Chapter Six: Soporific

It was over an hour past Jake's normal bedtime when Sisko brought him back to the infirmary, but he stared half defiantly at the doctor after his father had gone. "I'm not tired."

"All right," Bashir agreed easily. "How about a game or two of chess in my office, then?"

Jake blinked, taken off guard by the lack of the argument he had been expecting. "Yeah…sure…I guess," he agreed, following Dr Bashir into his office.

"I'm having Tarkalean tea; want anything?"

"Sure; I'll have some hot chocolate," Jake decided.

"One hot chocolate, coming up," Bashir agreed with a smile. He left for a moment to use the replicator, then returned holding two mugs by their handles in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other.

"All right!" Jake exclaimed. He glanced sideways at Bashir. "You do know Dad doesn't let me have snacks after supper?"

The doctor shrugged. "Once won't hurt you. Just don't start sneaking around doing it when he leaves you on your own in your quarters."

"I won't," Jake promised, taking a cookie as Bashir set the mugs and plate on the desk.

"Good. Now, do you want 3D or 2D?"

"Two-D," Jake said instantly; "I'm no good at 3D."

Bashir nodded and touched a switch on his desk. A grid pattern instantly shimmered across the surface, and a moment later holographic pieces appeared standing on it.

"How'd you get a games console in your desk?" Jake demanded.

Bashir chuckled. "It was included in the patch O'Brien used to fix it the last time the diagnostic imaging went down. It's not often I have a live partner, though."

Jake grinned. "I won't tell my father you're in here playing the computer when you're on duty."

"Hey, who said I was on duty?" Bashir protested. "Your move."

Jake leaved forward on his elbows, nibbling absently at his cookie as he studied the board.

oOo

Three games later, Jake yawned as he made his final move. "Checkmate."

"I saw that," Bashir said teasingly, lightly tipping his king over to accept defeat. "Finish that cookie and then it's time for bed, young man."

Jake straightened up, attempting to look more alert. "No…just one more game."

Bashir shook his head smilingly, touching the switch that made the game board and pieces disappear into nothingness. "It's already hours past your bedtime, Jake; a doctor's authority only supersedes a father's so far."

Jake looked down, studying his fingers as he reduced his cookie to crumbs on the desktop. "But…I'm kind of scared to go to sleep," he admitted softly.

Bashir leaned forward, resting a hand over Jake's. "You'll be all right, Jake, I promise; if you don't wake on your own in the morning, I'll wake you again like I did today."

"But — what if you can't? You don't really know what's wrong yet; you don't know that it won't get worse."

"But I do know that I will find the solution, and if I have to I'll put you in stasis until I do. But I doubt it will come to that; your vitals were good, so even if I can't wake you, I think it would be safe to let you sleep for a day or two until I figure this thing out."

Jake got up slowly. "All right. But promise you'll be watching me?"

"Of course; that's why I have you in here."

"But what about when you have to sleep?"

Dr Bashir grinned. "Don't you know we doctors never sleep?"

Jake let himself smile, taking it for teasing and not guessing how close to the truth it came.

Jake changed into his pajamas and lay down on the biobed, watching as Dr Bashir activated the monitors. "Are you gonna…stay in here?"

"That depends; did you want me to?"

"Yeah…if you don't mind…at least until I fall asleep."

Bashir smiled slightly as he dimmed the lights, recognizing Jake's vulnerability and wondering if he would have shown it as strongly if his father had been there. "Whatever makes you most comfortable."

Fifteen minutes later, Jake sighed, shifting on the biobed. "I can't sleep." As heavy as his eyes had been earlier, they felt wide-open now.

Dr Bashir wondered for a moment if this was a sign that the venom's effects were progressing, but dismissed the thought; more likely Jake was simply too anxious to sleep.

"I don't want to risk giving you a sleep aid, but we'll try this." He typed in a few commands, and a pattern of swirling, shifting color appeared on the monitor screen above the biobed. "Just lie back and watch that, and try not to close your eyes."

Jake found himself relaxing as he watched the mesmerizing swirl of the patterns. Soon his eyes drooped closed in spite of himself; moments later he forgot to open them again, and was asleep.

Dr Bashir smiled to himself, shutting off the display. He would hold off a little while before running the test again, waiting until Jake was in a deeper stage of sleep that was less likely to be affected by the sensations of the scan, skewing the results.

He briefly thought of trying to shake Jake awake first on the off chance the problem had resolved itself, but decided against it. He would try before using the neural stimulator in the morning; for now he would avoid having to lull Jake to sleep a second time.

Next chapter coming next week!

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have only minimal internet access, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. (But they are much appreciated, even if you're reading this story long after I originally post it!) If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie