IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT..
By
Bernice Low
Timeline: On way to New Pacifica
Author's E-Mail: drteong@pc.jaring.my
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
A little bitty thing I wrote trying to seek inspiration to finish another longer piece [Gaal help me if it ever sees the light of day at the rate it's going] - It's Julia and Alonzo in places, Morgan and Julia in others, with a mite of D and D in between somewhere. It's started as a kind of Julia and Alonzo go for a vacation in hell together but somewhere along the way, deviated from that [ why do characters NEVER do what you want them to?] and became a reversal of roles for Julia and Alonzo.Many thanks to Maxine for being so kind as to let me sound out ideas on her. Her story 'Flu Season' also gave rise to this idea you see before you. And thanks to Laura in Leicester, who started me off writing FF [and has been terribly encouraging!!]
Brickbats[or bouquets] to drteong@pc.jaring.my - I'll just cry myself to sleep:) Please feel free to totally rip it apart if you must. If you encounter difficulty in reading this because my e programme has failed miserably again, e me and I'll send you the MS Word version.
One more thing, I may get my vehicles muddled up so I apologize if a rail isn't a rail but is an ATV..or something like that!
Bernice.
Disclaimer: The characters in this work of fiction belong to Amblin Entertainment and are borrowed without any intention of infringing the copyright held by the creators of the series Earth 2. The story however remains exclusively the intellectual property of me. Should the miraculous happen and you feel compelled to reproduce this story in any form [including attempts to repost it] without acknowledging my copyright be assured I will sue you for theft of intellectual property.
I hope you enjoy the story.
IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT.., Part 1
By Bernice Low
"Jullliiiiiiiiiaaaaa!!!!"
A ear-piercing shriek accompanied a running figure dashing frantically from one end of the camp to the MedTent. The yells attracted curious attention (and several raised eyebrows) from some the Eden Advance team, who turned to witness what appeared to be a rare display of energy and vigour from Morgan Martin.Danzinger stuck his head out from under one of the vehicles to catch an eyeful of Morgan running, actually running across the camp. He squinted against the bright afternoon sunshine and looked up at Baines and Walman, who were also watching Morgan with expressions of mixed amusement and concern.
"Hey Danzinger - Morgan looks pretty freaked out." Baines said to the mechanic.
"Probably nothing. Over-reaction is Martin's middle name - he's probably just nicked himself on a tent peg." scoffed Danzinger, making a mental note to add 'headless chicken' to his list of words to describe Morgan and slid back under the vehicle.
Morgan reached the MedTent and without announcing himself, ripped the tent flap open and ducked inside.
"Julia!!" he declared breathlessly "Thank god we've got a doctor on this team..this afternoon when I woke up from my nap..."
It was then, that very moment in time that Morgan Martin realised the MedTent was empty - Julia was nowhere to be seen. Equipment, microscopes, monitors, boxes of med supplies was stacked neatly in piles.
But no doctor.
"Oh my god!"Morgan looked round the empty tent frantically - he grovelled down on his knees to check under the bed. "Ohhhhhhhhh mmyyyyyyyy Gooooooodddddddddddd!" he yelled before running out of the tent
Devon sat at her makeshift desk looking at cartographic maps and was pondering their next move when she heard loud shouts coming from outside. She stopped and listened intently.
Sounded like Morgan.
She listened again.
Definitely was Morgan.
No one else had a whine quite so unique and personalised. Devon frowned and wondered what Morgan was up his tree about this time. Shaking her head, she wished that Bess had not taken Uly and True on a nature walk around the forest. Morgan seemed to like timing his personal crises so that they occurred whenever Bess was away.She sighed and tried to focus on her calculations only to be startled by Morgan charging into her tent.
"Devon! Where the *hell* is Julia?" he demanded through gritted teeth. "Morgan" she began, "I don't appreciate you barging into my tent like this." she said firmly, her tone of voice indicating her distinct dissatisfaction with his behaviour.
"I'm sorry but I really need to see Julia about something urgently - I've looked all over the camp and she's not here. Where the hell is she?" he looked at Devon with an expression of impatience, wringing his hands as he spoke.
"Calm down Morgan. She's out with Alonzo.." Devon began to answer but was interrupted by Round Two of Morgan's hysterics.
"She's out with Alonzo? What's she doing out with Alonzo at this time of the day? Some kind of romantic getaway? This is a medical emergency! What is she doing out with Alonzo?! I mean this is really the wrong time to be out having a roll in the hay.." he ranted.
"What if something happens to her? She's our only doctor! I'm a dead man!" Morgan groaned, holding his hands out in resignation. He buried his face in his hands.
"You look fine to me." Devon remarked, running her eyes over Morgan cursorily.
Morgan looked up and regarded Devon dubiously. "I *look* fine. That's exactly the problem. These things sneak up on you and when you least expect it...Bam! It hits you. Next thing you know they're lowering you into the ground." he said, emphasising his point by sticking his index finger in a downward position and jabbing the palm of his other hand.
Morgan Martin had a vision of his funeral.
Bess, weeping into her handkerchief, Yale, his deep voice eulogising Morgan's achievements ..a true leader...a rugged individual...an astute politician....intellectual...Julia, Danzinger, Devon lining up to pay tribute to him... Devon naming a continent after his family...They would call it..
"Morgan?"
He was interrupted by Devon's sharp voice calling his name. "I'll try and contact Julia on GEAR - she and Alonzo are out looking at plants. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing serious. Why don't you go and lie down and I'll ask Julia to come by and look at you.OK?" Devon tried to sound as concerned as she could, but really what she wanted to do was grab the biggest plaster Julia had and plaster Morgan's mouth shut!
