Title: Red River 3/5
Authors: Isabelle and Maxine
Pairing: C/P
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Voyager
and it's characters, we don't. But
the Alinnidans are Isabelle's
Archiving is okay as long as you
let us know.
Feedback: Of course we want feedback
Special Note: Thank you Leone for
helping with this story.
Red River 3
Chakotay had been half listening
to the Alinnidan speaking, he was
more concerned with Tom. He had
gone over to him during the
conversation that Oromocto was having.
He checked the younger man's vital signs, he was still bleeding internally
but a bit slower. The
infusion was helping. Tom was so
pale. Chakotay had never seen anyone look that pale before. He began offering
prayers to the spirits
asking them to help Tom and help
him.
He prayed that Tom and he would have
the chance to explore
whatever it was they needed to explore
together. He had been
attracted to Tom for sometime now.
Chakotay didn't realize that Tom
was attracted to him, not until
the younger man had kissed him.
Chakotay could still feel the touch
of his lips. It was faint but he
could still feel it, still remember
it.
"Chakotay?"
"Yes?"
"Why don't you rest awhile yourself?
I will keep a watch over
Tom and if anything happens I will
wake you."
"I am not sure I can rest to be honest."
"I understand your distress. It is
not easy to watch one's
mate in pain."
"Tom and I are not mates Oromocto."
"Oh I misunderstood what happened
on the mountain earlier?"
"Yes, that was the first time Tom
had ever kissed me."
"I see, I apologize of the assumption."
"Don't apologize you didn't know.
I will not deny that I am
interested in pursuing a relationship
with Tom. I suppose he wouldn't
deny it either at this point."
"So I was not completely wrong. While
you are not mates yet
you will be."
"I can only hope Oromocto. I am sure
that if Tom makes it
through this we will work on it."
"That is good, I believe that the
two of you are well suited
for each other. Tom seems to have
a childlike awe of things around
him. He sees all colors, whereas
you seem to have a mature outlook.
You see things as they appear. I
believe that Tom needs some of your straightforward sight and you need
some of Tom's awe inspired sight."
"I suppose you are right. Tom does
see the broad spectrum of
things. I tend to see things in
black and white, very few shades of
gray in my vision. Tom takes everything
in with a bit of humor where
I can be too serious at times. Perhaps
Tom can help me be more open and I can teach him to be more focused."
"As it should be with mates. You
learn from each other and
grow together. As long as you keep
that goal in sight any problems
should be minimal."
"Let's hope you are right Oromocto.
Tom and I have enough
adversity in our lives. A relationship
with too many would not do
well out here."
Chakotay sat back and closed his
eyes. Having someone to share a bad day with. Having someone to just be
there at the end of the day now that would be different. He was tired of
the lonely existence he found himself in on Voyager. Having Tom around
to talk to, to be with. Yes he liked that idea a lot. He enjoyed Tom's
humor, thought it would do him good at the end of a long day. Tom's ability
to pointing out the absurdity of things and make it funny. Tom showed a
sensitivity that Chakotay had long since lost too many years of hate and
far too many battles had harder him somewhat more than he wanted to admit.
Oh he was still compassionate,
he still felt things deeply but there
was hardness in what he felt. He
knew there was passion still inside
it had just lay dormant, Tom could
wake that passion up. That was one thing Chakotay was sure of, if that
kiss was any indication, if the
way Tom had gotten under his skin
over these past years was any
indication. Chakotay knew that the
passion would wake with vengeance. Chakotay realized that two hours had
gone by when he heard a whimper.
"Chakotay?" Tom had woken up again.
"Tom how are you feeling? Any better?"
"No Cha, I am sorry."
"Don't be sorry. I spoke to Voyager
they are about 34 hours
away now. The doctor told me there
was a couple of things I could do
to continue slowing down the bleeding
then we can leave and meet
Voyager."
"Chakotay I am not sure I am going
to make it. Maybe you
should leave me here with the Adlinnidans
and go meet Voyager."
"Tom I am not going to leave you
here alone. Me going to meet
Voyager is not going to get them
here faster."
"No Chakotay I mean you go. I am
going to die. I don't want
to die on the way. I won't do that
to you."
"Tom you aren't going to die. We
have already been over this.
I am going to do what I can here
on the planet with the resources the
flyer has and in six hours we are
going to leave and meet Voyager.
The doctor is going to be standing
by with whatever you need."
"Cha, I can feel it, I can feel my
life draining out. I don't
think I am ever going to see Voyager
again. The pain is too much
also." Chakotay leaned closer to
Tom and whispered.
"Please Tom don't die on me now.
I need you, you have to help me find
my passion again."
"Oh Cha! You have plenty of passion
you don't need me."
"Yes I do. Tom promise me you wouldn't
leave me."
"I will do my best Cha."
"Thank you Tom." Chakotay turned
his head slightly and kissed
Tom's cheek. Chakotay noticed that
Tom felt cool. He stood up and
went to get a blanket and put it
on Tom.
