Homecoming -- Part 2

Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 5:17pm by Lieutenant Commander Carolyn Corrigan MD & Commander Hades,MD

1,304 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 99 - Exordium / Epilogue
Location: Sickbay, SB 400
Timeline: MD01 --0610 hours

Previously on Homecoming...

"Well that is a lengthy story. He married a few years ago. I did not get a chance to see his wife. When he sent me an image I noted that she was half Klingon half Orion and looked a lot like Kalani. We found out that they were half-sisters. Kalara's mother worked for the Orions. She became pregnant and when he found out he took the child. He raised her. Kalara and Kalani's mother was spirited away. He found her two years later and freed her. They searched for Kalani who was taken away along with Kalani's twin brother. They couldn't find them. When he found that Lynn was involved with harming his sister-in-law he insisted on...including Lynn in an exchange where she would do medical service on Rura Penthe. I gave my blessing of course. I was the logical thing to do." He sat down. He studied Carolyn. He was much changed, thinner, paler, but with more muscle.

"As for the resemblance...that is a...complicated story."

And now the continuation…

ON:

Carolyn set down her bag, moving the crouch down beside him. She didn’t try to take his hand the way he so often did to her because she had no idea if he would appreciate it or throw her out. Her eyes were full of worry. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here,” she told him. “But I am now. I can’t say I know how you are feeling or hurting... I wasn’t the one waiting at a bedside. But you need to look after you, not just Kalani.”

"I am fine Carolyn." He sounded typical for a Vulcan but his voice had softened. The truth was he had been in a bad spiral counting on his daily routine to keep him together. It was great for the sickbay but his body was...not liking it.

“Oh really?” She challenged. “When did you last eat a proper meal?”

He raised an eyebrow as he turned his head towards her and quirked it to the side, "One month, two days, twenty seven hours, forty minutes and thirty seconds as of right...now." Truth was he'd lost his appetite. He'd lost...a part of him. He kept busy working horrible hours. There was always something. The only rest he got was the small bedroll he'd set up next to Kalani's bio bed on the floor.

“And where is the logic in that?” She asked kindly, sweeping her hair back out of her face as she stood. “I haven’t gone nearly that long and I’m starving... this afternoon. Lunch. No arguments.”

Before he could answer a shrill noise sounded. Hades stood and walked over to the screen. His fingers flew on it and a tight shot of Kalani came up. Her body was shaking and she was gasping. He cursed. He'd checked her breathing tube...something that had become a necessity in the last few weeks. Something was happening. Without word he flew out of the room.

Responding to the alarm, the nurses were already there by the time Hades arrived with Carolyn just a step behind. She noticed that they immediately gave Hades room, as if afraid to incur his wrath. Carolyn let Hades tend to the immediate danger, keeping an eye on him all the same. She had not seen Kalani in almost two months and in that time, just like Hades, she had become thinner. Weaker.

“We just started the nutrition pack,” a nurse near the door told them, her voice shaking. “I swear doctor Hades...”

He waved off the nurse. Checking the equipment he found the problem right away but...it wasn't a problem. He quickly removed the tub and ran the scans as her body stopped it's shuddering. He stepped back and watched as the readings normalized. "She is breathing on her own."

The nurse closest to him gasped and then smiled. "That's amazing..."

Doctor Harris who'd arrived in time to watch the scene unfold stepped forward. "Is it?"

Hades dismissed the nurses leaving only him, Carolyn, and Harris in the room. Harris smiled at her. "Good to have you back." He turned to Hades acting as if he wasn't intimidated. "Let me give you a theory you...you arrogant idiot."

Hades said nothing. He was the picture of calm. "There is an old Vulcan art that says if one mate is in this state the other tries to draw them back through the link they share, one that would have been formed at Pon Farr." He moved around the bed checking the readings. "Three nights I've found you on the floor looking dead to the world. Three nights she's been getting better. You grow weaker, your mind more ... erratic."

Hades said nothing and then..."I do not know what you speak of."

"Really? There is something called Katra transference where you send a part of your soul or mind into her consciousness. A deep bond where you give up part of yourself to have her live. Trained full Vulcans even avoid that. Only the Father of Spock was ever known to do this. She is getting better but you are not that trained so you could lose your life in the process."

Hades shrugged. "My life for hers. A logical trade." He turned and left the room.

Harris swore violently. "That man has a death wish!"

Carolyn listened to this is silence. Logical? It was the most illogical, emotional thing she could imagine. “Perhaps,” she conceded. “Or perhaps he’s desperate and feeling alone?”

She headed for the door, pausing to glance back at him. “Later you will tell me everything I missed.”

She didn’t wait for an answer, instead heading out to find Hades. “So, positive news, kind of,” she began, grabbing her bag.

“Why don’t we go have proper breakfast at Kitty’s? Your treat. For not calling me,” she teased. “Come on, we need to get food in you and you need to not be here all the time.”

"I am the CMO. My duty is to..."

"Keep well so you can make others well," came a melodic voice from behind them. When they turned there stood a tall stunning woman. She was pale green with Klingon ridges and broad shoulders and a face that resembled Kalani so much. She smiled and walked into the office offering her hand to Carolyn “Hello! I'm Kalara your temporary nurse from the Klingon home world. You must be Doctor Corrigan! So lovely to meet you!"

If there were no ridges and if she were a bit shorter she could have been Kalani's double.

Hades turned away fighting to keep the emotions that licked at him at bay.

“Welcome aboard,” Carolyn offered as she shook the woman’s hand, deliberately not looking towards Hades. “It will be good to have you on the team.”

She smiled, “Only for a while. When my husband is back through I will return home with him."

“As for you,” Carolyn said as she turned to Hades, “food. Now. I’m starving. Come on, you know you need to eat properly or Kalani will kill us for letting you starve.”

Hades who'd schooled his features again sighed. "I am fine I do not need..."

Kalara stepped in. "You need to eat. You cannot keep doing what you are doing."

He protested yet somehow, thirty minutes later he was sitting across from Carolyn. His soup lay in front of him untouched.

“You are a brave man,” Carolyn mused as she set down her glass of orange juice. “Few would dare not touch the food Kitty served up. And it defeats the point of coming here if you don’t actually eat.”

To be continued...

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