Morgan clutched his chest in relief. "Thank you Devon. I knew you'd understand." he said thankfully as he backed out of her tent slowly. "You're going to call her right now right? I mean this is a pretty serious emergency and ..."
"Morgan?"
"Yes?"
"I *really* think you should lie down.." Devon said looking at Morgan pointedly, a hint of exasperation lacing her voice."Lie down? Yes.. I think I will." Morgan said, catching Devon's look and drifting off in the general direction of his tent. "Lie down.." he mumbled to himself.
Devon watched him go with a sigh of relief. She had a nasty feeling that somehow, this was just a taste of things to come.
Better send out the SOS to Bess first, she thought as she picked up the GEAR.
"Julia? Alonzo? Are you there?" Devon's voice, crisp and clear floated from the GEAR units that hung on the steering wheel of the DuneRail - their owners having abandoned them momentarily.
"Julia? This is Devon - come in please.." Devon repeated patiently. She stood in her tent, listening intently for any indication that her message had been received.
"Devon? Julia." came the response several seconds later. The doctor's voice sounded slightly breathless, like she had been running.
Plants my foot, thought Devon to herself, a small smile playing across her lips. She was quite sure Alonzo and Julia were up to something that had absolutely nothing to do with studying plants - though she suspected Julia genuinely had that intention when she set out at mid-morning carrying a large bag of equipment with her. Alonzo you romantic devil, she thought a little enviously.
"Is everything alright?" Devon inquired, partly out of habit, partly because she was just damned curious to know what Julia and Alonzo were actually up to.
"Yes...yes..everything is...err... fine here." Julia replied, looking over to Alonzo, who was idly lazing on the ground under some trees a mere few feet away and smiling very provocatively at her.
"We're fine." she answered more confidently. "Well we've got a slight problem back here at camp." Devon said, as she paced inside her tent.
"What problem?" Julia inquired, finding it hard to ignore Alonzo's persistent little tugs at her shirt to return to their little spot under the trees.
"It's Devon!" she hissed at him as he began to slowly draw her back to the blanket they had been lying on.
"Julia?"
"I'm right here Devon." Julia sat down on the blanket - having given into Alonzo for the second time that morning - and leaned against Alonzo as she listened to Devon explain the Morgan Martin crisis of the day to her."Is he alright?" she asked, concerned. Julia was sure Morgan was a textbook hypochondriac but, ever cautious, wanted to make sure that it wasn't anything serious. She frowned as she tried to recall the results of Morgan's last physical. Could she have missed something?
"Well he seemed perfectly fine to me when he barged into my tent." was the exasperated reply. "Just full of energy."
"Did he complain of anything in particular?" Julia queried, trying to concentrate but finding it very difficult with Alonzo's hands straying the way they were at that moment.
"No - he didn't say anything. Look Julia, I've already sent out an SOS to Bess and she should be back in camp in the next few minutes - I don't think she went very far with the children. Where are you?" asked Devon.
"Well, we sort of ran off course a little bit this morning. About 2 hours drive I think." came the rather sheepish reply.
Devon smiled to herself and shook her head. Wonder if Alonzo planned it that way, she thought.
"Morgan seems symptom free at the moment but I think you better head back here as soon as you finish.."
Devon hesitated.
"... your work." she said hastily. "I'd feel a lot better if you were around in case Morgan decides to develop complications. Adair out."Devon slipped the GEAR off her head and placed it on the table. Boy am I turning into a regular busybody, she sighed.
Julia pulled the GEAR off and dumped it on her lap. "I hate to spoil your fun fly boy, but the Doctor has been called back STAT." she said, grabbing hold of Alonzo's hands before they undid another button on her shirt. "We've got to head back to camp."
"This had better be an emergency.." he grumbled, sliding his hands from Julia's midriff.
Julia began to button her shirt up. "That's what happens when you date a doctor." she teased. "Morgan woke up and decided that he's having a medical crisis." she explained, and pulled her shoes on.
Alonzo groaned and rolled over onto his back. "If he's not at death's door, he will be." promised Alonzo as he sat up and pulled his boots back on.
"Well, I was supposed to be studying the vegetation Alonzo." she reminded him as he folded up the blanket and walked with her to the Rail.
"I think I like my idea of 'studying the vegetation' more. Don't you?" he murmured. He tossed the blanket into the back of the Rail before giving her a long kiss.
"There's nothing very scientific about flattening grass." she pointed out dryly.
He slipped into the driver's seat and waited for her to hop in beside him. "On the contrary Dr Heller, I think you'll find a long term study very interesting." he said, his eyes twinkling as he looked at her mock seriously. He started up the engine and threw her a cheeky look.
"An a-a-a-a-accid-d-ddent?" Morgan stammered. "They've been in an accident? What happened? Is Julia still alive?"
"They're both alive Morgan. But from the sound of things, they won't be able to make it back tonight. The Rail's been damaged by the fall and by the time Walman gets a fix on their GEAR units, it will be too dark to go out and look for them." Devon explained patiently to Morgan, who was huddled up under the blankets in his tent.
"Morgan - honey - I'm sure it's fine. Julia will be here first thing in the morning to see you.." she said soothingly. She gently stroked his back to calm him.
"How did this happen? I mean you don't just drive a Rail off a cliff just like that!?" he said, snapping his fingers to emphasise the point.
Devon sighed and began to explain what happened. She hoped Morgan wouldn't make a big deal about this. She already had to deal with Danzinger grumbling about the Rail and getting all worked up. She didn't want to have to spend her evening pacifying two men.
"He drove off the track to avoid a jaywalking Grendler?" Morgan could not believe his ears. "Is he nuts? It's just a Grendler, a stinking, utterly moronic creature." he spat out. "He could have killed our only doctor!"