"Thanks Cha." Tom winced with pain.
"Tom can you tell me what is going
on? What are you feeling?"
"I feel like something is draining
me. Draining my energy
from me. Which I guess is something
I should be feeling."
"Are you in much pain?"
"My stomach hurts a lot. My head
hurts too but it doesn't
feel like a headache."
Chakotay picked up the tricorder
and scanned Tom's head there was no
bleeding and Chakotay let out the
breath he had been holding.
"There is no sign of anything wrong
with your brain Tom. It
must be just from the lack of blood."
"Well that is a first nothing wrong
upstairs." Tom snickered
as he tried to cover the wave of
pain he was feeling.
"Tom I am going to check with the
database see if there is
something I can give you for the
pain." Tom just nodded and closed
his eyes.
Chakotay went back to the computer
and began reading again.
During his search he found information
about a 'Super Hero named
Captain Immunity' whose words were
his weapon against hemophilia and HIV. Chakotay didn't know what HIV was
but he was going to look into it just in case it was something Tom and
he needed to be concerned with. Checking through the files he found that
there was no
indication if pain medication would
interfere with the infusion or
transfusion. But to be doubly sure
he decided to contact the doctor,
there was so much information for
him to read and process he was
afraid he that he might miss something.
After speaking to the doctor Chakotay
administered a low dose of
Ibuprofen. The doctor also explained
to him that he would have to
perform a series of tests to check
the clotting time of Tom's blood.
The doctor told Chakotay to run
A Whole Blood Clotting Time (WBCT)
and a Prothrombin time (PT), at
seeing Chakotay's distress he
explained that all he would have
to do is extract two small hypo
vials of Tom's blood and have the
computer run the tests. That done
he contacted the doctor again and
gave the results to him.
"Commander has the transfusion finished?"
"Yes doctor."
"Good you will need to start another
infusion for the
clotting factor now. The results
of the tests you ran are not as I
had hoped. Mr. Paris' bleeding time
is still dangerously high."
"Okay doctor. I really wish you were
here or we were there. I
am not sure if I am helping or hurting
him."
"Commander you are doing just fine.
Mr. Paris is having a
severe bleeding episode for two
reasons, one the obvious the
synthetic gene being removed, but
two his body has never had to
handle this type of trauma before.
We will not know for sure if his
body has an immunity to the clotting
factor until after the third
infusion is completed."
"That's comforting." Chakotay couldn't
help the sarcasm in
his voice. He knew he was not handling
this well.
"I am sorry doctor but I am not a
medic or nurse nor do I
feel like I am cut out to be either
if this is what I would have to
handle on a regular basis."
"I understand Commander and it is
more difficult for humans
to be in a position of having to
perform medical procedures of this
nature on friends and family."
"Thank you for all your help doctor.
I will start the next
infusion procedure and then I believe
I will make my way back to
Voyager so you can take over Tom's
health care."
"I will be ready Commander. I will
also inform the captain of
your plans. EMH out."
Chakotay went and had the computer
prepare the needed infusion
therapy treatment. He went back
to Tom and removed the empty bag
replacing it with the infusion mixture.
"Oromocto, the doctor says that I
can leave the planet now so
I am going to. I want to get Tom
back to Voyager as quickly as
possible. Again I want to thank
you for your hospitality and all your
help with Tom."
"It was a pleasure to have met you
and Tom Chakotay. I am
truly sorry for the problems we
caused. If there is anything further
you or your crew need from my people
please don't hesitate to ask. As
a matter of fact I would offer your
ship a chance to come and visit
us. We will of course inform everyone
of the ritual before hand and
if there may be problems we hopefully
will be able to compensate for
them."
"Thank you, I will inform Captain
Janeway of your offer. I am
sure she will be willing to set
up some sort of trade offering for
the shore leave."
"I will wait to hear from you or
your captain. Safe Travel
Chakotay." He walked over to Tom
and touched the sleeping man's
forehead.
"May whatever spirits you believe
in and mine help you
through this ordeal. Safe travel
Tom." He did not wait for a response
he knew there would be none. He
left the flyer and started his
journey home he continued to prayer
for the two men he left behind.
Prayer they made it back to their
ship and prayer that the younger
man would be healthy again.
Chakotay went about checking all
the flyer's systems and when
he was satisfied that there were
no problems he went back down to Tom
and locked the biobed's shielding
around him.
"Tom we are going home now, hang
on just a little longer
okay?" Chakotay pushed a wayward
piece of hair off Tom's forehead. He
leaned down and kissed Tom on the
lips and went back up to get them
out of there.
"Delta Flyer to Voyager"
"Voyager here. How are things Chakotay?"
"Captain I am about to get under
way. Tom is sleeping, the
second infusion therapy is in place."
"Alright Chakotay we will send you
our present coordinates
and we will see you as soon as possible."
