Disclaimer: CBS/Paramount still owns all rights to Star Trek and the characters established on the shows. Only the story and original characters are mine.

Author's Note: Once again, I'm sorry for the delay in updating, we have a new puppy in the house and he requires A LOT of attention.

After showering and donning a fresh uniform, Icheb went directly to Sickbay because his right arm and shoulder were still painful. Upon entering Sickbay, Icheb went straight to Todd's office to find Lindbergh's CMO sitting at his desk. Icheb's first impression was, his friend seemed to be rather tired. "Todd, are you okay?"

Todd looked up, "Good morning Icheb, actually I had a rather bad night. Threm and I were both unable to get to sleep until early this morning. Can I do something for you?"

"Yes, I, um, well, I slept on Naomi Wildman's couch, and she was sitting on my lap at the time. My right shoulder and arm are still painful. I thought once I got moving, my arm would loosen up, but it hasn't."

The doctor grabbed a tricorder and scanned Icheb's shoulder. "You have a moderate muscle strain. Follow me." Todd led the way into the main Sickbay, "I'll give you a hypospray for it, but you should really do some serious upper body stretching for better results." Todd put his hand up, anticipating Icheb's response, "I realize it isn't practical for you to get away for a good workout right now, since you're basically in command."

"How is the Captain? I assume you've checked on her recently."

"Yes Commander, I am a competent physician, I don't just medicate my patients and then let them fend for themselves." Todd let out a sigh, "Sorry, Icheb, I'm a bit punchy this morning. I checked on her early this morning, and she seemed to get more beneficial sleep than either of us last night."

Icheb was rotating his right shoulder, testing the effectiveness of the hypospray. "From all appearances, that wouldn't be hard. Were you and Threm arguing last night? Why were you up so late…wait, maybe I don't want the answer to that question."

"No, it's fine, we were just both feeling the effects of the current situation with the Captain and Dr. Bashir. Every now and then the cosmos has a way of slapping one in the face with painful realities. Threm and I are both in a dangerous profession, and could lose the other at any time and without warning. Why were you holding Ensign Wildman all night, if I may ask?"

"Basically for the same reason, she had a nightmare about me being in the same situation as Dr. Bashir and couldn't get back to sleep. She actually dreamt that I had died."

Todd put his hand on Icheb's left shoulder to offer his support, "Poor Naomi, no wonder she couldn't get back to sleep."

Once Todd was satisfied with Icheb's reaction to the injection, he told Icheb he was fit for duty, but that he really should try and make the time to loosen the muscles in his upper extremities.

When Icheb arrived on the bridge he was pleased to see the Captain wasn't there yet. He hoped she was resting in her cabin. T'Phir, Lindbergh's Science Officer addressed him before he could sit in the XO's chair, "Commander, Captain Dax wants to see you in her ready room as soon as you arrive on the Bridge."

Icheb walked to the door and waited for the Captain to admit him to her ready room, which was done almost instantaneously. She was working on the console on her desk, she glanced up at him, "Have a seat Commander, I'll be finished here in just a moment."

He sat silently waiting for his Captain to finish whatever it was she was doing. After a few moments, she deactivated her console and focused her attention on her First Officer. "Icheb, I want to thank you for taking over for me when I was…well, in shock. I know it's your job, but I wanted you to know I appreciated the effort both you and Todd put forth."

Icheb was surprised by the Captain's overt appreciation. Ezri wasn't usually so effusive in her praise. "You're most welcome Captain, how are you feeling this morning?"

"Better, thanks to Todd's magic hypospray. I slept straight through to this morning. I've already talked to Julian this morning, he and the EMH are trying to determine which pathogens are the most to blame for his extreme reaction. He's still feeling pretty lousy, but at least he isn't unconscious anymore."

"That's good to hear. What's on the schedule for today?"

Ezri looked at her First Officer, "Not much really, since we are rather idle right now, I wanted to ask you to take over for me again today. I think I could use some time to further adjust to Julian's situation."

Icheb smiled, "Of course Captain, besides, if you aren't on the bridge, you and your husband can have a bit more privacy during your discussions."

Ezri returned Icheb's smile, "You're very astute, that's one of the benefits I considered before deciding to take the day off."

"Rest assured Captain, I'll take good care of your ship."

Dax stood up, and said in a mock formal tone, "I stand relieved."

Icheb stood up and follower her out onto the bridge. She announced to the bridge crew at large, "Commander Icheb has the bridge." Without any further ado, she entered the turbolift on her way to a relaxing day in her quarters.

Several hours later, Icheb was wishing he could have taken the day off as well. Orbiting Cold Station 12 with nothing to do was extremely boring. T'Phir broke the boredom, "Commander, we are being hailed by CS12's EMH."

"By all means, put him on the viewscreen."

The familiar bald pate and cleft chin of the EMH appeared on the viewscreen. "Commander, I wanted to update you on our progress so far."

"Please, go ahead."

"We've just received the results of my tests, and it will take several hours to sift through all the data, but at least we now have a starting point."

Icheb was nodding at the screen, "It's always good to have some place to begin. How is Dr. Bashir doing?"

He was answered not by the EMH, but Dr. Bashir himself. Julian had been visible in the background, but now stepped into the foreground, "I'm doing as well as can be expected. I'm experiencing a wide variety of symptoms, some of which are rather unpleasant. Commander, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Doctor."

"How's my wife holding up? I've talked to her a few times today and she seemed better, but I wanted to get your opinion."

Icheb heard the turbolift doors open, but didn't give it a second thought. "She seemed to be doing rather well when I saw her this morning."

Out of his peripheral vision, Icheb saw Naomi making her way to one of the science stations on the bridge. He wasn't surprised to see her on the bridge, he knew that the Astrometric department was busy doing some much needed updating of their system and charts. He was however surprised when he heard her say in a rather loud voice, as if asking the entire bridge crew, "Who's the lady scanning Dr. Bashir?"