The Doctors' Visits

Posted on Sun Mar 31st, 2013 @ 1:37pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D.

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Oz's Quarters

In the past few weeks, Oralia hadn't had much time to herself: and that was understandable, what with taking over as acting XO and having the Hazari, Chance and Eli to worry about, not to mention her disappearing arachnid.

But with Vic, Patrick and Eric dispatched to retrieve said arachnid, and the Hazari dead, by her own hand, and the rightful XO back in her office, Oz took some time for herself. She'd gone to her office, waited till Jackson was up and out of the quarters, then returned home and napped for a bit.

Sleep hadn't come easily: she'd lain awake, going over her fight with the Hazari a hundred times and then facing Chance's and Eric's stricken looks a thousand times more. Finally, sleep had come....

Someone touched her, trailing a hand from her shoulder to her hip, pulling her from her nap. Jackson: returned from work midday? She was sure of that and turned in the bed to take him in her arms. "Thought you'd be at work," she murmured.

He kissed her, gathering her in his embrace, and settled into the bed next to her. "Benefit of being Chief: I can play hooky, just like me sheila," a playful, Aussie-accented voice answered.

Shock raced through Oz, turning her cold and spurring her to shove herself away from the male. "J, that's not funn...," the word died as she looked at him. "Connor! But..! Jackson...? Oh gods!" She snatched the blanket from the bed and scrambled to her feet, much to Connor's consternation. She was sure she was crossing the line from sanity into something else.

"Oralia?" His brow furrowed in a manner she recognized: they were about to argue, sending him into one of his downward spirals. With a flash of anger, he went on, "You were expectin' your lover, Jackson? So sorry to disappoint you!" He didn't fight from a supine position; he launched himself from the bed, throwing a pillow across the room, nearly unintentionally hitting Oz with it. He stormed into the living room.

Slack jawed, Oz followed him. "Who...? Are you Alex?" No, she knew this wasn't Alex, Connor's twin. This was Connor. But how? Her world shifted; her legs gave out and she crumpled to her knees. "No...., you're not supposed to be here," she whispered. Had killing the Hazari been her tipping point?

He rounded on her, "Yeah! I get that! You're here, waitin' to root Jackson! Sod it! I'll give you to him, then!"

"Computer, summon Harding!" Oz called, watching Connor.

She could see his anger and he stepped back towards her, "Calling to have me medicated? You--"

Whatever he was going to say was lost as the computer chimed and replied, =^=Commander Harding has been summoned.=^=

As the computer's chime sounded, Connor vanished, as if he hadn't been there at all. Oz gathered the blanket around herself and huddled against the wall, certain she'd stepped across some invisible line between reality and madness.

Will left the turbolift on Oz’s deck at a rapid clip. Normally, when one needed medical it was a general call and whoever was available came. This one had come from the Chief Of Security, requesting him especially and that worried him. He reached her doors and keyed in the override. Once they opened he rushed in.

“Oz?”

She was still scrunched on the floor. Looking up, barely, before warily glancing around the room, she answered him. "Here, Doc." When he drew closer, she added, "I saw Connor. Here. As real as you are."

“You saw Connor.” Will was concerned now as he knelt by Oz. He ran his tricorder over her quickly as he continued to talk. “Tell me what happened. Exactly.”

"I took the afternoon off, came home for a nap, and he woke me up.... I thought it was Jackson. He was in the bed with me, kissed me," she blinked and touched her lips, remembering Connor, as he'd been in life. She still loved him. "And then we were arguing... just like always," her chuckle was rueful, "Doc, am I going insane? He's dead but it wasn't his brother, Alex. It was him."

“You’ve never shown signs of insanity, Oz, so it’s a safe bet that it didn’t just spontaneously erupt within you. Aside from elevated heart rate and respiration, an excess of adrenaline, your readings are all perfectly normal.” Will turned off the tricorder. “Tell me, did you check your messages when you came home?”

"Um...? No? I was taking time for me." She looked at the computer console across the room. "Why? Do you know something I should know?"

