Unrequited (Trip x OC)

Sixteen

"Trip," I repeated for the third time. "Trip!" I shook his shoulder.

"Huh? What?" he sat up quickly.

"Trip, you were supposed to be on duty at 0800."

"Crap!" he stood, staggering. He bumped into me and I started falling. I caught myself on him, but he fell forward onto me.

"Trip!" I groaned, pushing against him. My arms were pinned under his shoulder.

He pushed himself up so that he wasn't laying on me anymore. He looked down at me, furrowing his brow. I blushed furiously.

"Emily? Wha--" His eyes widened and he got up quickly, running to the bathroom, leaving me laying on the floor, my cheeks hot.

I could hear him vomiting and I wrinkled my nose. "Should I tell them you're gonna call in for work?"

Nothing except the sound of more food leaving his body the hard way.

"I'll take that as a yes," I called, though I was pretty sure he wasn't listening.

We took Trip to Sickbay. He was laying in a bed and I was dabbing the sweat from his forehead with a wet cloth.

"Even my mom didn't have this extreme a reaction to morning sickness," I mumbled. "And pregnancy was basically toxic to her body."

"Emily," Trip mumbled. He grabbed my wrist.

"Yeah, I'm here," I answered, a tinge of annoyance coloring my tone as I pulled my arm away.

"I gotta work," he tried to get up.

"Yeah, we're gonna let you work, Trip. We just gotta give you some bismuth subsalicylate."

"...what?" he furrowed his brow.

"Stomach medicine, Trip. You've only got morning sickness, you're fine otherwise."

He opened his mouth to say something else. Instead, he leaned over the side of the bed and puked in the bucket we had there for him.

"Good talk," I put the wet cloth away and pulled out a hypospray.

He jumped when he saw it. "What's that?"

"Trip," I held it up for him to see. "This is a hypospray. You have seen it a million times before. It doesn't even hurt. I'm gonna inject you with it, okay?" I got it near his neck.

"Wait wait. So... inject, how're you gonna do that without a needle?"

"Trip, this technology was developed, like, fifty years before you were born!"

"Okay, fine. Go ahead," he laid his head back down. I stuck the hypospray against his artery and it made a tiny hissing noise as the compressed air sent the medicine into his bloodstream.

"Oh, I feel better now," he sat up immediately.

"Yeah, okay," I turned around to put the hypospray back down. "Go to work now, Trip."

He stood up and walked towards the door.

Phlox called to me from the next room, "Emily, I want you to go with him! Take the hand scanner and monitor his blood pressure, make sure it doesn't get too high."

I groaned, going after him and muttering to myself, "Well he's driving my blood pressure through the roof."

---

I stood on the elevator with Trip, squished back into the corner as it descended onto the lower level of engineering.

"You know, this really isn't very safe," he looked around as we touched down.

"Yeah? Why's that?" I rose an eyebrow.

"Because! Look here, if someone were to put their hands here while going up, it'd take them clean off!"

I cocked my head. "Why would they put their hands there, Commander?"

"If they don't know any better and they haven't been briefed, little fingers will get pulled right off!"

"Commander Tucker, there are no children on the ship. The last time a child was on this ship, we had picked up a ship carting slaves and dropped them off on their home planet to be free. Plus, this is a restricted area. I imagine it wouldn't be all that easy to slip in."

"Oh... that's right, I guess," Trip rubbed the back of his neck.

"Trip, your blood pressure is rising, you might wanna sit down."

"I'll be fine," he waved a hand at me.

I sighed, but walked with him as he moved to start working.

Later that day, we were eating in the Captain's Mess Hall. Trip was scarfing down food and I was picking tentatively at mine.

"So, did you have an enjoyable day, Commander Tucker?" T'Pol inquired, not that she really cared. She just wanted to patronize him.

"Yeah," he answered, his mouth full. I didn't know how he managed to keep it all in. "Emily got to follow me around all day."

"Yeah," I muttered. "'Got to'."

T'Pol rose an eyebrow at me, but didn't press matters further.

After dinner, though, was a different story.

"I thought you enjoyed spending time with Commander Tucker," she questioned, cocking her head at me.

"I do!" I assured her quickly. "When he's not being so... whiny."

"I believe the word you are looking for is 'Human,'" she walked with her hands behind her back.

"Come on, we're not all so bad," I rolled my eyes. "I guess he's just... hormonal." I snorted.

"Well, then I suppose it is good news when I say that the Captain has found the Xyrillian ship."

"Oh, thank God!" I exclaimed. She rose an eyebrow.

"I mean... That is convenient, I hope Commander Tucker is more himself soon." I nodded.

"I agree. I wish, as well, for the welfare of Commander Tucker," she began walking again. I followed.

"It has been nice dining with you, T'Pol," I bid her adieu as I moved towards the door of my room.

"Emily, wait," she called hesitantly.

I turned to face her. "Yeah?"

She hesitated once more before asking, "Do you feel romantic attraction towards Commander Tucker?"

I put on my best poker face. "What gives you that impression?"

"You are aloof when speaking to me about him, and you seem very guarded around him."

I looked down.

She went on, "This doesn't make you weak, Emily. It is only natural. Humans are sociable creatures, and no matter how much you wish you didn't, you crave affection. And you crave this type of affection from Commander Tucker."

I turned around to face my door. "Commander Tucker is a good friend. He is nothing more."

"That doesn't mean you do not wish for more," she insisted.

I was silent for a few moments.

"Goodnight, Subcommander T'Pol."

"I did not mean any offense. I apologize if I--"

"No, it's okay. Goodnight, Subcommander T'Pol," I repeated.

"I wish you a good night as well, Emily," she turned and walked away with her hands behind her back. I sighed, shaking my head as I walked into my room.