On The Way Home

Month 16 Day 14

13:44 Hours

Capt Jane Burke

After a pleasant visit with Capt Valentine on the St Elmo, the emergency was declared over, and the 2 captains continued their conversation on the way to the shuttle bay. As they walked past med bay, they were joined by Drs MacGregor, Davis and Fong, and the Fireball nurses who had been helping. Further along, a lift door opened, and the Fireball's engineering team joined the back of the group. Smitty worked his way through the group to join Drake just behind the captains.

The Fireball personnel had been thanked by the departments they had assisted, and expected nothing further but a quiet shuttle ride home and a return to their regular duties. They were surprised when they entered the shuttle bay and found 3 shuttles waiting, while one section of the bay had been set up for a party, complete with cake and punch.

Jane turned to her host. "This wasn't necessary."

"A verbal thank you alone seemed insufficient," Capt Valentine returned. "My department heads would never have forgiven me. I realize we took you away from your regular assignment for over a week, so even this seems inadequate."

"It would be bad manners to leave in a hurry when you've gone to so much trouble." Jane turned to her 2 lieutenant commanders. "Mr Smythe, Dr MacGregor, would you be so kind as to cut and serve the cake and punch?"

Looking startled, they moved toward the table. "I'll serve the punch," Smitty decided.

"What makes you think I can cut cake?" Drake asked him.

"You know how to use a scalpel," Smitty pointed out.

"I've never used one on a cake," the doctor returned. But before long, cake and punch were being served.

Various members of the St Elmo's crew entered, to speak with the departing Fireball crew and enjoy the refreshments. But the St Elmo crew had their own duties to get to, so they didn't stay long.

Eventually, those coming to say good-bye slowed to a trickle. Most of the Fireball personnel had already opted to take one of the St Elmo shuttles home. Those were now jockeying into their parking spots. Most of the cake and all of the punch had been served. Jane decided it was enough, and said her final good-bye to Capt Valentine, then followed the few remaining of her personnel into the Fireball shuttle.

She found Smitty and MacDowell sitting together in the back of the shuttle, holding hands. Each sat up straight in their seat, but their eyes were closed. MacDowell had dark circles under her eyes and looked exhausted. Smitty looked tired, but not as bad.

Jane moved forward and sought out Drake, pulled him into another corner so the two of them could talk. "How's MacDowell?" she whispered.

Drake hesitated before answering. "She's at her rope's end," he admitted. "Between 12-hour days, recuperating, and starting a new life—in more ways than one."

"What do you mean, more ways than one?"

"She's been looking for a new job for when she has to leave the Fireball."

"I applaud her forethought, but where did she find the time?"

"During her meal breaks. She's been eating her meals in the St Elmo's library, using the computer. She's pretty worried about it."

"She has a right to be worried. Does she need some time off from her duties in engineering?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Two days, at least. Being able to sleep in her own bed should help. She is getting some help, looking for a new job, so that should give her time to catch up on her emails about that, too."

"Who's helping her?"

"Smitty. Bugalu. Myself. And Mr Facchini."

"The St Elmo chief engineer?"

"After her injury, they shared the St Elmo Intensive Care Unit. She seemed to impress him."

"Really? I understood his protégé was in the brig, because of her."

Drake sighed. "That's a story. Which you probably ought to get straight from Smitty. He's the one who sent him to the brig."

"Okay. You're sure 2 days will be enough?"

"No, but I don't feel like having a fight with her until I have to. I'll keep an eye on her during those 2 days, and then I'll re-evaluate."

"Sounds good." She let him return to his seat and made her way to the back, turned a seat around to face Smitty. Neither of them moved, but the girl's head was drooping now. Jane touched Smitty's knee and whispered, "Is she asleep?"

"Yes," he answered softly.

"No," MacDowell refuted, and took a deep breath before her eyes managed to open. "What can I do for you, captain?"

"You look exhausted," Jane told her. "It's to be expected; you've got a lot going on in your life, and a week of 12-hour days is grueling. I want you to take the next 2 days off."

"Okay," she agreed readily, a tiny smirk on her face.

Jane studied her suspiciously. "MacGregor didn't think you'd agree so easily."

"The next 2 days are my regular days off," MacDowell revealed. "I just need to get through until 1600 hrs to get to them."

