6
Crew Quarters, B Deck, 1520 hours June 8 2151
Reed made his way out of the bathroom unsteadily, leaned against a wall and wiped a washcloth across his mouth. He sat down heavily on the nearest chair, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose in an effort to ward off a headache. After heaving a tired sigh, he reached for the comm. "Reed to Ensign Olenick."
Less than a minute later, a reply came zipping back. "Olenick here. Is there something you need, sir?"
He kept his eyes shut and nodded, even though he knew that she could only hear him. "Some more of that anti-nausea medication would be helpful."
"Yes sir, on my way."
He'd been weaned off all of the IVs except for the nutrient drip and the antibiotic since the morning, but he was still wary of drinking too much water. This was a problem because, since he wasn't on the saline drip any more, he had to rely on staying hydrated the old fashioned way. The only thing he'd consumed was water, a large volume of it a few hours before, but he still wasn't drinking as much as he should, and as a result he was getting dehydrated. He could tell it was happening because of his headache. He only got this specific kind of headache, the kind that pounded just behind his eyes, when he was dehydrated. The water he had drunk earlier just made a repeat appearance in the bathroom, so he'd have to replace it by drinking more.
His empty stomach gurgled. He wasn't looking forward to doing that. He considered asking Jean to put him back on the saline just because it was so much simpler. Granted, he hated being tethered to the IV stand, but since he was still hooked up to the nutrient drip, another bag wouldn't change the situation too much. He hadn't asked her to bring the saline back because it was still in his quarters, along with the other medicines. She'd left them all there just in case he needed them again, so it was possible that he could hook the saline up himself, but he wasn't certain that he'd do it right. Better to let a professional handle it. As for the other IV lines, the nausea was no longer constant, so when it did rear it's ugly head he'd simply get a hypo of medicine. His leg didn't hurt enough to warrant any more than the occasional hypo, either. It ached and was stiff, but that was all, and the throbbing had almost entirely disappeared. His infection had long since been dealt with, so he didn't think he needed the antibiotic anymore, either, but according to Jean and Phlox, his immune system had been weakened by the radiation and they didn't want to take any chances.
Five minutes later the comm. buzzed and a muffled voice called from outside. "Room service."
Reed smirked and tiredly shook his head. Completely incorrigible. "Come in."
Normally the door would've been locked and he would've had to get up in order to let someone in, but since the ensign had started looking after him he'd agreed to give her the locking code. It made things simpler – as she'd said it would – but knowing that she could enter his quarters at any time made him a little uneasy. However, she still buzzed the comm. every time and waited until he invited her in. She did it out of politeness and he appreciated the gesture.
Besides, he reasoned, I can always reset the code later.
The door opened with a hydraulic hiss and Jean entered, medkit in hand. After glancing over at his empty bed she saw him sitting hunched forward in the chair. From the way he was sitting, with his elbows resting on his knees and his head cradled in his hands, it seemed like he was nursing a splitting headache.
Careful to be as quiet as possible, she headed over to where he was sitting. She also didn't want to startle him, so before she did anything else she touched his arm for a moment, just to let him know that she was there. She waited until he muttered his acknowledgement and then administered a dose of the medicine before putting a case of vials and an empty hypospray on the arm of his chair.
Not wanting to make his headache any worse, she tapped his shoulder to get his attention and then spoke in a soft voice, indicating the case and showing him its contents.
"Sir? Here are a few extra doses of the medicine I've been giving you. Some are anti-nausea and some are analgesics, and they're all properly labeled. Use them if you need them, but don't exceed four doses of any of them in twenty-four hours. Okay?"
He looked over at her briefly and then nodded, wondering what this meant. Just when I'm starting to not mind being looked after she's giving up on me. Well, what did I expect? After all, she's just a doctor and she's just doing her job.
When he spoke he looked down at the deck instead of at her. "Thank you, Ensign. I'll be sure to do that. Um, Ensign..." He risked a glance at her and saw attentiveness and concern in her eyes. I might be wrong about this. I hope so...
He fidgeted for a moment, plucking at a spot on the hem of his shorts where the fabric was wearing thin. "Ensign, why are you leaving these supplies here?"
She had sat down on the arm of his chair and started to lean back against the wall, but now she sat up again. Danger, Will Robinson! There'd been a very subtle unsteadiness in his question, like he was hoping for one answer and dreading another, and as soon as she heard it she went on instant alert. What's he worried about?
"This morning you seemed more tired than you did yesterday, so I thought that maybe last night you'd had some trouble sleeping but didn't want to disturb me."
As a matter of fact that was exactly what happened. Since he'd fallen asleep so early the day before, he woke up in the middle of the night and spent a few frustrating hours lying awake in bed. He hadn't been tired enough to go back to sleep but he still felt too rotten to get up or do anything, and a look at the clock told him it was too late to call Jean to ask her for a sleep-aid. Eventually he'd fallen asleep again, but even then his dreams had been too troubling to let him rest.
