Time Heals- Ch. 2

Time Heals All Wounds

By Aeryn Alexander

Rating: PG-13, Romance, Drama
Disclaimer: Fan fiction is for fun, not for profit.

Chapter Two

The doctor’s children

Az looked suspicious as Tucker, T’Pol, and three engineers left the shuttlepod. He had half expected his father to be on that pod. Az seemed to relax slightly when the hatch closed behind the four humans and the Vulcan. Trip couldn’t help but to notice that Az seemed strained, but the commander could certainly understand that.

“If you will show us to engineering, we can begin surveying the damage.” said Commander Tucker.

“Certainly. It is just this way.” said Az, leading through the dim interior of the ship, which was obviously operating in a low power mode.

By Trip’s estimation, the vessel had come very close to destruction in the confrontation that had all but disabled it. Sparks flew from a panel here and there. Some of the deck plating had begun to buckle, though it had been patched and shored up in a rather shoddy and irregular manner. The smell of acrid smoke reached T’Pol’s nostrils as they neared a small compartment that was the engineering section of the small ship, which was about five times the size of the Enterprise shuttlepod.

“This is your engine room?” questioned Trip as they followed Az into the very cramped area.

“Yes.” said Az, opening a panel for the engineering team.

“How fast does your ship go?” asked Trip.

“When ... my brother and I first purchased this vessel, we could get warp four point seven out of it on its best days, but it hardly gets more than three now.” he answered with a sad sigh. “We blew out so many relays during the chase ... I’m not certain that it will ever work again.” he added.

“Aw, don’t say that. I’m sure we can rig something up to get you back on your way.” said Trip, motioning for his team to start working.

“Thank you.” said Az, moving out of their way.

“In the meantime perhaps I could attend to your wounded crewman. I have a medical kit and some basic medical training.” offered T’Pol.

“Did he prepare the kit?” asked Az acidly.

“No.” she replied.

Az glanced at the engineers, who were already hard at work, opening panels and unpacking tools and simply nodded, leading her back into the main corridor of the ship.

The quarters to which T’Pol was taken were small, obviously designed for a species that needed sleep only once per year and a limited amount of personal space. The room contained two bunks, one of which was folded flush to the wall, serving as something of a shelf. The other was occupied by a male Denobulan with light to medium brown hair and a broad face with narrow, chiseled facial ridges. He bore a certain resemblance to Doctor Phlox. His eyes were closed, and his breathing seemed labored, even to her relatively untrained ears.

“This is Tish.” said Az, standing in the doorway as T’Pol walked forward to examine him.

“How long has he been like this?” she asked, opening the medical kit and removing a tricorder. She had programmed it with all the information that she believed she would need.

“Unconscious?”

“Yes.”

“Four days. No, maybe five. The chronometer went out ...”

T’Pol took a few scans and looked up at Az.

“He is bleeding internally, very slowly. I can give him something, but it may not be enough.” she told him.

“Do it.”

As she filled the hypospray T’Pol glanced at him and said, “It is my recommendation that your brother receive treatment from a real doctor. To do otherwise endangers his life.”

“Noted.” said Az.

“Do either of you have family, wives or children, back on Denobula?” she questioned, wondering how best to appeal to Az, to change his mind. It was hardly her job. It was hardly her business. But what Trip had told her at breakfast stuck. She knew that the young Denobulan would one day have regrets if his inaction led to the premature death of his sibling.

Az gave a coughing laugh and said, “Talk to him about that. I’m sure he will tell you all about it.”

“This would be a point of contention between you and Doctor Phlox? Your family?” she asked as she gave Tish the hypospray.

“Yes, or rather, our lack of it.” answered Az.

“Your brother seems to be stabilizing, at least temporarily, but he needs more sophisticated treatment.” T’Pol told him.

“There is but one physician in the known universe that neither Tish nor I would wish to treat us, and he is the very one to find us. It is ironic. It is unjust. I wish it could be otherwise.” sighed Az, shaking his head. “I appreciate what you have done, but if this will not save him, then Tish is indeed doomed.”

Captain Archer had delivered bad news before. It wasn’t anything especially new. If T’Pol had still been onboard, he might have delegated the responsibility, but she wasn’t and he couldn’t. He had to be the one to tell Phlox that his son was injured. Phlox deserved to know. When the door of his ready room beeped, he knew it was the ship’s doctor, returning from sickbay.

“Enter.” Archer called, turning toward the door.

“You wanted to see me, captain?” asked Phlox nervously.

“I have something I have to tell you about the Denobulan ship and its crew.” Archer prefaced.

“The ship’s official designation it the Zedeev. It is an explorer class vessel and an old one at that. From time to time it is quite possibly used to run small amounts of cargo on an interplanetary basis. It has a crew complement of between two and four, depending upon what upgrades it has or has not had. I suspect that it is still a two-person vessel. I believe that it came to Az and Tish in the condition humans designate as ‘used’.” Phlox told him.

“So you know that your other son is on that ship?” questioned Archer, rather impressed.

“They are inseparable, always have been. Wherever Az is, Tish is not far behind.”

Archer looked at his desk uncomfortably and motioned for the doctor to sit down.

“From what I’ve been told, Tish has been injured. It’s ... not good. T’Pol went over with a med kit, but she hasn’t reported in yet. I was hoping to know something by the time you got here ...”

“Will I be allowed to treat him, captain?” Phlox asked.

“Right now ... Az says that he doesn’t want to speak to you. He seems pretty adamant.” Archer told him, watching the Denobulan lean forward in his seat.

“I understand that much. But ... do you know if Tish ... Captain Archer, is he in danger?” asked the doctor, the pain all too apparent in his eyes.

“I don’t know.” answered Archer. “But I promise to keep you informed.”

“That is all I can ask for, captain.” nodded Phlox.

“You don’t want to tell me what happened between the three of you, do you?” Archer inquired.

“I said some things that I shouldn’t have a long time ago. I was never around when they were young. I failed them. And maybe I made them think that they had failed me.” said Phlox.

“But your other three children ...”

“Were the children that I fathered when I was young and loved the idea of family and not other things, like university posts, off-world medical programs, and ... ambition. These two ... I believe I cheated them.” he answered.

“That’s a little harsh, doc.”

“Perhaps so, but it is honest.”

*****************

Continued in Chapter 3

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