"Quiet Visitor"
(previous post "Thinking of something else")
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Stardate: 60315.1800
Setting: USS ANUBIS - Corridor outside sickbay -> Sickbay
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He wasn't sure if he should visit her. He wasn't sure about a lot of things when it came to the Chief Science Officer. Never before had he had such mixed feelings about another person. On one hand he knew he should stay away, make the break and not look back. He was knew that he wasn’t good for her, that she deserved someone better, more honorable but on the other hand, there was this attraction he felt that was almost painful to ignore.
He paced back and forth outside the entrance to sickbay, arguing with himself whether he should go in or return to his quarters. He had been avoiding the more public areas of the ship and base as late, secluding himself in his room or office going over the intricate details of this con-artist named Rixx.
He knew from the information given them at the briefing that Maya had to undergo facial reconstruction for her new identity and he had heard that her recovery had been a somewhat rough. It was this that had drawn him from his refuge and had brought him to sickbay. He stared at the doors for a few moments and then decided it was more important for him to find out for himself exactly what her condition was.
It was eerily quiet in sickbay as he walked in and to his surprise he found no one to greet him.
He walked in further and looked around. The biobeds were empty and the lights were dimmed giving it an almost morgue like quality. He wondered if Maya had already been released and he had made this journey for nothing. He began to leave when a voice from the back of the room startled him. "Can I help you, Lieutenant?"
He spun around to see one of the nursing assistants emerging from behind a drawn curtain. "I, ah, I came by to check on the condition of Lieutenant Maya but I take it she has already been discharged," he said.
She looked at him with surprise. "I wasn't aware that she had been discharged," the nurse replied as she looked over toward an isolated ward of the room.
"She's still here?" he asked. "Well, what is her condition? Is she okay?"
The nurse smiled at the unconcealed concern the marine was showing. "She is stable but you'll probably need to speak with Dr. Summers if you'd like anymore details," she said, walking over to one of the work stations. She tapped a few keys and then looked up at the marine. "She is taking a meal but should be back shortly if you’d like to wait," she suggested politely.
Although the Lea Summers that was now the aCMO of the ANUBIS was a very different Lea Summers then Prav had first met, he still hadn’t quite gotten comfortable with her. It was almost like he could sense the old Lea somewhere underneath and a feeling or maybe a fear that it would re-appear kept the young Enaran from fully accepting this "changed" version of the original.
"No, that's not necessary. But if I could just look in on her," he began.
The nurse nodded and then added, "She's asleep right now and she needs her rest so you are welcome to look in on her but please, don’t disturb her sleep or stay too long. Okay?"
Prav nodded his understanding and walked to the back of the room where Maya was recovering.
He slipped behind the curtain and was stunned by what he saw. He knew what her cover was, but for some reason he hadn't been quite ready to see Maya as a Cardassian. It took him a few moments to get beyond the initial shock but the flutters in his stomach told him that underneath all the new facial ridges and discoloration, he could see Maya.
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Matt Kelly (downwitmal@yahoo.com)
Writing for:
2nd Lt. Pravat 2005 post #138
MCO
USS ANUBIS
