Sickbay
From the Embassy, the Ambassadors, Riker, and Geordie were all beamed to Sickbay.
Instantly, they were surrounded by doctors and nurses, Geordie the first to be whisked onto a biobed.
Soon, though, the others were taken as well- Lwaxana and Riker protesting.
Crusher looked Geordie over. She already knew what he had and ordered his unquestioned treatment.
She had no fear that Ambassador T'Pic would be taken care of and Deanna wasn't a concern for the moment. She turned her sight to Riker. Will was trying at that moment to shoo away the nurses.
Crusher had to smile. She dismissed the young nurse, looking down at the Commander. "So now you're going to personally see to my treatment?"
"No, I'm here to personally discharge you as long as you promise to come here tomorrow."
"Really?" To say that Riker was shocked would have been untrue… he was absolutely and utterly shocked. But Beverly just continued to smile. "What's the big secret?"
"Follow me," was all she said before she turned and walked away. Riker hopped down, following her, all the while completely perplexed.
It only took until they reached the entrance before he saw Deanna. She was sitting up on a biobed… holding a baby.
The confused frown on Riker's face left him immediately. In the spanned of milliseconds, his lips twitched upward in an understanding grin.
He glanced at Beverly and she nodded, then walked away. Slowly, he entered the room. He knew that she already knew he was there, had for a few minutes, but she said and did nothing.
He stepped around the bed, looking down to see the child in Deanna's arms. Already he could see that she had small amounts of light brown hair. Her skin was a fair shade, much like her mother's.
But Will couldn't see her eyes were for she hadn't yet opened them but he already knew what color they were: blue. He had known for a while now that they would be.
Riker lifted his hand and brushed it over his daughter's forehead. "She's beautiful, Deanna." He moved his eyes until they locked with Deanna's. "Just like her mother. May I hold her?"
Deanna shifted to allow Will to take Elizabeth into his arms. He looked down at the bundle and smiled… his daughter… his and Deanna's daughter.
He was a father…
Commander William T. Riker the career officer of the century who practically gave up the only woman he ever loved for Starfleet was a father! Who would have guessed?
Will bent over, kissing Deanna before placing his daughter in the cradle. "You two should get some rest. Kay?"
"Okay."
She was still smiling at Elizabeth. Will kissed her forehead when she closed her eyes. Then, ever so slowly, he walked out.
As he left, he noticed Lwaxana smiling at him… she knew. His feet led him to her. "What does she look like?"
Will smiled and the only word that formed was, "Beautiful."
Lwaxana nodded and said, "With her mother and grandmother, could she be anything else?" Riker snorted.
A silence came over them until Lwaxana broke it minutes later by saying, "At least something good happened today." All Riker could do was nod.
"I asked her," Riker stated suddenly.
"Really?" Lwaxana inquired, her curiosity peaked.
"Yes… and she accepted. I can't believe this is happening. It's, um…"
"Overwhelming?"
"Yeah." Looking back over his shoulder, his sighed. "When I first meet Deanna, I fell in love with her instantly. And now, I love her even more… I didn't think that was possible. And our child, someone I've only seen for a few minutes, I love just as much."
"A nice feeling, isn't it?"
Will took a deep breath and responded with, "Yea, it is."
"Go get some sleep, Will. You could use it after all you've been through." He glanced at her, then back at Deanna's room. "They'll be fine for a few hours, I promise."
Will's cheeks blushed slightly at the tease. "Thank-you. I'll be back in a few hours I think." Will took one last look at Deanna's room and walked away.
He paused for a moment at Geordie's bed. He had forgotten in the excitement to ask how he was doing. Quite frankly, he seemed the same but he was peacefully asleep.
Sickbay
The next morning, Crusher was at Geordie's bed. He was doing better, the withdraw was almost over.
She had sedated him; he would remain asleep for hours still. He would have no idea what was going on around him. It would help with the pain.
But there was one thing Crusher couldn't understand though. Every time Geordie had complained about a headache, she could find nothing wrong. So why did have them?
