Disclaimer: Enterprise belongs to Paramount, not me.


Chapter 8

Every inch of his body was throbbing, but at least the tightening in his chest was gone and he could finally breathe easy again. Trip listened to the sounds around him, not quite ready to open his eyes. He could clearly see the images of pain on Jonathan and Malcolm's faces in his mind. They had been so terrified when he started to throw up blood and moan in pain as his heart contracted. He didn't want to see them yet. Faintly, Trip could hear the sound of his own heartbeat through the monitor. Everything else was quiet. Then Trip's ears picked up the sound of someone coughing quietly. He wasn't alone. Biting back the fear, Trip slowly opened his eyes. His vision was hazy for a moment and he blinked, trying to figure out where he was. At first all he could see were the wires coming from a heavy bandage on his chest. Lifting his hand, he felt the breathing tube on his face and Trip wanted to pull it out.

"That's not a good idea Trip," the accented voice teased.

Malcolm was seating on a chair beside him, flipping through a comic book and it looked as if he hadn't slept in a long time. A rough smile had caught the corners of his mouth, pulling them up slightly. Malcolm took Trip's hand and gentled removed it from his face.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel like a shuttle pod landed on me and then flew away, only to come back and land on me again."

Malcolm laughed softly, shaking his head and closing the comic. "I doubt you should feel much better than that. You gave us quite a scare."

Trip tried to remember what happened, but parts of his capture were still fuzzy. He didn't recall them doing anything to his heart, but that didn't mean he wasn't drugged and made to forget. It was probably good that he couldn't remember. The last memory on Enterprise he'd had was of being taken into this room and Doctor Phlox looming above him with worry etched into his features before everything faded.

"What did they do to me?" he asked, trying to keep the emotion from his voice, but some choked out.

"They put a cloaked device in one of the chambers of your heart. If your heartbeat rose too much, it would cause your heart rate to be irregular. It seems that it was also designed to cause heart failure when it couldn't stop your heart from speeding up. You had a heart attack in my quarters and the device malfunctioned, making it visible to Phlox's scanners. He had no choice but to operate."

"How long did the surgery last?"

"Seven hours; Captain Archer, T'Pol and I waited in sickbay. You've been in a coma for two days. Doctor Phlox didn't know if you would survive, but after twelve hours you slowly began to stabilize."

Trip nodded, looking over at the IV connected to his hand and wished that Phlox would come to give him more medication. He glanced over at Malcolm again, who was sitting with his hand on his forehead. These past days hadn't been good to him; he didn't appear healthy and seemed to be exhausted. The door to the ICU slid open, admitting Doctor Phlox and a pale Jonathan. They both had smiles on their faces, though it seemed as if Jon could fall asleep at any second. The Denobulan went to work checking Trip's stats and administering some more pain reliever into his bloodstream. He relaxed slightly, feeling so much lighter knowing that his heart was mending and that the truth was out in the open. Well, his heart was healing physically. He still had a long way to go before the nightmares would stop coming and he could begin to heal emotionally. Trip gave Jonathan a warm smile, feeling the first true happiness he'd felt since he arrived back on Enterprise.

"How are you feeling?" Jonathan inquired, giving Trip's hand a squeeze.

"Much better. I feel like I could take on a ship of Klingons," Trip attempted to joke.

"That's probably Phlox's special drugs talking, not you," Malcolm replied with a smile on his face.

"Probably is, but it sure is nice."

Phlox checked the IV bag. "Do you feel up to a little water? The last toxin in your blood that was connected to the device in your heart and your nausea has been removed from your body. Once you become well enough hydrated, I'll be able to remove the IV."

Trip nodded and Phlox poured him a glass of water from the pitcher on the nightstand next to the bio-bed. The water wasn't very cold, but it felt good on his parched throat and for once he didn't feel like tossing his cookies so to speak. Phlox only let him have a small drink before setting the glass on the nightstand again.

"How do you feel?" Phlox asked; the third person to ask in five minutes.

"Absolutely wonderful, but I could take a long nap."

"I'm not sure how you can sleep so much," Malcolm teased.

"You should probably sleep more Cap'n and you too Mal," Trip slurred, closing his eyes as the medication kicked in fully. "You guys look like crap."

