Sickbay was quiet for the moment. Ensign Rager's dislocated shoulder was the only recent excitement that the doctor had had to deal with. Dr. Jewel now sat in his office filling out the report on the minor injury, while keeping an eye on the monitor that was focused on the bed where Teagan Shayza rested. Her levels were almost back to normal now. He would be able to bring her out of the coma in the next hour just as he had estimated to the captain.
Sighing, Dr. Jewel thanked the saints that Captain Data was safely on duty on the bridge, having finally vacated sickbay and Teagan's room. Jewel had had the misfortune to be watching the monitor hours earlier, before the captain had left Teagan's room.
The android had been completely, unnaturally still for hours, so when he had moved, it caught the attention of the doctor. As Jewel watched, Captain Data had leaned closer to Teagan's bed, his hand had come across the covers to reach for her hand. The Captain had said a few words, but the sound on the monitor was off, so Jewel had not heard them. Still, the expression on the android's face was enough. He looked worried, sorry, and...moved with emotion. The captain held Teagan's hand for only a moment, but the moment was an intense one.
Since becoming aware of the relationship forming between this being and Teagan, Jewel had thought it a bad idea. Captain's rarely married and were often womanizers. Even when they did marry, the marriage was often plagued with troubles and frequently failed. There had already been enough loss in Teagan's life. Losing her entire family at the age of fourteen was enough sorrow for a lifetime, Jewel did not want her to face more if he could help it.
He knew that he could be wrong about the captain's feelings for her and after today the thought that even Teagan was wrong had occurred to Jewel. The look in that man's face as he reached out and held Teagan's small hand had forced Jewel to review the captain's past actions with another thought in mind. He still did not like this thought, but maybe it wasn't as bad as his past belief regarding this strange yellow-eyed being. Jewel sighed again. He would have to call that strange being soon to inform him that they would be reviving Teagan.
"I bet my career that the man will insist on seeing her to her quarters." Jewel sighed heavily, but hit the control that would connect him to the bridge anyway.
Teagan knew something was wrong, but was unsure as to what. She felt like she was buried in sand or encased in a cold force field. She tried to remember where she was or what she had been doing. Finally, an image came back to her. She felt a wonderful warmth. Opening her eyes, she saw she was walking on grass in an open area. Above her two suns filled the sky. Two bright, warm suns that were enveloping her in a blanket of heat that pushed away the cold that she had been feeling. She stared at the suns, but it did not hurt her eyes.
Alpha and Beta suns, she thought as she gazed at the bright yellow orbs. Alpha and Beta...Beta...no...Data...Sunshine!
She was suddenly somewhere else. She knew she wasn't alone though. The captain was near by, but not near enough. He was worried about her, she was sure of this. Very worried about her. He wanted her to come to him for something. He needed her, but she could not reach him.
"Captain," she whispered. But the voice that answered was not his.
"Teagan, wake up love."
No, that was definitely not the captain!
She opened her eyes. Jewely was on her right side, Nurse Avery just behind him. The woman smiled sweetly down at her, and then looked over to Teagan's left. Teagan followed her gaze. His bright yellow orbs locked with her eyes and held them firm. She felt herself smile. "You were calling me, sir?" she asked.
Her voice sounded scratchy and hoarse, but he did not seem to notice. The wonderful smile on his face made her forget there were other people in the room with them.
"I think you were calling me, Miss Teagan. How do you feel?" his question surprised her.
"I thought it was my job to ask that question, Captain," came Jewely's voice, reminding her that they were not alone.
"I ask your pardon, Dr. Jewel. I meant no offense," the captain quickly said, apologetically. Jewely looked a bit upset, but Teagan just reached over and patted the older man's hand.
"Relax Jewely, my stomach feels achy and my head hurts a bit, but I think I'm ok. Am I?" she asked him, soothingly.
"You would be better if you would use the replicators more often." Jewel told her firmly. She grimaced.
"What happened to me?"
"The food you brought up from that damn planet was tainted. You poisoned yourself!" He told her, obviously cross with her. She quickly looked back to the Captain.
"Sir, are you alright? And Stripes?" to her relief he nodded reassuringly.
"I was not affected and the taint must not have been in the fish as Stripes did not succumb, but I must agree with the doctor. Unless you receive permission directly from me, you are hereby prohibited from bringing any consumables aboard this ship. I would also order you not to eat anything that does not come for this ship if I could, but-"
"I think I get the picture, sir. I'll be more careful. I did check those things that I brought aboard, I know I did." Her tone was now almost pleading, wanting these two men to believe her. The Doctor placed a reassuring hand on her arm.
