Body

THE PAINFUL TRUTH

She snuggled closer to him and enjoyed the feel of his strong arms around her. His scent filled her nose and she sighed with contentment. It felt so good to be there in his arms and as she rest her head on his shoulder, she began to gently kiss his neck. The kisses moved along his jaw and when he turned towards her they kissed deeply. She could feel him hold her tighter as she slid her hand up to the back of his neck. Breaking the kiss, she whispered, "Trip."

"Ensign."

As she looked into his blue eyes, she was puzzled as to why he would call her by her rank instead of her name.

"Ensign."

Suddenly she jerked awake and realized that her comm. was beeping and T'Pol was calling her. Quickly she reached for the button. "Sato here."

"I am sorry to disturb you Ensign, but you are needed on the bridge." T'Pol knew that she had probably been asleep, so wasn't surprised when it took her some time to answer.

"I'll be right there." Quickly Hoshi got up from her bunk and began to dress. All the while she kept thinking that she needed to stop having the thoughts and dreams she'd been having about Trip. He was her superior officer and there could never be anything between them. She wasn't even sure why she was having such thoughts and dreams. They'd only kissed the one time after he almost died on the forest planet and that had been under difficult circumstances.

As Hoshi made her way to the bridge, Trip was on his way to sickbay. He'd been having headaches the last few days and needed a pain killer. Usually the pain killer and an hour or so of rest did the trick. So far they had not been severe and Doctor Phlox seemed to think it was from too much stress and not enough sleep. "Hey, Doc."

"Commander, another headache?" Phlox was beginning to worry about the frequency of his headaches.

"Yeah, but not bad." Trip moved to where Phlox stood and waited for the hypo-spray.

"I'm starting to think I should give you a neuro-scan."

"Nah, I'll be fine Doc." He didn't want a neuro-scan. They were uncomfortable and a little time consuming.

"If the headaches continue Mr. Tucker, then I will have to insist." Phlox gave Tucker the hypo-spray with the pain killer in it before continuing. "You are the Chief Engineer and must be in top health. I do have the authority to relieve you of duty for medical reasons."

Trip held up his hands. "Okay, Doc. No need for threats. If they don't go away in a day or two I'll take your scan." He was sure they'd go away as soon as he had the problem with the new injector coils worked out.

"That will be fine Commander." Setting the hypo-spray down, he turned back to the Commander. "Now go get some rest Commander."

"I'm headed for my quarters now. Thanks again Doc." With that, Trip left sickbay and headed for his quarters. Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't be there for long.

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When Hoshi reached the bridge she discovered that Enterprise had received an alien message and the universal translator was having difficulty interpreting the language. That was rather odd since she could already interpret some of the language herself. She'd need to run a diagnostic on the translator later.

"Hoshi, I'm sorry to have to wake you. This message seems urgent, but the translators are not interpreting the language." Archer could see that Hoshi was still a little groggy.

"That's okay, sir." She moved to her station and began listening to the recorded message. It was different from any other language she'd heard, but it had similarities and she was able to translate some of it. "It appears to be a distress call, sir. They are having some malfunctions with their engines and are requesting assistance from any nearby ships."

"Good work Hoshi. Any idea why the translator didn't work?"

"No sir, I'm going to have to run a full diagnostic on it." Hoshi hated that. Diagnostics were time consuming and somewhat boring.

"It'll have to be later. See if you can find out any more details about their problems. It may be necessary to send Commander Tucker to them in a shuttlepod, since we can't leave this area until we've finished mapping the nebula." He'd send Trip to them if there was a chance he could help them and if there was no sign of them being hostile.

"Yes sir. What about the translator sir? If you send Commander Tucker to them without the translator working properly he won't be able to understand them." She just knew that Archer

would probably send her along and she didn't want to go. Her experience with away missions had not been good and she didn't like them.

"I know you won't like this Hoshi, but you'll probably have to go with him." He knew how much she hated away missions. After the last one to the forest planet in which Trip nearly died, he couldn't really blame her.

"Yes sir. I should have a fairly good understanding of their language in an hour or so."

"Good, that will give Trip a chance to get a shuttlepod ready." Pressing the button on the arm of his chair he spoke into the comm. "Archer to Tucker."

It took a moment for Trip to become alert as he was dozing. The headache seemed better, but he could feel it drifting in the back of his head. "Tucker here."

"Commander, I need you to get a shuttlepod ready. We've received a distress call from an alien vessel and they are having mechanical problems. Hoshi will be going with you as the universal translator is not working properly." Archer wanted to get it all out before he heard Trip's response. He wasn't sure Trip would like the mission any more than Hoshi would. Although Trip hadn't said anything to him, he could tell he hadn't been feeling very well lately.

"Aye sir. I'll get started right away." Trip was tired and his headache was returning, but he knew he had a duty to perform. Rising from his bed, he quickly straightened his uniform and hair before leaving his quarters and heading for the landing bay.

An hour later when Hoshi arrived in the landing bay she found Trip waiting for her in shuttlepod two. He had everything prepped and ready to go. Including a complete repair kit and more than enough rations. "I'm ready if you are Commander."

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be Hoshi. You get their language figured out?" He knew she had. After all, she was the best linguist in Starfleet and he had complete confidence in her.

"Yes, sir. At least enough to get us through this mission."

"Hoshi, I think with everything we've been through you can call me Trip." He smiled at her. They had both been rather distant since the kiss they'd shared in sickbay, but he really did like her and hoped their friendship didn't suffer for that incident.

"Okay, Trip." There had been a couple of occasions in which she'd thought about telling Trip about her dreams, but thought it wouldn't be a good idea. They could have no relationship as long as they served together.

"Good. Now relax, this could take a few days." Trip got the shuttlepod clear of Enterprise and headed towards the coordinates that the alien message had come from.

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At the rate they were going, it was going to take a day and a half to get to the crippled alien vessel. There would be a time when Enterprise would be two days away as they mapped the far end of the nebula. Currently shuttlepod two was almost a day into it's journey and Trip was doing his best to hide his growing headaches from Hoshi. His headache had been growing steadily worse despite using some of the pain killer that Phlox had given him. Trip was getting scared. He'd never had headaches like this before in his life and he feared something was wrong.

"Trip, are you okay?" Hoshi had heard him groan and she didn't think he was even aware that he'd made the sound.

"I'm fine Hoshi, just a headache." He cringed inwardly that he'd made the sound and hadn't been aware of it. Setting the shuttlepod on auto-pilot, Trip closed his eyes and tried to shut out the light of the control panel.

"Why don't you lay down for a while, sir?" Hoshi could see that Trip was in pain and thought it might help him to get a little rest.

