“How is this possible? How do the people of Earth in this century have an alien from the Beta Tli system?”
Huh. The Beta Tli System. I ran a hand over the round-looking ship. It was held in place and upright by some sort of docking clamps. Deanna had her arms crossed just over her belly and was shaking her head.
“Will did you even bother to read the signs on the door clearly marked: ‘Restricted Area: Keep Out. Air Force Personnel Only’? I know you are looking for some sort of panel to open the hatch on this. I’d advise against that.”
I turned around and looked at Deanna and gave a smile.
“This is a piece of history Imzadi. We’ve never seen one of these ships up close before.”
I was interrupted by Beverly just behind Deanna.
“She’s right Will. In our century since this place is a museum, they’ve removed the alien’s body. In this century, the government can’t even figure out how to open the hatch. The body of that alien has been inside this ship since 1947. Let’s go Will. Deanna needs to be back in her room. Three weeks to go and she needs to be off her feet.”
Sighing, I stepped away from the ship. An alarm started to go off, and a red light began to flash. Helping Deanna back into the wheelchair the three of us quickly found a door and exited the room housing the alien ship. Now just a few short steps away from our room, I looked around the corner to make sure there were no soldiers parading the hallway. Looking back at Beverly and Deanna around the corner, I motioned for them to file into our room.
“All the soldiers must be converging on the room where the alien ship is. You know, that white lab coat doesn’t look too bad on you Beverly.”
She was helping Deanna back into bed and placing the fetal heart monitor back around her stomach. I watched as they laughed a little. But it was Beverly’s voice that spoke first.
“Look at that foot testing out the space. Not that there is much space in there. Someone is probably pretty eager to come out.”
I shut my eyes and tried not to grit my teeth as Doctor Sartos came into the room with four other doctors trailing behind her.
“We’ve waited long enough Doctor Howard. We need to induce labor today. Within the next 20 minutes. The baby is more than large enough now to be delivered.”
Beverly only shook her head.
“You don’t understand, I keep telling you, inducing labor would only be detrimental to the both of them.”
Doctor Sartos and Beverly both had tempers, but Beverly could get quite loud when she was fighting for the safety and health of a patient.
“How is that detrimental Doctor Howard? She’s 41 weeks. One week over-due. Is there something else the three of you aren’t telling me?”
I kept my mouth closed until a nurse got a fresh catheter out of one of the drawers. I went on the right side of Deanna and Beverly on the left.
“Don’t touch her.”
The nurse stopped what she was doing and Doctor Sartos kept the frown on her face.
“Excuse me but you do realize that by leaving this baby inside the womb for longer than necessary can do more harm than not. We need to induce labor, now.”
It was Beverly’s turn to argue.
“I am her attending Physician, and you are not hearing me! Inducing labor would be harmful for the baby. Believe me when I say, the baby isn’t ready to greet the world yet. Three weeks, that’s all I’m asking.”
I saw Deanna shaking her head as both Beverly and Doctor Sartos kept arguing. Throwing her hands up, she then crossed them over her chest.
“Nobody bothered to ask me what I want? What’s best for me?”
The silence in the room began, and it was deafening.
“Deanna I really think that we should induce labor, if you don’t have any objections?”
I shook my head no and watched as Deanna pulled her legs towards herself.
“I’ve about had it with all of you! For the last three and a half months we’ve put up with all the poking and prodding and needle sticks. We’re done.”
The nurse tried to go back to what she was doing with the catheter.
“Don’t touch me. You just keep going with what you’re doing. You didn’t ask me what I wanted, whether I wanted to go through with this or not. The answer is no. I’m not ready yet, and neither is my baby.”
Doctor Sartos tried to regain our trust, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. My guard up, I listened to what she said.
“That baby, your baby has human DNA, but also that of an alien not of this world. Don’t you see what we are trying to accomplish here? It is imperative that you cooperate with us, we promise that no harm will come to you or your baby. Get her started on some Magnesium.”
The four doctors, including Doctor Sartos left the room, once the last nurse left, Beverly shook her head in disgust.
“Magnesium? Ugh, that stuff makes a woman feel like crap, to use their term for it. I remember, I was on it while I was carrying Wesley. You can’t keep food down, and you are constantly vomiting all the time.”
