Arguing Doesn't Help
When Trip awoke, his first thought was about the humming silence in his head and his very bruised chest.
His eyes fluttered open and discovered that he was in Sickbay with a bandage around his lower chest wound.
Clenching his fists, Trip struggled to sit up.
"Ah, nice to see you conscious again, Commander." Doctor Phlox's voice rang in Trip's head like a fire alarm.
"Why is my head so heavy?" Trip slurred.
"Drugs to help you sleep, I'm afraid." Doctor Phlox answered as he tended to his alien 'pets'. The Captain came in, looking slightly pissed off, and Trip was reminded of the fight they got into about…
"Wait? Where's T'Pol?" The urgency in Trip's voice made the Captain look at him in a slightly jealous, but mainly blaming, way.
"The Suliban got her because you decided to act like a hero and not call security." Captain Archer almost shouted. If anything over his time with Archer, Trip knew that he always struggled to hold his temper.
Ignoring the Captain, Trip turned to Doctor Phlox. "How long have I been out, Doc?"
"Almost 3 hours." The Doctor answered.
"Are we following the Suliban ship?" Trip asked the Captain angrily.
"No, one of the Suliban jammed the Warp Flux Capacitor, we can't go beyond Warp 2." Captain Archer replied calmly. No doubt he blamed all of this on Trip.
"Dammit! I'm going down to Engineering to –"
"Oh no you're not." The doctor interrupted. "You need to rest and let your bruises heal."
"Doc, T'Pol is gone!" Trip shouted.
"And why is that, Trip?" The Captain yelled, accusation in his voice.
"Don't you dare blame this on me!" Trip threatened.
"You could have called for back-up!" The Captain argued.
"You could have listened to Travis when he told you that the ship was coming this way!" Trip returned. Suddenly, Doctor Phlox's pet cages started rattling and screeching, on top of Trip's headache, this day couldn't get any worse.
"You're disturbing my pets." The Doctor explained after they had calmed down. "Besides, arguing isn't going to help the Sub-Commander."
"He's right." Captain Archer began to act all superior again. "Commander, get down to Engineering and fix that Flux Capacitor."
"Fine, you work with Travis to find any leftover Plasma trails." Trip commanded.
"I didn't ask for your order." The Captain retorted, looking shocked that he dared talk back to his Captain.
"I'm the Commander. Giving commands is what I do." Trip replied. Without another word, Trip limped around his Captain and walked to Engineering with only one thing on his mind. Saving T'Pol.
