Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Author's Note: I've noticed a couple of reviewers are asking where Soval is. He'll come along later in the story, as in perhaps the chapter after next or soon after. And his role will be minimal. The episode I'm exploring is one of my favorites, and if some of you are getting tired of it, I site another fan favorite, "Carbon Creek". I figure if authors on this site can write about that episode at length, then I can do the same for this one. But don't worry, we'll be moving back to Earth soon. Just bear with me.

Dr. Zareel walked down the sunlit hallway toward Lucy's room, enjoying the dry season sunshine streaming in through the trapezoidal windows that lined the corridor. This hospital was only a five minute ride from the conference center, making it convenient for the human doctors to work with their young patient and for Zareel to pay visits. Ever since Yuris had mentioned that Lucy was awake, the Denobulan doctor had longed to see if she was better. The Vulcan's report didn't daunt him, and he strode quickly down the corridor.

Hardister was, to Zareel's surprise, not in the room, but in his place were Dr. Steward and Dr. Strom, seated on either side of Lucy's bed. Both were silent, each absorbed in reading material, and Zareel soon saw why. Lucy was fast asleep in her bed, her ponytail in disarray over the pillow. The Denobulan pulled up a rolling chair and sat at the foot of her bed, nodding to the other two doctors.

"How is she?" he whispered, and Steward sighed.

"Her sleep cycle is highly irregular. Her father noted how little she was sleeping, and it seems she may be developing narcolepsy."

Zareel frowned. "What brought this on?"

The human doctor paused, glancing at the young girl, watching her diaphragm rise and fall. "In my opinion, she's exhibiting classic signs of acute stress disorder. Once she's awake, I'll run some scans. I'm glad you're here," he said, turning to Strom.

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"The answer should be obvious," Zareel offered. "I've been told she's avoiding Vulcans."

"We'll see how she reacts to you and monitor her physical responses to test my theory," Steward elaborated. "Forgive my candor, but I don't think Oratt is right in his diagnosis. This is so typical of acute stress response, nearly textbook. But those initial scans Phlox ran..."

"The unknown stimulation?" Strom said, his voice unconvincingly neutral.

Steward nodded. "I have never seen something like that before."

"And perhaps it came from an anomaly as Oratt suggested."

"Well, it must have been the most terrifying anomaly on the planet, if her current symptoms are any indication," the human doctor said incredulously.

"It would be...disconcerting to have one's brain addled by an unknown force of nature, wouldn't you agree?" Strom pressed, his voice colder now.

Steward only let out an irritated huff of breath and turned back to his reading, and Strom fell silent as well. Zareel took to watching Lucy, and he noted how much she was shifting and squirming.

"Was she this restless when you got here, doctor?" the Denobulan asked Steward.

Steward nodded. "She's gotten so little rest over the last few days, even if she's squirming like that, she needs all the sleep she can find. Poor thing..."

Strom raised an eyebrow, but made no comment. Zareel stood up and walked over to her bedside, then sat on its side and lightly touched Lucy's shoulder. She moaned softly and turned her head toward his touch, then shifted and moved her hand up toward her neck. Lucy arched her back and moaned again, bending her knees so that her bare legs peeked out from the tousled covers. The Denobulan backed away and sat back down in his chair, staring incredulously at Steward.

"Yes, doctor, like that," the human said softly, glancing at Lucy with concern in his eyes. "Don't know what she's dreaming about...kind of wish I knew."

"Why would you want to know that, doctor?" Strom asked, seemingly affronted.

"Because then I could know a little more about what's troubling her. For humans, dreams can reveal a lot about what a person fears."

Strom stared at Lucy for a moment, his eyes raking over the rumpled blanket and her disheveled hair, and he nodded once in understanding. "An interesting fact, doctor. I was not aware of that."

"Maybe you should encourage her to keep record of her dreams," Zareel suggested.

"She has a dream diary at home," Hardister said, and the three doctors turned to the door to see Lucy's father leaning in the doorframe, his gray eyes focused on his sleeping child. "She writes in it all the time."

"Then encourage her to keep that habit," Zareel pressed, "if you say dreams tell you humans what you fear."

"I'll do what I can," Hardister said. It pained Zareel to hear the man's tired voice; Steward tossed his PADD aside and directed a chiding glare at Lucy's father.

"Gabriel, I told you to get some sleep," he said softly. "We'll make sure your daughter is ok. But you haven't slept in 32 hours. Go. Sleep now," he pressed, his voice growing hard.

Hardister shook his head. "She only sleeps for a few hours a day, and even that is fitful. I've come to see if she's slept more."

"She's been asleep for three hours, Gabriel," Steward said. "And we'll put her under if we have to."

