Flight #319 - Chapter 5

FLIGHT #319

by Mctrip7

Rating: PG-13
Genre: Suspense, Angst, Romance
Archive: Trip
Disclaimer: I understand that all the characters belong to Paramount and will not be sold.
Summary: Sorry T’Pol. You had your chance!

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Chapter 5

After he completed his examination, the Doctor asked Trip if he wanted him to speak freely with him. “Yes,” Trip said a little weakly.

“That’s a nasty looking injury. We won’t be sure until we get in there, but it’s pretty badly mangled. The fractured bone has done a lot of damage. Commander, we may have to take your arm.” Laurie physically felt the shock that Trip experienced.

“Are you absolutely sure?” Trip asked, barely above a whisper.

Trip looked like he might pass out. His blood pressure shot up. The nurses came running with a Crash Cart. Amid the electric shock, incubation and powerful drugs the next few hours were pure hell! They thought they lost him twice, only to have him surface again and again. There was nothing Laurie could do, but sit there and pray. Since Trip had wanted her there, the doctor said she should stay. He had her keep a running conversation with Tucker the whole time. Ever so often she thought he squeezed her hand. It was a very long night.

Laurie woke up with a start. It took a few seconds to figure out where she was. She stood up to get a better look at Trip. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully. His breathing was even and steady. She looked down and realized that he was still holding her hand.

The nurse came in. “Is there anything you need?”

“How long has he been sleeping?” Laurie asked.

“About four hours. He really gave us a scare last night. Can I bring you something to eat? He’s receiving medication and nourishment in this IV,” the nurse offered. Laurie realized she had those questions on the tip of her tongue.

“Thank you for all you’ve done. I’m really not hungry, though.” She was just beginning to notice how clean she was, then she saw the bandages and all the other scratches and cuts. “I don’t remember anyone doing all this!”

Cathy, the nurse, explained. “You passed out before we stabilized Mr. Tucker; so we took you down the hall and cleaned you up while Dr. Jones checked you over. You have a hairline fracture on your wrist and many cuts and bruises. Some of them required stitches; so they may be sore for a few days. Just be sure you don’t open them again.”

“Then, how did I get here?”

“As you regained consciousness, you were determined to get up and come back here. Finally, Dr. Jones agreed to let you, if we would keep an eye on you. Mr. Tucker’s doctor, Dr. Philips, was glad to see you as Mr. Tucker was restless. You took his hand and started talking to him again and he drifted right off. You did, too!”

“I need to make a phone call. Has anyone tried to contact us?”

“Only twenty-five or thirty times!” She said. “Somebody by the name of John something said he was on his way up here. That was the last call, about two hours ago.”

“Do you know where my cell phone is? I need to make several calls.”

“I’ve been keeping it for you in my pocket. I just knew you would want it. If I had turned it in, it would have gone downstairs and been days before you could have gotten it.”

“Thanks, Cathy.” Laurie keyed John’s number in and it was answered immediately.

“John, it’s Laurie. Where are you?”

“What the hell is going on up there? They wouldn’t let me talk to Trip or you and I couldn’t even get the doctor to come to the phone!”

“It’s been a really hard night. Trip is still unconscious and on an IV. He may lose his
arm, John.” With that, she broke down. She couldn’t help it. At least, she didn’t do it in front of Trip.

“Did they get a second opinion?” John practically shouted.

“I told Dr. Phillips to call Star Fleet Medical before he did anything.”

“Good girl! We’ll get him to Dr. Phlox before anyone touches him. Laurie, I’m sorry I sounded off at you. I know you’ve been going through the same thing that Trip has; and I didn’t even ask if you were injured, too! Have they taken care of you?”

“I’m OK, just a little sore. Trip comes around every so often, then he drifts off. He is pretty coherent when he’s awake. He isn’t in any pain; so I’m sure he can’t feel anything. I just came to a few minutes ago; so I don’t have any real answers. You are coming here, aren’t you, John? We really need you! Is Holli OK?”

“Holli’s doing fine. She’s with my assistant, and Janie will keep up with her.”

“Thanks, John. We’re in the M. I.C.U. wing of the Hospital here. I’ll be so glad to see you. Bye.”

Dr. Philips came in. He said, “As soon as he can be moved, we need to arrange a flight to Star Fleet’s hospital in San Francisco. They have been alerted.”

“John should be here in a couple of hours,” Laurie said. “Dr. Philips, how will you be able to move him without running the risk of hurting his arm?”

