Karissa sat on the biobed as Ciara ran a tricorder over her.
"Well, it appears that you and the babies are still doing very well . .
. Your little adventure hasn't had any ill affects," Ciara smile.
"Thank you," Karissa replied. "How long is this pregnancy going to last?" A darkness clouded her already dark eyes. Now that she knew she was a genetic mutation, nothing could be taken for granted.
"Well, based on the day you gave me for the conception and the rate of growth . . . I would say you're looking at about another 5 months . . . "
A bittersweet smile crossed her face. In five months she would be holding her babies . . . two of her babies . . . Tears misted her eyes as she thought about the child she lost . . . Gently, Ciara placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked.
Karissa nodded, wiping at a stray tear that trickled from the corner of her eye. "I'm fine," she lied, forcing a smile.
"Sure you are," Ciara replied, skeptically.
"What about the babies . . .? " she asked. "Can . . . you tell me who that fathers are?" She had remembered Ming telling her that each of them had fathered one of her children . . . But she wanted to know which had survived . . .
"You seem to be pretty sure there's more than one father," she replied. Of course, Ciara had known about that night from what Ming had told her, but she wasn't going to say anything.
"I'm sure," Karissa replied, turning her gaze away.
"Well, let's see . . ." Ciara turned back on her medical tricorder and gazed at the DNA signatures. As they matched up, she gazed at them with a bit of surprise. "One is Captain Evans' child, the other is . . . Dr. Hancock's?" her aqua eyes, gazed at Karissa a bit shocked.
"Its a long story," she replied as tears stung her eyes. "And the baby I lost . . ."
"Was Lt. Wang's," Ciara replied without looking up from the tricorder.
"You knew?" Karissa asked.
"Not who was involved outside of Ming . . . Not at first," Ciara replied. "It suddenly dawned on me about Captain Evans when you miscarried . . . He wouldn't leave your side. But I never expected Dr. Hancock . . . "
"Neither did he," she replied, with a bittersweet smile.
Tears still streamed down her cheeks. She was still a mess. How was she going to counsel anyone in her condition, she thought. But she had to return to her job somehow . . . But the pain of everything that had happened was still strong in her. The few days alone she'd had with Ryan had been as nice break from reality, but shortly after she had arrived back on ship all the memories and pain had come back. It was just proof that you couldn't run away from your troubles. She gazed at the ring on her finger and caressed it, remembering his words to her . . . his love . . . She sighed deeply.
"How's Ming?" Karissa asked.
"He's doing better," Ciara replied. "When you lost the baby . . . his . . . He took it very hard . . ."
Karissa nodded and wiped more tears from her face. "But he's okay?"
"He will be," she smiled. "You know, if you want to talk, you know I'm here . . ."
"Thanks, but I don't know . . ."
"Hey," Ciara said, "If you don't talk to me, who are you going to talk to? Who's going to counsel the counselor?"
Suddenly, she sobbed softly. "I don't know what to say . . . all I feel is this sense of loss and . . . pain . . . "
"Its okay," Ciara said, and sat next to Karissa on the biobed, placing an arm around her shoulders.
"And not only have I lost a child, but I have lost my self . . . I know that everyone still accepts me for who I am . . . but I am dealing with the fact that I was created for some reason, and losing ones identity is a tough thing to deal with . . . Just too much loss all at once . . ."
"I understand," Ciara said, as she let Karissa cry.
After a few minutes, Karissa got a hold of herself again and the crying subsided. But a wave of nausea hit her. As he hand flew to her mouth, Ciara quickly reached into a nearby cabinet and pulled out a large bowl. As Karissa took it, the nausea passed. But she held onto the bowl just in case.
"So have you been having morning sickness frequently," Ciara asked, now once again the doctor.
"Yeah," she replied. " I've also been getting light-headed, and dizzy . . . I passed out once . . ." she said, remembering the incident with Ryan where she had almost drown.
"You did?" Ciara asked.
Karissa nodded. "I got disoriented when I had closed my eyes . . . That's the last thing I remember before waking up again."
"I'm going to give you something for the morning sickness," Ciara said. She got up and went to a cabinet. She returned with a hypo spray. Quickly, she administered the shot to Karissa neck. Almost instantly, her nausea vanished. "There, that should help."
"It has," Karissa replied, with surprise.
"Well, that's only a quick fix. I'm going to give you some pills that you need to take once every morning before you get up out of bed. That should prevent the nausea from returning and should help keep the dizziness at bay."
Karissa nodded in understanding. As Ciara walked away again, Karissa's mind returned to her babies . . . To the one she had lost . . . To the realization of what she was . . . Tears started stinging her eyes again, before she was able to force them away. As Ciara returned she was in control, or so she thought she looked . . .
Ciara handed her a bottle of pills. "One more thing," she said. "I want you on light duties for the next 72 hours. You can do whatever paperwork you have, or reports, but I do not want you seeing patients right now. In fact, today, I want you off duty . . . " she reconcidered.
"Doctor's orders?" she asked.
"Definitely, Doctor's orders," Ciara replied.
