“I don’t see why I need a wheelchair, I can walk. I understand the need for the portable heart monitor for the baby, though I don’t feel it’s necessary.”
Deanna was frustrated, I could tell, and her thoughts were equally more so. I nodded and sat down at the small metal table which could possibly only hold three people.
“I understand your frustration sweetheart. But this is just to make sure the baby is healthy and doing alright.”
She waved her hand as if to dismiss the very fact, then she lowered her voice so that the soldiers in the room couldn’t hear our conversation.
“Alright, but you would think they would at least allow me to have something with chocolate in it. That’s all I’ve been craving since we got here.”
I smiled and shook my head.
“In this century, all their desserts aren’t replicated, they are the real thing. The sugar wouldn’t be good for you.”
I watched as she took my hand and hoisted herself up from the wheelchair.
“Excuse me gentlemen, is it possible for me to get some chocolate ice cream?”
One of the soldiers cracked a smile and laughed a little.
“My wife loves chocolate ice cream too. I’ll see what I can do.”
A smile spread across Deanna’s face, the first genuine one I’d seen her give someone else in days.
“Thank-you.”
The soldier nodded and headed towards the kitchen. Deanna stretched a little and took my hand and stayed on her feet. Shifting her weight a little, she took in the sights of this pretty much barren warehouse-like room. It was huge, and there wasn’t much in the way of things to do, other than to eat or play pool. Or watch television. I noticed some of the soldiers were watching Deanna with curiosity. I narrowed my eyes at them, but they completely ignored me. She knew they were watching her.
“Can I help you gentlemen? What? You’ve never seen a pregnant woman before?”
One of the men just turned a shade or two red.
“Yes, but we’ve just never seen anyone like you before.”
Deanna’s attention was concentrated on the large American flag above our heads.
“50 stars. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one of these. I remember seeing one in the computer banks on the Enterprise with 52 stars.”
She smiled at me and squeezed my hand.
“What do the thirteen red and white stripes stand for?”
I stared up at the flag and thought, it was so long ago since I’d heard about Earth’s past.
“The stripes represent the original 13 American Colonies during the 18th century.”
We heard laughter behind us, turning to look, there was a group of soldiers huddled around two tables and looked as if they were playing Poker. A smile spread across my face.
This could be my lucky day. Taking Deanna’s hand, I led her over to the table’s in which the soldiers were sitting.
“May we join you?”
Deanna squeezed my hand as the soldiers stood up as I helped her into a chair. Three months left, and she was doing surprisingly well for us being stuck in the 21st century.
“Of course. Tell me Mr. Riker, how good are you at Poker?”
My smile stayed plastered on my face.
“I’ve won a couple of high-stakes games.”
I watched as the soldier next to me on my right dealt the cards out. I smiled as I picked the first card up.
“I’ll raise you ten.”
Deanna’s smile grew. Some of the other men at the table were making small talk. I was never very good making small-talk, especially at parties.
“…What are we doing here Wallens? We should be helping the boys in the East win the war.”
The one next to me was the one whose name was Wallens. He turned to me and smiled.
“You got family in the military Riker?”
I stroked my beard and nodded my head. My great-great-great grandfather was a Marine. Playing it down, I picked up another card.
“My father is a general in the Marines. We were stationed at a base up in Alaska. I was born at the base hospital, my mother was a doctor on the base. She died when I was two. An explosion on the base, she died in the line of duty.”
Wallens gave me a tight-lipped smile.
“Sounds like your mother was a brave and honorable woman, who served her country well. Where’s your dad now?”
I thought for a minute, then it dawned on me.
“He suffered a stroke and is being cared for at Fort Madigan.”
Wallens nodded his head and slapped my back.
“So, what about you Riker? What branch of the military are you?”
I shook my head no.
“I unfortunately am just a civilian. I’d considered joining the Navy, but I’m an Architect. My work takes me all over.”
Deanna looked at me concerned.
“Will, what are you doing?”
I smiled and squeezed her hand once more.
“Covering my tracks Imzadi. All that I’m saying is true. I’m talking about my great-great-great grandfather, his son my great-great grandfather and his mother, my great-great-great grandmother. Luckily my great-great grandfather had my name and looked like me.”
Deanna smiled and looked at Wallens. He turned his questions to her.
“What about you?”
The smile never left her face as she played her cards.
“Army Psychologist dealing in PTSD for war veterans.”
I kept my hand in Deanna’s.
“He’s digging, no more info on us.”
Deanna kept her cards in one hand while she checked the monitor she’d set on the floor. I glanced at it, the baby’s heart rate was holding at 139. Wallens smiled at the both of us.
“If you win Riker, I’ll wage you a week’s worth of my C-rations. God knows your wife needs all the food she can get.”
I nodded my head and smiled at my cards.
“Full house Wallens. You owe me your C-rations and 50 bucks.”
I started collecting the poker chips as Wallens pulled a 50 dollar bill from his pocket.
“You’re good Riker. You cleaned me out. What’s your strategy?”
I shook my head no and shook hands with Wallens.
“Secret. Thank-you gentlemen for a rousing game. I think it’s time my wife and I retire for the night.”
All the men at the table stood up as Deanna hoisted herself up from the chair. Taking her hand, I helped her back into the wheelchair we’d come to the common area/cafeteria with. She was smoothing out her dress as we got back to the room. Helping her back into bed, I noticed the color had drained from her face.
“What’s wrong Imzadi?”
She shook her head and grabbed for the glass of water on the side table.
