I've recently rediscovered Enterprise, and had forgotten how much I love this show. The friendship between Archer and Tucker is my absolute favorite so of course I had to try my hand at writing it. I see this as taking place somewhere before all the darkness with the Xindi. The story is essentially done, so it should go up fairly quickly. You'll notice elements from certain episode plot lines that I used as inspiration, and small specific references to a couple of episodes. All the usual disclaimers apply - I don't own anything, I'm not an expert of any sort, it's all just for fun, yadda yadda. I hope you enjoy. -abby
"Engineering to Bridge," The voice wasn't one that Archer was used to hearing over the comm system, but he quickly placed it as belonging to Lieutenant Hess. There was thinly veiled tension in her tone.
"Bridge," the captain acknowledged.
"There's been an...accident," Hess said. "Commander Tucker was taken to sickbay."
At the announcement, the on-duty bridge crew straightened and glanced at each other. They all knew how the captain felt about Tucker.
"What happened?" Archer demanded. He was already on his feet.
"I'm not exactly sure. We had the plasma injectors offline for cleaning and there was some sort of a random power surge," the young engineer quickly explained. She hesitated slightly before continuing. "Commander Tucker was...touching a conduit."
For an instant, Archer stopped breathing. He actually felt his lungs seize in his chest. Trip. With an effort, he managed to pull himself together in front of the crew. "I'm on my way to sickbay," he said in clipped tones, ending the communication with Hess and striding toward the lift. "You have the bridge," he tossed at T'Pol as the door slid shut.
It was all Jon could do to keep from running through the corridors as fear churned deep inside him. How many close calls can one person have before their luck finally runs out? A variety of possible outcomes raced through Jon's head, each more worrisome than the last, but he relaxed slightly as he finally entered sickbay and saw that Phlox appeared unhurried. "How is he?"
"I'm still running tests," the doctor was not surprised to see the captain and merely gestured in the direction of the imaging scanner, which was closed and in operation. "Commander Tucker received what appears to have been a moderately severe plasma shock. I am currently trying to determine the extent of the damage to his heart."
"His heart?" Archer's stomach lurched. There was a long pause as Phlox studied the preliminary scan results.
"Any shock can result in severe trauma to a number of human systems, most often disrupting the electrical signals of the heart. Fortunately, despite intermittent arrhythmia there does not appear to be any significant damage to Commander Tucker's sinoatrial node or any of the cardiac tissue," Phlox explained without looking away from the readouts. "I will want to monitor until his sinus rhythm returns to normal, but it appears that his heart is essentially fine." He continued evaluating the scans. "Thankfully, the burns are also less severe than I had anticipated. His head injury looks like the real issue."
"What?" That icy ball of dread in Archer's gut tightened.
"According to Lieutenant Hess, he was thrown backwards and hit his head against a console." Phlox explained. "He has been unresponsive since it happened."
Just then the scanner beeped, signaling the end of its cycle. The door slid open, and Phlox guided the bioscan bed out of the small tube.
Archer noticed the pinched lines at the corners of his friend's eyes, pain obvious even through unconsciousness. Tucker wheezed slightly, his chest heaving with exertion. The right sleeve of his uniform had been cut away at the elbow, but blue bits of the fabric were melted to the angry red burn that extended up the engineer's forearm. Blisters had already formed at the tips of his swollen index and middle fingers, and the palm of his hand looked particularly raw and agonizing. Jon winced.
Phlox followed the captain's gaze. "Do not worry, Captain. It's not as bad as it looks," he said reassuringly. "I will get his arm cleaned up shortly, and although some physical therapy will be required to regain full dexterity in his hand the burns should heal without permanent damage."
Jon breathed a sigh of relief. "How's his head?"
"That is the part that concerns me," the Denobulan admitted with a sigh. "There is bleeding in the cerebral cortex."
"What does that mean?" Archer's worry spiked, and he could feel the pace of his own heart quicken.
"It is difficult to say. The human brain is a mysterious and often unpredictable place," Phlox replied cautiously. "Unfortunately, we will have to wait until Commander Tucker regains consciousness before I can even begin to evaluate the long-term effects of the injury."
"Is he in danger?" The captain didn't even try to mask his concern.
"Not imminently, no. I can stop the bleed from getting worse, but unfortunately I can't reverse the damage. The sooner he wakes up, the better his chances for a full recovery." Phlox replied evenly.
The physician had always prided himself on being forthright regarding a patient's condition, but the look on Archer's face gave him pause. After a momentary deliberation, he opted to not worry the captain unnecessarily by providing all of the possible what-if scenarios. Instead, Phlox made a decision based on previous experience with this specific human - he gave Archer something useful to do. "Please help me move the commander onto one of the other beds where he'll be more comfortable."
Dutifully Jon assisted in lifting Trip's prone form onto a stretcher, then transferring him onto one of the biobeds along the bulkhead. He helped remove the injured man's boots and cut away what was left of his uniform, and Phlox covered the engineer with a blanket. "What else can I do?"
"Here," Phlox reached for an extra pair of gloves, a small basin and a stack of clean towels. He handed them to the captain along with a bottle of antiseptic solution. "You may start cleaning the burns." At the look of concerned surprise he smiled reassuringly and continued, "I've given the commander a strong analgesic. You won't hurt him, I promise."
Just as Phlox knew he would, Archer put his entire focus into the task, carefully and thoroughly bathing his friend's forearm and loosening the fused pieces of uniform before gently easing them free. He kept up a quiet litany throughout, explaining each action and offering soft reassurances despite the engineer's lack of awareness. From time to time he would stop and place a comforting hand on Tucker's chest.
The words were too hushed for Phlox to hear as he bustled around sickbay, analyzing Tucker's detailed test results and preparing a number of hyposprays. However, the doctor discreetly watched the interaction and noticed how the unconscious man seemed to sense the captain's presence. The commander's breathing eased and erratic heartbeat stabilized minutely even as Archer worked.
Not for the first time when observing these two in particular, Phlox wondered at the human capacity for friendship and compassion.
"Very good, Captain," Phlox praised when the task was done. "Couldn't have done it better myself." He administered antibiotics and applied a protective liquid bandage to the burns then stepped back, satisfied. "Thank you for your assistance. He's resting as comfortably as possible. I will notify you immediately once he regains consciousness."
Archer hesitated. "I'll go update Trip's engineering team and T'Pol, then I'll be back."
The Denobulan knew better than to argue. He simply inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Very well. I will see you shortly."
"Let me know if anything changes in the meantime."
"Of course, Captain."