Ratings: MC, MHS
2 – The Needs of Many - 2
“There are many Cardassians that need a doctor much more than I.” Garak finally responded.
“I’m sure that’s true, but I’m not speaking as a doctor. I’m speaking as a friend. As a friend, let me help you!” Julian’s voice was a quiet appeal. “I came here to work as a doctor, that doesn’t change. But, mainly I came because you are my friend. And, I’m going to help you whether you let me or not.”
“Well, then it seems to me you needn’t ask. But, if you insist on helping me you can replicate about eight more servings of that excellent food.” Garak responded sounding almost like his usual self. But, there was something different about Gar… Elim that Julian couldn’t place.
“You can’t possible expect that type of food to keep, Elim.” Julian looked at Garak, who had begun to rummage about the shuttle looking for something. He turned around with a large, empty container, “Of course not doctor. And, you will also want to bring your medkit.”
“We are going somewhere?” Julian was beginning to feel like the young, naïve officer that had first meet the Cardassian spy so many years ago.
“Yes, doctor.” Garak smiled graciously at the befuddled man standing across from him. “You don’t think I could eat all of this on my own.”
“No, of course not, that would be preposterous.” Julian quibbled. “The name is Julian by the way.” Julian went about preparing his medkit.
“Yes, doctor, I know.” Garak feigned ignorance.
“Garak… I mean Elim. If I am going to call you by your first name then surely you can call me by mine.” Julian had managed to get his medkit ready quickly and started helping with the food.
“Perhaps…” was Garak’s only response as he continued with the preparations.
“G… Elim, how far are we going with all of this? I really don’t think you should be over-exerting yourself right now. You need rest.” Julian was piling the replicated food into the container Garak had found earlier.
“I thought you wanted to help.” Garak’s mischievous smile was firmly in place.
“I want to help. I want to help you… I mean…” Julian stumbled over the words.
“And, you are helping me.” Garak interrupted.
Julian sighed, “You know what I mean.” There is a pause in the conversation while he contemplates his and Garak’s friendship, the way the man standing in the shuttle with him always managed to keep him dancing around. There was certainly never a dull moment.
“Why is it that you are so good at making me look like I just graduated from the academy?” Julian grinned despite himself; “I just don’t want you over doing it right now. That’s all. I care about you. You’re my friend, the only one I have on Cardassia so far. And, I know you are in need of rest, a lot of it. You have really pushed yourself to your limits recently. Life would be a whole lot duller without you around to complicate it. I don’t think I would care for a duller life.” Julian tried to inject some humor into the moment; he didn’t much car for exposing his feelings this openly.
That difference that Julian had noticed earlier in Garak reappeared, “Doctor… Julian, I promise that after this errand I will rest. I might even allow you to pester me with your ministrations.” There is another pause in the conservation, this one caused by Julian’s surprise at the response.
“This is that important then?” Julian surmised.
“What makes you say that?” Garak was enjoying himself again.
“Well, you’re actually going to listen to me, do what I say.” Julian hid a smirk reasonably well.
But, Garak didn’t miss it, “I said I might.” With that Garak picked up the box of food and turned to leave the shuttle.
The smirk almost left Julian’s face as he followed the Cardassian out, the medkit slung over his shoulder. “What do you mean might? You said…”
“That I would rest.” Garak cut over Julian’s protest.
Julian fell into a pensive silence as he followed Garak on their as yet unknown errand. He was about to challenge Elim on the validity of his “not far statement” when Julian realized that the claim had never been made. “How much farther until we reach our destination?”
“Not…” Garak stopped abruptly. He repositioned the container so that it was held by only on hand, and placed the other over the middle of his stomach.
“Are you okay?” Julian was concerned and instantly went into doctor mode, moving to grab his medkit and wave it over Garak.
“I’m fine. Just a bit of a stomach cramp.” He pushed the tricorder away from himself.
“Elim…” Julian didn’t get to say much more.
“I’m fine now, doctor. It was nothing more than an unexpected stomach cramp. It has passed already. Shall we continue? We are almost there after all.” Garak motioned towards a small bombed out building about a hundred meters away.
