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“M to Savannah? Savannah are you there?”
“M’here, m’here. Wasthematter?” Lieutenant Savannah blinks open bleary eyes to her dark quarters. It’s the middle of the night and M’s comming her. She doesn’t usually when she’s on shift.
“I’m--ah!--I need your help. Please. I’m in holosuite one.” Savannah sits up in bed, frowning.
“What’s the matter? Why do you sound all weird. I thought you were on shift tonight?”
“No, I had the night off and I--ugh--how quickly can you get here?” Savannah doesn’t think she’s dreaming up M’s tone of desperation.
“I’m coming, hang on M. I’ll be right there.” Savannah climbs out her warm bed and shucks on the nearest set of clothes she can find and hurries off to find M.
“What’s wrong? Why are you comming me in the middle of the night?” She asks on her way to the turbolift. The corridors of DS9 are largely silent tonight. “You sound like you're in pain?” M makes a funny groaning sound.
“Can you just hurry please,” she begs. Savannah walks more quickly. “Hold on, M.”
A few short minutes later finds Savannah rushing inside Quark’s, ignoring the waitstaff and Quark himself and heading upstairs to the holosuites. She stops at holosuite one. The light on the keypad is glowing “occupied” and Savannah presses the button to gain entry.
The door slides open to reveal a picturesque grassy lakeside. The sun is beating down on the calm, clear water of the lake, and a gentle breeze rustles the leaves on the trees nearby.
Savannah walks further in, coming to the edge of the small, sandy beach. There is still no sign of M. She comes upon an elaborate white cushioned lounger complete with a tassled fabric canopy to shield the occupant from the sun’s rays, but the lounger is also conspicuously empty.
“M? Where are you?” Savannah calls, turning in a circle to see if she can spot her from here. Savannah’s gaze stops on the lake. She couldn’t be? But no, the holosuite safeties are surely on.
“M’here,” a soft voice calls from behind Savannah, who whips around to spot M at last, laying at the edge of the sandy beach where the strip of grass begins. M gives Savannah a sheepish look, punctuated by a grimace.
“M? What’re you--oh my gods. What happened to you?” She hurries over to M’s side, taking in M’s appearance. M’s out of uniform, and wearing a stylish green bikini which unfortunately, leaves little to the imagination. Unfortunately because rather than M’s Trill spots being the most noticeable feature, M’s exposed skin is almost entirely covered in hugely swollen red welts. Savannah kneels at M’s side, not sure what to do.
M’s cheeks burn a red to rival the welts at Savannah’s arrival and her shocked expression, and Savannah notices she’s occupied scratching at the welts. Savannah grimaces. Some of the welts look as big as Moba fruits.
“Are you okay?” Savannah asks, reaching out as if to touch M’s shoulder, but thinking better of it. “I-I mean, you’re obviously probably not okay. I think we should really get you to the Infirmary. How did you--?”
“No, no Infirmary,” M shudders, and this time Savannah carefully runs a hand over her shoulder to hopefully soothe her. “I just need some help getting back to my quarters. I can fix this myself I’m sure,” she says, still scratching even as she attempts using Savannah’s body to help herself up. M’s halfway standing before she gasps in pain and flops back into the grass. Savannah taps her combadge in alarm.
“Savannah to Infirmary.”
“Julian here. To what do I owe the pleasure this late at night, Savannah. You know if you ever need help falling asleep you can just come in.” Savannah shakes her head, gently swatting M’s hand away when she tries scratching a welt on her arm.
“Actually, how fast can you get to holosuite one with your medkit? There’s kind of a situation.”
Julian’s tone changes abruptly. “I’ll be right there.”
A wave of relief washes over Savannah at the knowledge Julian will soon be here to help M, but she knows M’s probably not feeling the same relief (yet).
“It’s gonna be okay, M, I promise. I know you try to avoid Julian and the Infirmary when you can, but this is outside your ability to fix, I think.” M groans in response, trying to bury her face in the grass.
“I know, I know you're right. I’m just so, so embarrassed,” she says, scratching even more vigorously at a welt on her stomach.
“Stop scratching, M. I don’t know what those welts even are,” Savannah says, hoping Julian is indeed hurrying. Her gaze travels over M’s welts until she gets to her feet.
“What happened to your foot?” she asks, shucking off her sweatshirt to make a pillow for M’s head. She remembers that detail clearly from her Starfleet mandatory first aid training eons ago.
M grits out, “I tripped.”
“Over what?” The sandy beach seems entirely devoid of obstacles.
“Savannah? I’m here,” Julian calls suddenly, saving M from having to answer.
“Over here,” Savannah replies, turning to see his lanky form rushing toward them from across the beach. Savannah is reminded briefly of an ancient human entertainment program about lifeguards in skimpy red swimsuits she once watched as a teenager.
“What happened?” Julian asks, kneeling at M’s side and setting his medkit in the sand. He produces a tricorder and begins scanning M. For her part M closes her eyes, groaning in what Savannah assumes is a mixture of discomfort and embarrassment.
“It’s okay M, tell Julian what happened. He won’t share it with anyone, no matter what,” Savannah says.
“I can assure you you have nothing to worry about, M,” Julian tries, examining the tricorder results. “Except for the allergic reaction to Levarian Sand Fleas you’re currently having. I’m going to administer an antihistamine to take the swelling and itching down.”
“Mmhmm,” M says, grimacing at Julian’s gentle touch on her neck as he brandishes a hypo.
“There’s also her foot, Julian. She said she tripped, but not over what,” Savannah says, hoping M will forgive her later for alerting Julian.
“It’s nothing, it’ll be fine,” M protests, looking straight at Julian for the first time with huge eyes. For his part, Julian softens his tone even more when he replies.
“I’ll be careful, I promise M. You can tell me if it hurts too much.” Julian fixes his big hazel eyes on M, waiting for her reply. Savannah can tell the moment M surrenders. She flops back from where she’d attempted to sit up in her panic, flushing red again. M’s just as weak for Julian as the rest of them.
Seeing he’s succeeded, Julian shifts to examine and manipulate M’s swollen and deeply bruised foot, a look of concentration on his face.
“How did this happen?” he asks, glancing up at M for her reply. M looks from Savannah to Julian and back, her expression that of someone who thinks they won’t be believed.
“I-I tripped,” she confesses, cringing. “My foot fell asleep and then the fleas swarmed me and I-I tried to stand up but then, well, this happened,” she finishes, running a hand over her red face. Savannah struggles not to let out a guffaw. It’s a lot more funny and a lot less scary now that Julian’s here and M’s going to be fine.
“Oh M, I’m so sorry,” Savannah says, knowing M will be able to laugh about this at a (much) later date, but not now. “Were you enjoying your night off until then, anyway?”
“Yes,” M sniffles, wincing when Julian does something to immobilize her foot.
“That’s all I’m able to do for now,” he says, standing up and going over to the beach lounger. Savannah watches as he tears off the canopy and brings the linen over to M, covering her more than the green bikini can. “Let’s move you to the Infirmary so you can get some rest and I can finish healing your injuries. You should be better by the morning.”
“Thank you, doctor,” M manages.
“My pleasure,” Julian says genially, pressing on his combadge and requesting emergency medical transport for the two of them.
Once Julian and M disappear, Savannah walks back toward the holosuite entrance, thinking again about M injuries and--wait a microsecond. How could this have happened in a holosuite with the safeties fully activated unless---
“Quark!” Savannah yells, breaking into a run as she storms out of the holosuite. M will thank her later.