It had been several days since Lexie had received the message from her uncle and she was trying not to think about it. She hid it very well, so no one knew something was amiss, not even Scotty. Lexie was trying to carry on as normal, which had been getting harder to do with each passing day. Not because she was constantly thinking about her uncle, but because her scar was hurting her more and more. Lexie still thought it was psychosomatic, thinking that it was her mind making her believe it was causing her pain, so she didn't do anything about it.
Physically anyway, mentally she tried to block out any memories to do with her uncle, hoping that in turn would stop the pain. Lexie was currently doing a shift in Engineering and was working alongside Keenser, since Scotty was tied up somewhere else on the deck. She enjoyed working with the little guy and he seemed to enjoy working with her, they got on great and always completed their work. It helped that Lexie could understand Keenser in the way Scotty could, even if it wasn't to the Scotsman's level. Since Keenser didn't speak many words in Standard she had learnt to understand his body language and his collection of noises.
The two of them were working on one of the consoles, which was used to detect faults in equipment, however the console itself was on the blink which wasn't ideal. Lexie was lying underneath it, fitting in a new circuit board which Keenser had been so kind as to fetch for her. "Ouch!" She yelped, Keenser turned round quickly. "Alright?" He asked. "I'm alright, just a shock that's all. Could you tell me if the screens on?" Keenser pushed a box next to the console (since he was only short) and stepped up to look, "On!" He called back. Lexie then wormed out from underneath the console. "Brilliant, could you go and fetch me an ion scanner please Keenser?" He nodded. Just as he turned away, he saw Lexie leaning on the console with one hand while the other was clutching her stomach.
"Lexie?" He asked, the concern tone in his voice was clear. Lexie glanced over to him, "I'm fine Keenser, just cramp. Now please go get that ion scanner." Keenser wasn't convinced but did as she asked, after all Lexie was a higher rank then he was. Keenser soon had wandered off to fetch the equipment that she had asked for, Lexie was hoping that the pain would fade but it only got worse. She wasn't thinking about her uncle, she was concentrating on her work, however the pain was still there and growing in intensity. Lexie moaned quietly as she pressed her hand harder against her scar. She was starting to think that the pain wasn't psychosomatic as she first believe, but that it was very real.
It wasn't long before Keenser had returned with the scanner Lexie had asked for, he had been tempted to go and find Scotty since he was worried about Lexie, however he chose not to. He turned around the corner hoping to see Lexie no longer in pain, but this wasn't the case. Lexie was still leaning on the console while clutching her stomach, she looked in more pain then before since her eyes were closed. He quickly hurried over to her, quickly placing the scanner down on the box which was next to the console. Instead of saying words, Keenser just grunted at her. Lexie opened one of her eyes slightly and glanced over to her colleague. "Keenser, go get Scotty." Lexie muttered quietly, Keenser was reluctant to leave her alone but knew he had to get Scotty. He took off running as fast as his little legs would let him, Keenser knew where the Scotsman was working so at least he didn't have to waste time in trying to locate him, even if he did have to find him, he would simply follow the sound of Gaelic cursing.
He soon came across Scotty and wasted no time in tugging at his shirt, pestering for him to follow. Scotty was a little confused, concerned, and a little bit miffed but decided to follow his friend, "Alright lad, I'll come." He cried as he quickly followed Keenser and he soon found out why. Lexie looked up to face Scotty, still with only one eye open. "Scotty?" She whimpered, suddenly she cried out in pain and began falling. Scotty quickly lept forwards to catch her before she had the chance to hit the floor, he held her in his arms. "Lexie, what's wrong?" He asked quickly, trying to stay calm. Lexie gestured to her scar and said only one word, "Pain." That was the only thing she managed to say before passing out. Scotty quickly yanked his communicator from his belt and flicked it on. "Engineering to Sick bay. We have a medical emergency; I repeat we have a medical emergency!" "On my way Scotty, who is it?" The Scotsman was relieved to hear McCoy's voice, "It's Lexie." He replied, McCoy simply said he would get down there as soon as he could. After putting his communicator away Scotty turned his attention back to Lexie, he felt a tear form in his eye which he wiped away before it had a chance to fall. He would be lying if he said he wasn't worried.
