Chapter 13

"Can I have a word?" a mystery man asked Beverly from behind her. She turned, but still had no clue as to his identity.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

"I'm Commander Liam Henson," the handsome man replied.

"Oh," Beverly said, drawing out the word knowingly.

"Can we go somewhere private?" he asked, sickbay wasn't exactly the quietest place on the Enterprise. "My quarters?"

"Okay," Beverly said.

When they arrived, Liam offered Beverly something to drink. Beverly asked for lemonade and made herself comfortable on the couch. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked as she took the icy glass from his outstretched hand.

"From your reaction to me earlier, I presume you know who I am," he said, sitting down opposite her.

Beverly didn't want to give too much away, so she simply nodded in accord.

"The Betazoid woman told you?" he asked.

"That doesn't matter," Beverly said. "Why did you want to see me?"

"I wondered if you knew where Briggy was," he said softly. "She was in sickbay for nearly two days and she wouldn't speak to me. I know I don't have the right to know where she is, but I care so very much for her. I just want to know that she's alright."

"I can't tell you that," Beverly said.

"Surely you can," Liam said, his voice cracking in pain.

"I can't because I don't know where she is," Beverly said, holding up a hand.

Liam continued unabated. "She must have gone somewhere where she can finish her treatment, Sickbay must have sent her files on to another hospital…"

"I wasn't here on board when Briggy was admitted."

"I know," Liam said. "I know who you are. It's just that when Briggy miscarried our baby, the captain found out about the affair and I know you and he are close. I thought you might have known."

Beverly's eyes widened at the information. She didn't let on that she hadn't known all the details. "What makes you think I would share any of their personal information with you?"

"From what Briggy has told me, you and I are on the same side."

"Same side?" Beverly was thoroughly confused.

"Yes." Liam nodded. "I can't presume to know your feelings towards the captain, but I know that Briggy wasn't happy when you returned here after being gone for all those years and presumed dead. She confided in me. I know quite a bit."

"Are you saying that we both wanted to break up Briggy and Jean-Luc's marriage?" Beverly asked, getting to her feet. "Because if that's the case then you are severely mistaken. I have morals. Thank you for the lemonade." She slammed the glass onto the table. "It has a bitter twist, just like this conversation."

"Please!" Liam cried as Beverly went to storm away. "I am madly in love with Briggy! I have been for so many years I've lost count. I just want to know that she's okay."

"Like I said," Beverly answered, "I have no idea where she is."

"Can you believe it?" Beverly said after recounting her story of the meeting with Liam to Deanna and Will.

"What affair?" Will asked from the couch where he had been sitting quietly going over the week's crew efficiency reports before Beverly had burst into their quarters.

"You didn't tell him?" Beverly asked Deanna.

"I was just about to," Deanna said sheepishly.

"Briggy was having an affair with Liam Henson?" Will repeated, trying to let the words sink in. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked Deanna.

"I was told in confidence."

"But you told Beverly!"

Beverly wondered whether she should leave. Instead, she walked over and sat down, catching Will's attention. She explained that it was best that Will hadn't known and how Jean-Luc would have felt betrayed if he ever found out that they had all known and not one of them had had the decency to tell him.

"Well then, under the circumstances I'm glad I didn't know," Will finally said in much calmer tone.

Deanna smiled thankfully at Beverly over Will's head.

"Well, I can honestly say that Briggy never told me she was pregnant," Deanna said. "And now I need to find out where Briggy has gone."

"Why?" Beverly asked. "She brought all this on herself."

Will raised his eyebrow in surprise at the vengeful taste of Beverly's words.

"You don't know the whole story, Beverly," Deanna said.

Beverly sighed. "It's late. I'm going to bed."

Jean-Luc made contact with Beverly again a few days later. She was just getting out of the bath when she heard the computer chirp, signalling she was receiving an incoming communiqué.

"What are you doing?" Jean-Luc asked, turning his own head to match the angle of Beverly's head.

"I'm naked," Beverly explained. She was leaning over so that Jean-Luc could see her face and nothing else. "Will you give me a second to throw on some clothes?"

"No," he answered.

Beverly frowned, she still hadn't remembered the art of telling whether Jean-Luc was joking or not.

"I was joking," he said with a grin.

"Oh! Right!" Beverly flushed. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere!"

"I won't."

Beverly came back to the chair a few minutes later in her dressing gown.

"Beverly," he began, "I don't know if you know yet, but there has been an… incident between Briggy and I, and we are no longer together."

Beverly didn't know whether to feign innocence or not. "I heard a rumour," she said, finally deciding on an appropriate response.

