Prompt: Edward Monclair - "As I was being hauled out, I realized that every one of them had put lives' on the line for me." - 'When Calls the Heart'
He opened his eyes slowly, the ache in his head getting worse as he woke up. He remembered the doctor giving him something for the headache but it either hadn't worked or had worn off. The lights of sickbay had been dimmed and Gerron found himself wondering what time it was. Turning his head, slowly to keep the pain from getting worse, he made out the outline of someone sitting beside the bed.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" Dalby asked, getting to his feet as he asked the question.
"Horrible," the young Bajoran replied. He attempted to sit up and decided right away that it was a bad choice even before Dalby put out a hand to restrain him.
"The doctor told you to take it easy, remember."
"I think I do, but it seems a little hazy," Gerron replied. "Everything seems kind of hazy," he admitted. "What are you still doing here?"
Dalby shrugged. "I guess I didn't think you should wake up here alone," he answered, trying to keep the words sounding nonchalant.
Casual or not, the words stirred up strong emotions within for Gerron. Emotions that he didn't want to deal with but that he was having a hard time pushing aside this time. Perhaps it was the poison from the plasma still in his body. Whatever it was, the young Bajorn swallowed hard as he stared at ceiling, trying to will away the tears that he felt building up in his eyes.
"Hey, was it something I said," Dalby joked, even as his hand reached out to take hold of Gerron's in a gesture of familiar contact that was unusual for both of them.
"I'm sorry," Gerron said, his voice shaky. "It's just the only person who has ever sat by my bedside was my mom and that was a long time ago," he told him.
"No, need to apologize," Dalby assured him.
"You all put your lives on the line for me today. Even Tuvok, and I was convinced he hated me."
"Nonsense. Vulcans are incapable of emotion remember."
"Wish I was right about now," Gerron replied, reaching up to wipe a few stray tears away, embarrassed by the show of weakness.
"I think all of us in the Maquis have felt that way before, even me. Then I remember that it is our emotions which drove us to fight for the cause, whatever our reasons, in the first place. As for us risking our lives for you, we'd all do it again, just like you would for us. Just like you have before this."
"It just feels overwhelming right now."
"You've been through a lot today. It'll be easier to deal with after you've rested," Dalby assured him, giving the hand he still had a hold of a reassuring squeeze.
Closing his eyes, Gerron focused on the pressure against his hand, trying to comprehend how anyone could ever think he was worth risking anything for.