A/N: SORRY guys…. I said 4 in one week and then some but I'm afraid I had a problem… you see, I had a computer but it had NO AUTO CORRECT thing… and I didn't have time to correct EVERY little mistake…. If you knew my dad, you'd understand what I mean, but you don't so it's ok… not much of an excuse, but I'm typing this one up NOW… THIS MORNING….. So read up!!!!
Chapter 28
"She's comin' to!" he shouted victoriously. In response, the Captain and Doctor Phlox sprinted over to the biobed to join Trip.
The Doctor proceeded to remove the life support devices to which T'Pol was still attached.
"T'Pol?" Trip coaxed. Her eyes fluttered slightly and her fingers moved. HE grasped her hand instinctively and asked again. "T'Pol?"
"T'Pol, you going to wake up?" The Captain asked.
Trip felt T'Pol's grip tighten and her eyes began to open lazily. "T'Pol!" he exclaimed, relieved that she was indeed alive and awake.
She began to sit up, but before she even got six inches off the biobed, three hands stopped her and eased her back down.
"What happened?" she asked weakly. Even though weak, Trip hadn't realized how much he'd missed her voice.
"We were actually hoping that you could tell us," the Captain told her.
"I don't remember," she told him.
"You don't remember anything?" Trip asked her pleadingly.
She looked at him for the first time since waking up. "No. How long have I been here?"
"Nearly three days," The Captain told her.
"An' you have no idea how hard a time the Vulcans have been givin' us. We had t' tell 'em you were here after about a day of tellin' 'em lies. They didn't like that very much. An' they aren't too happy right now either."
When T'Pol's look changed to one of… was it fear and shock… the Captain realized what was wrong. "Don't worry. We didn't tell them about your pregnancy. We just said that you were here and would be for a few days."
T'Pol breathed a very uncharacteristic sigh of relief.
"Well I-"
The Captain was interrupted by the voice of Ensign Hoshi Sato, who sounded a little more gloomy than usual. "Captain, it's the Vulcans. They insist on speaking with you. I've been stalling them for the last hour but they aren't buying it anymore."
The Captain sighed, pushing the wall comm. "I'll be right there." He turned off the comm and addressed the Doctor. "If anything comes up I'll be on the bridge."
The Doctor nodded and spoke to T'Pol. "If you're up to it you may want to return to your quarters."
"Thank you, Doctor," she said in relief. However, when she attempted to sit up and was hit by a wave of nausea she changed her mind. "I think I will wait here for the time being," she reported, lying back down.
"As you wish," Phlox replied. He was ready to get back to work, but then he noticed the way Trip and T'Pol were gazing at each other, intentionally or not, and added," I'll be back in a short while. If you need me, I'll be in the mess hall. Feel free to leave while I'm gone if you wish, but don't forget that hypospray."
There was silence in sickbay for several minutes as the two just stayed there, staring at each other. Finally, Trip decided to speak up and break the silence. He didn't really know where to begin. He had so much that he wanted to say to her. He finally decided to start first things first. "Ya know, I'm… well, I'm sorry for yellin' at ya the other day. I guess this is kinda my fault. 'Cause if I'd just kept my--"
"There is no need to apologize, Commander. Although I don't recall what happened after leaving you in the corridor, I do know that you would never do something to harm me," she interrupted with sincerity.
Trip was unconvinced. "Still, I just--"
"Commander, I don't wish to hear your groveling. I simply want to know what has happened to me and what will happen to me now that I'm awake."
He didn't want to argue with her in sickbay so he decided to answer her question to the best of his ability. "Well," he started. "Like the Cap'n said, we were hopin' you knew. I do know that I found ya in a storage locker in hydroponics. You were unconscious and ya had a huge gash in your side. You had blood all over ya an' after a minute you stopped breathin'. I had t' do CPR, but I barely saved ya." At this comment, T'Pol looked concerned, but he continued, albeit in a distressed tone. In fact, he was close to crying at the memory of almost losing her. But he managed to continue without incident. "Luckily, the Doc got there an' we brought ya t' sickbay and stuck you on life support. Then we had t' get some blood from the Vulcan ship… to replace what you'd lost and, well, the rest ya know."