She was determined to solve this. She had run thorough and detailed scans of him to see if she could find anything wrong. Or at least something…
It took a while, but the scans were finally completed. "Computer, cross check the scans of Commander LaForge taken just now with those taken one year ago. Inform me of any difference."
The computer beeped to show it had started its check. "Analysis complete. Two differences found."
"What are they?"
"Morphenolog intake is at a higher then recommended level." Beverly made a face at the computer, not that it could see or react. "Alien material found at base of the right temple."
That made her start. "Show me."
The image on her screen changed from Geordie's full body to just his head. Then the computer zoomed in to show her his right temple. She could then see there was a microscopic chip. "What is that?"
"A metallic chip made of an unknown alloy."
"What does it do?"
"Unknown at this time." She nodded. The chip must have a reason for beginning there. But all she knew that it was probably causing Geordie's headaches. Well, at least it was the only likely suspect.
"Computer, hypothetically, could this chip be causing Commander LaForge's headaches?"
"Affirmative. The chip is emitting an unknown radiation. The radiation may disrupt Commander LaForge's VISOR causing unrecommended feedback."
"Thank-you," Crusher said for no reason as she stepped out of her office. She would need Picard's permission to remove the chip. There was no other choice.
/-/-/-/-/-/
After explaining the situation to the Captain, he agreed that it was the only option.
So now Crusher stood in her operating room finishing healing the skin on Geordie's temple.
It was easier than she thought it would have been to find the chip. The hard part had been grabbing it and not dropping it back in the exposed flesh. Now she was holding the regenerator, healing the skin in the area she cut open his temple.
Once finished, she set the regenerator back on the tray, pulling off her operating gloves. She pulled off the hat and gown after. Then she watched as two nurses wheeled Geordie back to the recovery room.
He was still asleep from the sedatives he was give earlier that morning and would stay that way for hours. It was better that way, to let him sleep and get his strength back without having to come in and out of consciousness.
When the doors closed, she looked back at the small container she had put the chip in. It was a perfect circle and a strange silver color. Crusher picked up the container and looked at the piece of technology in disgust. True it was remarkable, but it still had caused so much pain for Geordie.
But she had no time for that. She needed to know what it was and what it did. For that, she would need someone who could help her. And there was only one person for the job: Data.
Sickbay
Geordie watched carefully as Riker swung to hit the ball. He missed. Then the young boy pitched again and this time Riker swung and hit the ball. It came right towards him and he ran after it.
As gracefully as he could, he bent over and snatched the ball before it could roll any farther away. He ran quickly to catch up with Riker just as the man neared the eighth base.
He reached out his hand that held the ball in it and tagged Riker on the shoulder just before his foot his the base. He was out.
Geordie sat at a long table, crowded by others. He thought for a moment, digging into his mind to realize that they looked much like Nilaains.
In front of him, varieties of strange and exotic fruits and meats were laid out. Geordie picked a fruit- it resembled an apple. It tasted much sweeter than any Earth apple.
Geordie watched out of the corner of his eye as Riker and Deanna danced to the slow music. They seemed content in each other's arms…
He would never understand why they weren't together.
Geordie slowly became conscious of his surroundings. He was no longer in the stone cave, the dark room, or the gorgeous tropical forest. The bright light (as far as he could tell with his VISOR) on the ceiling and the steady beeps he was hearing in the background told him he was in Sickbay.
Someone came to his side. They were talking to him. He couldn't make out all of it and, what he could understand, made little sense, "…thought you …never wake up. It seemed… going to sleep …days."
He slowly turned his head as soon as if allowed him. Dr. Crusher stood above him, smiling. "Hey, doc. What… what happened?"
"Well, we kept you pretty much out of it through out your withdraw. Then, when I was looking for the cause of you headaches, I found a small chip in your temple. It seemed to interfere with your VISOR-"
"Causing bad headaches. Got that. The headache's gone… I think."
"Yes. I preformed surgery to remove the chip and I believe that will stop them." She placed a hand on Geordie's shoulder, then glanced up at the readouts. "Looking good. You'll be back on duty in about two weeks."
"Thanks."
"Now get some rest, you'll need some real sleep."
"Yes, ma'am."
