A/N: ok, sorry this took so long.. We try to get a chappy up every Saturday, but I was busy yesterday so I didn't get the chance to… Sorry… well it's here now.
Chapter 23
He walked toward sickbay in an urgent manner, hoping that he didn't alert anyone on the way there to his destination. After walking quickly for less than two minutes, he arrived at the door. He stopped only to open it and walked in, questions filling his head. "What's wrong with T'Pol, Doctor?" he asked.
The Denobulan looked up from T'Pol for only a moment before returning to her. "As I told you, Captain, her injuries are severe. I believe Commander Tucker can explain to you what happened. Right now I must try to stabilize her."
For the first time, he looked at T'Pol, walking to join Trip by her bedside. She appeared to be attached to every life-support device in sickbay. She had blood all over most of her upper body and her uniform was torn off the right side of her body. As he continued to survey T'Pol's condition, Trip began to explain. "I found 'er in one of the storage lockers in hydroponics. She was unconscious, and I figured it was 'cause of what the Doc told me--about her faintin' a lot for the next ten months…" he trailed off, seemingly slowing his unusually sad and regretful tone even more than he already had. "But when I was about t' inject 'er with the hypospray, I noticed the blood… then I saw the gash…" he was obviously pained by this story, not wishing to relive it but knowing that he had to get it out eventually. "Then I woke 'er up and moved 'er an' called the Doc. When I was waitin' for 'im t' show up, she…" Trip seemed even more uncomfortable now, and the Captain noticed that his drawl was more apparent than usual. He didn't really know why, but it was obvious. As Trip paused this time, the Captain took the opportunity to look over at the chief engineer. Trip was covered in T'Pol's blood, although the green liquid was present less on him than it was on T'Pol. He was no doctor, but the Captain knew that if she had lost enough blood for it to also be all over Trip, that it was extremely dangerous, if not fatal.
Fortunately, he didn't have time to think about that as Trip finally finished. "…She, I mean, her heart stopped and so did 'er breathin'. IT took me about twenty or thirty seconds just t' remember what t' do. When I finally remembered t' do CPR, it was nearly too late." Again, he paused, this time turning to the Captain and seemingly getting agitated. "It took me 45 seconds t' revive 'er, Cap'n… 45 seconds! She coulda died! An' all because I took too long figurin' out what t' do. An' now he might die again! Hell, if it weren't for me, she never would have gone in there in the first place and she'd be fine! Instead, I had t' argue with 'er, and now she's gonna die!" Trip's face was red with anger, either at himself or the world--the Captain couldn't tell, and He was pacing around the room nervously. His friend rarely got like this. In fact, he almost NEVER got like this. It had only happened once or twice before--him getting emotional like this, anyway. He only did this when He was in danger of losing someone He cared about, and He definitely cared about T'Pol.
"Trip," He said compassionately, trying to calm his friend down. The Captain then moved to Trip and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "This isn't your fault, and she's not going to die. We don't even know how this happened to her. That is, unless you left something out amidst your 'I killed T'Pol' speech." He added this late comment with a note of humor in his voice, although after looking at Trip's anything-but-humored expression, He immediately took it back. "Sorry, Trip. I didn't mean it. " Trip nodded, knowing that he was being truthful. "Now listen to me. I'm not going to let T'Pol die on this ship. Not now, not ever. So don't blame yourself for something that hasn't even happened yet."
He got a reluctant nod in response from Trip, whose face returned slowly to its normal shade. When Trip backed off slowly and returned to T'Pol's side, the Captain followed, actually eager to seek a professional opinion. "Doctor," He queried as He turned back to T'Pol, then to Phlox. "What's her condition?"
For one of the first times, Phlox began speaking in a not-so-optimistic tone. It sounded like regret, apology, and sincerity all rolled into one. "As I'm sure you have noted, she can no longer support her own heart or lungs. Therefore I have placed her on various life-support systems in an attempt to save her life. I have stabilized her for now, and have begun running scans to locate the problem." The Doctor stopped, seemingly not wanting to continue.
"And...?" He prompted.
"And, as I suspected in my initial scans, she has less than one third of her normal circulated blood. Most Vulcans would be dead by now, even on life-support. Contrary to Mr. Tucker's insistence that she will die, I must admit that I don't know at this point. I have given her several injections for both pain and repair of her wound. The wound seemed to be healing at a steady rate, although it will most likely take several days to heal completely, then another few weeks before the pain subsides."
"Doctor," He said, nearly cutting the man off. "What can we do for her now?"
"I'm not exactly certain. She clearly needs more blood, but I can't tell you much beyond that without more data on how this happened to her."
"And you can't wake her?"
"I'm afraid not. It's too dangerous in her current condition."
"Well, can't you just give her more blood? You can do THAT without asking her what happened."
"Of course. But there's a problem, Captain. You see... I have no blood to give her."
A/N2: HAHAHA.... I'm cutting you off again…. Actually I just didn't have time to type up the whole chappy and this was the best place to cut it off for now…. Sorry folks… just R&R!!!!
