A/N: Well, after a slight hiccup with its formatting, here's today's chapter. Thanks again for these lovely reviews, and I'll hopefully get more of the story posted through the Easter weekend.

Aftermath

Chapter Seven - Anchoring Hope

00.17. Still keeping vigil at Trip's bedside, Jon was now feeling every one of those witching hours. He was exhausted, demoralised, and still deeply shaken by the night's traumatic events. But until Trip regained consciousness, until he came out of this damn coma, he was not going to leave him.

He hadn't been entirely alone, of course. Nor was he keeping the truth behind Trip's collapse to himself either. Denobulan doctors, it seemed, were as suited to hearing guilt ridden confessions as the more traditional priests back on Earth.

After hearing the whole, sorry story, Phlox had simply nodded. There'd been surprise, of course, maybe a trace of silent disappointment. But no criticism, or judgement. Just his CMO's quiet compassion, trying to boost his flagging spirits.

"Well, Captain, you and the Commander will certainly have a lot to resolve when he wakes up. As I've said before, he can still hear you, so… well, I can't see any harm in starting that process now. The best thing you can do if you want to regain his trust is to let him know you're here. Allay any fears he may have had before you found him, and before he collapsed. Let him know that you're right there beside him now, no matter what."

Taking him at his word, Jon had kept up a quiet, if sadly one sided conversation with his friend. Making those promises, and apologies, and everything else he should have said in his ready room. Promising him the support that, he prayed, Trip would soon be able to hear in reality.

"…and even if this does get back to Starfleet, Trip, I'll stand by you. We'll face it together."

'And why the hell didn't I tell you that sooner? Before you ended up in this damn bed?'

Pushing away the niggling voice of his conscience, Jon tried to hold onto the hope it was denying him. Trip's friendship meant too much to him to give up on it so easily. For his sake, for Trip's, he'd fight for it. He'd fight like hell, until he rebuilt it. He'd do whatever he had to do, to regain a trust he still wasn't sure he deserved.

Before he could do any of that, though, he had to bring Trip out of his coma. If that meant talking him back to life, then - well, so be it.

"…whatever happens, Trip, we'll face it together. But right now, Trip, I need you to wake up. I just need you to wake up."

Met with silent stillness, he sank back in his chair, wincing at the all too familiar crush of frustration. He'd made this plea so many times during this interminable night that he'd given up counting them. For every time he'd said them, he'd been answered with silence. A heartbreaking lack of response.

But something was happening now. Out of nothing and nowhere, something was definitely happening.

He sat up. Stared. He rubbed his eyes, several times, then focussed them back on the face in front of him. No, he hadn't willed it to happen, or imagined it. Tears, real tears, were sliding down Trip's cheeks. His breathing hitched into a muffled sob. His mouth moved through the motions of soundless words.

"I – I will… I'll never f'rget you…"

Silence then, that stretched on for so long that Jon had almost convinced himself he was seeing things. Then more tears, sliding down the side of Trip's cheek, conveying the anguish of a last, final farewell.

"G'bye…"

After hours of anxious watching and waiting, that was it. As suddenly as he'd returned to life, Trip slid back into his twilight world of silence and stillness. But a surge of neural activity confirmed it, long before Jon turned to throw an elated yell behind him.

"Phlox! Phlox, he's – he's waking up!"

Never far from his patients, or those who watched anxiously over them, Phlox strode to Jon's side. He studied the monitors above Trip's bed with, Jon dryly noted, rather more restraint than he'd just done. And the Cheshire Cat grin that had always freaked him out now lifted a crushing weight from his shoulders.

"Yes, Captain, he's undoubtedly coming round. All his vital signs are holding, and improving. But he won't be fully awake for a while yet."

Jon was grinning too now, in pure elation that the moment he'd prayed for had finally come. But, as he reflected more calmly on what he'd just seen and heard, that relief faded significantly. God, even now, Trip was going through undeserved hell. All that anguish, those still seeping tears. Gently brushing them away, the big brother instincts that he'd always felt towards his friend kicked straight back into overdrive.

"But why was he crying, doc? Is – Is he in pain?"

Already checking his scanner, and those all important monitors, Phlox smiled and shook his head.

"No, Captain, he isn't in any pain, or discomfort. He's just in a deep, natural sleep," he said at last, choosing his next words with some care, for the realization he knew his Captain had now reached himself. "I would imagine that reaction was for… well, the decision he's just made."

"Whether to come back, or stay where he was," Jon finished for him, his voice equally quiet. Relief that it had been the right choice turned back to concern as he glanced back at his friend. An unknown entity had persuaded Trip to come back to him. It made his next words oddly hard to say.

"I – I just wonder who's convinced him to make it. How much that choice has taken out of him."

If Phlox had any thoughts on that point, then he'd chosen to keep them to himself, at least for now. His more immediate concerns were for his patient. For his Captain, too, and all the emotions he knew he'd be feeling. Elation for his friend's recovery, tempered by all the doubts for the difficult, no doubt painful days that still lay ahead.

"You and the Commander share a bond that's closer than most brothers," he said at last, moved by more than his natural compassion to place his hand on Jon's shoulder. "It's seen you through everything you've faced so far. I've no doubt it will see you through this."

When this didn't quite bring his Captain's smile into his eyes, he then tried a more visual approach, for the connection that had proved so vital in bringing Trip home.

"He's going to need all your support to bring him through this. And I doubt he'd let you keep such a crucial connection with him, if he didn't want you to be here."

Thrown for a moment, by what he was trying to say, Jon glanced down to where Trip's hand still rested within his own. He could see it now, this simple but vital contact between them. Even as he returned his CMO's smile, though, he just wished that Trip was still conscious enough to hear the support that he should have offered him before, all those days ago.

"Whatever it takes, Phlox, to get him through this, and back on his feet… he'll get all the help he needs."