Chapter 2

Captain Janeway was sitting in her ready room waiting for the senior staff to arrive for the morning meeting. She had already gotten herself a mug of hot black coffee, and the steam was rising from the cup. But after the first sip, her mind began to wonder back to yesterday. They had discovered a spacial anomaly, and had chosen to investigate it. Once they got close, they began to encounter some fairly intense turbulence. She had ordered Tom to back them off, and as he started to, a violate wave had hit them, knocking quite a few of them away from their stations. Tom had been working hard to back them away, and had been turned in his seat to check on navigation when a particularly violent wave hit them and he had been thrown away from the Conn and hit the deck with force. She still remembered the sound as his head hit the deck. He had immediately been transported to sickbay and had been unconscious for two hours while the Doctor had worked on his injury. She remembered her relief when the Doctor had said he had been able to fix his injuries and that he expected Tom to recover fully. What neither of them had been prepared for was his complete memory loss. She sighed and took a sip from her coffee, which now was lukewarm. She stood and went to the replicator and ordered a fresh cup. As she turned, the doors opened and her senior staff walked in. She returned to the head of the table and they all took their seats around the table.

Ensign Kim looked at the empty seat usually occupied by his best friend Tom Paris and sighed. After his shift yesterday, he had wanted to visit Tom in sickbay, but the Doc had forbid any visitors, and he had not been able to see how Tom was. The Doc wouldn't even give him any information on Tom's condition other than he was going to be okay, but Harry was sure there was something wrong. The Doc had sounded worried and he knew that if the Doc was worried that something was going on. He looked around at the others in the room and saw that they were worried too. Even Tuvok seemed to have a thoughtful look on his face. Harry just hoped that Tom would be alright. He returned his attention to the Captain as she stood and said

"Before we begin, I want to get the Doctor on for an update on Mr. Paris' condition."

She activated the screen,and the Doctor's face came on. She noticed he still looked worried, and she continued.

"Doctor, can you give us an update on Tom?"

The Doctor was sitting in his office and turned to looked into the main room, but then returned his attention to the senior staff and said.

"Mr. Paris is still sleeping. He had a peaceful night and only woke once. Even though his vital signs are stable and he seems to be healing, his condition has not changed."

He looked straight at Janeway and she knew he meant that Tom still had not regained his memory. She sighed and nodded.

"Once Mr. Paris is awake, I will be releasing him to his quarters. He has continued to improve today. I think its a good idea though that he not be alone. Perhaps Mr. Kim would be able to help him settle in?"

"Of course Doctor. Comm me when Tom is ready to go to his quarters and I will have Mr. Kim escort him."

She ended the link and looked around the table to her officers. They all looked as if they wanted to ask questions about the pilot. She continued

"What the Doctor didn't mention is that although Tom is recovering from his head injury, there is a complication."

Harry looked at the captain with a worried face and said

"Captain whats wrong with Tom? The Doc said he was okay, but then he seemed concerned."

Captain Janeway took in his worried face and smiled at the Ensign. He was Tom's best friend and she could see his worry. Of all present, she knew the bond between these two friends was strong. Harry looked up to Tom and she knew Tom thought of Harry as the little brother he never had. She just hoped that Harry would be able to deal with Tom's memory loss.

"Tom has lost his memory."

At this she heard the gasp from several people around the room. Both Harry and Be'lanna looked worried and Chakotay looked up at her and said.

"He's lost his memory? How far back does it go?"

"All the way it seems. He doesn't remember anything that has happened in his life. The only thing he said is he remembers being in a meadow watching clouds in the sky. I don't know if its a memory from his childhood or if its recent. He seemed very upset and confused last night and was in pain so I didn't go into any depth, but I'd like to request that we all go slow and help Tom back to his memories and to us."

She again looked at Harry and continued.

"Harry, I'd like you to stay with Tom tonight to help him get adjusted. Once the Doctor releases him I want you to help him through this. Be patient with him. He's going to have a hard time as it is."

Harry nodded but was troubled. He was really worried now. Tom's memory was gone. How would Tom react to him? Would they still be friends? He knew that Tom had worked hard these last four years to earn a place with this crew and with the exception of a very few people he was now well liked by most of the crew. He had shown on more times than one that he was willing to protect the ship and crew without thought of his own safety. Even Chakotay was now a friend and, though not a close one, he knew that the first officer respected the pilot. All he wanted to do now was help his friend through this and hoped that Tom could regain his memories.

