If there had always been one thing Hugh dreaded when it came to Paul, it was the day he would inevitably get sick. Paul was a pretty terrible patient. The worst Hugh had seen in years. It started with denial, Paul refused to believe he could get sick. Sickness was beneath him. Then came the brooding, which resulted in a bad-tempered Paul, begrudgingly taking his medicines. Often still refusing to believe he was sick, Paul could become a risk to the crew because he was so insistent in his dedication to his work.
Several times since he had been posted on Discovery with Paul, Hugh had been summoned from Sick-Bay to go and get Paul from Engineering because he'd snuck out of their quarters and deteriorated from lack of rest or most often, dehydration. The day came, not a week after Paul, Hugh and Tilly, their young daughter, had returned to Discovery from Shore Leave on a Federation Resort Planet. Tilly and Hugh had gotten sick first, but they took their medicines and remained confined to quarters, resting and recovering.
Hugh initially noticed signs of illness the morning of his first shift back in Sick-Bay. Paul didn't rise easily with his alarm clock, eager to get to his spores in the Cultivation Bay. He resisted waking at all, but in true defiant Paul form, he dragged himself from his pillow, dark circles under his eyes, indicating he hadn't slept well. A hot, steamy shower cleared his sinuses enough for him to convince Hugh he would be fine to work, on the condition he took it easy. Hugh knew it would fall on deaf ears, if there was one thing Paul was incapable of while working, it was taking it easy. He was certain Paul was getting sick because he avoided giving Hugh or Tilly a goodbye kiss.
Hugh sighed and after his shift let Tracy know about Paul, who let him take some of the remedies from storage that would have been prescribed had Paul come in. When Paul returned late Hugh pushed over a steaming mug of 'cold and flu' prevention in his favourite flavour. Hugh knew it was too late for prevention meds. If Paul had swung by Sick-Bay that morning it wouldn't have been a problem, but Paul was 'busy.' By which he means he wasn't about to let Jett Reno get the run of his Spore Drive.
"Paul," he said tentatively as they get ready for bed. Paul, drowsy and looking rundown could barely keep his eyes open. Hugh continued, "maybe you should take a day, stay in bed and rest. You'll only make it worse if you carry on. Me and Tilly beat this thing in three days. I'm sure you'd be fine too."
"Hugh I'm fine," Paul says, his voice distorted by his blocked sinuses.
"Paul," Hugh began, his tone firm in warning. "Please don't make me do what I had to do last time. Do you remember what happened last time?"
Paul shuddered, he remembered all right. Paul worked himself into the ground, even when he could barely stand up he tried to go to work – partially because he was a workaholic, partially because Lorca and Star Fleet were on his ass about getting the Spore Drive complete – because he made such a scene when he was transported to Sick-Bay, he was quarantined in the Brig, where Hugh gave him some treatment and tough love. It was humiliating, and Paul had vowed never to make him resort to that again. Every now and then however, he needed a little reminder. "I won't let it get that far, I promise."
"You make sure."
The downside to Paul being sick meant Discovery couldn't make any jumps. Another was that he couldn't set foot in the Cultivation Bay, so he didn't contaminate the spores. So when he did go to work, he was stuck doing routine maintenance Ensigns could have been doing.
"Hugh," a small voice startled Hugh out of his medical journal, he looked up to see Tilly, ready for bed, her hair in braids to help maintain it. Against his better judgement Hugh knew Paul was working late, so it was just him and Tilly in their quarters.
"Hey Tilly, everything OK?" Tilly hesitated at the foot of his and Paul's bed before climbing on and crawling over to cuddle up to his side. "Tilly?" He pressed, stroking her hair.
"I'm worried about daddy," she said softly.
Hugh sighed, "me too baby-girl. He's not a very good patient, is he?" Tilly shook her head.
"He's getting grouchy again, like he did before." Tilly said, she remembered Paul's forced isolation in the Brig from her dreams. Hugh banned her from coming to see him as Paul would often coerce her into bringing him work to do in secret. "You're not going to lock him up in the Brig again, are you?"
