Tom had been contemplating all that he had discussed with the she tiger for a while when he was startled out of his by the chime announcing someone was being granted entry by the security guard. He slowly stood and was surprised to see the Doctor walk in.
"Hi, Doc," he said. "I didn't realize it was as late as it was. I've been thinking a lot about the vision quest I had today."
"That is an excellent use of your time, Tom," said the doctor as he began scanning Tom with the medical tricoder. He studied the readings and smiled. "You are doing much better, Tom. Your blood pressure and heart rate have remained stable all day on a the reduced dosage of medications. I am going to try and see how you do without it tonight. You may be able to go off of the meds sooner than expected."
Tom paled, wondering if that meant he would also be headed back to that tiny, confining brig cell. He couldn't take it. He would go mad.
Noticing Tom's distress, the Doctor felt a need to reassure his patient. "That does not mean I will allow you to be returned to the brig, Tom. Your improvements are because you are in a setting that lessens your claustrophobia to a great extent."
Tom sighed in relief. "That's good to know. Say, Doc, since I am doing so much better, would it be okay for me to exercise during the day. I think that would help me with tension? My animal guide agreed with me."
The Doctor nodded, "That's an excellent idea. Exercise is almost always good for you. Just don't over do and pace yourself. If you have no further questions, I'll be returning to sickbay. The cardiac monitor will alert me if any problems occur. Good night."
"Goodnight, Doc," answered Tom. He stood as the Doctor walked out the door.
Tom stretched and walked to his bedroom. He stripped down to a tee shirt and his briefs and crawled into bed, once again gathering B'Elanna's gown to his chest. For the first time in days, he did not dread going to sleep. Maybe, just maybe he would only have peaceful dreams.
The next morning, Chakotay and Captain Janeway sat in her Ready Room drinking coffee while he updated her on Tom.
"Tom was very introspective after his vision quest yesterday afternoon," said Chakotay. "I think he may have made significant progress in it."
"That's good," began Captain Janeway. "Maybe he'll drop some of those barriers he keeps up. He's come such a long way. I know Owen would be proud of him. It's too bad that his message didn't download before the alien relays went down."
"I know it really bothered B'Elanna, that his message was lost," began Chakotay. "She had really hoped that the message from his father would bring some closure for Tom."
"It's too bad the Doctor didn't get a chance to speak with Owen. I know he would have sent some sort of message back to Tom. I can't help but believe when he heard the report the Doctor gave Starfleet that he was proud of Tom," said Captain Janeway.
"I hope Tom can find peace over his relationship with his father like I did," said Chakotay.
"I know that Owen had hoped Tom would be willing to see him after our mission," commented Captain Janeway.
Chakotay frowned, remembering how she had originally been sent to hunt him and the others down and capture them. He forced the negative feelings down.
"He told us to start looking in Terikof Belt. We were headed there when we were brought to the Delta Quadrant," she said quietly.
"Terikof Belt??" said Chakotay in surprise. "We didn't have any bases there." He pondered that. Tom had deliberately misguided Captain Janeway to keep her from finding them.
"I see," said Captain Janeway. "Well, it would seem he had some loyalty to you after all."
"I hope you're not too upset over that," replied Chakotay gently.
"No, we knew to look in the badlands, and would have been there at the time regardless. Since then, he has proven himself time and again. If he hadn't lied about Caldick Prime, he'd probably be a Commander by now," mused Captain Janeway.
"I think you're right. Though, I really think Tom is more interested in flying than command. I think one reason he accepted our offer to join the Maquis was so he could fly. Of course at the time, I only saw him as a mercenary," admitted Chakotay. "When he risked his life to save me in the Ocampan tunnels, I knew for certain there was more to him than meets the eye."
"I saw the same thing while we were dealing with the Caretaker," remarked Captain Janeway as she stood up. "Shall we go to the bridge?"
Chakotay smiled and nodded. They both walked to the Ready Room door and entered the bridge.
