199 Fragrances in the Wind

By Lieutenant Dr. Terasha
and Ensign Warren Dalca
80304.12

Time: Current

-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-

Sickbay had quieted down. When Warren entered, it was tentatively. He was more than comfortable working with doctors, but for something as intensely personal as the reason for his visit, the less eyes on him, the better. His pheromones were certainly flaring now, having seen Nimue again after such a long time, but if Warren remained calm, it should have the same effect on anyone in close proximity. Assuming no other emotions got in the way.

"I am water. I am serene. I am a placid, boring... body of water that isn’t a lake." Yeah. Lakes were a bad idea. All lakes led back to Nimue, now. Her glistening skin in the orange light... *Mind off it! Mind off...! Baseball. Borg nanites. Kal-toh. Tellarites!* There. That worked.

Terasha heard the doors open and she sighed quietly. She had only two patients, but the traffic in and out of sickbay to see those two patients, had been like a place on Earth called Grand Central Station.

Warren Dalca had entered, appearing uncomfortable to be there. Terasha studied him for a moment, her antennae beginning to twitch uncontrollably. Something about him wasn't right. She was oddly on edge and she didn't like it.

"May I help you, Mr. Dalca?"

"I certainly hope so," he replied with a crooked smile. "I believe the radiation that affected February Grace, may have led to... lesser complications for myself."

Dalca wiped the sweat from his brow. It was profuse. "I'm in need of far more than a cold shower, if you..." he looked around and lowered his voice. "If you understand my meaning. I... it's in my records, but I've been taking treatments to suppress my pheromone secretion and this disruption has caused them to fail and now I think my body is... over-compensating."

Terasha understood now, why her antennae were twitching madly, and why sickbay felt so warm all of a sudden. Closing her eyes and taking a deep, cleansing breath, she opened her eyes and focused on her duty to Dalca.

"I can check the Deltan medical database to see if there's anything that covers this situation," said Terasha, her voice even and controlled. "If there isn't anything there, we'll have only two options. The first is to increase your radiation therapy and simply wait for your body to detoxify and return to normal. In that case, you'll probably need to be excused from duty and remain in your quarters. The second, is we work together to find something new. For that, you'll need to remain here for extensive testing and research. Even in that, there's no guarantee we'll find anything."

"Just run the tests," he snapped. Blinking, Warren sat down on a biobed. He was shaking over the effort of maintaining control. "Sorry, Doctor. Not myself."

"I understand," said Terasha in a tone she hoped was more reassuring. *Neither am I, it seems.*

Warren studied her cool gaze, thankful the Doctor was weathering this so gracefully. "I want a short term fix, for now. I don't want to be pulled from duty."

"I'll do what I can," said Terasha, as she began a deep scan with her medical tricorder.

"Thank you," Warren said, watching her move around him, arm steady.

She put her other arm out, hand on his shoulder to still the shaking, and the security officer studied her slender wrist, and looked back up at her face, really seeing Terasha for the first time. He closed his eyes, his expression tortured. "Not good. Not at all good."

"What isn't good, Mr. Dalca?" asked Terasha as she continued the scan.

"I pride myself on being professional, Doctor, but just now, I looked at you and..."

Terashs realized she had placed her left hand on Dalca's shoulder to steady his shaking. It had been an instinctive reaction, as touch was often a beneficial aspect of medicine. Of course, in this situation, it made things worse.

She quickly removed her hand.

There was an awkward moment of silence, as Terasha's left antenna began to twitch slightly. She subconsciously wiped her left hand on the side of her uniform.

Warren gripped the cushion beneath him, knuckles whitening. "You may wish to put me into isolation for the duration."

Terasha noticed Nurse Kathy moving towards them, a big smile on her face. Apparently, Kathy had finished her last task and was coming to see if she could lend a hand. Having her there probably wouldn't be a good idea.

"Kathy, take a coffee break," said Terasha sternly. She glared at the nurse.

Kathy stopped in mid-stride, as though she was a remote-controlled toy and someone had pressed the stop button, a questioning expression on her face.

"Doc?"

"A coffee break."

Kathy stared at Terasha, then at Dalca, then back at Terasha.

Shrugging her shoulders, she sighed and walked away.

"Isolation is a good idea, Mr. Dalca. Please follow me." Terasha led the Deltan to another biobed and instructed him to sit.

"Computer, erect a level three isolation field." There was a quick flash and a low hum that lasted a second. "I'm going to my office to analyze these readings and consult with the Deltan medical database. Don't go anywhere until I return." As she walked away, she tried to loosen her collar.

"Scout's honor." He held his hand up in oath. He looked around the room. "Is there a periodical or a book or something? It'll help." He smiled innocently, though his eyes were still telling a different story.

"Ask the computer to display something for you to read on the console next to the bed," said Terasha from her office.

Dalca was probably joking, but the way she felt, Terasha wasn't in the mood for jokes. She understood the affects Deltans could have on others, but she was angry for allowing herself to be affected. She was a professional and should have been above something like that.

It also reminded her of how much time had passed since she had been with a man.

Her antennae drooping forward, Terasha activated the medical database with a large and deep sigh.

Lt. Doctor Terasha
Chief Medical Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012

and

Ensign Warren Dalca
Security Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012