by Dr. Lance Hartcort and February Grace
81104.16
The day after Straight On Till Morning
-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-
81104.16
The day after Straight On Till Morning
-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-
February had just finished dressing in the comfortable clothes Dabin had brought for her. She tied the string around the waist of her pink sweats as Dabin gently helped her into her favorite pink Converse shoes.
*Ready to go home?* Dabin asked.
"Dude, I am so beyond ready...* February smiled, feeling much better now that her new medications were working. The lightheadedness and unsettling heart palpitations she had been dismissing as simply part and parcel of being pregnant were apparently not; and now that she was on the right treatment, they were finally gone.
They both looked up as they heard footsteps approaching.
"OK. I think you can go back to your quarters now." Lance said as he pulled the curtain aside and looked over the most recent medical scans.
"You've stabilized nicely. Both the baby and the symbiont are doing well." He patted her on the arm.
Trill pregnancies, much shorter than those of humans, were a marvel to all of Federation medicine.
The evolution of the species had progressed to the point of extreme efficiency in procreation; partly due to the fact that there was just not a whole lot of room in there for a baby if the Trill female in question was joined to a symbiont.
Babies born to joined Trill were also smaller than those born to unjoined females, and had a tendency to be born prematurely as well. Again this was due to the demands of both the baby and the symbiont on the host's body.
Lance was certain that Reece and Grace understood these facts in a unique way- having both had children as joined Trill before and retaining the memories of those experiences through their symbionts. Still, he took the precaution of reiterating the danger signs to watch for that would indicate that she needed to return to Sickbay immediately.
He was happy to tell them, though, that his honest opinion was that as long as she followed directions and stayed on the prescribed medications, the rest of her pregnancy should be blissfully uneventful.
"Going forward you'll need to limit your exposure to stress and over exertion. That's not to say you lie around like a loaf of bread. I still want you to take walks and get mild exercise. Just keep it low impact. In any case you're off active physical duty for the next few months."
He saw a chagrined look cross February's face.
"However, your Commander Blane seems to think that being off duty for that long of a stretch would be bad for your mental health, so he will be putting you to work with the Stellar Cartography Department." Lance smiled. "I was against it originally but Commander Blane can be quite, convincing, and he scares me."
February laughed. "He's a keeper. Mind you, he scared me so bad when I first met him that I couldn't even talk to him. I thought for sure the man believed I was a complete idiot. Now, he's family."
"So I am OK'ing it with the provision that it is strictly a desk job," Lance continued, "in your quarters. Also weekly check ups with your digital CMO." He looked at Bru and Dabin as he sat on the end of the bed.
"Any questions?"
"Ooo, me." February raised her hand politely. "Does that mean I can continue working on the flight training simulator program for the Alchemy that I've been designing?" she asked hopefully. "Flying her is quite different than flying the Serendipity. You have to..."
"The Alchemy?" Lance raised an eyebrow. "What's the Alchemy?"
*Uh oh.* February thought to Dabin. *What did I just do?*
"It's...a work in progress." Dabin answered. "Just answer this, since she can do desk work for Stellar Cartography is there any reason she can't do desk work for Engineering?"
"Don't see why not. Desk work is desk work."
February's eyes lit up. "I am so excited about this. I didn't have enough time to work on it with all the extra bridge shifts I was pulling. This is going to be a very good thing."
"Well I'm glad to hear it." Hartcort announced. "Happy mommies make healthy babies. So it's a good thing all around."
February extended her hand to him. "Thank you for all you've done to take care of us. You've got a great bedside manner."
"Yeah," Dabin added, "We're very lucky that you were here."
"Right place at the right time." Lance smiled. "Some things are just meant to be. Now business aside.” He tossed the PADD onto an open bed. “Tell me about the nightlife on this boat. You see I agreed to go to this conference thinking that it would be a working vacation type of thing but I got saddled into having to actually work.” He rolled his eyes.
"Man, don't ever let them sell you the 'working vacation' line." Reece warned. "It's a trap. Look at me. I showed up on the Independence last year to evaluate one person for promotion. Next thing I know, I'm here on the Serendipity with a wife and a bun in the oven."
"Hey!" February pouted.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that!" Dabin quickly amended.
"Well it's not that I mind helping you folks out or anything like that, please don’t get the wrong idea. Lord know I don’t want Mr. Blane to think I was neglecting you or anything. I think he’d stuff me into the trash recycler.” He smiled his patented, charming smile.
“I just need to relax. You know get a good meal and meet different people. Female unattached type of people…” His voice trailed off as he let the hint waft on the air.
February's eyebrow elevated. "I see. Well, then I would recommend that you look up an old friend of mine. Name of Trick London. He manages Illusions lounge. He should know the lay of the land so to speak better than anyone when it comes to available women on the ship..." February reddened, thinking that once again she could have chosen better words for her statement.
"Yeah, you tell him Reece is buyin' you dinner so order anything that you want. He can hail me if he wants to confirm." Dabin said, wanting to show his thanks for Lance's patience with him the night before. "I recommend the seafood."
Lance smiled. “Seafood it is. I'll tell you what instead of a meal send me some photos of your baby girl when she comes into the world nice and healthy. Then we’ll call it even.”
"Dinner, and pictures." February decided, nodding with finality.
Lance stood up. “Trick London is the name?”
"That's the man." February said, taking Dabin's offered arm as they headed for the door. "Thanks again, and enjoy your time off. You've certainly earned it."
"Activate Long-term Medical Hologram." Lance commanded, and a moment later the Photonic he'd been told went by the name of Dalton McKay appeared.
"Please state the nature of the..." McKay began, then paused and sighed. "I have got to talk to that Lair Kellyn about gettin' me a better openin' line."
------------------
LT. Commander Lance Hartcort
CMO USS Revolution
(Guest Starring on the Serendipity)
and
LT. SG February Grace
(Off the clock but still working!)
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
NRPG: There is nothing cannon about Trill pregnancies. Believe me I've looked. I have no idea if it was ever mentioned in some novel somewhere, but if it was I didn't know of it and so I'm wingin' it on my own here LOL~
LT. Commander Lance Hartcort
CMO USS Revolution
(Guest Starring on the Serendipity)
and
LT. SG February Grace
(Off the clock but still working!)
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
NRPG: There is nothing cannon about Trill pregnancies. Believe me I've looked. I have no idea if it was ever mentioned in some novel somewhere, but if it was I didn't know of it and so I'm wingin' it on my own here LOL~