"I've been trying to get hold of Briggy," he continued. "But I don't know where she is. I know it's silly of me, but I want to know she is alright."

"We don't know where she is either," Beverly answered, wishing she didn't have to talk about Briggy. "How are you, Jean-Luc?"

"I'm fine," he answered with a fake smile.

"How are you really?" she asked, fixing her blue eyes onto his.

Jean-Luc didn't meet her gaze; he looked down at his entwined fingers on the desk in front of him. "I'm coping," he said.

"I can come and see you if you want."

"It's nice of you to offer," he said. Truthfully, he wasn't fine at all. He had spent an hour bathing and shaving just to make this one call to Beverly. He didn't want her to see him like this. He didn't want her to see how much of a fool he had been. "But I just want to be on my own for a bit."

Beverly nodded, and inside she was grateful. She didn't know whether she could trust herself not to do something she would end up regretting if she had gone to see Jean-Luc. "Well, I'm always here on the end of the computer if you need to chat to anyone," she said, smiling. "At anytime, Jean-Luc, even if it is the middle of the night. I'm always here for you."

Jean-Luc nodded, touched by her words. He was glad he was on the other side of a computer terminal and that Beverly probably couldn't see the tears filling his eyes.

Beverly suddenly remembered something about Jean-Luc having a sister. "Does your sister live there?" she asked.

"Yes." Jean-Luc nodded. "Although, she is my sister in law."

"It's alright," Beverly said. "I just had a vague recollection about you having a sister living in the house in France."

"Don't even think about it, Beverly Crusher," Jean-Luc said with a chuckle. "Marie isn't even here at the moment, she's on holiday. So you can't pump her for information about my well being."

"Damn it!" Beverly said.

"Besides, I thought you would be studying up on your … stuff… for your medical exams," he said.

"Yeah, well I would be if every time I started to read an article I didn't remember what came next," Beverly explained. "I've yet to find something I haven't read."

They continued chatting together for a while, both steering clear of the dangerous topics of conversation. Neither seemed to want to let the other say goodnight and they sat chatting until the early hours of the morning.

"The next time I pack this suitcase, it will be too damn soon!" Beverly said.

Deanna laughed. "This time the move is for your own benefit. And you be nice to Dr Pulaski, too."

"Why would I be nasty to her?"

Deanna groaned. "Never mind."

"No, come on, tell me," Beverly said as she closed the catches on the case.

"Well, you two haven't exactly seen eye to eye over the years," Deanna explained. "You found out that she had criticised the way the Enterprise's sickbay was left when you went to head Starfleet Medical."

"So that foul temper you told me I had came out?"

Deanna grinned widely and nodded her head. "Oh, yes."

"Well, let's hope she doesn't hold it against me," Beverly said, finally done with the packing. "Let's go!"

"I'm not going with you," Deanna said.

"I know." Beverly grinned. "I meant to the transporter room. I haven't been transported yet… well not that I can remember. It worries me."

Deanna laughed. "It's not that big of a deal really."

"So everyone keeps telling me," Beverly mumbled.

"You know where to go when you beam down?" Deanna asked like a protective mother as they walked together to the transporter room. "And customs, you know what to do there?"

"Have my eyeballs scanned to make sure I'm really me," Beverly answered.

"It's a retinal scan," Deanna said. "Well, when you leave the building, turn right and walk down to the local transporter station. It's just a few minute's walk and they will beam you directly to Starfleet Medical Headquarters."

"Right," Beverly said. "Dr Pulaski is going to meet me at reception. Whereupon she will take me to an examination room to be … examined."

"Yeah, then you'll be shown to your quarters," Deanna said. "Then you can spend the next two weeks doing your medical exams all over again."

"Fantastic!" Beverly said. "At least I can't remember doing them the last time."

Deanna grinned. "Well, you stand there," she said, pointing to the transport platform. "But before you do, where is my hug?"

"Your hug? It's me who needs the hug." Beverly then laughed and hugged Deanna.

"Good luck," Deanna called as Beverly stood in her place on the platform with her eyes wide in fear.

Beverly closed her eyes and when she opened them she was standing in a busy international transport station. She couldn't believe the amount of people that were there beaming in and out of San Francisco.

She followed Deanna's instructions and soon found herself walking through massive glass double doors into the suffocating heat of San Francisco. She stopped dead in her tracks, in awe of her surroundings. "Wow," she breathed.

"Dr Crusher!"

Beverly turned to find an older blonde haired woman dressed in a medical Starfleet uniform waving at her. Beverly walked towards her.

