Capítulo 59: Lifesigns: Part Two
Chapter 60: Lifesigns: Part Two.
Bini Filters's POV
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I stood near the entrance of sickbay as security detail, not that anyone really needed it. But, Denara, The Doctor and Kes stood around her really body trying to fix her. I heard the door slide open to reveal Micheal coming in. He moved past me and leaned against the wall smugly.
"What are you doing here?" I asked in annoyance. Micheal pointed to the rug burn on his nee but didn't move forward to speak with the Doctor. He simply joined me in watching them work.
"I'm going to try stimulating your motor neurons. Well, the nucleus cuneatus appears to be functioning normally. And now for the anterior thalamic pathway. Excellent. By the way, Denara, I've been meaning to tell you." The Doctor commented.
"Yes?"
"I'm romantically attracted to you and wanted to know if you felt the same way." Micheal and I dropped out our jaws and Kes looked at the Doctor in horror as Denara opened her mouth to speak but was unable to.
"Oh lord that was awful!" Micheal whispered to me.
"Is something wrong?" He finally asked. I turned around and faced the wall, trying to not say a sarcastic comment that would make this more and more awkward than it already was.
"No, I-I-I" Denara stammered out.
"Did you understand what I said?"
"Yes."
"Well?" He asked.
"Doctor," Kes finally spoke up. "Maybe now isn't the time to-"
"Excuse me, Kes. I was speaking to Denara."
"I think it's best if we keep our relationship professional."
"Oh. I'm going to try simulating the posterior sciatic nerve." The Doctor said, immediately because he just got rejected, hard. I knew that my shift ended very soon so it couldn't hurt to leave early. I elbowed Micheal and told him to follow me. We left sickbay heading immediately to Sandrine's.
---40 minutes later---
The news of the Doctor's rejection spread throughout the ship, mostly because Micheal had a blabbermouth and told everyone as soon as we entered Sandrine's. We sat at a small table, eyeing Tom as he sipped his beer. The holodeck was scarcely populated. It was easy to overhear conversations since we had nothing else to do.
We watched as a distraught Doctor appeared in the holodeck, making his way over to Tom quickly, catching Tom's immediate attention.
"Doc. What brings you here? Is somebody sick?" He asked with concern.
"Actually, Mister Paris, I was looking for you."
"Oh. Well, pull up a chair." Tom said, gesturing to the chair in front of him.
"Mister Paris, I assume you've had a great deal of experience being rejected by women."
"Oh, thanks a lot, Doc." Tom snapped sarcastically. The Doctor didn't seem to get the clue and kept talking.
"What I'd like to know is, what does one do to recover from the unpleasant symptoms of romantic rejection?"
"Why the sudden interest in romance?" Maybe Tom hasn't heard the news.
"I can't tell you. It's a matter of doctor-patient confidentiality.
"Ah. All right. Well, let's see. Sometimes there's not a lot you can do to get over a woman you really care about. I remember when Susie Crabtree dumped me back in my first year at the Academy. I broke out in hives. Couldn't get out of bed for a week. I almost failed Stellar Cartography. I walked around in a daze for the rest of that year. Of course, the first one is always the hardest to get over." He explained.
"I see."
"But, eventually, you start thinking about her less and less. Until finally, without realising it, she's not on your mind anymore."
"So, the symptoms do subside over time?"
"For the most part. But every now and then, even years later, something reminds you of her. A certain smell, a few notes of a song, and suddenly you feel just as bad as the day she told you she never wanted to see you again. If you want to know the honest truth, Doc, you never completely get over a woman you really cared about. Wait a minute, Doc. We're not talking about you, are we?" He connected with surprise.
"I told you, it was confidential."
"Oh. Boy, you've got it bad like Chakotay."
"Like the Commander? What do you mean?"
"He is obviously in love with the-Nevermind. Look, Doc, I don't mean to intrude, but if you tell me what's going on, maybe I can help."
