Tegan Chronicles STV Style 3:

What's Left of the Flag 23

"Dr. Kiser."

"Tuvok." She stopped walking and turned to face him. She had been avoiding him since returning to duty. If she was honest with herself she had been avoiding him since waking up from her coma. She would have been content to continue to not have to interact with him for the rest of her life but that was a rather hard thing to do on Voyager.

It wasn't that she didn't like Tuvok, she found him quite interesting and complex. It was his intuition that bothered her. She was certain of all those aboard Voyager, he would be the one to see past her façade and realize that everything wasn't alright. Her rational side knew she should seek help, but she was never rational when it came to herself.

"I have been meaning to talk to you for some time." He held his arm out for her to continue walking and fell into step with her.

"Yes, I…" She was going to lie to him and tell him she had been meaning to do the same but she hadn't. She had been hiding from him in every possible way. The only reason he had found her now was she was leaving sick bay at the end of her shift. "I'm sorry Tuvok."

"I do not understand." He stopped walking. "What is it you feel you must apologize for?"

"That I put you through that." She didn't know how else to put it.

"Your guilt is illogical. You did not cause that to happen to me. In fact I was the first one chosen."

"But if I hadn't fought back."

"The outcome would have been the same." He reached out and did something he very rarely did, he touched her forearm lightly. "I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" She almost scoffed. "Whatever for?"

"For saving me." He pulled his hand back.

"But I didn't save you."

"By not dying, you saved me. You endured more than I would have thought was possible for a human." He paused not sure how to broach the next subject with her, in the end he decided to let it go. "Please, if you need to talk, know that I am available."

Tegan nodded her head. "Thank you Tuvok."

She had gone into the galley to find it empty. Neelix had promised to let her fix dessert in peace that night before dinner service started up. She was glad to find he had cleared out of the mess hall altogether. She was almost done, when he came in, all she had left to do was cut the pies.

"Oh there you are." He smiled as he walked into the kitchen. "I've wanted to talk to you, but we never seem to get a chance when other people aren't around."

She looked up at him as she started slicing into the key lime like pies she had made using a tart fruit they had found on a planet recently.

"I wanted to ask why you did that?"

"Why I did what?" She finished with the last pie and started cleaning the knife.

"Why you volunteered?" He shuffled his feet without advancing.

"No reason." She lied. "I figured it might be an adventure and I love adventures."

"You knew I was going to volunteer."

She pressed her thumb into the sharp tip of the knife until it breached the skin. "I'm not a mind reader Neelix."

"You saw me."

Her eyes fluttered shut as she pressed harder still. She opened them and looked at him. She didn't like lying, but right now the truth was harsher than the lie. "No, I didn't."

She dropped the knife and it clattered on the floor stopping him from arguing the point.

"You're bleeding."

"I cut myself." It was the blunt and basic truth.

"You should go take care of it, I'll clean up." He bent to pick up the knife as she maneuvered by him.

She currently hated dermal regenerators and all the other technology that fixed everything. She especially hated the EMH right now, who was nosier than any human she had ever encountered. Despite her protestations he had wandered over and was peering over her shoulder. "You're bleeding."

"Thank you Dr. State-the-obvious." She grumbled.

"Let me do that." He reached for the dermal regenerator but she turned away from him. "What did you do anyway?"

"I cut myself in the galley." She muttered.

"That doesn't sound like you."

"It was an accident." She shrugged. It's not like I intentionally did it, right?

"Like I said, that doesn't sound like you." The doctor groused.

"Accidents happen." She closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath rather than flash her eyes at him. Of course that was exactly what she was doing under the cover of thin flesh lids, just as she had done after Tuvok had found her in the hall the day before and when the knife had punctured her thumb. She felt a hand void of warmth clamp onto her shoulder and she twisted her head to its owner, snapping her eyes open.

"I'm sorry did I hurt you?" The doctor lifted his hand and stepped back. "I thought your shoulder was better."

"You didn't hurt me. It is better." She laid the dermal regenerator aside as the holodoctor picked up his medical tricorder. "You startled me. That's all."

"Hmmm?" His lips flattened.

She stepped around him.

"I would like to check you over." He protested her leaving.

"I'm fine." She grinned without pausing in her progression toward the exit. "It was just a minor cut."

Tom stepped onto holodeck two. "Computer run program, what the…"

"Program not found." The computer informed him as he ran up to the lithe redhead who was jerking uncontrollably on the floor of the holodeck.

"Tegan?" When he received no response he tapped his badge. "Doctor I need you on holodeck two, now. Tegan's seizing."

"I can't transfer the hyposprays I need to treat her. I'll transport you both to sickbay." His fingers danced across the console's screen before a shimmering light deposited the still seizing Tegan and Tom in the center of the room. He walked over and looked down at her for several seconds before running the tricorder over her. "Just as I suspected, her potassium is low."

"Are you going to do something for her Doc?" Tom asked even as the EMH stepped away and picked up a hypospray and a vial with a bright yellow liquid in it.

"I suppose I should." He stated calmly as he knelt down and pressed the injector to her neck before he pushed the button to deliver the appropriate dosage. It was a mixture of potassium and an anticonvulsant that he had been working on. He hoped he had finally gotten the right proportions so the potassium wouldn't damage the skin at the injection site. He straightened up and waited the minute it took for her body to tense one last time before relaxing. "I need you to help me move her to the bed."

It was an hour later when Tegan gasped lightly and opened her eyes. The doctor turned and stepped up to the edge of the biobed. "How did I… nevermind."

"How did you end up here?" The doctor wasn't going to let her off so easy. "You had a seizure on the holodeck." He let his eyes rove her body as he examined her apparel of shorts, a tank top and tennis shoes. The ball chain around her neck did not go unobserved but he knew it was almost as much a part of her as her biomechanical arm. "What were you doing on the holodeck? You were covered in sweat when I beamed you and Tom here."

Tegan closed her eyes for a second. "I was rock climbing."

"You haven't been taking your potassium and then you go rock climbing." He shook his head. "And here I thought you were smarter than that."

She sighed. "I guess you checked my replicator record?"

"If I told you I hadn't, would you try and tell me you have been taking it?" He watched her sit up and toss her legs over the edge of the bed.

"What good would lying to you about it do?" She offered no excuses or apologies.

"Exactly, and I haven't told you that you can go yet."

"I'm fine doctor. I had a seizure which you treated and I'm good to go." She smiled.

"Hardly." He shook his head. "What am I going to do with you? You need to take your potassium supplements every morning."

"I will." She promised, if only to get him to let her go.

"I'm going to start monitoring them again," he warned.

"I understand."

"I will go to Captain Janeway if this becomes an issue."

"It won't. Now can I go?"

He had barely finished nodding before she was out the door.