Visitation Weekend

Alexandria still felt uneasy letting Timothy take their daughter. She had met his wife Martina and her sons Guerdo and Pedro, and also her youngest daughter Ramona who was just a year younger than Kira. Everything seemed all right, but she was still unsettled. Timothy knew that look in his ex-wife’s eyes and had tried to ease her mind, but she had bristled at his nearness . . . Her memory was still intact of what he’d done over their marriage, even if his wasn't. She had stood at the door the entire time as they disappeared down the street.

Once gone, she had gone back inside and went to the replicator getting herself some tea.

"It's going to be all right," she said to herself over and over again. "She'll be fine . . ."

Tyran prepared some of the paperwork, regarding the unpaid bills of Timothy McKenna. It was even more than he’d estimated. He wrapped up the last bits and got up.

"Dan, watch the place, I’m going to settle a debt."

Danayal nodded. "Fine, boss."

He nodded and went on his way, he had the right address this time, and he informed Shara of the matter, who would wait for his call if the man made a fuss.

Timothy had happily taken Kira and his new family to one of the family fun restaurants in town and let the kids play . . . The boys played video games as the girls played games to get tickets and they also crawled and climbed all over the play set inside the restaurant. Kira and Ramona seemed to get along wonderfully playing together the entire time.

When Tim finally took them back home he showed Kira around and where she would sleep . . . On the bunk bed with Ramona . . . Ramona got the top.

Though Kira wanted to spend time with her daddy, he seemed more interested in watching the vid and letting Ramona entertain her.

Though Kira was happy to be there she was sad that her father didn't seem all that interested in spending any time with her at all . . .

Tyran walked up to the apartment. He went to the front door and chimed with a signal his dear friend Timothy would recognize in a flash.

A woman answered the door. "Yes?" she answered, her voice heavily accented.

"Can I see Timothy McKenna please? I know he’s here, and I have some business to settle with him; a few unpaid bills."

"Uh, Timothy . . . There is someone here for you," she said looking back into the apartment.

Suddenly a blond-haired man came to the door.

"Tyran . . . what a surprise," he said with a smile.

"He said you have unpaid bills," his wife replied with a hint of anger in her voice.

Immediately his smile faded. "Uh . . . yeah . . . Those . . ."

"Yes those… Is that the reason you didn’t come to the Starlight when you first came back?" Tyran asked calmly.

Timothy's voice seemed to vanish. Whenever he was caught, he immediately grew quiet. "Well, we've just been busy. We just moved back here, my new family and I . . . and I was busy setting up visitation with my daughter, Kira."

"So I heard. Well I want the money right now, before you vanish once more, like you already did before. It is a total of 499 gold pressed latinum strips."

He let out a breath. "I don't really have all of that right now . . . I mean, I have some . . . But that's a lot . . . I don't exactly carry that kind of latinum around with me."

"I come back this evening, if you don’t have it then, I’ll be forced to bring security over. I already talked to a friend of mine, who says you can get arrested for this."

He looked shocked. "All right," he said softly. "I'll have it here by 5pm tonight. You can come back then . . ."

"I’ll come back when I have time, sometime after 5pm." He turned on his heels and left, knowing he’d scared the man to death.

"Who was that, Daddy?" Kira asked having come out of Ramona's room with her step-sister trailing behind.

"No one you need to worry about, Honey. Why don't you go back and play with Ramona some more."

Looking a little dejected, she walked back to Ramona's room.

Alexandria was sitting on the couch sipping another cup to tea. She'd already had several cups of herbal tea in the hopes that it would sooth her nerves, but several hours later, she was still unsettled.

There was a soft knock on her door; Tyran had decided it was time to tell her more about her daughter.

As she opened the door, her eyes gazed at Tyran. "You saw him?" she asked.

"Yes, and her… he didn’t really pay attention to her. I’m going back tonight since, of course, he didn’t have the money, as I figured."

"He wanted visitation and he isn't spending time with her?" she said stunned. "I don't understand why he'd even ask for visitation then . . ."

"I have no idea; I’ll go back tonight, after 17:00, because I have a shift, and because my friend Shara won’t be on duty until 18:00 hours. I won’t take any risks with him."

"Good idea . . ."

She walked around the room and had her arms crossed as she rubbed her upper arms as if trying to warm up. The night was cool, but her home was fairly warm.

Immediately he noticed. "It's really warm here, are you sick? Do I have to call Dominic for you?" He felt her forehead. "You have a fever."

