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«K'lalatar Prkori K'lalatar Prnak'lirli
(Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations)»
by Monica MicioGatta
25th Chapter: B positive
Tucker stopped in the middle of the corridor. «Let's go to her quarters.» he said.
T'Pol was about to tell him that it wasn't a good idea, but he was already on his way. She followed him without speaking.
«Look.» Trip said, entering T'Mir's room. He crouched down beside the bed. On the floor there were the bloody bandage and the cut stitches.
T'Pol bent down beside him, looking on the bed. There were a cutter and a pair of scissors. She took the first one and watched it. There were blood stains on the blades.
Tucker shook his head. «What the hell has she done?»
«She reopened the incision that Phlox made.» She said.
«Alone? And why?»
«To remove the bomb while she was on the Xindi ship.»
Trip sighed. He sat on the bed. «I don't understand... it seemed... they were friends... T'Mir and that bastards.»
T'Pol sat down beside him. «She has destroyed their ship, however, to defend us.»
He shook his head. «The stunning micro-grain... what if... if it's lethal for her?»
T'Pol closed her eyes. «We can't know that.»
The engineer turned and hugged T'Pol. «I don't want to lose her.»
«It could haven't last long, Trip. We knew from the beginning that sooner or later we would have lost her...»
«One thing is to lose her if she returns to her home... totally another is...»
T'Pol put her hand on his shoulder. «Phlox is a great doctor.»
Trip closed his eyes and two tears did a line on his cheeks. «I love that girl... because she's our daughter... I can't lose her.»
«I can't stand it anymore, the wait is too long.»
T'Pol looked down. They were on T'Mir's bed, Trip had his head leant against T'Pol's chest and swollen eyes.
«It's been only ten minutes.»
Trip closed his eyes. «How long will it take?» He never would have imagined to want to leave that position. T'Mir made him do and say things he had never thought he could do or say.
T'Pol also felt the same way. «I do not know.» She closed her eyes and leant her cheek on Trip's hair.
As a Vulcan she could accurately count the passage of time, but this didn't improve the situation.
The intercom rang and, before Phlox' voice call them, T'Pol and Trip were already out of the room.
«I've treated her wounds.» Phlox said. «But she's still very weak...»
Trip pulled the curtain. «What will happen?» he asked.
Phlox sighed. «It's too early to tell. I have to sum up her blood, she has lost much.»
«T'Mir told me she has human blood. I can give her mine.»
Meanwhile, T'Pol had approached the bed, in complete silence, almost without anyone noticing. She sat down and without touching anything, watched her daughter.
Phlox shook his head and pulled the curtain, leaving T'Mir alone. «I'm not sure it's exactly human blood.» Phlox said. «Of course, it's red, but may not be compatible.»
«Do your analysis.» He held out his arm.
Phlox put Tucker's the blood under the neutron microscope, then he looked up in surprise. «Commander, you are A positive.»
«Yes, that's right.»
The doctor shook his head slightly. He resumed using the microscope: «But T'Mir's blood is B positive.»
«There must be a mistake.» He felt that the panic was returning.
«No, you're not compatible. I have checked twice both samples. I can't waste anymore time on this, I have to synthesize it.»
Trip shook his head slightly and slipped silently in the compartment where T'Mir rested. He looked at her. He had his skill. But it could be an acquired trait. Why lie to him?
While Phlox was at work, Captain Archer stared at the results of the analysis. Could be that the other universe T'Pol had lied to both Trip and her daughter? He approached the room and looked through the slightly ajar curtain. T'Mir was B positive. Archer was B negative. This suggestion, for him, it was pretty gruesome.
«It was easier than I had hoped.» said Phlox and ran to attack the vial of blood to T'Mir's drip.
«But her vital signs...» whispered T'Pol. «...Aren't improving, as they should.»
Phlox shook his head slightly. «For now it is normal. T'Mir is in self-care.»
«And what does that mean?» Tucker asked, almost in a whisper.
«It's a deep state of trance.» T'Pol said. «We need to focus all energies on the wounds to speed healing. Is she conscious?» she asked Phlox.
«That's what usually happens in self-care, yes, but I doubt T'Mir indeed is.»
«So it's a good thing?» Asked Archer.
«It depends.» Phlox said. «T'Mir suffered severe damage. I've managed to cure several wounds, but her physiology is unique. We just have to wait for the next few hours.»
Tucker sat down beside her and rested a hand gently on her face. «T'Mir, try to heal... because we have still many things to talk about.»
«So what's with you?» whispered T'Pol.
Trip turned to her. Even though he knew that was absurd, felt a vague sense of betrayal. «Phlox says that my blood and T'Mir's... are not compatible.»
T'Pol closed her eyes. «It's common.»
He shook his head slightly. «But in this case... she's B and I'm A.»
«You're thinking that she is not your daughter.» T'Pol said. Trip could have sworn that there was a hint of weariness in her voice.
«That's how it appears.»
The Vulcan raised an eyebrow. «It's illogical.»
Tucker gave her a hostile look, but his voice was a whisper. «Really? T'Mir took human blood.»
«Phlox did genetic tests that confirm T'Mir's version.»
Trip had to admit that she had a point. Genetics do not lie. «How will you explain the inconsistency of the type of blood?»
«I think you're the only one that's going paranoid about it. My blood group is P and for what I know of human physiology, P is very similar to human B. Apparently T'Mir's blood is mixed more than we had previously thought.»
He felt a bit relieved. For once T'Pol's logic was in his favor.
«We can always ask Phlox to repeat examinations.»
«Crossing them with Archer's?» he whispered.
T'Pol gave him a look of condescension. «If for you it's so important, well, do it, but I consider all this a waste of time.»
«What do you mean?»
She whirled toward him, coming so near him that Trip could feel her light breath on his face. «T'Mir is our daughter. Mine and yours. This is enough.» Albeit in a whisper, her tone did not allow doubt.