by pebble/scifipony
Fandom: Star Trek: Enterprise
Characters: Jonathan Archer, Trip Tucker, Phlox, Hoshi Sato
Words: 1,608
Tags: Trip Whump, Light Hurt/Comfort, Friendship
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Originally posted to SquidgeWorld on Oct 15, 2024. Written for the Octoberfics challenge on tumblr.
Archer glanced at his chief engineer out of the corner of his eye for probably the hundredth time in the past hour. He knew his focus should be on the diplomatic talks they were conducting with this planet’s governing body, but he couldn’t shake the worry gnawing at his mind.
Something was wrong with Trip.
When they’d first been diverted off course by Starfleet, it had certainly been a bit of a let down. As important as it was that an alien species had reached out to discuss a potential trade agreement, the Enterprise crew had been understandably disappointed to abandon the star fields they’d been charting for the past week. But, as boring as diplomacy could be compared to space exploration, it was still their duty to follow through on the request.
Since Trip and T’Pol were the senior officers, it seemed appropriate to have one of them accompany him down to the planet for the negotiations. Archer selected Trip since T’Pol suggested that the natives were not overly fond of Vulcans. Hoshi also joined the landing party to assist with translating as needed.
Everything started out fine, if a bit boring. They were invited to join the planet’s political leaders for a formal dinner and then subjected to a mind-numbing series of diplomatic speeches. But at least things were going smoothly. And the trade deal these people were offering would be a huge help to the colonies Starfleet wanted to establish in this region.
The one gray cloud over this otherwise textbook assignment was, of course, the situation with Trip.
At first, Archer thought he was simply restless or unhappy over having to be down on the planet. The engineer had voiced some very strong objections to being dragged away from his latest round of engine upgrades.
His initial annoyance at Trip was quickly being overtaken by genuine worry, though. Trip didn’t seem restless, he seemed ill. He was pale and quiet, barely reacting to anything going on around them. Archer even caught his hands shaking when they sat down at the table.
The planet’s head ambassador continued to lay out his vision for the future relationship between his planet and Earth, but Archer’s best efforts to listen to the man were drowned out by his growing concern for his friend.
“Trip,” he whispered to the engineer at one point, when the diplomatic team were otherwise occupied. “Are you okay?”
It took a few seconds longer than it should have before Trip seemed to register that anyone was addressing him. He glanced over at the captain, pupils sluggish and a confusion in his eyes that said he had no idea what he’d just been asked.
“What’s wrong?” Archer tried again. “Are you feeling sick?”
He tried to run through all the possible scenarios in his head. They’d checked the planet’s atmosphere with the ship’s scanners and verified it was safe for humans. There could always be something in the air that their scanners weren’t equipped to detect, though. It could also be some kind of allergic reaction.
“Not doin’ too great,” Trip admitted, words barely audible and slurring together. “Feels like…”
Whatever the rest of that thought had been, Archer would never get to hear it. Trip’s eyes rolled back and his body slumped. The captain barely had time to react, reaching out quickly to catch his friend as he dropped to the ground.
“Captain?” Hoshi asked, alarm evident in her voice as she raced to their side. “What happened?”
Archer shook his head. “I don’t know. I think he’s sick.”
Trip was not fully unconscious, but pretty close to it. After several failed attempts at getting a response out of him, Archer felt dread setting in. Whatever was wrong, he needed medical attention immediately.
He looked up at the diplomats and political leaders gathered around. “I’m sorry, I need to get my crew member back to the ship.”
Thankfully, they seemed to be understanding. If anything, they showed a surprising level of concern for Trip’s safety, offering one of their fastest transport vehicles to get them back to the shuttle pod quicker. Hoshi volunteered to stay behind on the planet to help smooth things over in the captain’s absence, and he gratefully accepted.
It wasn’t long before they were back on board the Enterprise and Trip was resting comfortably on a biobed.
Archer went to the bridge long enough to inform T’Pol of the situation and let her know to keep an eye on Hoshi’s status.