Julian looked at the building in question and then his friend. He was a bit worried by the obvious show of pain, not typical behavior for Garak. But, Elim seemed determined in his mission, whatever it was, and Julian had become curious by now. “Okay, but I’m going to carry the food the rest of the way.”
He reached over and grabbed the container before any protest was made. Garak simply continued down the rubble-strewn road. He stopped just before the entrance of the building and turned to Julian, “Before we go in you should know that foreigners are feared by many Cardassians right now and doctors in particular terrify some of the occupants here. I think it best if you go by Mr. Bashir, or Bashir.”
Julian was a bit taken aback by this revelation, “I can see why many Cardassians are mistrustful of outsiders, but fearing doctors? What has caused that?”
“I will fill you in later. I would suggest that you word things in simple non-medical terms when explaining things also.” Garak finished quickly before moving into the remains of the building. Julian was mulling over the information, but responded to Elim’s back.
“Julian then, I am not about to be call Mr. Bashir,” he sounded adamant.
“Then Julian it will be. Now be quiet while I do the introductions.” Garak said as he moved into the next room.
It was dimly light, but Julian could see that there were about six or seven people in various areas around the room. As he looked closer he realized that they were all children. The oldest was probably eight or nine years old. Julian stepped from behind Garak as one of the smallest children came running across the room arms wide open yelling, “EEEEEELLLLLLLLLIIIIMMMMMMM!” He pulled up short just before barreling into Garak full force at the sight of the strange human. Elim squatted down and reached out his arms in a welcoming gesture, “It’s okay Kamar, this is Julian. He is a good friend of mine.” Garak paused a moment. The boy seemed hesitant still, “Come here. Julian won’t hurt you, he’s a friend.”
The boy was motionless for a moment with indecision, and then jolted into Elim’s open arms knocking the older Cardassian down. “It’s good to see you too, Kamar.” Garak was laughing slightly at the boy’s enthusiasm. “Everyone, this is Julian. As I said, he is my friend. He is here to help. Now everyone line up we’ve brought food.”
“Food, but it’s not ration day.” A voice from someone in the room called out, as the room filled with motion.
“This isn’t ration food, Julian has supplied us with a much more delicious fare. Now come on, don’t be shy.” Elim’s words were directed at the two children that had not yet moved to receive some of the food. They cautiously obeyed.
Everyone got his or her bowl of soup, bread, and Rokassa juice then settled down to eat. The atmosphere became more relaxed as the children got used to Julian’s presence. Kamar, who looked to be about four, clung to Garak fiercely. It took a bit of persuasion on Elim’s part to get the boy to reluctantly release the tight embrace and eat. This was only achieved by Elim letting the boy sit in his lap while eating.
As the young Cardassians began to finish there meals Julian leaned over to whisper in Garak’s ear, “I assume there’s a reason you asked me to bring the kit?”
“Yes, many of them have minor injuries or illnesses that have not been attended to. I have done what I could, but I’m not trained.” Garak whispered back very aware of the young boy in his lap.
“Well, how do you suggest I go about… helping?” Julian struggled to find a word to use that wouldn’t alarm the boy. He wasn’t sure whether doctors frightened Kamar or not.
“I suppose you should start with the ones that are most comfortable with you.” Garak paused before continuing in a knowing way. “That would be the three girls. They seem quite taken with you.”
Julian groaned slightly, “Don’t tell me that.”
“I thought you would find their attentions flattering.” Garak was perplexed.
“I was really hoping to get away from the hassle of turning down admires of the way to young disposition.” Julian answered. He considered saying the female persuasion, but wasn’t sure how Elim would handle the comment.
“I see. Well, no need to worry. I’m sure they will be to shy around you to cause difficulties.” Elim was amused.
“Easy for you to say. They aren’t interested in you.” Julian remarked through a grimace as he moved towards the girls. He had really grown tired of the so-called farer sex. Ezri had been the last woman he had dated. He thought that being a joined Trill would make it better. She would have insight from her previous male hosts. It really hadn’t been any different than the other women he had dated since joining Starfleet. Maybe now that he was in a frontier not dominated by Starfleet he would feel comfortable seeking out male companionship.
Garak remained were he was with Kamar once again turned around and hugging his neck fervently. “Kamar, were is your sister tonight?”