"Morgan - I did not say Alonzo drove off a cliff. They drove the Rail off a steep embankment. They'll be back tomorrow morning - afternoon the latest - Baines and Walman will take the ATVs out to pick them up. Everything will be fine - Julia will be here immediately to check on you. Just get some sleep tonight OK?" Devon tried to pacify him.
She looked at Bess for assistance and for the millionth time that day, she told herself again that there didn't seem to be anything wrong with Morgan - he was being as irritating as usual and that had to be a sign of normality.
"Honey - Devon's right. Maybe you'll feel a lot better once you've had a good night's sleep." Bess cooed gently, and patted Morgan re-assuringly on the arm.
"You're right Bess - I do feel a little dizzy." He allowed himself to be gently laid down on the pillow and the blankets tucked around him.
"I'll leave you to get some rest Morgan." said Devon slowly and she backed out of the tent.
Stepped out into the cool evening air, Devon pulled the GEAR from her belt and pulled it on. Walking towards the campfire where Danzinger and Walman were, she tried to raise Alonzo.
"Alonzo? It's Devon. Do you copy?"
A burst of static came over the earpiece before she heard Alonzo's voice. "Right here Devon."
"Is everything OK?" she asked with concern. Danzinger looked up from his cup of coffee and realising that she was talking to Alonzo, got out his GEAR unit and pulled it on."We've got a slight problem here Devon." he said, over a burst of whining static.
"You've got more than that on your hands Solace. What the hell you do to my Rail?" Danzinger grumbled. "Just cause you pilots think you're indestructible, doesn't mean my vehicles are the same".
"What's the problem Alonzo?" Devon interrupted, knowing that if she let Danzinger continue, she'd never get anywhere with finding out the situation on their end.
"It's Julia." came the reply.
Devon pressed her hand to the earpiece. "Is she ok?" She pressed Alonzo for details - at the back of her mind, Devon had to concede,ugh, that Morgan had a point. Julia was their only doctor. Without her, their journey to New Pacifica would have the added peril of medical hazards."She's broken her leg." he said, sounding rather uncertain. "Broken her leg?!" Devon repeated. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?" she demanded.
"When I pulled her out from the Rail, she was unconscious..I only just found out myself.." Alonzo replied. He sounded anxious.
"Is it serious?"
Devon listened to Alonzo talking to Julia and thought she heard a few choice expletives being uttered."I think I get the picture Alonzo." Devon interjected quickly. "Can I speak to Julia?"
"Yeah - hang on - her GEAR unit's out of commission from the fall." he replied, handing the GEAR over to Julia.
"Julia?" Devon waited till the doctor's face appeared on the PLE. "Do you think you can hold out till tomorrow morning? Baines and Walman will take the ATVs and pick you and Alonzo up as soon as it's light."
"We should be OK for the night. I've got a Medical Kit with me and I think Alonzo can manage to build us some decent shelter. How's Morgan?" she asked, trying to take her mind of the fact that her leg was probably broken in 2 places and they were stranded in the middle of nowhere for a night.
"In a lot better condition than you are Doc , but the way he's whining, it won't be long before someone does break a few bones of his." Danzinger growled." Don't worry, Walman's already working on getting your location via GEAR signals and we'll be there to pick you guys up before you know it. Just make sure you two are ready to come back when we come and get you." he warned good-naturedly.
"We'll be in touch Julia. Devon out." Devon signed off and pulled her GEAR off.
"Think it's safe to leave the two of them out there all by themselves?" Danzinger wondered aloud.
Devon shot him a withering look.
"What?" he protested.
"I think Julia and Alonzo can be left by themselves without us speculating about what they're up to." she replied sharply.Danzinger stared at her incredulously. "Me?" he said, gesturing at himself. He shook his head. "You're the one with the one track mind Adair." he retorted dryly, sticking out his index finger at her.
"One track mind?" she repeated indignantly, casting him a look which said 'Explain yourself NOW'.
"*I* was thinking about wandering Grendlers and penal colonists. What were *you* thinking about?" Danzinger looked at her and raised an inquiring eyebrow before picking up his mug and pouring the remainder of the coffee on the ground. He sauntered off to his tent, chuckling softly to himself, leaving Devon to her own thoughts.
IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT.., Part 2
By Bernice Low
"You feeling OK? " Alonzo asked, anxiously, noting the scowl on Julia's face. He had just finished setting up the tent and had spent the last half an hour scouring the area for wood to fashion a splint for Julia. It had been a good hour since they had been unceremoniously tossed out of the Rail as it slid down a steep embankment as Alonzo swerved to avoid a Grendler that ran into the path of the vehicle. Julia had used the time to check how badly her leg was injured and insisted that Alonzo deal with setting up shelter before they worked on her injuries.
"So this is what breaking a leg feels like." she muttered to herself as she struggled to find a comfortable position on the ground. It wasn't so much the pain - the pain blocks she had administered had helped reduce that to a dull ache - but just being stuck watching Alonzo do all the work and having to endure a full hour sitting on the sandy ground, which was proving to be supremely uncomfortable.
Alonzo squatted down in front of her, holding up the two pieces of wood he had found.
"What do you want me to do with these?" he asked patiently. Julia sighed. For now, she had to try and forget her frustration and concentrate on getting her leg properly splinted. There was something faintly unappealing about knowing that if she mucked this up, she had no one but herself to blame for having one leg shorter than the other.
I'll be damned if I'm going to limp my way to New Pacifica she thought sullenly.
"OK - I'm guessing from what I could feel that I've fractured the bone. I need to have a look at the leg to see if there's any dislocation or swelling. There's a pocket knife in my bag - use it to cut open the leg of my jeans." she instructed.