"Yes ma'am Chakotay out." He began
the firing sequence and
lifted off. Flying towards the coordinates
sent by Voyager. Things
seemed to be going fine for about
four minutes then the flyer hit
another electrical storm. As the
flyer bounced to and fro Chakotay
made a quick decision and turned
back towards the planet.
"Computer locate the bandwidth for
the Alinnid village we
contacted earlier."
"Acknowledged. Bandwidth found."
"Open a channel to the Government
House."
"Channel open."
"This is Commander Chakotay of the
Delta flyer. Can anyone
hear me?"
"Yes Chakotay I am here." Answered
Enosho
"Enosho I have ran into another electrical
storm I had to
turn back but I need to be able
land closer to the village Tom is
quite ill and I need help."
"Chakotay, we will assist you in
any way we can. If it is
possible land your craft lower in
the mountain range, closer to the
village but landing here would cause
problems. I will see about
getting you help to bring Tom here.
I am sure that Oromocto will
hear or see you coming back down
and he will come back to help until
we can reach you."
"Thank you Enosho. I am on my way
in."
The ride got rougher and then the
flyer was hit with an electrical
burst. Power was failing, Chakotay
did he best to control the flyer.
Drawing on every learned response
he quickly brought the flyer down.
Crashing was inevitable and as it
happened Chakotay was thrown for
the pilot's seat, slamming his head
on the console next to him
knocking him unconscious.
Oromocto had seen the shuttle
come down as he was walking. He ran as quickly as he could toward the crash
site. Hoping that both men were all right, he entered the shuttle avoiding
the debris and sparks as he went. Oromocto found Chakotay on the floor,
assessing as best he
could that the alien was alive and
just not conscious he attempted to
wake him.
"Chakotay?" Oromocto gently shook
him. "Chakotay can you hear me?"
Chakotay
seem to come around slowly dazed and uncertain where
he was. He looked around, seeing
Oromocto but not recognizing him at first he shook his head a bit as if
to shake the fog off. When he did that he realized it was a mistake his
head began to pound and he
groaned in pain. After a one or
two passed he came to his senses and
again looked at Oromocto this time
remembering who he was and why he was seeing him again.
"What happened?" Oromocto asked when
he realized that Chakotay was more coherent.
"There was another electrical storm,
I had to turn around, seems I
didn't do as well as Tom did in
landing." When he mentioned the young pilot's name he panicked.
"Tom!" he tried to get up but Oromocto
stopped him.
"You stay here I will make sure he
is okay. You need to just sit for
a few minutes."
Chakotay nodded slightly not wanting
to cause himself any more pain. Oromocto patted his shoulder and went to
check on Tom. While he was gone Chakotay assessed the damage as best he
could from where he was. Checking with the computer he found that except
for life support and lights there wasn't much else working.
"Just great, what am I going to do
now? I can't contact
Voyager and I can't replicate blood
or the clotting faction Tom
needs. Damn!"
"What's wrong?" Oromocto asked as
he returned from checking
on Tom.
"Everything! How is Tom?" Forgetting
everything else for the
moment Chakotay's main concern was
Tom.
"He seems to be okay. Although I
can not be one hundred
percent certain, the monitor above
him is not working."
Looking upward Chakotay asked the
Spirits if they had cursed
him for something he had done wrong.
"I have to get done there. None of
the computer systems,
other then life support and lights
are working. I can't replicate the
clotting factor or blood for him."
"What will you do?"
"I am going to have to give him my
own blood. I am just not
sure if I will be able to do it
all myself. Do you know how to
transfer plasma gel from one person
to another? I think moving Tom
anywhere at this point would not
be a good idea."
"I should be able to assist with
that, I am able to perform
our transfers. From what I saw of
your transfusions they are similar."
"Thank the spirits for small favors."
Chakotay mumbled to
himself.
"Chakotay you really need to rest
it is already close to the
solar raising and you have been
awake since just after yesterday's
raise. Besides that head wound does
not look good, perhaps we should go down below and see if we can fix you
up. Then you rest, I will sit with Tom and if anything seems to be wrong
I will wake you. You can not continue to help him if your body and mind
are too tired."
"You are right Oromocto, I am quite
tired and fighting the
electrical storm has taken more
energy." Oromocto helped him up and they made their way through the mess
and down to where Tom was. Once Chakotay was satisfied that Tom was in
fact doing okay for now.
"Thank you Oromocto, I do appreciate
your help. You are not tired
yourself?"
"No I am not. The Alinidians needless
sleep then humans. Plus
my body is use to the day cycle
yours isn't."
"I see, well Good Night Oromocto."
Chakotay went back over to
Tom bent down and kisses his forehead.
"Tom I am going to get some sleep
now. Oromocto is here you
are not alone." Chakotay quietly
explained to the sleeping man. He
went and pulled down a bunk then
he removed his jacket and boots.
Lying down he let out a sigh and
fell asleep almost immediately.
TBC