Bombshells and Promises

Posted on Wed Dec 17th, 2025 @ 2:26am by Lieutenant Commander Eirly Andersen & Lieutenant JG Malcolm Beckett M.D.

3,076 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Deck 4 - Malcolm's Quarters
Timeline: MD 6, 0600 Hours

ON:

It had been just over a week since Eirly had spoken with Dr Blackstone about her diagnosis with EDS and she still hadn’t spoken to Malcolm about it. She knew the conversation would have to happen sooner rather than later, but she was still scared of what he would say or do with the information.

Would he break her heart by leaving her because he didn’t want to deal with her problems on top of his own, or would he be the person she knew deep down he was and stay and do everything in his power to help her? It was scenarios like these that had kept her awake or sleep deprived for the last few nights. The whole situation made her tense, and she wasn’t able to focus much when she thought about the future that she could potentially not have.

It was 0600 according to the clock and Malcolm was sleeping soundly, cuddled in tight enough that she could feel his soft breathing on the back of her neck, with one arm draped around her waist. Her own breathing wasn’t as smooth as it was when she was asleep, so it was a wonder he hadn’t woken up yet when she had sniffled from the tears that had leaked across her face and onto the pillow.

Malcolm stirred when he thought he heard something. He laid there quietly, enjoying the calm comfort of having Eirly next to him, while he listened to see if he heard the sound again. In what should have been silence he caught Eirly's uneven breathing and then felt her move her hand to her face, but not in the lazy movements of someone who was just waking up.

"Eirly," he whispered, bringing a hand gently up to her shoulder. "Are you okay?" He asked softly.

"Hey," Eirly replied, bringing her own hand up to meet his as she turned her head slightly in his direction before rolling over to face him properly, "You're awake. I didn't mean to wake you, but I'm alright, I didn't really sleep that well last night. That's all." She wanted to memorise his sleepy smile, his beautiful blue eyes.

Malcolm could tell that her eyes were red, too red for the early morning, and her lashes were still wet from tears. He propped himself up on one arm and looked down into her eyes, a serious expression now settling in. "Have you been crying? What's wrong. Did I do something?" He replayed the evening before, trying to think of what he might have done or said that could have unintentionally hurt her.

Eirly shook her head gently and smiled, "No, you haven't done anything wrong. I promise." She leaned in to kiss him but pulled back a bit when she didn't feel the same affection back and sighed slightly, "I have been crying, yes, but I promise it's not because of anything you or anyone else have done."

"Then what's wrong? Is there anything I can do?" Malcolm was trying to figure out how to ask the right questions. He'd never seen Eirly act this way and was quickly growing worried. She was normally the person in the room trying to cheer everyone else up.

Eirly looked at him for a few moments, really looked at him, as she tried to form the thoughts on how she was going to give him the news. She bit her bottom lip but not in the sultry way he was used to, it was a worried way. Rolling onto her back, Eirly looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep breath.

"Um," she hesitated, "You know how I mentioned over the last few weeks how I haven't been feeling all that great and we just put it down to overdoing it and not enough sleep? Well I," she turned her head to look at him. "I, um, went to see Dr Blackstone about it because it wasn't a conflict of interest to see her, and she told me the reason why I've been feeling like I have."

A moment of silence passed between them, "And no, as much as I think it would be an absolutely wonderful experience,this isn't me telling you I'm pregnant. We ruled that out quite quickly. It turns out, um, that I've got a disease called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and it's not curable." Her voice wavered as the emotion built up and the tears started to fall onto the pillow. "I'm sorry." She could feel her heart start to hurt as it broke at the expression that came across his face.

Malcolm quickly shifted positions and sat up at the head of the bed as his mind processed the condition. There were a number of outcomes. While there was no cure for Ehlers Danlos, the symptoms for either type were easily manageable, and promised to be even more so as medicine continued to improve. He started to think about whether jurisdictions outside of Starfleet's restrictions would have more advanced treatments than what was currently available to them here.

He stopped himself when he noticed again the tears in her eyes, and his heart sank again. He didn't have a magic wand to fix what was wrong with her, and hurt to see her so upset and not be able to do anything.

"Sorry? Eirly, what have you got to be sorry about? Come here, let me hold you. Do you want me to hold you? I don't know what you want," he stated, feeling unsure of himself and what to do in that moment.

Malcolm's hands rested on her shoulders, and he gently urged her toward him, but didn't pull. He wanted to give her the invitation but not force her.

