Author's Note: Please see notes in the first chapter.

XXX

"So, she will get her memory back?" Trip asked as he sat calmly in the doctor's office. He too had been given a sedative to calm down.

"Possibly," the doctor said as she looked at T'Pol's file.

Trip turned to look at Phlox for more answers.

"Head injuries are…unpredictable," Phlox explained. "Time will tell."

"Time…" Trip mumbled.

"Can…is there anything that can be done to trigger her memories?" Jon asked as he leaned toward the doctor's desk.

"Getting back to the life she knew before the accident would help," Phlox explained as the Mercuio doctor nodded her head in agreement.

"Routines are important," the Mercuio doctor added.

"So back to Enterprise?" Trip asked, hopeful.

"Back to what her life was like prior to the accident," the Mercuio doctor agreed. "Phlox will monitor her, but there's no reason why she cannot function in her job."

"T'Pol received all her training prior to the accident so I don't question her faculties in that sense," Jon hedged. "But as a person, she has grown and changed from our encounters with other life forms, our close calls and…"

"She will adapt," Phlox coaxed. "And who knows? She could have her memory back in a few days, or hours, for that matter."

"Hours," Trip said softly as he looked at T'Pol's file sitting on the doctor's desk on a PADD. "May I?"

"Of course," the doctor said as she offered the PADD to Trip.

Everyone sat in silence as he looked through it. Whole minutes passed while Phlox and Jon exchanged looks and the doctor sat placidly watching Trip.

"Her scans indicate the swelling has disappeared," Trip noted. "And the signs of concussion have all but vanished."

"Besides some bruising and her broken arm, she's in good health," the Mercuio doctor smiled at Trip.

Trip tapped the PADD and started to read again.

"What area of the brain is responsible for memory?" Trip asked as he looked at a map of her brain.

"The limbic system," Phlox said. "It is the area we know the least about still, so understanding long term damage is…not precise."

Trip nodded and tapped the PADD a few more times.

"When can she come back to Enterprise?" Jon asked, breaking the silence.

"Our best estimate is two days," the Mercuio doctor said.

"And she will be…?" Jon started.

"It says here that she's not on birth control," Trip interrupted as he looked at the file. "She was though, I saw her take it myself, once a month."

"We found evidence of birth control in her system but, when interviewed, she insisted she was not sexually active, as she was not married," the doctor said kindly.

"Well she is, married, that is," Trip said under his breath.

"Understand Mr. Tucker, that this is a huge adjustment for her," the doctor explained. "In her mind and memory, it's four years ago. I'm not sure what your relationship was like then but…"

"Not good," Trip huffed.

"Was that around the time you read her mail? That you threatened to kill her from the pollen?" Jon inquired.

"Uh, yeah," Trip said as he wiped across his forehead.

"Christ," Jon muttered under his breath.

"Doc, what else can we do to get her to remember?" Trip asked, ignoring the ramifications of a four-year lapse in memory.

"Daily routines," Phlox said. "Maybe some pictures, some things to read, stories others may share…"

Trip nodded as his mind raced for ideas to get her to remember.

"She'll remember," Jon said as he softly patted Trip on the back.

"I wonder if she remembers my advice to not marry Koss?" Trip asked his friend.

"You advised her back then?" Jon asked, surprised.

"She asked," Trip explained. "Because I had already read her communication with Koss, she felt it best to not include others, so she asked me what I thought. I told her she seemed to like being on board Enterprise and she should make up her own mind about who she wants to marry. I'm not sure if her memory includes that. Because she did take my advice and called it off with Koss. Christ, what if she thinks she's still supposed to marry Koss?"

"She won't," Jon said as he cupped Trip's shoulder. "She…"

"She doesn't even know about Elizabeth, about the attack on Earth, Surak…" Trip mumbled.

"You'll share that all with her," Jon said softly.

"In due time," Phlox added. "Her neural cortex is already overwhelmed. Slow and steady everyone."

"Slow and steady," Trip mumbled as he slowly stood. "I better get back to her. Hoshi was filling her in on some lighter stories, I think."

"Everyone is here to support you and T'Pol, Commander," Phlox said kindly.

"Thanks," Trip mumbled softly before he took a deep breath and walked toward T'Pol's room.

As he approached her room he heard Hoshi speaking in Vulcan to T'Pol and his wife replying. He knew very little Vulcan, most of it technical language, but heard his name from Hoshi and what sounded like a question from T'Pol. Trip waited while Hoshi, rather hesitantly, replied to T'Pol's question. Silence filled the room and Trip took that as his opportunity to join them.

"How are we doing?" Trip asked as he walked inside.

"We're uh, we're fine," Hoshi said as she stood and exchanged a look with T'Pol. "Just…just catching up."