"We know you did, love. We think someone must have contaminated the food after you ran your checks. We wanted to speak with you before the captain contacted the officials back on-"
"No, please, those people have been through enough. Maybe someone thought they were attacking an invader. There were hundreds of people in and out of the beam up point. The ensign left it unattended for a few minutes, I'm sure. Since it was an open area, there would be no way to tell who did it." Her eyes were still pleading and mournful. "It was my fault and I was the only one affected. I have learned my lesson. I will obey your orders to the letter from now on, Captain. I'm very sorry I caused so much of a commotion." The captain and doctor exchanged looks.
"I have to file a report with Starfleet, but I can make the details vague. I will have to lay some of the blame with you, Doctor Shayza. It will be a blemish on your record, Doctor," he told her, regret apparent in his voice.
"I am responsible. I should take the blame," she mumbled.
"No, Doctor. I am responsible. I am your captain and I am ultimately responsible for everything that happens aboard this ship and every action taken by my crew. The doctor would be able to tell you that it will be seen as an error on my part. I should have made certain that my orders were understood and followed." Teagan looked stunned at this. She had never intended to get him into trouble.
"Whatever course of action would cause you the least amount of damage, sir. I will cooperate with you in any way." She was obviously upset, now and this was not what the captain wanted.
"I will see to it, Doctor Shayza. I want your only concern to be your health at this time." He was not sure how reassuring that sounded, but he had not wanted to talk about this now. The doctor was looking at him crossly when Teagan had wanted to take the blame, but in telling her that he would take it, he had upset her worse. The doctor was just going to have to be upset. Data could not allow this man to push him into hurting Teagan.
"If you will excuse us, Captain. I need to run a few checks on my patient before releasing her," Jewel said, ending the conversation.
The captain nodded and making eye contact with Teagan said, "I will wait outside for your release and see you to your quarters," he told her. She nodded and he went out.
The doctor rolled his eyes, but began his check in silence.
"I saw that, what's with you?" Teagan asked, her tone irritated.
"Our captain is just getting on my nerves," he told her in a hush.
"And what the hell does that mean?"
"Have you noticed that the more time you spend with him, the more you are in need of my services? I'm not a superstitious person by nature, love, but I think it doesn't bode well for you." He looked up from his medical tricorder to find her eyes ablaze.
"I told you to respect my wishes, Jewely. My involvement with him is my business. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but that's just too bad. Keep your out-of-joint nose out of my business," she said, seething.
"Half the crew thinks your sleeping with him." Jewel knew he shouldn't say it, but he had to. Teagan grabbed his arm.
"I am not sleeping with him, not that it's anyone's business either, but if it ever does happen I'll be sure never to tell you." She released his arm, flinging it away from her.
Dr. Jewel tightened his lips and silently went back to his checks.
In the Doctor's office, the monitor was still connected to Teagan's room and the sound had been turned on so that Nurse Avery could tell the doctor when Teagan's levels had returned to normal. Dr. Jewel had forgotten to switch it off when he left his office.
The doctor's orderly, Ensign Brea now stood transfixed before the screen. He had not meant to eavesdrop, he despised that sort of behavior, but he could not just turn off his ears. He'd been having a debate with his wife about this very subject. His wife had been sure that the captain and Miss Teagan were very involved and that it would end up permanent. Roga Brea had told her that he was sure it was just a short-term thing. If Miss Teagan told the Doctor, her good friend that she had not been to bed with the captain yet after two weeks, it was not going to happen. It was going to be good to finally win an argument with Lily.
After twenty minutes, Nurse Avery told the captain that he could come back in the room. Teagan was sitting up and had her legs dangling off the side of the bed. She grinned at the captain when he reentered the room. His chest did that peculiar tightening thing again as she looked at him. It was very good to have her beautiful eyes open again.
"Is she well, Dr. Jewel?" The captain asked without looking at the man.
"Well enough to stop taking up one of my beds. I assume that you wish me to release her to you, Captain?" The captain met his eyes now.
"Will she require supervision, Doctor?" the captain asked, confused as to why he would release her if she were not well enough to be alone.
