"I have to regenerate! Take care of her!"
Seven of Nine stormed into the sickbay again, scaring the night crew. The little girl was again in her arms, but this time she was peacefully sleeping, wrapping in a blanket.
"But Commander!" started to protest the leader of the night shift. "This is the medical department of the ship, not a nursery!"
"Since there is no nursery on this ship, you could take care of her, while I regenerate. It is not recommended to interrupt the regeneration cycle, I cannot take care of her while I am regenerating. You have time. She's sleeping anyway."
"We have our work too, we can't take care of your child!"
"This is not my child" Seven stated coldly. "She is just an anomaly. But if you haven't got time, Computer! Active the emergency medical hologram!"
"Please state..." the hologram started, but couldn't finish, because a child was put into his arms.
"Take care of her, while my regeneration cycle is running."
"I have knowledge of more than a hundred species of medical data, but nobody thought of provide information about childcare!" he said, and pushed the child back into her biological mother's arms.
Seven muttered to herself that although they had changed the EMH's appearance, its nature had not.
Stalemate.
Seven of Nine and the angry medical crew glared at each other. None of them wanted to let go.
Suddenly, a young nurse stepped out of the wall.
"Give her to me, Commander! I'll take care of the little girl."
"Zimt, don't be crazy!" whispered one of the nurses.
"Zimt?"
Seven was staring her for a while. She was a good-looking, smiling young white woman. Her hair was brown, and she wore in the same style, like the Commander. But her eyes… Her brown eyes reminded Seven to someone else. The Doctor. Again.
"What Zimt?" she forced herself to ask.
"Only Zimt."
"Don't you have other name?"
"No" she shook her head. "My parents died in a shuttlecraft accident, I was the only survivor. There was no data of my existence, and I couldn't say my name, just Zimt. So I became Zimt. My foster parents had a lot of little ones, I know how to take care of them."
Zimt reached for the little girl. Seven hesitantly gave her the sleeping bundle.
"What's her name?" Zimt asked, when the girl was in her arms. She held her in a perfect way, as Seven would never have been able to. She knew undoubtedly how to take care of children.
"Elle" she moaned out the little girl's name with great difficulty. Until now, she had never tried to call the little one by her name. She was only child or girl to her.
"Nice name!" Zimt smiled to the Commander. "My shift is over, so we will be in my quarters. Please come for her, after your regeneration cycle is complete."
Seven could only stare at the young woman. She was so professional.
"Deck five, cabin 32" She informed her, and left the sickbay with the sleeping girl.
Seven was alarmed that the EMH was scanning her.
"I recommend you to regenerate" he told her politely.
"I know!" she answered irritated, and walked toward the door.
"Don't even bother turning me off!" the EMH cried after her.
"Computer, turn off the emergency medical hologram" she said, and walked out of the sickbay.
On the way, she even remarked to herself that the new EMH was much more annoying than the original.
Seven' regeneration cycle lasted longer, than usual, thanks to the disturbing events of the previous days. When it was complete, she found Zimt and Elle in her living room. They were eating peacefully. Zimt were talking to Elle, who was laughing cheerfully.
"Good morning!" Zimt greeted her.
Elle didn't say a word to her. She didn't even smiled for Seven. She became finally used to the refusal of the woman.
"Sorry, I used your replicator rations for a few things" Zimt informed the Commander.
Seven noticed a big pillow under Elle, and a strange thing next to the nurse.
"Toys and the breakfast" Zimt added.
"What are you eating? She is very picky. She doesn't eat anything."
"Porridge with fruits. It seems she likes that."
It was inevitable. Elle spooned the porridge with good appetite.
"Would you like some?" Zimt asked her, and Seven nodded.
The nurse gave her an adult sized portion. Seven sat down next to Elle, and tried the porridge. It was really yummy. But with her at the table, the conversation was frozen. Zimt noticed immediately. Observing the mother and daughter pair further, she recognized some disturbing things.
"You don't like Elle, do you?" she asked softly, understandingly.
"I..." Seven started, but she wasn't able to finish. But the pain in her eyes said it all. "She is not my daughter."
"Biologically she is yours."
"But her father embraced another woman to have her!"
"So you are simply jealous. But that doesn't explain why you don't like the little girl. She looks a lot like you."
"But her eyes are her father's."
Zimt was waiting patiently. She felt that the last outburst of the Commander covers something crucial.
"Every time she looks at me, I saw him."
"Is it painful?"
"He refused me 20 years ago. I wanted to be with him, but he dumped me. And, after all this time, he made a baby with someone else, and send me to love her! Without warning, or saying hello" Seven was almost shrieking from pain. "I can't do this. I simply can't."
Zimt let her calm down. Elle was frightened by the outburst of her mother, so Zimt took her down from the chair, and gave her toys.
"Would you feel differently about her if he got you pregnant?"
Seven took a glance on the playing girl. She imagined being with the Doctor again, conceiving from him, and being happy having Elle together.
"Yes. Definitely" she answered finally.
"In this case, I want to show you something" Zimt said seriously. "But I think it is better, if you don't tell anyone."
"Why?"
"Because I think you have been dragged to the temporal war."
Seven looked at the young woman in confusion. Zimt gave her a notepad, and Seven immediately understood her reasons to keep the data in secret.
In Elle's datas, there were well hidden signs, that the girl came from the future.