"I thought that because was such a lovely day I would come and meet you," the woman said, extending a hand. "In case you don't remember, which by the look on your face you don't, I'm Dr Katherine Pulaski."

"Oh hello," Beverly said, shaking the doctor's hand.

"I'm going to run a few tests on you myself to see how your memory recovery is going," Katherine said as they both walked towards the local transport station together. "It shouldn't take long. Then I'll show you to your quarters."

"Thank you," Beverly said.

Once again, Beverly had another bed to sleep on. This time, however, she wasn't going to bother unpacking her suitcase. She left it on the floor at the end of the bed and went to the desk to peruse her timetable and to check if she had any messages.

When she opened her mailbox she was surprised to find that she had twelve messages. She read each one in turn, smiling at the messages of good luck she had received from her friends on both the Titan and the Enterprise.

The eleventh message was from Jean-Luc.

'Good luck, Beverly, I hope everything goes well for you in the next couple of weeks. You should sail through your exams. I am still trying to get hold of Briggy. I am not in the mood for Deanna's impending interrogation, so I haven't contacted her to see if she knows where Briggy is. Can you please do me the honour of contacting her for me? I've tried speaking to her friends and they have no idea where she could be either. I will explain the reasons why I need to speak to her later. It's all a bit of a mess right now… Love, Jean-Luc.'

Beverly read his message twice before replying. She told him that nobody knew where Briggy had gone to and that Deanna was very worried about her.

She got herself a steaming mug of sweetened black coffee from the replicator and took it back to her desk. Then she opened the last message, not recognising the ID of the sender.

'Can we meet?' was all the message said.

"Can I meet who?" Beverly said aloud. She wrote back and asked the sender to identify themself.

She hadn't even picked up her coffee before the computer chirped to tell her that she had a reply.

'It's me, Briggy.'

Beverly's eyes widened. She wasn't sure she wanted to meet up with Briggy. They weren't exactly on the same wavelength. 'What do you want to meet me for?' Beverly replied to the message.

Suddenly Beverly's screen blinked to life and there was Briggy's pretty face on the screen. "Please," Briggy asked.

"I don't think it's such a good idea," Beverly said. "What do you even want to talk to me for?"

"Because I do," Briggy answered.

"Everyone is looking for you."

Briggy sighed. "That doesn't surprise me."

"Why don't you contact Deanna?"

"Because I don't want to see Deanna!"

"If you're going to have a go at me I don't see why I should meet you," Beverly said.

"You've got no idea have you?" Briggy said, and the screen went blank.

Beverly stared at the screen for a moment, wondering what she should do, then another message popped up on the screen.

'Go to the east bank of the lake.'

"What lake?" Beverly said aloud.

Another message appeared. 'Look out the window.'

Beverly became worried that Briggy had sensors set up in the apartment that enabled Briggy to hear what she was saying. She got to her feet and walked over to the window. Sure enough, there was a lake in the distance.

"Oh, what the hell," Beverly said, then turned and left the apartment.

Beverly stomped all the way to the lake, cursing herself for being too damned curious to know what it was that Briggy wanted to see her for. It was a ten minute walk to the east bank of the lake, and with every step Beverly was tempted to turn around. But her curiosity drove her onwards.

Beverly found Briggy crouching at the edge of the lake. She recognised her from her waist length wavy black hair. Briggy didn't even have the decency to turn to look at the person she had summoned.

"What do you want?" Beverly asked.

Briggy got to her feet and turned to face Beverly before answering. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Beverly frowned. "In what regard?"

Briggy rolled her eyes. "You have single-handedly ruined my life."

Beverly laughed at the absurdness of Briggy's statement. "What? I haven't done anything!"

Briggy's green eyes narrowed into slits. "You may have been dead, but you've always been there!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"No it isn't!" Briggy fumed, she had her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"Listen, Briggy," Beverly said. "You need to stay calm…"

Briggy suddenly charged at Beverly, throwing her shoulder into Beverly's stomach. Caught unawares, Beverly fell backwards, smashing her head against an oak tree that stood nearby.

Briggy gasped and stood still in shock for a moment, staring at Beverly's prone form lying on the ground in the shade of the tree. She glanced around, wondering if anyone had seen what she had just done.

"I'm sorry!" Briggy cried, skidding to her knees at Beverly's side. She held her breath for a moment, waiting to see some kind of life from the doctor under the tree. She let out her breath when she heard Beverly groaning.

"Are you okay?" Briggy asked.

"What do you think?" Beverly snapped, sitting up and holding her throbbing head.

"Do you need a doctor?"