"If it were anyone else, I would say no. With this patient, yes. She will try to return to duty too soon, eat the wrong things, do too much and not rest enough. Normally I would have Ashton watch her." Dr. Jewel could have added Lauralee's name to that but thought that Ashton's name might give the captain pause. It was beneath him, but this man was ticking him off. If Teagan kept seeing him, she would never find someone to love her and get married. Jewel wanted her to have a family, and the android could not give her that either.
Teagan gave a huff. "Hey, stop talking like I'm not here. And speaking of duty, what time is it?" She looked at the captain for the answer.
"1447 hours," he replied promptly. She tipped her head to the side.
"Shouldn't you be on the bridge, Captain?" she asked. Jewel gave a small sigh and the captain merely smiled at her.
"When should she return to duty, Doctor?"
"Thursday should be ok." The doctor turned his gaze to the red head. "Rest, Teagan. No solid food until your stomach stops hurting. Let me know if you can't sleep or if anything out of the ordinary happens. And be more careful in the future, love. I have been treating you too often lately."
He gave a glance in the captain's direction to see if he reacted to this comment, but the top ranking officer of the Repulse was looking only at the ship's chief biochemist and barely paying the CMO any mind. Teagan just rolled her eyes at Jewel.
"I still want to know why you aren't on the bridge. Aren't you going to get in trouble for that?" she asked, trying to stand. She teetered a bit, and both men moved from opposite sides to steady her. "I'm ok," she assured them. Moving away from the bed and towards the captain, she looked like she was still waiting for an answer. She would wait a long time...
"I will make certain she eats a liquid dinner, Dr. Jewel. Are you ready to return to your quarters, Dr. Shayza?" At her capitulating sigh, Data offered an arm for her to hold. Dr. Jewel just rubbed his forehead as the pair walked out of the room and out of sickbay.
In the corridor, Teagan looked at the man whose arm steadied her. "You're not going to answer me, are you, sir?"
"Do you believe that you will still be able to attend your practice on Thursday evening? You may be too fatigued after your first day back on duty," he asked, ignoring her question. She groaned and he looked alarmed.
"Are you trying to get me to miss that? If I'm that tired, should I miss our dinner meeting as well?" she asked seemingly innocent. He opened his mouth to object quickly, but saw something in her eye that caused him to stop.
"I believe that we need to discuss those plans as soon as you are feeling up to it," he said trying to sound casual, but she was not falling for it.
"What does that mean? Are you that upset with me, sir. Please, if there is any way you can blame this whole thing on me, I-" They stopped walking as he was no longer moving, but was turning to look her in the face.
"No Miss Teagan, I was not referring to your illness and I am not distressed with you. However, your illness has caused certain items to come to light. I believe that after you have had more time to recover, we should discuss them," This said, he turned, pulling her gently along with him.
"And you don't want to discuss it now? Correct?" she asked. He nodded. "Can we go my lab, I want to check on-" he was shaking his head now.
"Lieutenant Apple is in charge of alpha watch until your return, Miss Teagan. I will inform her when to expect you and she will pass the word to your other friends that you are recovering as she did during your incapacitation." Teagan kept moving, but looked stunned and confused.
"You called her to tell her that I was in sickbay? You didn't have Dr. Jewel or one of the nurses do that?" Now he looked dismayed.
"I was perfectly capable of making the call. I only called Lieutenant Apple, as she seemed nervous that I called. I asked her to inform those she felt should know."
"Captain, have you noticed that everyone we pass is smiling at us?" she asked, changing the subject in a direction he did not expect.
The Captain nodded at a passing crew member and exchanged glances with the woman on his arm. The ensign that they had just passed had been grinning happily at them both. "I believe this may be something that will subside in time. There seems to be much concern over your illness among the crew. Even my bridge crew was affected," he told her calmly.
"What? How were they affected?" Dismay and nervousness in her voice grabbed his attention. He patted her arm in an attempt to calm her.
"You have been a member of this crew for four years, Miss Teagan. I sensed that you are well thought of and that no one wished you to be unwell." She looked at him as though she knew that he was leaving something out. He still was not sure he understood the reaction of the crew himself. How could he explain it to her?
In due course, they arrived at her quarters. Data did not release her, but looked down at her to ask a question.
"Do you believe you could eat your dinner at this time?" the captain asked, his eyes full of concern. Teagan nodded. He guided her to her table and seated her. He ordered a vegetable broth for them both and two glasses of cold water.
"Surely you don't want broth for your dinner. I don't mind if you have what you want," she told him, but his consideration was touching.
