Chapter Four

He was feeling so content lying there in a dreamlike sleep. The only word that came to mind to describe this warm, calm feeling was 'snuggy', he thought as he settled down deeper into his pillow, letting out a contented sigh in the process.

Slowly he became aware of a voice.

"Open your eyes, Commander."

It was kinda faint at first, so it was a while before he realised that he wasn't dreaming and that the voice was actually talking to him.

"Wake up, Commander."

Whoever this was, he was determined not to let him carry on dozing, so reluctantly Trip slowly opened his eyes. He thought he was dreaming at first because everything was so strange and different, and there was a weird looking man standing next to him with a huge, goofy smile spread across his face. After blinking a few times, a frightening realisation began to dawn – where was he? This wasn't his home. Where were his toys, his friends Wally gator and Mickey? Who was this strange man looking down at him? But, more importantly, where were his mom and dad?

"Commander?" replied Phlox in a puzzled voice. He was mystified at Commander Tucker's reaction upon wakening. He had been expecting some confusion, since Trip had suffered huge mental trauma, but this behaviour was puzzling. Phlox reached for his scanner.

"Where's my mom?" asked a now very frightened and scared Trip, not liking this at all. As Phlox leaned over with his scanner in an attempt to gauge what the problem was, a petrified Trip decided he was having no more of this and bolted off the bio bed in terror.

"Commander!" shouted Phlox as Trip dove for the doors. Not understanding how to open them, he turned and ran to the other side of the room in the hope of finding another suitable escape route. Unfortunately there was no way out and all the weird creatures making those odd noises in their cages were frightening him all the more. Feeling trapped and very unsure, Trip dove under the nearby table and curled himself up tight into a fetal ball.

Phlox decided that he had to proceed with caution; something was very very wrong with Commander Tucker and it was going to need all his people skills to find out just what that was. Walking slowly to the bench where Trip was hiding, he carefully knelt down so he could coax Trip out.

"Hey there," he said in a soft gentle voice. "Don't be frightened, I won't hurt you – I'm a doctor and we have a promise that says we can't hurt people."

Two eyes peeked out from above two knees and glanced across at him.

"I bet you've never seen anyone as funny looking as me, have you?"

Trip slowly shook his head at this statement.

"That's because I'm not from your world. I've come from a planet called Denobula, but I've been allowed to make my home on your world and help heal people with my medical knowledge."

Trip continued to watch this weird looking man from his hiding place as Phlox carried on talking about his home and species. He was still very unsure of where he was or what had happened, but this stranger didn't seem as frightening to him as before. Maybe it was that huge funny smile of his; no one could be bad or evil with a smile that big could they?

"Would you like a drink or something to eat?" asked Phlox, still smiling away. "I imagine you must be quite hungry or thirsty by now."

Trip was, but he didn't want to admit this, since he was still quite wary of this stranger.

Phlox could see Trip's dilemma so he placed a cup of juice and a sandwich down on the floor in front of Trip, and then carried on as before talking about his home and way of life on Denobula.

Gradually Phlox's jovial nature began to win Trip over, so slowly and carefully he crept out from his hiding place and reached over for the food and drink, all the time not taking his eyes off Phlox.

Phlox smiled at this breakthrough then stood up to refill Trip's glass and plate with more juice and another couple of sandwiches. Since a line of trust had obviously begun to form, he also returned with a medical tricorder – scans were needed so he could determine the root of the problem. It would be limited with just his hand held scanner at the moment, but he didn't want to overwhelm Commander Tucker's emotional control. His behaviour since waking showed that small steps would definitely be needed when dealing with him from now on.

"What's that?" asked Trip in between mouthfuls of sandwich.

"It's a tricorder. It lets me look inside you to see if everything is okay. Would you like to look?"

Trip's curious nature got the better of him as he shuffled forward to take a peek. "Will I see ma sandwich going down to ma stomach?"

"No, I'm sorry," chuckled Phlox. "I'm afraid it doesn't show things in quite that much detail."

Trip just smiled and carried on looking at the scanner with amazement and curiosity written all over his face.

"What's your name?" asked Doctor Phlox. He already knew of course, but he wanted to gauge the patient's reaction and memory.

"Trip."

"That's a good name, I'm called Phlox."

"Hi," smiled Trip. "Nice to meet ya."

"It's nice to meet you as well Trip. Can I ask how old you are?"

"Four."

"Well Trip, now that we know each other, shall we go and sit down on one of those beds?" asked Phlox as he pointed over to the other side of the room. "There's someone I want to introduce you to. Don't worry," he added quickly as a look of fear darted across Trip's face. "He's nice, he's my friend. I'm sure he would love to be yours as well."

"Okay," smiled Trip as he nervously grasped Phlox's hand and stood up, before letting himself be led over to the nearest bio bed where he sat down and finished his meal.

"Phlox to Captain Archer......."

"Archer......"

"Can you come to sickbay, Captain?"

"Is this about Trip? Is he awake yet?" asked Captain Archer. He had been most concerned when Trip had been found unconscious in shuttle bay one. He'd asked Malcolm to investigate what had happened, but so far no evidence had turned up. He hadn't wanted to leave sickbay, but Phlox had been adamant that he should go and get some rest, promising to call when Trip awoke.

"I think I would be able to explain better if you got down here Captain...."

"I'll be right there," replied Captain Archer in a worried tone. He didn't know why but a huge feeling of dread took over him; something was very, very wrong with Trip.

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