Nikki Wakes Up
Posted on Thu Jun 11th, 2015 @ 6:31pm by Lieutenant Commander Ophelia Payne & Lieutenant Commander Solis & Lieutenant Commander Earl Crane
Mission:
Further Challenges
Location: Piper Medical Center
Piper Medical Center
Solis had done his damage in the gym, shredding more than one punching bag. While it had eased his rage, it had done nothing to help him figure out why Nikki had picked now to play her little game. It was like the woman had some sixth sense and knew he was happy and settled, compelling her to destroy it. If she had found him here, then she must know Julisa was also here and just didn’t care. Solis was finally where he wanted to be and with the woman he considered his mate. He’d almost lost her for good on Betazed but Ehlana’s intervention had saved her. He sure as hell wasn’t going to let Nikki ruin it.
After the gym he had gone home, showered, dressed for duty, and kissed Julisa soundly. Now, he entered Piper Medical Center once more and asked Kiere to call both Earl and Ophelia to his office.
Ophelia reached him first and stepped in. Solis’ simmering anger hit her hard and she passed by the desk to the replicator. “Hot chocolate, extra caramel,” she ordered. The mug appeared and she carried it back to Solis. “Drink.”
He gave her an appreciative smile. “Everyone’s right, you are an angel.” He took a sip and closed his eyes.
“Thanks Solis.” Ophelia still watched him rather carefully, “Earl will be here in just a minute.”
Entering the office, Earl was surprisingly calm, though a hefty dose of guilt was coming off him. "How did Julisa take this?"
“Better than expected,” Solis lowered his mug and looked up at Earl. “My nuts are still intact. Sorry Ophelia.”
She smiled for a moment. “No need to apologize, I’ve seen plenty of roasted nuts. I’m glad yours are not among them.” She turned to Earl now. “What’s wrong?”
"Hmm? Oh, nothing, nothing," he said, though his body language made it clear something was up. "Ah, 'phelia, could I have a minute with Solis? Alone?"
“Certainly.” She stood and moved back to the door. “You have about fifteen minutes till she wakes up. I’ll meet you down there.”
Once she was gone, Solis turned his attention to Earl. “Alright, spill it. I can see something’s got your drawers in a twist. What is it?”
"You know I have a son? Julian?" Earl made eye contact with Solis and waited for his answer.
‘Sure. We met a few years ago, remember? Is he alright? Has something happened?” Solis frowned as he studied Earl. “What?”
"He's Nikki's great, great... some number grandfather." Earl didn't mention the logical conclusion there. He looked embarrassed.
Solis was dumbstruck. He heard the words Earl had spoken, and the translator was working just fine but somehow they just didn’t make sense to him.
“Huh?” was all he could manage.
"Yeah, I know, stunning, isn't it? Somewhere along the way, my genes created a physical beauty like that one. Too bad..., bah." Earl shook his head, making his hair stick out a bit. "Talked to Julian last night. That's how I know."
It took several more seconds for this bit of news to process. “She sure as hell didn’t inherit yours or Julian’s brains.” That wasn’t exactly what he’d intended to lead off with but it was what came out. “How did this come up Earl? Just casual conversation? Hey, by the way Dad, I have an airheaded descendant you need to know about?” he brushed back his long hair, the gesture sharp and agitated.
"Of course not! But I told him Nikki Gold showed up here. Her ancestors have crossed paths with my family a few times," Earl recalled a Nikki Gold from his own history. She'd been a buxom blonde with a great ass when he'd been a professor at a university on Earth. He'd been saved, momentarily at least, from screwing up with that Nikki by Ehlana. He told Solis that story and then added, "Julian ran into his own Nikki Gold while at college. It seems the ladies just keep recycling the name. Nice, huh?"
"Anyway, I mentioned the name and he thought I meant the one he knew, which isn't really possible, cause she'd be really old. Ancient, for a human. When he realized I meant a daughter, granddaughter, great-great-something-granddaughter of the one he knew, he felt it necessary to warn me not to..., you know." His face and hands were expressive and got the rest of the message across. "'Cause she just might be a granddaughter of mine!", he finished, a little distraught. He recalled a kiss Nikki had laid on him on DS-15 and shuddered. " Augh! I have to brush my teeth!" He turned and hurried from the room.