"No, you don't," Smitty broke in. "You've already worked 12 hours today. You're off duty." She opened her mouth to say something, and he ended with, "No arguing."

She closed her eyes and stifled a yawn, or tried to. "Thank you, Smit."

"Does that suit you, captain?" he asked.

"Actually, no," she decided. "Since the next 2 days are your regular days off, I want you to take the next 2 days after that off, also. As sick days. Check in with Dr MacGregor on those days, so he can see how well you're recuperating."

"But—"

"I'll see that she does, captain," Smitty stated.

MacDowell sighed. "Looks like I have to."

"Good. Now, try to rest for the remainder of the trip." Jane got up and moved forward again to find a seat that would afford the lovebirds a tiny bit of privacy. When she glanced back, MacDowell's head was on Smitty's shoulder and her eyes were closed. She looked relaxed.

Catching Up

Month 16 Day 6

1250 Hours

Bugalu

The St Elmo was the same design as the Fireball, so sick bay was easy to find. Bugsy caught sight of a familiar face sitting at a display console and walked over. "Hello, Beth."

Nurse Temple glanced up from the readouts before her and gave him a friendly smile. "Took you long enough to come looking for Mac."

"Surprisingly, the news of her injury didn't get to the Fireball until you placed the special order for a new uniform for her." He placed the plastic package that typically held a uniform atop the display console. "Special delivery. Captain asked me to look in on her personally."

"Well, you're in luck," Temple told him. "She's got about 10 minutes left before the nurses put her back to bed." She nodded towards the ICU doorway. "Go on in. She'll be glad to see you."

"How bad is she?"

"Some burns along her back that are still healing, but the uniform is so she can be released to light duty tonight at midnight."

"Sounds like she was very lucky. I've heard that diflaxi— that stuff can be really nasty."

"Mr Smythe was there when it happened, and was quick to get her thoroughly dosed with an antitoxin foam. Because you're right, otherwise, she would have been in much worse condition. Now, go ahead, go inside. Help distract her from the healing ray treatment they're giving Mr Facchini in the other half of the room."

Normally he was squeamish about being present during another person's treatment; he'd heard patients could get pretty vocal during a healing ray treatment. But he was eager to see how Mac was doing, so he smiled at Beth, picked up the plastic package again, and went inside ICU.

On the left side of the room, the bed was sloped and bent so that the patient was nearly sitting up straight. One nurse urged him to finish drinking a large drink through a straw while the other nurse put some equipment away. Obviously, that was Mr Facchini, not Mac.

Bugalu turned to where Mac sat in some kind of kneeling chair that wouldn't let her lean against the back, because there was no back to it. He walked forward and tossed the plastic package and the box with her new boots to her bed. "One uniform, special delivery."

Mac raised her head from staring at the floor and used a wadded up tissue to wipe tears off her cheeks. Bugs lost his smile at the sight of her red eyes, and pulled a chair close to sit facing her. "Hey. What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"Yes," she said simply, then, "No. Not physical pain, Bugsy. Not much, anyway." She cast a glance at the curtain that had been pulled to block the view between the 2 beds. "Not nearly as much as Ben's been put through this morning."

She must mean Facchini. Not surprised she's on a first-name basis with him already. But something about the girl struck him as... different. He stood up and took a step sideways so he could get a look at her back. He winced at the wide pink swath down the back of her head that gleamed in its nakedness, then hoped she hadn't seen his wince. He sat down again. "Well, that's new."

She raised a hand as if to touch it, but didn't. "Compliments of Baker."

Should have known he'd be involved somehow. "Temple tells me your injuries could have been worse."

"Oh, yes," she agreed. "I could be dead."

For a moment, he didn't know what to say. The silence of this half of the room was invaded by the noises of the other half, where equipment clicked into its storage space, a nurse encouraged Mr Facchini to try to sleep, and the other bed whirred as it straightened into its usual bed configuration.

"I'm glad you're not," he finally said, and gave her another tissue as tears welled in her eyes. He reached forward and took hold of her hand. "What's got you so upset? Your hair?"

"MacG says that will grow back."

"Okay. Then what is bothering you?"

The nurses in the other half of the room left. Facchini gave a large sigh and settled into silence.

Mac's lips pinched together into a grimace. "Remember that stupid rumor you heard about me a couple months ago?"

There are always rumors about you. "You'll have to be more specific."

