<USS Avalon> The best laid plans

Mac carried Josh in and laid him upon the couch in their quarters, never mind 
how much he'd hate that. The bedroll was too out of the way for them to monitor 
him adequately...
Hitting his comm, he called quickly, "McEntire to Chase..."

 Annabelle hadn't slept much during the night. The images from Josh's program 
wouldn't allow her too. She'd wanted to go to him, to be with him, but she 
didn't want him seeing her in such a state. Reaching over, she pressed her comm 
badge, which rested on her nightstand. "Yes Mac" 

 Mac replied quietly, stepping back so Anna could monitor Josh, "Um...come 
over, Hun...now...it's about that problem we discussed yesterday..."

 "On my way." Annabelle replied as she hurled herself out of her bed. She 
rushed around her bedroom looking for her things, not really giving a rip about 
the noise she was making. If she woke her roommate tough, they'd just have to 
hash it out later. 

"How's he looking," He asked Anna, almost afraid to hear the answer. 

  Anna didn't look up as she continued her scans.  "He is suffering from acute 
sleep deprivation.  His nervous system is breaking down and he is becoming 
susceptible to infections that most of us would never need to worry about. But 
we can do something for him now he's unconscious, don't worry."  Finally she 
looked up and smiled.  Tiredness pulled at her eyes but she continued to work.

 Mac nodded gratefully. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd failed him, as 
though somehow he should have been able to prevent him from going this far. 

 Ringing the chime to Josh and Mac's quarters, Annabelle couldn't help but feel 
as if something was really wrong. She held her breath unknowingly as she waited 
to be let in. 

 Mac let her in, but held her next to him "Let Anna see to him first, okay. 
It's pretty bad. Once she's got him set, we'll figure out what we can do."

 Charging a hypospray, Anna pressed it to Josh's neck to fill him with 
antibiotics.  Before she did, she glanced up again.  "Is he allergic to 
penicillin?" 

 Mac had to think about it. "I'm not really sure. He's allergic to one of the 
antibiotic types, but I think it's the sulphur ones. I think." 

 Every muscle in Annabelle's body stiffened as she leaned into Mac, and looked 
down at Josh. She didn't know whether to be pissed off because she knew 
something like this was going to happen, or to break down and sob like a child. 
 "It's the other way around, Mac." She replied to him softly since she didn't 
really know the other woman. 

"Shit..." Mac moved to stop her quick, "Other way around. You didn't give him 
that, right?" He turned to Annabelle, "Speak up, sweets, before I get him 
killed, okay?" 

 "They gave him penicillin once at the academy. His throat nearly closed up and 
he broke out in red blisters." Annabelle told them.

  "Of course I didn't!" Anna snapped.  Reprogramming the hypo, she administered 
the correct medication.  "This should hold it off for a bit."  Sitting back on 
her heals, she scanned again.  His signs were better but still not good. 

 Mac sighed. "Thank God." He muttered, his eyes filling with tears. "Could have 
got him killed, dammit." 

 "No, you couldn't."  Her sympathy was not at its best.  "He's stable, now all 
I need to do is bring his immune system up to its normal levels

 "Penicillin could have killed him. It's come close, dammit, you'd think I'd 
remember that." Mac snapped back. "Long as we been together and I still let 
shit like this happen."

 Annabelle looked between Mac, Anna, and Josh with a wealth of emotions playing 
across her face. It was just like when her father had had his heart attack. She 
felt so helpless, she hated feeling that way, and promised herself she?d never 
feel that way again when it came to someone she.. love?.. "Your tired Mac. It's 
alright."

 "The hell it is!" He almost shouted, the tears flowing freely. "Look at him! 
That is not alright!" He stepped away from them, trying to get his head clear, 
knowing he wasn't helping things. He was angry at Josh, at himself, and at 
everyone else who could have done something before it got to this point but 
didn't. 

"If you don't calm the hell down, you are going to have to leave."  Anna stood 
and crossed her arms.  "Am I clear on that?" 

