Chapter Five
Captain Archer walked into sickbay ten minutes later. At first glance, everything looked normal – Trip was seated on the far bio bed eating a sandwich and Phlox was standing near him looking unconcerned, but as he got closer he could see that things looked a little off. For one, Trip was looking at him in a very wary way, as if he was unsure and uncertain about him. Phlox also had a very concerned look on his face, as if he was about to issue very bad news.
"It's good to see you awake at last Trip, you had me quite worried there for a sec. What happened?"
Trip didn't answer. He carried on giving a wary look while looking also at Phlox for reassurance.
"Can I have a word with you in private please Captain?" asked Phlox, indicating for them to go to the work benches on the other side of the room. "I'll just be over there talking to the captain Trip. I won't be long. Would you like to go and see some of my pets while we are talking?"
"Yes please," replied Trip in a quiet voice as he slid off the bed and cautiously walked over to a large cage in the corner.
"Don't touch – I don't want you to get hurt. I'll introduce you to them properly when the captain has gone."
Trip nodded then stared into the cage with a wondrous expression on his face.
"Phlox, is everything alright? Is there anything I should know?" asked Captain Archer in a puzzled tone of voice. After seeing the exchange just now between his chief medical officer and his chief engineer, he was more confused than ever.
"I'm not sure how, but Commander Tucker seems to have regressed to a childlike state with no memories at all of his latter life."
"Regressed!" replied a very shocked Captain Archer, "How?"
"I haven't been able to conduct any deep scans yet to find out the cause because it's taken me this long to gain his trust. I didn't want to frighten him unduly."
"This could be a side effect from what knocked him unconscious, which would mean he could return to normal in time, right?"
"I can't say for sure, Captain, without further analysis. Normally this would be the result of aphasia, but the normal signs that would account for this are not apparent. Therefore I can only conclude that it is an occurrence of the mental trauma that Commander Tucker has just suffered. Has Lieutenant Reed found any evidence of what happened or how it occurred yet?"
"No, he's completely drawn a blank. My next option was to ask him to interview our guests, Toldar, Serena and Calla."
"We have only two guests, Captain," replied a puzzled Phlox. "Toldar and Serena. Who's Calla?"
"She's the old woman Trip carried into sickbay. She was in the ship."
"I'm sorry Captain, but I don't recall anyone else in the ship but Toldar and Serena, who were huddled together. You picked up Toldar, while I carried Serena back to sickbay on a stretcher. Commander Tucker just followed on behind us."
"Phlox I'm not going daft or hallucinating. I remember her introducing herself to us right here in sickbay and she even sat down and had dinner with me. She was real."
"Captain, can we continue this discussion some other time," asked Phlox as he glanced other to Trip who watching them both very closely. "I don't want to cause Commander Tucker anymore stress and anxiety than he is already feeling."
"Sorry Phlox, your right," replied Captain Archer as he looked at Trip's concerned face. "Let's think about Trip now. His health and well being are more important now – that's all that matters. I would guess everything seems a little strange to him now. What do you suggest we do?"
"I think the best thing we can do at the moment is make him feel secure. As far as he is aware at the moment he is just 4 years old, so he must be feeling very frightened and scared without anything or anyone around him that he would consider familiar – his mother and father for example. So we'll all have to be a good substitute for them and be there for him when he needs us."
"Well I don't remember being 4 years old, but I would think you'd be pretty helpless at that age, so if anything he's going to need you a lot Phlox."
"Me, Captain? He's going to need all of us. You are his friend. He's known you the longest. If anything he's going to feel the most secure around you, at least much more than anyone else."
"That was before. He hasn't got a clue who I am know. I'm sorry but I have got too much to do running this ship. I can't afford to waste time babysitting. Take care of him Phlox, I'm going to see T'Pol and Malcolm about our THREE guests. I'll let them know what's happened."
Phlox shook his head and walked back to Trip. He knew the captain was having a hard time dealing with the events of their previous mission, but he was doing a huge disservice to himself by cutting himself off like this. He just hoped he realised this before he lost his friends completely.
Speaking of friends, Phlox thought, as he smiled at his patient. "Would you like to see my bat, Trip? I'll let you stroke and feed her if you like."
Trip's eyes lit up. "Wow, a bat?"