-----
(One hour later)
Kes's POV
I entered sickbay after checking the plants in the hypnotics bay. Denara was sitting on one of the Biobeds.
"Hello, Kes." She greeted.
"Are you feeling all right?" I asked.
"I'm fine. I'm just waiting for the Doctor."
"Oh."
"He's been gone a long time." She added.
"You really like him, don't you? Then why didn't you tell him that you felt the same way when he told you that he was attracted to you?" I asked.
"I don't know. It all happened so fast. He just blurted it out."
"He's very blunt. You shouldn't take it personally."
"How could he possibly have those kinds of feelings about me?"
"Maybe because you're a compassionate person, a brilliant doctor, you appreciate his humour. Should I go on?"
"Please don't." She begged.
"One thing you're not very good at is accepting a compliment. The next time someone has something nice to say about you, maybe you should just take them at their word and feel good about yourself." Denara said, gesturing to her real body.
"It's not easy to feel good about yourself when you're used to living your life like that."
"Denara, I can't pretend to know what your life's been like. But I do know there's nothing sadder than a missed opportunity. Maybe what you and the Doctor need is to spend some time together, alone." I suggested.
-----
Bini Filters's
"You are in denial and it is my job to make sure you get over yourself. You aren't looking at the positives here." I argued with Micheal after an hour.
"I am not in denial! I just don't want him as my dad!"
"Fine. Would you prefer Neelix?"
"BINI!"
"I am being serious!"
"Mommy has standards! She wouldn't date Neelix!"
"What about Suder?"
"NOPE."
"Chakotay is the best choice for your Mother."
"I am not arguing that but I do also not agree with you."
"That was the stupidest thing I have ever heard coming out of your mouth."
"Ouch."
"Sorry. It's the truth."
Micheal ignored me and we shifted our attention back to the conversation.
"It sounds to me like she might just be shy. I think you scared her off." Tom said.
"I did?"
"Your approach is all wrong."
"Well, what would be the right approach?"
"Women like romance. They want men to make an effort, take them someplace special."
"Where would I take her?"
"Come with me, Doc. I've got an idea."
-----
Ensign Micheal Jonas's POV
(Doctor's personal log, stardate 49504.3. Inaugural entry. Kes and Mister Paris have conspired to get Denara and me alone together in a place Paris considers romantic. I've never felt more uneasy.)
"Oh, boy, am I glad to see you!" I exclaimed. Trying to ignore her odvious black eye from a punch. "I wasn't even sure if they were giving you my messages."
"I've got them all, Mike. You've been very helpful."
"Do you know what they're asking me to do?"
"You mean about the warp coils? I was thinking you could do it by forcing the magnetic constrictors out of alignment."
"Look, Seska, I don't mind feeding you information, but if you're planning some kind of attack-"
"I have no intention of raising my child on a Kazon ship." She interupted harshly. Referencing when she used Chakotay's DNA to impregnate herself and use it against the Voyager crew. (AN: Dummy me forgot that happened earlier.) "One way or another, I'm going to take Voyager. You can either help me, or you can suffer along with Janeway and the others. Don't worry, Mike. Everything's been planned to the letter. Here's how it's going to work. We'll be waiting for you on a planet called Hemikek Four."
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Denara's POV
(Doctor's personal log, Stardate 49507.2. The more time I spend with Denara, the more my programming continues to adapt. I look forward to perfecting my romantic skills once we've completed the synaptic transfer.)
"Set the delta band frequency of the holo-emitter to seven terahertz."
"Seven terahertz." Kes reported as we stood over her body...my body.
"Wait a minute. Did you administer the cervaline as I instructed?" The Doctor asked.
"Five hundred milligrams every four hours."
'I don't understand it."
"What's wrong?" I asked, knowing fully well what was wrong.
"The brain, your brain, it's rejecting the graft. We can't go through with the transfer. I'm detecting elevated levels of nytoxinol."
"Where could that have come from?"
"Is it possible you made an error? Administered nytoxinol instead of cervaline?"
"No, I don't think so. But here's the hypospray I used. Check for yourself.'
