A Strange Worry

Month 15 Day 5

1933 Hours

Beth Temple

Beth stared at her visitor, who was out of her sling, now, but tended to carry her right arm as if she still wore it. Mac had sat down in Beth's easy chair and then fell silent. Her blusher looked out of place on a face that was usually devoid of makeup. Her eyes looked haunted.

Okay, so this isn't the usual girls' night where we bond over anecdotes and doing each other's hair. Mac is seriously upset about something. "Do you want a drink, Mac?"

She seemed startled by the question, and licked her lips nervously. "Thanks, but no. I, uh, I had one before I came."

What happened to the Mac who was always up for a drink? Of course, I didn't specify whiskey. I didn't necessarily mean whiskey. "You wanted to talk?"

Mac nodded woodenly, and her left hand rubbed down her pants leg, leaving a damp trail behind it. "I know you can keep a secret, Beth, because you can't gossip about anybody's medical records."

Beth sat back on her sofa warily. "Are you going to ask me about somebody's medical record?"

"No," Mac declared, shaking her head emphatically. "It's just that, well, I'm sure you've heard the rumor about me."

Beth let a gentle smile touch her lips. "I've heard a lot of rumors about you, Mac. I know better than to listen to them."

"I'm talking about a specific rumor. The one about me... being pregnant."

Beth frowned. "Yes, I've heard it. More than once. I've been sorely tempted to give the gossiper a piece of my mind, but to do that, I'd have to discuss your medical record. So I can't."

Mac nodded again. "Yes, exactly. Because you've taken an oath, or something. Anyway, from what I can gather, that particular rumor has been started—possibly several times—by someone in medical, who claimed they got it from my records, or they recognized the symptoms, or something. That part gets a little fuzzy." She sighed in frustration. "Well, the whole thing is fuzzy. Like most rumors, most everybody has heard it, but nobody seems to know who started it."

"Yes, that's the way rumors work," Beth agreed. "But that rumor's been around for a while, and you seem terribly upset about it today. Surely you haven't just heard about it?"

"Oh, no," Mac denied. "It's just the news that I got in this morning's mail that has me upset about it. You see, Kolla's pregnant."

Beth let herself smile fully. "Your Yukoskian look-alike. But being pregnant is usually good news. Why does that upset you?"

Mac took a deep breath. "Some people see that we look so much alike, are alike in a lot of ways, and they almost think of us as the same person. If something important happens to one of us, it'll happen to the other, too. So I'm afraid that if the news gets around that Kolla is pregnant, that will feed the rumor that I am, too."

Beth took a moment to think, chose her words carefully. "Those of us who know you can see plenty of ways you and Kolla are different. But perhaps you're right, and that might be beyond those who don't know you well. Still, you've done a good job of ignoring the ridiculous rumors about you so far. Even if this news did feed the fire, so to speak, can't you just ignore it?"

"Eventually, they do tend to die out," Mac agreed. "But I've been waiting for that one to fade away, and now, with Kolla's news to renew the whole thing all over again... I just keep thinking this one is never going away."

"It will," Beth predicted confidently. "Pregnant women are not allowed to serve on a Fleet ship past their first trimester. They're assigned planetside somewhere and given a desk job until they deliver. Options diverge after that, a little. So you see, if you're still here after 3 months, and there's no talk of you being transferred, the rumor will be proven false."

The redhead chewed her lower lip as she frowned at the floor. "I know. Trouble is, I don't know exactly how long that rumor has been around. It was 'common knowledge' a month ago, but who knows exactly how long ago it got started? And like I said, it may have been started more than once."

Beth smiled at the younger woman. "It's not something we instantly know about a woman, Mac. First you'd have to come to sick bay and wind up on one of the exam tables, and have it confirm that you were pregnant."

Green eyes rounded in surprise. "What do you mean, it's not instantaneous?"

I thought Drake had 'the talk' with her? How many details did he leave out? "Haven't you noticed that most women don't announce they're pregnant until they're at least a month along? Probably more than that. Everything takes time, even this. Once a woman's egg is fertilized, it has to travel to her uterus, where it implants itself. That takes... oh, a week, maybe 10 days. Until that happens, then technically, she isn't pregnant. And the exam table won't pick it up until after that has happened."

Mac looked stunned, and her blusher became more pronounced. "But Kolla indicated she was 2 weeks pregnant."

"Well, I can't be sure how different the Yukosk biology is from our own. It may be just a matter of different ways of counting their length of pregnancy. Or maybe they keep better tabs on when they have sex, and figure their pregnancy from that. You'd have to ask her to clarify that for you."

Mac sighed in relief. "So you believe that if I just hang on tight, eventually the rumor will die away."

"I do wish you knew who had started it. Even though it's a lie, I'd like to bust whoever started it. Especially if they claimed they got it from your medical file."

"Oh, I have somebody I suspect," Mac said. "But I only suspect her because I don't like her. And the feeling is mutual."

"I know how easy it is to blame somebody when you don't like them," Beth returned. "I'm glad I was able to set your mind at rest. And I see you are not wearing your sling. Congratulations."

Mac's brilliant smile shone. "And not a moment too soon. I was beginning to forget I had a right arm."

Beth chuckled. "You'll have full use of it again before you know it. Are you still assigned to physical therapy?"

A nod confirmed it. "Once a day, at my shift's end. I'm going to ask if we can do it while I'm sitting in a chair. Laying on an exam table makes me feel like there's something wrong with me, and I want to get over that feeling."

"That's a great idea. In fact, they may have you do the movements by yourself, to get some strength back in your muscles."

"Sounds good to me." Mac hesitated. "I'm out of subject matter. I was so worried about that rumor, and you scattered it into space in a few minutes. So... is there something you want to talk about?"

"Well, since you asked, tell me what's happening in Engineering. I've heard that Ivy broke up with LaPour."

"Oh, that's old news," Mac replied. "What surprises me is that she hasn't started dating Bugsy again. In fact, she doesn't seem to be dating anyone."

"Perhaps she's gathering her thoughts about the kind of person she wants to date," Beth suggested.

"Women actually do that?"

"Of course they do. But since you don't have any sisters,..."