Your Enemy is Dead
Chapter II
Chapter II
When
Janice Rand woke up in sickbay, she groaned. This was, bar none, the last place in the universe she
wanted to be. Rand flinched from
the oppressive ebb of pain in her head.
She placed her forearm across her eyes to shield them from the sharp,
intrusive white light emanating from the ceiling. Rand took a deep breath in an attempt to breath out the
pain. She did this a number of
times, coupling these breaths with thoughts of colorful meadows and tweeting
birds under a blue sky. Nothing.
“Well,
so much for positive goddamn thinking,” she thought. Her stomach wasn’t twisting anymore, though, and the
creeping bile in her throat was gone.
“At
least I won’t upchuck when I try to get out of here,” she thought.
Frankly,
Rand didn’t give a rat’s ass if her head was still pounding, she was determined
to leave sickbay. Traditional, high tech medicine wasn’t
an option for a woman who was raised on alternative therapies, thank you very
much. Rand threw off the covers to
her assigned bed and propped herself up by her elbows when she felt something
on her shoulder, holding her firm and still.
“Not
planning on leaving us, are you?”
asked Nurse Chapel in a voice feigning mock insult.
“Oh,
Shit,” thought Rand. “It’s
resident pain in the ass in light blue!”
She looked up at Chapel, a faint smile of little warmth on her
lips.
“Get
that hand off of me, or I’ll break it, starting at your wrist!”
Chapel
looked down at Rand without making any attempt to release her grip.
“In
your condition, dear,” began Chapel rather blithely, “you couldn’t block a
head-on pocketbook from a little old lady.”
Chapel
pushed Rand back down onto the mattress and threw the covers back over her,
tucking them in tightly underneath the bed like a straitjacket.
“Jesus,”
yelled Rand struggling under the covers.
“Are you trying to pin me down, or something?”
Chapel
stopped in the middle of tucking the covers and leaned into Rand, so that her
face was only inches away from her uncooperative patient.
“If
you prefer, I can use the bed straps that we normally reserve for our more
unstable clients,” said Chapel with a curt smile. She finished fixing the covers by giving them one more hard
yank, making Rand yelp.
“Client?” asked Rand
incredulously. “That’s a hot one! Do you give discount prices on
lobotomies?”
Just then, Dr.McCoy walked in,
his cantankerous manner evident as he pulled a chair and stationed himself next
to Rand’s bed.
“Maybe we should strap her down
if she insists on being her usual difficult self,” said Dr.McCoy gruffly.
Rand turned to McCoy and eyed
him narrowly. “You know, McCoy, I
really don’t need this crap from either one of you. Can’t you ease up on your ever so charming bedside manner,
just this once?” asked Rand, her emphasis on the word ‘charming’ sarcastic and
biting.
“I don’t have a problem,” said
McCoy while he prepared a hypo for Rand. “But, you apparently do. I heard you argued with that new
engineer about him bringing you here.
From what I’ve heard about Orion men, I’m surprised he didn’t flatten
you.”
Rand took a look at the hypo in McCoy’s
hands and leaned away while the doctor tried to administer it in her arm. Nurse Chapel, on seeing this, gripped
Rand’s ribcage and pushed her back into the good doctor’s hypo.
“Ouch, that hurt,” Rand said,
whining like a child.
“No, it didn’t!” Chapel said in
an exasperated tone.
McCoy shook his head and blew
out a breath, clearly annoyed.
“You know you threw up on that poor young lieutenant when he brought you
into sickbay,” he said, disassembling the offending hypo needle. “He had to go back to his quarters to
change into a fresh uniform.”
Rand shrugged her shoulders and
snorted. “That’s probably why my
stomach feels a hellava lot better,” she thought to herself dismissively.
Dr.McCoy picked up a microlight,
and tucked his hand under Rand’s chin.
“Look at me,” he ordered.
McCoy purposefully aimed the
light into Rand’s eyes, rotating it up, down, sideways and point blank into the
irises and pupils. By the time the
doctor was finished with her eyes, Rand felt like she’d been slapped around by
a searchlight. She blinked her
eyes rapidly while patterns of white balls danced around her.
“Look, I see fairies,” quipped
Rand, waving her hands in circles.
McCoy ignored Rand’s joke while he
packed his instruments away. “You
were a mess, lady. That Jersey
girl basket-weave hairdo of yours was so skewed to the side that it looked like
the Leaning Tower of Pisa,” he quipped back.
Chapel covered her hand with her
mouth and laughed. Rand felt her
cheeks flash hotly, as she turned
in Chapel’s direction and shot her a hostile look.
“Covering you mouth so your
fangs don’t show?” shot Rand.
“At least I didn’t vomit all
over that beautiful man,” said Chapel while she struggled to put a stop to her
laughter, not that she tried very hard.
“He seemed to be genuinely concerned for you, God knows why. You gave him a very hard time. Talk about poor first impressions,
dear.” Chapel was leaning into
Rand during this time, her tone teasing.
Then, she straightened herself
up from Rand’s bedside and crossed her arms, a taunting little smirk on her
glossed lips.
