Pieces of you.

[shimmerandsing]

Aside from their initial visit, the rest of the visits Alison and Longshot had made to see Dr. Crusher had been exciting and pleasant. Tiny heartbeats and surprise twins. Things had always gone well and been fairly painless.

This one promised to be somewhat less appealing. Not baby-wise, of course. The twins were still growing healthy and strong. Alison had felt no pain or discomfort so far -- aside from a little morning sickness. The tea the jonin had given her was helping. She was anxious to see another ultrasound to see how big they'd grown.

But, this would also be the day that Longshot allowed the doctor to give him deeper brain scans to test the depth of the damage Mojo's constant mind wiping had caused. Her husband had been anxious about it for the last two days leading up to the visit. Alison had done her best to keep him occupied and not thinking about it. Her new habit of narrating everything she was doing for the benefit of the tiny lives growing inside her had been a constant source of amusement for the household. If the books said they could hear sounds, then she would give them sounds, darnit.

She had to sleep, though. And she kept waking to a husband with haunted eyes. If there was something she could do to ease his pain and fear, she would gladly do it. But, all she could offer was support.

They'd arrived to the visit with a portable DVD player borrowed from Lisa and a stack of new films neither of them had seen. Alison also brought some children's books to read to him so that they could pick out favorites to read to the babies. It was all she could think of to do for him.

Comments

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

Beverly had spent nearly all her time since the last visit getting permission to get the needed equipment to perform the intensive scans on Longshot. She had seen so many loops that she was sure Jean-Luc put in her way to dissuade her that she almost had a self-satisfied smile at getting past all of them. She may have liked being a doctor more than an administrator, but she had been the head of Starfleet Medical for a little while and had gotten some idea on how to maneuver around those problems.

She greeted the couple with a smile. "Hello, Alison. Hello, Longshot. Come in and have a seat."

She gestured them toward the examination table and the chair beside it. "How have things been since your last visit?"

All the equipment needed for Longshot's scan was in a back room. Beverly figured the prenatal care could be handled first.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Doctor Crusher." She smiled and set her armload down in a chair.

"I've been good. Morning sickness has kicked in pretty significantly, though." Alison hopped up onto the exam table and laid down. "And, at least one of them has developed some unnatural taste for whole, white milk." She made a face.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot didn't see the equipment to poke inside his head, so he was a little less fidgety than he should be. That did not stop him from peering around to see if any brain sucking leeches were going to pop out. "Hiya, Doctor Beverly."

The Mojoworlder plopped down in the chair beside the exam table. He absently picked at a thread sticking out from his pants. "I've been okay. Though Alison gets ice cream cravings at 2 in the morning. Is that normal?"

He asked only because a few hours later, it all came back up.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Alison blushed. A lot. And managed to smile a little at Beverly. "I guess it's become a pattern..."

Definitely time to put a limit on the cravings she indulged. She didn't really like sending her husband running all over the place, anyway.

To distract herself, she looked down at her shoes and wondered how long it would be before she couldn't see them anymore. All the more excuse to go barefoot, she supposed.

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

It was a good thing that Beverly had enough professional decorum to not chuckle at Longshot's question or Alison's reaction.

"That's probably perfectly normal for Alison. every woman has different cravings. It doesn't harm anything if she's moderately indulged." The doctor smiled as she pulled out her tricorder.

"Now, did you two want another recording from this visit? I still have all the equipment necessary for that."

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Yay! A subject change! Alison smiled and nodded at the question.

"I would like that, if it's not too much trouble. See how much bigger they are and all. The books I've been reading said we might be able to see fingers and toes growing by now...?"

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot fidgeted a little. "Yes, please."

He had been distracted enough by his own discomfort that he hadn't really paid attention to Alison blushing. He could focus on the babies. That was better than the idea that the doctor would do all that scanning and ... not be able to help him because Mojo had ruined him entirely. The Mojoworlder swallowed.

"Will... Will me being a Mojoworlder change anything about the pregnancy? Or anything. Uhm. Like will it be like a regular human birth or what?"

Stupid questions but it was good enough for distraction.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

It was a fair question, as far as Alison was concerned. She was curious how their different genetics would affect the pregnancy.

"We're curious what to expect."

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

Beverly plucked the handheld unit out of her tricorder. "That's a good question. I don't know right off hand. I've never run into anyone like Longshot in terms of genetics. I don't know his people's normal pregnancy cycles. It could be like a normal human pregnancy. Thus far, it's progressing like one. Or things could change due to Longshot's genetic influence."

