Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

Part 24 - Mi Corazón

Halloween on the NX-01 was a festival of scary movies, orange and dark-colored foods and pumpkins scattered throughout the ship, although none of them were carved. That would have been a waste of food. Plus they could not create lit jack-o'-lanterns without it being a fire hazard. But things were still festive.

Lili – hugely pregnant – had been pressed into service in the schoolroom, in order to help teach a class.

"Can anybody tell me," she asked the children, "why we dress up in costumes?"

There were eighteen children of various ages and looks. They all glanced around a bit.

"Well, a big part of the reason is because, during this time of year, in Earth's northern hemisphere, it's getting kinda dark and cold. It's pretty close to halfway between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice," Lili explained.

A little girl – half-Ikaaran and half-human – raised her hand eagerly. "Yes, Miss Shapiro?"

"We also celebrate the harvest," reported Rachel Shapiro.

"That's very good," praised their teacher, Victoria Dietrich Reilly.

"Any other reason?" Lili asked.

"Mrs. Torres?" asked a young boy, who was also half-human and half-Ikaaran.

"Yes, AG?"

"Mrs. Torres," AG Archer asked, "why is your belly wet?" He pointed.

Victoria looked at Lili. "I think your water broke."

"Holy cow!" Lili exclaimed, "Uh, we'll finish our talk some other time. I guess I'll call José and go to Sick Bay, eh?" She smiled at the class. "One more student is on his or her way today."

José got to the school room as quickly as he could. Josh Rosen was with him. "Now I know why you're here," Lili told José, "but Josh? Uh, didn't you do this for the second time a coupla months ago?"

"I'm here to get the other end of the stretcher."

"Stretcher?" Lili was incredulous. "But I can walk."

José shook his head. "Please, but no. I, I need for you to let us carry you."

"But –" she then noticed just how serious he was. "Of course."

The class watched as Lili was carried out. As the doors swished closed, one of the children, Grace Phlox, asked, "Will this be on the test?"

=/\=

In Sick Bay, Andrew finished splinting Walter Woods's broken arm and turned to Lili as Diana fed the animals. "Aha! I see you're rarin' to go. How are the labor pains?"

"I don't seem to have any."

"What?"

"I feel fine. I feel a little weird, but I've been feeling weird all month. But I don't seem to have any pain whatsoever."

"Phlox, what do you think?" Andrew asked.

"Let's have a look," decided the Denobulan. Lili was helped onto the movable scanner bed. Phlox worked the controls to slide it into the imaging chamber. He fiddled with more controls once she was inside, and frowned.

"What's going on, Doctor?" José asked, a little panicky.

"We don't seem to have had much progression." He began to bring the scanner bed out of the imaging chamber. "You, see, once the amniotic sac has ruptured – this is colloquially known as 'water breaking' – the fetus should be down and in position. There should be cervical dilation as well. But in this case, it's minimal. Andrew, what say you?"