Chapter Six

"Don't worry about me," Walker insisted as Bashir ushered him into the cabin. "Head wounds always bleed a lot; just give me a rag to clean up and I'll be fine." He wrapped an arm around Alex as she rushed to his side.

"True," Bashir acknowledged, "but just because it probably looks worse than it really is is no reason not to give it proper treatment. You definitely need more than a rag to clean it; that thing's claws were filthy, and you don't want to risk an infection that close to your eye."

"Walker, please!" Alex begged.

The Ranger sighed. "Okay, fine," he gave in.

Dr Bashir nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Alex, why don't you wipe off some of the blood with gauze from the first aid kit while I get my instruments?"

"Come sit down, Walker," Alex nearly cooed.

Walker shook his head at the needlessness of her fussing, then put a hand to his temple at a moment's diz ziness. Maybe after all it wasn't a bad idea to let the doc tor check it…

"All right, let's have a look," Bashir said cheerily.

"It's just a scratch," Walker insisted.

"It could have been worse," Bashir acknowledged, using Alex's gauze to finish sponging the blood from the wound. "A lot worse, if it had been half an inch closer to your eye. But it looks like the bleeding has mostly stopped, so let's get this cleaned up." He injected a mild pain re liever, knowing the Ranger would refuse if he of fered, but not liking his color or the slightly tenseness around his eyes.

A moment later, Walker winced only slightly as Dr Bashir swabbed the wound with antiseptic.

"There we go. A couple minutes with the dermal regenerator and you'll be all set."

"That's not necessary —"

"Maybe not, but it would take me longer to give you stiches and a bandage, and I might as well do things thoroughly while I'm at it."

Walker offered no further protest, and the doctor began running the instrument over the cut.

Behind him, Bashir heard Gage coughing again, the cough sounding different to his professional ear. No longer as hollow as it had been earlier, he thought this time it might actually be accomplishing something.

"Dr Bashir!" Sydney cried, alarmed by the rougher sound.

"Help him sit up," Bashir instructed without turn ing from his delicate task.

Walker attempted to shift his head away; Dr Ba shir's left hand steadied it firmly. "Don't bother about me; go to him."

"He's not in any distress," Bashir assured him. "I'll check on him in a minute, but I can finish this first… There! Good as new!" He laid a hand on Walker's shoul der as the Ranger started to rise. "Better just sit for a few minutes," he warned. "You didn't lose a whole lot of blood, but it won't hurt you to rest a little. Alex, why don't you get him glass of water?"

As Dr Bashir turned toward the cot, Sydney was holding a cloth to Gage's mouth, and looked with relief to ward the doctor's approach. "He's coughing stuff up," she whispered.

"Any blood?" the doctor questioned succinctly.

Sydney shook her head.

"Then that's good," Bashir assured her; "he needs to get all that out." He rested a hand lightly on Gage's forehead. "Well, and how are you feeling?"

Gage smiled weakly. "I've been better."

"I'm sure," Bashir agreed with a chuckle. "Your tem perature's nearly back to normal, which means there's no more active infection." He seated himself be side the cot. "I know your ribs are still sore from your wounds, so it might be hard to tell, but do your lungs hurt when you take a deep breath?"

"Yeah," Gage admitted, "think so…" He coughed slightly and winced, rubbing his side.

"That the spot?" Bashir questioned, letting his hand rest for a moment beside Gage's.

Gage nodded, and Bashir slipped the tricorder's transponder into his ear. "All right…I'm just going to lis ten and see what's going on down there."

He found himself wishing he had the equipment for a full chest scan as he moved the instrument over Gage's chest and back, several times asking him to take deep breaths or cough, and occasionally lightly thumping his chest in various spots. He should have done this earlier, he berated himself, and reminded himself firmly that he hadn't forgotten or dismissed the exam as unnecessary. He had simply triaged the wounds as needing more im mediate attention, and then when he had been about to do a more thorough examination, he had been interrupted by the urgent threat of the bear.

"There's some congestion in your right lung," he said finally, avoiding the word pneumonia now to keep from alarming Gage or Sydney more than the situation war ranted. "It should clear up on its own now that the infection's taken care of, but I'm going to have you in hale some medication to speed up the process a little and help avoid complications."

He fit a vial into the slot on the portable respirator, then adjusted the settings before slipping the mask over Gage's mouth and nose. "All right…I know it might hurt a little, but I need you to breathe that deep into your lungs. In…and hold it…now out…slowly…and again." He rested one hand lightly on Gage's ribs as he coached him, feeling his chest expand and the slight hitch that told the doctor the exact second it became painful.

By the third deep breath, the gentle rhythm and the soothing monotone of Bashir's voice had Gage drifting to sleep, but his breathing remained deep and even, and the doctor was satisfied that the medication was still do ing its job.

He scanned his patient once more, checking that none of the wounds had broken open and started bleed ing again, and verifying that the volume of pseudoheme had been low enough not to adversely affect his kidneys.

"He'll be all right now," he assured Sydney with a smile, clipping the tricorder back onto his belt; "he just needs to rest."

Next chapter coming next week!

******Remember if you want email notification of this or any other stories/authors you follow, you must now OPT IN on your account EVERY SIX MONTHS!*****

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have only minimal internet access, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. (But they are much appreciated, even if you're reading this story long after I originally post it!) If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie