Time Heals- Ch. 5

Time Heals All Wounds

By Aeryn Alexander

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

Chapter Five

Talking

When Az entered sickbay, taking his leave of the two officers who had treated him to a meal, it was empty of medical personnel, excluding only the doctor, who stood near Tish’s biobed, studying the monitors above the bed. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he did not turn as the doors hissed open and then closed behind Az. He had not been idle in his other son’s absence, though he had acceded Az’s wishes and allowed his medical team to treat Tish under his guidance.

“How is he?” Az questioned.

His voice was even, but Phlox could detect strain and distress in its tones. Denobulans were not ruled by their emotions nor did they suppress them as the Vulcans did. They were a moderate race, though some, such as Az and Tish, were of more volatile temperaments than others.

“Recovering. He is sedated at the moment to prevent further discomfort.” answered Phlox, looking over his shoulder.

“Did you ...?” Az began to ask.

“I only provided a few instructions.”

“So Tish is going to be fine?”

“There are some tests I would like to run ... to be sure, but I believe so.” Phlox told him, finally taking his eyes from the monitors and looking at Az, who lingered near the door.

“Are you going to do it?”

“I thought you didn’t want me to handle his case.”

“Maybe I don’t. Maybe Tish wouldn’t either. But ...,” Az laughed dryly, “if you want to help him, then you can.”

“Why the sudden change of heart, if I may use a human expression?” questioned Phlox.

“You have friends on this ship. They say ... you regret what happened, what you said and did to us, all the stuff that happened when Tish and I were younger ... I don’t know if it’s true, but I thought maybe ... I should find out.” said Az, adopting a defensive posture. He inclined his chin slightly. He had said something very difficult and seemed to be bracing for a blow.

Phlox looked baffled for a moment. Commander Tucker and Sub-commander T’Pol had obviously had a great influence on his son in an extraordinarily short amount of time. It was astonishing to say the least. He had never imagined that the pair could work such a miracle. He was speechless.

“Well, are you sorry?” asked Az impatiently.

“My life ... My marriages ... They were all so happy. They made me very happy when I was young and even now. I wanted the same for you and your brother. Am I sorry that I didn’t understand what you wanted? Certainly. Am I sorry that I drove you away from me, away from your family? Of course. But I do not regret trying to do what I thought was right and what I thought was best.” Phlox answered.

Az stood there silently for a moment, considering his words. Then he nodded slowly.

“We never wanted that, you know. We wanted to make our own lives, have our own destinies, not recreate yours. Maybe you should have known that, but ... you couldn’t have. You didn’t know us.” said Az, turning away.

“Son ... maybe you’re right.” Phlox sighed. “But where do we go from here?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think it should be my quarters. It’s decorated already and yours isn’t.” argued Trip, looking around the Spartan quarters that T’Pol called her own.

“That is not rational. I have said three times that you may decorate my quarters, if you so desire, and my quarters are point zero two six square meters larger than yours.” she contended, holding out a data pad for his inspection. Knowing her attention to detail, Commander Tucker passed.

“But moving your stuff would take half an hour. Moving mine would take all day!”

“Lieutenant Reed could assist you, as could I. It needn’t take more than an hour. Must I mention that my quarters are technically closer to engineering?”

“The hell they are! That’s only if you don’t go by the mess hall first, which I usually do, and I know I’m closer to it than you are by half a deck, maybe a little more.”

“Your quarters are also slightly nearer to Captain Archer’s.” she pointed out.

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I believe you understand perfectly well what I mean.”

“He’s knows, T’Pol. He has to by now. This request would tip him off if nothing else did. And we weren’t meaning for this to be a big secret, were we?” he questioned, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed and looking up at her expectantly.

“We should remain discreet, Trip. I am certain that the captain has some suspicions, but there is no need to advertise our relationship.”

“You ashamed of me?”

“At times like these you often forget I am Vulcan and, of course, do not indulge in such illogical feelings.”

“That’s supposed to be a ‘no’, right?”

“Yes, it is.” she said, arching an eyebrow, almost daring him to continue with his argument.

“It’s pointless to argue with a Vulcan.” he sighed.

“Yes.”

“All right, we can live here, but I want you to promise me that I can keep my family pictures and engineering things.”

