Will smiled at a woman who was pregnant with twins in front of him as her husband helped her off the bio-bed.

“I’ll see you in a week Mrs. Riley. I’d suggest you stay away from certain flowers.”

Mrs. Riley flashed a cheeky smile at her husband and shook her head.

“It was John’s idea. He was thinking he could be romantic in the bedroom.”

Riker only shut his eyes for a moment and then opened them shaking his head. Leaning in, he whispered to the couple.

“Well, those particular flower petals hold the same kind of enzymes found in chile peppers. When coming into contact with the skin it’ll cause rashes, and in your case a mild UTI. Stay away from them. That goes for both of you.”

Mr. and Mrs. Riley nodded their heads and started walking away. As they went out the door Deanna walked in, she looked like she was in some pain. Will quickly went over towards the door and guided her to an unoccupied bio-bed.

“Deanna, you don’t look so good. What’s the matter?”

Shaking her head, she let Will help her up onto the bio-bed and winced.

“I don’t know. I’ve been having these really bad cramps the last couple of days.”

Leaning in with the tricorder Riker whispered to Deanna.

“Ok, when was your last period?”

Normally Deanna didn’t get embarrassed about questions, but this one was a little personal.

“A week ago.”

Mentally Riker blew out a breath. He didn’t like asking the next question, even though it did involve him.

“I’m sorry I have to ask these questions if we suspect a woman might be pregnant. When was the last time you were intimate?”

Deanna’s face grew bright red, but then disappeared.

“Two nights ago, but then again, you should know, you were there.”

Will nodded his head and tried to keep a straight-serious face.

“Ok, I’m sorry, I have to ask you one more question: Have you experienced any bleeding?”

Deanna yet again shook her head no.

“No, but these cramps don’t seem to be going away.

Will scanned Deanna from the top of her head down to her feet.

“Well, since the tricorder is telling me you’re not pregnant, those abdominal cramps you’re having don’t coincide with a miscarriage. Wait a minute, there’s something strange going on here.”

He brought up a visual on the screen behind Deanna and zoomed in. She could feel his worry and it was almost knocking her over.

“What is it?”

Shaking his head seriously, he mentally slapped himself for missing this crucial, yet almost unidentifiable clue.

“Son of a bitch, I can’t believe I missed it. There’s a piece of shrapnel embedded inside your uterus. You’re bleeding internally. We’ll have to do surgery on you immediately to get it out and stop the bleeding. It’s about 3 centimeters long.”

Deanna’s face got paler, but she knew she was in good hands. Will would take care of her. Suddenly, she felt sick to her stomach, and vomited on the floor next to the bed. Now it was Riker’s turn to look scared, his face pale as a ghost.

“Need some help over here! Deanna needs to get into surgery immediately!”

Nurses went here and there gathering the much needed supplies for the surgery. Will was frightened, he just hoped that with his practiced hand, she’d come out of the surgery alright.
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“My god, I can’t see anything in here, it’s like something went off… All this bleeding for one piece of 3 centimeter shrapnel. More suction please.”

A doctor beside Will, by the name of Ray Carnon spoke up as he suctioned out the blood to make a clear field in which to work.

“So, this is your girlfriend. You always had an eye for beauty. Personally, I say keep her. You two would make beautiful children.”

Will shot a quick look at Ray and had daggers for eyes.

“Since when did my personal life become the gossip during a surgery? Two, that’s really none of your business Ray what Deanna and I do on our off time and privately.”

Ray sighed at Will and shook his head.

“What is the matter with you Will? You’ve been moody lately. Is she that bad in bed?”

Riker gawked at his best friend. Now he was getting too personal. Work was work, and he didn’t like to mix his personal with it.

“Ray for the last time, can we please not talk about my personal life? Let’s just focus on the patient huh? Ok, I can see the piece of shrapnel, forceps please.”

A nurse placed a pair of forceps into Will’s left hand and he gently plucked the piece of shrapnel from the incision he’d made into her uterus. The fact that she was still bleeding profusely was cause for deep concern.

“Deanna’s A- blood type, let’s get a transfusion started. We don’t want her going into DIC.”

Riker worked faster, he wasn’t going to lose Deanna. She was the best thing that’d ever happen to him. He wasn’t going to panic, he could do this, and he was going to save her. But he had to admit, now on her third blood transfusion, she was losing blood as fast as the team of doctors and nurses could give it.

“I’m not letting you give up on me. You stay with me, you understand?”

Will ignored all the stares from the other doctors. He was doing his job exactly the way he was supposed to.
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“Good you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

Deanna pushed herself up on her elbows.

“Still hurting a little. What are you going to do?”

Riker’s eyes held compassion, but not to the point of pity. No, he was remaining professional. Troi swallowed and looked him in the eye. His voice was warm and comforting.

“I need to make sure that there isn’t any more hemorrhaging. I will warn you, this is a bit uncomfortable, there are some things that are easier to detect with a physical exam than with the tricorder. I need you to relax. There you go. Let me know if you feel any pain when I press down on your abdomen and Carrie here will get you some Teroquine.”

Deanna swallowed and stiffened a little. I don’t know which is worse, the pain on the outside, or the inside.

“Ouch, right there. Same spot inside and out.”

Riker nodded his head and nodded for Carrie to get Deanna the Teroquine. Carrie smiled and pressed the hypospray against Troi’s neck. Deanna felt better almost instantly.

“The Teroquine should make the difference. I want to keep you here another couple of days. You’ve got laser stitching in three places. When I pulled the shrapnel out, little flakes of it kept breaking off. But you have my word that we got all of it out. I have five other doctors and a slew of nurses that can vouch for that. You rest now, there’s no sign of any more hemorrhaging. I’ll be back to check on you later.”

By now the nurse had left the room, and he leaned in to kiss Deanna.

“We’ll have to settle for making out right now, until you’re completely better.”

Deanna smirked and shook her head, holding in a laugh.

“You really know how to treat a lady.”

Will had saved Deanna’s life again. He’d do just about anything for her. He hoped that they would get through to the next stage of their relationship, however long that took.

To Be Continued…