This was written as a meme answer on my lj, with the requester asking me for a little bit of background regarding the incident John mentions at the beginning of part three regarding the Orion pirates. SAP WARNING.
I'll Still Be Here
Phillip needed to get Jim out of Sickbay and to bed. He had been drooped next to his father's bedside ever since he had been wheeled out of surgery, and any attempts to remove him had been met with short shaky statements that could all be translated to the same phrase. It was probably a good thing that the Captain wasn't awake to hear them. Nurse Church looked like she wanted to strangle the boy, but she couldn't stand children in general, though, so Phillip took her opinions towards Jim and the others with a grain of salt; but even ever-patient Doctor Hirai was starting to look concerned. A growing teenager couldn't get quality sleep from bending awkwardly to rest his head on his father's bed. He looked over at the boy and sighed. He could hear humming coming from him, a sweet sound that was only barely touched by the roughness of puberty, and tamped down a shot of guilt as he approached the Captain's bedside. Jim didn't look up.
"Jim, I know you don't want to, but you need to go back to your quarters and get a decent night's rest." Jim shook his head before he was even done speaking, and Phillip didn't bother hiding his sigh. "I'm going to have to make it an order, then." That got the teen's attention, with a first-class glare being immediately leveled on him, and he snorted. "Jim, he's stable. Why don't you go back, take a shower, and give Admiral Archer a call? He's already aware of events through the official channels, but I'm sure he would appreciate hearing the latest from someone less...formal."
"I- I don't want him to wake up alone." ...and that was the crux of the matter. Phillip gave a slight smile, and ruffled a hand through Jim's dirty hair, chuckling when the boy jerked away.
"I promise, Jim; the instant he shows any sign of waking up, you'll be the first to know." Jim clawed at the bedsheets by the Captain's hand for a moment, his eyes downcast; Phillip felt his smile fade under the reality of the matter. Christopher had spent time in sickbay many times, but this was by far the worst. Debris from the battle with those damned pirates had struck the bridge head on, killing an ensign and all but impaling the captain in his chair; the look on his son's face when he had emerged from surgery had been heartbreaking. He honestly doesn't know what would have happened if he had been forced to impart different news. Watching as Jim squeezed the older man's hand one last time as he rose to his feet, Phillip is relieved beyond words that it didn't come to that.
"The- the instant he-" Jim's blue eyes were glassy, and Phillip nodded.
"That very instant. I promise." Jim stared at him with pinched lips for a long moment, before nodding and heading out of the room. After a few minutes, he dialed up the security records to make sure the teen had gone to their quarters, and nodded to himself when the screen confirmed it. Stepping away from the console, Phillip walked to his captain's bedside and checked his vitals, then gave the sleeping man a fond smile. "You have a good kid, Christopher. A good kid."