Lexie struggled to open her eyes, they had fluttered open for a split second but all she could see was a blinding, white light. She could feel something touching her arm, it felt like a hand. Lexie turned her head and slowly fluttered her eyes open again, this time they stayed open and she could see more clearly, even if her vision was still a little fuzzy. Despite that, she managed to make out someone familiar sitting next to her, with their hand resting on her arm. "Scotty?" Lexie questioned quietly, "Aye lass." He replied softly. "Where am I?" She asked. "You're in a biobed in Sick bay." It wasn't Scotty who had replied but McCoy who Lexie saw was standing in the door way, "Do you remember what happened?" He asked, she had to think for a few seconds since her head was still fuzzy. "I was fixing the diagnostic console with Keenser when my stomach began to hurt, apart from that I can't remember anything. Did I pass out or something?" She asked. McCoy nodded as he came and sat on the edge of her bed.
"According to Scotty you sent Keenser to find him, when he followed him back you fainted because of the pain in your stomach or to be more pacific, the pain from your scar." Lexie already knew McCoy had seen her scar, but this was news to Scotty. "Did you see it?" She asked, Scotty nodded. "Lexie, I need to know how you got that scar. Since I need to record it in my report." McCoy stated. Lexie didn't want to tell them, not the real reason anyway, since that would raise too many questions and resurface old memories that she had buried in the deepest part of her mind years earlier. So, she just lied. "Just before I entered into the Academy, I was in a car crash. A terrible car crash, I was hit by a part of the other car which stabbed me in the stomach. Thankfully, the internal damage wasn't bad, but it still hurts every so often." McCoy and Scotty stared at her, but neither of them got a chance to reply before Lexie spoke again. "Scotty, can you do something for me?" "Aye lass, what do ya need?" He asked sweetly, "Please go and get Delta and bring him here. He's gonna start worrying soon, since he knows when my shifts start and finish. And I don't care if McCoy sees him." She replied, Scotty was surprised that she had asked him to do that, but nodded before heading out of the room. "Who the hell is Delta?" McCoy questioned; Lexie smiled faintly. "You'll see soon Doctor."
Scotty soon came to Lexie's quarters, she had given him the passcode for her door some time ago, just in case. He pinned in the code and quickly entered; Scotty waited till the door had slid shut since he didn't want anyone to hear him. "Lexie?" Called a voice, "No lad, it's only me." Scotty glanced over to the desk to see a pair of glowing green eyes staring back at him, he reached over and turned on the lights so he could see more clearly. Delta was sat on the desk, looking slightly worried. "Oh, hi Scotty. Is everything OK?" Delta asked as Scotty walked over to him, "It is now lad, look, Lexie sent me to come and get you." Delta looked up at Scotty with a confused look in his eyes, "Why? Is she OK?" Scotty bent down so he was eye level with the robot. "She's alright lad, Lexie just wants me to take you to her, so you can see for yaself that she's fine."
Delta nodded, "Alright Scotty." The Scotsman smiled softly at him as he reached over and picked him up gently. "I'll let ya know when you can talk again, alright lad?" Scotty stated as he walked over to the door, Delta nodded. Scotty held Delta close to his chest, several times a few officers would glance over with a confused expression on their faces, but a glare from the Engineer got them to turn their heads away. Most of the crew wouldn't questions why Scotty was carrying a robot, it was well known on the Enterprise that Scotty would often build things and would take them up to show Kirk. It didn't take Scotty long to return to Sick bay, which was quiet for a change. He walked over to the room where Lexie was and entered. Only to stop in the door way at the sight that greeted him. Scotty was only expecting two people to be in the room (Lexie and McCoy); however, it would seem the whole command crew was there. Clearly they had heard about Lexie being brought into Sick bay.
