Death in Winter - Michael Jan Friedman [12]
And how he missed Data, who had perished in the battle against Shinzon in one of the greatest displays of courage and sacrifice Picard had ever seen. Nor was it any the less poignant for the fact that Data was an artificial life-form. If anything, it was more so.
But there was one face that Picard missed more than any of the others. After all, it was the first time in many years that he had been separated from Beverly Crusher.
She had been his chief medical officer and one of his closest advisors for nearly two decades. However, she had also been a great deal more than that. Long before Beverly appeared on the bridge of the EnterpriseD with her twelve-year-old son, Wesley, in tow, Picard had fallen deeply in love with her.
But he had never let Beverly know it, and for good reason. She was betrothed and later married to Jack Crusher, one of Picard’s best friends. And even after Jack died, Picard couldn’t bring himself to tell Beverly how he felt-not when it would seem as if he were trampling on Jack’s grave.
The day Beverly assumed the mantle of Picard’s CMO, it had been the captain’s intention to keep his relationship with her strictly professional. But it wasn’t long before that changed, if not quite in the way he might have expected.
They became friends-the very best of friends. They came to enjoy each other’s company so much that they shared breakfast once a week. And for the sake of their platonic friendship, Picard had submerged his deeper feelings.
Then came the Enterprise’s mission to Kesprytt III, a politically divided world where one faction wished to join the Federation and the other wished to prevent it. Picard and Beverly were rigged with devices that created an unintentional telepathic link between them, leaving each one’s mind open to the other.
It was then that Beverly realized how much Picard loved her, and for how long. And it was then as well that she admitted her previously concealed feelings for him, recoloring in his mind every moment they had ever spent together.
But they had been friends for so long, Beverly didn’t want to take a chance on jeopardizing that relationship. And at the time, Picard had been comfortable with her decision. As Beverly had pointed out, there was time for something more than friendship to develop. There was no need to rush it.
And they hadn’t. They had continued to have their breakfasts together, looking forward to the time they shared even more than before. They had allowed the emotions that drew them to ripen like plump, dark grapes, unhurried and undisturbed.
The captain might have been content to let life go on like that forever. Then, without warning, Beverly pulled the rug out from under him. She informed him that she was taking an assignment on Earth as head of Starfleet Medical, in which capacity she had served once before.
Picard was hurt by Beverly’s decision, no question. But he couldn’t have stood in her way, any more than he could have stood in Riker’s or Troi’s or Vale’s. If that was what Beverly needed to be happy, he would accept it and carry on.
Brave words, the captain thought.
Little had he known how lost he would feel without Beverly, how hollow and uninspired. That realization waited until she was already in San Francisco, immersed in her new job, and it was too late to see if she would change her mind.
Apparently, Picard’s feelings for Beverly were as powerful as ever. He just hadn’t been compelled to examine them as he was examining them now.
Of course, he could still talk to her. With the Enterprise so close to Earth, communications would be virtually instantaneous. It would be almost like speaking in person.
Yes, the captain thought, that is what I will do. He activated his computer, work on which had been completed only the day before. And since there was no com officer on duty, he punched up a channel to Starfleet Medical on his own.
Almost instantly, a face appeared