 "Fuck you!" Mac snapped back. "This is my fucking apartment, and he's my 
fucking roommate and I'm not fucking going anywhere, am I clear?" He glared at 
her as though daring her to argue a moment then it seemed to hit him what he'd 
just said. "Hell, I'm sorry. I'll just stand over here and shut up now, okay? 
...sorry..."

 "Mac!. Sit down and shut up!" Annabelle added as she point to the chair 
nearest the couch. "You can't take all the blame for yourself. Your not the 
only one who loves him you big oaf!"

 He nodded at Annabelle and did what he was told. She was right, of course. 

"Thank you," Anna said to both of them.  Glancing back at Josh, she shook her 
head.  "If only I could take him to sick bay...  But I really don't think that 
would be a good idea, do you?" 

 Josh stirred slightly, the dreams coming as they always did. His breath seemed 
to catch as his muscles became more rigid, as though fight or flight had kicked 
in, the adrenaline flooding his system even as he slept. 

 Mac shook his head. "No...please...I can't explain why, but it really wouldn't 
be.?

 Annabelle huffed, with made her nostrils flame as she just looked at Mac. Then 
she looked back at Josh. She'd used that word again and wondered at which 
moment it had become the truth. Seeing Josh stirring restlessly, Annabelle 
walked over and crouched next to the couch. Reaching out she ran her fingers 
through his hair and whispered to him. "Shh, Josh, it's ok.. You?re on 
Commodore's shuttle.. Can you see it? It keeps blowing it's coils. You told her 
you'd fix it.."

 Josh stirred restlessly a moment longer, then seemed to settle, his breathing 
coming easier. Slowly, the tension seemed to evaporate, his body relaxing 
again. 

 Smiling to herself, Anna returned to his side and rechecked his vitals.  "Does 
he dream?  I mean, are his dreams violent, like Taursus?"

 Annabelle's head snapped to the side to look at Anna. "You saw it too?"

 Mac nodded. "Always. He kind of sleeps in spurts. Twenty minutes here, a half 
hour there, through the night. At least, he did. He hasn't even tried the last 
few days.?

  "And on a guess, when he wakes up, he'll just repeat the same detrimental 
spiral, am I right?" Anna said.  

 Abruptly Josh sat bolt upright, the terror plain to see in his eyes, his body 
painfully rigid, his breath caught in his throat.

Mac nodded, moving to his side. "I'm afraid so," He answered Anna. "S'okay, 
kid. Lay back, you're good. You're here at home." 

  Josh's suddenly jolt caused Annabelle to fall backwards, landing hard on her 
rear end. She groaned lightly and fought the urge to laugh at herself. "Damn I 
thought his dream had changed. Unless he was dreaming about the time he found a 
little lace nighty in Crusher's shuttle." 

 Josh failed to respond for several long moments despite the exhaustion that 
bid him rest, and anything he might have been given. He seemed oblivious to his 
surroundings as Mac eased him back onto the couch.

Mac shot Annabelle a glance and tried not to laugh at her comment. "So you've 
made a habit of taunting him like that, have you?" He winked. 

 Annabelle's eyes went wide. "It wasn't mine! It was Crusher's! I mean have you 
seen her wife? I'd have them stashed away too!" Then she laughed. "But it did 
kinda help with the idea. He was just so damn cute all flushed and confused "

 Mac laughed. He'd been there each time Josh had found her little calling cards 
and knew the look she was referring to. Grinning, he nodded, "You got him good, 
you know. He'd get so damned red every time." 

"I didn't know how else to get his attention." She replied softly as she looked 
down at the floor. 

 "You're an engineer. Anything to do with work and you've got his attention." 
Mac told her as though it should have been obvious. Suddenly something dawned 
on him as he got Josh settled and apparently sleeping again dispite his best 
efforts. "Anna...can I ask you something?" 

 "Of course," she said still scanning Josh

"How the hell did you end up in that holodeck with the kid? And how do you know 
about Taursus? It wasn't running the Taursus program when I got there." 

"No, it wasn't.  But it was when I got there."  Anna explained how she'd 
arrived in the holodeck and the events there after, leaving out the bit about 
her blood lust.  Shrugging, she said, "It was lucky I did,he'd have killed 
himself."

