Chapter 27

"And that's how biochemistry saved the day," McCoy finished.

"Awesome."

McCoy glanced out of his office. "Oh. I forgot that Lt. Rizzo had an appointment. Give me a few minutes. You can read the rest of the slides and start your analysis, okay?"

"Sure." Elle flipped to the next slide. She glanced up a few moments later to check the progress of the appointment. Lt. Rizzo and Dr. McCoy were consulting a chart that definitely looked like birth control options. Now that was a topic... there were lots of relationships on the Enterprise, or people with spouses offship. She turned her attention back to her homework so she wouldn't invade the lieutenant's privacy.

She finished the last slide just as McCoy came back. "So what'd we learn?" he prompted.

"Can I ask a question that has nothing to do with this lesson?" Elle asked.

"Of course."

"What's birth control in this century like?"

McCoy blanched. "Why?"

"Cuz my mom's not here to ask her instead," Elle pointed out. She didn't even feel like crying when she mentioned her mom. Good job, self.

McCoy nodded. "I suppose you're never too young to learn good habits."

The options were a lot like twenty-first century options, just less side-effects. "They're required for all Star Fleet personnel unless that person is assigned with their significant other and they are specifically trying for a child," McCoy addded.

"Required for both guys and girls?"

"Yup."

"That's good."

McCoy nodded. "Now, most people choose the kind that makes your, ah, menstrual cycle vanish as well. Heck of a thing to try and keep up with in the middle of deep space or in the middle of an away mission."

"Makes sense," Elle acknowledged.

"It's not recommended for anybody under 16 unless you have medical reason," he informed her. "So don't think about it."

"One, ew, I'm not gonna try anything with any alien kids. And two..." Elle trailed off. "I haven't had any." Elle frowned. "That's weird."

"It's completely natural for it to come later," McCoy assured her.

Elle shook her head. "No, I mean, I had one. I started. At home. And then two weeks later I was here and I haven't had one since."

McCoy sat up straight. "And you're just mentioning this now?"

"Well I only had one, and then I kind of had other things to worry about since then," Elle protested.

"Maybe it's stress," McCoy muttered, producing a medical tricorder from his desk. He stuck his head out the door. "Christine, get me a blood kit!"

Elle grumbled silently. Should've just kept my mouth shut, dummy.

Somehow McCoy read her mind, or the expression on her face, and said, "Better that we figure out what it is now, than have it come up as a serious medical issue later, don't you think?"

"I guess," Elle said grudgingly.

They ran a battery of tests, took enough blood samples to make her dizzy, and sent her off to eat foods high in iron for the rest of the day. "And drink water!" McCoy hollered after her.

Elle ate a lot of spinach, drank a small aquarium's worth of water, and went to bed.

-/\-

Elle woke up the next day with a headache and a sore throat. "You've got to be kidding me."

She draped her blanket around her shoulders and trudged back down to sickbay. "You've killed me," she accused McCoy. "Vampire physicians."

"The common cold," he diagnosed. "You probably got it from gallivanting around K7. Wash your hands and go back to bed. Try not to cough on anyone, I don't need an epidemic."

She sneezed and covered it with a corner of the blanket. "I can't believe you haven't cured it yet." She sneezed again. "Wait, what about Simba?"

"He, no, she? should be fine," McCoy said. "Go on, now. I'll have one of the nurses bring you breakfast in a bit."

Elle trudged back to her quarters, flopped back into bed, and went back to sleep. When she woke up, there was oatmeal in a thermos and a bowl of blueberries next to her bed. There were also two pillls in a little cup. A sticky note attached to the cup said, "Take after eating".

Elle ate, took the pills, and moved to the sofa to watch TV. The pills made her sleepy and she didn't even make it to the kidnapping in The Princess Bride before she passed out.

Nurse Chapel stopped by for lunch, armed with chicken soup, a hot buttered roll, and ginger tea. Also, a box of lotion-infused tissues.

"I love you," Elle told her solemnly and then sneezed.

Chapel handed her the box of tissues. "Also, Dr. McCoy has concluded you must have had a one-off menstrual cycle, probably your hormones kickstarting. It's not uncommon for girls to get one and then not have anything for a long time until their hormones develop."

"Really?"

"Yup. Your blood chemistry is actually more normal than it was when you first arrived, now that you're not eating food filled with toxins and hormones or being exposed to pollutants in the air."

"Oh." Elle blew her nose. "So I'm good?"

"You're good." Chapel patted her foot. "You have enough to entertain you?" she asked.

Elle nodded. "Got books, games, tv, I'm good."

"All right. Get some rest."

Elle ate the chicken soup and resumed her burrito-ing.

A couple of hours later, a Hispanic yeoman stopped by with a tea with lemon and honey. "Home remedy," he said. "My abuelita swears by it."

"Gracias," Elle said. "I think my abuelita does the same thing."

It made her feel better, but the soothing drink made her mind's eye fill with memories of her mother. Elle curled into the corner of the sofa, longing for her mom's presence. Even just her voice... she fell asleep.

-/\-

It was the third day of her self-imposed exile and her cold had gotten worse.

"Elle."

"Hnnrgh." She shuffled away from the voice.

"Elle, wake up, sweetheart."

"G'way, m'sick."

"I know." Bones sounded repentant. Also worried. "Just need to ask you a question, real quick."

Elle gave up on being left alone and emerged from her pile of blankets. "Wh'z'gon'on?" she asked, and sneezed worriedly.

McCoy handed her a tissue. "Jim, Uhura, and Chekov are missing. Do you know where they are?"

Elle blew her nose and focused on the question. "How'd they go missing?"

"They were about to transport down to Gamma Two and then they disappeared."

Elle blinked, slowly running episodes through her snot-clogged brain. "...Are they not on the planet?"

"Not that we can find."

She sneezed again, one of those deep chesty ones. "Ow."

McCoy rubbed her back. "Sorry, kiddo. I'll let you sleep."

"But the captain-" Elle protested, struggling to get out of her burrito wrap.

"Don't worry, kiddo. Spock's looking under every rock, we'll find them eventually."

Something pinged dimply in Elle's brain. "They're not in this system," she said. "Spock is right." She glared at McCoy through watery eyes. "Don't fight with him."

"I won't," he promised. "Thank you, Elle, go back to sleep."

She curled back under her blankets, grumbling, "You two are always fighting."

Gentle hands tucked the blankets in. "We're working on it."

"Hmph. Let me know when we find 'em." Elle didn't hear his reply.

When she woke up, there was chicken noodle soup in a thermo-bowl and a note on her PADD. "Got 'em. Eat your soup."

Elle obeyed doctor's orders.

It took a week for her cold to go away. Elle spent the majority of that time watching TV and reading books.

"I love the feeling of breathing through two nostrils," she gushed, inhaling gustily. "The air, the decreased sinus pressure."

Kirk just chuckled. "I know how you feel."