"A Regrettable Circumstance"

[Alexis McFarland 0]

“A Regrettable Circumstance”

 

Alexis didn’t say much as Dacia took her back to their quarters, rather timidly clutching Dacia’s hand and walking slightly behind. As they exited the lift and entered their quarters, Dacia could see that all was still not quite well with her cousin. Alexis wasn’t crying, but she looked like she could start at any minute. Dacia smiled and knelt down to Alexis’ level, stroking her hair. Alexis had never gotten into any trouble with any type of authority – she barely even got in trouble with her parents.

 

“Aww, it’s alright Alexis” Dacia said, trying to reassure her. “I’m not mad at you, nobody is. You couldn’t have known that area of the station was restricted. It was partially my fault for not telling you which parts of the station you couldn’t enter, I suppose.” Alexis said nothing, but kind of whimpered meekly. The entire ordeal left her kind of overwhelmed and was quite a nerve-racking experience for the nine year old.

 

“They were only doing their job in ensuring the station is safe, though I wish they didn’t have to train their weapons on two little girls” she said, mostly to herself. “But yeah, you have to realize that there are certain parts of the station people can’t enter without proper permission. There are places I can’t enter without permission either. Though I am pretty low on the totem pole, admittedly” she said, shrugging.

 

Dacia smiled again, and hugged Alexis, trying to assure her everything was okay. Alexis smiled back at her, wiping away a tear. “Poor baby” Dacia said, petting her head. “Will you be all right on your own?” Dacia asked. “I need to get back to work”. Alexis nodded. “I guess so” she said simply. Alexis sighed and smiled “I’ll be okay. Don’t be late for work”

 

“Okay, I won’t” Dacia said. “Also, I trust you won’t blame poor Annisha for all this. She had good intentions, just a wrong approach” Dacia mused. “No, I don’t blame her. She just wanted to show me her father’s ship. I hope I can see her again once she gets out of whatever it is she has to do to that ship” replied Alexis.

 

“That’s good to know, hun” Dacia said. “You two seem to be good friends especially given the short time you’ve known each other” Alexis nodded. “I suppose you are right” Dacia smiled and transferred some credits to Alexis’ wrist-band wallet. “In case you’re hungry, you could grab something to eat in the commerce level. Be sure to get something to eat when you’re hungry. Or you could replicate something here.”

 

Dacia got up and headed to the door. “Don’t be too sad about it” reminded Dacia. “Still love you. Just be sure not to go anywhere restricted” she said with a wink. “I need to head back to sickbay. Call me or come up there if you need me. I’ve requested you access to the sickbay when you get your identi-card, so that shouldn’t be a problem in the future”

 

Alexis curled up on the couch, and looked up to her cousin. “Alright, I will” she said quietly. Dacia reached down and hugged Alexis one last time. “You’ll be fine, dear. I’ll see you tonight one I finish my shift” Dacia headed out and waved at Alexis, who smiled and waved back. Once the door closed, Dacia headed to the turbolift back to sickbay, hoping Alexis would feel better soon.

 

So far, for Dacia it was quite the experience to have to suddenly help raise a child. Despite being a licensed pediatrician, her only prior experience was babysitting Alexis for a night when she was five. It was a daunting experience, as young as Dacia was which she hoped was doing adequately. Dacia sighed and exited the turbolift and walked back into the sickbay to resume whatever it was she was doing before looking forward to the end of her shift.