"No, I'm all right," she tried to insist. "I'm just concerned for Kira . . . and tonight Misha's coming over. We're going out to dinner." But she was looking pale . . .

"I’m calling Dom. You can blabber all you like, but if you’re sick, you should be in bed. You can let Mish play the nurse. He does have a diploma as field medic." He smiled. "The man has many talents." 

She smiled weakly.

Tyran then walked to the comm and pressed the code for Dominic. "Come on, take it, I need you buddy." He mumbled.

"Hello?" Dominic answered.

"Dom, it is me, Tyran. Ms. McKenna has a fever. Can you come by and tell her she should be in bed, and not walking around in an over heated house?"

"Ms. McKenna . . . Oh yes. She did just move back to town, didn't she? I'll be right over. It could take me about fifteen minutes, but I'll be there."

"Thank you." He closed the comm. "Computer, lower temperature to 21C; And you, in bed. Now! No arguments!"

"You're crazy, Tyran. I'm not sick!" she insisted, as she suddenly started sniffling.

"Yeah right, and I’m your fairy godmother… you’re sick… the temperature here was eight degrees above standard. I am dying from the heat. Now you go to bed!"

With a defeated sigh, she knew she was feeling worse and worse by the minute. In fact, the muscles of her body were aching badly . . . This illness had seemed to come out of nowhere. "All right, you win . . ." she said reluctantly.

"I know that you feel bad… go to bed, I’ll open up for Dom and Misha."

"Thanks . . ." she said softly and wandered back to her room. She could feel a chill and began shaking. Knowing it was the wrong thing to do, she still stripped down and hopped into a hot shower.

When she got out, she felt warm for a bit, but rapidly got cold again.

Almost as soon as she slid under the covers of her bed, she fell asleep . . . shivering, with a growing headache and body aches.

Tyran looked concerned, he heard the chime go off, and opened the door. "Dom, finally… she didn’t look good at all."

"There's been a case of Haperine Flu going on," he said as he came inside. "Is she in bed?"

"Yes, finally, but I heard the shower running first." He replied with concern.

Dominic raised an eyebrow. "Which is her room?" he asked.

"Come." Tyran led him to the right room, and opened the door. "Here it is, she’s expecting Misha Hailwright. He wanted to take her out, but I think you’d rather have him use his field medic training on her now?"

"It could be a good idea if she does have this flu . . . It's been known to cause fevers to spike suddenly and go quite high."

Dominic went to Alexandria's side and pulled out his tricorder. As he looked at the results he nodded. "Yep, just what I thought. Haperine Flu . . . Her fever's quite high at the moment. But not high enough to have me rush her to Paladin. At least not yet . . . I have something that should ease her symptoms a bit, but this will have to run its course. If we're lucky, this -" he said holding up a hypospray, "Will shorten it's duration from a week to merely a couple of days."

"Is it safe for Kira, her daughter, to come home, or should Misha bring her to me?"

"If it were my guess, I'd say Kira probably brought it home to her mother as a carrier . . . She might end up with symptoms of her own . . . out of the seven cases I've seen of this already, five of them have been children."

He said as he injected the medication into Alexandria. She opened her eyes briefly and forced a smile.

"Hi, Dominic . . ." she moaned and shut her eyes again. The headache was worse than before.

"You should start feeling better soon, my dear." With that, he motioned for Tyran to follow him out of the room.

Tyran did and closed the door. "Can I get it as well? And Misha?"

"It's possible, but as long as you're not kissing her, I doubt it will be a problem . . . Don't share glasses . . . Wash your hands frequently . . . This isn't airborne."

"Warn Misha, he’ll be here soon, if I understood it right. I have to go back to the bar... I’ll check in on Kira when I get my latinum. That fool of a father of hers thought I wouldn’t show."

"Then you'd better run along . . . I can stay for awhile," Dominic assured him. "I want to check on her once more before I go anyway."

"Thanks, Dom." He smiled and left the house.

Only 30 minutes later Misha chimed, he was in a good mood and had some roses with him...

As the door slid open, he saw Dominic sitting on the couch reading a PADD.

"I thought it might be you," he replied with a gentle smile.

"Dom? What are you doing here?" Misha eyed him with surprise. "Is something wrong with Alexandria?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. You might as well come in and sit down . . . Make yourself comfortable . . ." he watched as Misha sat. "She has Haperine Flu," he said.

"What? I heard Myra Chapowitz died of that when I was working in the gardens of the Paladin hospital."