"I just want to make sure you won't have any trouble sleeping during the next few nights. I'll still be looking after you during the day, and now I'll know that if you need some medicine late at night you'll have it. It's one less thing for me to worry about."
While she spoke his face relaxed, going from worried to relieved and then suddenly becoming confused as the last part sunk in. "You worry about me?"
Now it was her turn to be confused. She gave him an affectionate smile and lightly hit his shoulder, pretending to be angry that he'd assumed otherwise. "Of course I do. You're my friend and you happen to be my patient, too. Besides, I get the feeling you wouldn't want to call me late at night, even if you really needed something. It's kinda ironic, actually; I had trouble falling asleep 'cause I was worried that you needed something but didn't want to disturb me, and I didn't want to call you to ask because you might've been asleep and in that case I didn't want to wake you."
He smiled. It was the first true smile she'd seen from him in too long. "One of us should've just called the other. I appreciate the concern, but you shouldn't lose any sleep worrying about me."
She hesitated and fidgeted for a moment after packing up her med kit. "I'm not sure whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that you're up. How do you feel?"
A few seconds after she'd administered the hypo, his stomach had settled down again and his quarters had stopped twirling about like an insane carousel, so he risked a nod and was pleased when it didn't trigger any dizziness.
"Better. Still tired and a bit sick, but at least I'm not just lying in bed anymore. It's good to be up and about again. Maybe now I can get some work done."
No way will I let that happen.
"Sir, I'm glad that you're feeling better but you still need to take it easy. That means bed rest and no work until the end of the week. Now please, let me help you back to bed." She put out a hand, offering to help him up but not really expecting him to accept.
However, instead of arguing or protesting, he took her hand and allowed her to steer him across his quarters to the bed; he even put his arm across her shoulders so she could support his weight better.
Pleased, she tried to hide her surprise. "How's your leg? It doesn't seem to be bothering you as much as before."
As they moved, he tried putting more weight on his injured leg and was surprised to discover that he could almost walk without limping. "It's still a bit stiff and sore, but moving it doesn't hurt as much. As a matter of fact, there's hardly any pain at all. If I weren't so damned dizzy and tired I could probably walk on my own."
She smiled and adjusted her grip on his arm to help guide him onto the bed. "That's good, about your leg, and the dizziness will subside in a day or two. If you don't mind my asking, what was the work you wanted to do?"
"I wanted to write a report on what I saw of the Novans, the music I heard them playing, but..."
He sat down on his bunk gingerly, wincing and closing his eyes before continuing. His quarters had begun to spin again and he waited with his head in his hands for the walls and lockers to stop pitching about. It was quite a while before he looked up again, but eventually he opened his eyes and looked at her with a somewhat beaten air.
"Ugh. It seems you were right about not trying to work. Right now, bed rest is starting to be very appealing."
She reached out and laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at her and managed a thin smile. She moved her hand up and down his arm in a soothing gesture, at the same time urging him to lie down. Fortunately, it didn't take too much convincing. Shortly thereafter he turned, gingerly lifted his sore leg onto the bed, and lay back against the pillows.
The covers on his bed were rumpled up together and he was wearing civvies which doubled as PJs, so getting him settled in bed again was easy.
She pulled the blankets up to tuck him in and then adjusted his pillow, allowing herself to hover over him for a few seconds after she reattached his IVs. A quick scan had shown that he was getting dehydrated again, so she added the saline to the IV stand and put it on a slow drip. She still wanted him to be drinking water, but since his stomach was still giving him a hard time, it seemed best to play it safe. No need to torture the poor guy. He'll drink more when he's ready to.
"Are you warm enough, sir? Is there anything you need?"
He was relieved to see the saline hanging from his IV stand again, but there was something else he needed. "Actually, Ensign, could you..."
His eyebrows moved closer together, betraying his frustration. Even though he felt like hell he wanted some company, but he just couldn't work up the nerve to ask her to stay. He usually wasn't a very social person, but he trusted Jean and he liked her, and while he hadn't been thrilled when she set up camp on his couch, he'd gotten used to her being there. It was oddly comforting, knowing that if he needed something, no matter how trivial, she could take care of it.
Oh, and while we're on the subject of triviality... Reed shook his head. He'd been lonely since she'd gone back to her own quarters, even though she'd still been spending several hours a day with him. Just then, though, he badly wanted someone to talk to. Disappointed in himself, Reed sighed and lamely finished the incomplete question.
"Could you bring me some water?"
She nodded and headed over to his bathroom. "Of course sir."
Jean had a hunch about what he'd really wanted to ask and smiled gently when she returned and handed the full glass to him. "Sir, would you mind if I stay awhile? I'm curious about Terra Nova and you said something about the Novans playing music. Could you tell me what it was like down there?"
He relaxed and nodded, glad that she'd understood his predicament and made it as painless as possible. "I'd be happy to tell you all about it, Ensign."