“It will be sealed in a cryogenic splint; so it will be alright. Keep him awake as much as you can now. We’ll put him under when he’s ready to leave. Call me when John gets here.” Dr. Philips left to finish his rounds.

“How long have I been out?” Trip’s words were a little slurred, but his eyes were open.

“About five minutes this time. John called and he is on his way here. He should make it in about two hours. Dr. Philips was here. He notified Star Fleet Medical and they are expecting you. Nothing further is going to be done here.”

“I sure wish Phlox was here, but maybe he’ll be at the other hospital.”

“Do you have any feeling in your arm now? Every so often I see little changes in your expression. Are you in any pain?” Laurie was holding his other hand now.

“I won’t be if you lean over this way a little more. You’re just out of reach!”

“Trip, I believe you are feeling better!” She stood up and came a little closer. He put his right arm around her and pulled her close to him, saying, “I don’t ever want to let you go.” She put her head on his shoulder as he kissed her.

“I don’t want to leave you, either. Do you believe that ‘love at first sight’ really exists?”

“I don’t know what you call it, but I knew you were the ‘girl for me’ the first time I saw you….when I woke up with my head in your lap. You seemed to feel something, too. I thought we made a good team while we were evacuating the passengers. I just didn’t have time to tell you.”

“I felt something special whenever you were close,” Laurie smiled. “When you were gone, I felt like a part of me was missing. I thought I would never find you again here at the Hospital. There was such confusion!”

“Well, I have you here with me now, and that’s where I want you to stay. Jon will see to that.”

A rap on the door and a lady in a business suit with a clip board in her hand came in. “Are you Commander Charles Tucker, III?” she inquired.

Trip said “Yes”.

“Someone has to release you from the Hospital. You cannot do that yourself!”

“Jon will be here in an hour or so and he will do it.” Trip was matter of fact.

“That will be too long. We need to do it now so you can be ready when they come to pick you up.”

“Can Laurie do it?” he asked.

“I believe she can. You named her your guardian last night when you arrived. You were going in and out of consciousness and they had some decisions to make. Laurie, you’ll have to come to the office with me to sign the papers.”

“Don’t be too long. I want you to be here when Jon gets here.” Trip was getting a little agitated.

“I’ll be right back.” She touched her lips to his and followed the lady out the door.

When they arrived at the office, several people were waiting to see the woman. Her name was Jane Wooten. She said she would be with them in a minute, but one man was insistent – said he had been waiting an hour!

“This will only take a minute,” she said and walked with him down the hall.

Laurie stood on first one foot and then the other. She had to stay because Miss Wooten seemed to think it was very important that the papers be ready when John got there. Twenty-five minutes passed and Laurie was getting ready to leave, when Miss Wooten returned.

“I’m so sorry that took longer than I expected. Now let me get Commander Tucker’s release and you can sign it. I know I left it right here on my desk. Where could it have gone? My secretary was out to lunch, but no one would have picked it up without telling me!”

“I have to get back upstairs,” Laurie bristled. “When you find it, bring it to his room and I will sign it”

Laurie hurried to the elevator, but had to wait as it was locked down for transport. When she got to Trip’s room, she couldn’t believe her eyes. He was gone!

TBC

Continue to Chapter 6

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Half a dozen of you have made comments

As OMT said in Observer Effect, "WELL, YOU CAN'T STOP THERE!!!!" Great chapter. Please update soon!

as us brits say! 'Don't qote episodes we haven't seen!!!'

gr8 chapter, but where's Trip???? AND SAVE THAT ARM!!!!

Seems like all the reviews are *Oh my god this is so great!!!*, so a little word of advice. Please don't take this as flaming but as constructive criticism. I know that nice reviews may please you, but they don't help you to get better as a writer.
1) Try to work on the dialog. You jump from one person speaking to another without indicating the change. It's confusing.
2) Also, work on the description. The story doesn't have to consist 'only' of dialog.
3) I don't think they still have planes in the 22. cent., but, okay, that still could do.
4) You have plot holes in the story. For example, how would Jon recognize Holli? He didn't kwow what she looked like. Why didn't they call 911 when they crashed? It wouldn't be difficult to find them, all the information needed would be the number of the flight they were on, and approximately how long they were in air. And remember that the bomb blew. The plane would be full of fuel, so that should make a pretty big fireball, which wouldn't be so difficult to see, especially in the night.
5) The medical conditions you write about make no sense. If the injury to Trip's arm was so serious that doctors considered amputation, he wouldn't be able to walk around and help others. The damage would have to be significant. He'd be in one hell of a pain. Another thing - elevated blood pressure doesn't cause the heart to stop. And, the doctors would not wait for an unconscious patient to wake to get his approval for the release. There's simply no time for that.
Anyway, the idea is interesting but you should try to work on it. Good luck :-)