Suddenly, Chapel’s demeanor
seemed to change. Her arms
uncrossed as she looked in the direction of the ward’s entrance, the smirk that
was on her face melting into a beaming smile.
“Why, Hello, son,” greeted
Dr.McCoy. Rand wondered what in
the hell it was that put these two in a sincerely pleasant disposition. She turned her head towards the
entrance and saw a large figure standing there. It was the young Orion officer, in a fresh new uniform, no
doubt.
“Hi, everyone!” He said
cheerfully in his distinctively deep voice. “How’s our patient?”
While his question was aimed at
the Doctor, his eyes were planted squarely on Rand.
Chapel walked over to the Orion
and stood next to him. “I’m afraid
our patient’s been a little difficult up to this point,” she said coyly, giving
Rand a look of disapproval, all in fun for the sake of the young visitor.
Rand rolled her eyes and snorted
at Chapel’s sorry attempt at feminine charm. “You’re not getting into those jock straps, Toots,” she
thought to herself.
The Orion placed his hands on
his narrow hips, raising a brow.
“Oh, that’s not too good.
Maybe I can bring her up to good spirits,” he mused.
McCoy got up from his spot,
packing up his medical tools and placing them in a silver tray.
“We’re finished here,
Lieutenant. Why don’t you sit
down,” said McCoy, pulling out the bedside chair for the young man.
Before McCoy left, he turned to
Rand, who was sitting glumly in her bed, her arms crossed and her jaw set. “Maybe this time, you won’t give this
nice young man a hard time,” he said.
McCoy smiled at the Orion while
he motioned to Nurse Chapel to come with him, effectively leaving Rand alone
with the young lieutenant. Rand’s
eyes were set on the Orion as he sat himself down on the bedside chair. She was keenly aware of how
uncomfortable he was by the way he swayed nervously in the seat.
The Orion gave Rand a
tight-lipped smile and nodded his head. His violet eyes traveled to the
ceiling, and then to the corners of the ward. Rand wondered to herself just how much longer she’d have to
endure this awkward silence. What
was it about hospital visits that inspired such discomfort.
Finally, the Orion leaned
forward from his chair and said,”You’re pissed at me for bringing you here,
aren’t you?”
Rand cocked her head to the side
and snorted. “No Shit,
Sherlock! Between being stuck in
this place and dealing with McCoy and Chapel, you’ve condemned me!”
The Orion at first said nothing,
observing Rand silently from where he was. Then, he laughed softly. It was a deep, robust laugh that Rand found she rather
liked. She started to laugh along
with the Orion, in spite of herself.
In her newly relaxed state, Rand
was able, for the first time, to really take in the physical attributes of this
young man.
While she and Chapel have never
seen eye to eye on much of anything, Rand was able to see, clear and away, what
Chapel meant when she used the word beautiful to describe this alien man. He had strong, prominent features that
were chiseled into his emerald skin.
His large violet eyes were framed by long lashes, which were the same
blue- black color as his thick upswept brows. He had a strong, straight nose and high cheekbones that
connected to a strong jaw line.
His lips were wide, full, and evenly proportioned. He had a long, muscular neck that was
both graceful and powerful that stretched from broad sinuous shoulders
reminiscent of past figures like Atlas, or Achilles. As the young man laughed, Rand saw that his grin was
generous and boyish, quite uncharacteristic for his otherwise fierce
appearance. The teeth in his mouth
were strong, white, and perfectly aligned.
“Yep, Christine’s use of the
word beautiful is dead on,” Rand thought to herself.
Their laughter subsided, and the
young Orion gave Rand a mischievous grin.
His earlier shyness and hesitation were gone when he addressed her
again.
“Well, Janice Rand, Yeoman to
the Captain of the Enterprise. I
was not going to let you go back to work in your condition. What kind of person would I be if I did
that? Besides, the captain could
get his own damn coffee and cinnamon buns.”
“Now, wait a minute, I am his
yeoman, whatever your name is.
That’s one of the things that people like me do,” said Rand defensively.
“Yeah, maybe back on your planet
in the 1950’s, but you’re a Starfleet yeoman. You’re in charge of recording every mission and every
discovery conducted by a Starfleet crew. You’re the keeper of Federation history, Janice, not a
glorified office secretary. Get
real. Oh, and my name is Khobran,”
said the young Orion, placing his hand on his powerful chest.
“Khobran. Like the snake cobra?”
Khobran smiled. “That’s right. Lt.Khobran, Engineer of the USS
Enterprise, and one of Scotty’s right-hand men,” he said proudly. “And, Scotty doesn’t send any of his
right-hand women out to get him a cup of coffee,” he mocked playfully while he
reached over and squeezed Rand’s hand.
Rand smiled, feeling blood rush
to her face. Up to this point,
Rand had never thought of any alien man as being physically desirable, as
witness to her utter befuddlement of Chapel’s attraction to Spock. That was something she simply couldn’t
wrap her Jersey girl sensibilities around. Khobran, however, was something that she could wrap her
sensibilities around. Looking at
him was a pleasure. Talking to him
was a pleasure too.