Scotty stepped slowly up to the bed, as everyone switched between staring at him and Delta. With a quick nod from Lexie, he looked down at the robot, "We're here lad." Delta opened his eyes to see Lexie smiling at him, he quickly lept from Scotty's arms. "Lexie!" He cried as she grabbed and hugged him tightly. "I'm alright Delta." She said reassuringly, she then glanced up to see the command crew just staring, apart from Scotty and Chekov. "Is that a robot?" Asked Sulu, "And did it just talk?" Uhura questioned. Lexie smiled nervously, "Yes, I would like you all to meet Delta." The robot waved to them all. "Hello." He said happily, Spock raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating." Kirk blinked several times. "Lieutenant, why do you have a talking robot?" He asked. "You see Sir, I created Delta when I was seven.
After losing my family I was alone so I used my skills and made an advance AI program which is what Delta actually is, I made him a robot body so he could walk around freely. I know it's against some sort of Star Fleet rule Sir, but please understand I couldn't leave him on Earth." Kirk could tell just by her tone of voice that Lexie was scared that he would be angry, but he wasn't. "I understand Lexie, you have nothing to worry about, he's not going anywhere." Lexie couldn't help but smile, "Thank you Sir, I'm sorry that I kept him a secret from you and most of the command crew." Spock raised his eyebrow again. "You mean to say that, some members of the command crew already knew about Delta's existence?" He asked calmly; nervously Lexie nodded. "Yes Commander, Mr Scott and Chekov already knew about him. I assure you I was going to tell you all about him at some point, I was just unsure on how to approach it." Spock lowered his eyebrow, "Your reasoning is quite logical Lieutenant, I understand your concerns of leaving him back on Earth." Lexie smiled softly at the Vulcan.
The command crew stayed with Lexie for a while since she was telling them all about Delta and how she created him. They soon had to leave since they had left the bridge, but before they left Spock asked her a question. "With your permission Lieutenant, I would like to evaluate Delta's programming, since I have never seen such an advance AI before." Lexie smiled as she glanced down at her friend, "Is that OK with you Delta?" She asked. "Of course, it is Lex. I'm sure Mr Spock would find my programming and coding fascinating." Out of her peripheral vision, Lexie could see McCoy rolling his eyes as she handed Delta to Spock, who cradled him in his arms gently. "I will be very careful with him Lieutenant; I assure you and I will return him once I have completed my studies." Spock stated, "That's fine with me Mr Spock, now you behave Delta, alright?" Delta nodded quickly. "I will, don't worry Lex. Just rest up." Lexie reached over and gave him a gentle 'boop' on the nose before Spock left along with most of the command crew, apart from Scotty and McCoy. "I've got to head back down to Engineering, I can almost guarantee that wee Keenser is slowly losing his mind." He said sweetly, "Alright Scotty, tell Keenser not to worry too much about me." Scotty smiled as he patted her on the shoulder before heading out. Lexie sighed with relief, "Well, they all took that much better than I expected." McCoy turned to face her with a small smile on his face. "I'm just as surprised as you are kid, how's the pain?"
He asked as he wandered back over to the bed, "Better, much better in fact. Its back to how it was a few nights ago." Lexie quickly realised what she had just said and looked over at McCoy who was just glaring at her. "What?! You've been in pain for the last few days? Why the hell didn't you come and see me?!" He cried, "The reason I didn't come down to Sick Bay was because I believed that the pain was only psychosomatic, since I was thinking about it. The pain wasn't that bad, but during my shift today it just got worse, which clearly meant that it was actually hurting and not at all psychosomatic." McCoy was still glaring at her angrily, he was so bloody annoyed at the fact that she didn't come and see him sooner. "Psychosomatic or not, you should have come to see me. That way this whole thing could have been avoided!" He cried; Lexie hung her head low. "I don't mean to yell Kid; I'm just worried that's all. You need to take care of yourself." "I know, I'm sorry McCoy." Lexie replied slowly, McCoy placed his hand on her shoulder. "As long as you know, now get some rest and if you do that you should be able to return to work in a couple of hours." Lexie smiled as McCoy left the room, leaving her alone to get some rest. But every time she closed her eyes, her uncles face appeared haunting her every thought.