"Thanks, Hoshi. I think I will. The shuttlepod is on auto-pilot so you shouldn't have anything to worry about." Trip appreciated Hoshi's concern and he hoped that laying down for a while would make the headache go away. He heeded to have a clear head when he got to the alien vessel. Otherwise he might not be able to fix their warp manifold

"I think I can handle it. I'll fix us something to eat in a little while."

"Sounds good." Trip lowered himself to the bench and closed his eyes. It only took a few minutes until he was sleeping soundly.

Hoshi just sat and watched him sleeping for a few minutes. Her concern for him was growing and she hoped he was all right. It wouldn't do for something serious to happen to him while they were two days away from Enterprise. Even though Enterprise would be able to reach them a lot faster than that. At warp, Enterprise could reach them in a matter of hours. She had to admit that Trip was very handsome and he looked very vulnerable when he was asleep.

The next few hours were spent going over the alien's language. It would help her confidence if she knew for sure she understood their language. Periodically she would check on Trip, but he was still sleeping deeply. It was Hoshi's hope that a nice deep sleep was all that he needed and when he woke he would be feeling much better. Going through the supplies, Hoshi picked out two meal packs and worked on preparing them. She chose lasagna for herself and meatloaf and potatoes for Trip.

"Trip?" No response. "Sir? Commander?" Hoshi gently shook him and his eyes slowly opened. She had dinner ready and wanted Trip to eat while it was hot.

"Hoshi? What is it?" Trip still felt a little groggy. His headache wasn't completely gone, but was down to a dull ache.

"I fixed some dinner and wanted you to eat before it got cold." She handed him the tray of food. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, thanks Hoshi." He smiled at her and felt grateful that she was there with him. The food smelled good and his stomach growled as he took in the scent of the meatloaf. "This looks great."

"Good, and I'm glad you are feeling better." Hoshi sat in the pilot seat and quietly ate her own dinner. It would only be a few more hours until they arrived at the alien vessel and her nervousness was returning.

Trip actually ate fairly quickly. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he got a whiff of the meatloaf. Unfortunately his headache was still bothering him and he would have to find away to ignore it until he had the repairs made to the alien vessel. As Hoshi finished her meal, he reached to take her tray from her so he could put it and his in the waste disposal. "Thanks for fixing dinner Hoshi. Why don't you get a few hours rest before we go aboard the alien vessel."

"Thanks, I think I will." Hoshi could see that Trip seemed to feel better, so she wasn't at all hesitant to get some sleep and let him take back control of the shuttlepod. "I'll see you in a few hours, sir."

"Goodnight Hoshi." Trip took Hoshi's place in the pilots seat and began checking the various systems and made sure everything was functioning properly. He also checked to make sure they were still on course, which they were.

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Trip and Hoshi arrived at the alien vessel and Trip was able to make the necessary repairs fairly quickly. The problem was beyond the aliens capabilities to repair, but was fairly simple for Trip. Hoshi did a magnificent job of translating and everything went smoothly. The aliens were very grateful and treated Trip and Hoshi to a meal that consisted of some very different cuisine. Although the food was very different, both Trip and Hoshi found it to be quite delicious. About 8 hours after they arrived at the alien vessel they were gone again and on their way back to Enterprise.

Trip's headache had been growing steadily worse with each passing hour, but managed to hide it until he was back underway. Now he was having a great deal of trouble focusing and his stomach was churning. He squinted to see out the front window of the shuttlepod as the alien vessel went to warp and disappeared. Suddenly he felt very alone and the severity of his headache had him very afraid. Because of his difficulty seeing, Trip hit a few of the wrong buttons on the console and everything went dark. The engines shut down and a few sparks flew from a console. "Damn it."

"Trip, what happened?" Hoshi was worried. The engines were no longer running and everything had gone dark.

"I'm sorry Hoshi. I hit a few wrong buttons and I've shorted everything out. The engines are down and so is communications. Life support is at minimal." He felt like dying and now the guilt of stranding them out there without any form of communication and minimal life support was tearing him up inside.

Hoshi felt ready to cry when Trip turned in the chair to look at her. The pain he was in was clearly written on his face and in his eyes. "Oh, Trip. Your head hurts that bad?"

Trip grasped his head with his hands and nodded. He had never had this kind of a headache before and somehow he knew there was something wrong inside his head. Thankfully it was now dark in the shuttlepod and there was no longer any light burning into his brain.

Hoshi knelt in front of Trip as he sat in the chair. Pulling his hands from his head, she looked into his eyes. "You need to come lay down, Trip."

Trip pulled Hoshi closer to him. His need for some sort of comfort made him want to have her close. "I just want to curl up and die. It hurts so bad."

Reaching out, Hoshi caressed his cheek and wished there was something more she could do for him. "Don't say that Trip." Leaning in, she gently kissed him. It almost hurt to look into his eyes, there was so much pain in them.

Holding Hoshi tighter, Trip leaned forward, his mouth claimed hers in a deep kiss. The kiss was wonderful and much of his pain melted away as he continued to kiss her deeply. Deep down he knew that he'd do the same with any woman that was there. Trip also knew that he had no real feelings for Hoshi, but he craved the comfort she gave.

Hoshi's hands moved to the back of Trip's head and she began massaging his neck. Many long moments passed and Trip signed into her mouth as she continued massaging his neck. She knew it was easing his pain and the kiss was incredible, but something didn't feel right. After a few more moments she broke the kiss and pulled out of his strong arms. It was odd that she'd had all those dreams in which she savored the feel of his strong arms around her as he kissed her, and now that it was happening, none of it felt the same. She didn't feel the same as she had in the dreams. The kiss was incredible and Trip was an amazing kisser, but other than the physical pleasure of the kiss, she felt nothing. "Come on Trip. You need to lay down."

Trip draped his arm over her shoulders and with Hoshi's help he made it to the bench. His head was pounding and his stomach rolled dangerously. "I feel sick." Trip moaned and closed his eyes.

"You go ahead and be sick if you need to Trip." Hoshi grabbed a container and placed it on the floor next to Trip's head. She then got the med. kit and began going through it. Finding a hypo-spray with pain killer and sedative in it, she quickly gave Trip the dose. "You sleep now Trip."

"Thank you, Hoshi." It only took a moment for the medicine to take effect and Trip was sleeping deeply. Luckily he'd kept the contents of his stomach, but even in the deep sleep, he was in a lot of pain.

All Hoshi could do now was wait for Enterprise to come looking for them. Unfortunately they would not be missed for at least another eight hours and then it would take Enterprise another four or five to reach their position.