He rummaged through her bag and found the knife. "You know doc, under normal circumstances, I'd find this quite exciting really.." he grinned as he split the leg of her jeans after taking her shoe off and looked playfully at her, but turned his attention back to his task when she gave him a dirty look.
He stopped cutting just above her knee and helped her pull the material back so that she could examine her leg.
"What?" he asked anxiously when he saw her expression change as she examined the area below her knee.
"There's a slight dislocation here" she said, pointing to the area below her kneecap. He followed her finger and could discern a slight awkwardness in the angle of the bone below her knee.
"Is that bad?" he queried slowly.
"Yes." was the straightforward reply. "You'll have to help me re-align it so that the splint can set straight." she added."Re-align it?" he echoed.
She nodded and shifted her weight, trying to get comfortable. "You mean...."
"You're going to have to apply force and push the bone back into the socket manually." she said in a grim tone of voice.He looked at her with a worried expression and Julia felt her heart soften momentarily.
"It's going to really hurt isn't it?" he asked softly. She nodded. He took a deep breath.
"The pain blocks will reduce the pain." she said, trying to re-assure him as she sensed his reluctance."But you took those a couple of hours ago." he noted. "Alonzo.." Julia reminded herself to stay calm and not lose her temper. " It's going to hurt no matter what ok? If you don't help me set my leg straight, I may end up with permanent damage to it. I don't have the strength to do this myself so you're going to have to play Doctor this time." she said slowly. She reached out and picked up his hand, squeezing it tightly.
"Just do what I tell you to and everything is going to be fine. Alright?" She took a deep breath. "Ready?"
He wiped his hands on his jeans and gently placed his hand on either side of her leg..
"Use your right hand to push my lower leg and your left hand to hold the leg steady. Now!" she instructed.
Julia gritted her teeth as she felt the bones grating against each other, attempting to slide back into it's socket. She tried to block the pain out.
"Why did you stop?" she demanded when she felt him let up, Looking in to his eyes, she realised how difficult it was for him to do this - it was painful for him to watch her in such agony.
"Try and push faster and with more force." she urged. He looked at her, sweat beading her forehead from the pain and she could see the hesitation in his eyes.
"I'm OK." she assured. "One more time." He replaced his hands tentatively on her leg in the same positions. "On the count of three alright?" she looked up at him. He "One.."
"Two..."
"Three!" She closed her eyes in anticipation of the pain but there was none. Her eyelids flew open and she eyed Alonzo with growing irritation."I can't do it Julia!" he said, throwing up his hands. "Alonzo!" Julia reached out and grasped him firmly by the lapels of his jacket, hauling him closer to her. "Listen to me!" she said, completely losing her control and shaking him hard, "My leg really hurts! In fact, every part of me hurts!" she yelled.
"Now I *know* it's hard for you to have to do this but I have absolutely NO intention of limping all the way to New Pacifica - do you understand? Life is hard enough, without having one leg shorter than the other!"Her deep blue eyes focused on him. "I need you to follow my instructions and re-align that leg. Now will you please STOP being so lily-livered and just put me out of my misery!" she ordered, releasing her grip on his jacket.
Those eyes just look so gorgeous Alonzo thought as he felt himself fall backwards when Julia released her grip on his jacket.
He held out a hand to steady himself. Kneeling down in front of her, he placed his hands back on her leg. Then he took a deep breath.
And shoved as hard as he could.
"You know, I think you scared every Grendler in a 20 mile radius out of a year's growth with that yell." he said, grinning as he wound a bandage round the two pieces of wood positioned on either side of her right leg, working quickly as the light began to fade.
"Wind it tighter.." she instructed. He just smiled to himself as he pulled harder on the bandage and kept winding it round her leg.
"What?" she asked testily, one eye on his hand as it worked through the roll of bandage.
"Hmmmm?" he looked up at her.
"What's so funny?" she demanded. "Tie a knot there." "I've never seen you like that before." he said, still smiling as he tied a knot just above her knee."Like what?"
"I dunno - all nasty and mean I guess They teach you to swear in Med School too?" He looked down to inspect his handiwork and then looked back at her. He reached out to brush a stray lock of hair from her eyes, "But the nastier you get, the more I like you.." he murmured softly and was rewarded by a lowering of her eyes and a faint glimmer of a smile."It's getting dark. Let's get you to the tent." he said, looking up darkening sky.
Before she could protest, Julia felt herself being bodily lifted up and carried the short distance to the tent that Alonzo had set up, having recovered it from the fallen Rail.
Ducking his head as he stepped into the tent, he bent down and gently deposited her on the blanket he had brought with him, making sure that her injured leg wasn't bumped when he put her down."Comfortable?" he asked, kneeling down in front of her and taking off her remaining shoe. She nodded and he cast a look outside to where darkness was already setting in. Julia looked around the tent, dimly lit by a torch hanging in one corner of the tent and could see that he had brought all their belongings into the tent. Standing next to the bag of scientific equipment was her other shoe.
"Fast worker." she remarked, shifting uncomfortably as he yanked the shoe off and tossed it next to it's other half.
"Wouldn't you know it.." he smiled winsomely at her before rummaging through the items he retrieved from the Rail. He yanked out a thermal blanket and a Mag Pro.
She looked around. "Alonzo - where did the tent come from?" she asked, watching him carefully.
"I kinda tossed it into the Rail this morning when we left camp." he replied casually as he unlaced his boots. He helped her take her jacket off, then pulled his off and started rolling it up to form a makeshift pillow.
Julia eyed him suspiciously.
He plonked the jacket down behind her and patted it. "Time for bed Dr Heller."
"Bed? Alonzo's it's probably not even eight o'clock." she protested. He unfurled the thermal blanket and spread it over her, carefully tucking the ends in around her broken leg. He patted the jacket again."Come on Doc. Bed time."