"The one that said I was pregnant."

"Oh. That rumor." He gave her hand a little squeeze and leaned back in his chair. "Stupid is definitely the word for that one. Why does that one have you upset now?"

"It's come true. I am pregnant."

He stared at her in disbelief for a long moment. "You can't be."

"If it's not possible, then why are the med beds set up to check for it?" He glanced at the bed that stood beside them. "The bed revealed it as soon as they got me on it. But I was already 99% sure." She gave him a wry smile. "Morning sickness."

"That's all kinds of ironic," he quipped. "You weren't when Smythe proposed, but now you are."

The part that really upsets me is, he walked out as soon as he heard."

"That doesn't make any sense. When he proposed, there was no way it could have been his, but he proposed anyway."

"Yes." She daubed at her eyes.

"When did you tell him?"

"I've been trying to tell him since the shuttle ride over here. But the time was never right. And then, when my back got burned, and he brought me to sick bay... he was here when the diagnosis was made."

"So, now he knows what he only believed before."

"He knows I'm pregnant. He knows I'm not 2 or 3 months along. I'm only at 6 weeks, according to the bed."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"I'm not sure, but he walked out." She glanced past him as someone walked in. "Please, give us a few more minutes."

"Okay, but you need to rest soon, if you're going to work at midnight."

She looked surprised. "I'm going to work tonight?"

"That's why I brought the uniform," Bugsy told her. "It's supposed to have room for the bandages."

She sighed. "That means I have to see him at 2330." She shook her head slowly. "I told him once I didn't care for his personal opinion of me. I can only imagine what he thinks of me now. Ready to toss me out with the garbage, like my father would do. And my brothers."

Anger seethed in Bugsy over this reminder of her male relatives' mentality. "Why do they need to know?"

"What?" She looked up in surprise. "How would I keep it from them?"

"They're light-years away. If you don't tell them you're having a child, how are they going to find out?"

She studied him in confusion. "I write to my mother. How do I do that over the next 20 years and never mention I've had a child?"

"Sounds like you've decided to keep it."

Tears welled and threatened to fall again. She whispered, "This may be the only thing I have to remember him by."

"You seem certain he won't marry you."

"He walked out as soon as he heard when I conceived."

"You'll be released from the Fleet."

She nodded. "I'm decently-trained now. I should be able to find work somewhere."

Well, that's true. All she'd have to do is mention she was protégé to Lt Cmdr Smythe, and doors would open for her. Still, 'unwed mother' is hardly what she wants to be. As soon as her father finds out, he'd forbid any further communication with her. And though she doesn't much care for her father and brothers, it would hurt deeply to lose contact with her mother. "You need a husband," he told her.

"I cancelled that agreement," she reminded him. "I don't see him proposing again."

"Then what about me?"

Intensive Care Unit

Month 16 Day 5

1623 Hours

Lt Cmdr Facchini, Engineering, St Elmo

The redhead in the other bed awoke with a start. "Ouch," she told herself.

"Bad dream, Red?" he asked. His voice sounded tired and hoarse, even to him.

"No. Yes. I don't know. At least I didn't dream I was falling."

"I got caught in a crystal explosion. I'm surprised to find myself still alive. Do you remember what happened to you?"

"Um. Let me think. A cloud of gas washed over me. A cracked pipe must have ruptured. Yellow gas, from the warp power alcove, which would make it diflaxibrophine."

Ah. She knows the name of it. Must be an engineer. "Then you also are lucky to be alive."

There was a short pause before she responded. "Alive, yes. Lucky, maybe."

He let that pass, for now. If she's in pain, she might not feel very lucky. "I don't recognize your voice. Are you assigned to the St Elmo?"

She gave a short burst of hard laughter. "No, I'm from the Fireball. We answered Capt Valentine's SOS."

"Fireball?" I thought I'd dreamed Smitty was here. Well, that's okay, then. Smitty will put things right again. "You must be one of Mr Smythe's, then."

Another pause before she spoke. "One of his what?"

"Engineers."

"Oh. Yeah. For the moment, I guess I still am."

For the moment? Did Smitty pull her from a different department? He's a firm believer in cross-training, but I would expect him to bring his best over with him. He suddenly remembered another dream he'd had, that a woman was pregnant and had no doubt Smitty was the father. Did Smitty say anything about that? No, nothing about being pregnant. But he did say, the Smitty in my dream, that he wanted to introduce me to his protégé. And the woman he would marry. As soon as I woke up. Had he mentioned a name? For either one? "Colleen?"

