Tegan Chronicles STV Style 2:
Rolling in the Deep 10
Janeway dropped quietly into the chaise that was positioned at the foot of her bed where she could easily keep an eye on Tegan. She asked B'Elanna to sit with her for an hour while she checked on some things. When she returned she managed to drift into a light sleep herself for a couple hours before waking with a dry mouth for which there was only one cure, the sweet black hot nectar of the Gods. She quietly slipped out of the bedroom and into her living area. "Computer coffee black and hot."
She picked up the mug and took a long comfortable sip of the warm liquid before taking a step toward the bedroom. She was glad she was mid step and not still mid sip when the piercing scream tore from the lungs of the woman in the next room. She placed the mug on the low coffee table and ran into the bedroom as another 'no' sliced through the air.
"Tegan?" She slowed her approach once she hit the threshold and realized she was still in the throes of sleep. She sank onto the edge of the bed her hip at Tegan's thigh as she moaned almost mournfully. "Tegan." Her voice was firmer as she reached out and shook her gently, but the woman didn't wake. She reached up and tapped her combadge. "Janeway to the Doctor."
"I'm a little busy at the moment Captain."
If she hadn't known he was with a laboring mother she would have ripped him a new one right there. "So am I Doctor. Tegan is—"
"Nooooo!"
"I didn't quite catch that Captain. I did hear Dr. Kiser loud and clear though. I'm afraid Hayley is being a better patient at the moment."
"That's the thing Doctor, she's asleep and I can't wake her."
"I'll send someone up with a hypospray to counteract the sedative I gave her. Doctor out."
Janeway tried waking her again and then just held her hand tightly while she waited what seemed like an eternity but was really no more than five minutes, the amount of time it took Tuvok to leave the bridge, retrieve the hypospray and arrive at her door.
"Captain." He held the injector out to her as Tegan let out another scream that turned the blood in their veins to ice.
Janeway released her hand and took the injector. She held it firmly against her neck before pressing the injection button.
It took only a second for Tegan to gasp as her eyelids popped open to reveal confused green irises. She moved back and away from Janeway as if she had some kind of highly contagious illness.
"It's ok." Janeway touched her forearm. "You were having a bad dream."
She looked from her to Tuvok and back before nodding slowly.
"Would you like me to stay Captain?"
"No, thank you Tuvok." She waited until she had heard the door close behind him to speak again. "I can get B'Elanna to retrieve the frog from your quarters if you need it."
The offer was sincere without the slightest hint of a grin pulling at the serious expression Janeway wore. Tegan stared blankly through her for several minutes before shaking her head. She blinked slowly and looked around her before moving further up in the bed.
"What's wrong?" Janeway's voice was soft with concern burning at the edges.
"I," Tegan's eyes darted around the room faster this time; "I shouldn't be here."
"I brought you here, remember?" She watched her think for a second before she nodded.
She looked up at the almost empty IV bag and then in the direction of the bathroom. "I need to…"
"Of course. Let me help you." She stood and moved back so Tegan could slide to the edge of the bed.
When she returned to bed Janeway watched her moved her thumb in the air about seven centimeters above curved fingers. It was something she had seen her doing subconsciously when she'd talked to her just before she passed out in the mess hall and previously while staring out the porthole after the memorial service. She thought she knew now what she was doing. "There is no way you could have saved him. No one could have."
"Couldn't I?" Her voice remained flat.
"You've run enough simulations that you should know. You read the doctor's autopsy findings, did you not?"
"Too many times to count." She continued to move her thumb methodically. "How do you know about the simulations?"
"I found it curious that your holodeck usage went from an hour max a week if you went in with someone to twelve hours solo in one night so while you were sleeping I had B'Elanna sit with you while I checked on it. I deleted your program."
"You can't do that." She sat back up and glared at her both of her hands fisting the top sheet in her lap.
"Like hell I can't." Janeway disagreed, her voice taking on a low grumble before softening again. "I did."
She fell back on the bed and stared across the room with a deeper emptiness in her eyes than Janeway had ever seen. Between that, her still sunken eyes and how tiny and frail she looked in that patient gown, it was hard for her to even look at her.
At some point Tegan's eyelids drifted shut and her breathing steadied. The doctor came in and quietly checked her over before he exchanged her IV bag for a new one. "I'm replacing the vitamins and minerals that she's lost, but if we can't get her to eat soon I'm going to have to put in a central line to infuse a more efficient nutrition supplement."
"How soon?" Janeway kept her voice as quiet as the doctor's.
"Twenty-four to thirty-six hours." He looked back at his patient. She looked so pale, thin and fragile being swallowed up by the pillows and the sheet on Janeway's bed. "Forty-eight max."
Janeway nodded.
Tegan slept for ten hours before she rolled over and moaned lightly.
"Tegan?" Janeway slid to the edge of the chaise thinking was dreaming again.
Green eyes opened and looked at her intensely for half a second before the fire died and they glazed back over. It was like looking into an endless abyss of nothingness. She wanted to look away, it unnerved her to see such depth with no emotion or life whatsoever, but she couldn't.
An hour later the door chimed and Tegan didn't even blink. "Come in."
"Captain you need to eat." It was Neelix carrying a tray of food. "Ah, Tegan you're awake. You should eat too."
Her eyes moved to him before she turned her back to them both.
"She's not doing very good is she Captain?"
"I'm afraid not Neelix."
"If there is anything I can do to help."
Janeway shook her head. "Thank you Neelix."