"There have been a couple of deaths, yes . . ." Dominic admitted. "But her fever hasn't gone very high yet. I don't believe she needs to be at Paladin . . . and I've just given her something to boost her immune response. It should cut down the duration of this illness if nothing else. I think she'll be fine."

"And I bet you want me to make sure she’s alright. I *can* do that if I am drafted as a field medic, as you know, but that can only be done with an epidemic." Misha sighed.

"Well, I'm going to let you take care of her anyway. . . This hasn't reached epidemic proportions yet, but it could by the end of the week . . . Hopefully not though," Dominic said. "Just do your best to keep her fever at manageable levels. If it spikes high, bring her to Paladin."

"I know my work, Dom. I’ll do as you say… where is she now?"

"In bed . . . resting. I checked on her about twenty minutes ago . . . She's still pretty warm, but she was doing all right."

"I’ll check her regularly, thank you, Dominic."

Dom got to his feet. "Well, I will leave her in your capable hand then, my lad. Let me know if she takes a turn for the worse."

"I will," he smiled, but it was tinged with concern. As soon as Dominic was gone, he sneaked to Alexandria’s bedroom, just to make sure she was doing all right.

After checking on Danayal at the bar, Tyran walked back to Serenity Towers where Timothy lived. It was around 19:00 hours.

As the door opened, Timothy stood there with a case. He handed it to Tyran.

"Here," he said non-too-friendly. "You wanted your latinum, you've got it. Now maybe you'd better get out here, Tyran."

"Not really… you have to sign a few documents; I suggest you do that inside." He showed a whole pile of paperwork.

Timothy groaned. "You're kidding me . . . You got your money!"

"When you disappeared without a trace, I made a case from that. To stop the investigation, you need to sign these, as a proof you have paid your debt. I also have to sign them in your presence."

He sighed. "All right, all right . . ."

He let Tyran in. Tim's new wife was in the kitchen cooking, the older son was playing some vid game the younger boy was nowhere to be seen, but both little girls were in the living room playing dolls.

Tyran watched them while he handed a pile of at least 100 pages to Timothy. "One paper for each bill..."

"You're joking! This is will an hour or longer!"

"I have the time… and if you don’t sign, as I said, I can’t take that money. I have the law to uphold, my friend." Tyran said very calmly. "When this is settled you’re at least safe to come back to the Starlight Inn."

"All right, all right . . ." he replied and sat down on the couch ready to sign the thick stack of documents.

Suddenly, Kira looked up. "I know you!" she smiled as she saw Tyran. "You're my mommy's friend!"

"Ah then you must be Kira. I’m Tyran." He made a polite little bow for her.

She giggled. "She has a picture of you and her together at a party. She says it was when I was real little. I don't remember it," she said as she shook her head.

"No, you were only two I think. It was just before you left Serenity city."

"Wow! That was a long time ago!" she said as she went closer to him. "That's my step-sister Ramona."

The dark-haired little girl waved and smiled from the floor, but didn't say anything.

"Hello Ramona." He said friendly and looked for Timothy's reaction.

"Isn't she cute?" he said. "And that's my son Guerdo and I have another boy too - Pedro. I think he's in his room reading or watching the vid in there . . . and that over there is my lovely new wife Martina." he smiled.

Martina merely tossed over a look and seemed to force a smile at them as she cooked.

"You have a great family all at once. I’m happy for you, Timothy; I hope it’ll be better this time." He smiled genuinely.

Timothy's eyes met Martina's, but it seemed that there wasn't a whole lot of warmth.

"Well, anything's better than last time, right?" he replied, turning his attention back to Tyran before signing yet more documents.

"In what way? At least you pay your bills now though, without me having to send the law to your door… that I find an improvement."

"Well, it helps to have a steady job . . ." he shrugged.

"Where do you work now?" Tyran started the conversation, while he eyed Kira.

"I work at the communications station," he replied. "I make sure all the communications go through easily . . . keep maintenance on the systems and all that fun stuff."

"Ah, so you did manage to finish that study course you started. Glad to hear you have work you like."

"Well, I didn't say I liked it, but it gets the bills paid," he replied. "The company has sent me to five different worlds in the last three years."

"That explains why you disappeared when I finally managed to locate you. So now you have more kids, any of them yours besides Kira?"

"Well, I put my name on Ramona's birth certificate. Her father died before she was born . . . When Martina and I got married I decided I would give Ramona a father."

"And Kira? Alexandria told me you did keep contact with her."

"Well, of course, I had to do that . . . Kira's my little girl," he said. "Daddy’s baby, momma’s angel . . ."