The only response from the boy was to settle down so that he held Elim’s waist and he wedged his head into Garak’s underarm. This surprised the older Cardassian. Kamar was usually talkative and full of energy. He decided that further prying was needed, but wasn’t sure the best way to go about questioning the boy. He didn’t want to intimidate, but would need to coax Kamar into talking. At the moment it seemed wiser to let Kamar get comfortable again. In the meantime he watched Julian move about the room attending to the children. He really was quiet good with them.
As time passed Kamar relaxed in Elim’s lap, finding comfort in the light embrace provided by the adult Cardassian. Garak had noticed the slow transition and thought that he would soon be able to figure out what was bothering the boy.
Julian had just moved to examine the next to last boy. Garak knew that the boy’s broken wrist needed better treatment than he could provide, but until Julian arrived had not managed to figure out how to get the need treatment. He had resorted to setting the bone himself and figured that it would just have to heal the natural way.
Garak’s attention returned to Kamar as the boy started wiggling in his lap a bit. Looking down Elim noticed that the boy was trying very hard not to scratch at his chest and there was a slight wheeziness to the breathing. Well, that explained some of Kamar’s unusual behavior, “Are you having trouble with your condition again?” Garak asked the boy softly as he grasped the boy’s hands gently to help the boy in his efforts to not scratch.
“Yes.” the boy responded with a bit of a whimper.
“And, your sister went to get you the medicine you need.” Garak inferred. He might as well get all the information now, before he had to decide how to respond to the situation. “When is your sister supposed to be back?”
Kamar just shrugged his shoulders and pressed himself closer to Elim. His eyes were starting to become watery as he tried not to cry. Garak noticed. He positioned both of the boy’s hands in one of his and moved his other to stroke the spoon-shaped ridge on the boy’s forehead soothingly. “When did she leave, Kamar?” he suspected that she was late in returning.
Julian finished “helping” the broken wrist and received an appreciative smile from the eleven or twelve year old boy. He headed back over to Elim and Kamar, as the boy was the only one he hadn’t checked, but was stop in his tracks. The sight of Garak tenderly attending to the clearly upset child was endearing. After reading the letter of Elim’s life he wasn’t surprised at the compassion there. It would have surprised him a few years ago, but only slightly. He had noticed Garak’s soft side early on, even thought it was rarely shown. Julian thinks that there was more of Mila’s tenderness than Tain’s cruelty there all along. It had just been conditioned into suppression.
He half turned back to the boy beside him, “Is Kamar okay?”
The oldest boy there, he understood best what was going on, “Kamar’s sick. His sister went to get ‘im medicine, but she hasn’t returned. She’s supposed to be back a week ago. I sent some of the boys out lookin’ for her yesterday. They didn’t find her or any information. We’re going to tell Elim during our next pickup.”
“Pickup?” Julian was a little distracted by the scene unfolding before him. He could see how much Garak cared for the boy, and understood his determination to come here today.
“Yeah, pickup. He gets rations once a month from the gov’ment, like most who’s not on the streets, and he shares ‘em with us. As well as repairs our clothes and help when we gets hurt.”
Julian’s attention returned in full to the boy beside him, “How’d that happen?”
“We’d heard about a man repairs clothes. Says he’s the one made the monuments, don’t charge none. Figured we’d investigate. End of story.” The boy shrugged slightly. “Not many like him. Help the likes of us an’ all.”
“What do you mean? There’s not enough aid, but still there are many helping.” Julian is surprised by the comment.
“Yeah, for those with family. Not us.” he sounded resigned.
“You mean orphans.” Julian began to understand.
“Yeah, orphans. We’re without status, undesirables.” the boy sounded bitter.
“But, with the catastrophic loss of life I thought that would change. To many are orphaned now to think that way.” Julian was appalled by this news.
“Well, ‘s true for some. Those had high family status before the attack treat alrigh’. But, not most. Tha’s why Elim’s diff’rent.” he sounded prideful, even reverent as he spoke.
They continued to watch Elim in silence for a moment.
“We’ll return the favor someday. He deserves that much.” the boy sounds determined.
“Yes, he deserves better than the circumstances have allotted.” Julian moved towards the two, man and boy. “I’ll tell him what’s happened.”
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COMING SOON:
CHAPTER 3
2 – Making Refuge - 2