To Arim:
Thank you for taking the time to critique my story. I always appreciate any comments or constructive criticism. The story definitely needs more description. Since it's too late to go back, I'll add a little explanation here.
1)As for the "he saids and she saids", I always understood this wasn't necessary when two people were having a conversation. I'll need to be more careful.
2)Since they were staying at the same hotel, I could have shown the room #; so he could have called until she answered.
3)As for 911, the passengers assumed the Pilot had notified the authorities with a "Mayday" message. It wasn't until Trip got the radio and tried to reach someone that they learned no contact had been made.
4)As for the explosion being seen, the tall trees that are usually on either side of a ski slope may have prevented it in this desolate country.
5)The lady from the Office thought Jon would be with Trip. The Doctor would be the last to sign it.
6)Trip - he slightly chipped the bone in his upper arm when he hit the seat as the first bomb exploded and the plane dropped. When he and Laurie were running from the plane and the big explosion occurred, Trip fractured his forearm as he landed on the rocks and limbs. It caused some small splintering in his forearm to occur. He did not do any more lifting; and, being Trip, he was more concerned about everyone else than himself.
7)The crash cart was a precaution.
I hope this clears up some of the mystery.

Thank you again for your help - lots of things for me to keep in mind! I really want to improve my writing as I love doing it.

Mctrip7, Mary

You're welcomed. Now that you explained things, I admit it makes sense...you just need to write it more clearly in the story, you rushed it and that's why it became so confusing. That's what I meant with the 'more description'. Description of people, places, action scenes. The 'he said and she said' aren't actually necessary, not after each sentence, anyhow; and you can always use synonyms or, well, description, f. e. Trip shook his head."..."
Oh, and I'm sorry...but I've got to bother you again with Trip's arm...it's kind of a fetish of mine ;-) The injury still doesn't sound serious enough for an amputation...otherwise a lot of people would lose their arms. Trust me on this.
Anyway, again, I'm glad you weren't offended and took the critique. I was glad to help :-)

okay i just want to get in on this debate, so i'm gonna add my own veiws, if thats okay,
1)As for the "he saids and she saids", I always understood this wasn't necessary when two people were having a conversation. I'll need to be more careful.

1)A) i personally haven't found this ahrd to follow as generally, a new line is started when the person speaking chages, just read shakespere n ull see that.

2) Also, work on the description. The story doesn't have to consist 'only' of dialog.

2)A) this could do with a tad of work, but we get all the info we need really, not a majour point to adress, but stil l1 to consider.

3)As for 911, the passengers assumed the Pilot had notified the authorities with a "Mayday" message. It wasn't until Trip got the radio and tried to reach someone that they learned no contact had been made.

3)A) also, theyre at the edge of a ski slope, how often do you have signal problems in vally like areas? all the time, makes sense that they thought the captain put a call out.

4) You have plot holes in the story. For example, how would Jon recognize Holli? He didn't kwow what she looked like. Why didn't they call 911 when they crashed? It wouldn't be difficult to find them, all the information needed would be the number of the flight they were on, and approximately how long they were in air. And remember that the bomb blew. The plane would be full of fuel, so that should make a pretty big fireball, which wouldn't be so difficult to see, especially in the night.

4)a) okay, i go with trees hiding the explosion, john reconising holly, definatly needs adressing, n would only take a line or two to fix. And in the middle of an emergency who remembers how long theyve been in the air? i only know when it comes to we've landed.

5) The medical conditions you write about make no sense. If the injury to Trip's arm was so serious that doctors considered amputation, he wouldn't be able to walk around and help others. The damage would have to be significant. He'd be in one hell of a pain. Another thing - elevated blood pressure doesn't cause the heart to stop. And, the doctors would not wait for an unconscious patient to wake to get his approval for the release. There's simply no time for that.

5)A) If they were considering amputation he still would've kept going, its well documented that in the worst case senario people get strength to go on from somewhere unknown, AND he cuda killed the nerve pretty badly with bone splinters making it feel better than it was,

Yes blood pressure doesnt cause the heart to stop but "Laurie physically felt the shock that Trip experienced." shock can, a rush of adrenaline would have made the heart beat to fast causing the heart to stop, the side effect being high bloodpressure, so the pressure didnt harm the heart, the heart caused the blood pressure.

:) ure veiws on this plz, but overall it is a gr8 story