Solis stared at his mug of hot chocolate that was now cold and he resisted the urge to fling it at the far wall. “The crazy sure runs deep in that family,” he commented. “Nikki’s that is,” he added, though no one was listening. He rose and stepped around his desk. He had to get down to this Nikki’s room so he’d be there when she woke up. A sudden fear rose in his mind but was quickly put down. He recalled that the medical scans had shown no current medical conditions and he was relieved. “Okay, Nikki, the crazy ends here.”
Standing outside Nikki’s door, he looked up as Earl rounded the corner. “Cured that sudden attack of halitosis?” he asked.
Earl frowned at Solis. "She kissed me!", he blurted.
“Who did? Ophelia? I don’t think I’d be rushing off to wash that away but...oh hi Ophelia.” Solis grinned as she approached them.
"No! Her!" He pointed at the door. "Back on 15! I was trying to distract her from you.... Seriously, you have to share some tips," he glanced at Ophelia and smiled sheepishly, "...and she kissed me!"
“Must be your animal magnetism Earl,” Ophelia commented, her tone dry. “And for the record, if I kissed you, you sure as hell wouldn’t be running off to...never mind. Let’s do this shall we?”
Solis had to laugh in spite of his mood. “Someone has your number, old man,” he whispered as he followed Ophelia into the room.
"What the hell is going!" Nikki was awake and angry, till she saw Solis. She cooed at him, "Baby! Get me out of these restraints, love!"
Earl hung back, standing in the doorway. He covered his face with one hand and wondered about genetics.
Solis stepped over to study the scans on the wall screen. “How are you feeling today NIkki?” he asked in his serious, professional, keeping-her-at-arm’s-length voice. “We were quite concerned yesterday when you arrived. The restraints were to keep you from falling off the bed and injuring yourself.”
"I'm fine," she declared. "Did I pick up a bug on the transport? I didn't even sleep with anyone, how could I get a bug?" She stared at Solis, a dreamy eyed look on her face. "I can't wait till we're alone."
Solis resisted the urge to facepalm and looked to Ophelia. She stepped up beside Nikki and rested a hand on her arm.
“Not that sort of bug, no. There are, however, some irregularities in your neural scans.” It was Ophelia’s polite way of saying they thought Nikki was looney tunes. “What is the last thing you remember?”
"Seeing my husband. I must have fainted," she winked at Solis.
"Oh boy...," Earl muttered.
“Twice,” Solis answered, then breathed out a long sigh. “About that Nikki. Why is it that you think you and I are married?”
"Because we are, silly. Don't you recall? Right before you left, we spent the night together, had dinner, oh! It was so romantic! And then we went to the clerk and filed the papers. You said it was so you could make sure I got transferred here to be with you."
“Nikki, you and I weren’t speaking before I left.” Solis glanced over at Earl and frowned, then turned back to her. “We had one week, remember? Then Commander Antos busted your ass for screwing around with my transfer request. We didn’t see each other after that.”
Ophelia frowned as well and pulled Solis back over to where Earl stood. Resting a hand on both their arms, she sent them the thought that tugged at her. Do you think she really may have mental issues? She believes what she just said.
Earl sighed. Her great-something-mother had issues, too.
“Which one?” Solis blurted out. Sorry, Earl. Forgive me for that. Alright, given my involvement here, you need to make the call on this one. I can’t give any medical orders on her till this is straightened out.
Ophelia nodded. “Agreed. Earl?”
He looked back at both Solis and Ophelia. "Delusional, obsessive, sounds like a classic coursebook example of mental illness. Ophelia, let's start her on amitritactilodone hydrochloride and see whether that helps. I'll remove her from the duty roster for medical reasons until we can get her stabilized in reality." Earl frowned, puzzled by the whole thing. The computer hadn't noted any medical issues; mental illness was typically a chemical imbalance and should have been detected. Did that mean this was a physical mutation in her brain? His fingers twitched slightly as he turned that thought over.
