Chapter Text
Your lungs heave with effort, and each step is a struggle. For a brief moment, you lean on the side of the hallway, doubling over as your sense of consciousness slips briefly from your grasp. You have to rest there for a moment to catch your dwindling breath. Beginning again you limp along what seems like forever before you manage to glimpse the door you're looking for. The sight gives you a sudden burst of energy in your step and you manage to stumble through the door before the darkness claims you.
This is the state you stumble into sickbay, passing out right at the doorstep of Dr Beverly Crusher. As you collapse to the ground she and a nurse who had been chatting nearby rush over. The two at your side Dr Crusher leans down pulling out her medical tricorder as she quickly gives you a once over.
"They're stable," Beverly nodded, putting away her tricorder. "Help me get them to a bed."
As you awaken, momentarily you are disoriented. This isn't your quarters, what are you doing here? Where are you? Quickly you sit up before a hand catches you and eases you back down onto the pillow. The Doctor's soft smiling face appears in your vision, and suddenly you are snapped back to reality. With an unsteady breath you glance around, the unfamiliar ceiling a few moments before begins to register as the familiar bright lights of the sickbay. It all comes flooding back to you. If you want it to or not.
"You stumbled in here a few hours ago, collapsing on me before I could even examine you," Beverly explained, seeing the confusion that flashed on your face for a moment. She brought out her tricorder and scanned you again, "Now I thought I had already treated you for the Fluzian flu just a day or two ago but it looks like someone didn't take their medication..." Putting away the tricorder she continued, "I already gave you the second dose needed to bring down your fever so there's no concern now, but I want you to rest." The verbal emphasis she placed on the word rest transported you right back to childhood being scolded by your mother. You feel her pat on your shoulder before disappearing from your sight.
You take a brief moment to process everything, and unconsciously you shift and suddenly you're hyper-aware of the fact you are no longer in uniform. Quickly you reach up to where your collar would be and confirm it. Panic lumps in your throat as you glance around, but you're exhausted. It's only the nurse here and the Doctor, nobody else saw anything. As far as the other crew are concerned you just fainted from a high fever, nothing more.
In her office, Dr Crusher sat down like she was offloading a heavy weight onto her plush chair. The computer screen in front of her open to your chart stared at her for what felt like an eternity before she tapped her comm badge.
"Crusher to Commander Riker."
"Riker here, go ahead."
"Commander, I have a personnel matter to discuss with you. In sickbay."
"Acknowledged. On my way."
Commander Riker stood from the chair and nodded to Data to take control of the bridge before striding out into the turbo-lift.
"Sickbay."
As the turbo-lift's near inaudible whirring filled the small capsule, he briefly wondered what kind of personnel matter the Doc would be so concerned about that she wouldn't bring it up to him during his office hours. He shook his head and pushed it aside, he would know when he got there.
Riker stepped into Sickbay and glanced over at the patient beds out of habit. He noted Lieutenant Y/L/N lying in one of the beds, but continued to the Doctor's office. He ran over their file in his mind, a middling grade in the academy, not the best in their class but they excelled in the field. He recalled them being quite a challenge getting placed, having studied in the Academy under the strange tutelage of both Computer sciences and Mental Health Sciences. They weren't your traditional specialist in Cybernetics, rather they specialized in Human interactions with Cybernetic lifeforms as well as more traditional technology. Both the Science department and Engineering department fought for the young Lieutenant Junior Grade to be assigned to them. It was an even harder fight with the Lieutenant themselves, they weren't the traditional Engineer and he couldn't excuse just assigning them to repair and monitor systems all day; they were young but their burgeoning field made them valuable in the right place. Of course, he knew they fought so hard for the position aboard the Enterprise due to Commander Data, and nothing short of Engineering was going to be close enough for them. Still, that same interest wouldn't let them turn down even an offer that wasn't one hundred percent to their liking. Eventually, Science won out. It gave him pause for a moment; they were a diligent officer, not a mark on their record. This couldn't be about them, right?
He stepped into the Doctor's office, nodding and smiling towards her as she glanced up at his presence.
"You wanted to see me, Doctor?"
"Yes..." She stood up, very slowly and deliberately walking around her desk, "It's about Lieutenant Y/L/N..."
Riker sighed, he had his faith in the Doctor but he wasn't aware of any indications that the Lieutenant would do something so major as to warrant this kind of reaction. "Whatever they could have done Beverly couldn't it of waited until-"
"It wasn't them. Or rather... It’s what was done to them."
Riker suddenly straightened up, "What do you mean by that exactly, Doctor?"
"They stumbled into my sickbay..." she drew closer to Riker and quieted her voice, "Covered in bruises. Some on their back, some on their neck and chest."
"Do you know what caused the injuries? You said this was a personnel matter. Do you believe a fellow crew member did this?" Riker too lowered his voice and took a softer tone.
"The marks on them are consistent with humanoid hands. I haven't taken an interview-"
"Beverly-"
"Look, they are assigned to a family quarters. Riker, I treated them just a few days ago, I know who else is assigned to those quarters... That other crew member was with them, so I gave them the medication to treat my patient. Now they stumble in untreated and covered in bruises when they were assigned to strict bed rest. Now unless we have a serious security-"
Riker held up his hands for Beverly to stop. "I understand. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to doubt you."
The Doctor retreated, walked back over behind her desk, and sat down. "I'll have Deanna here when we interview them, but I wanted to inform you of it right away."
"Thank you. Keep me informed. I'll prepare to begin official inquiries If needed."
"Thank you, Riker." Beverly almost whispered, distractedly looking at your chart once more.
Riker nodded and began to exit, leaving the doctor's office and heading into the patient bed area. On his way out he paused in the doorway and looked over his shoulder to the sole body inhabiting the space. If what the Doctor said was true, he couldn’t imagine what you had been through. Briefly, he considered walking over and waking you but decided it was best to wait. He’d request to be there when Deanna and Beverly interviewed you.