Catching Up

 Month 15 Day 1

1711 Hours

Bugalu

Bugalu frowned at his meal tray and glanced around the nearly empty mess hall. Well, doesn't look like she's going to show up for supper. Is she still taking meals in her quarters? Della was here earlier, and I didn't see her take off with a tray of food. Maybe Mac went to the privacy dining room. In any case, there doesn't seem to be any reason for me to stick around here any longer.

He disposed of his tray and left, only to stop short just outside at sight of Mac leaning against the wall a few feet from the mess hall entrance. Her right arm was in a sling, and the right side of her face was bruised. "Space, you look a mess," he told her.

She stared at him for a moment, as if weighing his words, then she grimly stated, "And that's just the part you can see."

He couldn't tell what her mood was. Her face—all of her, really—just sagged, as if she was exhausted. Why had she stopped here? "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Something," she responded, and took a breath. "The energy to go inside and eat."

He went to her left side and draped her arm around his shoulders, slipped his arm around her waist so that he could help her walk. "Did you just get off duty?" They started into the mess hall.

"No, I never made it back to engineering this afternoon. I only just got out of sick bay."

"I thought you were on light duty."

"I was, until somebody backed his chair into my bad thigh at lunch."

Bugsy winced at the thought, knowing how badly Mac could be bruised. "I hope you gave him a piece of your mind."

"I was too busy trying to stay upright," she answered. "Didn't even see who it was." She sighed. "And then I landed in Smit's lap, of all places."

She sounds upset about that. Would have thought— Space, she must be very angry with him.

Mac stopped next to a table. "I have to stop here. I can't go any further."

"I thought you just got out of sick bay. Why are you so worn out?"

"They had my thigh under a healing ray for 3 hours this afternoon, trying to mitigate the damage from that chair back encounter."

Healing ray. They don't use those very often because the accelerated pace of healing leaves the patient completely wiped. He realized she had continued talking, and he hadn't heard what she'd said. "I'm sorry, Mac. My mind wandered."

She gingerly sat down in the nearest seat. "When they got done with the healing ray, I still had a second physical therapy session to get through before they'd let me go."

And she's hungry as a black hole because a healing ray wipes out the available sugar in a person's body to facilitate the healing. "What do you want? I'll get it for you."

She hardly even paused before she started her list. "Juice, oatmeal, toast, hot tea,—"

"You're having breakfast?"

She simply continued with her list. "Lemonade, any kind of sandwich, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a piece of pie. Or cake. Or both."

"That might take more than 1 tray," he told her. "But I'll start with breakfast, and then get some lunch."

From the way she shoveled in her food, he supposed she didn't want to take time to talk. So he sat quietly and watched her pack the food away. Only when she started on her lunch items did she slow down. And then she ventured to open her mouth for something that wasn't eating.

"Remind me to never get so badly bruised again that I need a healing ray."

"Usually, that would mean, don't get into fights, or don't get mad, but the bruise on your face doesn't look like you did either one of those."

"No, not this time." She drank half her lemonade to wash down the sandwich and potatoes. "All these injuries are because I was super nervous, trying to tell Smit the truth. And even after I thought the ordeal was over, it turned out he still believed... the falsehood."

"That's too bad," he commiserated. He waited until she took her 2nd bite of chocolate pie before he stated, "But you were fine with that belief not so long ago."

She gave a brief nod, took another bite of pie, glanced around to make sure she wasn't overheard. "I can't have him transfer off this ship when he doesn't need to."

"Ahh." He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "But once you're married, you could open your medical files to him."

"True." She took a sip of lemonade and made a face. "Should have rethought my choice of lemonade."

"Do you want something else?"

"No. I'm almost done." She glanced around again. "But we'd be married, then, and he might feel I'd tricked him into it. Even though it wasn't me who told him that lie."

"Can't you open your medical files to him before the wedding?"

"I don't know. I'd probably have as much luck doing that as opening my medical files to you. Neither of you are actually related to me."

"Hmm. We've had this discussion before, about how stupid the Fleet can be."

"Yes." She finished her pie, threw her napkin atop her 2nd tray. "At last, I start to feel like I've eaten. But I'm still worn out. Guess I'd better go home and go to bed."

"That's about what I've heard about healing rays, that the cure is worse than the injury. How much healing did they manage on your thigh?"

"Approximately the same amount of damage done by the chair back," she answered. "So walk me home, will ya? There's still a chance the leg will buckle from time to time."

"Sure. I'll get rid of your trays, and we can go." A few minutes later, Mac gingerly stood up, and he slipped his arm around her waist again, like he'd done so many times before. He hoped they weren't seen by Smythe, who, he'd been told, considered the wedding postponed, and not cancelled.