Scotty and Nyota were both put in sickbay's decompression chamber in an attempt to minimize the damage that would be done. Since they were both still unconscious, the rest of the crew had to try to piece together what had happened without any first-hand accounts. Kirk and Spock compared notes on what they'd found out so far while they made their way from the bridge to sickbay.

"The forward section of the Shuttle completely decompressed," Jim reported, looking at data on a PADD. Spock nodded.

"Scans revealed two significant hull breaches on the forward section, in addition to several smaller breaches."

"The rear compartment was sealed off with Uhura and Scotty inside, while Lieutenant Clark and Crewman Anderson were in the forward section. I want to know why they didn't make it to the rear as well."

"The investigation team is currently going over the data recorder from the shuttle. Among other things, they were directed to learn where the door was sealed from – the front or the rear control panel. If the rear panel was damaged, then someone would have had to remain in the forward section."

"Are there numbers yet on how quick this was happening?" Kirk asked.

Spock checked his PADD. "Given the size of the hull breaches, they would have had approximately twenty seconds before the pressurization dropped to a level that would cause a loss of consciousness."

The turbolift doors opened as they arrived on the correct deck. "Am I right that those gravimetric distortions you picked up caused this?"

"It would not be logical to select a cause this early in the investigation, before all possibilities have been equally considered."

"What other possibilities is the team looking at?"

"Given the fact that the two largest breaches were in the same area, failure of a component within the ship may also be possible."

"I want to know for certain. If there's a problem with our shuttlecraft, I want them grounded until it's taken care of. And if traveling through this area of space is going to kill people, then I want to set up beacons to warn other ships away."

"Agreed. The team will submit their preliminary findings to you at 2100 hours."

McCoy was waiting inside sickbay, ready to brief them on his latest patients. "We won't know the full extent of their injuries until they awaken," he explained. "We didn't see any evidence of paralysis or other serious physical injury, but Lieutenant Uhura will likely have hearing damage."

"Permanent?" Kirk asked.

"I don't know yet. I want to give the tissue of her eardrums a chance to heal on its own. That could take a few weeks."

"Weeks?" the Captain asked. "You can't regenerate it faster?"

"I'd rather hold off on that option. This isn't the same as patching up a cut. In order to minimize the damage to her hearing, it's better to try the natural way first…They'll be in the chamber for another few hours. I'll let you know once they're awake."

"I would like to stay," Spock asserted in a tone that neither Kirk nor McCoy dared to argue with.

The ship was changing over to the night shift by the time that Nyota awakened. Spock hadn't left sickbay once all evening. Scotty was already up and asking for his walking papers, but it wouldn't be that simple for the ship's communications officer.

When her eyes opened, she was puzzled to see the ceiling of sickbay, since she didn't immediately remember what had happened. A few images quickly flashed through her mind – red warning lights, broken panels and conduits, fire…it was all a haze.

As her vision cleared, she realized that Spock was sitting beside her and had quickly noticed that she was awake. She tried to speak, but her throat felt like sandpaper. "Hi," was all she was able to manage on a first attempt – but she didn't hear it. Her face drew in confusion. "Spock?" she asked, but again couldn't hear her own voice. As the fog of sleep quickly lifted from her brain, she realized that she couldn't hear anything else in the room around her, either – no machinery, no gentle hum of the engines, nothing. Fear shot through her body; what had happened? What was wrong with her? The universe had gone completely silent!

Spock gently put a hand on Nyota's shoulder as she tried to sit up, keeping her from moving too quickly in her weakened state. "I can't hear," she told him, her voice getting louder with each word. "I can't hear anything!" He said something, trying to stop her from getting up, but all she could see was that his mouth was moving. Oh no, oh no, oh no...

Their voices had gotten McCoy's attention, and he quickly approached with a PADD, which he put in Nyota's hands. She read the message that he'd scrawled on the screen in anticipation of her awakening: 'Calm down. You were in an accident with a shuttle, but you're going to be all right. Do you remember what happened?'

"It's kind of mixed up at the moment," she replied aloud, thinking hard. "We ran into…some anomaly. The shuttle started to decompress…My eardrums blew, didn't they?" McCoy nodded before taking the PADD back to write something else: 'The perforations should heal in a few weeks. You're lucky to be alive. Get some rest tonight and we'll run more tests in the morning.' Nyota nodded, and he left her and Spock alone.

"I don't like this," she commented, concentrating hard on whether she could hear the words at all. There was nothing.

Spock almost forgot and began speaking to her. He took the PADD and started to write something, but stopped mid-sentence. Exactly what was he supposed to say in this situation? At a total loss, he put the device down on the console by her bed and simply lay down beside her. Nyota curled up in his arms.

"Don't leave," she told him. "Please." He held her closer.

TBC...

A/N: I'm an engineer, not a doctor, so if I mess up the medical stuff - sorry!

A/N 2: Thanks again for all of the feedback that has been sent. I've been continually amazed to see through this site how huge of an impact this movie has had! I really don't think I've ever seen anything like it before (or maybe I just haven't been reading in the right categories). I'm very grateful for everyone who has shared suggestions for the story or just left a note about how much they liked the pairing or the movie.