"Everybody calls me Mac."

"Surely not Mr Smythe." Which one does the name belong to?

Another, longer pause. "No, not him."

He pondered what to say next. Or maybe I should just close my eyes and go back to sleep, let her try to do the same.

"Psst! Mac. They tell me you aren't asleep."

Stinky opened his eyes wide and craned his neck, caught sight of a brownette in a rumpled engineering uniform halfway between the door and the other bed.

"No, I'm not," Red confirmed. "Why aren't you, Ivy? It's not like you're getting a lot of time off today."

"Well, I was in bed, and falling asleep, when it dawned on me that you didn't have the right gravity in whatever bed you were in, and you wouldn't be able to sleep. So I brought the gravity unit to set up for you here." She approached Red's bed, then disappeared from view as she got down on her hands and knees. But she kept talking. "I wasn't sure they'd let me install it, but Nurse Temple, Dr Davis, and even one of the Elmo's doctors thought it would be a good idea, you being a heavy worlder."

"Thanks, Ivy. I've been trying to sleep, but I keep waking up. At least I haven't starting having nightmare about falling yet. I don't think I have."

"Hmm. The base is different on this bed," Ivy stated. "I can't place the gravity unit in the middle."

Med bay beds stand on a pedestal, for a variety of reasons.

"Place it as close to the middle as you can get it, and I'll see if I feel any difference in my feet. If not, it'll probably work."

The 2 women were quiet then, for a couple minutes, then the brownette climbed to her feet. "Okay, are you ready?"

"Do it."

"Computer, turn on gravity unit 1038 to Gaelund normal," Ivy requested, and turned a worried look to her friend when that woman grunted. "Should I turn it off?"

"No," Mac answered. "I'm just extra aware of every little tug on my body right now. The skin on my back is tight."

"Yeah, burns do that," Ivy stated. "I know you're not a fan of healing rays, but burns are the easiest thing for them to heal. You can't even tell where my burn was."

"Well, we'll see," Mac answered. "All I know for sure is I get to wear this blue glop until tomorrow."

"Good. The longer you wear it, the better a job it does."

"Ivy, you should be sleeping..."

"And so should you, Mac," said a blond nurse as she entered the ICU. Stinky didn't recognize this woman, either, so she must also be from the Fireball. The nurse walked over to Red's bed. "Wilson, go back to the barracks and get some sleep. You've had a long day."

"I don't mind..."

"Well, I don't like those dark smudges under your eyes. You have a good reputation with Mr Smythe, and I don't want to see you flub that up. Anyway, I have a flair for barking an order when I need to. Do I need to now? I've been a lieutenant longer than you have."

"No, sir," Ivy Wilson muttered, and stifled a yawn. "I'm sorry, Mac, but I really do need to sleep."

"That's okay, Ivy. Good night." They waited until Wilson left the room, then lowered their voices. "Okay, Beth, what's the prognosis for me?"

"There'll be no healing ray for your back, for fear of introducing unintended complications, given your condition. Instead, they've discovered an old-fashioned ointment to coat the burn with. They'll cover that with sterile bandages, some loose clothing, and you'll be allowed to go."

"To do what?"

"They'll probably tell you light duty."

"Oh. Paperwork."

"You might remind Mr Smythe that the burn does not affect your mouth nor your brain."

"I'll never get into a uniform with my back covered in bandages."

"Leave that to me. Now, do you need something to help you sleep?"

"I don't think so, but the next time I wake up, could you send for a milkshake for me?"

"What flavor?"

"Ohh, pineapple if they have it. Otherwise, chocolate."

"You got it. Have you given any thought to your hair?"

"I've thought about shaving it all off, let it all grow out at the same time."

"Well, that's a little drastic, but you could do that. Or, you could have what you still have cut into curls to frame your face. I think that would be very flattering."

"Shaving it all off would be easier to care for it."

"Sleep on it," the nurse suggested, and then was leaning over Stinky's bed. "Mr Facchini, do you need something to help you sleep?"

"No, but I could use one of those milkshakes that Red mentioned. Strawberry, if you please."

"I'll send for it right away."