Strom set his PADD in his lap. "Does your daughter often experience nightmares, Dr. Hardister?"

The human doctor shook his head. "No, she always says her dreams are boring. Like being late to class or trying to get to her grandmother's house and never getting there. Stuff like that."

Steward sighed. "Horrible way to get more interesting dreams..."

"What way is that?" the Vulcan asked, a confused expression on his face.

"Well, whatever happened to her, I guess."

Hardister sighed. "So she's dreaming now?"

Steward nodded. "Went into REM about an hour ago. She's been flopping around under those covers ever since. I'm about ready to give her a sedative."

Hardister walked over and glanced at the monitor, then nodded and sighed. "If you believe you've got it under control here, then I will get some sleep."

"Good man, Gabriel. We've got this."

The human doctor nodded again to everyone in the room, but paused at the door to look back at his daughter one last time. Then he left, closing the door behind him.

The room was growing dimmer by the minute as the warm, brilliant sun of the Dekendi system sunk below the horizon. Strom sat in the shadows, absorbed in his thoughts. Steward and Zareel had decided to take a little time away from Lucy's case and eat dinner at a local restaurant, and Hardister was still sleeping, so Strom had volunteered to stay behind and watch over Lucy. She hadn't woken since falling asleep six hours ago, which was a very good thing according to Steward. The Vulcan doctor sat in the deepening twilight, and the darkness eventually forced him to turn on a lamp.

A few minutes after his fellow doctors had left for dinner (over an hour ago), Lucy had made unusually noises in her sleep. The blankets covering her were tangled and disordered in the wake of her fitful rest, and he could have sworn he heard her moaning a few times. And they didn't sound like moans of pain, no...her drawn-out groans made him turn to her sleeping form in complete confusion. What was she dreaming about that made her utter such...sensual noises? Even her movements mimicked that of a woman writhing beneath her lover, and the thought made Strom uncomfortable. But she fell silent and became still after a while, and he turned back to his thoughts.

Steward and Zareel returned after two hours, and Strom promptly sent them both to where they were staying, citing that he would not really need to rest for another eight days. They let him have the night shift and departed, but not before Zareel fetched him some tea.

"Are you hungry, doctor?" the Denobulan asked before heading to the hospital dining hall. Strom shook his head.

"Some tea will do."

Zareel nodded and quickly brought the Vulcan his tea, then left with Steward. The room was wonderfully silent, and Strom folded his hands and submersed himself in his evening mediation.

The evening passed without incident, but two hours after midnight, he heard a gasp beside him. Lucy opened her bright hazel eyes and glanced around at the ceiling, confusion spreading over her features, and Strom quickly rose from his seat and sat on the bed at her side.

"Ms. Hardister?"

She sat up slowly and glanced at him, and he expected her to shrink away as she did before. But she surprised him, only hesitating a minute before a wide grin graced her lips. However, the warm and inviting smile was overtaken by another bout of confusion, and she glanced around in bemusement.

"Where am I?" she whispered. Strom poured her a glass of water and handed it to her, which she accepted without question or protest.

"You are on Dekendi III, in a hospital not far from the Inter-Species Medical Exchange Conference. I'm Dr. Strom. Your father is sleeping at the moment, but I can call for him if you wish."

She stared at him. "Why am I here?" Her voice was flat, expressionless.

He frowned and watched her guzzle the water, then set the empty glass on the bedside table. "You truly do not remember what happened to you?"

It was her turn to frown, and she stared at him, bewildered. "I remember a corridor."

"The corridor you were found it, you mean? The one on the ground level of the conference center?"

She nodded. "Then...darkness. And now here."

Strom stood and walked to the comm near the door, then contacted a nurse, ordering her to fetch Dr. Hardister. Then he returned to his seat by Lucy's bed.

"You were on Enterprise for three days, Ms. Hardister. I visited you along with Dr. Oratt and Dr. Yuris. Do you remember me?"

She stared at him for several seconds, then a light of recognition sparked in her eyes, but was gone within two seconds.

"You sound familiar," Lucy mumbled, tilting her head to one side. "And your eyes..." She paused, then shook her head. "Out of a dream, maybe..."

"I assure you, we have met before." He hesitated, then continued on. "You reacted...quite adversely to my presence."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You tried to strike me, but I managed to prevent you from doing so. And you examined me...you looked into my eyes and calmed down. At least, your violent intentions towards me seemed to disappear."

She gazed down at the tangled blankets, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Blue eyes..." she whispered. Her palms were facing up, and she stared down at them as if the answers she sought were written on her skin.

"Do you remember me?" he pressed, leaning slightly toward her.

She shook her head and remained silent, seemingly fixated with her hands. "Brown eyes..."

