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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