Many thanks to my beta, TheWindowView. She's the reason another update is ready so soon.
"What possessed you to spar with Sulu?"
Nia grinned at the question. "Oh come one, Christine. It isn't that bad."
The woman sitting next to her gaped. "Isn't that bad? Isn't that bad? Have you seen this bruise?" She gestured to the mark on Nia's shoulder that was uncovered when her new friend had seen the edge of the bruise and pulled down her collar to get a better look. It had developed overnight, possibly sooner. Nia couldn't be sure since she skipped her 'evening' meal to shower and rest.
Glancing at her shoulder, Nia winced as Christine prodded a particularly sore spot. "Yes, I have." Nia told her truthfully. It was hard not to. The dark bruise spread from the top of her shoulder across the blade to her mid back. And it was the perfect shape of a forearm. Sulu's in fact. "I already told you it was my fault, didn't I?"
"You mean besides coming up with the hair brained idea of having him as your sparring partner?" Christine snapped.
Nia snorted. "I knocked his feet out from under him at a particularly bad time. It wasn't his fault he landed on me." Again she winced. "Dang Christine, are trying to perform a full examination on me? Stop poking it, yes it does hurt!"
Christine Chapel let go of Nia's shirt and threw up her hands. Sitting back, she told her "You better be planning on going to the medbay and having Doctor McCoy check you out." She shook her head. "I still can't believe you did that."
"Seriously, it was fun and totally worth it." Nia tried telling her.
The blonde nurse rolled her eyes. "Fun? Fun? I'll tell you what's fun. Fun is sitting with a group of friends and gabbing about the day, fun is soaking in a bubble bath reading a good book, fun is playing a board game or watching a movie. Fun is not getting kicked around by someone."
"To you." Nia stressed. "Besides, he's not only sparring with me, he's teaching me how to fight, in a way." At Christine's look, Nia gave up. "Never mind, I think you would actually have to be in the fight to understand."
This time it was Christine who snorted. "Keep telling yourself that. All the way to the medbay. Don't make me come look for you during lunch."
It was then that Nia noticed Christine had finished her breakfast and was already getting up to leave. "Going so soon?" She asked, almost coy.
"Yes, I'm needed in the medbay. You finish here and then come by, ok?" Christine tried to look stern at the woman in front of her.
"I'll make my way there." Nia promised.
As it turned out, she did make her way there. After a nap.
A nap gone wrong, that is.
After breakfast, Nia had gone nearly straight to her quarters desiring to relax more before having yet another person poke her bruise. She had no trouble laying down and falling asleep. Her sleep was dreamless, as far as she could tell, and when she woke up, she felt relatively relaxed.
Until she tried to get up by pushing herself up with her arms and the muscle in her bruised shoulder completely cramped up. With an undignified grunt, she toppled back to the bed and waited for the pain to subside. It eventually did, and she slowly turned over and used her abdominal muscles to lift herself up instead.
Gingerly, she felt the muscle leading to her neck and was appalled to find it had at least doubled in size. A visit to the medbay was becoming a better and better idea. Especially once she discovered she couldn't fully stretch out her arm, not without using her much abused shoulder.
Nia sighed. Christine was going to throw a fit.
"I told you to come here after you finished eating." Was all Christine would say to her when Nia showed up at the medbay.
Despite the fact it was the nurse's attempt at a guilt trip, Nia was relieved she didn't try anything else. So maybe Nia should have shown up a bit sooner. Either way, she was there now and really, nothing else mattered.
Christine led her to an examination table and had her sit upon it. Then she left for a moment, and returned with a gentleman a moment later.
"I'm Dr. McCoy. What's the problem?" He asked, not spending time to be polite before using his medical tricorder. He frowned slightly, then turned to say something to Christine. She left.
During this time, Nia just watched the doctor. His dark hair was just a bit tussled, something that reminded Nia of how her friend often forgot the state of her hair when working. His medical uniform was pristine, though. Something that was also often the case with Wena.
Nia sighed. "My shoulder." She finally answered his question. "I can't seem to stretch out my arm without having the muscle seize up, so I might have pulled it or strained it."
The man snorted, and Nia continued.
