The Common Cold
Disclaimer: Paramount, paramount, we grovel before you...
A..aa..aatchooo!
Kathryn Janeway sniffed miserably, and wiped her blocked nose for what seemed the 100th time that day, while the Doctor puzzled over a padd next to the biobed she was sitting on.
"Doctor, what..." she was interrupted by another sneeze, blinked blearily, and continued.  "What's wrong with me??  I feel like death warmed up!" she coughed hoarsely, and looked up at the Doctor through her streaming eyes.  He shook his head.
"As far as I can tell, captain, you?ve developed a nasty case of the common cold."
Janeway tried to gather a coherent thought through the fuzz surrounding her brain.  "Common cold?  I thought that was eradicated 300 years ago!"  The Doc nodded, baffled.  "It was, Captain, I have no explanation.  Perhaps something on that away mission you went on triggered it.  Anyway, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do - but before 2076, people had to live with the common cold, and get on with their lives, regardless."  He smiled infuriatingly cheerfully at her.  "I'm sure you can do the same."  Janeway looked daggers at him.  "That's all right for you to say, Doctor - you're not the one who?s got it."  She dragged herself, groaning, up from the biobed.  "Recommendations?" she asked weakly.  The Doc consulted his trusty Padd briefly.  "A day of rest in your quarters should be sufficient, Captain - then you should be well enough to return to duty."  Janeway moaned - in this state, she couldn't ever imagine feeling well again.  The Doc looked sceptically at her.  "Captain, it's not serious, you know - people used to..." Janeway cut him off, testily.  "I know, Doctor, people used to have it all the time, you've made your point."  She started towards the doors, blinked fuzzily, and then asked, "Am I contagious?" The Doctor looked at his Padd again, and Janeway had to resist the urge to whack it out of his hand.  "Yes, you are, Captain, try to stay away from any one for the next day - now you must go back to your quarters and rest - feel better," he patted her shoulder absentmindedly in an avuncular fashion.  Janeway seethed at him, and then left, armed with handfuls of tissue paper, and a pot of Olbas oil, which apparently was used in the 20th century for blocked noses - it was very good, even if you could smell it from the other end of the ship.  Still, she was wiling to give anything a try, if it would help her throw this thing off - how did people cope before 2076??
On the way to her quarters, she incurred a few strange looks from the odd crewman - she swiftly diminished them to a quivering heap in the corridor, with her best version of the death-glare.  She guessed there must have been a ship-wide announcement, passed from Padd to Padd telling everyone NOT TO LOOK AT THE CAPTAIN.  When she got near her quarters, there was a distinct lack of eye contact being made...
She fell into her quarters, and flopped down on the queen-size bed and glumly tried to breathe through her nose, failed, sighed and closed her puffy eyes.  She was just dropping off when her door chimed.  She growled, forced her eyes open, and whispered hoarsely, "Come in." She blinked at the sudden rush of light coming through her door, and looked up to see who it was.  Through the haze, she saw Chakotay, looking at her with concern in his eyes.  She tried to smile - and in this condition, he was the only one she'd make that effort for - and he smiled back at her, obviously glad to see her at least conscious.  He looked at her tired, pale face, and desperately wanted to hold her, and make her feel better.  Wordlessly, he went over, sat down on the bed, and held his arms out to her.  She fell into them with a sigh, and they stayed like that, snuggled up close, her face against his chest, for a long time.  Eventually, she pulled away, and looked up at him with a half-smile on her face.
"I'm contagious, you know..."   he grinned at her, stoked her hair, and said softly,
"I don't care."
That was the last she heard before his lips descended on hers, making her forget all her troubles, until nothing was left in the universe but him and her and their final acceptance of their love for each other.
So there was a good cure for the common cold after all...
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