Elegy picked up the pace, accelerating from a brisk walk to a light jog.  Hedging close to the bulkhead, he navigated the corridors from the hospital to the counseling reception area.  The medikit cross-strapped over his shoulder kept slapping into his thigh with every other step, announcing his progression.  To avoid crashing into patients head-on, Elegy slowed down as he rounded the corners.

When the comm from the reception desk in counseling had reached Counselor Elegy Weld on the promenade, he had promised to return to the counseling office presently.  Elegy had been assisting security with a unforeseen side-effect from one of his patients, Lundrul.  The patient’s Zanthi fever was causing his Betazoid telepathy to project seething, uncontrollable anger into random bystanders all over the promenade.  Elegy had hesitated to leave the spontaneous fights to the security officers alone, but when he hadn’t arrived quickly enough, a second call had reached Elegy.  When reception called Elegy a third time, that’s when Elegy broke into the jog.

Elegy scrabbled within himself to find the strength to present a serene air about him, by the time he passed through the double doors into the reception area.  He slowed his breathing, and he  spotted a familiar face before he had fully walked into the compartment.  An entirely un-serene, “Oh,” fell out of his mouth without thinking about it.  Elegy took another deep breath, and affected a breezy air, when he added, “Ciera Cordon, good afternoon to you.  Noticing movement in his peripheral vision, Elegy only looked away from Ciera when he saw Nurse Fionn escorting their patient, Lundrul, through the reception compartment.

Ciera stalked toward him, anger coming off her in waves. “Where IS he?!??” She growled out. “If he keeps this temper tantrum up any longer, I’m going to beat him within an inch of his life!” She shoved past the Counselor & only stopped when she was about two inches from the crazed man. She then reached up and slapped him as hard as she could. 

“Nonononono,” muttered Elegy in a reedy voice.  He reached out for Ciera, but he was far too slow.  Ciera was well beyond Elegy’s reach and she was facing Lundrul head on.

Ciera looked at the man who stood there in shock, rubbing his cheek. “I am Ciera Cordon, Daughter of the Ninth House of Betazed! You WILL listen to me or that slap is going to be the SOFTEST thing you get hit with!”

The man stood there reasonably quiet, whimpering softly about his daughter. Ciera shook her finger up at him like a parent to a child.”Your tirade may be from a terrible malady, but broadcasting to the populace your pain is NOT helping your cause!” She pushed him back down onto the couch.

The man’s eyes were wide as saucers as he lands, mouth also open in shock. “But…but…my DAUGHTER!” He simpered. Ciera rolled her eyes & shook her head. “She’s FINE, you cretin! Now, be a good Betazoid male & center yourself!”

Ciera crossed her arms in front of her, eyes inflamed. She turned to the Counselor. “Is there a doctor or someone coming to sedate this behemoth?? I was trying to take a short nap when  this BABY of a man broadcasted me awake!” Her hands became fists at her sides. The waves of anger still radiated off her, silent.

“Agh,” Elegy groaned in fear and frustration.  He sidestepped himself in between Ciera and Lundrul, using his body as a shield while Nurse Fionn  checked on Lundrul.  “Ciera, you have to stop.  You can’t slap people in sickbay,” Elegy said firmly.  And then less so, he said, “Not strangers, at least.”  He swept a hand out to point at the door he had just come through.  “Will you come with me, please?  I need your advice,” Elegy asked, centreing Ciera herself in the conversation, rather than his patient.  

Ciera’s eyes seeme to burn a hole into the Counselor for his insolence, but stomped out the doors of Sickbay. 

Once outside, her demeanor still one of annoyance. Sighing, she looked up. “WHAT in all Creation kind of  advice can *I* give you?” She  pointed back at the doors. “That MAN is a menace & should be taken back to Betazed for proper care!” She crossed her arms & glared.

“I promise you, Ciera, he is being cared for properly.  He will be absolutely fine.  He just needs a little more time,” Elegy said, over-enunciating in a mollifying tone.  Waving a hand again, Elegy led her further along the corridor and into a turbolift that he asked take them to the promenade.  “In an unrelated, hypothetical matter,” Elegy asked wryly, “what can you tell me about Zanthi fever?  I’ve only provided treatment a couple of times before.”

Ciera clenched & unclenched her hands, looking down at the floor. She took ragged deep breaths, soon reasonably calm. Lifting her head, she regarded the man with a pained expression. “Really?!? Then you should’ve noticed how everyone near the proximity of that poor soul rises in anger & extreme worry?” She swept her arm across the milling  promenade, her eyes locked on  the Counselor’s. “EVERYONE he passed has been feeling the same way he has.” 

Ciera sighed, annoyed. “If you’ve dealt with this before, then you’d know it’s a virus that afflicts the older people of my kind.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Check your memory banks, man.”

Holding onto some small semblance of confidentiality, Elegy replied in a diffident voice, “Said hypothetical patient has been prescribed treatment, and it takes time for the body to metabolize medication.  Less than an hour at this point.  His impact on the populace is getting smaller and smaller; he isn’t affecting everyone.  The hospital staff tried to sedate the patient earlier, but sedation didn’t quiet the paracortex.”  Taking note of Ciera’s own emotional reactions in this close proximity, Elegy suggested, “We should get you father away from him in the meantime…  What I wanted to ask you, Ciera, given your status, are you familiar with any non-medical traditions to manage Zanthi fever?  Even if they’re only nursery rhymes or old wives tales?”

Ciera cooked her head & tapped her chin. After a few moments, she snapped her fingers, a triumphant grin on her face. “My grandmother told me as a child …” she smirked at him “don’t ask” then continued. “That there was a nursery song that said something of a swamp plant…” Her brow furrowed, lost in memory. “The name…the name…” she pinched the bridge of her nose & scrunched her eyes tightly shut. “Urrrrrr! I don’t remember!” She whined. Her shoulders dropped, looking at the counselor sadly. “I’m sorry, counselor. I can’t help you.”  She looked away, swallowing hard. “You’d be better off scouring the swamps….” 

Ciera gazed back at the tall man. “Please forgive me,  Counselor. I need to go back to my suite. That interrupted a nap seems like something I should revisit.”

“Of course.  Don’t let me keep you,” Elegy graciously said, with a sweep of his hand.  “And thank you, Ciera.  I’ll ask the medical research team to investigate Betazoid swamp plants with medicinal properties.  There might be something in the database!  I’d better catch up with the security team now.  Stay safe, Ciera.”