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Back on Enterprise they were at the far end of the nebula as they mapped that section. No one had any idea that anything was wrong. Trip and Hoshi had reported in just after leaving the alien vessel and weren't due to call in again for another eight hours. Archer had been very pleased to hear that Trip had no problem making the repairs and according to Trip, Hoshi had done a magnificent job of translating. "Mister Reed, how is it coming?"

"Good sir. We almost have this section mapped and then we will be done." Pressing a few buttons on his console the nebula came up on the main viewer. "This is an amazing nebula sir, one of the most beautiful I've seen."

"It's amazing how much beauty there is in the universe. Too bad Trip's not here to see it." Even though Trip was an engineer and not a scientist, Archer knew he appreciated the beauty of space as well.

"Yes sir. I was glad to hear that everything went well on his mission." Reed glanced around, the bridge was pretty empty as it was the dinner hour. He'd taken his dinner an hour ago at the same time as the Captain had.

"Trip and Hoshi did a fine job and I'm going to put some positive comments in their files." He would have recommended them for commendation, but it usually took a little tougher situation than just repairing an alien vessels engines.

"Hoshi has come a long way since she first came aboard." Reed was proud of her and knew she was well taken care of with Trip. He was a friend, but Malcolm also knew he was a great Commander and would do anything for one of his crew members.

"Yes she has and I'm going to put that in her file as well." Archer checked some information on his monitor before continuing. "I think they deserve a few days off when they get back."

"I know they will appreciate that, sir. Trip has been working a lot lately and the last time I saw him he didn't look to good." Malcolm was not aware that Archer hadn't seen his friend much lately and didn't know he was worse off than he thought.

"He's that bad? I knew he didn't seem himself, but I didn't realize he was that bad off."

"Well, I don't know for sure if he's sick or anything. He just didn't look too good." Malcolm wished now that he hadn't said anything. "I'm sure everything is fine, sir. He did get the job done with the aliens and is on his way back to us."

"You're right Malcolm, but I'm going to have a chat with him when he gets back. He's working too hard." Archer knew that Trip was something of a workaholic. It was often the price one paid for being highly intelligent and Trip was definitely that.

"I've tried telling him that, sir." Malcolm had been worried about Trip for the last few days and had told him numerous times that he should work a little less. Of course, Trip was too stubborn for his own good and ignored Malcolm's advice. "We should be finished mapping the nebula in another twelve hours. Trip and Hoshi should be back by then."

"Perfect, we can set course for the next destination. Whatever that might be." Archer found it exciting and challenging that they never knew exactly what lay ahead of them. Problem was that could be dangerous too. They'd already encountered their share of dangerous situations and it seemed like Trip had taken the brunt of it. More than once he'd come a breath from dying and on the forest planet he had actually died for a brief time. He couldn't count how many times Trip had either suffered a head injury or had his mind messed with. There hadn't appeared to be any damage done to him by the mind melds he'd been subjected too, but how could anyone be sure?

"Sir, is everything all right?" Malcolm was watching Archer with concern. He seemed distracted and worried.

"Fine, Mister Reed. I was just thinking about everything that Trip's been through this last year."

"Yeah, he seems to have suffered more than his share of injury." Way more than his share, Reed thought to himself.

"I'll be in my quarters, lieutenant. Call me if you need me for anything." Archer rose from his chair and headed for the turbo-lift. He suddenly felt tired and worried.

"Aye, Captain." Reed went back to monitoring his work as Archer left the bridge.

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Trip moaned as he stirred. Slowly he opened his eyes and was relieved to see the darkness. He knew it wasn't actually a good thing it was dark, but his head could not stand any light. There was barely enough light to see Hoshi move over and sit on the edge of the bench next to him. "Hoshi."

"How are you feeling, Trip?" Even in the darkness she could see the pain in his eyes and knew he was no better.

"Terrible."

There was a pause and for a moment Hoshi didn't think he was going to say anything more. Then his voice came again out of the darkness. She took his hand and held it in an attempt to comfort him.

"I'm so afraid, Hoshi. I know something is wrong inside my head, but I don't know what." He squeezed Hoshi's hand and wanted to feel her lips on his again, to feel the comfort she gave him.

"I'm sorry Trip. I'm afraid for you. I'll do whatever I can to make you feel comfortable." If she had to keep kissing him and letting him hold her to give him comfort, then she would. However, she would go no further. Not that she hadn't had her share of one night stands before, but with those she knew she would probably never see the guy again. With Trip she would see him every day and that was unacceptable.

"Can you take the pain away?" Trip whispered.

"No, I'm sorry, I can't." She felt ready to cry. There had to be something she could do. Suddenly she thought of something that might help. Letting go of Trip's hand, she placed her fingers at Trip's temples and began to massage them. Hearing his sign of relief, she continued working her way up until she was massage his entire head. His hair was so soft and she smiled as he sighed again.

Trip felt almost instant relief as Hoshi began massaging his temples. It didn't take his pain away completely, but it did ease it. He gently took Hoshi's arms and pulled her down to him. Slowly he took her mouth and kissed her deeply. With everything that was happening now, he was so grateful that she was there and he hadn't gone on that mission alone.

"Trip." Hoshi whispered as the kiss broke for only a moment.

"Shhhh." Trip whispered back before taking her mouth again.

As much as Hoshi wanted to do anything she could to ease Trip's pain, she was beginning to feel that it was wrong to continue kissing him like that when she didn't have those kinds of feelings for him.

Trip was having similar thoughts. Even though his pain virtually melted away when he kissed her, it wasn't fair to let her think he might have feelings for her that were anything but friendship. He forced himself to break the kiss and looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry Hoshi. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's all right Trip." She sat up and folded her hands in her lap. It was a very good thing it was dark in the shuttlepod, because her face was very red from her shame. Despite the fact that kissing seemed to lessen Trip's pain, it was still wrong and once they were back aboard Enterprise she would have to talk to him about all of this.

"No, it isn't." Trip closed his eyes as the pain began to grow again. He needed to say something to Hoshi and he would do it before he couldn't do it. "I shouldn't have kissed you like that and I'm sorry."

"Please Trip, we can talk about this later. You need to get some rest." She could plainly hear the pain in his voice. His eyes were glassy with the pain and she wished she had another hypo-spray to give him. "Close your eyes Trip and try to go to sleep. I'm going to massage your temples again."

"That seems to help. Thanks Hoshi, I'm very glad you're with me." Closing his eyes, Trip felt Hoshi changing position. She sat at the head of the bench and placed his head in her lap. He then felt her fingers at his temples once again and sighed as the pain eased a little.

