Chapter Five: Battle of the Mind.
Mere seconds later Will found himself on the floor in Sickbay.
"Will, what the hell...?!" Beverly froze when she saw the orange creature.
"What is that?" Only then did she notice Deanna's lifeless body.
"Cusack, Alyssa, get her on a biobed. NOW!" The two officers reacted quickly and lifted Deanna up. "What happened?" Beverly glanced at Will before turning to Deanna and running a basic medical scan.
"I don't know...she just...fainted."
"Her psilo-synine level has raised by fifty percent. Alyssa, give me a light psilo-synine inhibitor." The Asian woman handed her the inhibitor and the Doctor injected it into Deanna's slender neck.
"Any changes?"
"Psilo-synine level has dropped to forty-five percent."
"Dammit! That's not nearly enough!" Beverly nearly tripped over Hynda and felt a surge of anger.
"Will, get that...animal out of here, NOW!" Will was about to protest when he met Beverly's eyes.
"I'm sorry girl. But the Doctor needs space to help Deanna." He blinked in surprise when the dog seemed to nod at him and then headed for the door, making sure not to cross anyone's path on its way.
"Doctor, her heartbeat is rising as well as the level of her psilo-synine!"
"What?! That can't be!" Beverly rechecked the readings and briefly buried her head in her hands.
"What changed?"
"The dog ma'am." A deep sigh escaped her throat.
"Ok, bring it back in." One of the ensigns opened the door and Hynda rushed back in, pressing her nose against Deanna's hand. Her heartbeat immediately dropped.
"Well, that's quite a medicine. Alright Alyssa, give me a mild sedative and twelve cc's of kryozine." Alyssa quickly handed her the medications and Beverly injected them with a five minute wait between each dose.
"The levels_are_dropping Doctor, they're back to ten percent above normal." Beverly and Will sighed simultaneously. "Thank god. She's going to be all right, I think. There's nothing I can do now. She has to wake up on her own." Will nodded slightly and looked at his best friend lying on the biobed.
"Will could I talk to you for a moment?" Again he nodded and Beverly pointed at her office. She kept staring at the unusual situation in front of her; she had never seen such an ... orange creature. Even on all four paws it towered above the biobed, she thought that if it stood on its back paws it would be about her height. And then there was Deanna; why did she look so horrified? What happened down there? Beverly Crusher shook her head and went inside her office where a guilty feeling Will was waiting. 'Why didn't I notice something was wrong sooner? I should've caught her.'
"Well, well Commander looking for a excuse to evade your shore leave?" Her attempt to lighten the air failed miserably.
"How is she?"
"Physically she's fine apart from two or three light bruises. Mentally...her levels of psilo-synine are still elevated and her neurotransmitters are working top-speed. What happened down there?"
"We were talking..."
"You and Deanna?"
"No, we were at Lyana's. I introduced her to Deanna."
"Lyana?" She hadn't missed the change in his eyes when he mentioned her name. 'Could it be?'
"She's a Ryaran woman, I met her shortly after the beginning of our mission."
"What were you talking about?" The Doctor crossed her arms in front of her waist and looked at him somewhat accusingly. Had Will looked up he would have seen it, but he didn't.
"Deanna was explaining to Lyana that she couldn't counsel me and Lyana told Deanna what her job was."
"Why couldn't Deanna counsel you?"
"I told Lyana that Deanna was my sister..." Why had he lied? The redhead closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them her gaze fell on the orange dog-like animal.
"What is it with that dog?" Will smiled slightly and looked at the duo as well.
"She has refused to leave Deanna's sight ever since she jumped on her. I hadn't told Deanna that the dog would be there, expecting her to be scared by it. But they were best friends immediately. Hynda listens to Deanna and seems to_understand_her."
"Did anything strange with the dog happen down there?"
"Other than the fact that she was extremely obedient to Deanna and growled aggressively at her boss...no. Though now that you mention it, just moments before Deanna...fainted she began to push at Deanna's hand, as if to keep her awake."
"Odd." 'Alright, this probably explains the increase of her neurotransmitters and even part of the heightened psilo-synine level. But there_must_be...' Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud barking of the dog. Beverly and Will flew out of the office and were standing at Deanna's side within 30 seconds. Deanna's eyes were closed but they could see them moving underneath her eyelids.
"No...that's not true...it isn't my fault...it can't be." Beverly and Will looked quizzically at each other. 'She's having a nightmare, but about what?'
"Beverly, she's terrified can't you do something?'"
"No Will, I can't risk doing damage to her psyche by waking her up now." She patted the animal on its neck and watched her friend in silence. Deanna was still murmuring and twitching on the bed.
"I couldn't help it...I did tell...I DID...go away...please...leave me alone! NO! I'm not responsible!" Suddenly Deanna opened her eyes wide and jumped up.
