TBA Collins

Posted on Sun 7th May, 2017 @ 2:14pm by Commander Jasmine Collins-Keller

1,441 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night
Location: Science Lab 1/Sick bay

Jasmine double checked what she had just seen. This would be an interesting turn of things, she smiled as she looked through the microscope again. It was definitely there.

"Well Oscar, are you ready to go deliver this news?" She sighed. She wasn't sure how things would go. She and Adam had been getting closer over the last few months. But this? "I'm not sure I am." Jasmine still wanted verification of the results she got so she made a quick call on the CMO.

Oscar stood in the door way of the Medical bay and refused to move. Jasmine laughed at him.

"It's not as bad as it seems." She assured the pup. "The Doctor is really very nice. Don't take all this at face value." She whispered. "Now come on, we have to see this through." She spoke firmly and the pup obeyed with a quick whimper. She walked through the outer area and then called for the CMO. "Excuse me...Doctor Addams?" She called out not wanting to interrupt the woman and not quite sure what reception she would get if she did. Chlamydia Addams was a sweet woman albeit quite unusual.

A red-headed young man in the ultramarine-detailed uniform of the Medical department stuck his head around the corner. "Doctor Addams is making rounds right this moment. I'm Dave Longworth, one of the nurses. Is there something I can..." he paused, started again, "is there something with which I can help you?"

"Oh, I thought she'd be here...um..I...um." Jasmine began stuttering her words enough that Oscar started circling her feet. "Sorry Oscar." She looked at the young man. "I've been having some symptoms of late so I drew my own blood in the lab and...well I was hoping to confirm this." She handed the man the blood test that indicated large amounts of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. "I know it happens but I've only been with a man once."

Longworth accepted the blood test, and nodded. "Interpreting lab tests is something you need a Doctor for," he agreed. "I'll get Doctor Addams. In the mean time, would you like to wait in her office?"

"Uh," She looked into the office. It looked normal enough from here. "Sure. Thank you."

"Beware of the Thing," Longworth tossed over his shoulder as he headed along the corridor, presumably to find Addams.

"The? Thing?" Jasmine asked suddenly not sure. She looked around the room not knowing what she might find as she took her seat and propped Oscar on her lap for her own comfort as well as for his.

A few minutes later, Addams walked into her office, a disembodied humanoid hand riding on her right shoulder. "Jasmine," she greeted the scientist. "How good to see you again. I understand you would like to consult about a blood test?"

Jasmine stood the moment she saw the doctor come in and immediately stared at the hand on the woman's shoulder while Oscar, a great judge of character wagged his tail and barked happily at the creature. "Doctor Addams, It's good to see you too." She handed her the PADD. "I've double checked the results and well...It must be a mistake." She looked at the 'hand' on Chlamydia's shoulder again. "Friend of yours?" She asked trying to keep it light without freaking out over the fact that her doctor had a human looking hand on her shoulder that wasn't attached to anything.

"Did you not meet my dear Thing when you came to my house?" Addams reached up and patted the hand fondly, and it tightened its grip on her shoulder. The Doctor smiled and reached for the PADD, glancing at the results. "Hmm," she said, walking around to sit behind her desk, and then placing the PADD on Collins' side of the desk. "We can confirm or disprove the test result's implications fairly easily," she agreed. "That is a rather old fashioned method of detecting pregnancy. The deeper question here is, if the test is correct, what do you intend to do about it?"

"Well, if we confirm the results, I suppose I'll be having a baby." She wasn't sure what the question was meant to infer. "Of course telling the father will be a difficult task. I- I mean, I am sure he cares for me but we've only been together this once...although we've been seeing each other regularly." Jasmine was back to wringing her hands. Her confidence all but gone at the moment.

"There are other options beside having and not having a child. It's a big undertaking. I myself...." Addams trailed off, a strange blankness fuzzing out whatever she had been about to say. What had she been talking about? She shook her head slightly, tried to remember. "There are other options," she went on after a moment. "The fetus could be removed and placed in cryosuspension until a more opportune time. It could be incubated in an artificial womb and offered for adoption."

"Oh, no, I don't think I could do that." She smiled. "But I suppose it would depend on the father's reaction and commitment." After a moment Jasmine asked, "Do they allow children on the Vanguard?" That too would make a large difference in determining what her next step was.

"Of course," Addams answered. "I see urchins running about my neighborhood all the time. There are several schools available, both run by Starfleet and not. My own...." the strange blankness was back. What had she been saying? Thing lept from her shoulder to the desktop, interrupting her train of thought.

"At any rate, let us proceed to an examination room, where we can confirm or deny the implied finding." Addams gestured an invitation toward the door.

"Oh, of course." Jasmine felt suddenly anxious but somehow she was comfortable with Doctor Addams.

In the exam room, Addams gestured to the biobed as she turned away and ran her hands through the sterilization field. "Make yourself comfortable," she instructed. "The scan will only take a few moments."

Jasmine relaxed and lay back on the bio bed. The actual exam didn't make her nervous. It was the thought of the possible outcome. What if Adam didn't love her the way she loved him? What if he didn't want a child? What if he did? "Do you have children, doctor?" She asked trying to keep her thoughts in the moment. She had a hard time stopping the images of a huge fight with Adam and her raising a child on her own.

"I have..." the strange blankness came over Addams' mind again. After a moment, she went on, "I have a Thing. And patients. I find those quite sufficient for my minimal maternal instincts." She studied the display of the scan results. With her finger, she outlined something, and instructed, "Computer, display this at a scale of twenty centimeters, please."

The computer complied, projecting a hologram of a strange, tadpole-like creature. "Do you eat hamburger sandwiches, Jasmine? This little life form is about the size of one of the seeds with which some people decorate their buns." Addams paused. "Judging from developmental stage, you would have ovulated approximately five weeks ago. Does that match with the timing of your sexual encounter?"

"Five weeks tomorrow...yes." Jasmine answered the question and then realized what the doctor had just told her. "There's a baby? I mean..really?" She wasn't sure if she was crying because she was happy or because she was scared or maybe a little of both. She looked at the screen and couldn't force herself to stop smiling. "A baby..."

"It is not a baby, yet," Addams corrected. "At the moment, it is only an embryo. Uterine implantation appears to have gone well, but the next few weeks are when most developmental errors occur which might cause spontaneous abortion -- a miscarriage. I do not see any signs which make me suspect you are particularly at risk for such, but even today, doctors do not know everything there is to know about health and illness." Addams paused, her eyes scanning columns of information the computer offered. "I do know that you must eschew pharmaceuticals, cut back on caffeine, and eliminate alcohol from your diet. You are also highly advised to avoid encountering new and unusual viruses, and most especially, to avoid exposure to radiation."

"Of course." Jasmine nodded blankly. there was a baby...well an embryo, a blip on the scan the size of a sesame seed. "No radiation, no alcohol." She nodded. "I-I think I need to tell the father."

"That is a common choice," Addams agreed. "Though hardly a universal one."

 

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