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Captain Archer walked into sickbay ten minutes later. At first glance, everything looked normal – Trip was seated on the far bio bed eating a sandwich and Phlox was standing near him looking unconcerned, but as he got closer he could see that things looked a little off. For one, Trip was looking at him in a very wary way, as if he was unsure and uncertain about him. Phlox also had a very concerned look on his face, as if he was about to issue very bad news.
"It's good to see you awake at last Trip, you had me quite worried there for a sec. What happened?"
Trip didn't answer. He carried on giving a wary look while looking also at Phlox for reassurance.
"Can I have a word with you in private please Captain?" asked Phlox, indicating for them to go to the work benches on the other side of the room. "I'll just be over there talking to the captain Trip. I won't be long. Would you like to go and see some of my pets while we are talking?"
"Yes please," replied Trip in a quiet voice as he slid off the bed and cautiously walked over to a large cage in the corner.
"Don't touch – I don't want you to get hurt. I'll introduce you to them properly when the captain has gone."
Trip nodded then stared into the cage with a wondrous expression on his face.
"Phlox, is everything alright? Is there anything I should know?" asked Captain Archer in a puzzled tone of voice. After seeing the exchange just now between his chief medical officer and his chief engineer, he was more confused than ever.
"I'm not sure how, but Commander Tucker seems to have regressed to a childlike state with no memories at all of his latter life."
"Regressed!" replied a very shocked Captain Archer, "How?"
"I haven't been able to conduct any deep scans yet to find out the cause because it's taken me this long to gain his trust. I didn't want to frighten him unduly."
"This could be a side effect from what knocked him unconscious, which would mean he could return to normal in time, right?"
"I can't say for sure, Captain, without further analysis. Normally this would be the result of aphasia, but the normal signs that would account for this are not apparent. Therefore I can only conclude that it is an occurrence of the mental trauma that Commander Tucker has just suffered. Has Lieutenant Reed found any evidence of what happened or how it occurred yet?"
"No, he's completely drawn a blank. My next option was to ask him to interview our guests, Toldar, Serena and Calla."
"We have only two guests, Captain," replied a puzzled Phlox. "Toldar and Serena. Who's Calla?"
"She's the old woman Trip carried into sickbay. She was in the ship."
"I'm sorry Captain, but I don't recall anyone else in the ship but Toldar and Serena, who were huddled together. You picked up Toldar, while I carried Serena back to sickbay on a stretcher. Commander Tucker just followed on behind us."
"Phlox I'm not going daft or hallucinating. I remember her introducing herself to us right here in sickbay and she even sat down and had dinner with me. She was real."
"Captain, can we continue this discussion some other time," asked Phlox as he glanced other to Trip who watching them both very closely. "I don't want to cause Commander Tucker anymore stress and anxiety than he is already feeling."
"Sorry Phlox, your right," replied Captain Archer as he looked at Trip's concerned face. "Let's think about Trip now. His health and well being are more important now – that's all that matters. I would guess everything seems a little strange to him now. What do you suggest we do?"
"I think the best thing we can do at the moment is make him feel secure. As far as he is aware at the moment he is just 4 years old, so he must be feeling very frightened and scared without anything or anyone around him that he would consider familiar – his mother and father for example. So we'll all have to be a good substitute for them and be there for him when he needs us."
"Well I don't remember being 4 years old, but I would think you'd be pretty helpless at that age, so if anything he's going to need you a lot Phlox."
"Me, Captain? He's going to need all of us. You are his friend. He's known you the longest. If anything he's going to feel the most secure around you, at least much more than anyone else."
"That was before. He hasn't got a clue who I am know. I'm sorry but I have got too much to do running this ship. I can't afford to waste time babysitting. Take care of him Phlox, I'm going to see T'Pol and Malcolm about our THREE guests. I'll let them know what's happened."
Phlox shook his head and walked back to Trip. He knew the captain was having a hard time dealing with the events of their previous mission, but he was doing a huge disservice to himself by cutting himself off like this. He just hoped he realised this before he lost his friends completely.
Speaking of friends, Phlox thought, as he smiled at his patient. "Would you like to see my bat, Trip? I'll let you stroke and feed her if you like."
Trip's eyes lit up. "Wow, a bat?"
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