"I am glad too, sir." Hoshi thought if she went back to calling him sir, or Commander that perhaps it would be easier to maintain a professional distance. She must have sat there massaging his temples for hours. It was obvious by his steady, shallow breathing that he was asleep and she was glad for that. Leaning back against the side of the shuttlepod, Hoshi closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. Her hand rested gently on Trip's forehead as the two of them slept.

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Meanwhile back on Enterprise, Archer was getting anxious. Shuttlepod two should have reported in almost a half hour ago. All attempts to contact them failed and according to the latest scan that Malcolm had run, the shuttlepod appeared to be adrift. There were no power readings coming from it, but there were two life signs. The mapping of the nebula was not

complete, but Archer decided it was more important to get to the shuttlepod and find out what was going on. "Set a course for shuttlepod two, Mister Mayweather."

"Aye, Captain."

"Mister Reed, were you able to determine why the shuttlepod is adrift and communications are down?" He knew their scans weren't real detailed, but he wanted some answers.

"No sir, we are too far away right now."

"I want a more detailed scan as soon as we are in range." Archer looked from Reed to Mayweather. "How long until we reach their position, ensign?"

"About four hours, sir." Travis was worried too. He'd become pretty good friends with Hoshi and Trip was just one of those people you automatically liked.

Somehow Archer knew it was going to be a very long four hours and he needed some coffee. "I'm going down to the mess hall for some coffee. Let me know if anything changes." Rising from his chair he turned to Reed. "You have the bridge, Mister Reed."

"Aye, Captain."

Archer made his way to the mess hall and got a nice, hot cup of coffee. Sitting down at a table facing the windows, he looked out at the open expanse of space and wondered what had happened to his shuttlepod. More importantly, were Trip and Hoshi all right? Suddenly T'Pol was seated across from him blocking his view. "T'Pol, is there something I can help you with?"

"No, I wanted to ask if you heard any more about the shuttlepod, sir." T'Pol had been off duty when they discovered the shuttlepod adrift and without power.

"There is nothing new. We can't get a more detailed scan until we are closer." Archer sipped at his coffee. He appreciated that T'Pol was concerned, but he had really wanted to be alone. Perhaps he should have gone to his quarters instead of the mess hall.

"I am disturbing you. I will see you on the bridge." T'Pol rose and began to move away.

"T'Pol, I'm sorry. I am just worried." Archer looked up at her and saw the concern on her face.

"Understood." With that she left the mess hall and headed for her station on the bridge. She hoped to try and boost the sensors so they could get a better scan of the shuttlepod without having to get that much closer.

Archer sighed. He'd been a bit rude to T'Pol and she didn't deserve it. She seemed to understand and if the concern he saw on her face was any indication, she was feeling the same way he was, she just hid it better.

Once on the bridge, T'Pol began working on the long range sensors to see if she could boost them enough to get more information on what happened to the shuttlepod. She managed to boost them enough to tell that they had a few hours of oxygen left and that most of the shuttlepod's systems were shorted out. How they got like that she had no idea. When Archer returned to the bridge, she would inform him of what she discovered.

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Trip woke some time later and discovered Hoshi sound to sleep. His head still felt ready to explode, but he felt the need to try and do something to get them out of the situation that he'd gotten them into. Carefully and slowly he got up off the bench and laid Hoshi down on it. Placing his hand against the side of the shuttlepod for support, Trip slowly made his way to the pilot seat. He could barely see as his vision became very blurry. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." He whispered. At the rate he was going, all he would do was make things worse.

After several moments groping in the dark with blurry vision, Trip gave up trying to fix anything. Turning in his chair, he watched Hoshi sleeping in the dim light and thought about everything that had happened over the last day. He was going to have to talk to her about all of it and he needed to come up with something special.

Hoshi slowly opened her eyes and it took her a moment to recall where she was. Glancing around she saw Trip sitting in the pilot's seat. He didn't look good at all and she quickly sat up. "Trip, what are you doing?"

"I was trying to fix the shuttlepod's systems." His voice was weak and shaky, but he couldn't fight the pain and weakness that he felt.

"Trip, please come and lay back down." Hoshi was very worried. The paleness and weakness in Trip was obvious.

"Very well." Trip rose from the chair, but it was a mistake. Grasping his head in his hands, Trip cried out and fell to his knees. The pain was exquisite and he suddenly couldn't think.

"TRIP" Hoshi cried out. Seeing him fall to his knees like that scared her terribly.

Trip couldn't focus and everything began to go black. The pain was worse than it had been so far and he lost consciousness. Falling to the deck in a heap, he was sent into oblivion. The pain and blood loss that he wasn't even aware of had finally taken it's toll on him

"Trip, oh God, Trip." Hoshi knelt next to Trip's motionless form and her fear for his health increased. There was blood trickling from his ear and nose and she knew that was very bad. She had to do something, but she didn't know what. If Trip had what she thought he did, then only Doctor Phlox and the advanced medical equipment aboard Enterprise could help him now. Thinking about it, Hoshi realized that Trip's symptoms did seem to fit if he did have a cerebral hemorrhage.

Grabbing the pack of supplies from under the bench, Hoshi began going through it. There was nothing she could do for Trip right then. She wouldn't be able to get him moved to the bench and he was not going to be regaining consciousness now. Finding a hand held communicator, she thought about trying it. The only problem was, if Enterprise was not close, it would not work. "Hoshi to Enterprise. Medical emergency."

Nothing, not a sound came from the communicator except static. At least she knew it was working. She'd just have to wait until Enterprise got closer and pray Trip lasted that long. Hoshi's medical knowledge was not extensive, but she knew if Trip didn't get treatment soon he would die. "Please hold on Trip. I don't think I could bare to watch you die again." Adjusting Trip's arms and legs, she got him as comfortable as possible. Enterprise was missing them by now and should be there soon.

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Archer returned to the bridge after finishing his second cup of coffee. T'Pol had informed him that she'd been able to boost the long range scanners a bit and found out a little more about the shuttlepod's condition. Now that they were only about an hour away, T'Pol was getting some additional readings and it made her brow furrow. "What is it T'Pol?" Archer hadn't missed the change in her stance.

"I have been able to get some better scans of the shuttlepod and even though I still read two life forms, one of them is in serious trouble." The vital signs of either Tucker or Hoshi was low, but she didn't know who.

"Can you tell who, or why?" Now Archer was very concerned.

"No, sir. Just that one of them is in serious condition."

"Mister Mayweather, increase speed. I want to get to them as quickly as possible."

"Aye sir." Mayweather was as worried as Archer was and when he glanced over at Reed, he could see that Malcolm was very worried too. Pressing the necessary buttons, Enterprise's speed picked up and now instead of one hour to get there it would be less than twenty minutes.

