Trip awoke to a searing pain in every other part of his body. His
left leg was unable to respond to the commands his brain sent to make it
move. His right arm could barely get his fingers to bend at their
knuckles. He knew he was in terrible shape but figured it must be
sedatives and Phlox would be lowering the amounts in the next couple of
days; in short, he thought he could return to Engineering by the end of the
week. He pondered over repair lists that needed to be updated and had a
sure guess on where his repair teams were on fixing up Engineering. He
remembered the catwalks crashing down upon him, and the smoky smell of
waking up in the rubble. He had a good guess it was Johnathan's hand that
had found him in the pile of mashed metal. He also remembered hearing buzz
saws cut away the harsh pylons and warped conduit-shelling that had encased
him in his unwanted tomb.
As Trip turned his head slowly, he found he had a crick in his neck. Well, he could get Johnny to take care of that. He carefully breathed in and out, his chest felt sore and he surmised he had a couple of busted ribs to boot.
"Ah, I see you're awake, Commander.", said a cautious Phlox
"Yep, not feeling so dandy but still in one piece, eh Doc.".
"I fear I have most unfortunate news, Mr. Tucker".
"There's no need to be formal, Doc. You know it's me.", laughed the young man.
"Well, thank you, Trip. Before I tell you your exact condition, let me call the Captain. He expressed his extreme need to be hear when you heard the news."
"You make it sound like it's something real bad, Doc. I know I'm pretty torn-up but I plan to be out of here by the end of next week. If you'll let me teach you that Earth game, poker, like you promised I could, I'd stay till the middle of next week, buddyroe.", conned Trip.
"Trip, I will take you up on your offer and just to prepare you for the news you're about to receive, you will be playing many rounds of poker with me, I must tell you.", answered Phlox.
Phlox went over to a nearby wall-comm unit and paged the Captain.
"Sir, Commander Tucker has woken-up and now would be a good time as any to come down, so we can brief him together of his all-out condition."
"I'll be right there, Doctor.", answered a hesitant Archer.
Dr. Phlox looked back to Trip and simply just smiled, then pulled up a chair, and began reviewing scans of Trip's busted body to pass the time. He did not saw a word as to what he was really reading on the datapad.
Captain Archer walked in and slowly ambled over to Trip's side.
"I hear there's an officer here who wants out of here quite soon.", said Archer as he leaned down and rested his elbows on the left side of Trip.
"I'd like to get back up on my feet within two weeks, Johnny but, no longer than that. I couldn't stand that."
"Well, dear, it's going to be much longer than that and there are some-aspects of...your new condition...that you're going to deal with on a permanente level. We're all going to help you make adjustments to you new standard of living that won't infringe on your duties as an officer, Trip."
"You sound like its so final, John. Am I really that bad a mess? I couldn't imagine anything worse than a few busted bones and some super stiff joints."
"I'm not going to give you any fake excuses about your condition, Hon. There's going to be...a period, maybe indefinitely....that you're going to have to use a wheelchair but, even that's a couple of months away because you need severe bed rest in the meantime. I even have made some contacts back at that Durandi outpost we visited last month, to bring on some of their people as a permanent addition to the crew to help out with the extra work-which is to be totally expected-so the rest of us can fight each other to take care of you."
Trip just stared into Johnathan's eyes, gulped, and had a few tears trickle down his cheeks. He took a few deep breaths and leaned back down, and stared at the ceiling, not saying a word. Johnathan pulled up a chair and sat down, to wait until the news had sunk into Trip's psyche.
"How are the new people gonna help out? They're not Starfleet.", finally said Trip.
Thank God he's taking this o.k., he must not want to know the details, thought John.
"I plan to give them a crash course in Starfleet basics and even cross-train a couple of them to help out the MACOs. They'll start out as Ensigns and work their way up "the corporate ladder" just like everybody else. They're really enthusiased to start out a new life for themselves and very sorry it is under such sad circumstances. Although Headquarters gave their approval sooner than they'd like to on this, they figure they could put it off a few years till our "casualty stats" were too high...", Johnathan trailed off because of a crack in his voice.