“I do, but first, let’s get you off of the floor.” He made sure the blanket was secure, then lifted Oz easily in his arms and carried her over to the sofa. “Captain Hawke sent out a warning late last night regarding some strange sightings all over the station, sightings of crew seeing people from their pasts...or future. As yet there is no explanation, but Science is working on it.”

Feeling silly now, Oz let him settle her on the couch. "Oh... No, I did get that, along with news of her promotion. And we've been fielding calls from folks freaked out about seeing people." She shook her head. "I forgot, Doc. Saw him and just... Forgot. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you. I just felt so crazy."

“Don’t apologize. Science apparently wants every instance documented, as does Temporal Affairs. What is more concerning is those who may see something and not report it.” Will frowned for a moment. “He made no attempt to harm you?”

"Connor? Hurt me? Never." She shook her head. "No, he didn't try to hurt me."

“Good. I know that the real Connor wouldn’t but we don’t know yet what’s causing this and we have no way of knowing what these sightings really are. It is possible that they can harm us however. I just dispatched a team to the quarters of Commander Leroy and Kh’ali. She seems to have run into someone she referred to as Thumb and he got in a rather good slice with a knife as well as some bruising from attempting to choke her.”

"Thumb was one of the five... I recall his name. We've had at least one other summons like that. Temporal Affairs, interesting." Thinking on the issue, Oz paused and looked Harding over. "Been treating Seyla lately?"

That question surprised him and it showed. “No, she seems remarkably healthy and hasn’t come in to consult us on anything, why? Something I need to know?” And indeed, Will was more than a little curious why Oz would ask.

"Mmm." She sniffed in his general direction. "Funny thing, those Orions," she commented and fixed her gaze on him, "One of my officers sometimes has that same scent on him, usually the day after he's seen Seyla."

Harding started to say something, then closed his mouth. Normally, he had a strict rule that Seyla not douse him with her pheromones but the last visit, he’d given in and even though he’d showered, he knew it could linger. He smiled slowly.

“You asked if I’d treated her.”

"Well, she's the local Madame. I can see her demanding the highest ranked doctor. I wouldn't assume you're seeing her in some other context." Her smile and arched brow said otherwise.

Will laughed as he looked back at her. “Good. I can’t see that my love life would be the least bit interesting to anyone. Assuming I had one. It’s been a long time, Oz. Maybe I’m too old and set in my ways to be involved.”

"There's old and then there's old, Doc," Oz smiled. "If you have a love life and she's involved, I'd recommend a stroll through one of your decon chambers before work."

“I'll keep that in mind, should I get tempted in that direction.” Will’s tone was noncommittal. “Let’s get back to you, however, and feeling crazy. You want my honest opinion, Oz, and Robin would agree I think, you’ve been pushing too hard. You need to get back to a normal load.”

"Hey, I was here, napping! And then Connor shows up.... I was trying to take a break and got interrupted." She eased off of her own defense, "But, yeah, soon as Iggy is home, I'll take some leave."

“Are you going in search of her?”

"No," she shook her head. "Jackson is ahead of you on that one, Doc. Some other officers have gone on a spider hunt."

That seemed to please Will. “So, Li’s home, others are on the hunt for Iggy, and you have a very capable assistant chief who can look over things for a few days. Excellent. In that case, you are taking the week off, doctor’s orders. No argument, even though you now outrank me, and congratulations on that by the way.”

“A week! I can’t--,” she stopped talking as Will’s expression changed. “Okay, I can,” she acquiesced and then perked up slightly, “I need to call Jackson, see if he can get away from the club. Any other doctor’s orders or are we good here?”

“Not as long as you follow this one, we’re good.” He patted her hand and rose. “I’d also suggest calling the TA officer and reporting your sighting. Call if you need me.” With a smile, Will tapped his comm badge and ordered a transport back to Piper Medical Center. Moments later, he was gone.

Feeling like an idiot who had panicked for no reason, Oz rubbed her face and lay back on the couch. It took a while for it to sink in that she had a week off; when it finally did, she made plans to spend the night on Archadia.

******************

Commander Oralia Zeferino
Not Seeing Ghosts

Lt. Commander William Harding, M.D.
Not Taking No For An Answer