Not Wiggin' Out

Posted on Wed Dec 7th, 2011 @ 3:25pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & http://starbase900.info/index.php/personnel/character/23

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Intel Guest Room

First a prisoner of Suresh; now a 'very important guest' of Intel's, Oralia shivered and cursed. The inability to resume her normal command duties irked her, especially since what she really wanted now was to go after Suresh, Frick and Frack with Gilroy and Darwin. Even more, she wanted to be the one wielding the clippers when Suresh's hair came off.

She'd curled on the bed again; pacing had been a bad idea as it jarred the wound on her side. It had also, repeatedly, put her in view of the mirror... and her own reflection, something she wasn't yet up for seeing. Cold, she'd wrapped the bedsheet around her, up and over her head, and gathered the blanket close. Recognizing that she was dealing with a physical symptom of shock, she shivered as the door chime rang. "Enter," she called, not looking up and not really caring who it was.

A moment later, Connor was rushing into the bedroom. His breath caught as he saw her bundled up on the bed, just the edge of her ruined hairline peeking from under the sheet. Relief and anguish and anger mixed in his gut. After setting down the med kit, he sat on the bed next to her, "Oralia...", he held his hand up as if to cradle her head, but didn't touch her. He couldn't, not without seeing her, not wanting to hurt her.

She closed the distance between his hand and her head, and burst into tears. She didn't care that Patrick and Nick were there, in the doorway; nor did she notice when the two faded away and the door shut, leaving her alone with Connor. The sheet she'd drawn around herself now restricted her movement as she tried to sit up. Through her tears, she assured him, "I'm okay. Just a little... shaken. But I'm okay...." The sheet slid back, revealing part of her scalp.

His eyes had been going over her, outwardly calm, taking in the burns and cuts on her scalp, the red choke marks on her neck as he carefully pulled the bedsheet further down. There were cuts on her shoulders, and he just knew he would find more underneath her clothing.

Weakly, she tried to hold the sheet in place, not wanting him to see her head. As she looked up at him, though, she let him pull it away from her. "Hon," she looked down, still crying.

Using the bed for support, he leaned in and kissed her where her tears were, trying to hide his own emotions, for he was trying to fight the anger that was growing inside. He pulled back, staring into her eyes, "I need you to lay back down", he said softly, relieved her pupils were normal. Easing her back onto the bed, he was gentle, "Don't move anymore unless I tell you to."

"Seems a little like deja vu," she said, "Only the first time, there was sunshine and a bed of rocks. This? Much more comfortable." She winced. "Oh, and I'm a little more interactive. Not so close to death's door and all that." She'd noted how he'd flushed, the way his eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together; she was comforting him by making light of the situation.

He ran the peripheral hand scanner over her, beginning with her head, moving downwards, getting a detailed reading as he stared at the medical tricorder he held in his other hand. No, but someone else will be... His jaw tensing, he forced a smile at her attempts. "How are you feeling?" he asked, continuing his scan, focusing on the left side of her abdomen. It was obvious to him she had been stunned by a medium setting. Relieved any CNS effects had been reversed, he felt it was miraculous that was the case. By the burn's register, exposure had been close ranged, and prolonged. There was a tear within it. He glanced over at her before pulling out a hypo, and placed it on her upper arm.

He hadn't removed a stitch from her yet, but she answered: "Naked, cold." She watched as he pressed the hypo's contents into her. "All things considered, though, I'm okay," she caught his hand as he started working on the thin chemise she wore. She rubbed her thumb against his palm, temporarily stalling him from cutting the material. "Really. I think my hair is the worst of it."

He breathed in deeply, hanging his head, "Stop... Oralia....", he looked at her, his brows knitting together, "this isn't about me."

"Would you rather I lie here and moan about how much this hurts? 'Cause it does... though..., oh...," her brows drew together then eased, "That was a painkiller?" When he nodded, she smiled slightly and said, "I love you. Maybe when my head heals, I could just wear a wig...." She released his hand and touched her missing hair.

"Or, first thing tomorrow, I get my noggin shaved," he lightly smiled at her before letting his eyes go to his hands, which were cutting the dress down the middle. With the material gone, he had a good view of the phaser burn on her side and he teared up. Fighting back the tears and the emotion, he looked away to reach into his medkit.

"Ooo, we could be a matching pair. Baldies. 'Course, bald men are sexy. Bald women... other than Deltans, aren't." She'd missed that the sight of the wound had made him emotional. Instead, knowing she was in good hands, and relaxing under the painkiller's influence, she closed her eyes and shifted on the pillow.