T'Pol continued to stare unwavering, but her expression continued as one of concern and fear, if that was even possible. Most people wouldn't notice this subtle change from her normally blank and stoic expressions, but he knew her well enough to know if something was bothering her. "I have not been in hydroponics for nearly two weeks," she told him with slightly more strength in her voice.
"Are ya sure? 'Cause that's where I found ya." He was concerned that she couldn't remember such an event, especially one so recent.
"As I told you, I don't recall any of the events which you have described to me. I don't know how I became injured, nor how I got into a storage locker in hydroponics." She was beginning to get frustrated-- probably either from her lack of memory or her inability to answer their questions.
There was a silence as he gazed into her eyes, trying to find out what was troubling her beyond the obvious. Unfortunately he didn't find anything. "Okay," he said after his failed attempt. "Why don't we talk about somethin' else?" he suggested.
She nodded. Although it was visibly painful for her to do so, and seemed relieved at his suggestion.
He wasn't sure whether she would welcome the next topic he wanted to discuss, but he believed that it was necessary. "Do you remember anything 'bout that away mission that you haven't told us?"
As he'd suspected, she didn't seem to welcome this line of questioning. "Are you referring to the mission where I supposedly became pregnant?" She asked, already knowing the answer and disgusted by it.
"Yeah."
"Then no. I recall the same events that you and the Captain described to the Doctor. I myself also told him what I remember. He told me that all three of our memories appeared to coincide with one another."
Based on the confidence with which she spoke despite her obviously weakened state, he knew that she wouldn't take the news of his flashbacks as more than just imagined events. But he knew that he had to find out what really happened on that planet nearly eleven weeks earlier. Even if everyone thought he was crazy; even if she thought he was crazy for even suggesting that the didn't remember what had happened. "Well, T'Pol…" he started. "Ya see, I…" He didn't want to tell her of his second flashback but he knew he had to tell her. "I had a… flashback of somethin' than happened on an away mission. I don't know what one for sure, but I think it was that one."
"What do you mean?" she asked him. She looked more confused than anything, but once he told her what the flashback had been, he was sure that her ever-so subtle expression would change.
"I mean I had a flashback of somethin' that I don't remember happening."
"If you don't remember it happening then how can you be sure it is really a memory?" It had begun--the big debate.
"Well, I know this might be hard t' believe, but the Cap'n remembered that away mission bein' rainy but I remembered it bein' a clear sky the whole time."
"What does that have to do with a flashback?"
"Lemme finish… ya see, the Cap'n asked Hoshi later an' she remembered rain too. In fact, they both remember goin' into a cave t' get out of it." T'Pol was still giving him the raised eyebrow, but he knew she would stop once he had the chance to finish. "Well, when the Cap'n told me about the cave, I remembered somethin' that I didn't remember before. I was walkin' into a cave. It was rainin' an' my clothes were soakin' wet."
As expected, her expression had changed to one of skepticism. "That could have been at any point in your life. It is ridiculous to assume that it was an event during a specific away mission."
"But I'm tellin' ya, I don't remember anything else about it. Most of my memories are more complete. But this one just came outta nowhere. And when I described it to the Cap'n, he figured it could be somethin' from that away mission."
"Why?"
"'Cause when I explained it to 'im, he said that the cave I described was a lot like the caves on that planet."
"Once again, you could have been describing a cave which you ventured into during any away mission."
"Well you didn't get pregnant on just any away mission." When the look on her face changed to one of complete disgust, he regretted even saying it.
Fortunately, she didn't seem too offended, only skeptical and confused. "What are you implying?"
