Doctor’s Orders I

“The Doctor said more two days Captain, and then you can go. Until that time, I don’t want to hear a single objection from you.” With those words, spoken coldly, she had turned and left the room…he had not seen her since.

For two days he had been wondering why she’d been so angry at him; she had kept her mind shielded to him even during her sleep and the deprivation of such a vital part of his mind hurt like hell. The medical personal that had been attending to the wounds he’d sustained during his last away mission had not been able to tell him anything about why his wife was avoiding him and his First Officer informed him that she hadn’t noticed anything different about Deanna.

The Starfleet officer in him was proud that she was keeping her personal and professional life so separated, but the part of him that was her husband was scared out of his wits. His mind had been running the past weeks through his head over and over again but he couldn’t come up with anything that would have upset her so much that she would ignore him when he was lying in Sickbay after recovering from life-threatening injuries.

The door slid open and his heart beat faster with the anticipation of seeing his wife…but he was sourly disappointed when the ship’s medical officer walked in. “I brought you a hypo with Gialdazone to counteract the effects of the drugs still in you system, give it fifteen minutes and then you are free to go Captain.” Gratefully Will rolled his head to the side so that the young half Human/half Vulcan could easily administer the medicine.

“Thank you Rulk. Have you seen Deanna?”

The man nodded solemnly, this time picking the Vulcan approach. “She came in for her pre-natal check-up yesterday.”

“And?”

“Both she and the baby are fine. Stop by my office on your way out please.” And before Riker could utter another sound, the Doctor had left the room.

* * *

“Dea? We need to talk.”

“I don’t feel like talking.” She said coolly and returned her attention to the PADD she’d been reading. Will took a deep breath in a desperate attempt how to approach his three month pregnant, hormonally imbalanced wife.

“You can’t ignore me forever.”

“Life would certainly be easier if I could.” Troi shot back.

“Deanna, I’ve been sleeping on the couch for a week now, I’d like my bed, and my wife back.” He allowed all the love he felt for her to resonate in his voice, but she only reacted by standing up and turning away from him. He couldn’t be sure about whether the pain he’d seen flickering across her face had been real.

“Well, I happen to like the extra space.”

Relief flooded through him when he heard the slight quiver in her voice, if he said the right thing everything would be back to normal soon. “Tell me how to make it up to you, whether it was that I did, I love you Dea and I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

At least that got her to face him again, but he wasn’t so sure that was progress. Her eyes, while filled with tears, flashed with anger. “Tell me Will, do you hate me?”

At her question his mouth dropped open without him even noticing it. “WHAT?! What on Earth makes you say that?!” How could she possibly think that? And worse…be serious about it?

“Oh let’s see…I figured, since my husband admitted his love for me, married me and asked me to have his baby, he would actually care enough to subject himself to the terrible torture of MEDICAL ATTENTION!!!”

He heard the words, understood them, but failed to see the meaning behind them. He had just spent a week in Sickbay…what the hell was she talking about? Deanna, with her empathy heightened because of her pregnancy, picked up on his thoughts immediately. “Oh what was I thinking!” She charged passed him and stormed into their bedroom. “Why did I ever marry you?!” He heard her yell before the door closed.

Riker flopped down in the couch he’d become so familiar with. How could he reason with her when she ran out of an argument before it even began? For that matter, how could he reason with her when her hormones were out of control? He sighed heavily and saw no other option but to prepare for another night on the couch.

* * *

The following morning when he woke up Deanna was just finishing her breakfast. For as long as they had been married they had had breakfast together, unless ship’s business interfered. But not now, not since his last Away Mission. Despite the protests of his second in command, Will had led the Away team himself. The mission was low-risk; they were to locate a crashed shuttle on a desolated planet. Everything had been fine, until an Earthquake interrupted the search. Most of the team members had been saved by beam out, but Will and two Lieutenants from the geology department had gotten seriously injured before they’d been beamed out.

Will had spend three days in an induced coma to allow his body to heal and had spent the two days after that trying to overrule his CMO so that he could leave the medical facility. Rulk, of course, would have none of it, but Will refused to give up. He’d seen Deanna only briefly after waking up and was desperate to go home.

After five days in Sickbay, he’d nearly managed to escape, but was caught at the last moment. Not three minutes later Deanna had stormed into his room and had practically *ordered* him to obey the Doctor.

He had attempted no more escapes, but he hadn’t seen her again either. Now he was back home, but his wife still treated him as an unwelcome visitor. “Good morning”

She just stared at him coldly and began to put away the empty plates, not making a single sound. Having finished, she moved past him, making sure their bodies didn’t touch and disappeared into the bedroom. Resigned, Will walked to the replicator and ordered his breakfast.

Fifteen minutes later Troi reappeared and picked up her pips to fasten them to her collar. Will watched her appreciatively; the uniform she wore clung almost skin tight to her skin and showed the slight bulge of her belly. Without really thinking about it, he stood up and slid his arms around her waist, his hands meeting on top of where their child was growing. “I love you.”

She went rigid in his arms instantly and pulled away from him. “Don’t. Say. That!”

The venom in her voice made him take a step back. “Why not?” The question had been uttered before he realized it and he could only await her reaction.

“Because you don’t mean it.”

She was already on her way to slip passed him, but his hand shot out and grabbed her upper arm, yanking her back to face him. “Don’t you *dare* even thinking that!” He growled. “I do love you, I will always love you.”

That finally seemed to reach her, for he saw tears springing to her eyes. “Then WHY are you trying to KILL yourself?!”

“What?! I’m not trying to kill myself!” Where the hell did she get that idea? He searched her face for any hint of alien influence, anything at all. This just wasn’t Deanna! Deanna knew better, Deanna knew how much he loved her! But the face; coal-colored eyes, shining with tears and pale skin framed by nearly black tresses of hair, was the one he knew so well.

Then it hit him…the Away Mission, that was what she must be upset about; her pregnancy must have intensified her reaction to his near death. He started to explain why he’d gone on the mission and apologized but she would have none of it.

“This is not about the stupid missions! I *know* you have to go and *want* to go, it’s in your blood! This is about you refusing medical care! You nearly *died*! I could feel the pain, the fear, but once you’re back on board you don’t seem to care about your health, you just want to get back to the bridge so that you can beam down again as soon as possible! Well FORGET IT!!! I refuse to worry over a husband who doesn’t care about his life! It’s OVER!”

Taking advantage of his temporary shock, Deanna yanked free from his grasp and stormed out of their quarters.

Tbc in Doctor's Orders II