T’Pol set the data pad on her desk and sat down next to him on her bed, with any luck soon to be their bed, and touched his lips with her fingertips before leaning toward him and kissing him lightly. Sometimes her stomach seemed to flutter when he closed his eyes. This was one of those times.

“I promise.” she said as she pulled away.

“Are you ready to submit that request?” he asked her, a smile spreading across his face.

“I believe so.”

Az watched his father at work and could appreciate his skill. It was only his extreme proficiency at Denobulan medicine that had allowed him to translate those skills into ones that could be used to treat alien races, including those among whom he now lived. Some people, his mother’s family especially, had come to consider Phlox a medical prodigy and praised him even in his absence concerning the degrees he had earned and his more prestigious appointments. But at what cost, Az wondered? He knew very well the cost.

“So ... Do you keep in touch with your mother and your aunts?” Phlox asked conversationally as he pressed a few buttons on the monitor above Tish’s biobed.

“Not really ...” Az admitted. “They would have told you if I had, right?”

“Probably.” Phlox agreed. “And your uncles and half-siblings?”

“We send letters to Kizma sometimes. I always wondered if she kept them private. I guess she did.”

“Your half-sister has always been respectful of the wishes of others.”

“I guess she inherited that trait from her mother.”

“What about Andra?” asked Phlox, referring to his other daughter. “Did she inherit the same disposition?”

Az laughed softly and said, “Of course not. She’s just like you right down to her choice of careers. Andra wanted us to get married and settle down too. She told us to get degrees in engineering, so that we could still work with star ships, and to start a family.”

“And Kizma?”

“She loaned us some money for the Zedeev and told us to come home soon.”

“Funny. Kizma never mentioned that.” commented Phlox.

“The part about the money?”

“Yes.”

“We all have our little secrets, father, especially we younger ones.” Az said, almost sneering.

“Would university have been so terrible, Az? For either of you, I mean.”

“It wasn’t what we needed. It certainly wasn’t what we wanted. Tish and I wanted to learn by doing, not by sitting in a classroom for years and years, wasting our time and our potential.”

“So you became explorers and cargo runners instead?”

Az narrowed his eyes as he answered, “Yeah, we haul freight from time to time. It pays our way. But we consider ourselves stellar cartographers, if you want to know.”

“The two of you make maps?” questioned Phlox, looking at Az curiously.

“We have charted more than sixty systems with great precision since leaving Denobula. There would have been more, but our lateral sensors began malfunctioning some time ago. We’ve been doing cargo runs to earn money to have repairs made. If it weren’t for our recent unfortunate encounter, we would have had enough and we could return to our work.” sighed Az, running his hands through his hair.

“I never realized that you were interested in stellar cartography.”

“It was Tish’s idea at first. The database back home was never as sophisticated as the Vulcan databases were supposed to be. He thought we could collect data while we were doing our exploring and return home with it to make a name for ourselves in the field. Then we could get a bigger ship, maybe with a crew, laboratories, and everything, and see even more of the galaxy.” Az explained.

“Ambitious.”

“I hardly thought you of all people would have a problem with that.”

“I don’t. It was only an observation.”

“We were planning to return home soon ... with our data. Then this happened.” shrugged Az. “It will probably take a year or more to raise the money to repair our scanners and complete our investigation of five systems along our projected return course. Tish has estimated that we will arrive back on Denobula in two years at best.”

“I can help you solve one of your problems.”

“How?”

“Commander Tucker is an engineer. I am certain he would be able to repair your sensor array with the assistance of our science officer.”

“I can’t ask them to do that. It would be taking advantage.”

Phlox chuckled and smiled before telling Az, “Perhaps it might be considered that, but I don’t think Captain Archer would see it in that light. He and his crew have helped many people during this mission without the possibility of tangible gain. It is an interesting thing. I would recommend making either the captain or the commander aware of your dilemma. They would probably be only too pleased to help you.”

“Thanks.” said Az.

“Any time.”

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

A/N: Some of the italics in this chapter indicate words that, in Denobulan, would describe a relationship that when expressed in English may not fully convey the richness of Denobulan culture and family structure (aunt = step-mother or father's other wife, for example). The other italics are, of course, for emphasis.

And thank you, anonymous reviewer, for reviewing the last chapters! If only others would do the same ... hint, hint.

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

Continued in Chapter 6

Back to Chapter 4

Back to Fan Fiction Main Menu

Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!