"Well, you memories are of a sunny away mission, too. Right?"
"Yes, but--"
"Well, out memories don't add up to the Cap'n and Hoshi's," he interrupted. He figured she was about to point out that it could be the Captain and Hoshi remembering things incorrectly, but he continued before she could say anything. "And since nothin' weird happened to either of them, but did happen t' us, I think that it's us who aren't rememberin' things like they happened."
Finally, she appeared to understand when he was coming from. "So what you are suggesting is that something happened to us on the planet which caused us to lose our memories, or to have them replaced by different ones." He was glad that she was not asking but instead adding to his hypothesis.
"Right," he told her. He was hesitant to continue but knew that it was crucial. "An' there's more. Ya see, I had another flashback." She stared silently, urging him to continue. "An' this one was of you." He paused, watcher her expression change slightly. He couldn't quite tell what it had changed to, but it could have been surprise. "You were… laying on something. It looked like a biobed, only we weren't in sickbay. There was only one light, so it was real dark and I could barely tell it was you. But I saw ya lying there. You looked unconscious, and ya had some kinda tube attached to your face… and that's all I could remember."
"So you believe that we were together in this second memory?" He was thankful that she finally accepted his flashbacks as memories and not delusions.
"Yeah."
"And do you believe that both of these memories are… from the same away mission?"
He nodded. "It makes sense. On that away mission we were together. And in the first flashback I was going into a dark cave. The second one, I was with you in a dark room that coulda been a cave. Seems t' go together."
"But I have no similar memories," she told him, unexpectedly changing back to her original skepticism.
"T'Pol, think about it!" She looked unwilling. "Think!" He said again.
This time, she put some effort into it and she stared off into space, seemingly searching deep down into the recesses of her mind for any traces of what he was remembering. After about five minutes, she finally turned back to him, visibly disappointed, if that was possible. "No. I can't remember anything such as you are describing."
"T'Pol! If you're not tellin' me somethin'…" he told her sternly.
This appeared to cause great stress on T'Pol and this time she didn't make any effort to hide it. "No, Commander! I am not hiding anything from you. I have no reason to do so. In fact, discovering the events which transpired on that away mission would benefit not only myself but you and Enterprise as well." The sincerity and conviction with which she spoke assured him that she was indeed telling him all that she knew.
Not wishing to cause her any further stress, he decided to stop drilling her with questions. "Alright," he said. "I believe you." Suddenly, the mood in the room made it very awkward and uncomfortable. 'Well, I'd better go," he said at last, turning to leave and loosing his grip on her hand.
"But she tightened her own grip, making certain that he could not get free of her grasp. "No," she blurted unexpectedly. "Please… don't leave."
"Are ya sure? A few days ago, you woulda done anything t' get me outta your hair, and now ya want me t' stay?" he asked, turning his head to look at her.
Seeing his odd, surprised, not to mention bewildered expression, she realized that he wasn't expecting this. "Yes, I'm sure. At least until Doctor Phlox returns. Considering my current condition, I would prefer if someone else was in sickbay."
Just as he had been shocked to hear her ask him, he now felt suddenly sorry for her-- having to lie in sickbay alone would make him go insane. 'Alright," he assured her. "I'll stay. I won't leave ya here if ya don't want me to." He walked back to the biobed, his hand still tightly restricted by her surprisingly powerful grasp. He thought, in fact, that nothing could be tighter until he was proven wrong by her hand tightening up as she stared off into space.
*****flashback*****
Someone was restraining her forcefully, trying to drag her somewhere in the dark room. "Commander!" she screamed. "Help me!"
*****end flashback*****
A/N2: YAY!!!!!! Another chappy… and YES, sickbay is one of the LONGEST scenes (sadly because it's very slow) so just sit tight and we'll try to type it as fast as we can…. And yes, that flashback was SUPPOSED to seem out of character.. You will see why later… In the meantime, is ANYONE even reading this anymore…. No one is reviewing… and if no one is reviewing I never know who's reading… and I'm not gonna keep typing this if no one's reading it…. So PLEASE R&R!!!!!
