It must be early in the morning when I wake up. Or I should say, my body woke me up. I remember going to sleep early last night in order to forget what had happened with Taegen. Then I realized what the reason was for being awake at this ungodly hour. 

"Oh goddess..what is happening to me..ugh" I said out loud, definitely in pain.

BEEP. "Please rephrase your request." 

"Never...mind...ugh."

I glanced at the time, it is only 0432 hours and my stomach hurts like hell. I knew there was something fishy with that food yesterday, Taegen is nothing but trouble.

After moaning from pain for a few minutes, I decided to visit the medi-bay as I have never felt pain like this before. 

Very slowly, one limb at a time, I put on my uniform, because I can't possibly walk around the ship in my pajamas. But every little move hurts me. 

When I finally leave my quarters, I ask the computer to guide me to the medi-bay. I slowly walk to my destination, putting a hand on my stomach. When I finally approach the elevator, someone rushes over to me.

"Oh goddess, do you need help? What happened?" a young woman said. I think she wears a nurse uniform, yep she does.

"ugh..I don't know, my stomach hurts like hell...I need to go to the medi-bay," I managed to say before getting a bit light-headed.

"Come, follow me, I know a faster way," she said, showing a dead serious expression. She must probably think that I'm dying over here.

After shuffling out of the elevator, and being checked at least ten times that I wasn't about to die, we entered the medi-bay.

"Doctor!" the nurse shouts. 

"Oh goddess, I'm on my way! ....Nuala? What are you doing here? Your shift ended already?" the doctor shouts from within an office and then runs over to us.

"Yes, yes, I know, she needs help immediately."

I must have looked as if I was about to die. But I still managed to say "thank you..Nuala."

"You're welcome. And she is a great doctor, so you will be fine soon."

"Okay, thank you for helping me. ugh."  I said. Nuala looked around one more time and then left us.
I was right, she was a nurse, a real one. Not like the imposter I was when I wore that uniform.

While I was thanking her, the doctor had already finished scanning me. Luckily I've never met this doctor before, I don't think that I could cope with doctor Vayra at the moment. 

"Let's see. Ayanna Vohali it is, right?" 

"Yes, doctor. What is wrong with me?" I bent over in pain, grimacing and holding my stomach.

"First let me give you a small dose of Helidafinil."

"Heli..what?"

"Ignore the name, it is a pain medication, a mild one. So don't worry."

She already injected something in my neck, without causing any additional pain there. The substance worked within seconds, I could now slowly stand straight up again.

"See, you feel a bit better already, right?"

"Yes, thank you doctor, I feel much better now."

"Well, unfortunately only the pain is gone for now, not the cause. Let me check your medical records first."

She activated a view screen and touched some mystery symbols on the screen to pull up my medical records. 

Her expression first was serious, then astonished, finally a warm smile made it to her face.  
"What? Oh? Ohhhh...so that is why," she said.

"Is it serious, doctor?"

"Hahaha, no Ayanna. Please sit here for a minute, you need to listen to me a bit."

"Okay...." I sat down on one of the many visitor's chairs placed against the medi-bay walls.

"First, there is nobody else here at the moment, as what I am about to tell you is a private matter."

I nodded..waiting anxiously for her to continue.

"Next...your medical record is protected, so medical staff can only see some entries in emergency situations. If you feel that I have violated that trust, then you are free to..." 

I shook my head, "no doctor, I have no complaints. Please continue."

"Good, thank you. I saw doctor Vayra's comment that you recently had a.....change of body type in our medi-pod here."

I nodded. There you have it, I knew Vayra would come back to haunt me.

"Well..your pain is definitely related to that," she said with a serious expression.

"Oh goddess, don't tell me, did it damage my organs or what?" I subconsciously put my right hand on my mouth for a few seconds, to prepare for my death sentence. 

"Haha, no, no, really all is fine. Listen."

Then tell me already, I thought. Oh..I was glaring at her..

"Eh sorry, your, eh, stomach ache is caused by...well, you are a woman now...so..."

I tilted my head "you mean..."

"Yes, that is what I meant. I see you understand. But for the symptoms to be so severe....did you recently have to deal with some bad news, or maybe you lost a dear one?"

She must have understood my expression, as she said "I am correct, right? Please be honest with me. This discussion is and will remain confidential."

"Yes, doctor, I had to cry yesterday evening. Many old...traumas I guess I should call them...it just became too much."

"There you have it. Although those aches are unfortunately common, your emotions can severely amplify that ache. That is what you were experiencing. It is a natural thing, and we have medicine for those times."

For some reason I was staring at my stomach, when the doctor pulled me out of my thoughts. 

"Ayanna, you are fine. I will add some medication to your medical record. Just order it from within your quarters if you need to use them. But only for these symptoms, okay? Again, they are only mild pain medications. If you ever feel any other pains, like headaches or you are in as much pain as you were a few minutes ago...just come here. We will never mind helping you."

This explanation made sense, but I wasn't really prepared for this news. It was all too much too soon. Somehow I still managed to smile at the doctor, "thank you doctor." I sighed, "I feel much better already, also knowing what the cause is."

"You are welcome. Ah, wait.. maybe I can still do something for you." 

She turned around and pushed a few buttons on one of the medical bay machines. I have no idea what all of that is about.

"Here. Use the information stored on this datapad, and learn about your....new body.
They also include a code of conduct for couples on board."

"Ah doctor..." I tried to reject her offer, I don't even have the time for that.

"No..no..no..these are doctor's orders. You WILL read them. Don't make me order you to come here and read them together with one of my staff."

"Eh, wait..I can't read this." 

She took the datapad and pushed some buttons..."here you are. Your records say your native language is Earthen-English?"

"Thanks...Eh...yes. I will read it."

"Good girl." 

That comment made me blush. A crap, she noticed.

"Ah, one more thing, while you are here. Considering you, as an adult, have been blushing multiple times the last few minutes, you seem ready to start a relationship. As one of the ship's doctors, I just green coded your file to allow you to pursue a relationship on board, but don't let it hinder your duties. And...here, these are some supplies you will need for a while. Just read the instructions on your datapad."

"Ehhh. thank you?"

"No need to thank me. Ah, I almost forgot. As this was a medical emergency, I will block your morning tasks.
Now get some sleep, and read up. Your duties will not resume until after 1200. You can return to your quarters now, officer Vohali."

I have no idea what to say. And she suddenly speaks in a more formal way to me.
"Thank you, yes doctor."  I then saluted her, leaving the medi-bay at lightspeed.

 

I was really happy to be back in my quarters where I quickly put the uniform in the cleaning device, as it had some soil stains from my visit to the arboretum. Oh goddess...who knows what people thought when they.....looked at my backside.....

And here we go with the blushing. What is wrong with that anyway?
What did she mean by blushing? Isn't that normal when you are feeling embarrassed? 
And what relationship? Are these people psychics or.....I give up. What else do I need to get used to? 

I put on my pajamas and decided to look up the blushing part. 
And....there we have it "females blush subconsciously to attract..." 

Okay....I get it. I check my weary face in the mirror....and of course my cheeks are red again.
Whatever! I give up! I am going to sleep now.