N/A: Thanks to all of you for your kind words. Gammara you guessed right. I hope all of you like this chapter. Ral makes his nasty appearance in the next chapter.
Chapter Six"Jonathan, why can't we wait and do this tomorrow." I woke up feeling myself being pulled down into the center of the bed; then he straightened me onto my back. I knew what was coming.
"Doc left a message on the telecom early this morning. He wants us to stop by the Lab before our meeting at Starfleet. He also asked if I was keeping up with your therapy."
He certainly hadn't overlooked the fact I wasn't wearing my sleeping garments. "Stop looking at me like that Jonathan, we don't have time."
Grinning, he continued to push and pull on my limbs, bending them until I wanted to kick him across the room. "By the way, Doc said not to eat anything before coming in this morning, he wants to draw some of your blood."
"I don't know why we have to keep doing this. It doesn't help my walking that much."
"You're pouting, T'Pol, and it's not very Vulcanly if you ask me; and it's really unbecoming a Vulcan Ambassador."
All I could do was glare as every muscle screamed; "You're certainly enjoying yourself this morning, aren't you. Could you hurry; I still need to shower. Ouch!"
"Lay still, you're only making it harder on yourself." He was giving me his most mischievous look. "Or would you prefer that I give you neural pressure massage, T'Pol?" I could feel his excitement flow through him.
"Not if we're expected shortly at Starfleet, however, it is preferable to this."
I watched Jonathan's face take on a look of disappointment and uncertainty. "Only preferable."
Now it was my turn to get even. "Yes, preferable."
It didn't take him long to filter through my thoughts and find that he was successfully distracting me. "Oh, you're playing nasty this morning, Sweetheart."
"Jonathan, we don't have time and it certainly isn't Phlox's idea of physical therapy."
We were bantering back and forth as we had done three times a week since we were married. And I was complaining, again, just as I had done three times a week since we had begun my therapy sessions.
Suddenly Jonathan stopped; my heart began to pound like it would leave my chest. I was hyperventilating. I froze when I suddenly realized it wasn't me. I looked up to find him staring at my limb; he was tracing the barely visible scars on my right thigh, where Ral had ripped me open.
"Jon," I whispered. "Jonathan, it's alright." His thoughts hit me full force. He was shaking; flashbacks to our mind meld were fast-forwarding. I put my hands to his temples to confirm my darkest fears. The scenes were vivid and he couldn't separate himself, he couldn't put them in proper context, then they would replay again.
"I'm not strong enough to protect you, Jonathan." I tried desperately to break his connection. "I hoped this would wait until we were both stronger, Jonathan." I grabbed on to him and reversed our positions.
I don't know how long I fought with him, but I finally gained control of his thoughts. Thankfully he finally collapsed from sheer exhaustion; he would rest now.
I rolled over onto my back. I on the other hand was trembling, I wasn't sure I could get up from the bed, and if I did, I wasn't sure that I would be able to make it to the bathroom in time. My stomach threatened to expel what little was left. I had to get up.
Cautiously, I made my way back to the bed; my sides hurt from trying to wretch the contents of my stomach. 'I would prefer to die, however, we are due shortly at Starfleet.'
"Jonathan," I gently touched him, "Jonathan, can you hear me? We need to get ready, our transport will be here soon."
His eyes flickered open, managing a smile, he asked, "What the hell happened?" I watched him as his eyes surveyed his surroundings trying to remember.
"You had flashbacks from our mind meld and in order to break the connection I had to get aggressive, but you are fine now, Jonathan."
"Aggressive, what did you do?" I waited while he took mental inventory. "I feel a lot better, more than I have since we did the meld. What did you do?"
"We went through the scenes, frame by frame, Jonathan, I broke each one down and we studied them together. You were then able to understand what was happening and disassociate yourself from the actual events."
"Sounds very cold and uncaring, T'Pol." He was frowning.
"Not at all, plus, it did help. We were both able to see things that we would have missed, otherwise. Now, when you remember, you will also have the answers. We both have answers that we needed."
"What do we do now? Am I in good enough shape to make the meeting?"
"Yes, of course you are. I'll get in the shower, why don't you make yourself coffee and get something to eat. I'll eat after Phlox gets his blood sample."
"I think I'll wait and eat with you in the cafeteria."
"Fine, I'll hurry, or do you want to share the shower, Jonathan? I'm only suggesting it because we don't have as much time as I would like, our driver should be here soon."
"I'd love to take a shower with you, T'Pol."