Chapter 23
He walked toward sickbay in an urgent manner, hoping that he didn't alert anyone on the way there to his destination. After walking quickly for less than two minutes, he arrived at the door. He stopped only to open it and walked in, questions filling his head. "What's wrong with T'Pol, Doctor?" he asked.
The Denobulan looked up from T'Pol for only a moment before returning to her. "As I told you, Captain, her injuries are severe. I believe Commander Tucker can explain to you what happened. Right now I must try to stabilize her."
For the first time, he looked at T'Pol, walking to join Trip by her bedside. She appeared to be attached to every life-support device in sickbay. She had blood all over most of her upper body and her uniform was torn off the right side of her body. As he continued to survey T'Pol's condition, Trip began to explain. "I found 'er in one of the storage lockers in hydroponics. She was unconscious, and I figured it was 'cause of what the Doc told me--about her faintin' a lot for the next ten months…" he trailed off, seemingly slowing his unusually sad and regretful tone even more than he already had. "But when I was about t' inject 'er with the hypospray, I noticed the blood… then I saw the gash…" he was obviously pained by this story, not wishing to relive it but knowing that he had to get it out eventually. "Then I woke 'er up and moved 'er an' called the Doc. When I was waitin' for 'im t' show up, she…" Trip seemed even more uncomfortable now, and the Captain noticed that his drawl was more apparent than usual. He didn't really know why, but it was obvious. As Trip paused this time, the Captain took the opportunity to look over at the chief engineer. Trip was covered in T'Pol's blood, although the green liquid was present less on him than it was on T'Pol. He was no doctor, but the Captain knew that if she had lost enough blood for it to also be all over Trip, that it was extremely dangerous, if not fatal.
Fortunately, he didn't have time to think about that as Trip finally finished. "…She, I mean, her heart stopped and so did 'er breathin'. IT took me about twenty or thirty seconds just t' remember what t' do. When I finally remembered t' do CPR, it was nearly too late." Again, he paused, this time turning to the Captain and seemingly getting agitated. "It took me 45 seconds t' revive 'er, Cap'n… 45 seconds! She coulda died! An' all because I took too long figurin' out what t' do. An' now he might die again! Hell, if it weren't for me, she never would have gone in there in the first place and she'd be fine! Instead, I had t' argue with 'er, and now she's gonna die!" Trip's face was red with anger, either at himself or the world--the Captain couldn't tell, and He was pacing around the room nervously. His friend rarely got like this. In fact, he almost NEVER got like this. It had only happened once or twice before--him getting emotional like this, anyway. He only did this when He was in danger of losing someone He cared about, and He definitely cared about T'Pol.
"Trip," He said compassionately, trying to calm his friend down. The Captain then moved to Trip and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "This isn't your fault, and she's not going to die. We don't even know how this happened to her. That is, unless you left something out amidst your 'I killed T'Pol' speech." He added this late comment with a note of humor in his voice, although after looking at Trip's anything-but-humored expression, He immediately took it back. "Sorry, Trip. I didn't mean it. " Trip nodded, knowing that he was being truthful. "Now listen to me. I'm not going to let T'Pol die on this ship. Not now, not ever. So don't blame yourself for something that hasn't even happened yet."
He got a reluctant nod in response from Trip, whose face returned slowly to its normal shade. When Trip backed off slowly and returned to T'Pol's side, the Captain followed, actually eager to seek a professional opinion. "Doctor," He queried as He turned back to T'Pol, then to Phlox. "What's her condition?"
For one of the first times, Phlox began speaking in a not-so-optimistic tone. It sounded like regret, apology, and sincerity all rolled into one. "As I'm sure you have noted, she can no longer support her own heart or lungs. Therefore I have placed her on various life-support systems in an attempt to save her life. I have stabilized her for now, and have begun running scans to locate the problem." The Doctor stopped, seemingly not wanting to continue.
"And...?" He prompted.
"And, as I suspected in my initial scans, she has less than one third of her normal circulated blood. Most Vulcans would be dead by now, even on life-support. Contrary to Mr. Tucker's insistence that she will die, I must admit that I don't know at this point. I have given her several injections for both pain and repair of her wound. The wound seemed to be healing at a steady rate, although it will most likely take several days to heal completely, then another few weeks before the pain subsides."
"Doctor," He said, nearly cutting the man off. "What can we do for her now?"
"I'm not exactly certain. She clearly needs more blood, but I can't tell you much beyond that without more data on how this happened to her."
"And you can't wake her?"
"I'm afraid not. It's too dangerous in her current condition."
"Well, can't you just give her more blood? You can do THAT without asking her what happened."
"Of course. But there's a problem, Captain. You see... I have no blood to give her."
A/N2: HAHAHA.... I'm cutting you off again…. Actually I just didn't have time to type up the whole chappy and this was the best place to cut it off for now…. Sorry folks… just R&R!!!!