Unexpected Arrival

Month 14 Day 26 (day of wedding)

0008 Hours

Della Harris

When the bedroom door opened, letting the corridor light shine directly in on her, Della sat up in bed. "Who's there?"

"Oh, good, you're home," Tall Bear said as he walked the length of the bedroom. He was carrying something big, but for a moment, Della couldn't figure out what it was. "Your roommate had an accident, and couldn't get home from sick bay on her own."

"Accident!" Della jumped out of bed just as Tall Bear placed the redhead on the edge of the bed on the other end of the room. Half of Mac's face was blue, headed for a darker shade, her hands were wrapped in bandages, and one arm was restrained. Her disheveled uniform had smears of blood, already turning brown as they dried out. "What happened?"

"I didn't ask," TB answered. "Unless she files a complaint, I don't want to know. Can you, uh, help her get ready for bed? I think she's more or less on bed rest for the next couple days."

"Of course I will! Oh, what rotten luck to have this happen right before your weekend, Mac. Oh! Your honeymoon!"

"Hmm, honeymoon," Mac repeated blandly. "Thank you, Tall Bear. I don't know how I would have gotten to sick bay or home without you."

"Well, I figure you've made me into a brother by now," TB told her.

Mac gave him a lop-sided smile. "That's not official. Yet."

"Well, I have to get to Security, make my report about this encounter and sign in. You're likely to get someone coming around tomorrow to ask you questions about what happened."

"I'll tell them the same thing I told Dr Davis."

"Well, that's good. I guess. Get some rest."

He left. Della requested the bedroom light to come on, and then removed Mac's boots. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Mac sighed. "A series of unlucky accidents." She watched as the 2nd boot hit the floor. "Now, help me get to my computer. No, your computer. Yours isn't busy with half a dozen programs running."

"What do you need a computer for?"

"I have a short program to run in the main computer, and a message to send before I go to bed. And my right leg isn't working well right now, so I need your help."

"Can't these things wait until the morning?"

"No. I expect things to fall apart in the morning. And I don't want to deal with it then."

I have no idea what she means by that. Is she even in her right mind, after taking a beating like she's been through? But Della helped her roomie limp to the living room and to the unoccupied computer. Typing with one finger, Mac was busy at the keyboard for at least 20 minutes. Della watched the screen, but got lost in the various files before 5 minutes were up. When Mac sat back in the chair and breathed a sigh of relief, Della finally voiced her confusion. "What did you do?"

"I don't want visitors this weekend. Like Bear said, I'm supposed to rest. So I placed a super lock on the doors. Only you and I are allowed to come and go, and I don't plan to go anywhere."

"What do you mean, a super lock?"

"If I did it right, even Mr Smythe can't use his superior rank to override the lock." She frowned at the keyboard. "I don't know if it will stop the captain, medical personnel, or security, but I can hope."

"Well, I guess I understand why you don't want visitors, but... even Smythe?"

"Especially Smythe," Mac said grimly as she rose to her feet. "The other thing I did was send a message to the captain, calling off the wedding. She'll get it in the morning. I assume she'll let him know."

Della moved forward to help her return to her bed. "Are you sure you don't want to send that message to him? Not that that's a good option, either. I suppose common courtesy says you should tell him face to face."

"I'm not feeling very courteous right now," she answered. "He made a wrong assumption about me, and didn't listen when I tried to tell him he was wrong. So, since he thinks he knows so much, let him figure it out himself."

"Is he... Did he do this to you?" I've seen Smythe's temper, but I've never seen him get physical with a woman.

"No," Mac answered shortly, and thankfully sat on her bed again. "He didn't do any of this. Well, we had sex, at long last, and apparently that's painful when it's the first time."

"Only for women," Della told her.

"That figures," Mac muttered, and considered her wrinkled and stained uniform. "Della, I hate to keep you up any longer, but I'd really like to change into pajamas."

"Of course," Della agreed. "Where are they? Do you want the striped or the lace?"

"Striped. Bottom drawer on the left."

It took some doing, to get the rumpled clothing off the redhead when she could hardly even stand on her own, and couldn't do much to facilitate her own release. Putting on fresh clothes proved easier, as by then, they had figured out how to work together. Plus the pajamas were a looser fit than her uniform, and slipped into place much easier. Della tossed the blanket out of the way, and helped Mac lay down.

"Thank you, Della," Mac said, and her voice was thin and wan. Tears started down her face.

"Are you in pain?" Della asked.

"Only... emotional."

"I'm sorry things didn't work out for you."

"Me too. Now you'd better get some sleep. It'll be time to go to work before you know it."

"How high do you want the blanket?" Della asked.

"Up to my chin. I know the temperature is constant, but the night seems to have gotten very cold, in my mind."

Della draped the blanket over her friend. "Try to sleep."

Mac gave a deep sigh. "I'll try." She closed her eyes, which squeezed more tears onto her cheeks. She told the computer to adjust the gravity on her bed.

Della went to her own bed and told the computer to turn off the lights. Wish I knew what Smythe did. I'd sure give him a piece of my mind about it! Ugh. I have to work with him tomorrow. I don't know which would be worse, having him unaware the wedding is off and him giddily waiting for it to happen, or having him know it's been called off, and him angry and depressed. Wish I could call in sick tomorrow.