"My main concern is that you eat. The menu of my meal tonight is irrelevant," he told her firmly. His hands remained in his lap as he waited for her to take her first spoonful of her soup. After two slowly consumed spoonfuls, she convinced him to stop staring and to join her in the torture of eating "this terrible tasting stuff".
"Misery loves company," she said, grimacing at her third spoonful of broth.
"You wish me to be miserable?" he asked, teasing.
"You're the one who ordered this stuff. Tell me what you wanted to discuss with me, it's gonna drive me crazy until you do," she asked, a pleading quality entering her voice.
Data frowned. He should have known that she would not forget and would have insisted on being told. He had wanted to wait longer, but it seemed that telling her now was unavoidable.
"While you were in your coma, I had a talk with Dr. Jewel," Teagan looked like she was bracing herself for a blow. He continued quickly, "Are you aware that he believes that I have behaved improperly towards you?" Oddly, the expression on her faces was one of indecision. Slowly she nodded.
"He doesn't understand or does not want to understand our relationship," she said, staring at her bowl.
"He believes that I do not treat you with respect. In his eyes I have commanded you to join me for the evening meal and you feel compelled to do as I say in our time together. Is that how you see our relationship, Teagan?" Data felt a ball tightening in the center of his chest, worried about her answer.
"No, sir! I don't feel like you show me disrespect or order me to...do anything except call you by name," she raised her voice, and looked almost in a panic.
"I was only teasing you about that and I was hoping that it would be a way of showing you that I see you as more that just a member of my crew. It appears Dr. Jewel is correct. I have failed to make you feel at ease with me. You continue to see me as your commanding officer and not as...anything else." His chest felt as though all is hydraulic fluids were leaking from every pour. Data could not bring himself to look at her face. He had failed again. Somehow, she did feel as though he was ordering her to spend her time with him. She did not want to be with him for herself.
A hand touched his shoulder. Looking to his right, he saw that she stood beside him looking very upset. "That is in no way true. I see us as friends. It's not always easy to be your friend, to know exactly what to say and what not to say. What I can do and what I cannot do. I think I learn more about you and how to behave with you each day. I'm not happy that Dr. Jewel made you feel that you had done something wrong. I don't feel the same," she assured him.
Data worried about her standing, as Teagan still looked shaky. He took her hand from his shoulder and rising, used it to guide her back to her chair. Kneeling beside Teagan and retaining his hold on her hand, Data spoke again.
"I have no wish to compel you to do anything outside or your duty to this ship. During our usual time together, I would hope for...only what you feel comfortable giving me. If you feel that attempting to be my friend is too difficult-" she stopped him.
"It is difficult at times, but not too difficult. One of the reasons that this relationship is so difficult is that other people don't really understand our relationship. They ask questions that I don't want to answer or don't feel like I should answer. But when I don't answer, they make assumptions and I'm not sure what to do to combat that. I have tried to say that we are just friends, but I don't think people believe me." He stood and released her hand.
"Why?" he asked, puzzled.
"We spend too much time together," she told him.
"It is only the evening meal," he defended and she laughed.
"It was at first, but now we go for walks or play chess in your quarters or in the lounge. You told me before that it took us about ninety minutes to eat dinner and that used to be the end of it. How much time do we spend together now, on average?"
Data looked guilty and hesitant to answer. "Three hours, forty two minutes and fifteen second...on average," he admitted.
She smiled gently. "It's gone up. And I usually go to my quarters, if we are not here, and go right to bed after we part. To everyone else, I think that looks like dating." He opened his mouth, but she was not done and held up a shaky hand. "I am not saying that to complain. I think I have already gotten used to people assuming and not trying to really see that we are just friends and that's all. I don't care what everyone else thinks, Captain. I like being your friend and I want to continue to be your friend. I will speak to Dr. Jewel and tell him just what I think about his behavior. Can we put this behind us? I don't want anything to change if you don't."
The only thing he wanted to change at this moment was his overwhelming desire to pull her into him arms and just hold her or kiss her and then hold her. With extreme effort, Data made himself return to his seat.
"No, I do not wish anything between us to change. You should try and eat more of your soup, Teagan," he said softly. She gave him a halfhearted smile and lifted the spoon to her lips.
When Data returned to his quarters later that evening, he found a very upset Stripes and plates that had been licked clean still on the table. After cleaning up the dishes, he fed Stripes and moved to the living room to retrieve his violin from the shelf. He soon found that playing his beloved instrument did almost nothing to soothe him. Data's emotions were refusing to be silenced or ignored. Still, paying them attention would do little to change the circumstances he faced.
