Three Days Too Die
Disclaimer: Please see previous chapters ;)
A/N: Thank you all sooooooo much for your patience! I got the chance to study abroad in Australia and I totally had writer's block for a couple of months, but let me tell you, y'all's reviews have been great encouragement and inspiration. I am definitely still working on this fic, this is not the last chapter (sorry, I totally did not mean for this story to be so long, but.. here we are :o) Lol ).
So, without further ado, please enjoy this next installment while I piece together the next chapter :)
Phlox had been managing Trip's symptoms to the best of his ability all night and time was running out.
From what he could gather, once exposed, the victim had three days, a full 72 hours to live. As they were already 59 hours in and the time needed to make the cure was unknown, Phlox was becoming more and more unsettled.
The Commander's condition continued to deteriorate. Phlox looked over at the Commander. A man he had known since the beginning of their voyage.
A man of strong principles and beliefs, both of which had gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. Phlox chuckled to himself as he remembered a few of the more interesting escapades the Commander had encountered.
Commander Tucker was not one to go down easily. As such, it was hard to see him in such a position, body weak with fever, under attack from the poison, and, for all intents and purposes, losing the hardest battle he's ever fought.
Phlox shook his head as the hours passed and Hoshi, Malcolm, Mayweather, and many others stopped by to check on Trip's condition.
Finally, in the early hours of the morning, with roughly 10 hours left on the morbid clock, the Commander was still in a coma and the Captain had yet to return with the plant.
Phlox looked over the Commander's chart for what felt like the gazillionth time, noting the different medications being used to treat the symptoms.
Sedatives were unnecessary, but carbamazepine was being used in an attempt to treat the seizures. Unfortunately, the medication was failing, and the seizures were occurring more frequently than Phlox would have liked.
The fever was barely being managed, Trip's face pale and flushed. His breathing was still irregular, and Phlox had a nasal cannula supplying extra oxygen, worried that asphyxia might be a concern in the near future.
The scratches covering the Commander's arms were still quite angry looking despite the many antibacterial treatments he had administered. The abrasions only resisted the treatment and seemed to worsen.
The fight against the infection that was fueling the fever was not looking promising.
Not only was the Commander's body becoming fatigued and his biological defenses being broken through at a worrying pace, his brain activity was also extremely abnormal.
While Phlox understood that the effects of the poison varied per species, he was still quite troubled by the readouts from the hallucination effect the poison seemed to have on Commander Tucker's mind.
Despite being puzzled, he hadn't found time to pass on the information to anyone else. Captain Archer was busy retrieving the plant that could save Commander Tucker's life, T'Pol was rather reluctantly preoccupied with command, and he just wasn't ready to add brain damage to their list of problems.
Frowning, he again reviewed the Commander's charts, as was his nervous habit.
His concerns about brain damage might not be a problem if the plant is not retrieved in time.
Turning away from the Commander's bed, he heard T'Pol's voice announcing the return of the shuttle pod and the need for medical personnel to meet them in the shuttle bay.
Relief instantly flooded his system and, knowing that Captain Archer would have the plant for the cure, Phlox ordered one of the nurses to monitor the Commander before he rushed out and made his way to the shuttle bay.
"Captain, were you successful?" Phlox asked, his voice full of hope and fear in equal portions as he approached the people exiting the shuttle pod.
"We have it." Archer hastily said as he handed the plant over to Phlox.
The other medical staff quickly began tending the wounded while Archer and Phlox immediately made their way to Sickbay.
Upon arriving, Phlox and Archer were paused in their haste by the uproar that was Sickbay.
"What is going on?" Phlox quickly asked the nearest medical personnel as he handed off the plant to one of the chemists that he had prepped regarding the start of the creation of the cure.
Anxiously and impatiently awaiting an answer to his question, Phlox motioned for Archer to remain in the doorway.
"The Commander began to seize, stopped breathing, and then his heart stopped." The man responded, as breathless as the rest of the personnel rushing to get readouts and manage the symptoms.
"We've managed to restart his heart and get him breathing again, but the puzzling thing is that his brain waves were off the chart the whole time." He answered hurriedly, falling into place alongside Phlox as they approached Trip's bed.
"Thank you." Phlox replied, taking control of the situation without another word to Archer. Everyone worked fluidly, fighting to ensure that Trip was and would remain stable.
Archer remained standing in the doorway, frozen in spot as if the slightest blink could result in the life of his best friend slipping out of their grasp.
Tension lined his shoulders as his best friend lay lost behind the blur of medical uniforms and his mind feared the worst.
After a moment, Phlox was approached by the chemist that he had passed the plant off to. Archer watched intently as they exchanged words and then Phlox followed him.
As things quieted down, Archer dared to breathe again. Trip was still alive. Phlox was working on the cure. They were going to be okay.
Archer made to move into the room, to stand by his best friend's side, when a chemist approached him.
"Captain?"
Tearing his eyes away from the still form of his friend, Archer acknowledged the chemist with a nod.
"Dr. Phlox wanted me to inform you that the toxin in this plant is the same as that taken from Commander Tucker's blood samples. He is making progress with breaking down the toxin using the plant, however, the tests needed to ensure that this will not make the Commander worse are going to take a couple of hours."
The chemist's face was sincerely apologetic as he awaited the Captain's response.
"Does he know how much more Trip can take?"
"He is hopeful, Captain, but he won't say for sure."
"Okay. Thank you." Looking from the chemist to Trip, Archer ran his hand over his face in weariness and frustration.
"If Phlox needs me, I'll be in my ready room."
The chemist nodded as Archer again regarded Trip and the rushed out of Sickbay.
Archer couldn't contain himself. Tears streamed down his face as soon as the door to his ready room was closed.
Calmly sitting on his bed, he lowered his head into his hands and wept.
Everything felt as though it was crashing down around him. The hope that Phlox could complete and administer the cure before Trip's body gave in to the toxin felt like fool's hope.
Breathing deeply, Archer braced his shoulders. Fool's hope was better than no hope and Trip deserved more than for him to sit here and grieve for something that was yet to be lost.
Standing, he made his way out of his ready room to check on his ship and his crew, choosing to embrace what hope he had, however small.