“Just a little tired. I just need some rest. You know, Wallens feelings of goodwill towards us are genuine. He doesn’t seem to be hiding anything from us. But I would advise caution. There are others around him that are suspicious of us. For instance, the soldier with the jet black hair and green eyes is very distrustful of our identities. There’s something else here Will. Not so much feelings as it is a presence. I can’t describe it other than its very close.”
I took her hand as she tucked the covers around herself.
“Let me call Beverly, she should come and check on you.”
She nodded her head and closed her eyes. They’d given us a bigger room, the other doctors, with a door connecting Beverly’s room with ours. I saw the tired smile on her face and went towards the door and knocked on it. The door opened up and Beverly’s face peeked from around it.
“Will what’s wrong?”
I took her hand and pulled her into the room.
“She’s looking a little pale.”
Beverly sat down in the chair next to the bed and put the back of her hand up to Deanna’s forehead.
“She’s not running a fever. My guess is that she needs more rest. There are a lot of germs and bacteria in this century. The common cold is still a virus that people are constantly coming down with. Keeping things clean is essential. But it can also backfire if a person isn’t exposed to different bacteria’s. She needs plenty of rest. The baby is taking everything from her, including her energy.”
I watched as she took Deanna’s pulse.
“Thready, but it should come back up with some sleep. She needs to eat, according to this monitor, her blood sugar has fallen. She’s on the verge of Gestational Diabetes. Whatever you do, don’t let her have chocolate ice cream or any sweets from this time. The sugar would make her blood sugar levels skyrocket and then where’d we be? Insulin would have to be administered. Don’t let her have the sugar. No matter how much she protests or begs you. That’s an order as her Physician.”
I nodded my head and ran a hand over her forehead and hair. She turned onto her side and sighed.
“The cook should be bringing in some food in a few minutes.”
I kissed Deanna’s forehead. She was fast asleep, so Beverly and whispered.
“She said her hips are still bothering her.”
Beverly nodded her head in agreement.
“She needs to start staying off her feet more often now. We both know how stubborn she is though. She wants to keep going no matter what. Come and get me if you need anything else. You know you can always reach me.”
Nodding my head I placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Thank-you Beverly. Deanna and I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”
Suddenly, Q showed up in a bright flash of light, waking Deanna in the process.
“Ah Riker, Counselor Troi, you think that what you’ve been through the last month was terrible, just terrible, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
With the snap of his fingers, the expression on Deanna’s face changed and I saw her hands grip the sides of the bed with iron fists. Her thoughts were being aimed at me full force.
“Q don’t do this! It’s too soon! The baby needs three more months!”
Q shook his head and clucked his tongue against his teeth.
“With that I take my leave, for now. Let’s see what a few minutes of chaos in this century brings you. This primitive Earth culture is about to become very real for the two of you. And it isn’t pretty.”
Another flash, and he disappeared. A few steps away was Beverly’s door to her room. One hand in Deanna’s, I pounded on her door with my fist. She quickly opened it with a worried expression on her face.
“What is it Will?”
But before I could answer, Deanna did for me.
“Beverly, this can’t be happening now, its too soon!”
Beverly’s eyes widened in fear. Running a hand through her hair, she went down a checklist out loud of things that were going to happen.
“Ok you two, let’s not panic here. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. That’s a girl. There are two options here, and I go with the latter, but hear me out. Option number one: we let the three stages of labor occur: Latent Phase, Hard Labor and Delivery. Or option number two: we give you something to reverse labor. In this time frame I believe it’s Terbutaline.”
Deanna and I both nodded our head at Beverly, speaking at the same time.
“Option 2.”
Beverly nodded her head once more and went rummaging through a drawer on the left side of Deanna. Finding what she was looking for, she pulled from the drawer, a capped syringe.
“Ah ha. Got it!”
Pulling the cap off with her teeth, she dropped it on the floor.
“Make a fist for me Deanna. I don’t want to roll the vein. Although I don’t think that’s possible with you. You have such fine and tiny veins. There. Give it at least ten minutes before it starts to kick in. It’s best not to try and move ok?”
Deanna nodded her head slowly and gripped my hand. Beverly sat on the other side of the bed and held onto her left hand.
“Baby’s heart rate keeping steady at 139. How do you feel?”
I kissed Deanna’s forehead and saw her nod her head with a small smile of relief.
“Much better, thank-you Beverly.”
Smiling, she squeezed Deanna’s hand and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Well, crisis averted. I’ve done my job here. Call me Will, for the slightest thing. We’ve got three months to go still, and I don’t like to put it in this centuries terms, but she’s in very fragile condition. Watch her carefully.”
Deanna crossed her arms over her chest.
“Beverly, I’m not an invalid you know.”
Beverly smiled and gave Deanna’s hand another squeeze.
“I know, but we have to play the role for this time period. You should rest.”
With that, the both of us watched Beverly leave the room and shut the door to her own. Sinking into the bed next to Deanna under the covers, I blew out a breath and placed a hand over her baby belly.
“Crisis averted Imzadi. You gave mommy and daddy quite a scare there little one. It’s not time to come out yet.”
A strong kick of protest followed my answer. Deanna gave sort of a snort.
“Stubborn like her father.”
My eyes widened and I gave her a smile.
“I take that as a compliment. Her? You think its going to be a girl?”
There was some mystery behind Deanna’s eyes I’d never seen before.
“Women know these things Will. I just have this strong sense that this baby is a girl.”
I chuckled and closed my eyes.
“Then who am I to argue with you? It doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl, just as long as its healthy. You know that.”
Deanna nodded her head and yawned. Closing my eyes once more I let my thoughts slowly help me drift off to sleep. Crisis averted, indeed.
To Be Continued…
A/N: So, what’d you guys think? Let me know! Thanks!
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