FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
Part two:
By: Lauren Taylor

B'Elanna blinked her eyes a few times, trying to get everything into
focus. She was in sickbay, on one of the recovery beds, and her arm hurt
like hell. She sat up, putting her weight only on her right arm, and saw
Tom standing next to the main biobed, where someone lay. Tom was blocking
the person who was there, so B'Elanna couldn't tell who it was. 

"I see you've decided to join us, Lieutenant." the doctor said rather
subdued as he walked out of his office. Tom turned around when he heard
the doctor's voice, and followed him over to her bedside. Once he moved,
B'Elanna looked over at the biobed. It was Harry! He was unconscious, and
looked pale, but it was him. 

"How are you doing?" Tom asked her with a concerned look on his face. 

"My arm hurts. Harry's alive?" B'Elanna asked hopefully.

Tom got a pained look on his face, and took her hand.

"Harry is alive, but barely. There's-" 

"There's no time for all of this. Mr. Kim is alive, but he doesn't have
much chance of living. Now, will you please lay down so I can fix your
arm. You fainted in the holodeck and I've been waiting for you to wake up
so that I can do this." the doctor interrupted.

B'Elanna looked at Tom with a "what the hell?" look on her face, and
layed down on the biobed. Tom handed the doctor a tricorder, and he fixed
the phaser burn on her arm, silently closed the tricorder, and walked
back into his office, where he deactivated himself.

"What's with him?" B'Elanna asked. 

"He's been like this ever since he heard about Kes. He'd have probably
kicked me out of here already, if I hadn't been helping him. I'm working
in sickbay now that we've lost Kes." Tom answered, with a hint of tears
welling up in his eyes.

"Are Harry and I the only ones that survived?" 

"Yeah." he answered, his voice choking a bit, "Yeah, it's just you and
Harry. We're not sure if Harry's going to make it, though."

B'Elanna put her weight on her right arm, since her left arm was still a
bit sore, and jumped off of the biobed. Tom put his arm behind her just
to make sure she was safe.

"How have you been doing?" B'Elanna asked him.

"It's only been an hour since the attack. I haven't broken down in tears
yet, but I can tell that's soon. We're losing Harry, too. It's just a
matter of time." he told her, as a tear slipped down his cheek. B'Elanna
wiped the tear away, and  Tom pulled her closer. He put his arm around
her, and ran his fingers through her hair. Their lips met, and they began
to kiss.

B'Elanna was surprised that she liked kissing Tom. The last time they'd
kissed was during that damned pon farr incident, and she didn't remember
much of that. But this, this was enjoyable. She loved him. She loved Tom
Paris. They backed apart and looked at each other. Tom had a bit of a
smirk on his face, and B'Elanna found herself grinning a bit, too. 

A beep emitted from Harry's bedside, and all feelings of romance were
washed away from Tom and B'Elanna. Tom ran over to the bed, and B'Elanna
activated the EMH. She watched in horror as one of her best friends died.


TO BE CONTINUED

Legal stuff: Paramount owns them, I just borrow them.