As Malena sat beside Zerrad’s bed she was very relieved that he was on the mend but after her three-day vigil in sickbay she was
All too
conscious of the fact that she had shown her hand to the rest of the crew in
regard to her feelings for him and there was no putting the genie back in the
bottle.
The Tornado
was about three days out when Terrell Vorton decided it was time to bring his
patient out of his medically induced coma.
So, he sent
Malena out of sickbay so he could slowly reduce his sedation.
“But I
could stay and help” she said
“You need
to go and eat something, freshen up and change so that when he wakes up, he
sees you at your best” he said
“You do
know that I’m an Obgaron shapeshifter and the freshening up thing doesn’t
really work for me” Malena pointed out
“Yes, but
you can eat, and you can change” Terrell said “So go”
She
reluctantly agreed and as she left the sickbay, she realized just how hungry
she was so she headed straight for the mess room and she got there just as Asti
was leaving and tantalizing smells escaped through the open door making her
mouth water and she hoped Bagg would have something inside to satisfy her
appetite and she was not disappointed.
“So, what’s
the passenger’s story?” she asked as she wiped her mouth on her napkin and Bagg
filled her in with the little information he had managed to glean from her over
scones and coffee.
“So, is she
running away from her past or running towards her future?” Malena asked
“A little
of both, I think” Bagg replied enigmatically but the nuance of his reply went
unnoticed as Malena’s mind had wandered back to sickbay.
“So, todays
the day” he said
“What?” she
exclaimed
“Isn’t the
Doc waking the patient today” he asked
“Yes” she
replied suspiciously
“So, there
will soon come a moment when you will no longer be holding the hand of an
unconscious man” he pointed out “and he might well question why the co-pilot of
the Tornado is keeping vigil at his bedside and holding his hand”
“I know
but…” she began
“It’s
obvious to all of us how you feel about him” Bagg said “And you can’t undo
that”
“I know
that” she said and sighed
“So, have
you thought of what you will say to him when he wakes?”
“I have
thought of little else” she replied “Although at first I didn’t even dare hope
he would wake up, and then I have run the scenarios through my head until my
ears bleed”
“I know,
from what the Captain has said, that he has feelings for you too” Bagg said “if
that helps”
“Thanks,
but I already knew that” she said “it’s not the disposition of his feelings
that concerns me, it’s more complicated than that”
“It always
is” he said philosophically
“So, what
are you going to do?”
“I’m going
to go and hold his hand and watch him wake up” she replied
When Malena
Endia arrived in sickbay wearing her smartest outfit, she found the Healer,
Terrell Vorton, at Zerrad’s bedside and he turned to look at her as she entered
and smiled
“Perfect
timing” he said “He should come round in the next few minutes”
“What will
he think?” she asked “When he finds me here”
“He we
think he’s in heaven” he replied, and she sat in her familiar chair and leant
forward and took his hand in hers and stared intensely at his face looking for
signs of consciousness.
It was
almost ten minutes before his eyes betrayed signs of REM and then the corners
of his mouth twitched, but that was all that happened for a full five minutes
until the moment his eyes fully opened, and they looked straight at her before
flicking down to his hand and back to her face and then he smiled, and she
returned that smile with interest.
While this
was going on Terrell tended to him and when he was satisfied all was well, he
left them alone.
“How long
have I been here?” he asked
“Five days”
she replied
“And how
long have you been here with me?” he asked
“Five days”
she replied
“Does that
mean what I hope it means?” Zerrad asked hopefully
“It means
that I nearly lost you” she responded, and they sat in silence while they
contemplated the implications of what had been said until he broke the silence.
“You’re
lovely”
“You know
that this isn’t me” Malena said “this is just the form I took, of a 27 year old
human that I met on a remote mining colony when I first entered Legion space,
and that was more than 20 years ago, so I don’t look like this, and the person
that I touched in order to look like this is twenty years older now and no
longer looks like this herself and is probably a grandmother by now”
“You’re
still lovely” he repeated
“But you
haven’t seen what I really look like” Malena pointed out
“Then show
me” he said
“No one has
seen me as an Obgaronian for 20 years” she said
“It’s ok,
you don’t have to” Zerrad said
“No, I want
to” she said and got up and walked over to lock the door, then she walked into
the adjoining cubicle and undressed.
As an
Obgaronian shape shifter she could transform at will, but she could only shift
into a being she had touched.
Only the
briefest moment was required and then it was in her memory banks and could be
recalled when required.
She could
also manipulate that memory and add or subtract from it, for example in her
everyday life she chose to take the form of a 27-year-old human girl, but she
chose to be the human girl and wear clothes on that form, but it wasn’t
necessary, she just preferred it that way which was why she needed to undress
before she revealed her true self to Zerrad.
And when
she had done so she emerged again this time in her natural Mercurial form of
liquid silver glass which was very pleasing to the eye.
“This is
me” she said, and his jaw dropped.
“Wow” was
all he could manage to say and then after a minute or so she slipped back into
the cubicle and the brunette came out and walked over and unlocked the door.
“So now you
know who I really am” she said
“When I
said I thought you were lovely, I wasn’t revering to the beautiful brunette
outer shell, I meant you’re lovely, inside”
Zerrad said
and she returned to her place at his bedside.
“So, you’re
not put off now you’ve seen what I am?” Malena asked
“Of course,
not” he said earnestly
“But are
you sure about us?” Malena asked
“It’s what
I’ve dreamed of” he replied
“But you
know we can’t…. couple?” she said
“It’s
physically impossible”
“I don’t
care about that” Zerrad said
“I can feel
you and hold you and that’s all I need”
Malena
smiled, then let go of his hand and climbed onto the bed and lay down beside
him.
About ten
minutes later Terrell returned to the sickbay with Lyris in tow and found the
couple asleep, Zerrad had his arm around her and Malena had her head on his
chest.
“Well,
that’s a shocker” Lyris said
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