"Are you hungry?" Trip asked T'Pol. "Chef sent down some plomeek soup that we've managed to keep in stasis."

T'Pol looked at him surprised by the thoughtfulness. "Thank you, Commander. I would like some."

Hoshi watched Trip wince at his title and stifle his disappointment.

"Why don't I go get that?" Hoshi said as she touched Trip's arm and left the room.

Trip walked over to the chair next to her bed and sat down on it slowly.

"Your last memory was in your quarters?" Trip asked her.

"Yes, I was about to communicate with Koss' parents," T'Pol said assuredly.

"And what were you going to say to them?" Trip asked, hesitantly.

"I was going to accept their offer to schedule the ceremony," T'Pol said. "I would leave Enterprise and return t Vulcan on the T'Mir."

"So, we hadn't spoken yet?" Trip asked as he rubbed at his beard.

"Spoken?" T'Pol asked.

"You know I read the letter, right?" Trip asked.

"Yes, you apologized," T'Pol nodded.

"Well, later that day, you asked me to your quarters to get my advice on the matter," Trip explained.

T'Pol looked at him confused. "Why would I do that?"

"Maybe because you were having doubts?" Trip asked her. "Anyways, I told you to think of what you wanted for your own life."

"Vulcans are duty-bound and…"

"After our conversation you called off your wedding with Koss," Trip explained.

"I would never inflict that shame on my family," T'Pol gasped.

"Well, I'm not sure how your folks took it, but you didn't marry Koss…then," Trip amended and cursed himself for his wording.

"Then?" T'Pol asked with an arched eyebrow.

Hoshi interrupted her question as she walked into the room with some heated Plomeek broth for T'Pol.

"I hope the stasis unit didn't kill the flavor," Hoshi said with a smile. "It smells amazing."

T'Pol sat up a little in her bed and waited while Hoshi placed the soup before her.

"Thank you, Ensign," T'Pol nodded to her.

Hoshi nodded back. "I'll see you soon."

Hoshi gave Trip a quick hug and then left them alone.

"Koss," T'Pol reminded Trip.

Trip closed his eyes and sighed.

"You did marry him, a couple of years later, out of obligation," Trip explained. "But, you ended your marriage shortly afterwards."

"That seems highly illogical," T'Pol said, affronted.

"Darlin, you are the most logical person I've ever met, but even you need a break from it, from time to time," Trip smiled at her.

"Please refrain from using your familiar terminology when…" T'Pol started.

"T'Pol," Trip said annoyed. "We're married. You are my wife. I am your husband. I call you darlin' and honey all the time. The doctors said you need to get back to your routine, so you'll remember. Logically, that incudes not referring to each other as Commander and Sub-Commander."

T'Pol narrowed her eyes and looked at him.

"It also includes not blocking me in our bond," Trip said as he narrowed his eyes as well.

She sat back slightly and crossed her arms over her lap. "I don't know what you are speaking of."

Trip huffed loudly. "You know exactly what I am speaking of. If anything should prove to you that we're in a relationship, it's that."

T'Pol sat and stared at him in silence for a few moments before she spoke. It reminded him of the arguments they used to get into, years ago.

"You may call me T'Pol," T'Pol said. "I will call you Charles."

"You call me Trip," Trip amended.

"I cannot do that," T'Pol sighed.

"T'Pol…" Trip started.

"I am trying," T'Pol interrupted him. "But you have to allow me some lenience. You and everyone else seem to know more about me than I do. Can you imagine how emotionally trying that is for a Vulcan?"

Trip closed his eyes and dropped his head to his chest.

"I'm sorry," he said softly as he took her hand. He pretended he didn't feel her stiffen at contact. "I just want my T'Pol back, that's all."

"Your T'Pol?" T'Pol asked.

"The woman who teased me with her dry humor, the woman who would reach out to me through our bond when I was tired or hungry, T'Pol who pretended to not like goofball comedies but laughed in our bond at the slapstick jokes as we watched, my T'Pol who I love and who loves me in return, the…the woman who…who doesn't cringe when I touch her." Trip said, his voice cracking.

T'Pol closed her eyes and sighed; humans were emotionally draining. It was a complete mystery to her why she tied herself to any human, never mind this emotional and volatile one. But she had looked at the paperwork, she was T'Pol Tucker. Hoshi had confirmed some other details about her relationship with Commander Tucker as well. And the video footage that was recovered from the blast showed the two of them casually walking together and standing closely, intimately. And, there was also the bond she was blocking; it was too much to deal with externally, never mind in her own mind. No, that would have to wait.

T'Pol looked at the upset man before her and tried another tactic to calm the situation.

"Tell me about Movie Night," T'Pol said as she watched him look at her confused.

TBC