"No, I'm fine," Beverly answered, irritable. Her head hurt, so she checked her fingertips for any sign of blood. There was none. Just a bump. She turned her attention back to Briggy and found the counsellor in tears. She had one hand on her stomach and was rocking backwards and forwards slightly, staring at the ground as she sobbed.

"I think you need to talk to someone," Beverly said.

Briggy shook her head, but didn't look away from the ground.

"Deanna wants to speak to you," Beverly added.

"I don't need anyone," Briggy mumbled.

Beverly stared at the counsellor, knowing that there was definitely something wrong with Briggy. "I think you do."

Briggy instantly got to her feet. "I'm sorry about your head," she muttered and walked away.

Beverly was in two minds, wondering whether to follow or not. Instead, she decided she needed to see a doctor after all. Her head was really beginning to pound now. She contacted Dr Pulaski and seconds later found herself beaming into Dr Pulaski's medical lab next door to her office at headquarters.

"What happened?" Katherine asked as she sat Beverly down on a chair.

"I fell and hit my head on a tree," Beverly said.

"What caused you to fall?" Katherine asked in concern. "Were you experiencing dizziness? Nausea?"

"No, I was fine," Beverly answered. "I must have tripped on something, that's all."

The location of Beverly's injury puzzled Katherine because it was at the back of her head. People who tripped tended to fall forwards, causing injuries to the front of their bodies.

"Are you sure that's what happened?"

"Does it matter?"

"In actual fact, it does," Katherine said. "You've recently undergone brain surgery. You may have inadvertently undone some of the surgery you had, caused more damage, or perhaps something isn't quite right still that caused you to fall over."

"I was pushed," Beverly said.

"Pushed?" Katherine's eyebrows shot up.

Beverly tried to make light of it. "Just a little disagreement, so it has nothing to do with the surgery."

"I'll be the judge of that," Katherine muttered as she moved away to get the equipment she needed to set up the test.

"You don't happen to know where Counsellor Granger is do you?" Beverly asked when Katherine returned.

Katherine frowned. "I thought you were seeing Counsellor Troi?"

"I am."

"Why do you want to see another counsellor?"

"I don't want to see her in that capacity," Beverly said, rolling her eyes as Katherine fitted sensor pads onto her forehead. "Do you know her?"

"I've met her before," Katherine replied.

"Do you know if she's around?"

"Why would I know if a counsellor was around or not? We work in different departments. We aren't even in the same building as the psychology department."

"Because she will probably be coming here," Beverly said. "She just had a miscarriage."

"Oh right," Katherine answered. "Well, you know I can't divulge that information."

"Oh come on, Doctor!" Beverly said, grabbing Katherine's hand before she had the chance to place another sensor. "I'm not asking for her medical history. I just want to know if she's staying here."

"I've seen her about," Katherine said softly, removing her hand from Beverly's grip. "May I enquire as to why you want to find her?"

"I need to speak to her."

"She was the one who pushed you right?" Katherine said evenly, finishing her task. She stepped back to admire her work.

Katherine's insight surprised Beverly. "Um…"

"You're a friend of hers then." Katherine grinned sarcastically.

"By the sounds of it; you have met her more than once," Beverly surmised.

"We finished serving together about eight years ago," Katherine explained. "I was chief medical officer and she was the ship's counsellor on the Washington. We served together for about eight years. I went to the Washington when you returned to the Enterprise."

"What do you think of her?" Beverly asked, unable to hide her curiosity.

"She's very good at her job," Katherine replied. "But just between you and me," the doctor said, leaning closer to Beverly, which was unnecessary considering they were alone. "I always thought that she was the one who needed the counselling."

"How do you mean?"

"I heard a couple of rumours." Katherine shrugged. "I'm not one for gossip."

"Tell me what you know," Beverly said.

"I heard that she and her sister were from Arvada III. You know about what happened on Arvada III don't you?"

"No." Beverly shook her head. "If I do, I don't remember."

"Arvada III was a new colony; this happened about fifty years ago if I remember correctly. Well, the colony was invaded by the Ghatr'es. They murdered and raped hundreds of the colonists, male and female, while they pillaged the colony for things to trade. They stole the colony's communications equipment amongst everything else. So when they finally did move on, the remaining colonists were unable to call for help. They had no medical supplies and had to survive on what grew naturally on the planet for food and medicinal purposes. It's such a horrific tale…"

"And Briggy was there?" Beverly asked, horrified.

Katherine nodded. "I believe she and her younger sister were there. So why the interest in the counsellor?"

"Now that is a long story…"