The Three of Us

Part 31 - Bedsides

Lili and Malcolm were lying together in his bed and the alarm went off. "Four hundred hours," he said. "I'm not so sure I can ever get used to that time."

She was still trying to sleep. "Wake me when it's Christmas," she muttered.

"You're the one who set that alarm, remember, Dearest?"

"Oh, yeah. Shoot me now," she mumbled, rolling over.

"You need to get up," he said softly, whispering in her ear. A little aroused, he kissed her ear. "I can help you get up, you know."

She blinked a few times, "Sleep ... PMS ...." she murmured, rolling away.

He laughed a little. "C'mon," he said, enticingly, "allow me to, uh, assist you in becoming fully awakened." He massaged her back a bit. "I will warm you and relax you and any nasty cramping will go away. And then we could take our morning showers together. Conservation is what the captain wants, you know."

"The captain's here?" she asked, a little disoriented.

"Not the captain, Darling," he kissed her cheek, and then breathed in her ear. "I can make it a very good morning for you indeed."

She sat up and then put her hand to her forehead. She blinked at him, as if she was trying to focus her eyesight. "Wha –?"

"You and me," he smiled at her, "A nice hot morning before you go slaving over a hot stove and I go to work out. This," he kissed her neck, "will be a far finer workout." He straightened up, seated, looking into her eyes. He was about to kiss her when he looked a bit more closely. She blinked again.

She got up but, dizzily, fell back down onto the bed. "My ankles aren't working," she said absently.

Arousal gone, he asked, "Are you well?"

"Dunno. Maybe not. Call Chef, tell him I'm sick."

"Then let's get you to Sick Bay."

"No, no, I'll be okay. It's just nasty PMS. I just wanna play hooky. I kinda need to, I think."

"Lili," he was becoming concerned, "watch my fingers."

"What?"

"Just, just watch them," he said, pointing them at her, moving them up and then down. She blinked again and again.

"Stop that, you're making me nauseous."

"Oh, sorry. I'm just wondering, it almost sounds like a concussion. Have you fallen recently, hit your head or some such?" he asked. "It seems like more than a touch of PMS."

"No, not at all. I just feel kinda out of it and wanna go back to sleep. Stop giving me the third degree."

"Sorry. But I'm not so sure you should skip Sick Bay."

"I just wanna sleep," she whined a little.

"After. Please? For me? If I'm being overprotective, then you can laugh at me all you like. But right now, will you kindly humor me, please? Just, just come along with me."

=/\=

Will Slocum clicked his communicator closed. "Okay, O'Day's not coming in today. Willets, you'll serve the captain this morning. And, um, the Ikaaran captain, too; she'll be joining him."

"Anyone else?" asked Craig.

"I don't think so."

"Is Lili all right?"

"Don't ask me," Slocum muttered in annoyance.

=/\=

Phlox looked at Malcolm as he reversed the direction on the bio bed Lili was on, and it slowly emerged from the imaging chamber. "Ugh," she complained, "not so fast. I'm a little tentative here."