Chapter Eleven: Convalescence

"Can you have an ambulance waiting for us at the spaceport?" Bashir questioned.

The captain looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes. "I thought you said he was doing well."

"I said he was stable and resting comfortably," Bashir clarified. "He still needs to be in the Starfleet Medical hospital, and I'm not taking him there via public transportation."

The captain sighed. "Of course not; I'm sorry. I'll request the ambulance right away."

"Thank you."

The ambulance crew came on board as soon as the ship docked, the steward showing them the way to Matt's room. "I don't need an ambulance," Matt protested halfheartedly as they lifted them to the stretcher; he had seen Bashir's face and knew that on some things the doctor was inflexible.

"Yes, you do," Bashir told him with a smile, resting a hand on the man's shoulder.

Matt sighed a little, giving in without argument that he knew would be futile. "What about my things…?"

"I'll have them sent on to my hotel room for now," Bashir promised. "I checked in remotely already, so there shouldn't be a problem. All right if I hitch a ride to the hospital?" he questioned, turning to one of the medics.

The medic glanced at Bashir's uniform and nodded. "Sure, Doctor."

Bashir grinned slightly to himself; where his medical license didn't grant him access, his uniform always did, and the civilian medics were disinclined to refuse any reasonable request from a Starfleet lieutenant.

As Bashir had expected, the doctors at Starfleet Medical had had little contact with any species from the Gamma Quadrant. But they were well-versed in the concept of hybrids and multispecies medicine and listened carefully to Bashir's detailed instructions of the treatment Matt needed. He was fully confident about leaving Matt in their care, yet every break in the conference of longer than half an hour saw him in the hospital with his patient; he spent more time there than he did in his hotel room.

The medical conference was over before Matt was ready to be released, and on his final afternoon before leaving to return to Deep Space Nine, Bashir sat in Matt's room more as guest than doctor.

"So, you're abandoning me?" Matt teased.

Bashir grinned. "Leaving you in good hands, rather; the doctors here seem to have your treatment well in hand, and they know how to contact me if any difficulties come up."

"Yes. Even my vision is improving, though they think I might still have to see a Slovian doctor about it when I get home."

Bashir frowned. "Well, I'm not really surprised. Just insist on having him work together with a Chitran to be sure any treatment isn't contraindicated. I would say an Earth human, too, but from the gene studies I did, the human part of you seems to be too well-integrated and hardy to cause any interactions. Which brings to mind something I've been wondering about… Just how did someone living in the Gamma Quadrant come to have human DNA three or four generations back in his ancestry?"

Matt chuckled softly. "Longer than that, Doctor; longer than that. And therein lies the tale…"

Epilogue coming next week!

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie