Fatima pressed a hand to her mouth for a second, to keep herself in control. "She's very good," she said, between her fingers. "And I hear from some gossip around the sickbay that she used to dance competitively. Won some awards. Gained some notoriety as 'The Dancing Doctor.'"

Of course, Fatima hadn't garnered up the courage to call Beverly that to her face, but the idea amused her. Maybe because it was so incongruous to every context in which she'd known Beverly.

On the other hand, the idea of being able to dance in the face of such adversity wasn't funny at all. It felt necessary.