“Look, Khobran. I know what you mean. I really don’t mind getting food for
the captain, even if it’s not in the job description, so to speak,” she said
forming quotes with the fingers of her free hand. “Besides, I could do a lot worse. I could be Dr.McCoy’s yeoman,
scampering around like
Frankenstein’s Eigor. Oh, I’m
sorry. That’s Chapel’s job.”
They both broke into laughter,
oblivious to some of the heads that turned their way.
When the laughter finally
subsided, Rand and Khobran simply looked at each other. The silence was awkward, but with a
sweetness to it that was not lost to Rand. Khobran never let go of Rand’s hand since taking it in
his.
“I wonder if he notices,”
thought Rand.
Khobran straightened himself up
and took a deep breath. “Well,” he
said smiling at Rand. “I better
leave you here to rest. I’ve got
to get back to engineering. Scotty
awaits.”
There was something that passed
between the two of them that was similar to past moments she had shared with
Captain Kirk, but this moment was much more true and vivid. One could even say fearless, because
unlike Kirk, Khobran never turned away from Rand’s gaze. He never once lowered his head in order
to cough into his fist, nor did he cut his eyes away, dismissing her.
“Take care, Janice. I’ll see you soon?” Khobran asked hopefully.
Rand smiled, and nodded her
head. “Of course, Khobran,” she said softly.
Khobran gave Rand a final
squeeze of her hand, got up, turned to the door, and walked out of sickbay. Rand, a female doctor, and a nurse
followed him with longing eyes as his figure disappeared among the passing
crowd in the ship’s corridors.
Rand looked at the hand that Khobran had held during much of the
visit. She could still feel his
warmth, the bigness of his palms and fingers seemingly leaving an imprint on
her skin. She truly did hope that
the next time Khobran came to visit, it would be very soon indeed.
Though she’d never admit it out
loud.
**************************************
Janice Rand twisted and turned
in her bed in sickbay. Granted,
she was feeling a lot better; both her headache and stomachache were gone, but
man, did she want to be discharged.
She wasn’t even tired. Rand
sat up and grabbed her pillow from behind her, hitting it and punching it in a
fruitless attempt to fall asleep.
The evening was dragging with heavy footsteps, and Rand felt like she’d been in
this place for an eternity. She
plopped back down on the bed, stretched out her arms, and stared up at the
ceiling.
“Janice.” She shot up in her bed, startled by the
bodiless voice that was coming from the corner of the ward. A large figure blocked the doorway to
the ward, the outside light from behind outlining it softly. Rand was pleasantly surprised when she
saw who it was.
“Khobran, What are you doing
back here? You were just here this
afternoon.”
She watched Khobran come over and kick the bedside chair
away. He sat down on Rand’s bed
and leaned into her, propping his muscular arms to either side of her body.
“You know,” started Khobran
tilting his head to the side.
“Since I left you this afternoon, there was one thing that I couldn’t
get out of my mind.” He had a
faint smile on his lips that had a roguish nature to it.
“What’s that?” asked Rand,
keenly aware of his arching arms around her. Khobran’s faint smile grew larger while his violet eyes
swept over Rand’s body.
“I wanted to see if you were
blond all over,” he said, peeling away the bed covers and tossing them to the
side.
At first, Rand was a tad
insulted. After all, no one has
artificially altered themselves on Earth for generations. However, she got over the insult
quickly when Khobran reached over to Rand’s side and started untying the knots
of her shapeless hospital gown. He
did this slowly, almost like a striptease. Rand felt her breath quicken, her cheeks flushing hot under
the anticipation while Khobran undid the last knot of the gown. Rand trembled as she lied down and
spread her body with abandon, her legs open and her breast jutted forward.
Khobran peeled open Rand’s
hospital gown. Rand arched her
back while her naked body eagerly received the large hands, which explored her shamelessly.
“Are you all right, honey?”
Rand opened her eyes. Khobran was gone, and her light blue
hospital gown was on her body, its tie-on strings fully knotted on the
side. Nurse Chapel stood at the
foot of Rand’s bed and folded her arms over her chest, a mocking smirk on her
face. As Rand lay thrashed
on her bed, her eyes blinked back to the reality in front of her.
“What?” asked Rand incredulously.
“I asked if you were all right?”
said Chapel, pursing her lips.
Rand reached over quickly and
pulled the covers over her body and up to her neck. She could feel herself shrink under the covers.
“I’m fine,” Rand said warily.
Chapel shrugged her
shoulders. “Oh, I was just
wondering,” she said blithely with a wave of her hand. “It kind of looked like you were doing
a little shimmy in the bed,” said Chapel, breaking into a hip-wiggle.
“Don’t worry about it,” said
Rand, her gaze narrowed and her voice sharpened on this irritating woman.
Chapel raised her hands up in
the air, as if in surrender. “Let
me know if you need anything, dear,” said Chapel, turning to walk away.
“How about a discharge?” shot
back Rand.
Chapel threw back her head and
laughed as she sauntered into the next ward.
