Sleeping Ill

T'Pol had gone straight to her quarters after beaming aboard. The Captain didn't seem to mind, as he could understand her being tired.

T'Pol's cuts were still badly infected and weren't getting any better. Her bruises were the size of apples and it still hurt to touch them. Still, she was too tired to go to Sickbay and there was always tomorrow. The muscle relaxant like drug had begun to wear away, but she still felt drained of energy, which wasn't surprising considering the emotional ups and downs she'd had today.

From the moment T'Pol had gotten into her room, she had half walked, half limped to her bed, collapsing on it when she got there.

Almost a second later, her door buzzed. T'Pol inwardly groaned.

"Come." She managed to spit out. Trip entered and her mood suddenly improved. Trip saw her and rushed over to the bed.

"Oh my god T'Pol! We've gotta get you to Sickbay." Trip said worriedly. T'Pol tried to sit up, without much success.

"I'll go tomorrow, I just need to rest now." T'Pol said, not taking her eyes off him. It had been too long since he'd held her in his arms. How long? A week? A month? She'd known it had only been a little over a day, but it seemed so much longer.

"Are you sure?" Trip asked. His face tensed up when he was worried and T'Pol couldn't help but love it.

T'Pol smiled and said, "Yes." Coughing slightly.

"At least let me clean you up a bit." Trip offered. He disappeared into her bathroom and reappeared a few seconds later with a bowl of water and a towel.

He bent down beside her, dipped the towel into the water and began to clean up her wounds. T'Pol flinched.

"Sorry, it'll sting a little." Trip smiled and T'Pol felt warm inside.

"It's okay." T'Pol smiled to reassure him. She'd learnt many things from Trip, but she'd learnt to be more human too. She felt that deep inside her she had this human part, wanting to be recognised. Where it had come from, she'd never know, but she was beginning to except that everything would turn out fine.

After a few moments of having the pleasure of just looking at each other, Trip continued to clean up the masses of dried green blood.

"You know, you had me very worried darlin'." Trip smiled and T'Pol inwardly smiled too. Once, she was annoyed and uncomfortable at being called 'darlin'', but after today, she didn't mind at all. It felt right.

"Sorry, I'll be more careful next time." T'Pol joked. She knew that trip appreciated humour and for some reason, she liked to please him. It seemed that when he was happy, so was she. Trip smiled, but averted his gaze, as if he was trying to avoid something. T'Pol instantly picked up on this.

"Is something wrong?" T'Pol asked, stopping his hand from tending to her face.

"Nah, everything's –" Trip smiled unconvincingly.

"Trip." T'Pol hardened her gaze.

"When I saw you on the screen, apart from the beaten up and tired part of you, I also saw that you were, well, sad." Trip felt self-conscious. "And I just wondered who you were directing that at."

Trip got up and T'Pol tried to sit up again as best she could.

"How could you see that I was sad, the tears had –" T'Pol stopped herself. She'd never admitted to anyone when she'd been crying although it was a rare thing.

"You cried?" Trip almost shouted in disbelief. He came over to sit next to her on the bed. "Why?"

T'Pol fixed her gaze on the floor, she didn't budge.

"T'Pol." Trip lifted her chin with his finger, forcing her to make eye contact. T'Pol could see herself taking comfort in Trip and crying all over again because he was there and she was there and they were both there together.

"When I was in that shuttlepod and the ship was about to fire, I was scared for the first time in my life." T'Pol whispered, as if she was ashamed.

"That's okay. A lot of people are afraid of death." Trip answered soothingly.

"I'm not afraid of death." T'Pol said, kind of defensively. "I was afraid that I'd never see you again. I think that I'm in love with you."

Trip stared wide-eyed at T'Pol and he was completely speechless. T'Pol looked to the floor. She'd never cared for anyone like this, she felt a strong connection with him deep inside of her, a growing feeling. He'd seen her at her worst, her best and through it all; he'd never left her.

"Really?" Trip asked, a little high pitched.

"Yes." T'Pol replied, still looking at the floor.

"Wow." Trip breathed and sat back down next to her. "What does this mean?"

"I don't know." T'Pol muttered.

"T'Pol, you know I care about you deeply too, but –"

"You don't love me." T'Pol finished, looking truly hurt.

"No, I do. If anything, I do love you. What I was about to say was that I don't think we should rush into anything and then have regrets. Let's take it slow, okay?" Trip looked at her, silently pleading that she'd understand. He had seen a whole new side of T'Pol, a vulnerable side.

"Considering how we got started, that may be tough." T'Pol smiled and Trip laughed. He gave her a quick kiss; it was short, but perfectly sweet.

"I should let you rest." Trip got up to leave.

"Trip." T'Pol stopped him.

"Yeah." Trip turned around.

"Would you just hold me tonight?" T'Pol asked. She looked like a homeless kitten asking for milk.

"Sure." Trip answered. He went behind her and rested his head on her pillow, holding T'Pol protectively in his strong embracive arms.