ShiKahr, Vulcan, Stardate 2292.298

It was just after midday on Losha's third day in the hospital. The previous day had proved a busy one, with visits from both Dr. Karatek and the vision therapist. She had confirmed the doctor's assessment that with practice, Losha's vision would return to normal. He would need to re-train his brain, but the more he practiced, the faster he would see improvements. She had provided him with a padd specifically designed for vision therapy, which contained a full vision training program. One day, without him even thinking about it, she said, text would suddenly become clear. The same was true for depth perception, though she believed that would be restored much more quickly.

Dr. Karatek's initial examination determined that in terms of brain recuperation, Losha was well enough to be released. However, as he was still having difficulty walking, it was deemed necessary that he remain at the hospital longer. He had spent much of the day walking around the halls with the assistance of both Sodok and a walker. It was disorienting, but at the same time, he wanted to look at as many things as possible. Seeing light coming in through windows in the rooms was intriguing, yet he was not able to see the full brightness of it with the contact lenses and sunglasses he had to wear. He would have continued to walk around the halls when T'Vel took over, but since he did not want her company, he told her he was too tired.

Amanda, Malar, Naalem, and Sarek had visited him in the late afternoon. As he had discovered on his first evening in the hospital, when the topic was Vulcan points of interest, conversation with Sarek proved fairly easy. Sarek was extremely knowledgeable on various sites, even those outside Shi'Kahr, and seemed eager to share his knowledge, if eager was a word that could be used to describe a Vulcan. Now that he could see his face, he was able to read some slight indications of emotion. He wasn't sure what had prompted him to try to tease Sarek by asking him about the uzhaya wak-krus, or the time of renewal, at Lake Yuron. Amanda had described it as a time when young Vulcans might be seen behaving a tad illogically, partaking in festivals along the beach or at the hot springs.

Losha was also beginning to be able to observe personality, if not emotions, from Sodok, the nurse. Compared to T'Vel, he seemed cheerful, though anyone could be said to seem cheerful when compared to her. There was also something in his tone and in his eyes that hinted at what could only be described as sarcasm. Sodok had returned to take away the dishes from Losha's first meal since arriving in the hospital, which consisted of t'mirak, a rice dish, and water. It had been well over twenty Standard years since Losha had tasted t'mirak, but he still remembered the flavor. The hospital version differed somewhat from what his mother had made, and he supposed it was either because the hospital dish was likely replicated or because his mother hadn't always had access to the Vulcan spices that seasoned the dish and had often had to adapt it based on what spices were available locally.

Though Malar owned a replicator that could produce dishes from just about anywhere, he had never used it to replicate anything Vulcan aside from one attempt to make tolik, a sour fruit he had loved above all others. It was the first thing he'd replicated on his visit to Malar's after she'd purchased the appliance, but it didn't taste the way he remembered it on Ivor Prime so he hadn't bothered replicating it again. Since Malar's housekeeper also cooked, the replicator wasn't used frequently. Still, he could have replicated a Vulcan meal if he chose, but didn't want to dredge up long buried memories of his mother. The night Sarek had arrived on Senes had been the first time he'd tried a Vulcan dish from that replicator, though none of the dishes she'd made that night were any he recalled his mother making.

"As Dr. Karatek has surely informed you, you may be released this evening if you are able to walk sufficiently well without assistance. Rather than walking through the halls again, I thought you might enjoy a walk outside in the garden. However, T'Vel noted in your file that you declined to walk last evening, due to fatigue."

"Yes, but I feel up to walking today."

The garden outside reminded Losha of the section of the Royal Gardens in Undaa that displayed plants from the Minai Desert. Kadren had taken him there when he was a boy, and he had since taken Naalem there. The hospital garden had two neatly arranged rows of desert plants on either side of a small, rectangular reflecting pool, with benches surrounding it. Aside from an older Vulcan woman who sat facing the pool, the gardens were empty. Beyond the pool stood a towering succulent that was perhaps six meters high.

Losha paused to look up at it.

"I have never seen such a tall cactus before."

"You have never seen a kuranji before?" Sodok sounded surprised.

"No, but I've only been on Vulcan for three days. And before yesterday, I couldn't see anything."

"You have never visited Vulcan before?" Sodok cocked his head toward Losha.

"No." It was the simplest answer he could give without going into the complicated details of his life.

"I surmised that you were from a colony world, but I had assumed you had been on Vulcan before. I see now that it was illogical of me to make such an assumption."

"Why did you think I'm from a colony world?" How did Vulcans perceive him?

"Your mannerisms."

"I don't seem like a Vulcan, do I?"

"You seem like a Vulcan who has lived off-planet."

Losha supposed that was the most information he'd get out of Sodok, who was obviously trying to be polite.

"Do you know what these bushes are here?" Losha asked, pointing down at one of the beds.

"A g'tesh bush."

"I think I can walk without this walker. Things aren't as blurry as they were yesterday."

Losha lifted his hands off the walker and Sodok wheeled it off to the side. Without any further assistance from Sodok, he found he was able to walk along the path. Some things still seemed a bit blurry, but it was a significant improvement from the previous day. After he had walked up and around the pool and around each of the garden beds several times, Sodok finally spoke again.

"Are you fatigued? Or would you like to continue walking?"

"I'm not fatigued."

"It would be unwise to exert yourself."

"I wasn't really fatigued last night. I just didn't feel like walking."

"I understand. Walking through the hallways can be tedious."

"Yes." In truth, it hadn't been tedious for Losha as he had been eager to see anything he could outside of his sterile room.

"And I suspect T'Vel is not the most pleasant of companions."

Losha froze mid-step, stunned at this admission from Sodok. He turned to look at him and saw a gleam in his eyes and a minute smile on his face. Almost instantly, though, the nurse pulled his face back into an expression of complete neutrality. Sodok was joking with him!

"I find her to be very, uh, Vulcan." He would have also used the word unpleasant, but it seemed too rude.

"She is no more or less Vulcan than you or I. But, as a junior staff member, she does not have her choice of shifts. She does not desire to work during the night."

"So she's unhappy that she has to work nights and that's why she is the way she is?"

"She is the way she is because it is the way she is. One's personality does not change based on the time of day one works. Shall we continue walking?"

After several more trips around the pool and the garden beds, they returned inside. Sodok entered some information into his padd, then began removing Losha's contact lenses. The nurse's padd began to buzz.

"Dr. Karatek has responded to my update to your patient file," he said, once he had dropped the lenses into the waste reclamation unit, which was built into the wall. He tapped the padd and looked down at it.

"You are to be discharged at 1800 hours."