Karissa sat in her favorite chair, staring out the porthole sipping on a glass of cold milk. In her lap, she had a book about pregnancy. Not that her pregnancy was going to match it at all . . . but at least it would give her an idea what she might be in for. After all, her body structure, for the most part was human. She knew Ryan was going to visit her after his shift was over, and she was waiting. She had been thinking about how to tell him that one of the babies was definitely his . . . It was one of the few things that had made her smile that day. To tell him, she had wrapped up a small box in pink and blue paper with a special gift inside. Now, she was just waiting for him to arrive.
Ryan sat in his cahir fidgeting and checking the chronometer eagerly. The doors
opened and he immediately stood and headed for the turbolift reaching it before
the last of the gamma shift was out.
"Seeing Karissa tongiht Captain?" asked Tyran as he joined Ryan in
the turbolift.
"Yup"
"I'm glad things finally worked out for you Captain." he said. "Maybe you and Karissa could come have dinner with Dinara and I one night?"
"I'm sure Karissa would love to."
The turbolift came to a stop. "Here's where I get off" said Ryan.
"Have fun" said Tyran as the doors closed. Ryan hurried down the corridor toward Karissa's quarters and rang the chime.
He was invited in. He walked in a nd found Karissa sitting in a chair staring out into space. "Hi honey" he said.
"Hi," she replied, with a soft smile. "Anything interesting happen on the bridge?" Now that they were together, she was beginning to look forward to her shifts on the bridge again.
"Not a lot.. Tyran's cat somehow found it's way back up there again, but that was about the highlight of the day" he said as he sat on teh Sofa. "How are you feeling today?"
"I'm doing all right," she replied. "Ciara gave me something for the morning sickness and dizziness . . . So far it seems to have helped . . ." she explained. "Oh, and I have something for you," she said, standing from her chair, and grabbing the little gift off the table next to her. She walked to the sofa and took a seat next to Ryan on the sofa as she handed him the little pink and blue wrapped box.
Ryan took the box and opened it curiously wondering what would be inside. He finished pulling off the paper and opened the box inside. "Baby boots?!?" he asked as he pulled them out.
She laughed. "That's right," she said, "Baby booties . . . Daddy . . ." Her dark eyes sparkled. If nothing else, at least one of the babies was his.
"You mean, one of the babies is mine after all??" he asked barely able to control the smile that was growing on his face.
"I had Ciara check today when I was there . . . " she replied. It was still bittersweet for her. She was happy, but the lose of one of the babies was going to be with her for awhile . . . Only time would heal that and she knew it.
"I can't believe it!" he said. "I assumed they'd all be Ming's" he said.
"No . . " she replied, "Only one was . . ." she fought the lump building in her throat, but smiled with the joy that Ryan felt.
"So, is the other mine too? Or is that Doctor Hancock's?"
"Its Doctor Hancock's," she replied, turning her gaze away.
"Have you thought about how to tell him yet?" asked Ryan. Even though his lover was having another mans baby in addition to his own, he wasn't really that worried about it. "It's going to be harder for him than it is for me"
"No . . . " she shook her head. "I don't how to tell him . . . I wouldn't know where to begin . . ." she replied. This, in truth, had troubled her a great deal. She knew William had to know and she would have to tell him, but she just didn't know how . . . "But I'll have to think of something when he returns . . . "
"You want me to tell him?"
"No, that's all right," she replied. She knew he could see the pain and concern in her eyes. "I should be the one to do it . . . This was my mess . . . I have to be the one to clean it up as best as I can . . ."
He took her hand. "If you want to do it alone, I respect that. Just remember I'm here for you."
With that, she smiled and caressed his face tenderly. "Thank you . . ." she replied. "Just be here to pick up any pieces that fall."
"So will this be a normal pregnancy.... nine moths I mean?"
She shook her head. "The feline DNA has sped it up a bit . . . I am due in about 5 months now." In fact, she had been starting to show just a bit, she noticed when she had changed clothes earlier.
"Five months huh?" said Ryan "That's not long.... Pretty soon, we'll be thinking up names." he smiled
"Yeah . . . You know, I didn't think to ask Ciara about the sex of the babies," she said. "I suppose I can do that when I see her next . . . I wonder if I'm having boys or girls or one of each," she smiled, thinking of the possibilities.
"Don't ask, let's just wait and see... the old fasioned way"
"You want to?" she said, her eyes gaining back their sparkle.
"Why not?" he asked. He moved in for a kiss, but was interupted by the dimming of lights and the red alert klaxon wailing.
[Red Alert, All hands to battle stations!]
Ryan sighed. "Guess I have to go" he said.
Ryan got up and headed for the door.
Quickly Karissa jumped up after him. "Wait for me, I'm coming with you!" she replied.
"Ohh no your not! The doctor siad you have to stay here."
"I'm going," she replied, "If something is happening, you may need me up there. I can't just sit here and do nothing!"
Ryan knew he had to get to the bridge as quickly as possible. This was no time to argue. "Fine, let's go"
With a quick nod, she swiftly followed
him out the door.