Disclaimer: CBS/Paramount owns Star Trek and the characters established on the shows and movies. The original characters and story are mine.
A few moments after Naomi closed the connection with Dr. Franklin, she and her roommate, Mary Melody, decided to go to the Lindbergh's most popular meeting place, the Mess Hall. They really didn't need anything to eat, but thought they might meet some of their crewmates, and thanks to Todd's recent communication, they might be able to elucidate the current situation in more detail for them. Icheb's announcement only hinted at what was currently happening on Cold Station 12. Entering the Mess Hall, the two women saw what they had hoped for, a table surrounded with a large group of junior officers. There were crew members from Mary's department, Engineering, and Naomi's department, Stellar Cartography. They each ordered a synthoholic beverage and joined the others at the table.
As they suspected, the topic of conversation was the current crisis. Naomi's neighbor in Stellar Cartography, Maria, was speaking, "…announcement wasn't very informative. I wonder what is really going on."
Mary jumped in, "We just heard from Dr. Franklin, and he told us what's going on." Mary paused to take a sip of her beverage, also she wanted to build the suspense before continuing. "Actually, he called Naomi, he was hoping we could use the grapevine to get the word out on the situation on CS12."
A fellow engineer looked at Mary, "Well...what is it?"
Naomi spoke up, "There's been an accident on the station."
Maria, Naomi's coworker in Stellar Cartography, retorted, "We realize that, what kind of accident?"
Mary answered the question everyone at the table wanted answered, "There was a breach in one of the storage areas. Last we heard, only non lethal strains were loose. The only person who might be affected is Dr. Bashir, the Captain's husband." The silence which greeted this pronouncement was profound.
When someone finally spoke, it was Naomi, "Dr. Franklin told me they hadn't yet heard from Dr. Bashir to update the situation." When in the company of other junior officers, Naomi was very careful to refer to the senior officers by their title, rather than their first names. She felt it was only proper not to advertise the fact she was on a first name basis with several of the senior members of the crew.
A young male Andorian engineer named Shras asked Naomi, "Do you think you could use your influence with our First Officer and learn if there has been an update?"
Naomi blushed, she didn't know Shras well, and it was embarrassing for him to speak in such a casual manner about her relationship with Icheb. "Umm… well, I think Commander Icheb is probably rather busy right now. I don't think it would be appropriate to disturb him while he is on duty."
Mary had an evil glint in her eye when she said, "She only likes to disturb him when he is off duty." Much to Naomi's horror, most everyone at the table started laughing at her expense. She made a mental note to herself to yell at Mary when they were back in their quarters. The slight blush resulting from Shras' statement turned to a bright red blush. Mary seemed to realize she had embarrassed her roommate and she turned to Naomi, "Naomi, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You know me, I don't stop to think before I speak. I should really work on that."
Naomi tried to put a hint of humor in her response, "Yes, you should." She wasn't entirely successful.
On the bridge, Ezri was still speaking to her husband on the viewscreen, "What measures have you taken? Have you administered medications to ward off the pathogens?"
"Of course, I've administered broad based antibiotics and antiviral hyposprays. I've taken all the proper precautions, don't worry." Julian was doing his best to reassure his wife. He arranged his face to reflect his most charming smile. "I am a qualified doctor, you know."
Ezri smiled at her husband, "Really, I didn't know." Her lighthearted jab made Julian's smile broaden.
Suddenly the smile vanished from his face and his eyes rolled back. Without warning, Julian collapsed and was no longer visible on the viewscreen. Ezri leapt out of her chair and screamed, "Julian!" She was so focused on the viewscreen, she didn't hear what was going on behind her.
Icheb activated the console next to his chair. "Commander Icheb to Cold Station 12."
"This is CS12, what can we do for you Commander?"
"We were just in communication with Dr. Bashir and in the middle of the conversation, he collapsed, I believe he has lost consciousness."
"Thank you for alerting us, Commander, I am initializing the EMH now."
The Captain was still standing, staring transfixed at the viewscreen. In the far corner of the viewscreen, a bald man appeared, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency. Oh, I see, I assume the unconscious man is the emergency?"
Icheb addressed the EMH, "Yes Doctor, please tend to him."
The EMH began walking toward Julian's position. Icheb closed the channel and the viewscreen went back to displaying their immediate surroundings.
Ezri whipped around, "Why'd you do that?"
"I thought the EMH might like to treat his patient in privacy." He once again opened a channel to the station. The console next to his chair immediately showed a young Denobulan woman, "Commander, our computer indicates the EMH is treating Dr. Bashir."
"Yes, he is. I'm curious why one of the most advanced medical facilities in the Federation is equipped with a Mark I EMH?"
"Don't worry Commander, he has been upgraded, and is current with the EMH used elsewhere. One of our previous directors thought it was funny using the Mark 1's template as our EMH, and we just never changed it since it is rarely if ever activated. The program was only installed in the storage areas as a precaution."
"You say he's current with all the up to date medical information."
"That's right, the EMH may be merely a precaution, but that precaution would be useless if he didn't have the latest information."
"Then Dr. Bashir is in capable hands?"
The Denobulan woman smiled, "Most definitely."