Rematch

Posted on 10 Oct 2015 @ 4:40am by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Commander Jayla Kij

2,658 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Rude Awakening
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: MD4 || 2000 hours

Jayla was already in the holodeck, hitting a ball back and forth against a wall. She had sent a message to the Captain, which only said, "Rematch? Holodeck 2. 1900 hours." She then went to the holodeck and pulled up the simple tennis program they'd used before and passed the time by practicing her backhand.

Harvey had just arrived in his quarters. He made no short work of removing his jacket and vest, tossing them on a nearby table, flexing his shoulder in the process. He hadn't been faithful with the doctor's orders in finding ways to exercise. Instead, with the ship coming back to life, he'd focused on her repairs, trying to learn as much about the old girl as he could. Nothing, absolutely nothing, would let him from becoming stopped in the middle of a desperate situation again.

At least that's what he hoped.

Rubbing and flexing his shoulder, he laid on the couch, letting his recovering shoulder relax for the first time that day. Just as he exhaled a deep breath, the computer sounded a reminder that he was overdue to meet the Chief Medical Officer in Holodeck 2. He'd agreed to the rematch, as she called it, earlier that morning before his shoulder began to complain. Harvey laid on the couch for a while more, considering cancelling on the doctor.

But it was the fact that he'd barely seen his senior staff since arriving at Deep Space 11 since their arrival that forced him from the couch. Within a few minutes, he'd changed into something a little more fitting for the occasion and entered the holodeck. "I love what you've done with the place," he commented, approaching the court and the practicing Kij.

Jayla smacked the ball once more, then caught it smoothly on its next volly. "Thanks," she said, looking around at the basic yellow grid. "I thought about painting it, but then I thought, nah! What color is better than this?" She grinned and jerked her chin at his shoulder. "How's your shoulder?" she asked.

A half-smile cracked his face. Harvey was actually pleased for the doctor's enthusiasm after such a long and drawn out day. "Fine," he lied, deciding to take ownership of the vacant side of the court, though he kept close to the net for now. "I'm surprised you didn't want to take this planet side."

"I thought about it, but for a game of tennis, I figured why not stay close?" she replied. "Especially after last time."

"You think I'm that fragile, doctor?" Harvey asked, his tone containing a mix of playful and seriousness. He spun the racket twice as he held it at his side.

"Well," said Jayla with a grin. "Only if you haven't been exercising like I recommended. Don't make me order you."

Truth was he hadn't. Harvey was momentarily conflicted. Should he stay honest or hope that he could continue to hide it? "Let's find out, shall we?"

"All right," she said. "Here we go!" She raised her racket, tossed the ball into the air and swung hard, sending it across the court.

The green ball shot across the court to Harvey's right. Smiling, not because of enjoyment, but because the ball was well within range, Harvey took a quick step to the right and returned the serve immediately after it bounced.

Jayla watched the angle of his racket out of habit and so arrived well ahead of the ball. She returned the lobby easily, attempting to put the ball close to him rather than farther away. Was she going easy on him? Yes. Would she appologize later? Probably not.

Harvey watched as the ball sailed towards his left, also close to him. He was no tennis expert, but he could tell something about this serve was odd. Still, he took the single needed step and sent the ball sailing back in Jayla's direction.

Jayla raced a few steps and sent the ball back towards Harvey, still trying to keep it close. This one went a bit farther off course, but not too far. Well, good, maybe he wouldn't suspect.

This was definitely seeming too easy. Harvey narrowed his eyes, only slightly, as the ball bounced on his side of the court. Again, he didn't have to go far to return the serve. This time he put a little more energy into the swing, directing it to the far corner opposite Jayla.

Jayla had to run several steps to get to the ball and this time, couldn't aim properly. Unfortunately for her, it flew out of bounds. She frowned at the ball as if it were its fault. Perhaps she had underestimated the Captain.

"Hah!" Harvey smiled, proud of his first point in years. "Computer, ball." A new tennis ball materialized in mid-air. Once complete, it fell and bounced off of the court floor, allowing him to catch it and prepare for another serve. "How's your leave been?" he asked, just before serving the ball. It was a simple serve, but would bounce towards Jayla's current position.

"Not bad," answered Jayla, returning the serve easily, this time not concerning herself with placing the ball in any particular spot. "I've been mostly reading and relaxing and doing a lot of nothing. Yours?"