"LAVEER! I DIDN'T SCARE THEM AWAY!!!" Doctor Crusher immediately pushed her back onto the bed.
"Shh Deanna. It's all right, your back on the Enterprise. You just had a nightmare." Frightened Deanna looked around, her gaze shifting from Beverly to Will and to the dog.
"Hello Hynda." Hynda laid her head next to Deanna who visibly relaxed at the presence of the dog. This left Beverly rather confused.
"What happened?"
"You fainted on the planet." Will stepped towards her and closed his hand around hers.
"You scared the hell out of me Imzadi." 'WE'RE NOT IMZADI ANYMORE, YOU BETRAYED ME...AGAIN!' Hynda whined softly, but Beverly was the only one who noticed. Deanna smiled weakly at him, hiding her fury. But he_did_notice the darkening of her eyes.
"How did you get me out there?"
"I carried you to the park and told Lyana to wait in the house. Hynda here refused to stay behind."
Deanna smiled lovingly at her new friend and scratched behind her ear.
"Maybe you should go back, she might try to find us if we don't return quickly."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." 'Did I actually_told_him to get back down there?!'
"Hynda, thank you for watching over me. But I think we have to say goodbye now." The orange creature whined softly and tears formed in Deanna's eyes.
"Take good care of your boss and her friend okay?" Beverly almost fell of her chair when she saw the dog nodding. Hynda licked Deanna's face and walked to Will who was waiting at the doors. The women watched the duo leave.
"What is it with that dog?"
"She's empathic." Deanna replied matter-of-factly.
"Like some species on Betazed?"
"Yes. It_is_unusual though, since the Ryarans aren't empathic or telepathic at all."
"Is that why she listened so well to you?"
"Yes." The redhead frowned; the empath kept amazing her.
"Deanna you used a muscle-relaxant hypospray this morning, without asking my permission. Deanna smiled victoriously as her predictment came true.
"I knew you'd bother me about that as soon as you had the chance." Beverly kept her face straight, letting her friend know that she didn't approve. Deanna was not at all surprised.
"I was very stiff and had to beam down. I didn't have time to stop by Sickbay so I used my medical authorization code to get the computer to replicate the hypospray."
"Deanna you know full well that..."
"My actions were irresponsible and against ship's protocol. Yes Beverly I know, but there really wasn't another option at that time." The Doctor kept her gaze on her patient's eyes without blinking for a long time before sighing.
"Alright, no charges pressed_this_time."
"Thank you."
"Now, will you tell me what happened?" Deanna turned her head aside, avoiding the Doctor's searching look.
"I can't." She whispered. "I don't even understand what happened myself." Just as Beverly opened her mouth to say something in return the doors hissed open and Captain Picard walked in.
"Doctor, Counselor...what happened?" Beverly stood up and looked straight into Jean-Luc's eyes. 'At least it worked out between those two', Deanna thought to herself.
"She fainted without an apparent reason; Will brought her back in." The Captain walked to her side and leaned over slightly.
"How are you feeling Counselor?" She managed to smile weakly at him.
"Fine Captain, just a bit tired."
"I thought you weren't returning to the planet's surface."
"Will dragged me down to meet Lyana" Her voice was light and coy, but she didn't fool him. Deanna saw the question in his eyes and nodded in response.
"I see. I suggest that you return to your quarters and take the rest of the day off...unless the Doctor objects of course." He turned to Beverly and met her quizzical look 'What just happened between those two?'
"No, I don't. Your psilo-synine level is still a bit elevated but it's nothing dangerous. If you need any medication you_will_come to Sickbay Deanna Troi" She playfully hit her friend on her arm when Deanna hopped off the biobed.
"I_will_Doctor." She replied in kind. "You might want to give me some painkillers for my arm right away." Deanna tried to keep her face serious but failed miserably; the two women laughed loudly. When they were finished Deanna headed for the door.
"Well, Captain, it's good that you're here. Now I can run your physical right away." The couple heard Deanna's laugh as she walked out Sickbay.
"What is going on Jean-Luc?" Beverly had turned serious again, she was concerned about her friend. Jean-Luc felt terrible about not being able to tell her.
"As I said, I'm not the one to tell you."
"I don't like it if people are keeping secrets from me, especially not when it concerns a friend and in this case also a patient of mine." He kissed her on the tip of her nose.
"I'm sorry." He lowered his attention.
"Don't think I'll forget about
your physical Captain." She murmured.
The first thing Deanna did when she was in her quarters was to order a hot chocolate. As the warm liquid flooded through her body she relaxed bit by bit. She put the mug in the recycler and walked to her bathroom. There she undressed and put on a nightgown. She picked up her hairbrush and gently brushed the tangles out her hair. Finally she stepped into bed and tucked herself in. Almost immediately she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
~D~