Chapter 28
"She's comin' to!" he shouted victoriously. In response, the Captain and Doctor Phlox sprinted over to the biobed to join Trip.
The Doctor proceeded to remove the life support devices to which T'Pol was still attached.
"T'Pol?" Trip coaxed. Her eyes fluttered slightly and her fingers moved. HE grasped her hand instinctively and asked again. "T'Pol?"
"T'Pol, you going to wake up?" The Captain asked.
Trip felt T'Pol's grip tighten and her eyes began to open lazily. "T'Pol!" he exclaimed, relieved that she was indeed alive and awake.
She began to sit up, but before she even got six inches off the biobed, three hands stopped her and eased her back down.
"What happened?" she asked weakly. Even though weak, Trip hadn't realized how much he'd missed her voice.
"We were actually hoping that you could tell us," the Captain told her.
"I don't remember," she told him.
"You don't remember anything?" Trip asked her pleadingly.
She looked at him for the first time since waking up. "No. How long have I been here?"
"Nearly three days," The Captain told her.
"An' you have no idea how hard a time the Vulcans have been givin' us. We had t' tell 'em you were here after about a day of tellin' 'em lies. They didn't like that very much. An' they aren't too happy right now either."
When T'Pol's look changed to one of… was it fear and shock… the Captain realized what was wrong. "Don't worry. We didn't tell them about your pregnancy. We just said that you were here and would be for a few days."
T'Pol breathed a very uncharacteristic sigh of relief.
"Well I-"
The Captain was interrupted by the voice of Ensign Hoshi Sato, who sounded a little more gloomy than usual. "Captain, it's the Vulcans. They insist on speaking with you. I've been stalling them for the last hour but they aren't buying it anymore."
The Captain sighed, pushing the wall comm. "I'll be right there." He turned off the comm and addressed the Doctor. "If anything comes up I'll be on the bridge."
The Doctor nodded and spoke to T'Pol. "If you're up to it you may want to return to your quarters."
"Thank you, Doctor," she said in relief. However, when she attempted to sit up and was hit by a wave of nausea she changed her mind. "I think I will wait here for the time being," she reported, lying back down.
"As you wish," Phlox replied. He was ready to get back to work, but then he noticed the way Trip and T'Pol were gazing at each other, intentionally or not, and added," I'll be back in a short while. If you need me, I'll be in the mess hall. Feel free to leave while I'm gone if you wish, but don't forget that hypospray."
There was silence in sickbay for several minutes as the two just stayed there, staring at each other. Finally, Trip decided to speak up and break the silence. He didn't really know where to begin. He had so much that he wanted to say to her. He finally decided to start first things first. "Ya know, I'm… well, I'm sorry for yellin' at ya the other day. I guess this is kinda my fault. 'Cause if I'd just kept my--"
"There is no need to apologize, Commander. Although I don't recall what happened after leaving you in the corridor, I do know that you would never do something to harm me," she interrupted with sincerity.
Trip was unconvinced. "Still, I just--"
"Commander, I don't wish to hear your groveling. I simply want to know what has happened to me and what will happen to me now that I'm awake."
He didn't want to argue with her in sickbay so he decided to answer her question to the best of his ability. "Well," he started. "Like the Cap'n said, we were hopin' you knew. I do know that I found ya in a storage locker in hydroponics. You were unconscious and ya had a huge gash in your side. You had blood all over ya an' after a minute you stopped breathin'. I had t' do CPR, but I barely saved ya." At this comment, T'Pol looked concerned, but he continued, albeit in a distressed tone. In fact, he was close to crying at the memory of almost losing her. But he managed to continue without incident. "Luckily, the Doc got there an' we brought ya t' sickbay and stuck you on life support. Then we had t' get some blood from the Vulcan ship… to replace what you'd lost and, well, the rest ya know."