Reluctantly she relaxed and lay down on the pillow. After all, there was nothing else they could do but sleep.Well, nearly nothing else.
He got up and extinguished the torch and padded back to the blanket. Firmly placing the MagPro beside him in case he needed to pick it up quickly, he stretched out beside her.Julia lay in the darkness, trying hard not to think about her broken leg but it was hard to ignore the constant ache that seemed to get worse as the pain blocks wore off. She fidgeted and shifted constantly, frustrated at being unable to toss and turn because she knew her leg had to be kept firmly splinted in place. Closing her eyes, she tried desperately to squirm into a more comfortable position and perhaps fall asleep.
Alonzo was no help - he was contentedly dozing by her side, though it was hardly fair for her to expect him to do anything. What do you expect him to do Julia? she asked herself. Read you a bedtime story? Her eyes snapped open and she scowled in the dark and evil thoughts floated through her mind about what she'd do to the next Grendler she saw that strayed into her path.
She relaxed and felt herself growing calmer as she turned her thoughts to what she'd do to Morgan.
This entire episode was his fault in entirety. "Are you always this difficult?"
She heard Alonzo's voice as he raised himself on one elbow to look down at her. "You mean besides my lousy bedside manner, am I a lousy patient too?" she asked, looking up at him. She hadn't realised that her restlessness had disturbed him.He re-arranged the thermal blanket and huddled closer to her, leaning his head on his hand as he gazed at her.
She tried to stretched out into a comfortable position."I guess doctors do make the worse patients." she said, answering her own question. She reached out and ran her fingers slowly through his jet black hair.
"What were you thinking?" he asked, running a finger up and down her forearm. "When?"
"You stopped fidgeting - and you weren't asleep. Something must have been occupying your thoughts." he replied lazily."Hmmmm, I was having evil thoughts about what I would do to a Grendler the next time I saw one. And Morgan." she answered, as she smoothed the front of his T shirt, feeling his firmly muscled chest under her fingertips.
He chuckled softly.
"I know how it feels.." he murmured sympathetically - he caught one of her hands and held it firmly against his chest - and she could feel the rhythmic beating of his heart. "I had lots of time to think when I broke my leg. Especially about the doctor who made my life miserable by bugging me and insisting I get better." he teased.She remembered.
How miserable Alonzo had been when he discovered that he was not only stranded on the planet, but was temporarily immobile. His injured leg only served to increase his sense of frustration. She particularly remembered how he had used her as a target for his rage.Did he think evil thoughts about her then?? "I thought a lot about her..." he said softly, as if he had heard her " Some very interesting..." His finger idly traced her jawline. ".. very pleasurable thoughts..." his voice trailed off as he leaned closer and gently kissed her.
Julia wrapped her arms around him and slowly relaxed, forgetting the throbbing ache in her right leg.
"Thinking nice thoughts I hope.." he whispered as he nuzzled her ear. "Hmmmm - very nice thoughts..." she said lazily. She snuggled closer to him and felt herself drifting to sleep.
Julia woke up the next morning and felt like she had spent the night on an ice block. She felt her back muscles protesting as she tried to struggle into a sitting position. You've been leading a spoilt existence Dr Heller - too many nights on undeniably the most comfortable bed in the camp, the MedTent bed. I've forgotten what it's like to sleep on the hard ground, she thought to herself as she tried to stretch her stiff muscles.
Then she groaned.
Whipping off the blanket, she was treated to the sight of her thoroughly swelled up leg."Great. Just great. Why the hell does it have to be a textbook case?" she muttered to herself as she glared at her leg, which looked grossly disproportionate to her other leg. There was absolutely no way she was going to be able to put any weight on that foot - even with the help of a crutch, she doubted she could even move. Frustration welling up inside of her, she balled up the blanket and threw it into the corner of the tent.
"Danzinger and Walman have arrived." She looked up and saw Alonzo at the tent entrance. He came into the tent and knelt down on one knee beside her. "Ready to go home Doc?" he asked gently.
"As ready as I'll ever be." she grumbled as he picked up his jacket from behind her, shook it and pulled it on..She stretched out as far as she could and just managed to snag her jacket and tug it on.
Feeling Alonzo slide one arm under her knees and wrap the other around her back to lift her up, she relaxed and put her arms around his neck to steady herself as he easily picked her up.
"OK?" he asked, concerned at her distinctly displeased expression. "This would be a whole lot more romantic if I didn't have a leg that looks like it belongs to an elephant." she muttered sourly.
He smiled tenderly at her and gave her a quick kiss, knowing she couldn't stay mad for long."I can tell you're going to need a lot of attention in the next few days Dr Heller." he said giving her a mock serious look. " We'll be home soon." he said softly to her.
"And guess who will be waiting when we do get back?" she mumbled irritably. "Will you two hurry it up in there?" yelled Danzinger from outside. Alonzo stepped out the tent and Julia caught sight of Danzinger, sun glasses on, hands on his hips, standing beside the DuneRail, which was now parked near the ATV Danzinger and Walman had arrived in.
"You got lucky this time tough guy - I managed to fix the Rail and it's running. You and Julia go with Walman in the Rail. I'll follow on behind in the ATV." he said, patting the Rail's seat.
"How's the leg Julia?" he asked, snapping off his sunglasses and walking up to where Alonzo stood.
"I'll live. Morgan on the other hand..." "Hey, I get the first crack at Morgan!" yelled Walman as he neared the tent to help Alonzo retrieve their belongings and load them into the ATV.
"Guess who made sure we left at the crack of dawn to come and get you?" Danzinger grumbled as Alonzo moved to put Julia down in the back seat of the Rail. Dashing back to the tent, Alonzo returned with the folded blanket, which he put under Julia's injured leg to cushion it from the bumpy ride.
