The heart rate indicator began beeping faster, prompting the mostly asleep Doctor Rass to sit up, blinking frequently. He stretched and yawned, then tried to focus his eyes on the biosign monitor. Heart rate increase, temperature increasing, blood pressure rising... all good signs. He stood up and walked up to the bed. T'Nia, who had been in the room as soon as her watch ended, also walked to the bed. Tony wasn't far behind. His arm still in a sling, but in fresh clothes. Even Lieutenant Box had faithfully stood by the bed waiting.

Though tired, Doctor Rass smiled warmly at his patient. "Good morning, Commander."

The voice was almost like an echo, but he plainly heard it. Slowly, Stephen squinted his eyes open. As he began focusing on his friends, he was momentarily disappointed. Just before losing consciousness, he was actually looking forward to heaven. This obviously wasn't it. Kirk took several deep, pained breaths before speaking. "I thought I was dead."

The entire group let out a collective sigh of relief at hearing Steve talk. Dorrin patted him on his good arm. "Actually, you did die... twice."

Stephen pondered that statement a moment. To know that his life had ended twice, but he was still here felt somewhat odd to him. He had always considered heaven to be the true 'final frontier' and had been looking forward to talking to Solomon since he was a young man. To know he was that close to it, but was yanked away was almost depressing. "Thanks for bringing me back," he replied politely, even though he barely meant it.

"Well, I'll be perfectly honest, Stephen. I wish I could say it was my exemplary surgical technique that saved you, although I was pretty good." He smiled wider. "No... someone out there greater than all of us wanted to keep you with us awhile longer."

Kirk smiled weakly. That knowledge gave him some comfort. Doctor Rass walked over to his medical replicator and started pressing buttons.

"It is quite agreeable to see you, Stephen. Your condition was... disquieting." T'Nia commented.

"Hhhhi was very worried," Box added.

Tony chimed in. "Yeah, you scared the crap out of me, Steve. If you ever die on me again, I'll beat the tar outta you."

Stephen laughed weakly. "I'll keep that in mind." His side hurt, causing him to wince.

Dorrin turned around. "You should avoid taking deep breaths for awhile. I essentially had to rebuild your right side, including part of your right lung. The lung tissue is still young and delicate, so I'll be keeping you here for another day, just to keep an eye on you."

Stephen was confused. "Another day?"

"The surgery was eighteen hours," Rass replied. He pushed a small vial against the replicator. A pale green liquid filled the vial. "You've been unconscious for... six hours now. It's stardate 56974.4." He placed the vial into a hypospray.

"Wow," Kirk whispered. He had lost an entire day. Still, there was a reason why he was still here. Part of it, he was convinced, was figuring out why Bolerov sent him on a suicide mission in the first place. He looked at Tony's arm. "What happened to you?"

"I got shot while I was yelling at you," he said, smiling. Thoughts of their arguement had completely faded from Tony's mind. Seeing Steve so close to death reminded him of what was really important.

"Sorry," Kirk offered.

"I know... just don't let it happen again."

Dorrin walked back over to Commander Kirk. "Okay, you need a little more strength... give your body some more time to heal. It's time to take a rest." He shook the hypospray. "Don't worry, you'll feel a whole lot better tomorrow. And, as long as the tissue takes hold, I'll even let you go back to your quarters."

Kirk nodded slightly. "Whatever it takes, Doc." Rass poked him in the neck with the hypospray and released the fluid.

As Kirk went back to sleep, Doctor Rass turned to the group of friends. "Alright... now we can ALL get some sleep."