7/31/2259
Saratoga Sick Bay
1:45 A.M

McCoy took more readings on both Rodriguez and D'Lor. There wasn't any change but at least they weren't any worse.

He glanced over at Harmaya Rodriguez who was in the middle of a quiet conversation with Jim. She'd been excused
from duty for the time being. He'd thought that Jim should take time off too, but naturally he wouldn't hear of it.

'I promised the crew that I would never ditch out on them just because I was upset, Bones. And that's a promise
that I intend to keep.'

So during Alpha Shift, Jim was on the bridge as usual. Off duty he was here in sick bay. He would spend hours sitting
beside the Nlians, trying to help them with their mind mumbo jumbo. Sometimes he held their hands. A few times he
had gently laid his forehead against the forehead of first one and then the other.

Not that he was neglectful of the others stricken members. He regularly sat by them as well, and he'd had several
conversations with Rodriguez. Right now he was trying unsuccessfully to convince her to sleep in her quarters instead
of sickbay.

"You really should go to your quarters, Harmaya," he was now saying softly. "You're exhausted and you need a decent
night's sleep in your own bed."

"He looks like he's asleep," she whispered. "But he's not."

Jim was silent.

"I envy you, you know," the Brazilian said quietly; "You and those Nlian friends of yours. They're telepathic; they may
be unconscious but they can still reach each other, touch each other. And you can touch them, they know that you're
there." Tears were coming to her eyes again. "But they're just your friends. Pablo is my husband." She choked back
a sob. "He's my husband and I can't reach him at all. He's drifting in a dark void and I can't let him know that I'm here!"

"He knows you're here, I'm sure of it. He's a strong man, Harmaya, he'll pull through this."

"You don't know that, Captain." She began to sob. "And I don't understand how this could have happened." Her sobs
grew louder. "I just don't understand."

Jim gently pulled her into his arms. "I don't either," he whispered.

McCoy quietly left.

As he walked past the Medical Lab, he noted Lieutenant Commander Belzoni leaning over a microscope. Determined,
to the point of obstinacy and always looking for an answer, the biochemist had spent every moment since the accident
either in the Biochemical Lab or here.

With him was Lieutenant Jeffery Flanders, a keen witted and a skilled biomedical researcher. Normally the Belgian
was charismatic with a wicked sense of humor, but now he was somber and all business.

Making his way to the Main Ward, McCoy checked the vitals of the other patients, saving Alyen for last.

Hang on, Alyen. I've invested too much into teaching you to lose you. And Jim's got way too much invested in both
you and your lifemate to lose either of you. You both helped stich him back together and God only knows how losing
you would set him back. So hang on.

He studied the machines' readings and once again checked his PADD. Both of the Nlians' vitals were slightly stronger
than the others. They hadn't taken as much of the toxin, but it was possible that there was something in their makeup
that made them better able to withstand it.

The swish of the door opening let him know that sickbay had another visitor. He looked up to see Lieutenant Commander
Hatcher enter the room. McCoy straightened slightly. He had often been called intimidating, but the grim, no nonsense
Chief of Security took that phrase up to a whole new meaning.

He thought ruefully of Gavor. He himself was cantankerous and the Tellerite lived to insult. Jim has teasingly called
them both the terrors of the ship and the two of them had arguments that could peel paint off the walls. But neither
of them ever talked back to Hatcher.

Nodding slightly to McCoy, Hatcher silently surveyed L'Naym for a few moments. "Any change?" she asked.

"Not yet. They're no better, but no worse either. We're not giving up though, and they're both fighters."

"She always gives me flowers," Hatcher said quietly.

At McCoy's silence she continued. "There aren't any on my homeworld; Dorvel IV's a world of rocks and hills.
There're a few shrubs here and there but that's it. No flowers."

Dorvel IV. McCoy mused over what little he know of it. A Class L world on the edge of Federation space.
Rocky, barren and downright ugly, but containing many valuable ores. Home to a small mining colony;
a population of hard people used to hard lives. Made harder by the fact that they were located near rough,
ungoverned space and subject to raids from unscrupulous neighbors. It was better now but back with Hatcher
had been a young girl…

He looked silently at the Security Chief's single eye and scarred face.

Hatcher continued. "The first time that I ever saw flowers in person was when I came to Earth to enlist in
the Academy. I…admired them." She was quiet for a few moments. "A few weeks after she first came aboard
I'd gone to the arboretum; Omar often goes there during break and I'd gone to remind him of a meeting change.
L'Naym was on the other side of the room working on some of the plants.

"After Omar left, I lingered by the pool for a moment- just thinking and noting the flowers. L'Naym came up to me
and said, 'They're beautiful aren't they?' I was surprised but I said that yes they were. She then told me what their
names where and some of their unique traits. How vespessia glow under moonlight, how trilantos take two years
to bloom and how zolinae regularly change colors."

She paused again. "Not many people on this ship, especially low ranking ones, engage me in casual conversation.
Crewmen especially tend to find me intimidating. But this young Crewman came right up to me and started talking
about flowers of all things. She told me that ever since she was a child she had loved flowers, that they were the
jewels of creation. I mentioned that there hadn't been any flowers on my homeworld and then left. I thought that
would be the end of the conversation and the matter.

"That evening in the Mess Hall she came up to my table and placed a small vase of flowers on it. She always places
flowers on the tables whenever she helps in the kitchen, but she brought a large bunch specifically for me and told
me that they were mine to keep." She paused even longer. "Those were the first flowers that anyone had ever given
me. In my whole life."

Another pause. "From that point on she always had special flowers for me. All of the tables would be decorated as usual,
but there was always something extra for me. Sometimes a single flower, sometimes a bouquet. Every day, either given
in the Mess Hall, or left in my office, or in front of my quarters. Every day without fail."

McCoy was silent for a few moments. "Sounds just like her," he said quietly.

Hatcher was silent for several more moments. Then she stepped closer to the unconscious botanist. For the first time
McCoy noticed that she was carrying a small white flower.

Hatcher bent over and gently placed the flower amidst L'Naym's raven locks. After looking down at her for a few more
moments she turned and left without another word.