T'Pol continued to stare unwavering, but her expression continued as one of concern and fear, if that was even possible. Most people wouldn't notice this subtle change from her normally blank and stoic expressions, but he knew her well enough to know if something was bothering her. "I have not been in hydroponics for nearly two weeks," she told him with slightly more strength in her voice.
"Are ya sure? 'Cause that's where I found ya." He was concerned that she couldn't remember such an event, especially one so recent.
"As I told you, I don't recall any of the events which you have described to me. I don't know how I became injured, nor how I got into a storage locker in hydroponics." She was beginning to get frustrated-- probably either from her lack of memory or her inability to answer their questions.
There was a silence as he gazed into her eyes, trying to find out what was troubling her beyond the obvious. Unfortunately he didn't find anything. "Okay," he said after his failed attempt. "Why don't we talk about somethin' else?" he suggested.
She nodded. Although it was visibly painful for her to do so, and seemed relieved at his suggestion.
He wasn't sure whether she would welcome the next topic he wanted to discuss, but he believed that it was necessary. "Do you remember anything 'bout that away mission that you haven't told us?"
As he'd suspected, she didn't seem to welcome this line of questioning. "Are you referring to the mission where I supposedly became pregnant?" She asked, already knowing the answer and disgusted by it.
"Yeah."
"Then no. I recall the same events that you and the Captain described to the Doctor. I myself also told him what I remember. He told me that all three of our memories appeared to coincide with one another."
Based on the confidence with which she spoke despite her obviously weakened state, he knew that she wouldn't take the news of his flashbacks as more than just imagined events. But he knew that he had to find out what really happened on that planet nearly eleven weeks earlier. Even if everyone thought he was crazy; even if she thought he was crazy for even suggesting that the didn't remember what had happened. "Well, T'Pol…" he started. "Ya see, I…" He didn't want to tell her of his second flashback but he knew he had to tell her. "I had a… flashback of somethin' than happened on an away mission. I don't know what one for sure, but I think it was that one."
"What do you mean?" she asked him. She looked more confused than anything, but once he told her what the flashback had been, he was sure that her ever-so subtle expression would change.
"I mean I had a flashback of somethin' that I don't remember happening."
"If you don't remember it happening then how can you be sure it is really a memory?" It had begun--the big debate.
"Well, I know this might be hard t' believe, but the Cap'n remembered that away mission bein' rainy but I remembered it bein' a clear sky the whole time."
"What does that have to do with a flashback?"
"Lemme finish… ya see, the Cap'n asked Hoshi later an' she remembered rain too. In fact, they both remember goin' into a cave t' get out of it." T'Pol was still giving him the raised eyebrow, but he knew she would stop once he had the chance to finish. "Well, when the Cap'n told me about the cave, I remembered somethin' that I didn't remember before. I was walkin' into a cave. It was rainin' an' my clothes were soakin' wet."
As expected, her expression had changed to one of skepticism. "That could have been at any point in your life. It is ridiculous to assume that it was an event during a specific away mission."
"But I'm tellin' ya, I don't remember anything else about it. Most of my memories are more complete. But this one just came outta nowhere. And when I described it to the Cap'n, he figured it could be somethin' from that away mission."
"Why?"
"'Cause when I explained it to 'im, he said that the cave I described was a lot like the caves on that planet."
"Once again, you could have been describing a cave which you ventured into during any away mission."
"Well you didn't get pregnant on just any away mission." When the look on her face changed to one of complete disgust, he regretted even saying it.
Fortunately, she didn't seem too offended, only skeptical and confused. "What are you implying?"
"Well, you memories are of a sunny away mission, too. Right?"
