Pain Medicine

  Kathryn woke up in the middle of the night. As she lay wondering what might have woken her, she turned to her other side. That was when it hit her. She was in pain. She was not worried, for she knew that kind of pain. It was only her body letting her know it was still capable of bringing forth children, but it was still annoying to say the least.

Suddenly she remembered how she had reacted to Chakotay the previous day. He could not do anything right. Under normal circumstances she would have known it coming and would have gone out of her way not to snap at people, but here on New Earth she had been so engrossed in her research she had completely forgotten about it and now her hormones had gotten the better of her.

She did not have much energy to feel sorry for her friend as the pain grew worse. Movement would help, so Kathryn got out of bed and donned her robe. She walked around the living area to relieve some of the cramps, trying to be quiet. She did not want to wake Chakotay. He would want to know what was wrong and thought it was a natural process, she was a bit embarrassed to talk about it, especially with a man.

Chakotay though was already awake. He always slept very light and he had woken up the moment Kathryn got out of bed. He watched her through the partition that separated his sleeping area from where she was pacing. He wondered what was wrong, but he did not want to intrude. She had been cranky the day before. He had never seen her like that and thought it best to let her work things out on her own for now. Her pacing seemed to help, for after an hour and a half Kathryn returned to bed. Soon after that they both fell asleep again.

The next morning Kathryn woke up feeling worse than the night before. On Voyager she would have simply gone to sickbay to get a pain killer, but here she did not want to impose on their medical supplies. They did not have much and it would have to last a long time. She would not use something just to help ease some discomfort. Besides, captains do not complain.

She decided hot water would help and took a long shower. It did not help as much as she had hoped, but got dressed anyway. One look in the mirror showed the effect of her bad night. She hoped Chakotay would not notice as she joined him for breakfast.

Of course he did notice, but the only thing he got out of her was a glare and "I’m fine". He decided to leave it for a little while longer and left the shelter right after breakfast for his morning walk.

After eating very little Kathryn retreated to the couch and pressed a pillow to her stomach to ease some of the cramps. This is how Chakotay found her when he returned. He immediately got the medkit and knelt beside her on the floor. The medical tricorder soon showed him what the problem was. He gently touched Kathryn’s arm as he called out to her softly "Kathryn"

"What?!"

"I have something to make you feel better"

"NO, I don’t want it"

"Kathryn. You’re in pain. Please let me help you"

"No, I don’t want the hypospray. We might need it some day for something real"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes".

Chakotay was amazed at her restraint. He knew she could push herself beyond limits, but he did not like to see her in pain. His mother being the tribes midwife, he had learned a few things to help when things got really bad, but he did not know how Kathryn would react if he suggested it. So he got up and washed the dishes Kathryn had left. After cleaning up the kitchen, he had come to a decision.

He brought her a cup of herbal tea. "Here, drink this"

"What is it?"

"Just some tea"

"No coffee?"

"No, but it will help make you feel better"

"Old tribal remedy?", she asked between sips.

"Only part of it. Kathryn, do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. What is it?"

"Will you let me help you?"

"Chakotay, I already told you…."

"No hypospray, I promise"

"Ok then, what do you have in mind?"

"Just for you to relax", he said as he picked her up in his arms. He walked towards her bedroom and Kathryn’s eyes grew wide as he put her down on her bed. She grabbed his hands in shock as he started to unbutton her pants. "Trust, Kathryn, trust", he tried to sooth her. She let go of his hands but remained a bit apprehensive. She was a scientist. She knew an orgasm would relieve most of her cramps. And it was not that she had not dreamed about his hands touching her..., but this was going a bit too fast for her liking.

After taking off her pants he pulled the blanket over her legs and sat beside her on the bed. He laid a hand on her stomach and started to rub it gently in circles. Kathryn did not realize she was holding her breath until Chakotay told her: "Breathe, Kathryn".

After a while Kathryn realized he would not move his hand lower. Part of her regretted this, but she was also relieved. She was not ready to let Chakotay in that far. She slowly began to relax. Chakotay had been right. His persistent rubbing helped ease her pain considerably. As her eyes began to droop she could not help but wonder if it was because of something in the tea Chakotay had given her earlier.

As if reading her mind, Chakotay started to talk.

"Kathryn"

"Mmmm"

"I need to tell you something. The tea I gave you…"

"Yes"

"Well, the herbs I used… I need to tell you what they do"

Chakotay was afraid she would be upset if she knew, but he needed to be honest with her.

"I think I already know"

"But I need to tell you. My tribe uses these herbs to relieve pain and relax the muscles"

"I figured that"

"But I put in something extra. I noticed you were up half the night, so I put something in it to help you sleep"

He waited for her to get upset. He expected her angry voice, but he only got a soft "Thank you". He had not realized how much she trusted him. Amazed he stilled his hand.

"Please don’t stop"

He immediately continued where he had left off and did not stop until he heard her even breath of sleep.

THE END