AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to let me know what you think!
111
"If she's OK," Beverly said, "then I don't think that I need to stay in sickbay."
"Beverly," Jean-Luc scolded, "this isn't the time to be a poor patient."
They had lost five of their people, total, and five had survived. That fact created a very odd sensation across the entire ship. It was a sensation that nobody ever talked about, but they all experienced.
There was sorrow for the loss of those who died, happiness for those who survived, and guilt for both the survival and the happiness.
The Enterprise's orders had been to turn back toward home after the temporary medical personnel had done what they needed to do in sickbay and had returned to other ships where they could help with the wounded Merobians. By the time the temporary medical personnel left the ship, Beverly had assured and reassured Jean-Luc that she was fine and, just in case, would remain absolutely still on her biobed until it was her turn to be examined, so that he would feel comfortable doing what he needed to do for the ship. He had left her, during that time, in the care of Wesley, who kept her company while she waited until the medical staff was able to declare the state of emergency done, so that their energies could go to their less seriously injured patients. In light of the fact that she was restored to them and would recover, Deanna had rescinded her command that Jean-Luc be temporarily removed from his position as captain.
Restored to his role as captain, Jean-Luc had made a ship wide announcement about the fallen members of the Enterprise crew, and he had offered condolences their friends, families, and comrades on behalf of himself and Starfleet. Some short time later, as they set their new course, he'd made the announcement of a change in mission, and he'd explained that the R and R that they had planned would be starting earlier in light of the tragedy and Starfleet's assessment that everyone would benefit from the extra time to process their emotions and experiences.
After the ship was underway, and Jean-Luc had said what empty words he could about the losses that everyone had suffered, he'd returned to sickbay where his wife was among the five survivors—the fallen having already been transported to the morgue as soon as things had calmed enough to allow personnel to do so without any concern that they would be putting anyone in danger in some way.
"I'm not trying to be difficult, Jean-Luc," Beverly said. "If the baby is stable, there's nothing for me to do but rest. I can rest in our quarters as easily as I can here, and in our quarters, I'm not drawing any attention away from those who need more care and attention."
"Dr. Crusher can rest just as well in her quarters as she can here," Dr. Moran confirmed.
"The baby?" Beverly asked.
"Just a moment," Dr. Moran said. She was, like many of their medical team, moving in slow motion. Everyone, for the moment, was stable. The current team, which actually consisted of their best and, because of that, their most exhausted, would soon be excused to rest. Another team would come in to monitor things for a while. "Here we are…there she is."
Jean-Luc's stomach flipped. He had seen the recorded images from the scan. He'd seen the images that Beverly saved for him so that he could have them in their quarters or in his ready room—wherever he might wish to peruse them. Still, every time he saw their little one, his whole body responded with a feeling which he wasn't quite ready to pin down as any one specific sensation.
Jean-Luc couldn't really tell what he was seeing on the screen. Beverly had pointed out angles for him that he could understand on the recording from her scan, but this was different. This was only about finding out if their little one was doing as well as her mother. In the scramble, the baby had been the least of any of the medical personnel's concerns and, as long as there were vitals, they'd fully accepted that things would have to wait until they were out of an active state of emergency.
Beverly tried to sit up a little to see the screen, and Jean-Luc naturally slipped an arm behind her back to support her.
Jean-Luc listened as Beverly and Dr. Moran volleyed information back and forth about things he didn't entirely understand and, furthermore, didn't really want to understand. All he actually needed to know, he could practically tell from the feeling of supporting Beverly. He felt muscles tense and relax. He felt her sink back into him when she heard what she must have wanted to hear.
"Do you care to translate, Doctor?" He asked, smiling at Dr. Moran and giving her the floor to explain everything. He knew very well that Beverly could tell him what he needed to know but, as the woman who would be assisting Beverly in every step of this pregnancy, he liked to acknowledge Dr. Moran and let her know that he respected her expertise. After all, Beverly had chosen her as the most suitable for the job.
Dr. Moran looked pleased, though she looked quite exhausted, as well.
"Your daughter appears to be unharmed," she said. She added bits and pieces of information to back up her assessment, but Jean-Luc only focused on the most important words to him.
Jean-Luc felt an almost immediate and complete relaxation in his muscles. Beverly, too, slumped back and he let her lie down. Dr. Moran went about collecting her equipment. He imagined that everyone around him, as the adrenaline ebbed from their systems, was starting to feel as heavy and, admittedly, lethargic as he was.
All Jean-Luc wanted to do, at this point, was to be somewhere where he could lie next to Beverly. He wanted to close his eyes. He wanted to rest his heavy head and his heavy body. He wanted to feel her body against his. He wanted to smell her and taste her kiss as it still lingered on his tongue. He wanted to drift off to sleep to the sound of her steady breathing as she indulged in the sleep that he knew would help to heal her like nothing else could.
"May we—return to quarters?" Jean-Luc asked.
Dr. Moran considered it for a moment, maybe even less. She addressed Beverly, instead of Jean-Luc, and he wasn't offended in the least.
"Rest. Heal. Those are doctor's orders."
Beverly smiled at her. The smile was weak, but Jean-Luc could sense that it had more to do with exhaustion than any drain from an active injury.
"All I want to do is sleep," Beverly admitted. "And—shower?"
Dr. Moran smiled at her. She looked at Jean-Luc, then, but she continued to speak to Beverly.
"You can shower, but I'd like you do so with assistance," Dr. Moran said. "I know that the nurses were dosing all incoming recoveries with decently heavy sedatives and pain medications for their longevity. Give yourself time for them to get out of your system." Dr. Moran addressed Jean-Luc, then, though she'd been looking at him all along. "Captain—will you need a nurse to be assigned to Dr. Crusher?"