Strom breathed in quickly, then leaned further forward. "Do you remember Dr. Yuris? My young Vulcan colleague from whom you fled? He has brown eyes."

She was silent, still staring at her hands, and Strom looked up when Dr. Hardister hurried through the door. He stopped mid-stride and stared at Lucy, who glanced up and smiled at him.

"Hey dad," she said calmly, lifting a hand to wave at him in greeting.

Her father's eyes filled with relief, and he slowly approached her bed, never taking his eyes off of her. "How long has she been awake?"

"Only about five minutes. She seems much more aware of her surroundings then when we last met, but she cannot recall the events after she awoke from her coma."

Hardister frowned, and Lucy turned to Strom with a curious gaze. "Do I have amnesia?"

The Vulcan doctor quirked an eyebrow at her and managed a small smile. "It appears that you do. You're sure you can't remember waking up from your coma? You don't remember me, or Dr. Yuris, or Dr. Oratt?"

Her eyes darkened. "Gray hair...brown eyes...arrogant."

Hardister laughed, and Strom fixed him with a stern gaze, then turned to Lucy again. "You are, of course, free to your own opinion, Ms. Hardister, but he does indeed have gray hair and brown eyes. I assume this means you remember him?"

She glared at the covers. "Oatmeal."

He was utterly confused to her meaning, but her father seemed to understand her. "Yes, he made you eat your breakfast. Remember that, Lucy?"

She nodded, her expression cold. "Arrogant," she murmured, apparently talking to herself. The human habit fascinated Strom, and he tilted his head, his interest peaked. "Respond to that overbearing, good-for-nothing, pompous-"

"Lucy," her father chided. "That's enough. We get the point."

The Vulcan doctor simply raised an eyebrow and stared pointedly at Lucy, but he stood and straightened his clothes. Hardister stepped forward.

"I can watch her from here, doctor. Thank you for volunteering for this."

Strom nodded politely. "I will see you later today," he said curtly, then turned to Lucy again. "And it is good to see you awake and unafraid of me. I never wished to cause you discomfort, and I certainly did not want you to fear me. I assure you, I am not here to hurt you, but to help you."

She stared blankly at him for a moment, then her expression transformed into a joyful grin. She raised the ta'al, and he raised both eyebrows before returning the gesture.

"I will also see you later today, Ms. Hardister. The gesture is appreciated, but you haven't seen the last of me yet," he said, injected a tiny note of warmth in his voice. Her grin widened and she clapped her hands together in apparent glee. Seeing her happy in his presence instead of terrified was a definite improvement, but her careful and limited choice of words concerned him.

However, there were other things he needed to attend to, so he bid the pair farewell and caught a transport back to the conference center.

"I'm pleased you made progress with her, Strom," Yuris said later that morning when they shared tea again. The conference was drawing to a close, and they still had work to do, but the two of them were taking a break so Strom could relay Lucy's new status to him. It had...relieved him to hear that the human girl had smiled at his colleague, had returned somewhat to her former self.

"I met Dr. Zareel early this morning, and he was eager for an update on her as well," Strom continued. "It was strange...he laughed when I said she had smiled at me. He seemed quite pleased."

Yuris frowned. "Laughed how?"

His colleague breathed out a slow breath. "I am no expert in emotions, Yuris. I could no more categorize Dr. Zureel's feelings beyond the simplest of terms than you could."

Yuris nodded. "It is good to hear that she is better, in any case."

Strom was silent for a moment. "She raised the ta'al. When I left her this morning."

The younger Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "Dr. Zureel informed me that Lucy is...fond of alien culture. He even went so far as to categorize her as a xenophile."

Their conversation was interrupted when Oratt strode in. He briefly advised them that Archer had demanded a hearing for T'Pol, and that it would take place the following afternoon; when Strom questioned if such a hearing were legal, Oratt confirmed (albeit reluctantly) that this legal procedure was in the protocols of the Council of Physicians.

The senior physician had plenty of work to do and soon left them alone again, and Strom rose and straightened his shirt, prepared to follow Oratt out the door.

"Are you going to see Lucy again?" Yuris asked before Strom left his desk.

The older doctor nodded. "Yes, this evening I will check on her progress. But there is work to do here, and the hearing to prepare for. The subcommander may have the right to protest, but it won't do her any good. But if you'll accompany me, I could use your assistance on the vaccine research from the Rigelians."

"Certainly," Yuris replied, burying his disappointment and seething anger beneath a veneer of calm. It pleased him that T'Pol had chosen to fight, but the question still remained: at this hearing, would he continue to live this lie that his colleagues had been fed for years? Or would he defend T'Pol, do what was right and make an attempt to rectify his colleagues' prejudices?

The hearing wasn't until tomorrow. He would meditate on this tonight, and decide where he wanted to stand.