Part I: Fallout

Posted on Thursday, 28 December 2023 - 12:22pm by Commander T'Varis Pren & Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Lobes & Liberties
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Post Rescue of Away Team

ON:

Soral paced the small confines of the sickbay. He was recovered thanks to the intervention of another Vulcan on board familiar with bond severance processes. He had thought her dead and when the shuttle called back a casualty he had flown across back to the rendezvous point with some of the Light Seeker crew on the Bear. They could always meet up with the other Starfleet ship later to return them. Alex had been brought in and he was hit with relief that she was alive and anger at the severed bond.

He paced again waiting and hoping that she would wake up. There was so much to say but the main reason was that he was hoping that she was going to be okay.

While for her husband time perhaps seemed impossibly slow, for Alex Kingsley it seemed to have no meaning. Beyond snatched of consciousness here and there, she had been largely been oblivious to everyone and everything until reality began infiltrating the empty peaceful abyss. First sounds, voices and equipment creating a cacophony of noise she wanted to recoil from. And then light, which seemed to fill up all the space around her as the sounds grew more vivid and she started to feel.

Kind of. She could feel everything yet it was indistinct, as if the rest of her wasn’t quite awake yet. But at least it didn’t hurt. She remembered that well enough… enough that her heart raced and her eyes flew open, not sure what she expected to see but it certainly wasn’t what looked like Sickbay. How..?!

Soral who'd turned towards the bio bed saw the move. In a few short steps he was next to the bio bed. "Alexandra?"

Her eyes took a moment to focus on him, “Soral?”

He was relieved and still pretty upset but kept his head. "You are awake. That is a good sign."

Her confusion was clear as she tried to make her brain focus through the haze, trying to move and realising how bad an idea that was with an instant. Yet whatever was numbing her body thankfully made the pain quickly subside as she decided staying still was maybe the best idea.

"You need to rest. There is still much to your healing...but you are alive and back on the ship."

She looked at him, really looked at him, and her breath caught as memories came rushing to the surface. Horrified she realised what was missing between them. And why.

“How can you even look at me?!” She whispered, shrinking back and wishing the biobed would just swallow her whole. She had done the unforgivable, just as he had once done. Two wrongs did not make a right though, did it?

He sighed and sat down by her bed. "You are alright, we are both alright. The focus needs to be your recovery now." He took her hand. "It will not be easy."

“I didn’t think I’d see you again,” she admitted. “I wanted to protect you. We both did.”

He gave a nod. "I know. It is alright." But was it. "I had the same when I severed our bond."

She looked down at her hand in his, silent for a long time. “This isn’t the dinner we planned,” she said quietly. “For our talk.”

He sighed, "Perhaps now is not the time to have this talk." He shrugged. "I am here to ensure you are alright." What he didn't say was the madness that overtook him when he thought her dead. If it hadn't been for... He didn't want to talk about it. "How are you feeling?"

A loaded question. “I’ll be okay,” she assured him. “Right now it’s all a little numb. I think the doc was thankfully generous with the medication.”

"Indeed." He studied her. "I am glad you are alright."

“You’re sad,” she said quietly, her voice breaking as she realised it was all because of her choice. “Because of me.”

He shrugged. "I will be fine. Vulcans are not sad." But he was...or rather he was feeling numb. The last two days had taken a lot out of him. His half sister, the issue with the Light Seeker, the bond, the journey ahead. He was waiting for the straw that humans say broke the camel's back but it appeared he could handle a few more straws. "I am, as I said, glad you are alright. The main thing is that you are alive."

“Even medicated I am never buying the Vulcan’s can’t be sad line,” she told him, hissing through her teeth in pain as she tried to move. Letting it subside she squeezed his hand, “Soral you have to be one of the most feeling people I’ve ever known, even though you try so hard to hide it.”

He said nothing. He stood disentangling his hand from hers to adjust her pillow and bring another blanket. He took a glass. "Try and take some water. It will help."

She didn’t argue, but kept watching him as he tried to help her. Yet she could see the tension in him, betraying the stoic exterior he aimed to project. “Soral… you don’t have to do this. To be here. A lot of what happened is messed up in my head but I know what I did. And you have to be so hurt and angry because that’s how I remember feeling. I always promised I’d never abandon you and I…. I broke our bond. So please don’t pretend you are okay. Be mad, be furious. Just be honest. I can’t hurt anymore than I already am, and I deserve it. It’s worse imagining what is going through your mind right now.”

"At this very moment? Just to ensure you are safe and recover. The rest can be dealt with..."

Before he could finish a sound drew his attention. He turned and a in walked a tall woman with her hair bound in a tight bun. Her ears were Vulcan but Bajoran ridges graced her nose. She looked haggard and tired and a lot like Soral."


To Be Continued...