 "I think," Annabelle said softly as she once again moved closer to Josh's 
side. "I think that was the point." 

 Mac looked shaken. It did sound like it. 

 "This can't continue."  At the looks of fear on her two companions' faces, she 
continued quickly.  "I'm not saying we go to anyone, because that rally didn't 
work.  But we need to do something.  Now." 

 Mac moved to the console in the room and, using Josh's access codes, altered 
the schedule to reflect that that he was out on bereavement leave for the time 
being. "What shift do you usually work, Anna? Alpha, Beta, or Gamma?"

 "Alpha, why?" Anna looked up at them both. 

  "Okay...here's the deal. We each take a shift with him. He's not alone. He 
eats and he sleeps because we make sure he does. If he goes to the holodeck, we 
pick the program. When he returns to work, it'll be teamed with me. We watch 
him until he's through this. Until he's able to handle this himself, we handle 
it for him. Okay?" 

  "Okay."  Something was creeping into her mind.  An idea, but it needed more 
thought, more time to mull over.  "Agreed." 

 "He's not going to agree to that Mac, you know that." Annabelle said even 
though she liked the idea. She just felt someone had to play devil's advocate.

 "We're not asking. It's simple. He needs to know it's either this, or 
we...take it to Ketchum. Roan. McKinsley. Somebody. Doesn't matter who, he just 
has to believe we will. He has to know that surviving all of this mandatory. It 
isn't optional." He looked at Anna. "We're not actually going to any of them, 
alright? I know, medically we should, I do know that. But if we can handle this 
in house, it really would be better."

"They aren't going to help.  Marksbury didn't," Anna said with bitterness.  
"No, we're not going to go to anyone.  We can handle this." 

"Okay. We have a plan then?" Mac asked both women as Josh stirred once again. 

 Anna nodded and began to gather up her kit.  "When do you need me?" 

 Annabelle nodded her agreement as she slipped her fingers back into Josh's 
hair. 

"Well, to start we'll have to take him during our offshifts. Figure the first 
offshift is your sleep cycle. So second shift prior to work will be your shift 
with him. You'll have Alpha, Annabelle. I'll take Beta.  Anna, you've got Gamma 
shift. Okay??

"Sure thing, but won't you be with him then as well?"  Anna felt like she'd 
missed something here.  

 "When he's up to working, yeah. Before then, I'll be at work. You'll be here 
with him." 

 Annabelle looked up at the other two. She wasn't sure she liked the fact Anna 
got him at night. She still wasn't sure who this other woman was to Josh. 

 "Fact is, I'll be here with him through Alpha and Beta, too. I'm not going 
anywhere. Just kind of like to have someone else here to help watch him during 
my sleep cycle. You know?"

"Okay, just checking."  Seeing the look of suspicion on Annabelle's face, Anna 
smiled as warmly as she could.  "I'm a doctor, don't worry, won't do anything 
to hurt him or put him in danger, I promise."

"I wasn't worried you would." Annabelle replied. When she realized she was 
being unjustly jealous of someone who was most likely just a friend, her face 
flushed a deep red and she turned away quickly. 

?Um...guys..." He gestured toward the couch where Josh lay with his eyes wide 
open, apparently listening. He glanced from Annabelle to Anna, wondering if 
they'd noticed how long he'd been like that.

Annabelle looked over at Josh. He couldn't have been awake to long, she'd only 
pulled her hand out of his hair a few moments ago. Thank god she had, she'd 
have been the color of a fire truck if he'd caught her. "Hi there sleepyhead." 

Blinking, he moved to sit upright, looking around confusedly at the others in 
his quarters

Anna simply stood at the back and watched his friends take care of him, feeling 
a little like a gooseberry. 

"What?" Annabelle asked when she saw the look on his face. She smiled brightly 
at him, unable to stop herself from covering up her worry and other emotions by 
teasing him. "Mac couldn't make up his mind so he brought us both home." 

Quirking a brow, Josh made to rise, still looking more than a little confused.

 "Please stay there," Anna said.  "Don't try to move, you need to rest a 
while." 