"No baby-girl. I'm going to do everything I can to avoid it. I promise." They both looked up as the main door to their quarters opened and Paul returned. It was clear he wasn't alone. Paul and Tilly left the bedroom to find Jett Reno propping Paul up.
"Jesus Christ Paul," Hugh muttered, "Tilly go to your room baby," she did as she was asked. Hugh picked up Paul's other side and he and Jett put him on their bed and left him.
"Found him out-cold not long ago, bit of a temperature. I was warned by some Lieutenants not to take him to Sick-Bay."
Hugh sighed, "yeah, he's not very good at being sick. Last time he got really bad we had to contain him in the Brig. He's so stubborn." Hugh sighed, again, this time frustrated. "Thanks for bringing him back, I assure you he's not leaving that room until he's better."
"Good to know. Good luck." After Jett left Hugh checked on Tilly first, tucking her in and assuring her everything would be OK. Paul was going to get better, because he wasn't allowed to leave their room.
Hugh left their quarters and went to Sick-Bay where Tracy was working hand-over to Beta shift. "Hugh, everything OK?"
"I need some supplies, Commander Reno just brought Paul back to our quarters, he was out cold. I'm not willing to submit Sick-Bay to putting up with him so I'm going to quarantine him in our quarters." Tracy nodded understanding and relieved. She helped Hugh prepare a Med-kit and signed out a tri-corder indefinitely.
Returning to the rooms, Hugh poked his head in on Tilly before setting up a medical override on his and Paul's room. Only people with medical clearance could get in or out. He helped Paul change into some pyjamas, noting a slight fever. Trust Paul to let himself get this bad. Paul was in and out of consciousness as Hugh worked, though he spoke out loud, more out of habit than anything else. "I'm inducing a slight coma," he said, preparing the hypo and Paul, barely coherent made noises of protest, "sorry Paul, but this is for your own good right now. Doctor's orders." He said, injecting him and watching him slip away. He injected some more meds and pulled the blanket over him. Paul was a little de-hydrated, so he set up a saline drip to work through the night. Finally, he snapped on a medi-band he'd synced to a PADD, to monitor his vitals.
Hugh left Paul and set up a bed for himself on the couch for the night. He was woken by Tilly coming to get her breakfast the next morning and he explained to her that Paul was under quarantine and not going anywhere before going to examine him. The fluids had helped him remarkably, and he set up another saline bag as the coma would continue for most of the day, if not more. Setting the band to send an alert to him if anything changed or Paul woke early, Hugh ate with Tilly and saw her off with her tutor before leaving for his shift.
The day passed relatively peacefully. Paul remained under all day, with Hugh checking in on his lunch break. He re-dosed his meds before dinner, barring the coma induction, allowing Paul to come around in his own time. When he did, Hugh explained to a grouchy Paul what had happened and how he was being quarantined until he was healthy. "Paul," he said, softer, "Tilly saw you went Jett brought you home. It scared her. Now please, get some rest," Hugh's hand lingered on Paul's arm before he left to help Tilly with her homework. Normally Paul helped her, but with him in quarantine, Hugh was more than happy to step in for him.
A day and a half later Hugh sat on the edge of their bed, scanning Paul, "OK, nearly good. If your scan's consistent in the morning I might let you go to work," he said teasingly. "Do you need anything? I told Tilly I'd take her jogging while Michael's visiting her family.
"Some pain killers would be good. I have a bit of a headache," Paul admitted.
"Sure I'll get those, lots of water and low light settings, no more reading," he added, seeing Paul's work PADD he'd allowed him to check emails on.
"I promise, I'm pretty tired from the meds still anyway," Paul promised. Hugh gave him the pain killers and went jogging with Tilly. Now Paul was almost healed he sterilized their room while Paul had taken a shower and moved back into their bed.
The next morning his alarm woke them both, but Paul buried his head under the pillows with a groan. "Paul? Your head still bad?"
"Ugh, worse, I think it's progressed into a migraine." Paul complained. Hugh set the room to the lowest light setting and coerced Paul from under the pillows, so he could scan him. Paul winced at the little flashing LEDs and beeping from the machine which confirmed he did have an incoming migraine. If he wasn't suffering Hugh was sure Paul would be complaining about having to miss more work.