"T'Pol, try contacting them again." It was Archer's hope that at least their hand held communicators were working.

"I'm getting something Captain." T'Pol pushed the button it came up on audio.

"Archer to shuttlepod two. What's happening over there?"

"This is Hoshi sir. We have a medical emergency. Commander Tucker has suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and is in need of immediate medical attention." Hoshi felt a flood or relief at the sound of the Captain's voice. For a while she didn't think they'd get to her before Trip slipped away.

"We're bringing you aboard Hoshi. I'll have Doctor Phlox standing by." Archer was going to head straight for sickbay so he could check on Trip. It was still a bit of a mystery to him as to what happened to cause the injury to Trip, but he'd get all that from Hoshi when they were safely aboard.

"Yes, sir."

Archer could hear the worry and exhaustion in her voice. He also knew how much it had hurt her to sit by and watch Trip die once before and now it had been happening again. This time Trip wasn't going to die, not if Archer could help it. "Hang in there Hoshi. I know how hard this is and you can have a few days off when you get back aboard."

"Thank you, sir. I would really appreciate that." Now that they were being brought back aboard Enterprise, Hoshi realized just how tired she was and couldn't wait to crawl into her bed and go to sleep for half the day.

Archer glanced at Reed and he nodded that shuttlepod two was safely aboard. "T'Pol, you have the bridge. I'm on my way to sickbay and I will keep you all posted." It had become a habit it seemed to tell everyone on the bridge that he'd keep them posted on Trip's condition as he headed for sickbay. Pacing as the turbo-lift made it's decent, Archer couldn't help wondering what the hell had happened to cause Trip to have a cerebral hemorrhage. The last he'd heard from them, they had completed the repairs to the alien vessel and were headed back. Now Trip was dying and suffered God knew what kind of brain damage. He prayed that Trip didn't suffer any kind of real damage, but he just didn't know.

Trip was being wheeled through the doors of sickbay just as Archer arrived. Phlox had several devices hooked up to him already and was frowning. A great deal of blood had built up inside Trip's head over the last few days and the pressure had finally caused the cerebral hemorrhage. Now all he could do was drain the blood and repair the damage to the artery. Once the blood was drained and the pressure was off, Trip should start to get better.

Archer hurried through the doors behind the stretcher carrying Trip. "Doc."

"Yes, Captain?"

"How is he? How did all this happen?" Archer didn't have a clue. As far as he knew Trip had been doing okay lately. Granted, he hadn't seemed quite himself, but there was nothing to indicate things were this bad.

"It's a little hard to explain, Captain. One of the Commander's recent head injuries caused a weakening, or slight tear in the artery. As the days and weeks went by, the tear grew and he began bleeding inside his head." Phlox paused a moment and looked ashamed. "I really should have known with all the headaches he'd been getting lately."

"He had a lot of headaches?"

"Yes. He said they weren't bad and that he'd just been working a lot lately, so I gave him something for them and let him go. I should have been more insistent about the neuro scan." He'd let Commander Tucker talk him out of doing the neuro scans and now he felt guilty about that.

"Don't feel bad, Doc. Trip has a way of getting out of things he doesn't want to do." Glancing at Trip laying motionless on the bio-bed, Archer continued. "What I want to know is if he's going to be all right."

"It's a little too soon to tell. There's been some damage, but I think I can repair it." Phlox began running a new set of readings on Tucker. As soon as he had him stable he would perform he necessary operation to drain the blood and repair the artery and any other damage.

"Is it serious?" Archer was very worried now.

"I don't think so Captain. He had a great deal of pain in his head according to Ensign Sato, so there was definitely some damage." Phlox wouldn't know for sure until he was performing the operation.

"Keep me informed, Doc. I want to know the moment you are ready to operate." Archer was going to go to shuttlepod two and retrieve the data logs. He wanted to know exactly what happened.

"I will, Captain." Phlox turned away from Archer and began to make his preparations for surgery. The operation was a very delicate process and he would have to be very careful. He glanced up as Archer left and couldn't help thinking how the man had to deal with almost losing his friend so many times now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hoshi sat in the mess hall trying to drink a cup of hot tea. Her thoughts were on Trip and whether he was okay. She never dreamed that Trip was in any kind of serious trouble and now that she knew he was, she was very afraid for him. Telling him that she had no real feelings for him other than friendship, was going to have to wait until he was better. If he got better.

"Hoshi?" Archer didn't want to scare her and he could see she was lost in thought. There was no doubt in his mind that she was very concerned about Trip.

Hoshi started to rise to attention, but settled when Archer put his hand on her shoulder. Looking up at him, she could see the concern on his face. "Captain."

"How are you Hoshi?"

"I'm fine, sir." Which wasn't exactly true.

As Archer sat down opposite her, he could tell she wasn't fine. "I know it must have been very difficult for you. If you remember I was there the last time you had to sit by and watch as Trip died. So I know you aren't fine."

"No sir, I am not and some things happened that shouldn't have. I really need to talk to Commander Tucker about them, but it's more important for him to get well right now." Hoshi looked down at her hands, not wanting to make eye contact with the Captain.

"Anything you want to talk to me about?"

"No, sir. This is between myself and the Commander." Finally she looked up at him and saw understanding in his eyes.

"I understand Hoshi, but remember that I am here if there is anything I can do to help." Archer stood to leave and head back to the bridge.

"I will, thank you Captain." She watched him go and thought how lucky she was to have him as her Captain. Soon she would go to sickbay and check on Trip. Right now she wanted to finish her tea. Tea always seemed to have a calming effect and helped her to think. There was no doubt that she cared for Trip a great deal. He was a very special man and she admired him a lot. However, the more she thought about, the more she realized that she was not in love with him.

Rising from her chair, Hoshi dropped her cup off at the counter and left the mess hall. She didn't know if Trip would even be in any condition to see her, but she needed to know how he was doing and see for herself that he was still alive. Her thoughts elsewhere, Hoshi didn't see Mayweather come up beside her as she walked down the corridor towards sickbay.

"How are you doing, Hoshi?" Travis was worried about her. It couldn't have been easy to try and take care of the Commander alone.

"I'm okay, Travis."

"You don't look okay." He didn't want to pry, but thought maybe she needed to talk to someone.

Hoshi sighed. There was no way she was going to talk about what happened on the shuttlepod with anyone but Trip. "I'm just tired. The Captain gave me a couple of days off, but I needed to check on the Commander before I turned in."

"Okay, if you're sure. I'm turning in now myself and wondered if you'd do me a favor." He just wanted her to let him know how Commander Tucker was once she found out.