While nothing had been damaged by the Jewel's opinion, nothing had improved either. Teagan still wanted only friendship, but she did seem willing to endure difficulty to maintain it. Surely, it was accurate to say that she felt the relationship important to her.
Data found himself sighing. He had followed part of the Counselor's advice. They had discussed their relationship and redefined it, but Data had not been totally forthcoming with his feelings for her. Perhaps he could still hope that she would change her mind about only being friends. He would give her more time...all the time in the world; after all, he was not going anywhere...
Teagan returned to duty on Thursday and her staff made quite a fuss about it. She had always known that she was well thought of by her people, but it was always nice to be reminded. Teagan was still glowing from the wonderful mood that finally being able to get out of her quarters had given her when she met the captain in the lounge for dinner. He, however, did not seem quite himself. Conversation lagged, which was very unusual. He did not laugh as freely as he normally did and sometimes not at all.
"Ok, what's wrong?" she asked, purposefully.
He looked startled. "Nothing is wrong," he said, looking slightly defensive.
She snorted and shook her head. "And I was born yesterday. I repeat, what's wrong?" She leaned over the table and stared fixedly at him. He looked very uncomfortable. "You know that opening under your nose? Open it and tell me what's eating you like you promised you would before I come over there and...do something disrespectful to my superior officer."
He was forced to grin at her.
"I was thinking about Saturday evening...I will try to make it to your...event for a few minutes, but I do not believe I will stay for more than that," he tried to sound apologetic, but Teagan was not falling for it.
"Meet me in my quarters at 1700 hours on Saturday or as close to 1700 as you can come and we can have a short dinner. Then you can escort me to the holodeck and stay for as long as you can tolerate." He looked about to object, so she quickly spoke again. "You seemed to be worried that I thought you were ordering me around even when we are off duty and together. How about I even it up a bit? I order you not to argue with me and to do as I have 'commanded'." She leaned across the table again and grinned at him. "I would have missed you too, you know. It's not a crime to get used to something and like it to stay that way. Well? What do you say?" she asked leaning back.
Data sighed. He could only manage to keep one thing from her, but at least he could keep that much. "It will be as you say, Captain Shayza," he told her with a grin. She laughed, but jumped up from her chair and motioned for him to rise as well. As they were both through with dinner, he complied. Coming to stand next to him, she raised up on her toes and whispered in his ear.
"With all due respect...Captain...you're a smart ass!" she told him.
Barely suppressing his laughter, he looked down at her and shook his head. "I am sorry, Miss Teagan, but my positronic brain is not in that location." He did break into laughter when she covered her eyes with a hand and sighed heavily at him.
"You are an impossible man. And I want to know why I had to be the one you chose to be impossible with," she said as she walked by him and towards the exit of the lounge. Data followed, albeit confused. She was still shaking her head at him, so this odd behavior of the captain and his constant dinner companion caused concern from those that noticed in the lounge.
"Is everything ok, Captain?" asked Lieutenant Payton as the captain walked by his table in an attempt to catch Teagan.
"I believe so, but with Miss Teagan, I am never certain," the captain answered honestly as he passed. He caught up with his prey only because she waited for him at the doors to the lounge. She grinned brightly at him and the captain thought it wise to give the thumbs up sign to the curious lieutenant.
"What was that for?" Teagan asked him as she slipped her arm through his and gave him an affectionate squeeze. They walked out of the lounge together.
"I believe that the lieutenant was concerned that we were having a dispute. I wanted to put his mind at ease."
She grinned. "Who? You and I? We don't argue. You order and I obey," she said teasingly.
"Or you order and I obey," he teased back.
"I like the second one better. You are less impossible when you're doing what I want you to do," she teased, giving him an evil grin.
"I cannot agree that I am impossible. Highly improbable maybe, but not impossible."
She sighed again. "What kind of punishment would result of I tried to strangle my captain?" She released his arm and just stood there, hands on her hips. He looked at her and smiled. He knew she was joking, so he played along.
"I image I would be joining you for dinner in the brig for at least a month if not more." Teagan looked like she was mulling it over. He shook his head at her. "I think I had better deliver you to your friends, Miss Teagan." He reached out and took hold of her hand, pulling her back to him. They walked in silence for only seconds.
"I know I'm repeating myself, but are you going to be an obedient captain and do as I asked on Saturday?" she asked. When he nodded, she smiled and sighed happily now.