80922.21
Concurrent with A Thousand Reasons
-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-
Sitting on the edge of the exam table, February Grace swung her feet nervously.
She hated doctors.
More specifically she hated medical examinations; there were some people she had met in the past who happened to be doctors who were wonderful beings. It was the getting poked and prodded that she truly disliked.
She had reason to.
She'd been poked at more than most initiates while she was at the Symbiosis Commission before joining; due to being one of the youngest ever accepted into the program.
Then after she was joined with Grace, her medical problems had become immediately, and painfully, evident.
It had taken a good long while and in the end a trip to Trill to sort out exactly what was wrong with Grace. Once the truth was uncovered and the proper treatments put into place, the host, and symbiont, had begun to thrive again.
It wasn't until after her Zhian'tara, thought, that February and Grace had really become one, rather than just parts of a whole slung together.
The ship's new CMO, whom Bru had yet to meet, entered through the closed curtain and greeted her.
"Hello Ms. Grace, it's my pleasure to finally meet you."
"Nice to meet you as well, Doctor. Though I admit I would have preferred to do it someplace else."
"Oh?" Hubbard made a note of her discomfort at her surroundings. "You dislike Sickbay?"
"Intensely." February responded, quickly seeking to change the subject. She was given ample opportunity to do so the moment T'Dara stuck her head in and handed one of those familiar green gowns to Hubbard.
He turned and without fanfare, set it on Grace's lap.
"Oh, come on. You mean I really have to wear the gown?"
"Yes, sadly the gown adds to the control we exert over patients. It's juvenile, but we're a twisted lot."
"Harrumph." Bru complained, as Hubbard stepped beyond the curtain to give the illusion that she would have a moment's privacy from here on out. She knew full well that concept was simply a facade.
"Any health issues you want to bring to my immediate attention?" Hubbard asked, as she changed her clothes.
"Nope."
"Nothing at all? Everything is just fine?"
"Yup." When she finished changing, she opened the curtain back up. In her haste to get this business over with, she kicked off her pink high tops and neglected to move them out of the way, causing Hubbard to nearly trip over them upon his return. She cringed. "Sorry."
He began to scan her with his tricorder. "Heart, lungs, all look good." He moved upward. "I read Reece's report on your telepathic abilities and the comments that the Betazoids made regarding them. Fascinating reading."
"Yeah, that's me and Dabin. Just fascinating." February tried to steady her hands, which were now beginning to shake from nervousness.
Hubbard scanned upward to the top of her head. "No headaches? What about your eyes?"
Apparently, Bru surmised, he had done a lot more reading about her than she had realized. "They bother me a little when I get really tired." She admitted. "Headaches come and go. But again, usually stress or exhaustion is at fault. Nothing I can't live with."
He nodded and began scanning her abdomen. "Symbiont readings all fall within normal..." he paused suddenly. "Hm." Hubbard added, his tone non-committal.
"Hm good or hm bad?" February bit her lip anxiously.
"Hm that depends." Hubbard replied. "I don't mean to pry, Lieutenant, but you are in a committed relationship?"
"I am Mrs. Dabin Reece. We got married last year." February puzzled over the question. "Why?"
"I was just confirming my facts for your file." Hubbard replied, again, his voice not at all indicative of whether her exam was going well, or poorly. He looked up at her momentarily from the panel. "Have the hiccups started yet?"
"Hiccups?"
"Yes. Have you had any bouts of hiccups recently?"
"Now that you mention it," February thought a moment. "I was having lunch with Vol Tryst yesterday. Delightful man, I don't know if you've met him yet. I just adore him."
Hubbard bristled. "The counselor? You adore the counselor?"
"Absolutely. He's so much fun and..."
"Yes, I've met him." Hubbard interrupted. "About those hiccups, where, when and for how long?"
"Well, as I said we were having lunch yesterday, and after we split a ginormous piece of chocolate cake for dessert he told a joke and I laughed until I got the hiccups. They lasted a few minutes. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?"
"Not at all. In fact it makes perfect sense." Hubbard replied.
He moved back toward Bru, looking her in the eyes.
"As Grace should well remember, when the symbiont has to move out of the way to make room, it presses up and against the host's diaphragm. This becomes more apparent as time goes on and can be controlled with antispasmodics. So when the hiccups become uncomfortable or prolonged, just come see me and I'll fix you right up." He turned back to her chart on the computer and made some more notations.
"Thank you, doctor that's very kind of..." her voice trailed off, and she held up an inquisitive index finger. "Wait a second. Make room for what?"
"For the baby."
"Oh, of course, for the." Bru stopped, her blue eyes growing larger by the second. "Yeah, um, what?"
"There are a number of options and considerations open at this point, considering your condition- there are more personal questions and more in-depth machinations to explore, but we need your consent."
February's hands instinctively moved toward her abdomen, hovering just above it.
She was afraid to touch it.
Suddenly, she missed Dabin more than she could believe, acutely aware just how far away he really was.
She put her hands down on the biobed, at her sides. "There must be some mistake."
"No mistake." Hubbard assured her. "Would you like to know your child's gender?"
"Not yet, not, until he, I mean, I can't be. I mean we weren't, I mean," She stammered.
Hubbard came closer, lowering his voice. "Lieutenant Grace, is there a reason that you are surprised by this development? If the pregnancy is unintentional, or unwanted..."
"Unwanted? Are you kidding me?" Tears filled her eyes, and she shook her head. "Wanted, very much. But wise? I don't know. Reece and I accepted certain...consequences of our decision to Reassociate. One of those, I have always believed, is that it wouldn't be fair to bring a child into the situation."
"Apparently, Destiny has another opinion." Hubbard replied, patting her gently on the shoulder. "Tell me, February Grace, how do you think your husband will react?"
"I think he'll..." February laughed through her tears. "Be singing at the top of his lungs. It will be very entertaining, I guarantee it."
"And you?" Hubbard questioned her gently, "Are you happy about this?"
Tears fell down her cheeks as her hands finally came to rest on her still-flat middle. She looked up at the doctor, about to speak, when suddenly; the silence was broken by another, unexpected sound.
She started to hiccup.
She laughed, then hiccupped again as she dried her eyes. She nodded.
"Yes," she answered resolutely. "I am very, very happy about this."
Hubbard smiled. "Well I'll put you on the normal routine and route information to your quarters that you can process at your leisure-should you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to contact me. I'll put you on the normal appointment schedule."
He stepped back and smiled again, "I'm very happy for you."
Lt. SG February Grace
Senior Flight Controller
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Lt. Commander Jack Hubbard
Chief Medical Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
NRPG: Yes, I made the hiccup thing up myself; it made perfect sense to me and there is nothing cannon on Trill pregnancies to work with so I'm wingin'it here.
I promise you all in advance: no lame childbirth sequences.
I'm morally opposed to them.