He woke and wondered where he was for a moment. As his eyes opened he remembered that he was on a starship and in sickbay. He cautiously raised his head and was grateful that he had no pain. But to his sorrow he still could not remember who he was. He noticed that the lights in sickbay were dimmer that they were last night and no one seemed to be there. He looked around the room and noticed that the Doctor was in what seemed to be an office looking intently at a computer screen. As he watched, the Doctor turned off the screen and got up and walked out of his office. At first he didn't notice that Tom was awake, but then he looked over to his patient and saw Tom looking at him.

"Mr. Paris...you're awake, good."

The Doctor walked over to him and took his tricorder and scanned the young man. After looking at the readings, he continued

"You seem to be healing nicely,Tom How do you feel?"

"I feel better,Doc, no more pain, but I still can't remember anything. It's really scary not to know who you are. Is this going to last?"

The Doctor looked into his blue eyes and he saw concern...and fear. It made him a little uneasy as he had no straight answer for him. The truth was he didn't know for sure if Tom would ever get his memory back. Time would only tell.

"Mr. Paris, I understand your...concern. At this time I can not even determine why you lost your memory. Until we can find out why this has happened, I can not tell you if this is something we can correct."

He saw the look of defeat on Tom's face and decided to try and lighten the mood.

"In the meantime Tom we just need to run some tests to see if we can figure this out."

He laid his hand on Tom's shoulder and saw that his blue eyes got a little sparkle in them. Softly he said

"Thanks Doc I really appreciate your kindness to me. I hope I can repay you soon."

He gave him a little smile, and the Doctor saw a little of the old Tom Paris, but then his face sobered and he settled back down onto the bed.

Alpha Shift was almost over, and Harry was anxious for his shift to end. He wanted to get Tom home to his quarters and talk. He wanted to help Tom get his memory back so he could get back on the bridge. He missed him and his wit on the bridge. Now he only had twenty minuets till he could leave. He was planning on stopping by his quarters to pick up some overnight things as he planned to spend the night with Tom. Since they were best friends, they both had each others codes so Harry was going to drop off his overnight bag at Tom's then head to sickbay to pick him up.

Tom was a little nervous. The Doctor had told him that he was being released to his quarters and that the man that was his best friend was going to come pick him up and take him home. The Doc had told him his name was Ensign Harry Kim but the name meant nothing to him. He had tried to picture the Ensign in his mind, but nothing came to him. Now he was dressed and sitting on the side of the bed, his legs swinging back and forth. It was a typical Tom Paris trait, and the Doctor noticed the movement. He was getting a couple of hypo sprays for pain ready for them to take with them just in case Tom had any problems. He also got one ready with a sleep aide in case the need came up. As he was turning around,the doors to sickbay opened and he saw Ensign Kim come through the doors.

At the sound of the of the doors opening, Tom turned to see who was entering. He saw a young man dressed in black slacks and a cream colored shirt. He tried to determine if the person was familiar but nothing came to him. He noticed the smile that came to the face and he returned a small smile himself. The man walked over to Tom and said

"Tom I'm so glad to see you're feeling better. You really gave us a scare yesterday."

Tom looked at him with a slight frown on his face as if he was trying to remember something. After a few seconds, his face changed and he looked up at Harry and sighed

"I'm...um...sorry, I don't really remember what happened...in fact, I don't remember anything that's happened."

He hung his head in defeat, and Harry couldn't help noticing the complete openness on his friends face. Then he realized he was seeing Tom with none of his defensive walls up. This was a completely different Tom Paris, no walls,no cockiness, just Tom. Harry knew that his cocky flyboy persona was only Tom's way of keeping people at arms length. In the four years he had known the pilot, he had learned that Tom had endured a lot of pain in his young life..more than anyone should have to go through and now he was seeing the real Tom. No defenses at all, just a softer man. Harry found he liked this Tom a lot and hoped that when he got his memory back, he would keep those long cultivated defenses down.

The Doctor move over to the two men and handed Harry the hypo-sprays and said

"Here you are Mr. Kim, two of these are pain killers and the third contains a sleep aide just in case Mr. Paris needs help sleeping."

He turned to Tom and continued

"I want you back here tomorrow at 0900 for more tests. Mr. Kim will be spending the night with you just in case you have any problems. If you do, I expect you back here tonight. Now you and Mr. Kim can leave. I hope you have a good night."

Tom gave the Doctor a grin and said

"Thanks Doc, you've been most kind to me and I appreciate it. See you in the morning."

Harry was a little taken aback with this as he knew Tom hated being in sickbay. This was certainty as different Tom. He turned to Tom and laid his hand on his shoulder and said

"Come on Tom, lets get you home."

They turned and left sickbay leaving the Doc to watch them leave and hoping that things would be okay tonight.

TBC