Eirly wiped away some of the tears and moved up so that she was leaning up against his chest. Within a second, his arms were around her holding her and she felt the safety that came with it. A sob wracked through her chest that was followed by her openly crying for a good couple of minutes; she hated it, hated being so vulnerable, so helpless.

"I didn't tell you sooner because I didn't want to add to the problems you've been having and the stress we've all been under for the past few weeks." Her voice came out strained and devastated from the crying. "I just didn't know how you'd react to it."

"How I'd react? Eirly, you shouldn't of been tryin' to deal with this alone. It's how are you handlin' it? I'm a doctor, I hope I can figure out how to take care of you," he said gently, planting a kiss near her temple as he brushed some hair away from her face. "But you have to let me be here for you, love."

The fact that Malcolm wasn't wanting to run away from this gave Eirly a small amount of hope for what the future would hold for them. She couldn't find him more attractive than right now. But what if he found it was too much? She'd understand wholeheartedly if he'd choose to leave after a while. "I don't want you to be the doctor in this, leave that to Dr Blackstone." she sniffled in response, "Things can and will get worse from here, and I just need to know you'll be there when it comes to that." Her voice just sounded sad.

"Oh, Eirly," Malcolm said softly. "This doesn't change my love for you. But there are things we can do. Avenues we can explore. Adigeon Prime is always a step ahead of Starfleet in terms of medicine, and they don't have the restrictions that the Federation does. I'd resign my commission and move us there if you wanted. We could seek alternative treatments..."

She really appreciated the sentiment that he was willing to do all that for her, "I think I want to explore all that Starfleet can offer before I turn to my father and see what he can do in a civilian capacity. I know that being a doctor means the absolute world to you, so I could never ask you or get you to give up your commission just for that." A deep breath in and out and Eirly added, "If everything else fails, then we can take leave and go to Adigeon Prime."

"Sure bein' a doctor is important, but I dunnae have to do it for Starfleet. I can do that anywhere, Eirly. We need to be where you can get the best care. That's what's most important," he insisted.

"I know, and I love you for your dedication." She truly did. "But we can take it a step at a time and come up with something that doesn't require sacrifice for either of us, or at least minimalise the sacrifice." Her thoughts turned selfish for a moment as she wondered her this disease would affect her long term, especially her looks.

"Whatever it takes, I don't think I could consider it a sacrifice if it meant being with you," Malcolm replied.

"Nothing could change how much I love you and want to be with you," he continued. "A diagnosis doesn't change who you are, and my love for you is unconditional. There isn't anything that ..." Malcolm drifted off for a moment as he tried to find the right words. "There isn't anything that will ever make me stop loving you. I'm here for as long as you'll have me around."

"So, it's still unconditional if we get ten years down the track and I burn the toast or drop the coffee?" It felt like the weight that had settled onto her shoulders had been lifted just knowing he meant every word. She sniffed and leaned back into him more, a slight happier tone to her voice that was still laced with sadness, "Or you realise the fact you're stuck with Kasper if we one day decided to get married?"

"Aye, he's the one we should be more worried about. Trouble that one. Though he seems like he's going to be distracted for a while." Malcolm brushed loose strands of Eirly's fine blonde hair away from her face and kissed her just below her temple, a spot near her ear. "I don't even think I would notice that toast was burned if I were looking at you while I was eating. You are so beautiful, Eirly. Inside and out."

"Now I know you're making things up, Mal," Eirly replied as she leaned into the kiss. "But I'm lucky I've got you. We all are."

"Not hardly, my leannan," Malcolm whispered. "I'm the lucky one."

His words for her, my leannan, made her happy. Loved. It felt like nothing before, different but in a good way. She was getting sleepy now the emotions had subsided slightly and let out a soft sigh. "You know I'm going to have to teach you how to do all my baking, right?"

"Of course, anything for you," Malcolm said as he squeezed her just a little harder. "We can start tomorrow, I know there are a lot of recipes to learn. I want to get them right."

"I'm sure in time you'll get them perfect," Eirly admitted gently with a smile. "My biggest critics are my mother and Kas, so I think if he likes it then you'll be fine. Knowing him, it'll be some other kind of test for your worthiness to be with me or something." She rolled her eyes. "You'll be really surprised how simple everything is that I make though."

"I'm sure they seem quite simple to you, my love. But I know you spent a lot of time perfecting each one," Malcolm stated sincerely, leaning forward a bit and craning his head so that he could look her in eyes. And I don't take this responsibility lightly. I know how important it is to you."

