NOTE: This is final chapter. Thank you all for wonderful rewievs! I appreciate them greatly, they really turn me on.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any Star Trek contents.
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WHAT MAKES THE BEST PILOT
Chapter SEVEN
by Yannik
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"He's waking up!" B'Elanna called Harry, who was pacing the sickbay nervously. How come she managed to sit by Paris' bedside, while her – always so composed – friend couldn't control his guts, she had no idea. Even more weird – couple of days ago she despised the pilot. How did he manage to earn her respect in such a short time?
Harry rushed to witness Tom feebly opening his eyes.
"Hey! You got us scared, man!"
"What happened? Where?…" Tom whispered, fearfully looking around.
"Neuro-activator got you… well… messed up" B'Elanna tried to joke, but her concern was too big for her to really smile.
"Did we?… Did Voyager?…"
"Yes, we got through the cluster. You got us through it!"
"And you did remarkably well too!"
"I can't… remember…"
"It's all right." B'Elanna turned, her eyes searching for the Doctor. He was checking some data in his office. She motioned him over.
"There are bits and pieces…" Tom's brow furrowed, as he struggled to remember. "But it's all a blur."
"Don't worry. It'll get back to you" Harry tried to cheer him up, but he was no good either. They were all too frightened at the moment.
"I don't know. I have a feeling that… I'm missing out on something." Tom stopped as Doctor and Kes neared his biobed. "Something important" he added under his breath.
"What's most important right now is your rest" Doctor's self-important attitude was supposed to scare Harry and B'Elanna out of the sickbay, but he had to use more than just a glare to have them going. "Mr. Paris should stay alone. You waited for him to wake up, now you may stop to worry, and leave!"
To Doctor's dismay, at this very moment Tom Paris had yet another visitor. Captain Janeway entered sickbay, and approached pilot's bed.
"How are you feeling Tom?" she asked cheerfully, seeing her 'personal reclamation project' quite lucid. She was scared for him too, but was better able to control her facial appearance.
"Tom is fine!" Doctor exclaimed. "And now – Captain I'd like to talk to you in my office. Ensign, Lieutenant – please, leave. I'd let you know if there are any changes. Kes, please make sure that Mr. Paris gets rest and is not disturbed."
Doctor turned around, not sparing another look even at the Captain. Janeway shrugged, gave her officers meaningful look, and followed EMH.
B'Elanna squeezed Paris' hand, Harry just waved, and they both left. Tom looked after them, weary and confused.
"You loved it" suddenly he heard a gentle voice.
He turned and looked at Kes blankly, so she tried to explain.
"I was there, on the bride. When you flew. For a moment only, but what I felt from you… You loved it. I don't think I ever experienced such happiness emanating from you. You were…" she searched for the right word. And she found it "… fulfilled."
Tom smiled. Yes, he could believe that.
"Sleep" Kes mouthed.
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"His mental state is highly unstable" Doctor hollered. Captain couldn't remember if she'd ever heard him hollering when it was about his patient, not about his-self. "But if you listened to me, none of it would happen!" But then – everything was about Doctor's self, wasn't it?
Captain sighed.
"He seems clear-headed."
"I assure you he's not! All his parameters are off limits. I haven't evaluated him emotionally, or mentally yet, since he was unconscious, but…" Doctor shook data padd meaningfully.
Captain frowned. She knew what this padd contained. She gave it to him couple of hours ago.
"Did you find anything in his medical history?" she asked.
"Yes! And I wish I had asked permission to look at them sooner! It just didn't seem so important!" Doctor was – for once in his life – mad at himself.
"Well, what was that?"
"Shortly after his birth Tom Paris was diagnosed with a serious neural and mental disorder." Doctor waited for the news to fully register with astounded Captain. "Yes. He was treated of course – his father had the best connections imaginable, so Tom was treated in the best facilities and he was cured completely. But the Bonean incident must have triggered some chemical imbalance in his brain, and now this neuro activator just added it's toll. I fear that this illness is back – and to the fullest."
Captain couldn't draw in a breath. Tom Paris mentally unstable? What was going to happen?
"What do we do now? What do you do?"
"I'm going to take an attempt in treating him again. However on Voyager it's going to be difficult – we are not that specifically equipped. But I can find a solution for any medical problem, Captain, my programming…" Doctor's self-satisfied smile annoyed Captain like never before.
"I know about your programming!" she interrupted. "I want to know about Tom's condition now! What could this illness do to him?"
"Well according to this data" Doctor was all business again "his childhood condition consisted of headaches – which he experienced over the recent months as well, but you wouldn't listen to me – insomnia, mild autism, and episodes of epilepsy. I don't know about autism, but what Lt. Torres, and Ens. Kim witnessed in holodeck was grand-mal seizure, so we have headaches and epilepsy now. I hope that I can treat him out of it – as I said earlier" Doctor finished, and waited for Captain to respond.
But she found it hard to talk at this very moment. She considered all implications, and possible scenarios. And she was scared. Finally she exhaled and rose her sight to the Doctor.
"I'm stunned" she admitted.
"I understand. I'm going to inform you, that I want him to remain in Sickbay for a while, so I could have an eye on him. And I shall precede with treatments as soon as I make all the necessary modifications to the sickbay."
"Of course."
They were silent for a while again, both deep in thoughts.
"Is he of any danger to anyone due to his condition?" Captain asked suddenly.
"Oh, no! Patients suffering from it are absolutely harmless. They are just… well… not adjusted to society" however silly this explanation sounded, it was true – according to Doctor's knowledge. "Therefore, Captain – all we've said here must stay between the two of us."
"Of course!" she exclaimed. What was he thinking? But then - "What about Mr. Paris? Aren't you going to inform him?"
"I'll probably have to, but… Maybe not in full detail. This would only add to the stress he's already under, and that would not help his brain chemistry at all. I'll have to explain the necessity of treatment to him, but I'll find the way, don't worry. No one from the crew may be aware of his condition however."
"That's… well… understandable."
"Oh, yeah! Can you imagine the reaction of some people here if such a gossip shall spread? Our society haven't witnessed real mental disorders in over a century, but myths and misinformation still remain. It's hard to believe how human fear those who are different. And that mentally disabled Human are considered more different than 'normal' Klingon, or Vulcan."
"Yes. That's strange."
Captain looked over – behind the transparent walls of Doctor's office – at peacefully sleeping Tom, at Kes silently attending to him. She remembered sensitive Ocampa's words from earlier on – during the flight.
"It makes me wonder…" she whispered.
"What?"
She rose her eyes. She didn't realize she said it out loud. She looked at Tom again. And after few seconds she started speaking slowly, considering.
"What kind of person would Mr. Paris be, if he wasn't treated? I remember those unusual things he said about how he's able to feel 'Voyager'. Don't you think this may have been because of his illness? Wasn't that what made him such a great pilot? When the activator made him 'mentally unstable' – he flew like he never did before!"
Will he ever do that again? – Kathryn Janeway asked herself inwardly, and – surprisingly – with slight remorse…
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The end
If you liked this story – check my other ones – those posted, and those to come. And if you wouldread this story a month, a year or even a few years after it was published, and feel like rewieving – DO IT! I'd most likely get your opinion, and it would give me much joy. Thanks for reading!
.yannik