"Sure." Hoshi glanced up at him and tried to smile.

"Just let me know how Trip is."

"I'd be happy too. I just hope it isn't bad news." Hoshi sighed again.

"Try to get some rest soon, Hoshi."

"I will, goodnight Travis." She watched as he turned the corner and disappeared into his quarters. She continued down he corridor until she was outside of sickbay. Looking at the doors to sickbay, she hesitated. Her fear of what condition Trip would be in made her hesitant to go inside. On the other hand, she needed to know how he was and if he was going to live.

Phlox looked up as the doors to sickbay opened. He was washing up after operating on Commander Tucker. Somehow he wasn't surprised to see Hoshi walk in. "Ensign."

"Doctor, I came to see how Commander Tucker is." Looking around, she didn't see him and that scared her.

"It's all right, Ensign. He is over in the critical care ward." He nodded in that direction and watched as Hoshi moved that way. "He's still in critical condition, but I was able to repair the damage. I don't know yet if he will have any permanent side effects."

"Can I see him?" She knew the concern was written all over her face, but she didn't care.

"Certainly, but he may not even know you are there. He's in a deep coma that I placed him in, so his brain can heal." Phlox watched as Hoshi silently entered the critical care ward. He knew she'd been through a great deal of emotional stress the last few days and he hoped she would go and get some rest after she saw Tucker.

Hoshi stepped into the critical care ward and moved closer to Trip. Tears came to her eyes as she looked at him lying on the bio-bed. He was so still and pale. The bandage around his head had the slightest bit of blood showing through and as she took his hand, she could feel how cool and clammy his skin was. "Trip, you have to be all right. Enterprise can't make it without you and Captain Archer would be devastated." She couldn't bring herself to say how devastated she would be too. "We have a lot to talk about Trip and it needs to be soon." If it wasn't soon, she thought she would go mad thinking about it. Placing his hand back on the bed, Hoshi leaned down and kissed him on the forehead before leaving.

"Ensign, I do hope you are going to get some rest."

"Yes, doctor. I am headed for my quarters now." Hoshi tried to smile, but she was too tired and emotionally wrung out for it to be genuine.

"Sleep well and I would like to see you when you wake. You may be fine physically, but I want to talk to you about what you've been through emotionally." Phlox knew she had something eating at her, but didn't know what. His hope was that she could talk to him about it knowing that anything she said would be kept confidential.

"Yes, Doctor. I will come by later." With that she left sickbay and went to her quarters where she cried herself to sleep. The events of the last few days having finally hit her full force.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trip was very happy to be feeling no pain for the first time in weeks. Granted, he was in a coma and didn't really feel anything, but it was still better than the constant pain he'd been in before. He didn't know where he was and that scared him a little. The last thing he remembered was collapsing onto the deck in the shuttlepod and Hoshi's cry. Hoshi, God he hoped she was all right. It had torn him up to think that she had to sit by and watch him dying again. Knowing full well what it had done to her the last time.

Coming to a decision, Trip would need to get the Captain's permission to use his private dining room. Once he was well, he would take Hoshi to dinner there and the two of them could talk in complete privacy. There was no doubt in his mind that he didn't love Hoshi and he needed to let her know that. As her Commanding officer he also believed that none of what happened between them on the shuttlepod should go any further than between them. It would do her career, or his, no good and he would not ruin her career over any indiscretion by him.

Suddenly he felt very strange and a tingling numbness came over him. His thoughts became scrambled and scattered. Fear rose up in him as he didn't know what was going on. Trip felt his body jerking with convulsions, but could do nothing to stop them. 'God, help me.' His mind pleaded.

Phlox rushed into the critical care ward and found Commander Tucker suffering convulsions. Quickly selecting the appropriate hypo-spray, he injected it into the Commander and the convulsions stopped. Pressing buttons on the bio-bed, Phlox ran a detailed scan of the Commander's head to find out what had caused the convulsions. Determining that the cause was the swelling that still existed in his skull had put pressure on a nerve, Phlox relaxed a little. If the swelling didn't come down soon though, it could cause other problems. "Phlox to Captain Archer."

Archer was immediately at attention in his chair on the bridge. Whenever Phlox contacted him and Trip was injured, Archer expected to hear bad news. "Archer here, go ahead Doc."

"I wanted to give you an update on Commander Tucker's condition."

"How's he doing?" Archer glanced around to see everyone on the bridge listening closely to what the Doctor had to say.

"I was able to repair the damage inside his head and I've got him in a deep coma so that his brain can heal. However, there is still quite a bit of swelling and it is causing a few problems." Phlox knew the Captain would not like to hear that, but he had a duty to report the condition of Enterprise's Chief Engineer.

"What kind of problems?" Archer's brow furrowed, it didn't sound good.

"He just suffered a seizure and was convulsing because the swelling put pressure on a nerve. I was able to stop it with the proper medication, but until the swelling goes down, there may be other things that happen like that." He would have to keep a very close eye on the Commander for the next few days. Tucker would not be left alone for even a moment until that swelling was reduced.

"Should I be worried, Doctor?" It was an irrelevant question, he was worried anyway.

"Can't really say, Captain. Until the swelling goes down I will have the Commander under constant watch. That's about all I can do." Phlox had already tried medication to bring the swelling down, but it had only reduced it slightly.

"All right, Doc. Keep me posted." Archer looked around the bridge at all the worried faces. It was odd not to see Hoshi at the communications station, but she deserved a few days off. His concern for her was still fairly strong, but if she didn't want to talk to him about any of it, he certainly wasn't going to push her.

"Sir, perhaps we should forbid Commander Tucker from going on any away missions in the future." Reed was trying to lighten the mood and seemed to have succeeded a little.

Archer smiled at Reed's comment, but his concern didn't subside. "Yes, Mister Reed. Perhaps we should." He knew that would never work, but the statement had worked to lighten the mood on the bridge. For one thing Trip would never agree to it, and for another, Archer would never deny any of his crew the ability to learn and explore. Trip knew the dangers of coming out into space and accepted them without hesitation. It wouldn't be fair to put a leash on him now, just because he'd been injured a few too many times. Archer wouldn't do it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hoshi woke with a start. She'd had a very bad dream about Trip. Something terrible had happened to him. Laying in her bed, Hoshi tried to calm her breathing as she looked up at the ceiling. She couldn't understand why she'd had such a bad dream, unless it was the result of everything they'd been through on the shuttlepod. Closing her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep. It was to no avail as she kept worrying about Trip. The only solution she could think of was to go to sickbay and check on him

Lieutenant Cooper was the medic currently in sickbay watching over Commander Tucker. She was a little surprised to see Ensign Sato walk in at that hour, especially wearing her night gown and robe. "Is something wrong, Ensign?"

