Communications expert Ensign Hoshi Sato approached sickbay with a look of determination on her young face. Her left hand was pressed against her stomach, as if trying to hold back to the growls and groans of hunger. Although she hadn't eaten all day, and was looking forward to sitting down to dinner, she couldn't do that without her friend next to her. Hoshi had invited the doctor to dinner with her, Travis and Malcolm earlier that day, but she had failed to show up. So while Malcolm went in search of Commander Tucker, who was also invited, Hoshi returned to sickbay to fetch the Lieutenant. She opened the doors to sickbay, striding in as her wide almond eyes took quick stock of the room. Dr. Phlox was nowhere in sight, but Laura was hunched over a microscope at the far end of the room. Judging by her appearance, she had been working hard for several hours.

"Laura, we were waiting for you,"Hoshi called, as she neared the young doctor. She looked up, and Hoshi had to bite back laughter. Her usually neat hair was standing up in some places, and her uniform was unzipped far enough to show the bright blue of Starfleet issued underwear. Laura smiled brightly, leaning back in her chair.

"Oh, I'm really sorry about that. I completely forgot. Um, just let me finish up here, and I'll meet you."

"It's alright, I can wait." Hoshi smiled back, and wandered over to the animal tanks Dr. Phlox kept readily at hand. Laura chewed her lip worriedly, glancing at the curtained biobed behind her. She wiped her hands roughly on her uniform, peered once more into the microscope, then stood.

"Okay, Hoshi, I'm all done here. We can head right down to the mess hall now,"she said, joining the Ensign by the tank of mammals not unlike Earth's cats. She pressed her hand against the glass, and the small furry orange creature answered in kind, standing on the smooth surface with two tiny paws.

"Oh, have you seen Commander Tucker? Malcolm invited him, but he didn't show up either." Hoshi followed Laura over to the door, as the Lieutenant said, "nope, but I'm sure he'll meet us there shortly."

The doors closed behind them, and after a long moment of silence, Trip stepped out form behind the curtained area, sighing heavily in relief. This is getting way too close, he thought to himself with a slight shake of his head. He checked his chronometer, finger combed his hair, and made sure his uniform was zipped all the way. He was suddenly very thankful that he had installed that motion detector outside sickbay. Without it, he and Laura would've certainly been caught. And that would've been difficult to explain. The hardest part would be explaining it's presence if anyone ever found out.

Trip hurried towards the doors, knowing that to wait any longer would only increase the number of questions everyone had. Besides, he was hungry, and for the first time in several weeks, actually had an appetite.

"It's like he disappeared from the ship,"Malcolm stated as he slumped down into his chair. "I checked engineering, his quarters, the bridge. I don't know where he is."

"Maybe he's taking a space walk,"Travis suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. Laura rolled her eyes with a laugh. The thought of Trip walking around the hull of the ship while they searched for him inside just made her want to laugh. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."

She wasn't even done speaking before the doors to the mess hall opened up, and Trip stepped through, looking slightly out of breath. Laura smiled warmly at him, but it didn't last long. Under this lighting, Trip looked exhausted. She could see the dark bags under his eyes, the paleness of his skin. He even seemed to have lost weight. She wondered sadly how she could've missed it; if maybe she actually didn't see it, or if she had seen it, and subconsciously refused to acknowledge it. If her Trip was anything, he was stubborn. She feared that he would be unable to ask for help, and his situation would get worse.

"Hey guys,"he greeted, sitting down between Laura and Malcolm. "What's going on?"

Malcolm shot him an incredulous look. "'What's going on?' Where have you been? I looked everywhere for you!"

Trip shrugged nonchalantly, despite the toe he felt digging into his ankle from Laura's side. "I was doing some minor repairs on one of the observation decks. You know, boring, tedious stuff, but someone has to do it." That wasn't a complete lie, he had been doing repairs on some of the sensor equipment before joining Laura in sickbay. This time, if he was checked up on, they wouldn't find any reason to doubt him.

"So what's the grub?"he asked, unable to control his wide grin when he felt the doctor's hand on his knee. He didn't risk a glance in her direction as he responded in kind, touching her booted foot with his own.

"Chef made spaghetti,"Hoshi replied, completely unaware of the escapades going on under the table. When Laura slid her hand further up Trip's leg, he couldn't help but close his eyes and let out a loud moan. Upon opening his eyes, though, and finding everyone looking at him, he blushed several shades of crimson.

"I love Chef's spaghetti,"he said, shrugging again. This time he did look at Laura, shooting her a warning glance. It didn't matter how much fun it was, they were taking too many risks.

Lucky for them, the crewman arrived with their dinner, two men and a woman pushing a cart each that came up to their waist, filled with four shelves of spaghetti dinners. Everyone rose to get their meals, but Trip gently pushed Laura back down into her seat. "I'll get you a plate,"he said softly, hovering just above her ear. She smiled at him, and watched him wait patiently for the other crew members to get their dinners.

"So you're getting waited on, huh?"Hoshi said with a smirk, as she sat back down with her plate. Laura shrugged.

"I guess so. He probably just feels like being chivalrous."

The three men returned with dinner, and eating commenced, with very little conversation in between mouthfuls. Laura kept sending glances at the man to her left, wondering if she should even try to help him. She knew from past experience that he didn't take well to the offering, but if she knew Trip half as well as she was sure she did, she already knew he wouldn't get help under his own power.

Trip set his fork down, rubbing his face slowly.

"You okay?"she asked, touching his arm gently. He looked over at her, smiled, and nodded. "Just a little beat. I'm fine."

He turned back to this meal, and Laura met Malcolm's gaze from across the table, seeing and understanding the concern she saw. She decided then that she would do someone. Trip was a very well-liked person on Enterprise; there would definitely be no shortage of people to come to his aid.