"I want to point out, that we still don't know if you'll even need anyone to help you like this. There are a lot of uncertainties, and I don't want you to lose hope, or assume the worst. But, we'll be prepared for it. Does that sound okay?"

Eirly nodded in response, the weight had lifted off her chest completely and it felt like she was able to breathe easier. "I love you so much."

"I love you," Malcolm breathed into her ear.

Still holding her close, he whispered again, curiosity now in his voice as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Did you say earlier something about how you wanted to be pregnant?"

"One day, down the road maybe." Eirly replied, grateful for the change in topic. The thought had crossed her mind more than a few times over the past few weeks how it would be lovely to start a family with him down the road. "Or at least not until we know what's going to happen with this diagnosis and how it's going to affect everything... but I'm not ruling out the fact we would have some cute as kids either that would have the best family in the world too."

It was soothing whenever he ran his fingers through her hair and the quarters were silent save for the gentle hum of the ship itself, "I do have a question for you that I've been thinking about for a while though, if you'd want to potentially humour me with an answer?"

"Of course, ask me anything," Malcolm replied seriously. "I hope you know you can always ask me anything."

"So," Eirly nodded, "We've been together for a decent amount of time now, like what, eight or nine months now? And we've constantly been going back and forth for a while with spending the night and whatnot, and I was just wondering what your thoughts would be on maybe not having to do that anymore?" She wondered if he would pick up on what she was trying to say.

"Are you ready to move in together?" Malcolm asked. "You would be okay with having me around all the time?"

She shrugged in response, "I mean, it's purely just an idea at this stage and something to think about. I wasn't expecting an answer here and now if you wanted some time to think it over."

"Oh, you weren't?" Malcolm seemed somewhat deflated. "I thought it sounded like it could be a good idea. I mean if you are sure you wouldn't get tired of me."

"Mal," Eirly placed her hand on his chest and smiled, a bit of brightness returning to her eyes, "I haven't gotten tired of you yet, and I doubt I'm going to get tired of you in the future. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think it was a good idea or a good time."

"Yeah?" Malcolm questioned her again as thoughts of late-night rotations and leaving his uniforms out haphazardly ran through his mind and he wondered if she would think that this was a good idea if she knew what a slob he could be when she wasn't around.

"I have some bad habits," he admitted. "I can make quite a mess, but I can work on it. Maybe I can start changing at work. Make things easier on you when I work late shifts."

"I don't mind the late shifts," Eirly reassured him, "I don't mind the mess either. If anything, I understand the demands of night shifts. It just means that I can be the good little housewife type of girlfriend and make sure you come home to a nice, clean place with maybe a homecooked meal or dessert."

"If you're sure it's something you're up for, I can put in a request for us to move to family quarters," Malcolm offered. "If you want."

"Are you sure?" She asked, wanting to make sure she'd heard right, "Like one hundred percent sure you're okay with this?"

"One-hundred percent, I'm sure."

Malcolm pulled away from Eirly, just enough so that he could look her in the eyes. He kept one hand on her back, near her waist, and with the other he swept loose strands of hair away from her face. "Let's do this. Let me handle the plans. I'll get a hold of the quartermaster."

There was hope after all! Eirly felt a surge of happy emotions begin to surge through her chest at his confidence, making her smile wide and leave the earlier bombshell she'd dropped, behind them for the moment. "Okay," she nodded enthusiastically and leaned in to kiss him passionately.

Even though they'd been together for almost a year now, and it had become easy to take for granted Eirly's presence at times, Malcolm still felt that warm surge of electricity when she kissed him like that. As Malcolm kissed her back it was as if he was drawn into her, pulled by her force. It was what she did to him - that pull that tugged at him and told him that he should never let this one get away. That she was the one he felt like he was meant to be with.

Malcolm pulled his lips away briefly, whispering, "I love you, Eirly. I want to wake up next to you every morning."

"I can't wait, Mal." Eirly replied, she couldn't wait for what came next for them. The future looked so bright now. She looked over to the clock and saw the time, "How about we go and get some breakfast? Or stay in bed for a little longer if you're keen? Your choice, my love."

Malcolm smiled as a low groan. "I vote we stay right here," he said softly as he looked tenderly into her eyes. "Only if you want to," he added as he tilted his head so that his lips brushed against her neck, where he began to plant even kisses tracing a line up to her ear.

Eirly chuckled softly at how the kisses up near her ear tickled, "Right here it is then."


Fade to black

---

Lt. Commander Eirly Andersen
Second Officer
USS Astrea


Dr. Malcolm Beckett
Medical Officer
USS Astrea

 

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