While she sat in the Rail, Alonzo and Walman started pulling down the tent and making sure nothing had been left behind. Julia watched them and felt terribly helpless - this must have been how Alonzo felt, she thought. Now she understood why he had been so angry and full of rage those weeks when his leg was firmly stuck in a splint. She felt extremely cranky and irritable and all she needed right now to make her day was to shout at someone.
"Drive real slow Walman." she heard Alonzo saying as he and Walman threw the tent and the last of the odds and ends into the back of the ATV. Alonzo picked up Julia's bag and casually tossed it in the back of the Rail as he talked to Walman.
"Don't manhandle my equipment like that!" she snapped. Walman and Danzinger looked at her in surprise but Alonzo was non-plussed. "It'll be fine right here Doc." he said soothingly. He climbed into the passenger seat of the Rail while Walman hopped into the driver's seat and started the engine.
With Walman driving slowly to avoid making the ride too bumpy for Julia, it took them twice as long to make it back to camp. They pulled into the campsite near to mid-day, much to Devon's relief.
"Good to see you back Julia." Devon said, as she came up to the ATV. Feeling a lot calmer, having vented her frustration for that morning, Julia was able to focus on her job and ask about Morgan.
"He's in his tent. Bess managed to persuade him to stay in." she informed Julia, then told her that had Morgan attempted to come out, there would have been a line of people standing outside the tent armed with Sedaderms.
"Are you ok?" Devon asked with concern when Alonzo had moved Julia from the ATV back to the MedTent.- Julia looked, well, angry wasn't quite it, but miserable didn't seem to fit the description either.
Julia flipped the scanner she had been holding over her leg onto her worktable and it landed on the table top with an audible thud. She took a deep breath.
"I'm fine." she said after some time, looking up at Devon. Devon looked at Julia pointedly.
"OK, maybe not so good." the doctor admitted. "It's just taking me a little while to get used to losing my mobility and having to depend on someone all the time." She paused. "It's just driving me crazy Devon. I feel so helpless!!" she burst out."I'm sorry." Julia apologised as she settled back into the chair. "What about the bone healer vaccine?" Devon asked, partly out of curiosity, partly because she needed to know how long Julia would be injured for.
"It will reduce the amount of time it will take for my leg to heal - maybe a week or two - definitely longer than it took for my wrist to heal." she said in a dull voice, "Even then, I won't be able to put any weight on my leg for at least the next three to four days." She looked miserably at her foot, which rested on a footstool.
"We can stay camped here for a few days more I think." Devon said slowly, mentally running through her head her plans and calculations. "We all could do with a break from all the travelling we've been doing."
"What about Morgan?" she asked, changing the subject knowing that Julia would only get more irritated if she dwelt on the subject of her injured leg. She could see the doctor's frustration and understood it - Julia was always on the run, attending to minor injuries or going out on scouts to test and find food. It was difficult for her to adjust to leading a more sedentary life. Perhaps discussing Morgan would take her mind of her injuries.
"Has he complained of any symptoms?" Julia forced herself to concentrate on her job.
"No. Nothing at all. Errr, dizziness mainly." Devon racked her brain trying to think if Morgan displayed any unusual behaviour or appearance in the last twenty four hours.
"Well, I guess I better take a look at him as soon as possible." Julia declared putting her hand on her table, obviously intending to try and get up. "I'll just get..."
"I think Morgan's quite capable of walking here Julia." Devon interrupted, standing up and fully intending to make sure Julia stayed sitting. "If he can wake the entire camp up like he did this morning, he can certainly walk over here." She started for the MedTent entrance.
"If he can't, I'm sure Danzinger or Walman will volunteer to *help* him." she said, emphasising the 'help' bit. She had to all but drag Danzinger away from Morgan this morning and she was pretty sure he and Walman would jump at the opportunity to 'assist' Morgan.
Unfortunately, Morgan was able to get himself to the MedTent without any help, in fact, he practically ran all the way there - attracting dirty looks from Danzinger and Walman, and several colonists who had found it humanly impossible to sleep through Morgan in 'early bird' mode.
"Julia!! Thank god you're back!!!" he said, barging into the tent, seemingly intent on throwing his arms around her.
"Morgan!" Julia ordered, holding up her hand to stop him from getting closer. If Morgan wanted to treat her as a saviour, she would prefer it if he fell to his knees rather than try and hug her.
"Oh.." He followed her eyes and noticed her heavily swathed foot. "You're alright?? " he asked nervously. "This hasn't affected your judgement or anything has it? I mean you still can..."
"Morgan.." she said impatiently "I'm fine. In case there's something wrong with your vision, it's my foot that I've hurt, not my head." she snapped. Unlike you, she muttered under her breath.
"Now, what seems to be the problem?" she asked, trying to stay professional, gesturing for Morgan to take a seat on a chair.
"Well ah...I've been having these symptoms...I think maybe it's some kind of virus or bug I've picked up from this planet. I mean I know we were vaccinated and you've been doing physicals but this is a foreign place - God knows how many germs are flying around right now...and maybe you've missed something..." the words came out in a rush as he fidgeted in the chair.
"Morgan - I do not miss things." Julia said, annoyed that he was implying she had been negligent. "What symptoms have you been experiencing?" she asked, pulling out her diaglove and running it over him, studying the readings.
Morgan sat still as Julia performed her preliminary scanning. "Err, well dizziness and blurred vision mainly. Slight headaches..." he said, looking at her anxiously.
"Mmmmm.." Julia said, not looking up. Morgan drummed his fingers on his knees as he watched Julia study the data. "Well? What is it? Is it...em....fatal? " he asked nervously, wiping his palms on his trousers.