"No, I just had a bad dream about the Commander and wanted to check on him." Hoshi felt embarrassed about telling Cooper that, but it was the truth.

"Well, he's quiet now, but he has had a couple of seizures."

"Seizures? What kind of seizures?" Hoshi had interrupted her before she could finish. Trip was having seizures? That couldn't be good.

"So far it's been nothing serious. The swelling in his head has put pressure on some nerves and caused him to go into convulsions. Once the swelling goes down, he'll be okay." Cooper could see the concern on Hoshi's face. Everyone on Enterprise knew that the Ensign had gone through a traumatic ordeal when the Commander collapsed on the shuttlepod.

"You're sure he's okay?" Hoshi peeked through the curtain leading to the critical care ward.

"Why don't you go in for a few minutes and see for yourself." Cooper smiled at Hoshi. She could understand why Hoshi cared about Commander Tucker so much. Almost everyone on board did, especially the ladies.

"Are you sure? I don't want to disturb him." The last thing Hoshi wanted was to cause Trip to have a seizure or witness one. She didn't think she could handle seeing him go through that.

"I'm sure. He's still in a deep coma and probably won't even know you're there." Cooper gently guided Hoshi through the curtain and waited outside.

Hoshi felt immediate relief when she entered the critical care ward and saw Trip laying there. The bandage was still around his head, but it had been replaced with a fresh one and had no blood on it. He still looked too pale and there was a slight sheen of sweat on his face. "Trip, you better hang on. You can't do this to me again." Although she wasn't in love with him, she still couldn't imagine life aboard Enterprise without him around. He always knew just the right thing to say at the right time to make her feel better, or build her confidence.

"I think I can go back to sleep now that I know you are all right." Reaching out, she brushed his hair back off his forehead and smiled. Deep down she knew he'd be all right. He had to be. Leaving the ward, she smiled at Cooper. "Goodnight, Lieutenant."

"Goodnight, Ensign." Cooper could tell seeing Commander Tucker had helped Hoshi relax. Now if the Commander would just get well, everyone on Enterprise could relax. Especially the Captain. He'd been by earlier and the concern for Tucker was written all over his face.

Hoshi made her way back to her quarters and fell into bed. She was still so exhausted, but the dream had prevented her from going back to sleep. Now that she'd seen Trip and knew he was doing okay, she could go back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning the swelling in Trip's head had come down a little more. So far there had been only one additional seizure, but Phlox couldn't say for sure that there wouldn't be any more. The truth was, he didn't know for sure what could happen, and until the swelling was completely gone, he wasn't taking any chances. Phlox would give Commander Tucker the rest of the day in the coma before trying to bring him out of it. The key was not to keep him in the coma for too long, but also not to bring him out of it too soon.

Archer walked into sickbay carrying Porthos. He'd come to check on Trip, but Porthos also needed some attention. The Captain had disobeyed Phlox again and given Porthos some cheese and now he had some intestinal discomfort. "Hey, Doc. I came to see how Commander Tucker was doing, but I gave Porthos some cheese too."

"Captain, I've warned you before about giving him cheese." Phlox gave Archer a frustrated look.

"I know, but he's so hard to resist." Archer scratched Porthos behind the ears before he took off towards the critical care ward. Somehow he knew Trip was in there and wanted to visit him.

"I'll prepare a hypo-spray for him." Phlox turned to the shelves next to him and took out the necessary hypo-spray.

"How is Trip doing, Doc?"

"He's holding his own Captain. The swelling has come down a little more, but I am going to keep a close eye on him until the swelling is gone." Phlox found Porthos in the critical care ward. He had his front paws on the base of the bio-bed as he tried to get closer to Commander Tucker. Picking him up, Phlox held him by the Commander's head and Porthos licked Trip's cheek. "Good boy." Phlox gave Porthos the injection and set him down on the floor where he promptly ran to the Captain.

Archer scooped Porthos up and again scratched him behind the ears. "Did you say hi to Trip?" Porthos barked and licked Archer on the chin. "Good boy." Archer knew that Porthos liked Trip as much as the rest of the crew. Trip liked Porthos a lot too and had often come by to visit not only Archer, but Porthos as well. The fact that Trip had once said that Porthos was cute as hell had left an impression on Archer. Moving into the critical care ward, Archer looked at Trip laying there. In his wildest dreams he would never have thought this could happen to him from the previous injuries. "You're going to have to stop doing this to me, my friend."

"He does seem to be in my sickbay more than anyone else." Phlox commented from in front of the curtain. He smiled as he watched Porthos lick the Commander's cheek again. The dog did have a fondness for the Commander.

Turning to face the Doctor, Archer asked about Hoshi. "Have you seen Hoshi? I wanted to be sure she was okay."

"She was here last night according to Lieutenant Cooper. Apparently she had a bad dream about the Commander and needed to check on him before she could go back to sleep." Phlox was worried about the Ensign's state of mind as well, but wouldn't push her.

"I'm worried about her state of mind, Doc. Have you had a chance to talk with her?" Archer absently petted Porthos on the head.

"No, Captain. I did tell her I wanted to see her after she got some rest."

"Good, please let me know how she's doing and if there is anything I should be worried about." Archer walked with Phlox back out of the critical care ward. Trip was still in a deep coma and there was nothing Archer could do for him at the moment. "I'm taking Porthos back to my quarters then heading for the bridge."

"I will keep you informed Captain." Phlox didn't envy the Captain. Not only did he have the ship to run, but he had two of his crew that he was deeply concerned about. Going back through the curtains, Phlox began running a new scan on Trip to check on the swelling. Thankfully he'd only had one seizure during the night and that was a good sign. Watching the readings above Trip's head, Phlox felt encouraged. He would try bringing him out of the coma that evening and see if he could determine if there was any damage to his reflexes or motor functions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hoshi slept until well after noon. She felt refreshed and happier as she took a long, hot shower. Ordering a late lunch in her quarters, she checked her messages and found one from Captain Archer. He was concerned about her and wanted to know if she was doing okay. Smiling, Hoshi sent back a message saying that she felt much better now that she'd gotten some rest. Once finished with lunch and her messages, Hoshi headed for sickbay to check on Trip.

Doctor Phlox was about to bring Trip out of the coma when Hoshi walked into sickbay. Setting the hypo-spray down, he moved to meet her. "Ensign, how are you feeling?" He could tell she looked better than she had the last time he saw her.

"Much better now that I've gotten some rest. How's Trip?"

