A/N: alrighty folks.. This is the longest you have EVER had to wait for a chappy… I try to one a week but last weekend I had a HUGE paper to write and I had NO time to type.. So this weekend I'll be nice and COMBINE chappys… just like you've been telling me to do!!!!
Chapter 24
"What?!" Trip yelled. "You've got about t million animals but no blood?!" His face had turned a bright red with frustration and anger, and became more so with each passing moment. He was beating himself up over this and letting his anger out on everyone else.
"Trip," the captain scolded in an authoritative yet compassionate tone. "Let the Doctor finish. And calm down. Yelling isn't going to take her off life-support any faster."
His words calmed Trip down and he nodded, returning to a more normal shade at the same time. When he was sure Trip wouldn't explode again, he continued. "Are you saying that we left space dock without ANY replacement blood?"
"No. Not exactly. You see, we have a large store of human blood. However, we were never given any Vulcan blood before leaving--there was no need."
"What do you mean: 'there was no need to'?" he asked puzzled.
"As you will recall, the sub-commander was originally assigned to Enterprise for only eight days. I assumed, that replacement blood would not be needed on an eight day mission. My superiors agreed, so I was told not to bring any unless the Vulcans told me otherwise." The Doctor sounded very apologetic. "I'm sorry, Captain. Once I learned of her extended assignment, I should have requested some, but I'm afraid it slipped my mind."
"It's alright, Doctor. There's no point in beating yourself up over this. There's nothing you can do about that now." He thought for a moment. "is there any way to get blood here fast enough?"
"I don't see how, Captain."
"What about givin' 'er some human blood--just until we can get 'er some of the green variety?" Trip asked, looking hopeful yet prepared for disappointment.
"I'm afraid, considering her experience with the human and Vulcan DNA problems, that Vulcan blood is the only viable option. I believe any attempt to replace her blood using human blood could be dangerous."
"What about getting some blood from her Vulcan friends. They so graciously graced us with their presence… they may as well be good for something!" Captain Archer said with a twinge of irritation in his voice.
"We already thought of that, Cap'n, but if at all possible we'd rather leave that as a last resort," Trip told him matter-of-factly.
"Mind if I ask why? It could save her life!" he reminded.
"I know that if T'Pol were awake, she wouldn't want the Vulcans to know what was going on, and if we start asking them to give us blood they're gonna wanna know why." he pointed out.
Defeated once again, the Captain thought for a minute, glancing at T'Pol every now and then. Trip was right. She wouldn't want the Vulcans to know of her injury because they would eventually discover her other medical problem. Well, it would a problem in THEIR opinion at least. The Vulcans would cart her away in that-- then it hit him. "The Vulcan ship!" he exclaimed suddenly.
He got blank stares from both other men. Obviously they had no idea what he was talking about. He decided to clarify. "The Vulcan ship that's docked with us. They've got to have some blood that they could give us without too many questions."
Trip thought about this for a minute. "What makes ya think they won't tell our little Vulcan friends that we got blood from 'em?"
"Phlox spoke in response. "I can simply tell them that we have none on board that we need some in case it is needed."
"And if they ask why we didn't get any from one of the other Vulcan ships?"
"I'll tell them that I forgot to ask."
"But knowin' Vulcans, our guests'll figure out why we need it now. I mean, think about it, Doc. First T'Pol starts wearin' something' different, then I keep carryin' 'er t' sickbay. Then she doesn't show up at 'er station for a while, and at the same time we suddenly ask 'em for blood. That would even make ME suspicious."
Suddenly the Captain got angry. He didn't know why, but something was just bugging him all of a sudden. "Would you rather have the Vulcans get suspicious or have your friend die?!" the Captain shouted at Trip.
"I'd rather that the Vulcans weren't even here!" Trip was now yelling loudly as well.
"You didn't answer my question!"
