No Pill's Gonna Cure My Ill

Posted on Tue 30th Jun, 2026 @ 5:24pm by Lieutenant JG Kellian Michaels & Makila i'Hartelhai
Edited on on Tue 30th Jun, 2026 @ 5:26pm

1,390 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: [MAIN] Learning to Fly
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Reopening Week

Exhaustion hammered on Makila, in a manner that she'd never before felt. Every step made her ache to take it, and she wished for nothing more fervently than to be taken from this place to rest. Rest seemed like a fevered dream at the moment, and the idea that she might sleep was something of a joke that wasn't truly funny. Her exhausted mind still flew in a million directions at once, but lingering in the depths of her soul was a wrenching fear for how this would affect everything moving forward.

Kellian Michaels entered Sickbay with a fragrant nosegay of purple, blue, and peach-colored flowers in one hand, and approached the receptionist's desk. "Hello. Is Dr. i'Hartelhai accepting walk-ins, or has she already left for the day?"

The yeoman at the front desk smiled and gave a light laugh upon seeing the bouquet. "Oh, I think she'll see you, Lieutenant--"

"No, don't tell her it's me; I want to surprise her," Kellian said.

"Okay. Let me check her schedule, though, in case she's with a patient." The yeoman scrolled her screen. "No, she's free." The receptionist thought for a moment, then grinned and pressed a control on her console. "Macek to Dr. i'Hartelhai," she said in crisp tones, "you're next up for a walk-in. He's complaining of chest pains. Can you have a look at him?"

A mutter of Rihan diction that had the timbre of a curse floated back before Makila's voice came through in common. "Of course." there was a brief pause and "Put him in one of the primary bays and send it to my PADD."

Yeoman Macek stifled a laugh but grinned back at Kellian. "Thank you, Doctor. I'll transmit the intake notes right away and send him on back. Macek out."

Kellian sputtered with laughter. "Chest pains, huh? Well, I have been missing her terribly, so I guess that makes sense. Thanks, Yeoman. Add, uh, tachycardia to my list of symptoms, would you?"

"Any time, sir. I'm guessing you know the way." Macek buzzed Kellian in, and he entered. Having been in Sickbay a few times before, he went to the area where incoming patients were sent and spoke briefly with the admitting nurse, who pointed at an empty alcove and told him to wait there.

The screen lit up with an EKG tracing, fast and slightly abnormal to even the untrained eye. A faint beep sounded as the nurse played along, and sent a testing scenario to the screen behind him. Makila walked in a moment later, curls escaping to caress her cheeks from the pristine braid that she'd started the day with. Her eyes found the screen before they rested upon him. "When did...." her voice trailed off as her tired mind put the pieces together. Violet eyes flooded with tears, and a single one tracked down her cheek.

It amazed Kellian how someone that tired could look that beautiful. For a moment, all he could do was gaze upon Makila and drink in the sight of her. Then his brain kicked into gear, and he moved toward her. "I've had the symptoms for three agonizing months, but I'm feeling so much better now, Doctor!" He wrapped Makila in his arms and pulled her close. "How are you doing?"

She was stiff in his arms for the space of three Heartbeats before the tension melted out of her. Arms that had been flattered her sides slid around him and squeezed. Someone sniffled in the corner, the same nurse who would put up the scenario on the screen. Turning her head, though not removing herself from his embrace she pointed at the screen and said "that's not real, correct?"

The nurse chuckled. "I'm sure his pulse is a bit elevated, Doctor, but no, that's just a test pattern. I diagnose a bad case of loving you." She smiled. "Get out of here before they assign you another walk-in."

Makila didn't move, she simply closed her eyes and drank in the embrace she was enjoying. The words registered at some level, and she knew Kellian had heard them from the shift in the way his skin felt. Makila, raw at the edges simply let the fact that he loved her block out every other emotional touch in the room. It was blessedly quiet for a moment before she mumbled into his uniform. "I don't know what I'd do if I actually had you as a patient."

Kellian lowered his head to Makila's and kissed her, once the nurse was out of earshot. "I was so relieved to find out you were safe on the Ehtevau, I wanted to spend a good hour thanking God you survived. Then I had to spend the next three months on Thunderchild, trying to determine which cases we could still work on and which ones the explosion made it impossible to solve."

"I had a running tally of the injured, and the deceased. There weren't many but the injuries from the repairs have been increasing. I checked every day for your name" her whisper came out broken before she kissed him back. She hadn't realized just how much his presence steadied her.

"Eh, I got socked in the jaw by some guy in the Garden District who didn't want to evacuate. Then he suddenly calmed down and was beamed off the base," Kellian said. "Aside from that, I haven't had any injuries--and I'm glad. I wouldn't have wanted to worry you. I'm sure you had more than enough to keep you busy. How's your father?"

Makilas fingers came up to his jaw in responce to the echo of pain relaying that fact drew up in her. That was new and unusual but she didnt mind persay as long as it was him. "I worried plenty, but yes i had an abundance of things to keep me busy." Her lips traced his jawline slowly. "Father is working too hard, but will not take the time to rest, much like the rest of us he feels compelled..."

Kellian blinked at her touch. "That feels amazingly good," he said and brushed his lips against hers. "Is your father still on the Ehtevau, or has he returned to his clinic in Tivoli Gardens?"

"He is splitting his time between the two, hence the concern on my part." Violet eyes betrayed her depthof worry, and she took in his full condition. "You havent been eating properly, since I last saw you."

Kellian gave her a wry look and chuckled. "It's been a while since Toad in the Hole and hlai tikka masala," he agreed, referring to a dinner date they'd had shortly before the explosion. "Digging through old cases and figuring out which ones probably can't be solved now and which ones still can has taken a lot of my time for the past three months," he said. "Evidence storage is a mess. Some evidence was compromised by intrusion of dust and other particulate matter to the point where any lawyer worth his pay could create a hole in some of our cases large enough to pilot a starship through. Tracking down witnesses after everyone just scattered to whichever ship could take in refugees means we have to go through ship manifests and search for names. Even with the computer handlinga lot of that, it takes a while."

He lightly brushed his thumbs over Makila's cheeks. "You look exhausted, sweetheart. Are you still living on the Ehtevau, or are you back in Tivoli Gardens? I can take you home, give you a foot massage, and then make us a meal, something light and simple."

"Mmm, take me home." She whispered leaning her tear stained cheek into his hand. "I have both, though the gardens quarters offers more privacy."

"Let's go to your Tivoli place, then," Kellian said. "More privacy means better rest for you and quieter time for us." He slid an arm around her waist, and they headed out of Sickbay using a side exit. He sighed against her. "It feels so good to hold you in my arms again."

Makila couldn't help but agree completely with him, the simplicity of their feelings quieting everything else within her mind. "Quiet and you sound perfect."

 

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