Kira seemed to smile. "Can we go to the Starlight Inn?" she asked. "Please??"

"Well, not tonight, honey. Maybe next time you come visit," Tim replied.

Kira's face immediately fell.

"Why not? It’s not a busy night. When she was a baby you always brought her over to show off." Tyran said.

"Yeah, well . . . after paying you, my funds are a little tapped," he replied. "I won't have any money until next time."

"Then this time is on the house, to celebrate your return." Tyran said.

Tim smiled. "Then you have a deal! Honey, did you hear that?" he called to Martina.

"I heard. Thank you," she said to Tyran.

"Tim, even despite that bill, I still consider you a friend. I had wondered why you hadn’t show up."

He shrugged. "The bill . . ." he replied. "I had no idea Alexandria would come see you though . . . I guess I should have figured."

"I would have found you sooner or later. If it had not been Alex, it would have been Dominic or someone else like Joshua who knows you."

"Yeah, we saw him when we first arrived, but he didn't say much. He was kind of busy at the time," he replied. "He still married?"

"Yes and he has a daughter; someone my girlfriend adores. I’m sure she’ll love Kira."

"Girlfriend?" this immediately got Timothy's attention. "You have a girlfriend?"

"Yes, I have a girlfriend. Her name is Jaya Bourne, and she lives here on Serenity." He took a picture from his pocket. "This is her."

Timothy looked genuinely surprised. "She's quite a knock-out . . . what does she do for a living?"

"She’s a consultant, she works for many different companies." He replied with a smile.

"Impressive job," he replied. "I bet she rakes in the big bucks."

"Like I care about that… I have enough to feed myself and my son."

"You have a son?" he asked with surprise.

"Yeah, for four years now. I got him when he was 14. He tried to rob the bar so he could buy drugs. I provided him a home, and a chance to stop the drug use."

"You’re a kinder man than I am, Tyran." he replied. "If it had been me I would have let him go to jail. After all, he broke the law."

"Everyone has a right to a second chance; I’ve given you a few as well around that age, if you remember." He said.

For a moment Tim was silent. He knew that Tyran was right . . . he just didn't like to admit it. "Yes, well . . ." He went back to signing more of the documents. "Are you sure we have to sign every single one of these?"

"Shara assured me it had to be done." He said apologetic.

"All right," he said turning his attention back to the papers.

It took close to an hour, but finally, Timothy signed the last paper. "Okay, I guess that takes care of that."

"Yes, now I have to count the money, and we’re done."

"Okay, good," he replied. "So how's Alex? She hasn't said much to me . . ."

Martina shot a dirty look from the kitchen. It was obvious the woman was jealous just hearing his Ex-wife's name.

"She’s not feeling so great. She has the flu." He eyed Kira who looked like she also had it. "And I see Kira has the same symptoms."

"What?!" Timothy said turning around to look at his daughter.

She did look pale, and there was a darkness around her eyes. She was also wearing a sweater inside the apartment when the temperature was warm.

"Are you feeling okay, honey?"

"I hurt . . ." she said softly. "I was trying not too, daddy . . . but my head hurts and so do my legs . . ."

"She has it… you better call Dominic." Tyran said softly. "And let her go to her mother."

Tim and Martina exchanged looks and then looked at Ramona as well.

"Is this flu serious? Do you know how contagious it is?"

"As long as you don’t kiss her, or use her glass or something, nothing’ll happen. It’s not airborne."

"Well, maybe I'd better call Alex and take Kira home . . ." he said.

Kira didn't object. She just sat back down onto the floor and leaned her back up against the wall.

"Daddy, I hurt . . ."

"I have a better idea, I’ll take Kira home. But I’ll go to Dominic first; he only lives 5 minutes from here."

There was only a minute's hesitation. "All right," he said. "I'll go get her stuff. Kira, Tyran's going to take you to my mom, okay?"

Kira merely nodded.

Timothy left the room and came back in almost no time at all with a small overnight bag. There was also a stuffed tiger in his hand that he handed to Kira after handing the bag to Tyran.

"Here's your tiger, honey."

"Thank you," she said softly as she hugged it to her chest. It was obvious that she was getting sick quickly.

Tyran scooped her up in his arms. "I’ll leave the money here and come back for it later. I’ll tell you how Kira’s doing." He opened the door and left.

Alexandria was still in bed and shivering once again. She was drifting in and out of sleep.

"Kira . . ." she said softly. "Kira . . ." Her mind thought of nothing but her daughter.

"Shhhh, she’s fine," Misha made her drink some water, and take the medication he’d got from Dominic.