He followed me a little to closely into the shower. "Jonathan quit trying to start something." 'All I need is an aroused husband right now.'
"The word's horny, for your information, Sweetheart, and what makes you think that I'm aroused?"
"Just trust me, I know."
"Okay, let's talk about something that will take the wind out of my sail, so to speak. You want me to wash your back?"
"Alright, Jonathan, what would you like to talk about? And yes, please do."
"Who's the man in the communiqué from Ral? The one that caused you to faint?" The question knocked the wind out of me.
Trying to stay calm, and disconnected, I answered him. "I believe he is the man Ral referred to as his foreman. His name is Whitock."
"Foreman? Who are the other two?"
"They were guards from the factory."
"You're not going to volunteer the information are you, T'Pol? Would you wash my back?" He turned away from me.
"Jonathan, what do you want me to say? Whitock was a sadist. So were his friends. I'm sorry, I don't know how else to say it; they enjoyed inflicting pain." I wanted to change the subject; absently I applied pressure to his back.
"Hey, don't rub so hard."
"I'm sorry Jonathan." I hesitated a minute, gathering my thoughts before addressing what was really troubling me. "Ral intended to contact me last night. He will probably try again today. I believe the first thing I need to do is decide how to handle him; do you have any suggestions?"
"Yeah, I've got some real good suggestions." Jonathan's face was red, and my blood ran hot from his anger. "Ral was behind the whole thing wasn't he? He got you down there under false pretenses, then kidnapped you, torturing you, doing those horrible things that he did to you, and he knew what Whitock and those other two animals were going to do. He set that up too, didn't he?"
"Yes, Jonathan. We need to hurry, our transport will be here any minute." I got out of the shower while Jonathan shut off the water and then followed me. We quickly helped each other dry off and I finished my hair while he shaved. We were ready with possibly five minutes to spare when there was a knock on our door.
Jonathan ran ahead of me to the front hall and opened the door; only to be pushed back into the foyer by two very fast moving MACO guards, closely followed by four more. "What the hell is this?"
"Sorry Admiral, just wait here please." Jonathan and I watched as the guards fanned out and quickly moved toward the back of the apartment.
ooooo
The last thing I remember was the unbearable pressure against my ears and the feeling that my head was going to explode. Then there was a terrible pain in my shoulder.
I am now in Starfleet Medical, I have been told that I was blown backwards into the wall and knocked unconscious. The power of the explosion took off part of the roof; and the entire end of the apartment was blown away.
Jonathan has gone out into the hall, leaving me in the care of Phlox.
The MACO's suffered two fatalities and several casualties. Jonathan suffered several superficial cuts.
I heard Jonathan arguing with someone in the hall. "Well, by God you'd better tell me something, Son, or I'm going in there myself, I don't care who's in there with him."
"Please Sir, all we were told was to be on the lookout for two men answering the descriptions given to us. We saw them in the alley just as we arrived."
"Well describe them to me. Do you have names?" I could feel Jonathan's temper rising, he was quickly losing control.
"They were described to us as a couple of mercenaries, Sir. They were seen with two men that we have had under surveillance."
"I want to talk to Admiral Marshall right now, and, you'd better hope he's more forthcoming with information."
I could here the near panic in the young officer. "I believe they are coming out now, Sir." His voice was shaking as he continued. "If you will excuse me, Admiral, I would like to go in now to see my buddies."
"Certainly, Corporal, I'll just stay out here a few minutes and chat with Admiral Marshall."
The door opened and the young officer came into the Lab. Looking around, he sighed when he didn't see his friends. His eyes came to rest on me.
"I believe you will find a waiting area in the next room, Corporal, Your friends were just taken into surgery, it may be awhile."
"Thank you Maam, I mean Ambassador." He lowered his eyes for a moment; when he looked back up, his eyes came to rest on the bloody front of my robe. "Are you going to be alright, Maam?"
I nodded. "Corporal, do you know if they caught whomever was responsible for the attack?"
"There were two of them, Maam, and they both died in the blast." Curiosity had gotten the better of him. He came closer, his eyes coming to rest on my shoulder and my chest. "Forgive me for staring, Maam, I've never seen green blood before. Why did the Doctor leave you out here unattended?"
I could see he was worried, thinking, I had been left with no medical help. "I am doing alright, Corporal, my wounds are superficial. I will be fine. Your friends required emergency surgery. Doctor Phlox is an excellent Doctor, he will see that your friends are well taken care of I assure you."