"I've also bruised it."
He stepped up behind her and pulled the collar of her shirt lightly to one side. He whistled appreciatively when he saw what was the top of the bruise.
"How large is the bruise?" He asked.
"Extends to my mid back as far as I can tell."
He nodded. "Well, you'll have to take off your shirt so that I can see the rest of it."
"Yeah, I figured." She told him. "The only thing is I can't life my arm too well, so I'll need a little help." It was a good thing she'd opted for the sports bra that morning. Even with a doctor, anything else would have felt too intimate. This way it was just like a workout.
He paused for a moment, then turned and called out "Nurse Chapel!"
"Yes, sir?" Christine asked when she arrived, handing Dr. McCoy a PADD that he must have asked for. She glanced at Nia.
Nia gave her a grim smile and spoke before McCoy could. "I need help taking my shirt off."
Understanding lit up her face and she looked at McCoy to confirm.
He nodded and gestured to go ahead, while reading the information on the PADD.
Christine stood in front of her, and Dr. McCoy stood behind. The nurse delicately help lift the hem of Nia's shirt over her head and pull her uninjured arm out of the short sleeve. Then it was just a matter of sliding the shirt over the injured shoulder and down. She then folded it and left it on Nia's lap for when she would put it back on.
While this was happening, McCoy asked "So you're Paladian? Not often one of you comes across my table."
Nia chuckled. "What gave it away? My white hair, surprisingly pale eyes, or the above average body temperature?"
"All of the above. Besides the bruised shoulder, have you been experiencing any other trouble?" McCoy asked. He didn't elaborate any further.
"You mean like overheating, dry skin and scalp, or lack of sweating?" Nia asked, cheesy smile on her face.
He gave her a look and answered "All of the above."
She rolled her eyes. "No, not unless you count going stir crazy a health issue."
"Is that how you managed to get this bruise?"
"Yes." Christine said and at Nia's glare she busied herself in another part of the med bay.
McCoy caught the glare and rolled his eyes. He gingerly touched the bruise along the edges, testing out the tenderness, and ran the tricorder over the area with his other hand. While doing so he couldn't help but notice the odd shape. "What did you do? Ask someone to beat you up?"
"No," Nia responded, fighting to keep from sounding petulant. "Not exactly."
"It was a yes or no question, darlin'." McCoy growled.
She yelped as he prodded a particularly vulnerable spot on her back. "Is it standard procedure for medical personnel to poke an injury to see if it hurts?" She asked dryly. "If you wanted to know, you could just ask." She said over her shoulder.
He just scowled at her and touched yet another sore area.
Realizing the torture might just end sooner if she told him what he wanted to know, she filled the 'good' doctor in on what happened and how she sparred with Sulu. "Towards the end of the sparring match, though, I did something foolish."
"Act as the mat for Lt. Sulu?"
"No," she said slowly, annoyed. "I knocked his feet out from under him, not taking the time to notice where exactly he would fall. That 'where' happened to be directly on top of me. I think it would have been worse if I hadn't rolled."
"Alright," he said and stood up. He retrieved something from a drawer behind her. "This should work, and the bruise will be gone by tonight. Paladians aren't exactly common patients, so I don't know how effective this will be."
"What will be? Oh." She hissed as a cool gel was spread over her bruise. "Oh. I don't feel any pain anymore."
"Good." He began working the gel a little deeper into the muscle of her shoulder.
Nia could feel the muscle loosening up and sighed. He may be lacking in bedside manner, but he knew what he was doing. A random thought crossed her mind.
"Say, do you happen to know what time it is?" She asked.
"1300." He replied.
"Oh. Well, I'll be eating lunch later than usual." She wondered if her usual companion would notice her absence. Probably not.
The doctor snorted. "What, you have a lunch date to get to?"
Nia shook her head. "No, just a usual companion. I doubt he'll notice my absence though."
At this Christine walked over, knowing it was time to put Nia's shirt back on. "He?" she asked quietly.
Nia caught on. "Yes, 'he'. Are you a gossip, Christine?"
"No." She said.
"Yes." McCoy said at the same time.