"Yeah I did! I just came up with my own answer!" He got up in the captain's face. Phlox was left staring at them, wondering why they were suddenly so furious with one another.
"You just don't want to admit how you feel about her!" the captain shouted back, suddenly realizing what had been bothering him.
"What the HELL is that supposed t' mean?!" Trip screamed back, caught very off guard.
"Gentleman, this is not going to help the sub-commander in any way," Phlox interrupted before the captain could say something that he may regret later.
Unfortunately, the pair completely ignored him. "Don't try to deny it! I've seen the way you act around her; the way you look at her! It's obvious, Trip! I'm sure everyone on the ship has noticed by now!"
"Noticed WHAT?! There's nothin' for anyone TO notice!"
The captain just stood there, eyes locked with Tucker's, neither wavering. After about a minute of staring-contest silence, it looked like the engineer might actually give in.
"What about the blood, Captain? Can we get it now? Sooner than later would be best." the Doctor interjected, not wanting two more patients.
This last comment managed to distract both men from their argument. "Feel free to call them now, Doctor," the captain shouted, waving him off. After a menacing you-know-what-I-mean-and-you-know-I'm-right look at Trip, he stormed off. "I'll be in my quarters!" he yelled back at them as the doors closed.
After a few minutes of fuming, trip looked back at T'Pol. "tell me if anything changes," he told Phlox, his voice bubbling over in anger. He quickly made his way to the door and marched off to engineering.
Sickbay was suddenly very empty, leaving Doctor Phlox to care for T'Pol in silence.
**********************************
As he made his way to his quarters, he willed himself to stop clenching and un-clenching his fists, but his muscles wouldn't comply. He wasn't sure what irritated him more: the fact hat Trip had feelings for T'Pol or the fact that wouldn't admit it.
"Maybe he's trying to protect himself from his own feelings," he accidentally muttered to himself as a confused crewman walked past him. "But he's not one to hide that kind of thing…" he muttered again, entering the turbolift.
He was relieved when no one followed him into the lift. He closed the door, allowed the turbolift to move between two decks, and halted the movement. He leaned against the back of the lift and relaxed a little. Why was this bothering him so much? He suspected that it had the stem of some bigger fear hiding in the back of his mind. Or maybe it was because Phlox had told HIM the same things about a year ago. Either way, he had to try to find out. He contemplated this for several minutes.
Finally it hit him: the root of all his irritation. Trip had been quite protective, even possessive, of T'Pol ever since T'Pol had informed them of her pregnancy. Trip'd said himself that he'd been alone with T'Pol for two nights on an alien planet. Then he remembered something else about that away mission--it had been raining, and T'Pol wouldn't have had any fire to meditate with… if he remembered correctly what T'Pol had told him, Vulcans had problems with their emotions when they didn't meditate. And being alone with someone like Trip--who had feelings for her… well, it take an idiot to put two and two together.
And he was no idiot. He suddenly realized exactly what was subconsciously bothering him: the babies… They had to be Trip's! it would explain everything, especially why he was so reluctant to admit how he felt. It would also explain Trip's incessant worry over her well-being. Not that Trip would ever admit to any of it, but it was quite clear to the Captain. Trip was most defiantly the father.
All of a sudden his thoughts were cut off. "Crewman Franco to turbolift. Is there a problem?" the comm chirped.
"Excuse me?" the captain responded, confusion slipping into his voice.
"The turbolift has been stalled for five minutes, sir." Red crept into the Captain's face as he realized that over fifty attempts had been made to call the lift. "I was inquiring if there was a problem we should be aware of. Commander Tucker insists there's nothing wrong with--" The crewman didn't want to shut up, did he.
"No crewman," he interrupted. "There isn't a problem. I'll reactivate the turbolift momentarily. He was trying to sound as official as possible, but wasn't really succeeding. He gave himself a few seconds for the embarrassment to diminish from his face, then moved the turbolift back to the deck where a group of people had collected.