"Thank you Ambassador, if you need anything just holler, I'll be in the next room." Finally satisfied that I was going to be all right, he made his way into the waiting area.
I heard Jonathan's voice again, he was not happy with the answers he was getting. I was hopeful that my hearing hadn't been damaged in the explosion. I could hear Jonathan but he sounded farther away than he actually was. That concerned me. As I listened I could tell he definitely was upset about something.
"I'm sorry Jonathan, but since they both died in the explosion we'll never know for sure who hired them."
"I want to see your surveillance pictures; maybe, I'll recognize one of them. Has Captain Reed seen the information? How long will it be before you have an identification?" Jonathan was definitely stressed.
"I'm afraid there wasn't much left, just charred remains, but we've identified victims with less. If they're in our database we'll find them."
My stomach turned over. Had this been a kidnap attempt gone wrong. Or had they just simply decided to kill me. I shivered, feeling chilled to the bone. I wished Jonathan would come back inside.
Just then Jonathan walked in. His presence was reassuring. He continued to have a very calming affect on me.
I looked up and could barely see Phlox standing at the end of my bed. "Good morning, Doctor. How are the two soldiers that were brought in with me?"
He smiled, "I left them in good hands. Their injuries were the most serious; they will be transferred to the burn unit as soon as they come out of recovery. I understand from the young Corporal that they saved your life, T'Pol."
"I was only partially conscious, I remember the smell of burnt flesh." The nausea was coming back. "Are they going to be all right?"
"They have 2nd and 3rd degree burns, but they are going to be fine. What I was more concerned about were their bone fractures. I believe they are going to make a full recovery. It's almost afternoon, T'Pol. How are you feeling?" Phlox's face was suddenly serious, absent the usual grin that always threatened to swallow up his face.
"I am doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances, thank you. I understand you wanted a sample of my blood, I hope this incident doesn't create a problem, I don't believe I've lost to much blood." I felt apprehensive, I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was amiss.
"I just wanted a sample to compare with the previous one you had done a few months ago. I also wanted to have a look at you, make sure you weren't still having headaches?"
"No I'm not, nor am I seeing double, Doctor."
"Good. Well then, lets have a look at your new injuries, shall we." I watched as he picked up a pair of sheers.
"I'd prefer that you didn't cut into the fabric, Doctor. I believe that with the help of you and Jonathan, I should be able to remove the necessary clothing."
"Certainly, but, can we get a look at your shoulder first, do you think?"
"My robes fasten at the neck, you should be able to open it enough to see if it is serious." A groan escaped as I attempted to move my arm.
"Wait a minute, T'Pol. Admiral, would you be so kind as to help me move this bed into a more private area. We are going to have to help T'Pol out of her robes." I groaned again as they moved the bio-bed.
During the next few minutes I was forced to bite my lip to keep from using language that I had heard Jonathan use many times. I had received several superficial cuts from flying glass and many bruises. My robe was indeed ruined, full of holes actually. I consented to have it cut off of me in order to lessen the pain. My most serious injury was in fact my shoulder. I had been hit with flying debris and it was still deeply embedded in my shoulder. I would need surgery to remove the object and make repairs.
Unable to relax, Jonathan decided to find Admiral Marshall while I was in surgery.
ooooo
The smell of antiseptic made my nostrils flare and the pungent odor of lemon cleared my nasal passages. I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy. In the distance I could hear Phlox talking.
"Has T'Pol said anything that would indicate she wasn't feeling well?"
"No, why, what's wrong, Phlox?" I could feel fear building in Jonathan.
"Oh, I believe our patient is coming around now, I'll just ask her."
I tried once more to open my eyes. With a great deal of effort I finally succeeded but I could barely make out Jonathan or Phlox.
"How do we feel, T'Pol?"
I watched as he scanned the overhead readings. "I am not sure, Phlox."
"It's going to take sometime for all of your faculties to function properly. Are you having trouble seeing?"
I frowned at him, "Yes."
"You have suffered mild burns to both lids, it will be necessary to wear dark glasses to protect your eyes until they have healed, you will have to learn patience."
"Doctor, what of my hearing, I still have an echo?" I shifted trying to find a comfortable position, I then took a deep breath; the pain certainly wasn't asleep. It was sharp enough that I involuntarily winced.
"Your hearing will come back good as new, however T'Pol, we do need to talk." Knowing that I was in pain, he stopped. "First, I believe it's time for more pain medication, I'll be right back."
