Lost and Found
Disclaimer - I do not own anything you recognise within this story. Star Trek Voyager and its properties belong to Paramount and the writers.
Silence filled sickbay.
A dreaded silence that lasted for almost a minute, a silence that was only filled once the doors opened and more injured came stumbling through. But Samantha Wildman did not hear any of it, for she could do nothing but stare at the cot where her child lay.
Her child who had not survived.
She felt empty, she felt . . . nothing. She could do nothing, but sit and stare.
Once again the ship shook and the sick bay lights dimmed but Samantha didn't notice. The noise in the room had returned to that which could be expected during a red alert, with everybody shouting to be heard and the Doctor and Kes running from person to person, trying to treat as many people as they could in as short a time as possible. Those in the sickbay still had no clue as to what had happened but could only do the best they could in the situation. A call came through asking for medical assistance and Kes rushed off to help. Samantha felt more alone then.
She didn't notice the next few hours pass. She saw people rush in and out of sickbay, but she didn't really see them. She saw the Doctor move her baby away and she had wanted to say something, to stop him. It was her baby. But in the heat of a situation like this, the sickbay full of people and ever more injuries being reported, a small part of her knew he was doing what had to be done. A small sob escaped at the sight but everyone was too busy to notice. So she continued to sit there, allowing the world to continue on around her.
Then Kes returned. There were two Voyagers, two Captains and two babies. On the other Voyager her baby had survived.
She didn't know how this made her feel, she was happy that the child survived but the emptiness of knowing that the child wasn't hers tore at her heart. She glanced at the cot once more, almost willing her child to suddenly let out a cry. But nothing happened, the cot was empty.
It was barely an hour later when Harry came running into the sickbay carrying a baby. Her baby.
He handed the child to her and she heard it let out a cry, and for the first time since the terror of the birth her heart soared.
Her baby was alive. It didn't matter this baby came from a different Voyager, it was still hers. It still needed a mother as much as she needed her child. They were together, and that was all that mattered.
A/N This is actually the first half of the first chapter of a longer story I am writing. I don't want to start posting the full story until I have more of it written but this part sounded good as a one shot so I decided to post it on its own.