Surprise!

Posted on Sun Dec 22nd, 2024 @ 9:04am by Lieutenant Harley Horn-Davis & Glinn Vaaet Pazon

1,526 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 8: Palingenesis
Location: Infirmary

Harley wiped her brow as she stared down at a crate full of supplies. She grunted as she lifted it onto a cart, then rubbed her lower back. When had lifting a simple crate become so difficult. The Human woman shook her head, one hand still pressing against her lower back as she rummaged through the now open crate with the other.

"Why is there never any help on hand when you need it," she muttered ill-temperedly, "where's the CMO when you need her to help you sort through all this...I can't even read half of this!"

Entering the outer Infirmary, Doctor Vaaet Pazon yawned after having pulled a double shift aboard his own vessel before being drawn into helping out on the Starfleet station. Not that either was overly exciting of an assignment anyway. Aside from lancing a boil or setting a broken bone, not much happened that held his interest either place. Mostly, he felt underutilized if anything.

Noticing others he interrupted, "You're going to throw your back out if you keep working like that."

Startled, Harley turned. "It already hurts," she complained, "normally I can do this with ease but for some reason I just can't seem to lift this like I used to." She smiled sheepishly at the newcomer. "Everyone seems to be out or otherwise occupied, and I don't think I've seen you here before? I'm Lieutenant Horn, but mostly people just call me Nurse Harley."

She grimaced as she shifted, "and I think I may have pulled something after all. I'm not careless, I promise. My children would never forgive me, and my husband would be quite cross."

"I wouldn't doubt it," the Cardassian answered the comment as he motioned toward the biobed area at the opposite end of the Sickbay, "Let me examine you so we can determine the damage."

The senior nurse nodded as walked over and hoisted herself onto the indicated bed. "The boys will surely scold, teenagers that they are," she added, "trying to make up for the absence of their sisters." She eased herself back, grimacing again. "It's just so weird, it's been like that the last couple of days, on and off. I feel so out of shape."

"Uh-huh," the Cardassian answered as he typed on the wall mounted control console within the examination area, truthfully not listening to what the Nurse was saying as he worked. Doctor Pazon was more interested in the puzzle nature of medicine than the people aspects, his attention focusing on getting the most information rather than boring himself with the minutiae of the patient's personal life. Typing quickly on the interface, "Before I initalize this scan, any possibility that you're pregnant?"

Harley gave the man a long stare, trying hard not to burst out in laughter. "Not impossible," she had to admit, "but it's unlikely. My oldest child is nearing academy graduation, my youngest is almost twelve. We weren't planning on more children, we got our hands full on Ilyas at the moment. Also, it's probably good to know I'm fully Human.

"Don't encounter many like that these days. Seems like everyone's half this or half that," the doctor grumbled as he typed on the bearclaw shaped console. He paused the scanning field, instead grabbing a Cardassian issued Medical Tricorder from his belt. "Since you're not sure if you're pregnant or not I'm going to do a standard scan first and see what I find out before I do the heavier scan." Pressing a control he initialized the scanning field.

The Cardassian handed over the scanner, "You may want to stay seated while you look at the scan results."

Harley was surprised at being handed the scanner and discovered the doctor was right to tell her to stay seated. She wasn't just pregnant, from these results she was very pregnant! Going a little pale at the news she handed the scanner back to the doctor. "I wonder why I didn't notice sooner, all prior pregnancies I knew within weeks. Now I'm seven months pregnant and I never noticed anything."

She paused, looking worried. "Suffice to say I never had any prenatal care for this once... Can you run a few scans to see if he or she is healthy?" She folded her hands over her abdomen. "It's a surprise alright, but no less welcome, such is Vulcan culture though this child also has Romulan blood. Peter's mother is a Vulcan -Romulan hybrid. His father was Human."

Saying nothing, Glinn Pazon walked over to the control console built into the wall, his ash-colored fingers moving along the green and brown keys of the computer interface. Typing a series of commands into the panel, he looked back at the patient,

"Please remain as still as possible as the scan sequence initializes." He turned and walked back toward the patient as the scan cycle initialized. He crossed his arms, the Cardassian uniform armor slightly rising as he did so. "We will have to monitor more closely, knowing that there is both Romulan and Vulcan blood involved with a Human. They may all be humanoid, but there normally has to be medical intervention in these types of pregnancies. I am amazed it's progressed this far without complications. Fascinating," he borrowed the commonly used Vulcan phrase.

"It's not like this is my first pregnancy doctor," Harley smiled as she remained as still as possible. "I do have four healthy children, but this is the first I didn't notice from the start. And I still don't understand why." She waited patiently for the scan to complete. "So what is the verdict doctor? Is the baby healthy? Is it a boy or a girl?" She did look concerned as she had no preparation whatsoever this time. And at home there currently were no facilities either to care for a newborn.

Doctor Pazon checked the readouts on the display as Harley spoke, half listening as she talked with him. The scan sequence was still in process so he did not have many answers yet, but it certainly was a mystery as to why she had not realized she was pregnant before now. While not unheard of, there were usually indications of pregnancy well before a patient was this far along that would have led them to medical treatment. That risk was compounded when it was an interspecies pairing. Atypical to say the very least.

"I would like to conduct further monitoring and scans before I make any determinations," the Cardassian explained as he picked a PADD up from the nearby workstation. Downloading the scan results onto the device, he handed it over, "I understand that you have four healthy children, so far, but that does not negate the risks to development in this type of pairing." Walking over to a wallmounted console, he input a command quickly and a hypo was produced. Picking it up, he walked over to Harley, "This hypo should help with any of the genetic pollution that sometimes brings problems in these types of offspring."

"Genetic pollution?" Harley arched a single eyebrow at the man, "I don't understand but please, conduct all the scans you need." She didn't look at the scan results she was handed, feeling that the doctor should tell her instead. "Perhaps we should call Peter down?" She suggested quietly.

"I can't tell you who to invite and who not to invite to your medical appointments, Lieutenant," the Cardassian answered as he charted in the patient file. He was surprised that someone who had hybrid children was unaware of the risks of genetic pollution from the different species, but he also knew that he shouldn't push that patient too much further.

He turned and returned to the biobed, "I actually am done with my scans for now. To be safe we should probably do at least one scan a day from now on."

"Given I work here, that shouldn't be too difficult," Harley smiled as she sat up, "I best go tell my family the news." She slid off the bed. "I bet the boys will be thrilled."

"I would hope so," the doctor answered quickly. He paused a moment, considering how best to approach this subject. "Since you'll be working with me I want to prewarn you, I'm probably not like a typical doctor that you've worked with before. While I was trained in the Federation, I have been told that my demeanor is 'too Cardassian' when working with patients. Not that I'm a fan of my people, mind you, but I tend to be more direct and less 'diplomatic' than many. I wanted to make sure you were aware of this."

Reaching out as she got to her feet, she lightly touched his arm. "You'll find most people prefer a direct approach doctor. The soft approach is for the weak of mind, and children, don't you agree?" She smiled. "You'll fit right in doctor, and I'm looking forward to working with you. But now, I must go and inform my family of this ah...little surprise you served me with."

"Let me know if you need anything else," the Doctor answered before returning to his duties.

 

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