New Beginnings

Chapter Five

Her gaze was unfocused, confused, but she was regaining consciousness and that was all that mattered to the man standing over her.

'Your fuzzy…' she mumbled, her words slurred. She took another breath, as if exhausted. '…head hurts.'

'I'm sure it does, you've got quite a lump back there.' Chakotay forced himself to speak calmly. It wasn't the first time she'd been injured, and he knew it wouldn't be the last, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

'Ah…sleeping beauty awakes. Glad to have you back with us, Captain. Commander, don't crowd me…' The Doctor appeared from the shadows, relegating Chakotay to the sidelines while he ran a fresh battery of tests on the Captain.

'Did I fall?'

'It would appear so, Captain. The Commander here found you sprawled on the floor of the holodeck…'

The Doctors words faded into the background as the memory of finding her lifeless body laid out, like a sacrificial victim, on the altar stone of that damned circle forced its way into Chakotay's mind.

'… not uncommon. I would expect your memories to return within the next few days. Until then I'm restricting you to bed rest.'

The Doctor braced himself for the storm his words were sure to evoke. As expected, the mere mention of bed rest had his Captains eyes flying open. Humming to himself the Doctor reached out and patted her arm before disappearing off in the direction of his office, secure in the knowledge that the sedative now coursing through the Captain's bloodstream would take care of any resistance to his treatment plan.

Alone once more, Chakotay took up his customary position by her side. Her face was still too pale for his liking, but the steady beep from the console at her side reassured him that her vital signs were stable. Giving in to temptation he reached over and smoothed an errant strand of hair back from her face.

'What am I going to do with you Kathryn?'

His voice seemed to reach out to her, calling her back from the welcoming darkness, now mercifully free of shadows. It was hard to concentrate but she forced her lips to obey her.

'Sam?'

The words were little more than a whisper, forcing Chakotay to come nearer still. He didn't bother to suppress the smile that touched his lips. He should have known her first thoughts would be for her crew.

'Relax Kathryn. Sam going to be just fine. She's resting now…'

He turned his gaze to the adjacent biobed where a tangle of blond hair peeped out from under the blanket that Naomi had insisted on tucking under her mothers chin. A second smile broke free as he spotted Naomi's Flotter doll underneath the covers.

'She came through the surgery better than we had any right to expect. All being well the Doctor hopes to discharge her into the capable hands of Neelix and Naomi within the next 42 hours.'

Kathryn let her eyelids flutter closed as relief overwhelmed her. She was vaguely aware of Chakotay's voice in the background, distress colouring his words.

'… the doctor tried to reach you to pass on the good news but your communicator was malfunctioning. He contacted me instead.'

'My hero…'

She whispered the words…a soft smile tugging at her lips.

'Kathryn?'

Desperation replaced distress as he watched her slip further under the spell of the sedative the Doctor had given her.

'Love you….tired now…stay?'

'Wait Kathryn. Stay with me…'

'Commander, I suggest you calm down. Shouting at her won't neutralise the sedative. What she needs now is sleep, and lots of it. Of course, some proper food and a liquid intake that didn't include caffeine would be nice, but I'm not programmed to believe in miracles.'

The Doctor sighed as his words went unheard.

'She'll be fine when she wakes up, after which you're free to shout as her all you like…naturally I'll put sickbay on red alert to deal with the fallout.'

'Will she remember any of this. What she said?'

'She might, she might not…' The Doctor looked up from the monitor to cast a fatherly smile in Chakotay's direction, '…but you will, and I suspect that will be sufficient.'

'She reinstated Michael's wife.'

The Doctor stared at him for a moment, caught out by the sudden change of topic.

'In Fair Haven…she reinstated his wife.'

Laughter twinkled in the E.M.H's eyes as his subprograms analysed the significance of this unexpected development.

'I'm a doctor, not a clairvoyant…however I suspect there's a message in there somewhere, should someone still be interested…'

Epilogue

The old man watched as the last of the storm clouds melted away to reveal a watery blue sky and the promise of a new day. The stones seemed to sigh as the suns rays played over them, catching on the specks of quartz hidden within the crevices that raced across their surfaces.

With a quiet smile he turned back towards the village. If he was lucky he might be able to con a certain barman out of a pint of ale, although two miracles in one day was probably pushing his luck.