Hey guys! Oh my gosh, I've been so busy lately! Last night we threw a birthday party for my little sister, and this morning we did one for my little brother! Aunt Leslie helped with both of them, so that was good. And I got to make a tie-dye shirt and a little wooden racecar! Now I finally have time to write.

Chapter Eight: Small Sign of Caring

Omal

Nurse Omal called the other nurse into the room. When he arrived, Rassi beheld a very active Kira. She kicked and yelled and flailed her arms around as Omal tried to attach the restraint straps. Of course, this was impossible to do to Major Kira, who had always been a fighter by nature, conscious or not.

"Help me!" Omal commanded. Rassi rushed to Kira's side and tried to keep the patient's frantic movements minimal as Omal attempted to hypo-spray Kira's neck. However, Kira wasn't about to allow that and kicked violently, landing a forceful blow on Rassi's face. She repeated this twice more until Rassi was out cold on the floor.

Omal was shocked and gave up on the hypo-spray for now. She checked Rassi and propped him up on the wall nearby as she thought. What were the odds that every other nurse was off duty? Omal went through the list of every Deep Space Nine nurse she could think of, but none of them were anywhere near close enough to help at all. And who knew when Doctor Bashir would show up?

Desperate, Omal looked around. A frightened Garak met her gaze, but she looked away. Never would she, a proud Bajoran, disgrace herself by asking a Cardassian for help. But Omal was just barely able to keep Kira from hurting herself or someone else and needed help from someone quickly. Garak was closest, regrettably.

"You!" Omal screamed above Kira's yells. "Come here and help me!"

Garak was shocked. "Me?" he inquired, pointing to himself.

"Yes!" Omal shrieked. "Who else is here?"

Garak was up and by the bed in a heartbeat. He took this opportunity as an excuse to stand up. Having seen Rassi's fate, Garak immediately flattened Kira's legs against the bed and strapped them securely in place. Kira was subconsciously frustrated by this and punched her white-knuckled fists even harder.

One of Kira's not-exactly-aimed blows came directly toward Garak's face, but he caught it with his own hand, which was shockingly even paler than hers. Only one arm left, and Kira somehow coordinated it to work on prying the other arm free. With none of Kira's limbs attacking her, Omal was free to activate the hypo-spray. Kira's body once more fell limp, and most of the needles on her adjacent screen dropped a good ways down their corresponding meters. The audible pulse issuing from the screen also slowed to a normal rate, and both Omal and Garak sighed in accomplishment.

Together, they fastened the rest of the restraints, just in case she woke again. As they were finishing up, Omal uttered halfheartedly, "Thank you, Garak. I couldn't have done all that by myself." Garak was surprised at even this small sign of caring. No Bajoran had ever so much as bid him hello since the Occupation. Now a Bajoran asked him for a favor, and thanked him afterward? Remarkable!

Garak stuck out his hand and said, "Don't mention it." Omal hesitated just a moment before shaking Garak's hand. Just then, of course, who should enter the room but Doctor Bashir. A great lot of good that did them now.

Bashir

He couldn't believe his luck. Just after Bashir left the meeting, he was summoned to the Infirmary. Unfortunately, the Infirmary was quite a ways from where the meeting had been held on the station. The long journey had tired him, but he was eager to know what the fuss was about. When he entered the room and saw Omal and Garak shaking hands, plus Kira strapped to her bed, no longer on life support, all he could say was, "What have I missed?"

Omal mostly explained everything to Doctor Bashir, but Garak sometimes added a detail that she missed. Rassi was treated as well and brought around intentionally. "Ooh," he complained as soon as he sat up. "That Kira doesn't need to be awake to kick butt, I suppose."

"She was born tough," Omal added. "She's not willing to go down without a fight."

"Which is good," Garak expressed, now forced back on his bed, "because if she didn't battle to stay alive every second, she would have died long ago." Everyone turned toward Garak, knowing that he was right but wondering how he knew.

"Some people would give up in their unconscious state, slip into an easy death instead struggle to remain in a painful life," Garak continued. "But we all know Kira wouldn't do that. She knows that she has something to offer, something I can't remember for some reason. She's helping herself to help us."

Bashir, Omal, and Rassi were stunned that even Garak could produce such thoughtful and truthful words. There was a silence until Doctor Bashir said, "That reminds me, Garak, that I have a test to run."

"Please do, Doctor, so that I can escape this place. Really, it could at least use some redecorating, perhaps a new color on the walls. . ." Garak went on and on about how the Infirmary should look until Bashir knocked him out for the examination.

Sisko

Before Sisko had the chance to contact Winn, he heard the "Red Alert" noise blaring and O'Brien's voice yelling, "Sisko to Ops, emergency!"

Immediately, Sisko started towards Ops. What could be going on? As Sisko explored this question mentally, his thoughts were interrupted by Doctor Bashir's voice over the intercom saying, "Sisko to Infirmary." However, since there was no detectable urgency in that request, Sisko kept going to Ops. He was almost there anyway.

As soon as Sisko arrived in Ops and glanced at the giant screen, he knew what the problem was. "Sisko to Bashir. Doctor, I'm not going to be able to visit the Infirmary today."

Bashir sounded confused as he asked, "Why, sir?"

Sisko's sullen response was simply, "Because right now I am looking at a fleet of Cardassian warships right outside the station."

Oh my goodness, there's a lot going on in this story! I can barely keep it all straight, so kudos if you can! Hmm, I can't think of anything else to add to my author's note. So I'll put the answer to Riddle 2, on my profile. Drum roll please. . . and the answer is. . . "What would the other guard say if I asked him what was behind his door?" You see, whatever their answer is will be what is behind their door. Draw a diagram if you don't get it, that always works for me.