"I was just getting ready to bring him out of the coma and see how he's doing. I won't know if there's been any damage to his senses or motor functions until he wakes." He walked back to where he laid the hypo-spray down and picked it back up. Hoshi was at his side and he could tell she was anxious. Checking the spray to be sure it was on the right setting, he moved into the critical care ward.

"Do you think he's going to have any permanent damage?" Hoshi prayed not, but it made her nervous to think about it.

"I really can't say, Ensign. All we can do is wait and see." Placing the hypo-spray against the Commander's neck, Phlox released the medication into him. It would take a few minutes for the Commander to wake.

Hoshi moved around to the other side of the bed and took Trip's hand. She knew he'd probably feel a bit disoriented at first and wanted him to know that someone was there with him. Watching his face for any sign of movement, she stroked his hair with her other hand.

"You care very deeply for the Commander, don't you Ensign?" Phlox had been watching Hoshi and could tell she cared for Tucker quite a bit.

"He means a lot to me and I have a great deal of respect for him. We have a lot to talk about when he is better." Hoshi looked at Phlox and could see he understood.

A moan from Trip brought their attention back to him. Hoshi held his hand a little tighter and smiled down at him. As his blue eyes started to blink open, Hoshi felt a rush of relief flow over her. For a while she had been afraid she might never see those blue eyes again. "Welcome back, Trip."

"Hoshi?" Trip's voice was hoarse and soft from not being used for a couple days, but he was happy to see Hoshi and squeezed her hand.

"How are you feeling, Commander?" Phlox was encouraged. Obviously the Commander could see, hear, talk, move, and feel. Those were good signs. Now he would need to determine if he'd suffered any memory loss.

"Weak and groggy."

"That's understandable. What is the last thing you remember?" He ran a scan to check the swelling in Tucker's head. It was almost gone, but not completely.

"I was aboard shuttlepod two with Hoshi. I got a really bad pain in my head and collapsed." Trip looked at Hoshi and saw the sorrow in her eyes. "I'm so glad you were there Hoshi, but I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

"It's okay, Trip. I'm just glad you are going to be fine." She smiled and squeezed his hand again.

Trip felt better as she smiled and the sorrow disappeared from her eyes. They still had a lot to talk about and as soon as he was well enough to get out of sickbay, they'd talk. "I know we have a lot to talk about and we will as soon as I am able to get out of here."

"That will be another few days, Commander and you won't be going back on duty for at least a couple weeks. I need to keep an eye on you and make sure I repaired all the damage." Phlox knew that Tucker hated being stuck in sickbay, but he wasn't taking any chances. "Now get some sleep, that's an order."

"Aye, aye, Doc." Trip smiled. He was just so happy to be free of pain and had apparently suffered no real damage from the incident.

Phlox and Hoshi left the critical care ward and he could see she felt a lot of relief. "Go enjoy the rest of your time off, Ensign. I'll let the Captain know you are doing fine."

"Thank you, Doctor. I will come by to see Trip again later."

"That will be fine. It looks like he suffered no damage from the hemorrhage. I'd say he's one lucky man." Phlox smiled and watched Hoshi leave sickbay. There was definitely more of a spring in her step and the weight of worry had been lifted from her shoulders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three days later, Trip was allowed to leave sickbay. However, Doctor Phlox insisted that he stay in his quarters and rest for at least another couple of days. Trip was only allowed to leave his quarters for meals and a for a half hour each day he could go to engineering to check on things. Trip had grumbled about it, but reluctantly agreed to follow the Doctor's orders. Especially if it meant there would be no more headaches.

Currently, Trip was slowly making his way to the mess hall where the Captain's private dining room sat off to the side. It was finally time to talk with Hoshi and he felt a bit nervous. He didn't go anywhere very fast right now as his equilibrium was still off and he became dizzy and light headed a lot. Phlox had said it would clear up in another few days, but Trip didn't like the feeling at all. Reaching the doors to the mess hall, Trip gathered himself together and fought off the feelings of lightheadedness. It wouldn't do to let the rest of the crew see him in his weakened state. Pasting a smile on his face, he entered the mess hall and headed for the Captain's dining room.

Hoshi looked up as the doors slid open and she smiled when she saw Trip standing there. "Hello, Trip."

Stepping inside, Trip's knees buckled slightly as soon as the doors were closed. He felt Hoshi at his side instantly and he let her guide him to the chair. "Thanks Hoshi." He smiled at her in an attempt to let her know he was all right.

"Are you sure you should be here?"

"I'm fine, really. Doc said I would have some lightheadedness and loss of equilibrium for a few more days." He placed the napkin in his lap and wondered what was for dinner.

"As long as you're sure." As much as they needed to talk, Hoshi didn't want him doing this if he wasn't up to it.

"I'm sure. Actually I feel better than I have in weeks and I can deal with a little dizziness." Pausing for a moment, Trip continued. "Look, Hoshi. I know we went through a lot on the shuttlepod and I could never begin to repay you for the way you helped me, but......."

Hoshi cut him off. "Please, Trip. There is no need for that. I think we both feel the same way, or at least I hope we do. The last thing in the world I want is to hurt you."

"Nor I, you." They both stopped talking as Chef brought in two plates with steak, baked potato, and broccoli. He also had a basket of rolls and butter.

"Enjoy."

"Thank you, Chef." Trip smiled down at the plate of food. The problems with his equilibrium often made his appetite disappear, but now he was hungry and these were some of his favorites.

"Trip, I want you to know that I care about you a great deal and you are a fantastic Commander. It amazes me how much you care about your subordinates and you treat them as equals. I have a great deal of admiration for you, but I'm not in love with you." Hoshi took a bite of her steak and smiled. Not only was the steak just the way she liked it, she also felt so much better telling him that.

Trip sighed with relief. "I'm so glad you said that Hoshi. I am not in love with you either. I can see such potential in you and I know you are going to be a great communications officer for a long time to come. I want us to be friends and I think that is something we can be." Trip took a bite of his potato and smiled.

"I agree, Trip. What happened between us on the shuttlepod was just a result of our circumstances. You were in desperate need of comfort and I needed to do something to help you. I couldn't sit there and watch you suffer. So I did what I needed to." The relief she felt at getting all of this out, washed over her and she felt a weight lift from her shoulders.

"Good, it's agreed then. Friends, but nothing more." Trip felt a little sorrow, because if he was going to be in love with someone, Hoshi would be someone he would think about if she wasn't a subordinate.

The two spent the rest of their dinner talking quietly and about half way through the meal Archer joined them. He was very happy to see that the two crew members, and friends, that he'd been very worried about for days, were doing fine. Two weeks later Trip was back on duty and Phlox had given him a clean bill of health.

THE END