The problem arose, that even with all the remedies and rest, fluids and low lighting, Paul didn't start feeling better. The next evening Hugh had Tracy come over for a second opinion, but she couldn't think of why he wasn't recovering. She booked in some more scans, trying to uncover what was wrong.
Tilly was reading in her room, she could hear Hugh and Dr Pollard talking outside about her daddy and his head. They couldn't work out what was wrong with him. Tilly had a theory, brought from her dreams. While her papa had been dead, her daddy had been very distant and for a short while, he'd stopped coming to work. First it was grief, then migraines, just like now. One day, out of sheer frustration he'd gone to the Spore Drive and the Cultivation Bay, complaining that he didn't trust everyone enough to know what the spores needed like he did. The exposure to the spores had helped then. Tilly hoped they could help now. She waited until Hugh had gone to his session with Dr Lindsay and left their quarters alone. Tilly rarely went out around the ship on her own, but it had been done before. So nobody questioned her unaccompanied presence. Arriving at the Spore Drive room she let herself in, Paul insisted leaving her on file for when she came to see him.
Jett Reno looked up as Tilly came down the stairs. She was in there alone, finishing up some work. "What're you doing here, kid?" Tilly looked up, startled having not seen Jett initially.
Standing up straight Tilly took a breath before speaking. "I need some spores," she said, and Reno looked puzzled. "They're for my daddy, before, when I was big, he was sick like this and the spores made him better. Papa wasn't here when that happened, and I don't think daddy shared what happened with Dr Pollard, because she hasn't tried it yet." Tilly explained why she needed the spores to Jett, who looked between the small child and the Cultivation Bay. Deciding it was worth a shot she withdrew a container of spores from the bank for Tilly. Tilly held it, barely and spoke to the computer, as Jett watched on fondly. "Computer, one to beam to quarters seven eight three." Tilly and the container were transported to her quarters. Hugh was still gone, but Dr Pollard was leaving Paul's room as she beamed in.
"Tilly, where were you?" She asked, "and what do you have there?"
"They're for daddy. It's a spore container." She explained.
"Tilly, it's sweet you want to help but-" Tilly interrupted her.
"But this will work. I know it will. This is how daddy got better that time before, I just don't think he told you." Tilly looked at Tracy pleadingly. Tracy, not knowing how to help Paul herself, decided it couldn't hurt to try, keyed in the medical override to Paul's room and waved Tilly in. Tilly held the container in her arms as she approached Paul, laying in bed. Placing the container near her daddy, Tilly put his hand on the container and spoke softly. "I brought you some spores daddy, to help you feel better." Paul smiled, from under the blanket.
"Thank you, sweetheart," he replied as she pushed the release button and stepped back, beside Tracy by the door. Paul lifted his head, heavily from under the pillow, wincing at the glow the spores emitted as they danced around him. He sighed as they were absorbed into him.
"Now we wait," Tilly told Tracy. Tilly and Tracy sat in the living area, Hugh returned from his session with Lindsay and Tilly confessed what she had done. "I'm sorry for not telling you, but I didn't know how to make you believe me," she said.
Hugh hugged her, assuring her he wasn't mad at her. They checked in on Paul, who looked a lot better already. He was above the covers and said his headache was subsiding, albeit slowly. Paul apologized for not telling Hugh what he'd needed but reminded him he couldn't really think straight either. Tracy COMMed Jett to bring some more spores, which helped Paul further. "To save on spores, it might be better for me to just go sit in the Cultivation Bay for a while," Paul said after the second lot. Hugh agreed with him and helped him change into some fresh clothes. They had the computer beam them down and Hugh helped him find somewhere to settle, setting the Bay to low-light.
Tilly sat, curled into the corner of the stairs, hugging her knees, while Hugh and Tracy spoke to one another about the implications of the spores having such an affect on Paul's health. She looked up as she felt Jett sitting beside her. "What's eatin' you kid?" She asked.
"Just worried about my dad, I've never seen him this sick before."
"You don't need to worry, kid, he's got two great doctors and a room full of spores. He's going to be fine, thanks to you," Jett put a hand around her shoulder, "so you stop worrying and wait, it shouldn't be too long now."