Jonathan took my hand, absently rubbing our hands together. I could feel Jonathan's apprehension as he considered Phlox's last comments. I myself felt unsettled. I actually hadn't felt well for the last few days. 'Perhaps Phlox has found something wrong with me.'
Coming right back with a hypo-spray he proceeded to give me a shot. "As I started to say, T'Pol, you have some health issues. I believe that a trip to Andoria at this time would be unwise, even life threatening. I'm not going to release you for service, T'Pol."
I was startled. "I don't understand Phlox, I have been in far worse condition, medically, and I have been able to function and fulfill my duties. What is wrong with me that is life threatening? Surely not my shoulder wound."
"No, No, it's not that." Phlox looked at the two of us, a frown on his face, carefully considering his words. "The miracle you wanted my help with seems to have begun without me." Then a smile began to engulf his entire face and he grabbed Jonathan's hand and began pumping it up and down in an overly zealous human handshake.
I was confused. Then I saw Jonathan's face, heard his thoughts, he was nearly screaming at me.
"T'Pol you're pregnant, Goddamn, we're going to have a baby. Isn't that right Doc.? That's why she's been sick for the last three mornings, isn't it, isn't it!"
I couldn't speak. It wasn't possible; we weren't compatible.
."Sweetheart, did you hear me, you're going to have a baby, T'Pol." The tears flowed down his face.
All I could do was look at Phlox. Finally, barely above a whisper, I asked, "How?"
"That's what I wanted the blood sample for, you've had physicals twice a year since you left Enterprise. I've kept track of your blood count, it has changed over the years."
My face was blank; I had no idea what he was talking about. "Explain!"
"Your blood has taken on different components. It has changed over the years, T'Pol, because of the transfusions Jonathan gave you. When he brought you back from Salanacon your organs had quit working, your body never rejected his blood. Over the years your blood has changed to four parts Vulcan to one part human. Apparently suitable for conception and supporting a fetus all on your own."
I was unable to speak, overwhelmed with emotions I couldn't fully identify. I let the tears come. Almost whispering, I asked, "Will I be able to carry it to term, Phlox?"
The smile slowly left his face, "I'm going to be totally honest with both of you, I don't know. That's one of the reasons I won't allow you to go to Andoria. I may need access to medical equipment not normally found on a starship."
I didn't know what to say. I turned to Jonathan. "I can't think; we need to talk about this."
"No, Sweetheart, the talking is over, Phlox has the last say in this as far as I'm concerned, we're not going near Andoria."
I nodded, but I wasn't happy.
"I have one suggestion regarding Andoria. You would need to talk to the President and Admiral Marshall, but for you it's the only alternative I will agree to. Bring the Salanese delegation here. An attempt has already been made on your life. I don't believe they would allow you to go, now, anyway." Phlox waited patiently for me to fully comprehend what he was suggesting.
"I know who Ral is, I heard it enough when you were delirious, T'Pol, I would like nothing better than to find a way to nail him, as the humans say. It concerns me too: you need to close this chapter in your lives." Phlox's face bloomed into one gigantic smile again. "Both of you have more important things about to happen, now."
Jonathan looked at me and nodded. Smiling almost as enthusiastically as the Doctor. All I could do was agree. I was still in shock.
"T'Pol, I want you on intravenous feedings starting immediately, morning sickness will take fluids from both you and the baby. You must spend an hour a day in the Water Exercise Pool. It will strengthen you lower limbs with the least amount of pain. I would wait until your shoulder heals before completely submerging yourself. Jonathan can then help you with upper body strength training, but nothing to strenuous. I'll put together an intravenous feeding program that will help your nausea, too."
"As Phlox has said, we need to bring this to a satisfactory closure, T'Pol. I'll talk to Admiral Marshall ask him to pitch the idea to the President, and T'Pol, no private meetings with Ral!" Jonathan waited for my reaction.
"The only closure that will work for me is their arrest, all of them. If we can prove that they are behind the plot to assassinate their prime minister, they could all be executed. That will satisfy me and bring me closure." I was adamant.
Finally agreeing with me, Jonathan spoke, "While I was talking to Admiral Marshall in the hall, he told me that there are rumors floating on Andoria of a coup attempt to get rid of the prime minister of Salan. Perhaps we can help the rumors, point a finger or two. I'll talk to Malcolm; see what he knows. Maybe he can help us set a trap for Ral and his friends."
Satisfied, I turned to Phlox again, "You are sure aren't you. Do you know the sex of the child?"
Phlox grinned. "Yes I'm sure, and yes I know the sex, she has your ears, T'Pol."
TBC
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