"You're even beaut without your hair 'n' if you think I won't miss my hair, you're wrong," he said as he worked the dermal re-generator over her burns. "You should see my brother," he added, "his natural curls. My hair would be the same if I allowed it to grow another inch or two. It 'will be' a sacrifice, Oralia, but we'll go through this together."

She regarded him quietly, her dark eyes shining. His touch on her skin calmed her... or, it might have been the painkiller, again. "They'll think we joined a cult. Till it grows out, of course. I didn't know clippers could cut skin like those did. He certainly knew my weakness." Changing the subject, she asked, "When will I meet your family? You've met some of mine: Mom, Dad, Chance."

"You met my nephew, Saxon", he said quietly, his jaw tightening more at the mention of the man who did this to her, "Alex is enroute within the gateway... apparently has a mission on this side, then he'll be here. I don't know..." he shifted himself to work from another angle, "...when you'll meet my parents. Mum's been trying to get my dad to retire for over a year."

"Saxon is cute. You know, for a kid. Must be kinda neat to get a glimpse of what your kid might look like." It hadn't escaped her notice that Alex's ex-wife, Aleysha, looked similar to her.

Connor shrugged, keeping his eyes on her side, his work there almost done. "He is cute," was all he wanted to say on the subject. He laid down the medical tool, and began running the scanner over the area again.

Oralia backed away from the subject of kids; it was far too soon to even think of such a thing with Connor. He hadn't even moved back in yet; they had some unresolved issues still. "Iggy is getting to be like a toddler. Or a teenager, with her attitude. And with her ability to come and go... definitely, a teenager," she fell silent for the moment.

"I don't trust her," was all he said on that subject, caressing his hand over the now healed area. His attention turned to her wrist, and he moved up, exchanging the dermal re-generator for a bone one.

Oralia blinked, both in surprise at his statement and in slight pain from his touch on her wrist. "Okay... is that just a thing where you don't trust any of the females in my quarters - your former quarters?", her tone was both sarcastic and hurt.

He stopped working, tilting his head away. He pinched between his eyes with his free hand, and he swallowed. It was a bad choice of words, he shouldn't of said anything, not when trust was such a serious issue between them.

"Babe, I'm sorry," Oz caught hold of his shirt and tugged gently on it. "I need you, so let's not drag our mess in here, please. What is it about Iggy that has you on edge about her? Is she too big? Too talkative?"

He looked back to her, and leaned in. Kissing her softly on her forehead, he held her face in one hand. "Let me finish healing you", he said, pulling away, "you can get some sleep, and then we'll yarn about it."

"Good thing I'm dating a doctor, considering how often I get banged up," she smiled at him, content to let the conversation turn to easier subjects. "Perhaps before getting some sleep, we could...," she arched a brow at him, "...do some mutual comforting?"

He smiled, and laughed softly, "Why am I not surprised?"

She, too, chuckled then her smile faded. She was an awful patient and got in his way as he tried to reset her wrist and knit the bone back together; she reached across herself to pull the blanket up around her. "Let's just say that I look forward to your body heat."

He moved in even closer to her, placing an arm on either side of her, bringing his face down close to hers, "Allow me to finish, 'n' I'm all yours, any way you want me."

"I get it, I get it!" She lifted her head to kiss his face. "I'll stop distracting you. After all, I'd hate for you to set my wrist crooked," she said, wrinkling her nose. The painkiller had certainly done its job.

Connor became quiet and finished setting her wrist, scanning to be sure, as he was distracted; something so out of character for him when it came to his work. It was more than Oralia that distracted him. He had enough of the threats, of watching his back, and now...with Oralia in hiding. Carefully he mended the scaphoid bone in her wrist, moving to the cuts, and abrasions, and bruises beginning with the top of her head, and continuing on down.

At first, she'd resisted his attention to her head; she hated her new hair style. But his fingers and manner were gentle and eased her worry and embarrassment. Indeed, as he finished tending to her, he ran his hands over her scalp and kissed her head. "Nice. You might make me want to keep it this way," she joked, half-smiling at him.

He pulled away, his eyes on her the whole time as he undressed, his thoughts on her telling him he kept her grounded, knowing now, at this moment, it was her keeping him sane. He climbed in next to her, taking her into his arms for the warmth, for the comfort, for the both of them.

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Lt.Cmdr. Oralia Zeferino
Lt.Cmdr. Connor McKinney