They looked up as the doors to the Cultivation Bay opened and Paul exited, holding onto the wall for support. Tilly stood up, but Jett gently took hold of her arm as Hugh and Tracy rushed forward, pulling a chair for him to sit on as they scanned him and asked questions. Paul held up his hand, "I'm fine, I promise, just exhausted. Where's Tilly?"
"Here daddy," Tilly went forward, waved over by Tracy.
"This was your idea?"
She nodded, "being around the spores helped you last time, I thought it might this time."
"Thank you, sweetie," he smiled, he sounded exhausted, like he was fighting sleep. "Can we go home?" Paul asked, looking up to Hugh and Tracy.
"The scans are all clear," Tracy said, "I'm happy for Hugh to monitor you from your quarters. Get some rest Paul."
The computer transported Paul, Hugh and Tilly back to their quarters. Hugh helped Paul to bed and brought him some water before going to check on Tilly. Tilly looked up from her PADD where she was doing her homework. "Is he OK?"
"He's gonna be fine," he smiled, sitting next to her. "I'm very proud of you for what you did Tilly. Very proud. In future, however, don't be afraid of putting your ideas in, OK, especially if it's a memory from before, alright?"
"Alright," Tilly nodded. "I finished, can I go say goodnight to daddy while you check it?" She asked, putting the PADD nearer him on the table.
"Go ahead baby-girl," Hugh smiled and watched Tilly go into his and Paul's room.
Paul looked up as the doors to his room opened. Pushing himself up he saw Tilly coming over to the bed. "I just came to say goodnight," she told him. Paul sat on the edge of the bed and opened his arms, Tilly stepped in and hugged him tightly. "Goodnight daddy."
"Goodnight Tilly," he said, kissed her cheek and got back into bed as she left, letting exhaustion take him.
"Hugh, I'm fine," Tilly heard her father's voice from the living space the next morning.
"Paul I'm doing my job, there, scan done and sent, all normal. Though I'm going to ask you to take it easy for today and no jumps for a week." They came through to get their breakfasts as they spoke, greeting Tilly who was stretching and waiting for Michael to come get her for their jog.
Paul was dressed in civilian clothes, "I'm not going to do any hard work, I'm going to tend to the spore crop. Besides, being around them can't possibly be bad at this point." Michael arrived for Tilly, greeting both Hugh and Paul.
"Glad to see you're doing better Commander," she said as she and Tilly left.
"You allowed to be down here?" Jett asked, raising her eyebrows as Paul entered the Spore Drive alone.
"I'm just here to check on the spores and take some readings, then I'll be out of your hair."
"That didn't answer my question."
"I know," Paul replied, smirking as he let himself into the Cultivation Bay.
"You got three hours before I come kick your ass outta there," she called, and he rolled his eyes before calling his agreement.
After getting his readings, Paul stuck around to let the spores do their stuff on his still slightly sore head until Jett came and told him to 'get lost.' Sick and tired of the four walls of his bedroom Paul went to the mess for lunch with Tilly before wandering around the ship, feeling fresh and invigorated from his time with the spores.
When Hugh returned that evening, and Tilly was at her session with Lindsay, he and Paul had a long, serious talk, on the couch, about how Paul couldn't carry on like that. "It wasn't so bad when it was the two of us, pitfalls of dating a very dedicated scientist. But it's not just you and me anymore Paul, there's Tilly to consider."
"You're right, I'm sorry for not listening. From now on I'll be certain to follow your orders, Dear Doctor." Smiling Hugh leaned closer and pressed their lips together, Paul cupped his face in his hands. Hugh deepened the kiss, moving to straddle Paul's lap, Paul sighed, running his hands up Hugh's sides.
Hugh's COMM chirped from its charging station, with a reluctant groan he stood up to go check what it was. "Duty calls," he said reading the message. "Finish this later?"
Standing he cupped Hugh's face once more and kissed him deeply. Pulling back, he smiled, "go and be brilliant. I'll see you when you get back," watching Hugh collect his uniform jacket he smiled as the doors closed behind him, smiling and shaking his head he murmured "pitfalls of marrying a Dear Doctor."