Tyran had wasted no time in getting Kirda to the home of Doctor Sebastian. "We’ll go see a friend of mine. He’s a doctor, and will make you better."  He promised. Soon they stood in front of the door. Tyran chimed.

Dominic opened the door and saw Tyran with his little patient. "Ah, Tyran . . . and this must be Kira?" he asked showing them inside.

"Yes, and she also has that flu… fever, hurting muscles."  He placed the girl on an exam table in the practice.

He pulled his tricorder out and began to scan her. "Yes . . . she has the same thing . . ."

He pulled out a hypospray and loaded it.

"This will help you feel better," he said.

"I’ll bring you to mommy, honey." He soothed the now crying child. "I mean, that can be done?" He said, but he saw Dominic frown. The child had fiery red cheeks..

"I'll do what I can, but she may very well have to go to Paladin," he said gently.

"What's that?" she asked.

"A hospital, you were born there." Tyran said gently, but he toss Dominic a concerned stare.

"Why don't you rest here, sweetie. I'm going to have a word with your Uncle Tyran here."

She nodded, not having the strength to question any more.

"I want my momma . . ." she said softly.

"Go sleep, you’ll see her soon."  He said and walked with Dominic. "What is it, Dom? She’s my god daughter. I thought you’d forgotten." 

"Oh, you know my memory . . . I haven't forgotten a friend yet," he smiled. "But I am concerned. Her fever has spiked quite high . . . I've given her something to help bring it down and I also gave her the immune system booster, but I'll have to keep an eye on her . . ."

"I better call Paladin then." Tyran said. "Misha’s with her mother, I assume?"

"Yes," Dominic replied. "He assured me he'd stay with her . . . I just don't know how she'll respond when she hears Kira's in the hospital . . ."

"I’ll inform Misha. If she’s feverish he’d better not say a word… she was supposed to stay over at Timothy's anyway. I’ll right back."

When he returned he looked at Dom. "Misha just wanted to call you. Alex’ fever is not lowering." 

Dominic sighed. "Tell him to take her to Paladin. We'll meet him there. We need her authorization for Kira anyway. We'll kill two birds with one stone."

"That was what he suggested, he’s already asked for transport for them."

"We’d better do the same," Dominic replied.

Alexandria had been assessed and immediately admitted. She'd hardly moved . . . Her body still ached and she was feverish. But she was still worried about Kira. As she saw Misha she looked at him.

"Will Kira be okay if I'm not there? What if she needs me?"

"Tyran is her god father, remember? That’s what he told me… he’ll take care for her if something happens to you. She’ll be safe at the Starlight Inn." 

"I just . . . I'm worried . . . If Timothy knows he could try to keep her . . ." she said. "The lawyer told me . . . If I lost her . . ."

Her fear was taking her over and she tried to sit up.

"I have to go home. I can't let Timothy know . . ."

"Kira... I lied, I didn’t want to worry you… Tyran’s bringing her to Paladin. She got sick when she was with her father. He didn’t seem to notice, but Tyr did." 

Concern went into her eyes. "She's being admitted?"

"Yes, she has your fever, but she’ll be all right. I’m certain of that… the only ones dying were discovered too late. Tyran was on time."

"You're sure?" she asked feeling so weak. "I want to see her . . ."

"You have to stay here, and yes I am very sure… I work in the gardens here, and I hear things." He said. "You have to sleep."

"How can I?" she asked, though she was tired and weak. "My little girl's sick . . ."

"And you are no help to her; if you’re sick yourself… sleep. I’m sure she’ll be taken to your room as soon as they’re done with her."

Her eyes met his. They reflected her worry.

She could see rest and a sense of serene calm in his brown eyes.

"You promise me she'll be all right?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I promise you… Tyran took her straight to Dominic, and they’re taking good care of her… please sleep. I’ll stay with you."

For a moment, their eyes met and held. Suddenly, she took his hand. "Thank you . . ." she said. As she pulled her hand away, she began to cough. "Wash your hands . . ." she said; the time honored cry of all mothers.

"I know, honey… sleep now. I’ll watch over you."  He went to wash his hands.

Meanwhile Tyran and Dominic arrived at Paladin with Kira.

The doctors immediately triaged her, got an IV started and admitted her, transferring her immediately to her mother's room, rather than the pediatric unit.

Tyran left, they didn’t need him there anymore. He went to Jaya, but knew he’d be back the next day to visit them.

In a couple of days, all was well and both mother and daughter were released from the hospital ready to go home and resume their lives.