"The coffee calling the kettle black," Jon muttered under his breath. "We'll try to get some sleep, but you better keep getting better." Trip heard the small choke in his voice and realized how much he'd hurt his friend by not letting Jon help him through this. He vowed never to do it again. "You promise?"

"Of course Jon," Trip whispered. "I promise."

"The Commander needs more rest," Phlox declared. "You can both visit him tomorrow after he's had more sleep. He's out of danger now. I strongly suggest that you head to the mess hall, eat and then get at least six hours of rest. Do I make myself clear?"

There must have been a nodding of heads for Trip couldn't see their reply. He had the best of friends and even though he failed them, they would never abandon him. The ICU went quiet and Trip assumed that he was alone. He let out a sigh and attempted to role unto his side, but was stopped by the wires.

"Are you certain that you will be alright by yourself?" Malcolm asked quietly.

Trip opened his eyes and glanced over at the door where his friend was standing. He looked so weary of life, deserving of rest and reassurance. Trip gave him his best smile and lifted a heavy hand off the bio-bed in a fist.

"I'm never alone with Malcolm Reed at my back. Keep your shirt on Loo-tenant."

Malcolm smiled and disappeared out the door. Trip closed his eyes, finally knowing that he could recover and join the world of the living again. He had a lot more planets to set foot on. Those traumatic moments can scar us deeply if we let them, but if we keep trying then we can survive.


"You look pretty good for an almost dead guy," Jonathan joked, seeing Trip sitting up on his bio-bed.

It had been five days since the surgery and Phlox had moved him to the regular part of sickbay, finally allowing other visitors. Hoshi and Travis had been the first there. Hoshi cried tears of joy that Trip was getting better and she insisted that movie night was horrible without him. The aftereffects of the heart surgery were very minimal and Trip was recovering nicely without the device or the toxin in his systems. But the memories didn't fade. His nightmares were frequent and occasionally Malcolm noticed that Trip was thinking about other things that he couldn't understand. It was a long recovery road that they had begun, though today was a big step. Phlox was discharging him from sickbay to his quarters.

"Are you ready to break out of here?" Jon asked, sitting down next to him.

"You have no idea. I'm ready to sleep on an actual bed and maybe get some work done. I haven't even seen my engines in weeks. I don't know how you've kept the ship together without me."

Jonathan laughed before patting him on the shoulder. "Malcolm; that's who has been keeping the ship together. I've caught him on double shifts twice and sent him to bed. I'm beginning to feel like his mother."

There was a long pause as Trip thought of his last moments speaking with Malcolm before the incident in the shuttle pod and his disappearance.

"Does he feel guilty?" Trip muttered after a few minutes.

"No, I don't believe so. I think that Lieutenant Reed is in good shape; he just needs a little less stress from a certain engineer that I know."

Trip smiled again and watched as Phlox came over to him with his famous almost creepy grin. Everything must have checked out okay in his last bio-scan. The doors to sickbay opened, admitting T'Pol and Malcolm in their uniforms. Without speaking, both came to stand next to Trip's bed to wait for Doctor Phlox to give them the news.

"Commander, you are free to go to your quarters. I would like you to check in twice a day and make sure that you get sufficient nutrition. Your weight is still lower than it should be for you to be healthy. Your heart is functioning perfectly. I don't want to see you until after dinner," Phlox announced in a joyful voice.

"Sounds good to me, Doc. Thanks again for everything."

"Just try to stay out of trouble Commander," the Denobulan teased.

Trip slowly got off the bio-bed, grateful that he'd decided to stick with civilian clothing since his uniform wouldn't have been comfortable. It felt wonderful to be standing on his two feet. He swayed slightly and Malcolm steadied him. As a group they all walked out of sickbay and Trip couldn't wipe the smile off of his face if he wanted to.


Thanks for reading! There is one more chapter, maybe two if I can't fit everything in the next chapter. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and don't worry; Trip hasn't healed in a miracle transformation. He has a long way to go emotionally and it shouldn't seem rushed. Please leave a review! Also, I have a poll on my profile that you are welcome to vote in about my next Enterprise fanfic.

And lunaz… I am very pleased that you would read something I wrote more than once. :)

Emma