"I will be on call, so to speak," Jean-Luc said, "but my intention is to stay with Beverly while she needs me. If I should have to leave her, Counselor Deanna Troi has volunteered to stay with her. She will be well cared for. Is there anything that I should know or do to be a more effective nurse?"
Jean-Luc heard Beverly laugh quietly. The amusement rumbled low in her throat.
"For the time being, I wouldn't leave her unattended, especially if she's going to insist on trying to move around. Liquids and food will help build up her strength. She should rest as much as possible. We've healed everything at the surface level, but there will be residual soreness that should last a few days. I'm not prescribing an analgesic, mostly because she wouldn't take it, but if she feels she needs something…"
"I could prescribe it myself," Beverly offered with a quiet laugh of teasing. "I wouldn't dare take anything that might affect the baby. I'll admit, I'm not fond of what I've already been given."
Dr. Moran looked at Beverly with affection, and Jean-Luc realized how much of a friendship the two had struck up working together. The affection was returned in Beverly's eyes.
"You would have your shrapnel wounds healed without analgesic," she mused.
"For the good of my baby," Beverly said, nodding her head as the rest of her response.
"She's healthy, Beverly. What you were given, as often as you've taken it, will have no lasting effect on her."
"I know," Beverly said.
"It's only a mother's overprotectiveness," Dr. Moran teased. "Don't worry about it even a moment longer. The slight elevation in your blood pressure is more of a threat to her than what you'll sleep off soon."
Jean-Luc found himself smiling both at the doctor's teasing, and at the fact that he could truly rest in the acceptance that Beverly, and their little one, were well. All that she needed, now, was rest and care—and Jean-Luc was truly anxious to take care of her.
Beverly insisted that she could walk back to their quarters and, after a moment of debate with a tired Dr. Moran, it was agreed that she could lean heavily on Jean-Luc for support. Jean-Luc called Will on their way out of sickbay, and cleared that he would have the bridge until he passed it off to the next duty shift, unless there was an emergency or some change that Jean-Luc needed to know about immediately. Then, Jean-Luc called Wesley to update him on his mother's current condition and her soon-to-be whereabouts so that, should he decide to pay her a surprise visit, he wouldn't have some kind of nasty shock from not finding her in sickbay.
"Why are we walking so slowly, Jean-Luc?" Beverly asked, most of her weight on Jean-Luc, whether she realized it or not.
"I'm sorry, did we have a deadline for arriving back at our quarters?" Jean-Luc asked. He swallowed back his amusement, reminding himself that her head was likely swimming, whether she was willing to admit it or not, with the mixture of drugs she'd been administered since they'd pulled her from the rubble of a building on the surface of Merobi II.
Beverly sighed a deep sigh and leaned her head against him—an ounce or so more of her weight for him to support.
"I'm actually very tired," she admitted.
Jean-Luc tightened his hold on her. He didn't think that she was going to slip, but he wanted only to hold her just a bit closer to him.
"I'm certain you are," he said, "and soon you will rest in our bed. You have only to stay awake long enough for us to get you there. Do you need me to carry you?"
Beverly laughed quietly.
"I think I'll manage," she assured him.
"Are you in any pain?" Jean-Luc asked.
"Nothing worth mentioning," Beverly said.
"Which means—nothing that you won't be determined to be stoic about," Jean-Luc translated.
"It means that it's nothing unexpected," Beverly said. "All things considered. I'd just like to get back to our quarters."
"To rest," Jean-Luc supplied. Beverly hummed.
"To rest," she said. "To—be with you…"
"Our activities are, of course, going to be quite limited," Jean-Luc said. Beverly laughed quietly.
"I didn't mean that," she said.
"I didn't sincerely believe that you did," Jean-Luc assured her. "I am looking forward to having the opportunity to be quietly in your presence."
"I'd also like to avoid any company," Beverly said.
"Wesley will likely remain in his room, in your old quarters," Jean-Luc said. "And Deanna has said that she will only come if she is needed."
"I didn't mean them, actually," Beverly said. "Aren't our guests still aboard?"
Jean-Luc felt a bit jarred by the immediate reminder of the Bendalites.
"I had nearly forgotten our guests," Jean-Luc admitted. "I asked Varshi to keep Mersuka occupied and out of the way during everything that's taken place. It feels like this conflict has gone on for ages. Our course is set for home, now, so, though our guests are still aboard, they will be assigning Mersuka to someone else after our arrival on Earth."
"I hate to say it," Beverly said, making sure not to speak loudly in case, somehow, they might be overheard in what appeared to be an otherwise clear corridor, "but I'll be thankful that we don't have two weeks with her. I wish that this hadn't happened, but…"
"I understand your sentiments," Jean-Luc said. "We are a few days out from Earth, assuming there are no other problems. I'll tell Varshi that you need to rest, and you won't be able to see to Mersuka's tutelage."
Beverly hummed.
"No," she said. "I mean—yes. I do have to rest. And I will. I'm looking forward to it, Jean-Luc, the moment that I reach our quarters. But—I'll spend some time with her before we return. Two days is far more tolerable than two weeks. I'll try to give her as much attention as I can, and as much help with her project as I can. The Bendalites are a peaceful people, and they should be part of the Federation. After this conflict, they may be hesitant to join. The least we can do is do our part to make Varshi and Mersuka's visit as positive as we can, in hopes that the positive experience helps to sway the decision."
Jean-Luc laughed to himself. He wondered how much of her current thoughts were colored by the medications coursing through her system and the residual effects of a day that, like himself, she couldn't have hardly begun to truly process.
"The Federation can never say that you're not dedicated," he said. "Bathe tonight, Beverly. I'll help you. Eat. Spend time with me and sleep. Tomorrow, we'll let Dr. Moran decide what duties you're capable of completing."