"Yes, but--"
"Well, out memories don't add up to the Cap'n and Hoshi's," he interrupted. He figured she was about to point out that it could be the Captain and Hoshi remembering things incorrectly, but he continued before she could say anything. "And since nothin' weird happened to either of them, but did happen t' us, I think that it's us who aren't rememberin' things like they happened."
Finally, she appeared to understand when he was coming from. "So what you are suggesting is that something happened to us on the planet which caused us to lose our memories, or to have them replaced by different ones." He was glad that she was not asking but instead adding to his hypothesis.
"Right," he told her. He was hesitant to continue but knew that it was crucial. "An' there's more. Ya see, I had another flashback." She stared silently, urging him to continue. "An' this one was of you." He paused, watcher her expression change slightly. He couldn't quite tell what it had changed to, but it could have been surprise. "You were… laying on something. It looked like a biobed, only we weren't in sickbay. There was only one light, so it was real dark and I could barely tell it was you. But I saw ya lying there. You looked unconscious, and ya had some kinda tube attached to your face… and that's all I could remember."
"So you believe that we were together in this second memory?" He was thankful that she finally accepted his flashbacks as memories and not delusions.
"Yeah."
"And do you believe that both of these memories are… from the same away mission?"
He nodded. "It makes sense. On that away mission we were together. And in the first flashback I was going into a dark cave. The second one, I was with you in a dark room that coulda been a cave. Seems t' go together."
"But I have no similar memories," she told him, unexpectedly changing back to her original skepticism.
"T'Pol, think about it!" She looked unwilling. "Think!" He said again.
This time, she put some effort into it and she stared off into space, seemingly searching deep down into the recesses of her mind for any traces of what he was remembering. After about five minutes, she finally turned back to him, visibly disappointed, if that was possible. "No. I can't remember anything such as you are describing."
"T'Pol! If you're not tellin' me somethin'…" he told her sternly.
This appeared to cause great stress on T'Pol and this time she didn't make any effort to hide it. "No, Commander! I am not hiding anything from you. I have no reason to do so. In fact, discovering the events which transpired on that away mission would benefit not only myself but you and Enterprise as well." The sincerity and conviction with which she spoke assured him that she was indeed telling him all that she knew.
Not wishing to cause her any further stress, he decided to stop drilling her with questions. "Alright," he said. "I believe you." Suddenly, the mood in the room made it very awkward and uncomfortable. 'Well, I'd better go," he said at last, turning to leave and loosing his grip on her hand.
"But she tightened her own grip, making certain that he could not get free of her grasp. "No," she blurted unexpectedly. "Please… don't leave."
"Are ya sure? A few days ago, you woulda done anything t' get me outta your hair, and now ya want me t' stay?" he asked, turning his head to look at her.
Seeing his odd, surprised, not to mention bewildered expression, she realized that he wasn't expecting this. "Yes, I'm sure. At least until Doctor Phlox returns. Considering my current condition, I would prefer if someone else was in sickbay."
Just as he had been shocked to hear her ask him, he now felt suddenly sorry for her-- having to lie in sickbay alone would make him go insane. 'Alright," he assured her. "I'll stay. I won't leave ya here if ya don't want me to." He walked back to the biobed, his hand still tightly restricted by her surprisingly powerful grasp. He thought, in fact, that nothing could be tighter until he was proven wrong by her hand tightening up as she stared off into space.
*****flashback*****
Someone was restraining her forcefully, trying to drag her somewhere in the dark room. "Commander!" she screamed. "Help me!"
*****end flashback*****
A/N2: YAY!!!!!! Another chappy… and YES, sickbay is one of the LONGEST scenes (sadly because it's very slow) so just sit tight and we'll try to type it as fast as we can…. And yes, that flashback was SUPPOSED to seem out of character.. You will see why later… In the meantime, is ANYONE even reading this anymore…. No one is reviewing… and if no one is reviewing I never know who's reading… and I'm not gonna keep typing this if no one's reading it…. So PLEASE R&R!!!!!