The Morning After

Posted on Wed May 30th, 2012 @ 7:52pm by Commander Sakkath & Captain Li Hawke

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Sickbay
Timeline:

* * * Sickbay, Sakkath's Room * * *

Li had awakened in Sickbay, to the smiling face of Ophelia. The nurse had welcomed her back, said she'd been checked and was just fine. The smile had left the woman's face when Li asked about Sakkath, however. When Li insisted that she be released, they had agreed. She now stood outside the door to the private room of her husband. She was anxious to see him, and anxious about seeing him. So much had happened in such a shot span of time, and while the physical bruises had been healed, the psychic ones would linger. Even so, she needed to see him just as much as she needed to breath. Opening the door, she stepped inside.

The Vulcan's form was still on the biobed, his hands folded carefully atop the silver sheet that had been drawn up over him. Asleep or meditating, he seemed oblivious to his surroundings, though the instruments around him showed strong vitals. Physically, there was little wrong with him. Mentally was another matter entirely.

Stopping by the bed, she looked down at him. Her first impulse was to touch his hand but then she hesitated, unsure about so many things. Ophelia entered quietly, checked Sakkath's readings on the biobed arch, then patted Li's shoulder. "You hang in there, he'll come back. For you if no other reason."

Li only nodded, turning her attention back to Sakkath as the nurse departed. Without delving into his mind, she could sense a whirl of surface thoughts, bits and pieces mixed up. She wanted to reconnect, wanted to feel Sakkath back in her thoughts where he should be. The quiet was interrupted once more as the doors slid open, and a familiar and welcome voice spoke.

"Hmm, must be the wrong room. Li Hawke is supposed to be down the hall," Norval teased with a smile. He had never actually imagined finding Li sitting quietly in her biobed as he approached. And though the Trill made light of just about everything, he still drew Li into an embrace once he was near, knowing full well the gravity of the situation. "It's over now. And I think we mean it, this time," he added, his voice low but reassuring.

She hugged him tight, his reassuring presence soothing her just a little. "At what cost though? It was terrible, Norval - the things it did to him....the things it made him do...and almost succeeded." She drew in a deep breath, not wanting to think about the images that rose in her mind. "I knew it was Rhys making him act as he did but it still...." She fell silent.

"You can't hold Rhys against Sakkath," Norval said as he smiled at her in his arms, "no more than you could hold Benzo or Whrea against me. The difference is, I know they're there." He glanced back at the door, a smile still playing on his lips as he turned back. "I posted a guard," he informed her. "Probably unnecessary, but that explosion still has me rattled, and he's vulnerable right now. Thankfully, Oz didn't take the one security officer I can give orders to to Archadia."

"Thank you Norval and you're right. Logically I know it, it's just something I have to deal with. He's never before purposely blocked me out and it was....lonely," she finished lamely. "Even though I know he did it to protect me." The mention of Archadia brought another thought to mind. "Any word from Archadia? My father?" She leaned back in against Norval, relishing the comfort of an old friend.

The Trill couldn't help but frown, and there was no sense in lying to a Betazoid. "Actually, there's been... an incident," he admitted vaguely, "but your father and the others are fine. A few native casualties. We don't have all the details yet."

Li stiffened in his arms. "An..incident? A few casualties? What the hell happened?" Panic bloomed within her, but she fought it back. Norval had said that her father was fine, hadn't he?

"I think you have enough on your mind right now," Norval decided. "But I'm just the acting Chief of Operations. I'm sure that, if you want to know more, there is a much more detailed report sitting on your desk.". The Trill forced a smile. "Just promise me you'll get some rest. He'd want it," Norval tilted his head towards Sakkath's unmoving body, "and so do I. This isn't the time to be a super-spy. That's why you have a staff."

"Valkris is already down there, I'll try to reach her a little later, see what's happening." She touched Norval's cheek gently. "I'm glad you came, if there's any news from the away team, send it to me? And promise me that Aia won't hear about this yet? Even if Dad is fine, she might panic and this close to time for the baby is not the time for it."

"Well, I promise she won't hear about it from me," Norval agreed diplomatically. He knew all too well how quickly information moved on this station, something the touch of her hand on his cheek instantly reminded him of. "So, you're going to be a big sister, huh?" the Trill asked, stepping casually out of the embrace with the change of subject.

"I am, and Dad's thrilled. After Nahi's death two years ago, I wondered if that wound in my parents' hearts would ever heal. He's beyond thrilled." Li's smile was gentle as she drifted back to Sakkath's bedside. she slipped her hand in his still one, raising it to her lips. "The idea of being settled enough for that still seems so foreign to me. Until a year ago, until Sakkath, I counted it a blessing if I was in the same place for more than a week."

"Well, if this is settled, I'd hate to know what your frantic days are like," Norval said with a laugh as he crossed his arms across his chest, settling back against the wall. Starbase 900 had been decidedly too exciting of late. "The Hammond is back," he mentioned casually, "so we're not stuck out here. I'm sure your husband will be upset he missed the maiden voyage through the wormhole."

"We needed some good news. How about I let you tell him?" Li smiled a moment, then it faded. "I'll need to find Patrick and hear his report on it once I have a few minutes. I have some other things that really need attending to before they blow up, at least figuratively. Once I know he's stable." She lowered Sakkath's hand back down to the biobed. The prospect of work as a distraction was both unsettling and welcome, and she felt guilty on both counts.

Norval glanced at the monitors on the biobed's arch and those adorning the wall behind the unconscious Vulcan with eyes that were at once his own and some one else's. The experience afforded by Fyori Tigan helped him to read them with the practiced ease only a physician could muster.

"He is," Norval concluded with certainty. "His vitals are strong and there's no sign of physical injury. You're not going to lose him, not now. As for his mental state... well, we'll know when he wakes up. The Vulcan mind is a mystery, but it's also fairly resilient... he just needs time, something his people are in no short supply of."

Li pulled her attention from Sakkath to study Norval. "Is that your way of telling me not to worry if I need to go handle things instead of lingering here?"

"Don't you know what I'm thinking without having to ask?" the Trill asked, smiling all the while. "No, Li, that was just the truth of a medical situation. I fully expect you to worry, here or not."

"I'm not reading, Norval. Too much strain, sort of like a pulled muscle. The thing is, one of the immediate problems needs that sort of energy. I am going to have to go take care of it or one of my staff will be in danger as well. I'm glad you came, though, it means the world to me. " She touched his hand for a moment. "Give Edwards my best, will you?"

"You can tell him yourself on the way out. Provided he's still sitting out there and hasn't wandered away," Norval added with a grin. "I'll stick with him for a while, I have some reports to read anyway, and then Eric will be on guard duty. Like I said, probably unnecessary, but no sense taking chances. And maybe," he laid his hand on top of hers, "just maybe, it'll give you the peace of mind you need to do your job." His smile was easy and reassuring, his tone comforting.

"Thank you." Her eyes misted over and she turned away, moving back to the biobed. Without a word, she bent down, leaving a kiss to Sakkath's cheek.

Come back to me...

She lingered only a moment, then with a nod to Norval, she slipped out.

__________________________
A joint post by:

Lt. Commander Li Hawke
Chief Intelligence Officer

Lt. Commander Sakkath
Chief of Operations

Lieutenant (j.g.) Norval Tigan
Asst. Chief of Operations