He eyed the ball as it sailed towards the opposite corner of his side of the court. A quick mental calculation told him he had time to reach it, so move quickly he did not. Sidestepping to the left, Harvey prepared to swing. "Sifting through paperwork, repair and upgrade requests. You know..." Harvey swung his racquet, launching the ball back towards Jayla. Fighting a grunt, he added, "The usual starbase red tape."

"Red tape," said Jayla crossing the court in four bounds to hit the ball back towards him. "Don't you think you need a break, too?"

Harvey had to reach for that one too, fighting a grunt as he returned the shot. "Is that not what this is?"

"Only technically," replied Jayla, returning the volley with a polished backhand. "The rest of us have had a week. It only seems fair that the Captain takes some time off, too."

"And go where?" He asked, having to rush towards the opposite end of the court, unsure he'd make it in time. The ball was coming faster than he could move. By the time he swung, it had already bounced off of the court and flew out of bounds. Sighing, he stood upright and faced the doctor, not upset at all for choosing to avoid diving to fire back what could have been a winning shot.

Harvey thought once more about her words. "Part of me doesn't want to leave her in hands that don't know the ship." He didn't say that part of him didn't even know what to do with himself anymore. Harvey had allowed the uniform to because part of his skin and he didn't know how to remove it.

"I could order it, you know," she teased, switching hands for her next swing.

Harvey had the computer replicate another ball. After its bounce, he caught it and eyed his opponent. "Come now, doctor," Harvey teased, bouncing the ball once more before preparing to serve. "Who says I'm not having fun?" With that, he tossed the ball in the air and gave it a good whack with the racquet to fire it towards Jayla.

It was heading straight for her, so she stepped neatly aside and backed up a couple steps to return the ball to his side of the court. "You call work fun?" she asked. "Well, to each his own. But, I'm sure you could think of something to do."

"Been thinking about mountain climbing," Harvey replied, returning the simple shot. He smiled as he watched the green orb fly away from him. "And the beach seems popular."

"Mountain climbing's good," said Jayla, sending the ball back to his side. "And beaches are always good. Girls in bikinis, eh? Or, in my case, shirtless men."

Harvey swung his racquet, firing back the ball to Jayla. "I've been needing a good swim," he commented. Both before and after his marriage, he'd rarely taken the time to enjoy the sight of the opposite gender. Maybe it was time to start looking.

"Would you believe," started Jayla, hitting the ball back towards the Captain, "that I'm a terrible swimmer? I mean, I can save my life, but only barely."

"Hmm?" Harvey said, startled back into the moment. His mind had drifted thinking of the beach, but he was able to reach in time to hit the ball. "I think floatation technology makes life preservers that are pretty invisible these days."

"I'm not that bad," laughed Jayla, running three steps to hit the ball back to him. "I'm mostly just slow. And I get tired fast. I'm better at running."

"That makes little sense." Harvey had to stretch a bit to hit this shot, fighting back a heavy grunt as he did. The stretch was almost too much for his shoulder. Hopefully that would be the last of those for this round.

Jayla shrugged, then sent the ball back his way. "Swimming requires different muscles than running," she replied. "Swimming is mostly upper body and running is mostly lower body."

Of course Harvey knew that. He did not reply however, seeing how the ball was veering away from him. He darted to intercept it, only to swing and miss it with a loud roar. His free hand instantly reached up to hold his shoulder as Harvey grimaced with pain.

Jayla sighed. She saw the way he moved and did not fail to notice his free hand go to his shoulder. She quickly vaulted the net and hurried to him. "You haven't been doing your stretching," she accused, but with a gentle tone that took the edge off the scolding.

"Is it that obvious?" Harvey asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. The sad part was that he really had no excuse, but he was thankful she wasn't berating him.

Unless this was the calm before the storm, however...

"Yes," she said, giving him a friendly, if exasperated grin. "Let's go to sick bay. Again," she said resignedly.

Harvey couldn't help but groan as he was escorted to sickbay. He likened it to the walk of shame, though he'd never really experienced that before. If anything, he was thankful most of the crew were partaking in what DS11 had to offer, so they'd passed nary a soul on their way to Deck Four.

