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Malcolm wishes, not for the first time, that he could read minds, as he staggers down the hospital corridor following the nurse with a bundle of colourful faux-helium balloons in one hand and two bags in the other. One is a plain paper bag, containing five books that he thinks she might find interesting, and the other is decorated with rainbow cats and stars. What this one contains will remain a surprise until he gets to his destination.
As he follows the nurse, he catches more than one person looking at him, and he knows exactly why. He’s here in his Starfleet Command uniform, come almost straight from work. His face is recognisable even from a distance. He’s Malcolm Reed, once the Chief Tactical, Security and Armoury Officer on board that first warp five starship, now Aide to Admiral Archer. What he’s doing here in a children’s hospital when it’s known he has no children of his own must be a mystery to those who gawk at him.
Malcolm squares his shoulders and continues on.
The nurse stops in front of a plain white door and turns to him with a smile. “They’re right in here,” she says.
Malcolm nods his thanks and reaches for the door controls, struggling with his hands full but managing to get it open. He steps inside the hospital room.
Immediately, two pairs of blue eyes zero in on him. Two smiles brighten up the room, and two voices speak at once:
“Mal!”
“Mr Malcolm!”
Malcolm offers a smile of his own as the door slides shut behind him. “Hello there.”
Trip stands up. His blond hair now has streaks of grey, and the lower half of his face is covered with a full beard. There are bags under his eyes speaking of nights spent awake in worry, but his eyes themselves are bright at the moment. Malcolm takes this as a good sign.
“I was wonderin’ when you’d show up!” Trip drawls, patting Malcolm on the back and directing him closer to the hospital bed. “Liza, look what Malcolm brought you.”
“Balloons!” The small child in the bed exclaims, throwing her arms up.
Malcolm chuckles and ties them to the bed so that they float above her head. “I also brought you these.” He hands her the bags.
Elizabeth grunts under the weight of the one with the books. When she peers inside, her face lights up. She looks back up at Malcolm. “Thank you,” she says. “It’s really boring in here.”
“Open the other one,” Malcolm encourages.
Elizabeth does so, a slightly crinkle in her brow as she takes out the coloured tissue paper that cover the present. When she pulls it out, her eyes widen. “It’s a sehlat!”
“Well, I’ll be,” Trip says, gazing at the stuffed animal Elizabeth is now hugging to her chest. “You actually found one! Even T’Pol couldn’t find one.”
“Mind you, it was quite difficult to acquire,” Malcolm says teasingly.
Trip laughs. “I’ll pay you back.”
“Oh, no need,” says Malcolm with a wave of his hand. “It’s a gift.”
Elizabeth smiles up at him toothily. “Thank you, Mr Malcolm.”
Aside from her pointed ears and slanted eyebrows, one would think she was fully human. She certainly acts like it. Malcolm wonders if he should be surprised by that or not, considering who her parents are.
“You’re very welcome,” Malcolm replies.
Trip suddenly takes him by the arm and leads him into the corner while Elizabeth preoccupies herself by flipping through the books Malcolm brought. “Hey, you don’t mind if I head out to grab a coffee, do you?” Trip whispers. “I need my fix. I promise I’ll be right back.”
“As long as you don’t mind, I don’t mind at all,” Malcolm says.
“Great! Thanks so much, Malcolm.” Trip pats his back and slips past him and out the door.
Malcolm takes up the spot Trip was previously occupying next to the bed and clasps his hands together. “How have you been, Elizabeth?”
Elizabeth considers this for a moment. “The doctors say I’m getting better again.”
Malcolm smiles. “That’s good.” There’s been a few instances, he remembers, where it’s been touch and go, mostly when young Elizabeth was a baby. She’s grown stronger, but is still quite sickly, in and out of hospitals most of the time. Trip and T’Pol gave up their lives on Enterprise for her. However, Malcolm knows neither of them regrets it.
“But…” Elizabeth hangs her head.
“What is it?” Malcolm prompts gently.
“Dad and mother still worry.” She looks up at him. “Because I’m sick all the time. I don’t want to worry them, but I do. And then sometimes I get scared too.”
Malcolm purses his lips. “That’s perfectly understandable.”
“But I don’t want to be scared!” Elizabeth exclaims, then eyes him carefully. “Dad said you were the security guy on Enterprise.”
Security guy. Malcolm’s lips twitch. “I was.”
“Were you ever… scared? Probably not, right? Security guys don’t get scared.”
Malcolm rocks back in his seat. “Oh, we do.”
Elizabeth’s eyes go wide. “What?”
“We got scared a lot,” Malcolm continues. “On Enterprise… Well, there were plenty of times where I was scared.”
“You were?” she whispers.
Malcolm nods. “Fear is healthy, sometimes. And… I think in this circumstance, it’s okay to be scared.” He offers what is hopefully a reassuring smile. “You’re… You’re dealing with a lot. It’s okay to be scared.”
Elizabeth hugs her new stuffed sehlat closer to her body. “Sometimes I have nightmares,” she murmurs. “Do you have nightmares?”
“I do,” Malcolm says.
There’s a moment of heavy silence.
“But you’ve been very strong and brave up until now,” Malcolm adds. “You’ve come a long way in the time I’ve known you. That’s something to be proud of.”
Elizabeth nods slowly. “I think I’m not so scared anymore,” she says then in a soft voice. “Thank you, Mr Malcolm.”
“Of course,” Malcolm replies, smiling.
Trip comes back in a moment later, a paper cup of hospital coffee in hand. “We doing okay in here?”
“Just fine,” Malcolm says, glancing at Elizabeth.
She gives a confirming nod. “Very fine.”