 Annabelle frowned. "He's still pretty out of it. I didn't get any hint of 
color from that." Her voice was tinted with concern and nearly caught in her 
throat with a small sigh. 

Seeming not to hear either of them, he stood unsteadily and moved toward the 
replicator silently. 

"He's going to get coffee." Annabelle said aloud as she quickly got to her 
feet. "Mac, the last thing he needs is caffeine."

Quickly replicating a cup of decaf, Mac met him halfway and steered him back 
toward the couch, sitting him down before handing him the cup.  Josh shook his 
head after sipping it once and set it aside. He needed to be doing something. 
But he couldn't. Not with all these people here. Why were all these people 
here? 

"Sorry Josh but decaf is all you get for a while." Annabelle told him when she 
saw him reject it. "It keeps you awake and you need your rest."

He looked at her blankly. Rest? No. This wasn't the time to rest. Not now. Not 
yet. That would come soon enough on it?s own.

Annabelle took a deep breath as she looked down at him. "You don't have a 
choice, Joshua. You nearly did it tonight, you nearly lost it, and I for one 
will be damned if I lose you now." 

Mac glanced at Anna, frowning, before turning his attention back to Josh. 
"She's right, kid." he told him. "None of us are ready to watch you succeed at 
what you tried to do tonight, you understand? "It's just not happening." 

Josh stood, mumbling something about a shower, as though what they said just 
hadn't registered or didn't matter. 

"Mac, go with him, please."  Anna was already stepping forward to take his arm.

Annabelle watched as Josh retreated to the bathroom and sighed before blowing a 
strand of hair out of her face. "Why do you men have to act so much like.... 
men...?? She huffed.

 "No idea," Anna muttered. 

Mac started to follow, then returned. "He said, and I quote,? I can shower 
myself." then locked me out.?

He looked in the drawer between them and withdrew a chip. "Anyone know how he 
uses this? He encrypted the damned lock.?

"Hide his uniforms." Annabelle told Mac with a smile. She then went over to the 
replicator and started entering commands. "He can't go to work if he only has 
sweats to wear." Looking up at what Mac had pulled out of the drawer, "Fuck a 
duck! Where'd you get that!"

"He doesn't own any sweats." Mac told her. "No civilian stuff at all. All the 
clothes he has is uniforms. It?s them or go naked." Noting her reaction to the 
chip in his hand, he answered,? He made a couple of them. Why? Relax they're 
not bombs. Just de-encryption chips.?

Annabelle walked over and snatched the chip from Mac's hand. "I know what they 
are Patrick." She then put it back in the drawer. "I was around when he made 
the first one." Turning to the other she barked, "No one saw that."  

"Saw what?" Anna said with a smile.  "Now, you need to make sure he gets some 
rest, okay?  I'm afraid I've lost track of time a little, who is up for first 
shift.?

"Relax, it's not like we're running to Marksbury with it or anything. I just 
want to unlock the bathroom before he sneaks out through a vent." Mac frowned, 
going back after the chip

"Mac is. I gotta be in Engineering soon." Annabelle relied. "Oh and the 
replicator now only makes sweats in Josh's size." She smiled a little. "You got 
vents bigger than a beer can in your bathroom? Damn I think I got stuck on the 
wrong side of the ship." 

"He's gone out them before," Mac told her as he tried to make the chip work on 
the door. "Last time I brought home some girls for him to meet..."

 "Okay, way too much information."  Anna rubbed her burning eyes and tried to 
remember if she'd slept in the last 36 hours.

Annabelle's eyes went wide and she huffed at Mac again as she took the chip 
from him. "Here get me that." The chip was way better then the first one but 
still worked the same. When the door lock popped she handed it back to Mac. She 
then gave him a "bring Josh another girl and you'll be walking funny" look. 
"He didn't even meet them. Nothing happened. Instead he went to take a shower 
and snuck out through the vent,? he told them both as he walked into the 
bathroom. "SHIT!" Tearing out of the bathroom, he told them,? Chase go to work, 
Jameson go to bed. Be back for Gamma. I got the wiry little shit!"


                
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