 The crew answers a distress call
from a small spacecraft and beams its occupant into Sickbay. The
severely ill Vidiian female is dying from the Phage, which has
ravaged her people. The Doctor puts her decaying body into
stasis and transfers her synaptic patterns into Sickbay's
holobuffer. He then creates a holographic body that reflects the
way the female would look if she were not afflicted with the
Phage.
The astonished patient revives
and introduces herself as Dr. Danara Pel, a hematologist. She's
grateful for what the Doctor has done for her, but he admits it
is just a temporary fix. She can't survive in this form; he
still has hopes of treating her ravaged physical body.
Embittered by her own harrowing experience as a prisoner of the
Vidiians, Torres balks at the Doctor's request that she donate
some of her brain tissue to help Pel, since Klingon DNA is
resistant to the Phage. But after advising her that it's Pel's
only chance, she relents, and he grafts the tissue onto the
Vidiian's brain. It'll be several days before they know if the
graft will take, so the Doctor and Pel begin spending a lot of
time together.
The Doctor is confused by his affection for Pel, but Kes urges
him to tell the woman how he feels. Yet when the Doctor blurts
out his interest in Pel, she says she'd prefer to keep their
relationship strictly professional. While the disappointed
Doctor seeks Paris' dating advice, Kes gets Pel to admit she
really does like the Doctor. Later, Paris tells the Doctor he
knows the perfect romantic getaway to impress Pel, and using
Paris' holodeck program, the Doctor has a lovely date with Pel
in a 1957 Chevy.
Not long after, the Doctor is shocked to discover that Pel's
brain is rejecting the graft. He doesn't understand what could
have gone wrong. Pel admits she sabotaged her medical treatment
because she doesn't want to return to her diseased body, despite
the fact that the alternative is death. The Doctor convinces her
that he will love her no matter what she looks like, and
convinces her to survive and go on caring for her sick
compatriots. As Voyager heads for her home, she and the Doctor
share a tender dance in Sandrine's bar. |