He walked out, knowing that he had to go to engineering and confront Trip with this. He couldn't have his best friend lying to him anymore, and he intended to find out the truth.
Chapter 24
"What?!" Trip yelled. "You've got about t million animals but no blood?!" His face had turned a bright red with frustration and anger, and became more so with each passing moment. He was beating himself up over this and letting his anger out on everyone else.
"Trip," the captain scolded in an authoritative yet compassionate tone. "Let the Doctor finish. And calm down. Yelling isn't going to take her off life-support any faster."
His words calmed Trip down and he nodded, returning to a more normal shade at the same time. When he was sure Trip wouldn't explode again, he continued. "Are you saying that we left space dock without ANY replacement blood?"
"No. Not exactly. You see, we have a large store of human blood. However, we were never given any Vulcan blood before leaving--there was no need."
"What do you mean: 'there was no need to'?" he asked puzzled.
"As you will recall, the sub-commander was originally assigned to Enterprise for only eight days. I assumed, that replacement blood would not be needed on an eight day mission. My superiors agreed, so I was told not to bring any unless the Vulcans told me otherwise." The Doctor sounded very apologetic. "I'm sorry, Captain. Once I learned of her extended assignment, I should have requested some, but I'm afraid it slipped my mind."
"It's alright, Doctor. There's no point in beating yourself up over this. There's nothing you can do about that now." He thought for a moment. "is there any way to get blood here fast enough?"
"I don't see how, Captain."
"What about givin' 'er some human blood--just until we can get 'er some of the green variety?" Trip asked, looking hopeful yet prepared for disappointment.
"I'm afraid, considering her experience with the human and Vulcan DNA problems, that Vulcan blood is the only viable option. I believe any attempt to replace her blood using human blood could be dangerous."
"What about getting some blood from her Vulcan friends. They so graciously graced us with their presence… they may as well be good for something!" Captain Archer said with a twinge of irritation in his voice.
"We already thought of that, Cap'n, but if at all possible we'd rather leave that as a last resort," Trip told him matter-of-factly.
"Mind if I ask why? It could save her life!" he reminded.
"I know that if T'Pol were awake, she wouldn't want the Vulcans to know what was going on, and if we start asking them to give us blood they're gonna wanna know why." he pointed out.
Defeated once again, the Captain thought for a minute, glancing at T'Pol every now and then. Trip was right. She wouldn't want the Vulcans to know of her injury because they would eventually discover her other medical problem. Well, it would a problem in THEIR opinion at least. The Vulcans would cart her away in that-- then it hit him. "The Vulcan ship!" he exclaimed suddenly.
He got blank stares from both other men. Obviously they had no idea what he was talking about. He decided to clarify. "The Vulcan ship that's docked with us. They've got to have some blood that they could give us without too many questions."
Trip thought about this for a minute. "What makes ya think they won't tell our little Vulcan friends that we got blood from 'em?"
"Phlox spoke in response. "I can simply tell them that we have none on board that we need some in case it is needed."
"And if they ask why we didn't get any from one of the other Vulcan ships?"
"I'll tell them that I forgot to ask."
"But knowin' Vulcans, our guests'll figure out why we need it now. I mean, think about it, Doc. First T'Pol starts wearin' something' different, then I keep carryin' 'er t' sickbay. Then she doesn't show up at 'er station for a while, and at the same time we suddenly ask 'em for blood. That would even make ME suspicious."
Suddenly the Captain got angry. He didn't know why, but something was just bugging him all of a sudden. "Would you rather have the Vulcans get suspicious or have your friend die?!" the Captain shouted at Trip.
"I'd rather that the Vulcans weren't even here!" Trip was now yelling loudly as well.
"You didn't answer my question!"
"Yeah I did! I just came up with my own answer!" He got up in the captain's face. Phlox was left staring at them, wondering why they were suddenly so furious with one another.
