Romaine

A/N: Okay, whoever has clicked on this story, know that it is ON HOLD. I encourage you to still read it and story alert it so that when I continue (and I WILL) you'll know. Just a warning, though.

The ship shook fiercely. The Romaine, a science vessel formerly exploring a nebula in the Gamma Quadrant, was a mess. The crew were trying to survive an unexpected attack from a Cardassian warship. That last volley of shots nearly destroyed them. Most systems were offline, life support and environmental controls were at minimum, and-

"Warp core breach in one minute." The computer cautioned in its ever calm voice.

"We need to reroute more power to antimatter containment!" An engineer shouted.

"From where, life support?" An Ensign replied, exasperated.

"We'll die from the warp core blowing up before lack of oxygen!" He reasoned.

"Warning. Microfractures detected."

"A little too late, eh?" The desperate voice continued.

"Who's injured?" The helmsman asked, jogging in. He was considered a field medic, apparently.

"All of us, more or less. But we don't need medical help, this core is about to breach and we need more hands!" A lieutenant voiced.

"How can I help?" He asked, sighing.

"Find a way to vent the plasma!" The Chief ordered.

"I'm not an engineer..." The Lt. Commander muttered as he rushed to controls. "I must have seen B'elanna do this at least once..." He muttered, and pressed a sequence of buttons. The situation only got worse.

"What do you think you're doing?" An Ensign screamed at him. "You just realigned the conduits to emit tachyon particles!"

"Look, I told you I'm not an Engineer! I don't even know why I stayed!"

"Well then get out to an escape pod, because-"

"Warp Core Breach in thirty seconds." The computer warned. The Ensign nodded at the recording to suppose that's what she was going to say.

"Paris to all hands! Get to the escape pods, now!" He yelled out, gesturing everyone to get out of engineering. Suddenly the ship shook violently, causing many people to stumble and even fall over. 'The Cardassians are still firing?' Paris wondered, and grabbed onto whatever was solid, which, unfortunately, wasn't self-supporting. He managed to fall right on his neck, rendering himself unconscious...

"Tom..." Someone distant called. He couldn't move. Why couldn't he move?

"I don't believe he can hear us quite yet..." A different voice echoed. Where was he? A few seconds ago he was on the U.S.S. Romaine...

"He's regaining consciousness, Doctor." Still someone else said. Why were there so many people in here?

A touch. He felt a human touch. On his left cheek. He couldn't reach out for it... Why couldn't he move!

"Tom..." The feminine voice came back. It somehow... soothed him. He was still confused though, and with a sting at his neck he could move again. Well, somewhat. He had control over his head, for now. He opened his eyes and adjusted to the blaring light. Through the blur, he could recognize the woman at his side, hand touching his face.

"B-B'elanna?" He stuttered, voice weak.

"Tom..." She repeated, a slight smile on her face, but tears in her eyes. He couldn't quite make out whether she was happy or sad. He blinked rapidly, trying to see more clearly. She was definitely concerned. He cleared his throat before speaking again.

"What happened? Why am I in restraints?"

"Well, as you probably know, there was an attack on the Romaine."

"Yeah, the Cardassians." He clarified, though she gave him a look that said 'Who's telling the story? You or me?' and he shut his mouth promptly.

"You fell on your spine," B'elanna continued, voice cracking at the last word. "and got knocked out... you're lucky Ensign Taber was willing to go after you, 183 people died of the 230 who were accounted for. Apparently she was angry with you for releasing tachyon particles into the dilithium mixture during the warp core breach. Can't say I blame her, that was basically suicide." She pointed out, making Tom roll his eyes. She always had to give him lessons in Engineering.

"Anyways..." B'elanna went on, lowering her voice. "What I mean to say is... you're not in restraints."

"What are you talking abou-" He began, but was shushed by B'elanna.

"When you fell, a few shattered vertebrae punctured your spinal cord, and unfortunately the tachyon radiation is interfering with treatment. I don't know how long it will be until we can proceed with the surgery, I'm no doctor, but right now they're diagnosing you as tetraplegic."

A/N: There's an easy 47 reference in this chapter. Whoever finds it gets a replicated cookie!