Ophelia crossed to the medical replicator and entered her code, then the medication order. The hypospray appeared and she double checked it, then stopped at the biobed. “We’re going to be running a few more tests Nikki. Nothing painful, though, I assure you. But Dr. Crane has some concerns about the dissonance between what you recall and what likely occurred.” It was as nice as she could put it. Whether Nikki understood it was another matter.
"What? What do I recall that didn't happen? How can that happen?" Nikki looked confused.
Earl stepped over, "Everything will be fine, Ms. Gold. Just relax." He wanted to disabuse Nikki about her claim to be Solis' wife, but he decided not to. Not yet.
"Solis?" Nikki twisted to look around Earl. "Are we going home now?"
The question pained Solis. She seemed suddenly bewildered, almost lost, not like the Nikki he knew. He ran a hand over his face before he finally answered. “No, not yet. We are moving you into a more comfortable room, however. Ophelia will see you settled in and we’ll check on you a little later.” He nodded to Ophelia and she administered the hypospray.
"Ophelia, if you'll see to that, I'll send word to Swift's office about Ms. Gold," Earl said. He, too, was disheartened by Nikki's change. She wasn't just an overly attached; she was really sick. And she just might be his relative.
Ophelia looked at Earl and Solis with sympathy, sensing their sudden change of mood. “Consider it done.”
Solis turned and led the way out of the room and once the door closed, he leaned against the wall.
“Well if this isn’t just a mess,” Solis murmured to Earl.
"Indeed. Why didn't the computer detect a mental illness?" He was in professor mode, asking Socratic questions.
“The quick answer is that it is either a physical defect, but the scans looked normal so we can rule that out. The other answer is that it’s something new.” A thought suddenly struck Solis and his mouth dropped open. “Ohhhh Earl….”
"Hmm?"
“What if it’s the wrong Nikki? Given your family’s history, maybe she’s…” He shrugged “I don’t know, I guess I was just hoping for some other explanation than mental issues. I mean she was a pain in the ass but even so, I hate to see her in this state, you know?”
"The wrong Nikki?" Earl wasn't sure what Solis meant by that. The wrong one? Meaning not a descendant of his? That cheered him, slightly. "She's the one you put it to on DS-15; she now says you married her. The certificate's in the records, Solis. Whoever she might be, she'll be in this position."
“Which leaves the illness part.” He sighed. “I don’t suppose Julian is due out here anytime soon?”
"Not that I'm aware. He didn't mention it last night," Earl shook his head.
“You might want to call him and suggest a visit. He’s a closer relative than you and Ehlana.” As soon as Solis said her name, his eyes widened. “What will she say about all this?”
"She knows. She rescued me from the first Nikki Gold... the first one I know of. I forget if she's met this one," he mused. "Anyway, she's not like Julisa. She's calm and takes things in stride."
Solis had to smile at that. “True. Call him back. It’ll be good to see him again and if worse comes to worse, well….her closest family out here will all be..here.”
"Closest...? Perhaps we should contact her mother and father, too. Julian wasn't exactly involved with the baby." He shrugged. "Otherwise, I would have known about Nikki." He kept tabs on his and his parents' descendants; it helped avoid awkward situations like getting passionately kissed by a great-something-daughter or niece. "I'll talk with Ehlana about getting Julian out here. It would be good to see him again."
Solis nodded. “Get a counselor down here. In the meantime, I’ll call Norval and see what he can do. There has to be a trail since this whole marriage record was falsified. I’m going to get hold of Lev too. He’s still her XO, he needs to know about this.”
"Okay. I'll be surprised if the amitri helps her at all, though." Earl started down the hallway. "I'm off to kiss my beloved wife and thank whatever entity that I don't have your issues." He shot a look and a laugh back at Solis.
“Yeah? Well if that entity answers, ask him, her, or it why he’s screwing around with me,” Solis called after him. He sighed and began the walk back to his office. He had several calls to make and suddenly he was exhausted.
*******
Lt.Commander Earl D. Crane
Possible Ancestor of Crazy
Lt. Solis
Definite Object of Crazy
Lt. Ophelia Payne
Caretaker of Crazy
Nikki Gold
Crazy
