Aftermath - Part 3

Posted on Saturday, 13 June 2020 - 9:07am by Commander Soral & Lieutenant JG Maximus Mackenzie & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Iktomi
Location: USS Standing Bear | Sickaby
Timeline: 2393 - MD 04

{ON:}

Grol had gone off to tell the CO what had happened. Mac had been patched up, bumps, bruises, scrapes, and three broken ribs. They would take time to fully heal but the bones were knitted. Soral had been in surgery for two hours already.

Mac paced the little office like an angry lion. How many times had Soral saved his life and how many times had he told him not to! For the sake of all that is holy he had a wife!

He noted the counselor's gaze.

T’Lanna was watching Max pacing up and down, she could feel his emotions and she was feeling worried for Soral too. “He’ll be alright, Soral is in good hands in there.”

"Yeah. He shouldn't be there in the first pace. That should have been me!" He scrubbed his hands down his face ignoring the pain in his side.

“I know the two of you are close friends, you don’t think for a moment that Soral would have let you be hurt do you?” She offered an understanding smile. “He would never have forgiven himself if you had been hurt.”

He sighed. "How can I forgive myself?" He looked at Alex. "I'm so sorry Alex."

Sitting in the corner, as if her eyes could see through walls to let her watch over Soral, Alex frowned. "Sorry for what?" she asked Max, genuinely confused. "I don't understand..."

T’Lanna looked at Alex, then at Max.

"He got hurt saving me. That should have been me damn it!"

Alex's frown deepened, "That makes zero sense. You didn't make him do what he did, so why feel guilty about something you had zero control over. And what if he hadn't? You might have been killed outright. And then Soral would be where you are, saying it should have been him."

He looked at Alex. "Really? Logic? " He sighed and sat down wincing at the pain. "still should have been me. He has a wife he can't be doing things like that anymore."

“Soral will continue to do what Soral does, it’s only logical.” T’Lanna gave Max a typical Vulcan look as she stood with her hands behind her back. “He does what it is logical, that is what defines Vulcans. As his friend you know that to be true.”

"See?" Alex said with a gesture in T'Lanna's direction as if that settled everything.

He sighed. He looked at Alex. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she assured him. "You?"

T’Lanna noted the way Alex automatically redirected the question back. She walked over to her and sat down nearby “Alex what are you feeling?” She looked curiously at Alex. Her Betazoid senses went so far but Alex’s bond with Soral went so much deeper.

"I'm not sure, Doctor Rose sedated him so he isn't in pain anymore," she said after a moment, not sure how to explain it. "It feels like he's so far away...."

T’Lanna nodded. “It might feel that way but he’s not. Sedation just ... dilutes the consciousness, gives that sensation you’re getting of being far away from Soral. Hold onto it, hold onto him he’s going to need your strength.” She was almost tempted to reach out and make a connection to feel what Alex was feeling but that wasn’t for those outside of the bond, only for those who shared it.

“Why is it taking so long?” Alex breathed as she stood, taking Max’s place as the pacer of the group.

Max considered lying. He decided not to. "That was close to his heart. It's tricky."

T’Lanna nodded. “He’s right, we Vulcans are a tricky bunch in all respects.” She was trying to lighten the mood but right now she was as nervous as Alex and Max. “Soral is a fighter, he’ll come out of this. He has you to come home to remember!”

Max gave a nod. "He loves you Alex. He will pull through."

“Are you two trying to convince me or yourselves?” Alex queried.

Before Max could reply a nurse rushed passed them towards the OR carrying cardio stimulators.

Back in the OR surgery had completed but Soral was having trouble. His heard stopped almost two minutes after the doctor had left the OR waylaid by Grol's questions. His body seized on the table as he fought for life. Weakly, blindly he reached for Alex for their connections. He fought his way to her calling her name in his mind.

Watching the nurse go by, Alex stepped out of the office where they had been sequestered. Listening. Sure she had heard Soral’s voice as clear as day. She half expected him to be standing there but the corridor was empty and the only sounds were distant alarms. “Soral?!” She stood there alone, eyes closed as she called for him as much with her mind as her thoughts, wishing he could know she had heard him.

His presence filled her mind for a brief second before he was gone. There was a moment of eerie silence before his presence was back weakly. ~Holding on...~

~Stay with me please. Just listen and I’ll tell you a story about this brave Starfleet Commander who had to retire and build a bigger house for all the children and all the Beagles...~ she sat down on the floor, leaning her head back and closing her eyes against the dull headache as she weaved a tale for him. Anything to keep him with her.

T’Lanna quietly followed out of the office, she noticed Alex sitting alone on the floor and her senses told her there was more to the closed eyes than just resting. She quietly moved across to Alex she sat down and reaching out a hand she lightly and gently touched her arm. Allowing a connection to be made T’Lanna ramped up her mental shields so as not to intrude on the moment between Soral and Alex instead just giving Alex the telepathic energy boost she needed to keep contact with Soral. The feeling was one that T’Lanna has never experienced before but she didn’t intrude, preferring instead to help keep her friend and mentor anchored into the living realm.

Alex flinched at the sudden touch on her arm, but was instantly distracted by how much stronger the bond between herself and Soral felt in that moment. She paused in her tale to bask in the familiar feeling of having Soral touching her mind, only now it was almost in reverse, as if she were holding him to her, keeping her safe in arms none of them could see. ~I'm here, Soral. I'm with you, just stay with me. ~

She did not know the right thing to help him, to keep him centred but knew she wouldn't stop trying. And so while resuming her tale she shared all of the love and heart that they had shared the night of their accidental bonding. ~I love you.~

There was a surge of strength that entered him, a renewed need to waken. ~And I you. I am here.~ The danger passed in the OR. There was an easing, a feeling that all would be alright.

{OFF:}