"Well, I guess this is the way it's gonna be, babe. Can I ask just one thing?", questioned Trip.
"Anything, you know that..."
"Can I have Porthos as my Disabled-Service Pooch?"
Johnathan burst out laughing and leaned down and planted an amorous kiss square on Trip's smiling mouth.
As Trip turned his head slowly, he found he had a crick in his neck. Well, he could get Johnny to take care of that. He carefully breathed in and out, his chest felt sore and he surmised he had a couple of busted ribs to boot.
"Ah, I see you're awake, Commander.", said a cautious Phlox
"Yep, not feeling so dandy but still in one piece, eh Doc.".
"I fear I have most unfortunate news, Mr. Tucker".
"There's no need to be formal, Doc. You know it's me.", laughed the young man.
"Well, thank you, Trip. Before I tell you your exact condition, let me call the Captain. He expressed his extreme need to be hear when you heard the news."
"You make it sound like it's something real bad, Doc. I know I'm pretty torn-up but I plan to be out of here by the end of next week. If you'll let me teach you that Earth game, poker, like you promised I could, I'd stay till the middle of next week, buddyroe.", conned Trip.
"Trip, I will take you up on your offer and just to prepare you for the news you're about to receive, you will be playing many rounds of poker with me, I must tell you.", answered Phlox.
Phlox went over to a nearby wall-comm unit and paged the Captain.
"Sir, Commander Tucker has woken-up and now would be a good time as any to come down, so we can brief him together of his all-out condition."
"I'll be right there, Doctor.", answered a hesitant Archer.
Dr. Phlox looked back to Trip and simply just smiled, then pulled up a chair, and began reviewing scans of Trip's busted body to pass the time. He did not saw a word as to what he was really reading on the datapad.
Captain Archer walked in and slowly ambled over to Trip's side.
"I hear there's an officer here who wants out of here quite soon.", said Archer as he leaned down and rested his elbows on the left side of Trip.
"I'd like to get back up on my feet within two weeks, Johnny but, no longer than that. I couldn't stand that."
"Well, dear, it's going to be much longer than that and there are some-aspects of...your new condition...that you're going to deal with on a permanente level. We're all going to help you make adjustments to you new standard of living that won't infringe on your duties as an officer, Trip."
"You sound like its so final, John. Am I really that bad a mess? I couldn't imagine anything worse than a few busted bones and some super stiff joints."
"I'm not going to give you any fake excuses about your condition, Hon. There's going to be...a period, maybe indefinitely....that you're going to have to use a wheelchair but, even that's a couple of months away because you need severe bed rest in the meantime. I even have made some contacts back at that Durandi outpost we visited last month, to bring on some of their people as a permanent addition to the crew to help out with the extra work-which is to be totally expected-so the rest of us can fight each other to take care of you."
Trip just stared into Johnathan's eyes, gulped, and had a few tears trickle down his cheeks. He took a few deep breaths and leaned back down, and stared at the ceiling, not saying a word. Johnathan pulled up a chair and sat down, to wait until the news had sunk into Trip's psyche.
"How are the new people gonna help out? They're not Starfleet.", finally said Trip.
Thank God he's taking this o.k., he must not want to know the details, thought John.
"I plan to give them a crash course in Starfleet basics and even cross-train a couple of them to help out the MACOs. They'll start out as Ensigns and work their way up "the corporate ladder" just like everybody else. They're really enthusiased to start out a new life for themselves and very sorry it is under such sad circumstances. Although Headquarters gave their approval sooner than they'd like to on this, they figure they could put it off a few years till our "casualty stats" were too high...", Johnathan trailed off because of a crack in his voice.
"Well, I guess this is the way it's gonna be, babe. Can I ask just one thing?", questioned Trip.
"Anything, you know that..."
"Can I have Porthos as my Disabled-Service Pooch?"
Johnathan burst out laughing and leaned down and planted an amorous kiss square on Trip's smiling mouth.