"Hop up here," Jayla told him as they entered Sick Bay, pointing to the nearest biobed. She found a tricorder and turned to scan his shoulder. "Is it the same as before, or worse? Or not as bad?" she asked.

Instinctively, Harvey tried to flex the shoulder, only to be met with a sharp pain. He thought about saying it wasn't that bad. The time for lies, however, had passed. "It's... intense..." he said. It had been a long time since their last match, much less the last time he'd injured his shoulder. How could he remember how bad that was?

"Hm," said Jayla, studying the scans. "I might have to do more tests once I've fixed you up, but the tendons look a little too short. Like they healed all wrong after an injury. You broke your collarbone at some point. Looks like in childhood or early teens, by the age of it. I suppose it could be from that. Well, anyway," she said, giving him another round of painkillers and muscle relaxers just like last time. "Once you can actually move your arm a bit normally, we'll check it out. Shirt off," she added, retrieving a subdermal generator.

"I'm noticing a pattern here, doctor," Harvey quipped, removing the t-shirt. "When I was thirteen, I went with Ivan for a hike outside of Albuquerque. I lost my footing and fell... 100 feet I think? It wasn't straight down. He didn't hear me fall, so I was there for about an hour before he finally figured out what happened and found me."

Jayla grinned as she put the sub-dermal regenerator on his shoulder. "You're right," she said. "The whole reason I got into Doctoring was so I could get men to take their shirts off." She winked and hopped up on the biobed next to him. "That must have been frightening," she said, "not knowing if he'd come back for you." She shivered. "I can't even imagine."

"It's my own fault," Harvey admitted. "My siblings had a history of ignoring me. My dad practically forced the both of us to go together..." Harvey let his voice trail off, not really wanting to visit the past any longer.

"When people ignore you, it's their problem, not yours," replied Jayla. "I usually find that the best course of action is to ignore them right back. After all, if you're not important to them, why should they be important to you? Yes, even siblings."

"I actually haven't spoken to Ivan or my sister in..." Harvey exhaled a deep breath as he gave the matter a serious thought. "More than ten years I think. It was some time after I got off Betazed during the war when I told them about Alison."

"I couldn't imagine not talking to Jess," said Jayla. "Jessa, that is. My sister. But, then, she never ignored me. She's more like a friend, really."

Harvey nodded, realizing the Doctor's bedside manner was at the best it had ever been with him. Part of him wanted to stop talking until she was finished, but the small minority inside him won the battle. "Must be nice," he commented. Harvey wasn't exactly jealous, though hints of it shone through in his tone.

Jayla grinned. "I won't lie, it's pretty great," she said. "We used to annoy one another when we were kids. We get along a lot better now, though, she still gets on my nerves sometimes. Mum says we're too close. She's probably right, but it's hard not to be when you're only ten months apart."

He didn't reply. Instead, he held still for a moment or two, as long as his impatience would allow. "How goes it back there?"

Jayla checked the regenerator. "It's going," she said. "I think it's got a bit more in it. How does it feel?"

Harvey quickly halted the urge to flex and move his arm, knowing it would only lengthen the regenerator's stay on his shoulder. "It doesn't feel bad," he replied.

"Well, that's something," she replied. "I'd be worried if it bothered you while you were sitting still. This time, we're going to take it easy and do a lot of stretching. There's a yoga class every Tuesday and Friday at 1800. You should come with me."

"Yoga?" Harvey asked, surprised at the suggestion. "I suppose if I tell you I'm thinking about it, then it'll wind up being a prescription?"

"You know," said Jayla, grinning again. "I hadn't thought of that, but it's not a bad idea, really."

"Well, if it keeps us from ending our evenings like this, then a prescription won't be necessary," Harvey honestly stated.

"It might just," said Jayla with a grin. "Although, at least you lasted longer this time. That's either improvement or sheer dumb luck. I can't tell which."

"Improvement." Harvey didn't want to admit that it was actually the latter.

"One would hope," Jayla smiled. She checked the regenerator. "Well, I think that's about all we'll get tonight. Come back tomorrow and I'll do a thorough exam on it to see if we can determine a root cause," she added, removing the regenerator.

Harvey slid off the bed and replaced his shirt. "And hopefully that will mean ending our evenings in a place other than sickbay," he commented.

Jayla grinned and gave him a wink. "Cheers to that," she said.

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