Chuckling, Nia told them "It's a great arrangement honestly. I read my books, he reads whatever he has on his PADD." With her shirt back on, she carefully stretched out her arm. "And from now on, I don't think I'll be able to eat carrots anywhere in his vicinity. At least, not raw ones."
"I don't want to know." McCoy stated and walks away.
Christine grinned. "Well, I do."
"Silent table. Crunchy carrots. Need I say more?" Nia told her.
Christine just looked at her confused. Nia shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. So, Nurse Chapel, am I free to go?" Nia asked as she jumped down from the table.
The blonde just rolled her eyes and shooed her out of the med bay.
Nia looked around the hallway outside the med bay briefly. Might as well eat. Turning on her heel, she heads in the direction of a lift to take her to the mess hall.
She stepped off the lift and was almost to the mess hall, when she passed a familiar blue shirt.
He almost walked past her when he paused. "Doctor Sargent?"
Nia paused and turned. "Yes?" She responded.
"Are you well?" He still hadn't turned around, but had merely turned his head so that all she could see was his profile.
"Yes, quite." She wasn't sure if she should say anything else, so she didn't.
He nodded once and continued walking.
Brushing off the slightly odd encounter, Nia walked into the mess hall. She obtained a turkey sandwich from the replicator and looked around for a place to sit. Obviously her usual choice was not an option today. However…
"Sulu, how are you today?" She grinned and settled next to him at the table. Across from her, one of his fellow crew members also ate. He appeared to be of similar standing as Sulu, both sporting the yellow uniform of command staff. She smiled at him briefly before turning to Sulu again. "You aren't sore from your double sparring match, are you?"
The lieutenant smiled. "A little. Less than you I'm sure." As he spoke he was eyeing her, surely noticing her ease of movement.
"That is true, or would be if I hadn't just been under the hands of a miracle worker in the med bay."
"Ah." Sulu said in understanding.
The young man sitting across from her suddenly held out his hand. "Ensign Pavel Chekov, ma'am."
Nia gripped his hand firmly. "Doctor Niniane Sargent, though I'd prefer it if you would call me Nia or Sargent."
Sulu spoke up. "Sargent here is the one who requested to spar with me yesterday."
Chekov grinned at her. "I hear it, you were thrown like ragdoll."
"Oh yeah." She said "I hit that mat so many times, I now have intimate knowledge of the taste, touch, and smell of it. And tomorrow I imagine the intimacy will increase."
Chekov turned to Sulu, eyes raised. "You are fighting again tomorrow?"
"Twice a week, right Sargent?"
"That's right."
Chekov shook his head, and muttered something about crazy females.
Hearing him, Nia decided to call him out. "Oh come on, it isn't like us 'crazy females' have much of a choice, now do we?"
He looked up at her surprised, and a little embarrassed she had heard him.
Still smiling, she continued "After all, with all the images of bad-ahem" she coughed to get the point across as to which word she meant "women that the media pours into the minds of young men, we women have to live up to the hype now, don't we?"
Sulu snorted as Chekov's blush deepened. "Don't tease him, Sargent." He told Nia. "He'll think you are being serious."
"Oh, but I am." She said, trying to play it up and suspecting she was failing miserably.
Chekov finally recovered, and sputtered "You say you are tough female?"
"Yes." She answered, wondering if she was going to regret this round of teasing.
"Prove it."
Oh yeah, she was going to regret this.
Half an hour later, McCoy stared at her as if she was growing a second head in front of him.
"Let me get this straight, you left the med bay, after being treated for an injury resulting from sparring with Lt. Sulu, went to the mess hall to eat lunch, and instead lifted weights to prove yourself to Ensign Chekov?"
Sheepishly, she looked at her toes. "Well, not instead. I ate first. Then lifted weights to prove myself to Chekov."
"How did you do?"
"I'm not human."
"That well?"
"Until I dropped the weights on my foot."
Nia shifted uncomfortably. She might be stronger than the average human male, but she lacked the coordination to pair with that strength. Even her foot didn't take well to over two hundred pounds being dropped on it.
R&R please. I'll even take the bad. Oh and that challenge issued in the first chapter? That prize is still available :)