“Captain, the doctor will contact you as soon as he has any news on Commander Tucker’s condition. You really should return to the planet’s surface and continue the trade negotiations,” T’Pol advised, though her tone of voice indicated that she already knew he wasn’t going anywhere other than the medbay.
“Just keep in contact with Hoshi and help her out if she runs into any problems,” he said. “Send Reed down to stay with her.”
He was in the turbolift before she could even acknowledge the order.
His grip on the handrail of the lift was so tight his knuckles turned white. Forcing himself to take a long breath, Archer tried to remind himself that a situation like this was far from unusual. Going to alien planets, interacting with new species… it was actually pretty routine for at least one member of the crew to pick up some virus previously unknown to humans. And, under most circumstances, it never ended up being a huge problem. They were coughing or sneezing for a few days and then Phlox would figure out some treatment for it and everything was fine again.
Trip was going to be fine.
But he couldn’t quite shake the memory of almost losing his best friend on that desert moon only a few weeks ago. When Trip had refused to be rescued without the Arkonian pilot, Archer had felt as if the combined frustration and worry would eat him alive. In the end, they’d only barely got the both of them off that moon in time.
It was way too soon to have to be worrying over Trip’s life again. He had to be okay.
When he made it back to the medbay, it was to find Trip sitting up in bed. Albeit with the support of a pillow to keep him propped up, but at least it was something. An IV bag was hanging beside him, the tube feeding into his arm.
“How’s the patient, Doctor?” Archer asked as he entered the room, forcing a lightness to his tone that he didn’t feel.
“Honestly, a lot better,” Trip said. His eyelids were drooping and words still a little bit slurred, but he didn’t look as dead anymore.
“I’m going to trust the doctor’s word over yours on this one,” he said. Glancing at Phlox, he asked, “Doctor?”
Phlox sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Captain. I should have realized this would be a problem before it ever came up. But human anatomy is still somewhat newer to me, and I forget sometimes how differently your physiology reacts to environmental factors than—”
“Doctor,” Archer cut him off. “What are you saying?”
“It was the heat, I’m afraid.”
“The heat?” Trip asked tiredly. “That’s it?”
“Heat exhaustion can make your body more susceptible to high temperatures,” Phlox pointed out. “And you’ve already experienced heat exhaustion on two separate occasions. First, when you and the captain were on that Torothan desert planet. And then again when you were stranded on that moon with the Arkonian pilot a few weeks ago. I suspect your body is simply done with extreme heat.”
“Yeah, well, same goes for me,” Trip said. “From now on, I’m only joining away missions to ice planets and rainforests.”
Archer laughed, relief flooding him at seeing his friend already starting to bounce back to his old self. He didn’t want to admit just how worried he’d been. “We’ll see what we can do to accommodate that,” he promised.
“That’s not actually a bad idea,” Phlox said. “I’m afraid your repeated bouts of heat exhaustion are only going to make your body even more likely succumb to extreme temperatures. The planet you were on today was a prime example — very high heat index coupled with extreme humidity.”
“It came on so suddenly, I didn’t even realize what was happening,” Trip admitted. “I felt like I was gonna pass out.”
“You kind of did,” Archer told him. “At least you’re okay.” He shot a questioning glance at the doctor at that last comment.
“Oh, yes, he should be fine now,” Phlox assured them both. “Just need some rest, plenty of fluids, and I’d like to monitor your body temperature until it comes back down to a healthier level.”
“In the meantime, I’d better get back down there and finish the negotiations. I’ll check back on you later, Trip.”
“I’m really feeling a lot better, Cap’n. If it’s all the same to you—”
Archer raised his hand, cutting off what he already knew Trip was going to suggest. “No way. Those upgrades will have to wait for another day. Get some rest; that’s an order.”
The fact that he offered no further argument on the matter was proof enough of how far from okay he still was. Trip gave a half-hearted nod of surrender and let himself flop back down onto the biobed.
“I’ll see you later,” Archer said, patting him on the leg as he retreated. “If you behave for the doctor, I’ll make sure we stick to cold-weather planets for a few weeks.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Trip muttered tiredly as he rapidly drifted towards sleep.
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