"You just don't want to admit how you feel about her!" the captain shouted back, suddenly realizing what had been bothering him.
"What the HELL is that supposed t' mean?!" Trip screamed back, caught very off guard.
"Gentleman, this is not going to help the sub-commander in any way," Phlox interrupted before the captain could say something that he may regret later.
Unfortunately, the pair completely ignored him. "Don't try to deny it! I've seen the way you act around her; the way you look at her! It's obvious, Trip! I'm sure everyone on the ship has noticed by now!"
"Noticed WHAT?! There's nothin' for anyone TO notice!"
The captain just stood there, eyes locked with Tucker's, neither wavering. After about a minute of staring-contest silence, it looked like the engineer might actually give in.
"What about the blood, Captain? Can we get it now? Sooner than later would be best." the Doctor interjected, not wanting two more patients.
This last comment managed to distract both men from their argument. "Feel free to call them now, Doctor," the captain shouted, waving him off. After a menacing you-know-what-I-mean-and-you-know-I'm-right look at Trip, he stormed off. "I'll be in my quarters!" he yelled back at them as the doors closed.
After a few minutes of fuming, trip looked back at T'Pol. "tell me if anything changes," he told Phlox, his voice bubbling over in anger. He quickly made his way to the door and marched off to engineering.
Sickbay was suddenly very empty, leaving Doctor Phlox to care for T'Pol in silence.
**********************************
As he made his way to his quarters, he willed himself to stop clenching and un-clenching his fists, but his muscles wouldn't comply. He wasn't sure what irritated him more: the fact hat Trip had feelings for T'Pol or the fact that wouldn't admit it.
"Maybe he's trying to protect himself from his own feelings," he accidentally muttered to himself as a confused crewman walked past him. "But he's not one to hide that kind of thing…" he muttered again, entering the turbolift.
He was relieved when no one followed him into the lift. He closed the door, allowed the turbolift to move between two decks, and halted the movement. He leaned against the back of the lift and relaxed a little. Why was this bothering him so much? He suspected that it had the stem of some bigger fear hiding in the back of his mind. Or maybe it was because Phlox had told HIM the same things about a year ago. Either way, he had to try to find out. He contemplated this for several minutes.
Finally it hit him: the root of all his irritation. Trip had been quite protective, even possessive, of T'Pol ever since T'Pol had informed them of her pregnancy. Trip'd said himself that he'd been alone with T'Pol for two nights on an alien planet. Then he remembered something else about that away mission--it had been raining, and T'Pol wouldn't have had any fire to meditate with… if he remembered correctly what T'Pol had told him, Vulcans had problems with their emotions when they didn't meditate. And being alone with someone like Trip--who had feelings for her… well, it take an idiot to put two and two together.
And he was no idiot. He suddenly realized exactly what was subconsciously bothering him: the babies… They had to be Trip's! it would explain everything, especially why he was so reluctant to admit how he felt. It would also explain Trip's incessant worry over her well-being. Not that Trip would ever admit to any of it, but it was quite clear to the Captain. Trip was most defiantly the father.
All of a sudden his thoughts were cut off. "Crewman Franco to turbolift. Is there a problem?" the comm chirped.
"Excuse me?" the captain responded, confusion slipping into his voice.
"The turbolift has been stalled for five minutes, sir." Red crept into the Captain's face as he realized that over fifty attempts had been made to call the lift. "I was inquiring if there was a problem we should be aware of. Commander Tucker insists there's nothing wrong with--" The crewman didn't want to shut up, did he.
"No crewman," he interrupted. "There isn't a problem. I'll reactivate the turbolift momentarily. He was trying to sound as official as possible, but wasn't really succeeding. He gave himself a few seconds for the embarrassment to diminish from his face, then moved the turbolift back to the deck where a group of people had collected.
He walked out, knowing that he had to go to engineering and confront Trip with this. He couldn't have his best friend lying to him anymore, and he intended to find out the truth.