"Well, there nothing here to suggest you're sick in anyway. EKG, blood pressure, heart rate are all within normal parameters for your age. Body weight is a little high..." she said, looking at the information on her diaglove.
"Nothing wrong?? Nothing wrong?" he burst out incredulously. "It's probably some unknown bug..some new mutation...that your diaglove can't detect!" he ranted, running his fingers through his hair in panic. "I could be dead tomorrow!" he declared, jabbing an accusing finger at Julia.
"I am the doctor here Morgan." Julia reminded him. "These are just preliminary tests. I'd like to run a few more tests on you, take a blood sample and a spinal sample to be sure." she tried to sound re-assuring.
"A spinal sample?" he echoed uneasily. "From my..my...ssspine.." Morgan touched the back of his neck gingerly.
"It will give me an accurate white cell count and eliminate some possibilities." she explained matter-a factly. "I think I should do it as soon as possible."
"You mean now?" he asked fearfully. He closed his eyes tightly when he saw Julia nod.
"I could give you a SedaDerm but.." she started. "But? What do you mean but? Correct me if I'm wrong but this is going to be PAINFUL Dr Heller.... and you're not going to even put me under?" he accused.
"Morgan - under normal circumstances, I would. But because of my leg, I won't be able to stand up to take the sample. I'll give you a pain block or.." Julia looked thoughtful.
"What? There's an alternative? I'll take it. Anything but the agony!" he begged.
"I could instruct someone on how to get the sample but it would prolong the procedure." Julia said, trying hard not to sound too gleeful and resisted the temptation to rub her hands together and cackle. She was really enjoying this - she was pretty sure that there was absolutely nothing seriously wrong with Morgan. But to pacify him and satisfy both her concern and her sadistic streak - which was presently the dominating factor in any decision she made where Morgan was concerned - she was going to take the sample.
Morgan turned white under his tan.
"Now, if you want to move closer over here, we'll get this done and out of the way." she said cheerfully as she reached for her hypo.
IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT.., Part 3
By Bernice Low
"Hey doc.." Alonzo whispered as he nuzzled Julia's neck while she sat at her table peering through her microscope.
She turned around and kissed him on the lips. He leaned over her. "Is that Morgan's whatever?" he asked casually, his attention focused instead on his fingers gently massaging the base of her neck.
"Mmmm hmmmm.." she closed her eyes and tilted her head forward to stretch her sore neck muscles.
"Is it contagious?"
She smiled and opened her eyes.
"There's nothing wrong with Morgan as far as I can tell...mmmm, that feels good." she murmured as he shifted his hands to her shoulders and gently squeezed her tired muscles."Danzinger saw him crawling back to his tent." Alonzo remarked. He leaned close to her and whispered in her ear, "What did you do to him?"
Julia leaned back against Alonzo and clasped her hands around him. " Nothing, just took a spinal sample." she said, smiling sweetly up at him.
"Spinal sample huh?" he asked, looking at her with one raised eyebrow. He leaned down to meet her lips. Then he saw the gleam in her eye. "I bet Danzinger and Walman would have loved it." he murmured against her lips and she grinned conspiratorially at him.
Julia felt definitely better by late evening - the satisfaction of having 'skewered' Morgan, as he claimed she had done - had helped lift her from her misery and she had to admit, she definitely could get used to having Alonzo so attentive to her *every* need. She had double checked the results of Morgan's blood and spine sample and was pretty sure there was nothing wrong with him physically. That left only one explanation for his symptoms.
"Shouldn't Morgan be coming over to you?" grumbled Alonzo as he carried Julia from the MedTent to where the Martins had set up their tent.
Julia looked at him. "I thought you enjoyed carrying me around like this." she said innocently.
"I do - but we're headed in the wrong direction for this to be any fun." he replied as they neared Morgan's tent.
"Stop here." she said and Alonzo lowered her down onto a supply container that was on the ground. Julia carefully manoeuvred herself to sit squarely on the box and propped her foot up on a bucket Alonzo had grabbed for her.
"Morgan!" Alonzo shouted and Julia heard him shuffle out from the tent, and watched him emerge clutching at his back.
"For god's sakes Alonzo, what is it now? Can't a man be left in peace to recover from a traumatic procedure..." he started to complain as he exited the tent. Then he noticed Julia.
"I have your test results Morgan." Julia announced to him. He turned to look at her.
"Is it..." he swallowed, "... bad?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly. "You're perfectly fine Morgan. The samples didn't show any traces of anomalies." Julia told him.
"But my symptoms - the dizziness, blurred vision.." he interrupted. "Morgan - I need to check this - but I think that you may be suffering from a temporary problem that will go away if you follow my instructions. Where's your GEAR unit?" she asked.
"I'll get it honey.." volunteered Bess, who had just appeared when she saw Julia talking to Morgan. She disappeared inside the tent and re-appeared with Morgan's GEAR unit in her hand.
"What are you going to do with it?" asked Morgan, his tone a trifle fearful as he watched Bess hand it over to Julia.
"It's usually a common problem amongst children rather than adults really.." Julia began as she fiddled with his GEAR unit. "It's called CVRO and it commonly leads to blurred vision and sometimes very mild myopia. If the myopia is left uncorrected, the eyes don't focus properly and that would explain why you've been experiencing headaches and dizziness." She pulled on his GEAR unit and listened carefully.
"CVRO?" Morgan echoed. "Is it errrr... contagious? Permanent?.." he asked, watching Julia.
She pulled the GEAR unit off her head and handed it back to Bess. "Morgan, CVRO is short for Chronic VR Overuse - according to your GEAR logs, you're in VR for several hours a day. Your eyes probably can't take the strain of such prolonged use. The condition is immediately reversible." she explained
"How Julia?" asked Bess in a concerned voice. "Morgan will have to stop his VR sessions for at least a month. The myopia in Morgan's case is relatively mild and it should reverse spontaneously if he reduces his VR usage. If he doesn't...."
