Comfort Zone

Posted on Sun Mar 10th, 2019 @ 5:41am by Lieutenant Commander Aurelia Taylor
Edited on on Sun Mar 10th, 2019 @ 5:47am

Mission: Season 2: Episode 3: Determination is not always a good thing
Location: sickbay
Timeline: after "One Good Turn"
1543 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Sitting upright and instantly regretting it, Lia nodded. "Lets do it, the sooner you do the examination. The sooner I will have the answers, I hope".

"You don't want to clean up first?" Estelle wondered. "I strongly advise that you do."

"Where's your sonic shower? As for clothes, I'll use the replicator and get a Yukata and a pair of flip flops". She looked around to orientate herself, "The Yukata will also be useful for the examination, easily removed and put back on again".

Estelle had no idea what a yukata was but she figured Lia would know what she was doing. "Through this door, though it's water, newly healed wounds don't always respond well to the high intensity sound waves", Estelle said, pointing towards the showers just as she offered Lia her other hand to help her get off the bed. "Do you need help in there?"

Lia stood and thought about it, "If I need you, I scream loudly. But before I go in there, where's that bloody replicator? I'll need clean clothes to change into". Despite looking around for it, Lia couldn't see the replicator.

"There's one right in there with you", Estelle said. "Wouldn't want you streaking across sickbay, scare the engineers."

Trying not to laugh, Lia responded. "Don't want to spook the engineers, nothing worse than a spooked engineer. But what about a spooked Security Chief?" She then headed for the shower, "Hey Doc, if I need my back washed. You gonna volunteer?"

Estelle looked about for a nurse, as that wasn't usually her job as the surgeon, but everyone was engaged planetside, so she said, "All right", and followed inside. "You're still feeling stiff, unable to reach?"

"A little of both, but thanks. I also need to think about my cabin, it must be in a hell of a state". Grabbing hold of her soiled clothes, Lia stripped them off. She then placed them back into the recycle bin of the replicator. She programmed her Yukata and flip flops, then stepped into the shower. "You know, I don't know how I'd react if I could ever have kids. Maybe you could just fix it so this doesn't happen again, that's of course if you can fix it."

"I can promise you without having to examine you further that yes, I can make sure it won't happen again, and yes, you will be able to have children. There are ways other than natural birth to make sure a healthy child comes into the world", Estelle said. She ignored the remark about the messy cabin, those things could be taken care of by automated systems and weren't all that relevant to begin with. "But you're going to want more options, which I might just be able to provide." She grabbed a washcloth and some soap. This was a good opportunity to check Lia for any other marks she should know about but which weren't in the file.

"Listen, I had Doctor Bashir help with my hang ups, do you think I might have overdone it? And maybe pre-empted this?"

"Hang-ups?" Estelle wondered. "Oh, you mean about your inhibitions? Depends, what did he do to help you out, and what effects are you feeling, beyond the intended?" She ran the cloth and soap over Lia's back with an outstretched arm, trying to stay mostly dry.

Lia noticed Estelle, "Doc, if you don't want to be here then please don't force yourself. I'll just have to replicate a large loofah, and struggle". She smiled as she spoke, the pain slowly fading.

"All I want is not get wet", Estelle smirked. "But to be honest, it's usually a nurse's job. I haven't washed anyone since my first year in medical school, when my instructors insisted I had to do the tasks of nurses to know what their job is like." Which, to Estelle, made a lot of sense. "Well, outside of playful washing, anyway", she added as an afterthought. "But, I'm very pleased to see you're not one to bear any scars from your undisclosed history. While this means I'll have more guesswork ahead of me, at least there aren't any obvious unresolved issues that I'll have to unravel."

"Scars?" Lia looked horrified, "Why would anyone want scars? I should have a nice collection around now, but every time I came back with one. I'd get the Department Doctor to remove it, I even had one here". She pointed under her right breast, "Some Orion Slave girl came at me while my back was turned, got me right there as I turned back around".

"That sounds... uncomfortable", Estella made a face. "But I'm glad. I've met too many people who seem to think they need to preserve their scars as marks of honour, or some such nonsense." She paused briefly, realising Lia had avoided her earlier question, derailed the conversation, and Estelle had fallen for it. "But, please, let me get back to my earlier question. What effects other than the intended are you feeling from what Dr. Bashir has done for you?"

Estelle's question stopped Lia talking, *Persistent bugger* she thought. "What effects? What effects? Since I didn't have a normal relationship with men to start with, how would I know?" Stepping out of the shower, she grabbed the Yukata and wrapped it round her. Securing the thin Obi belt on her right hip, she then dried her self off. The Yukata hung loosely but hid what it needed to hide, once the Obi was tied this typical Japanese garment covered everything.

"You'll just have to tell me anything of note, then", Estelle said. "Or, alternatively, let me in on what it was he did, and I can ask specific questions."

Lia nodded her head, "Lets get these tests done first, and get on to that another time."

"I really think we should get to that first", Estelle said, leading her back into the main room. "You know, all things in their proper order."

Pausing for thought, Lia studied the woman before her. "How does not worrying about being naked in front of men sound? Before Bashir did his thing, I couldn't stand being naked with a guy around. Guess that's why men seemed to love doing that to me, sort of kept me quiet. But with Gary that night, it didn't matter. I led him on, I let him do what he wanted and didn't try to stop him". She blushed red as she spoke, it all sounded very tacky.

"That sounds more like the intended effect, rather than a side-effect, though", Estelle said. She led her to a different biobed, not the one being cleaned. "What did he do, anyway? Did he give you a pill, a hypospray, something to take regularly?"

"No, he talked. But he did have a little device that he placed on the side of my head". She pointed to her temple, and the three small indentations level with her eye. "Right there, still got those three dents after all this time. But for the most part, he just talked." She looked at Estelle, "Is there something you can take for that?"

"There are all kinds of causes, and of course there are all kinds of fixes for these causes", Estelle said. "I guess there's nothing for it, I'll have to run detailed examinations. Those will take time, however. So, considering we're still in the middle of an emergency planetside, how about we schedule that for the return trip to Deep Space Nine?"

Lia nodded again, "Yeah sound ok to me. It will give me time to get my Med Docs unlocked."

"That really would help a great deal", Estelle said. "I didn't just make that one up for the sake of curiosity."

"I'm not promising anything Doc, normally Starfleet Intelligence insists on five years. I've only been here two, but I'm going to use this miscarriage as a lever. Think it'll work?" Lia was trying to sound upbeat, but since both she and the Director couldn't stand one another she really didn't hold out too much hope.

"I don't know", Estelle said. "I'll make an inquiry of my own. Sometimes, doctors get what they want because we look harmless."

Laughing, she tried to answer. "Bad mistake with you Doc", Lia now began laughing more. But a returning pain made her stop, but she didn't stop smiling.

"Come, let me help you up on the bed", Estelle said. "You'll have to stay here for the time being. I have to go back down to the planet. The EMH will alert me if your condition deteriorates." She paused and sighed. "I don't want to leave now, Lia, but there are people down there who might need a lot of help, really soon." Especially if that hostage rescue didn't go to plan. And what ever went according to plan?

"Seems as if you're needed down there more, I'll survive. And make sure Liorga stays safe, I don't need anymore bad news". Replied Lia.

"Neither do I", Estelle said, heading for the door. Those past few days had provided plenty. "I will come back and check on you as soon as I can."

"I'll survive, so just get going." Sitting down on the bed, she watched Estelle leaving.