions they’d fit like old familiar
gloves.
Lee
didn’t see much of Chip that week. He’d
barely gotten to his house on the beach when an old friend called. With nothing major in the works there had
been no reason that he couldn’t take a few days’ vacation. He laughed out loud when that statement
nearly made both his boss, Admiral Nelson, and NIMR’s CMO, Dr. Will Jamison,
speechless; Lee took so little time off that it was always a major surprise to
those around him when he did actually get away for some R & R. Chip asking what Becca had planned for him
changed Lee’s laughter to a glare, but as the others chuckled he merely smiled
and left. When he got back Nelson had
lined up several meetings with different department heads that he wanted Lee to
attend as well, while Chip got Seaview ready for the upcoming cruise.
The
first day out Lee was kept busy enough around the boat, and in his cabin
working through the stacks of paperwork that accumulated all too quickly, that
he hadn’t noticed anything amiss with his XO.
But that evening he happened to see Chip limping ever so slightly. On being questioned, Chip just shrugged off
the slight note of worry in Lee’s voice and headed for his own cabin and his
own stack of paperwork. However, the
next morning, as Chip was getting up from breakfast and preparing to head for
the Conn, Will noticed the limp and called him on it. Once more Chip shrugged it off, telling the
doctor that he was still breaking in his new shoes, no big deal, and walked
out. Lee shared a quick look with both
Will and Nelson, but then also shrugged and headed after his XO.
The
morning went by smoothly. They wouldn’t
reach the sector to be charted for a couple of days yet so Lee used the morning
to run proficiency drills in several areas of the boat, including the Conn. Chip sent him a couple of snide smirks as
every one of the Duty crew posted some of their highest proficiency ratings
ever. Lee had expected nothing less, but
he let Chip’s antics carry over to the men on duty, and everyone was in a good
mood when Lee headed for his cabin to transfer his statistics into the computer. He’d kept one eye on Chip while he’d
maneuvered around the Conn, but apparently Chip’s shoes were finally feeling
better because he saw no sign of the earlier limp.
By
1430 hours Lee was almost done with his reports where a knock on his door announced
a visitor. Dr. Will Jamison ambled in at
his call to enter. “I did not
miss lunch,” Lee started to defend his absence from the Wardroom at the normal
mealtime. Jamie was constantly on his
case about his eating habits – or lack thereof.
So, he ended up raising an eyebrow when the comment merely caused the
doctor to chuckle.
“I
know,” Will assured Lee. “Cookie made
sure to let me know that he’d delivered a tray up here.” The doctor settled casually into the chair at
the side of Lee's desk. “Just wanted to
deliver this in person,” and he handed Lee a thin folder.
Lee
quickly read the brief report inside, sent Will a puzzled look, and then read
the report a little more slowly. When he
was done he sent the doctor a worried look.
“Serious?” he asked.
Will
once more chuckled softly. “I don’t
think so. Oh, it could have been,” he
amended, “if it had gone for too long a time without treatment. But it doesn’t appear to be all that advanced
so rest, and some extra padding, and I rather suspect that it will go away all
on it’s own.”
An
ever so slight smile started to touch the corners of Lee’s mouth. “That's really what it’s called?” he asked.
Will
grinned. “Been called that for as long
as I’ve been practicing medicine.”
“What
is it, exactly,” Lee wanted to know.
“And what caused it?”
“The
cause is easy – his shoes. They are too
narrow for his feet.”
“I
tried to warn him, but...”
Will
nodded. “Specifically, the toe area is
so narrow that it cramped his toes together.
The leather didn’t stretch, like he was expecting, and the constant
pressure caused an inflammation between the third and fourth toes, which then
started to swell and make the pressure even worse. That’s basically what a neuroma is – the
bones squeeze the nerve, it swells, and if not caught in time can cause major
issues. Up to and including surgery if
it gets too out of hand.”
“But
you caught it early enough?”
“I
think so. Oh, he’ll still feel some pain
for a bit. But I’ve ordered him off his
feet for at least forty-eight hours, and given him a corticosteroid shot to
relieve the swelling and start the healing process. No walking other than what little he needs to
move around his cabin. Socks only – no
shoes at all for that time period. He
can eventually go back to his old shoes, but he’ll have to wear a special
metatarsal pad under that area for probably a couple of weeks at least. With luck the neuroma will go away all on
it’s own.” He grinned. “In the meantime, you’re without your XO on
duty.”
“No
problem,” Lee assured him. “Things
should be quiet the next couple days.
I’ll just give him all of my paperwork.”
Will
promptly stood up. “I’m out of here
before you tell him that,” he told his CO.
But they both chuckled, Will headed back to Sick Bay, and Lee headed to
check on his friend.
Now
he asked softly, “How did Jamie nail you?”
Both men went out of their way to hide illness or injury from their
CMO. Not because they didn’t value and
trust the man. It was merely their usual
reaction to anything that might slow them down – they simply ignored it.
Chip
frowned. “He didn’t,” he grumbled. At Lee’s raised eyebrow he continued. “I was doing a pretty good job of hiding how
much it hurt from both you and Jamie.
The Admiral ratted me out.” Lee
tried to stop the bubble of mirth that complaint triggered but he wasn’t overly
successful, and Chip’s glare came back.
“But that’s not the worst part,” was added in a menacing tone.
“The
name?” Lee guessed, still struggling to contain his chuckles.
Chip nodded. “I even made Jamie go get his medical books and prove it – I just knew that he was making it up.” Chip slammed his back harder into the pillows behind him, and crossed his arms over his chest with a ‘harrumph.’ “Only I could manage to inflict myself with something called Morton’s Neuroma.” Lee couldn’t hold in the laughter any longer, and it wasn’t long before Chip joined in.