"What?" Morgan asked anxiously.
"The myopia may become permanent. You'll then need to have it corrected. But in view of the present state of my medical equipment, laser surgery is out of the question." Julia looked at Morgan and Bess."You mean you can't do anything about it until we get to New Pacifica?" Bess said, looking worriedly at Morgan and the GEAR set in her hand.
"No - Morgan will just have to wear glasses." she said simply. "Glasses?" Morgan stared at Julia in disbelief. Alonzo smirked. "You mean like glass and wire frames..." "Glasses Morgan." Alonzo said slowly, as if Morgan was a three year old. He held up his thumb and index fingers to his eyes and curved them to form circles and grinned.
"It's not funny Alonzo." snapped Morgan, having regained some confidence from the knowledge that he wasn't about to meet his Maker soon. He looked at Julia.
"No VR?" he said, sounding slightly woeful. "For a least a month Morgan." Julia said, trying to stay serious but the look on Morgan's face was making it very hard for her to stay professional.
"But there's..." he blubbered.
"Only so much reality a man can take. I know Morgan. But unless you want to..." Julia started."He'll stop the VR." Bess interjected smoothly. "Won't you honey?" she added, looking at her husband expectantly.
"But Bess...sweetie..." he began to argue. "He'll stop." Bess said, her tone of voice indicating that the discussion as at an end. She gave her husband a stern, no-nonsense look.
Julia looked to Morgan, who shrugged his shoulders and held up his hands in resignation before slinking back into his tent, skulking past a very amused Alonzo. A month without VR - oh boy, the next month was going to be a long month - a very long month he moaned inwardly and looked for a pillow to bury his head in.
Julia felt the days go by agonisingly slowly as her leg mended. Between regularly conferring with Bess to make sure Morgan wasn't sneaking VR fixes and working on regaining some mobility with the help of Alonzo's old crutches ("I never thought I'd be using them myself.." she complained to Alonzo one day after having spent thirty minutes trying to get from one end of the camp to another using them) , which he helped her adjust to suit her shorter height, she felt positively exhausted.
She was immensely grateful towards Alonzo - he seemed to be infinitely patient with her, accompanying her as she hobbled around the camp because she couldn't stand being stuck in the MedTent the whole day, and managing to stay calm and easy going despite her frequent 'mood swings' and occasional temper frays when she couldn't accomplish something on her own.
"You busy today Doc?" he asked one afternoon as Julia sat in her chair, staring out into space.
She sighed. "Well, Bess wants to talk to me about Morgan - she suspects again.." she made a face ".. that Morgan might be sneakily using VR - which frankly if he is, I'm quite content to let him walk around half blind anyway. What else?" She drummed her fingers, thinking, "And there's that bunch of plants that Magus brought me..." Julia ticked off the things she had lined up for the afternoon in the hope of occupying herself and stop herself from going nuts.
"Let's go for a ride.." he suggested, as he lounged on her bed. "A ride?" she looked at him, puzzled. "Yeah - you know look at some of the plants.." he said lazily. "Hmmmm." Julia looked dubiously at him. "Come on Doc - you need to get out from here." he urged. He sat up and bounced off the bed. Walking over to her, he scooped her out of her seat and made for the tent entrance.
"I suppose it's too late to change my mind." she muttered, wiggling in his arms slightly.
"Are you getting nasty with me?" he asked, grinning as he carried her to the ATV.
"Alonzo, what are you doing?" she asked when he stuck her in the drivers seat and hopped into the passenger side.
"We're taking a little ride. And you're driving." he answered. "Well where do we go?" she asked, unsure of what to do next. "Anywhere you want to go. Just drive Doc - let it rip!" he suggested. " Fly by the seat of your pants a little?"
Julia reluctantly grasped the ATV joystick. Placing her good foot on the accelerator, she closed her eyes, and floored the pedal.
After driving around for an hour, they stopped on the top of a cliff that overlooked the campsite. Julia relaxed in the seat and let her eyes wander around the scenery - the craggy mountains, bright blue sky and the clouds, like white candy floss floating gently along, carried by the breeze.They had driven the ATV around at breakneck speed and Julia had found it strangely therapeutic. It felt exhilarating to be able to tear around in the ATV, turning corners when she felt like it and just flooring the pedal - taking risks, and being utterly reckless.
Alonzo stretched an arm around her shoulders. "Feeling better?" he asked softly.
She nodded. She reached out to grasp a handful of his jacket, pulling him closer and kissing him."What was that for?" he asked, breathlessly, looking at her. "For being such a wonderful fly guy." she said simply. She kissed him again. "This is the thanks I get for putting up with your temper tantrums and fits huh?" he asked jokingly.
"No. For making me a better doctor." she answered seriously, squeezing his hand. "And for putting up with my temper tantrums." she added smiling. "I guess at Medical school, they're so busy trying to get you detached from your patients that you soon forget what it's like to be sick or hurt, how it feels." She looked down at her leg. "I guess now I know what it's like to have the shoe on the other foot.." she smiled weakly. She looked at him. " These past few days have been.. I don't know... terrible. I've never felt so angry.I understand now why you felt the way you did. I wish I had known then.." she said softly, touching his face. "I wish I could have been there for you like you have for me."
"So Dr Heller, think I'd make a good doctor maybe?" he murmured, his face inching closer to hers.
"Oh definitely.." she said, looking into his dark eyes."Especially with bedside manner like that.." her voice trailed of as their lips met.
-The End-
That was it. Please send all comments to drteong@pc.jaring.my Thank you and have a nice day! :)
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.