I ran a hand through Deanna’s dark curls.
“Well I’m not going to stand for this, you told me that her Magnesium levels were where they should be when we were aboard the Enterprise. Can you take the needle out before the Magnesium starts to affect her system?”
Beverly sat down and carefully tried to figure out a way to get the needle out. Shaking her head, she took her hands away from the needle in Deanna’s arm.
“The problem with this picture is that they’ve got it mixed in with the liquid saline flowing through her veins. Maybe I can find a way to extract the Magnesium from the saline solution.”
She dug through a couple of drawers trying to find something to extract the Magnesium. I put a hand in Deanna’s and watched as she knit her forehead in confusion.
“Will, Beverly, I don’t feel well… There’s a strange taste in the back of my throat, and there’s pain in my chest…”
Beverly began going through drawers looking for something else. I saw Deanna’s eyes begin to shut and I patted her hand to make her open her eyes.
“Deanna, look at me Imzadi, open your eyes for me.”
Beverly had turned and was now holding two capped syringes in her left hand.
“She’s having an allergic reaction to the Magnesium. When I count to three Will, I want you to place the cotton ball on the area where the needle was. I’m going to pull it out. 1-2-3. Put pressure at the elbow crease.”
I put the cotton ball on top of the point where the needle had been.
“What’s the smaller syringe for?”
Beverly uncapped the syringe and inserted it into the vein on Deanna’s left arm.
“Epinephrine. It’ll help her lungs and her throat open up, but she’ll still need oxygen for at least another 20 minutes before she acclimates to room air.”
I watched as Deanna gasped for breath and waited for the oxygen in her nose to take effect. Beverly added one more thing before Deanna spoke.
“I’m glad I didn’t have to use the Adrenaline. That was the bigger of the two syringes.”
Deanna looked exhausted, I didn’t blame her. I wiped the sweat from her brow.
“I don’t think I can take this much longer, we get thrown in the past, and I’m the pin cushion. Our baby being the focal point of all this secret under wraps alien testing that is going on in this government facility. What happened to me?”
Beverly sat down on the left hand side of Deanna’s bed.
“You had an allergic reaction to the Magnesium Deanna, but you’re alright now. I promise I’ll buy you more time. I won’t let them induce labor on you. Inducing labor would cause the baby respiratory distress and heart palpitations. The baby simply needs three more weeks.”
We both nodded our heads in seriousness. My hand went over Deanna’s on top of her baby belly.
“What would’ve happened if Deanna had stopped breathing for several minutes?”
Beverly put her hand on top of Deanna’s.
“Will, the baby’s heart rate would drop below 80 and then a C-section would be absolutely necessary. She would have to be in an incubator for at least a week before her lungs were strong enough to endure room air.”
I saw Beverly shake her head with a small smile on her face.
“Sometimes, I can’t keep my mouth closed.”
A smile erupted on my face.
“So, we are having a girl. Laura Jane Riker-Troi it is then.”
Deanna and I both smiled at each other and went in for a kiss. This day had gone from bad to a calm and normal moment being stuck in this century. Beverly had gone back to her room next door while I got under the covers with Deanna. She moved to try and get comfortable.
“Why are these beds so lumpy? And hard? I think the only thing that’s cushioning me right now is the cushion under my hips.”
I ran a hand over her forehead and kissed it.
“Well, as soon as Q is done with his little game here, we’ll go back to Enterprise and be able to be in our nice big King-sized bed. Hopefully, you can give birth on the Enterprise. Something just doesn’t feel right about this Imzadi.”
Deanna nodded her head and kept her hand on top of her baby belly.
“I’ve had that same feeling for the last three days. Is it just me or is Doctor Sartos sizing me up for something? She said and I quote: ‘no harm will come to you or your baby. We promise.’ She wasn’t exactly being truthful.”
My hand still over hers, I gave her a smile.
“Not to worry, I won’t let anything happen to you or Laura. You’re safe with me.”
I found it strange that we had a long and rectangular mirror, window-like on the other side of the room, and little did I know, Doctor Sartos and a few other doctors were watching us from the other side.
To Be Continued…
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