The doctor motioned for Alison to lay down so she could begin the routine scan. "Let's see where we're at. We'll play it by ear for each visit."

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

As Longshot slowly got on the table and got himself however comfortable, Beverly quietly pulled out the equipment she needed. She looked at Alison to make sure they were still going to go through with the scan. The doctor could see the awkward posture Longshot had from just lying on the examining table.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Alison gave Beverly a slight nod and then turned her attention back to her terrified husband. She held his hand between both of hers and squeezed tightly. Every bit of love and reassurance she could find, she put into the smile she gave Longshot. Since she loved him a lot, she hoped it helped.

"Love you," she murmured softly and bent to kiss his cheek softly.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot was trying to focus on taking deep breaths. He saw the amount of equipment the doctor had brought out from the corner of his eye. He closed his eyes and squeezed Alison's hand back.

"Let me know, when she's done setting up..."

He didn't want to see it. He could remember things vividly at the moment that he never wanted to. Long probes. Wires attached to his body. Restraints biting into his wrists and ankles. Tears. A hoarse throat. Emptiness.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Alison reached behind her and pulled a chair close to the exam table. She sat down and kept his hand squeezed firmly in one hand. Her other hand gently stroked his hair.

Seeing him in pain like this hurt her. She wished there was something she could do to help him.

She bent close and settled her head on his shoulder. To distract him from the soft sounds of the medical equipment setting up, she started to sing softly.

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

Beverly moved with precise efficiency and expediency. The fear was quite evident in her patient and she did not want to prolong it. It could have gone faster if she had another hand or two with the set-up, but she knew her equipment inside and out.

When she had everything but the piece that needed to go around his head, Beverly paused. This would be the hard part.

"Okay, Longshot. I'm going to put the scanner on. I need you to relax as much as you can. It won't cause any pain but you will feel some pressure from the sensors pressing against your skin."

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Until she was asked to move, Alison was sticking as close to Longshot as she could. He was tense and trembling. It made her frightened for him. But, she did her best to stay relaxed and keep her tone soft and even as she sang though some of the lullabies she had been collecting for the babies.

Her hand clung tightly to his. She didn't know what else to do to help him.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot swallowed loudly. There was a large lump in his throat that was trying to get bigger. He screwed his eyes shut even tighter and nodded. He held his body so still that he thought his bones would shatter soon.

The only part of his body that moved was his hand tightening on Alison's.

He could do this. As long as he wasn't left alone. He could.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

This was excruciating. She was close to calling it off herself. She'd never seen her husband this upset. And there was nothing she could do to help him.

She kissed the back of his hand softly and squeezed it back just as tightly.

"Everything's going to be alright," she promised again.

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

Beverly quietly re-entered the office and made her way over to the desk. She checked on the progress and nodded in satisfaction. Then she made her way over to the cartoon-enthralled couple.

"The scan's nearly done. How're you two managing?"

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"We're good. Enjoying one of my favorite musical cartoons." Well, she was enjoying it. She wasn't sure if he really was or not, but he was being a good sport about it.

She smiled at Beverly. She was glad it was almost over. It had been rough on her husband.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"I'm okay. Ready to get this thing off my head..." He would also like to get up and run around. This laying mostly still was a pain. His butt cheeks were surely going numb.

"How long until we know what you see in the scans?"

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

She was hoping it wouldn't take long to get the scans results back. Longshot was worried about what the scans would find, so prolonging it would just make it worse. Hopefully, the future technology would work super fast so they could relax.

"We did our best to stay still."

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

"Well, brains are complex. I can give you preliminary analysis once it's done. A more in depth one will take awhile. I won't give you all the options until I've done my in depth look." It was better not to give false hope or take hope away to her. Saying, well, initially I thought this but really it's much worse did not appeal to her.

"You did a good job of staying still. I didn't see any disruptions in the readings."

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"We appreciate any information you can give us." Alison was all for not getting false hopes up. She just really wanted to hear good news for her husband. Really, really badly.

She squeezed Longshot's hand again. It would soon be over.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"Oh-okay." He wanted to not even be in this situation at all. That wasn't an option. He swallowed a little and looked back at the DVD player balanced on his chest.

"Let's finish the move." He gave Alison's hand a return squeeze.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"We can do that. There's not too much more to it. Just the all important happy ending." She smiled and winked at Longshot.

She couldn't help tapping her foot to The Phony King of England song.