"You're correct. It's cervaline. Has anyone else been in Sickbay during the last twenty four hours other than you and Denara?"
"Crewman Foster came in for some analgesic, and Ensign Wildman was here for her regular prenatal visit. Why?" Kes asked.
"Because if the nytoxinol was not administered by accident, I can only conclude that someone is deliberately trying to kill Denara."
"Who would want to kill her?" Kes inquired.
"Perhaps someone who bears ill will towards Vidiians. Whoever it is, I intend to find out. I'm calling Lieutenant Tuvok."
"Please don't do that." I begged.
"We have to find out who's trying to obstruct your recovery." The Doctor cut in.
"I administered the nytoxinol."
"Didn't you know it would kill you?"
"You mean kill her." I corrected.
"She is you."
"Was me. I don't ever want to be her again! What are you doing?"
"Looking for the cervaline. I have to reduce the rate of tissue rejection before it's too late."
"Kes, would you excuse us?" I asked. Kes nodded and hesitantly nodded before leaving sickbay. "I don't want to go through with the transfer."
"If we don't get your neural patterns out of the holo-buffer, you'll be brain dead in a matter of days. I can't let that happen."
"I'd rather live two more days like this with you, than go on for who knows how long wasting away a piece at a time." I continued to argue.
"It's my duty to keep you alive."
"I thought you were more than my doctor. I thought you were my friend."
"I am your friend." He replied.
"What kind of friend would ask me to go on living like this? And for what? So that I can go back to a world where everyone I ever loved has died? Where almost everyone I meet is going to die?" I yelled in anger.
"You're a doctor. You can help them."
"I can't help them. I can't cure them. All I can do is prolong their suffering. Just like you want to do to me now."
"Denara. I have no desire to see you suffer."
"Do you know what it's like? Do you?"
"No, but-"
"What it's like to be a nine year old child, and suddenly your best friend doesn't want to come to your house anymore. And when you ask your mother why, why won't Mala come and play with me anymore? And she tells you it's because, it's because the other children are afraid of you. Listen to me. Before I met you, I was just a disease. But now, everything's different. When people look at me, they don't see a disease anymore. They see a woman. A woman you made. A woman you love. A woman you're not afraid to touch." I explained to the best of my ability.
"Denara, I was never afraid to touch you."
"Why? Because you're a doctor?"
"Because I love you."
"You say that now. But if I go through with the transfer-"
"If you go through with the transfer-?"
"I will be sick again, and ugly."
"Denara, you're not ugly. You're simply ill."
"Oh, please. Stop patronising me! I know how people see me." I yelled.
"Denara, do you think if you go back into your own body, I'll feel different about you?"
"Won't you?"
"Listen to me. Nothing could ever change the way I feel about you. Not a few scars, not some diseased skin. Nothing."
"You have given me the most extraordinary gift that anyone has ever given me. You, you brought me to this ship where no one is sick and people are friendly. You've made me healthy and beautiful. I don't want to go back to the way things were."
"You said before you knew me that you were just a disease. Well, before you, I was just a projection of photons held together by force fields. A computerised physician doing a job, doing it exceptionally well, of course, but still it was just a profession, not a life. But now that you are here and my programming has adapted, I'm not just working anymore. I'm living, learning what it means to be with someone, to love someone. I don't think I can go back to the way things were, either. Denara, please. Don't die." He begged.
"I want us to be together."
"So do I."
"But if you put me back in that body, I'll have to go home and help my people."
"I know. But we'd still have two weeks together before we reached your colony. Denara, please, be with me for as long as you can." He pleaded. I finally nodded and backed away.
"Get it over with already."
-----
The Doctor's POV
I was waiting in an empty Sandrine's. The door creaked open and the real body of Denara Pel entered. Looking back at me nervously. I stroked her cheek and guided her to the dance floor.
"Computer, play music programme Doctor Alpha."
We started to dance.
---End of Chapter 60: Next: Art Gallery/Short Story---
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