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Blind Chess	By : madradena Category: Star Trek > The Next Generation Views: 1334 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own ST:TNG, nor the characters. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 34
- 35
Fear in its purest form gripped Data's neural net, seeing his lover buried under what he measured at least a hundred metric kilogramms of chrystaline stone. He just stared at her hand - it was not holding on to his anymore. It lay there in his... lifeless. And he couldn't move. He couldn't think. He couldn't even breath. His monitoring systems screamed inside his positronic brain that his emotion-chip was dangerously close to overloading again, and it left him virtually paralysed.
Then he became aware of a distant voice and felt himself taken by the shoulder. He saw Earl's face almost as if he was looking into some distorted mirror that aged his characteristic features. He realized that the old man's mouth was moving. He was talking... no, shouting at him. Then suddenly let him go, and as he slowly managed to turn his head sideways, he saw that he started to roll the stones off of Emma's body. It's a pointless effort, he thought, from somebody as weak as Earl to try and lift this weight.
Then he saw his mother's worried expression. She seemed scared but at least unhurt. And she seemed so anxious for him as she took his hands in hers. He only felt her taking his left hand, but as she tightened her reassuring grip, it lessened his overwhelming fear. This simple gesture of care from his mother freed up enough resources for him to be able to find a free processing thread, and with the help of it, he managed to prioritize the rest of his processes. Finally, he took a sharp breath for the first time in little over a minute.
"That's it, just breath." Juliana stroked his shoulder lovingly. He bowed his head as the world around him started to move again, and he could hear again, and feel sensations again - and think again.
"Instead of breathing, he could come and help me over here!" they heard Earl's impatient voice, where he was trying to lift a huge stone, and Data leapt to him from where he was crouching next to his mother. He wordlessly rolled away huge stones, while Earl and Juliana carried away the smaller ones. The temperature started to rise, they all realized, as Data was prompted by his sensors, and Earl and Juliana began to sweat.
"The life-support systems are failing." Juliana explained putting away a smaller rock.
"How much time do we have left here?" Earl asked and grunted as he lifted a stone well over his abilities.
"I have to check the consoles... or whatever remained of them." she nodded toward the machinery at the side of the chamber. Most of the instruments were crumpled or had holes in them "But if the temperature is rising at such a rate, I would say not more than an hour before we boil in our own sweat." she told them on a grave voice.
"First things first." Earl told her as he lifted the last stone with the help of Data off of Emma.
They all crouched around her. She seemed unconscious, but they could see no blood or any sign of injury which gave them an unexpected sense of hope. Earl took out the tricorder from his pocket and handed it over to Data. The instrument chirped as it read her life signs:
"Her heart beat is weak, but it's there..." Data told them on a soft voice reading the values "Her breathing is also very weak, her oxygen saturation is 75... and dropping."
"How bad is it?" Earl asked impatiently.
The tricorder gave a final chirping sound, and an anxious expression appeared on Data's face reading the results "Bad. Her hip bone is broken at two places... she has severe internal bleeding. And this is not a medical tricorder, the readings might be inaccurate to some degree."
A moment of deadly silence descended on them before Earl spoke up on a hoarse voice "We've gotta get her out of here."
Data looked around. It went without question that they needed to get her and themselves out of that hell-hole. The real question was: how? "The only viable option seems to be the elevator." he told them on a silent voice. They looked over to where the elevator used to be, and their hearts sank in union: its door was buried under a huge pile of rocks. And they couldn't be sure that the controls were still working underneath. Nonetheless, they had no other choice.
He gave the tricorder to his mother "We have to get to the elevator, there's no other option. At this depth, I cannot contact the Enterprise, and even if it was possible, they cannot beam us out..." he looked into her eyes deeply "Take care of her." he told her on a soft voice, then leapt to his feet. He jumped down the pile of rocks they've been crouching on to climb on top of the neighbouring 'hill', which was blocking the elevator door. He started to roll the rocks down, and after a moment of hesitation, Earl put a hand on Juliana's arm "I'll help him, he'll never manage one-handed. You'll be fine, my dear?"
She nodded "Don't worry."
He looked down at Emma and cupped her cheek lovingly "Hold on, little bird!" he whispered and letting her go, he joined Data at the elevator.
She was hurting so much. It hurt so much... More than the first time. More than the second time. It took all her strength to open her eyes again to the light that was almost as painful as the pain in her womb. The first face she saw was Edmond's. He held her hand relentlessly. As he did the first time. Then again at the second time. And now. It used to give her comfort, but now... it just felt hallow. She turned her head toward the wall, away from him. Nothing was different: the hospital walls, the bed, the white sheets, Edmond's utmost worry - and the pain...
"Ma chérie." she heard his soft voice and felt him cuddle to her face. She let him kiss her on the cheek, then on the neck, she acknowledged his overwhelming attraction to her - but felt nothing of it... "I'm so sorry, chérie." he told her "The next time... the next time, we surely manage!" he whispered into her ear, then planted a soft kiss on her earlobe too.
She slowly turned back to him and looked at him taken aback "You want to try again?" she asked on a hushed, shocked voice.
"Of course." he replied turning his palm up "You do want a child too, don't you, ma chérie."
She glared at him for a moment longer, then gathered all the strength she could and raised herself into a sitting position - all her insides burned with pain.
"I DO want a child! But I cannot go through another miscarriage again, Edmond! How many times do you want to risk my life?! And how many children would you want to sacrifice?" she asked with a sudden overwhelming desperation.
"What are you talking about? Epsilon Four has excellent doctors! It's just a week of rest, that's all that it takes, the doctor already told me, so please... don't exaggerate, chérie!" he spread his arms with almost a nonchalant expression.
"We have doctors, Edmond, but they have only the means of the 21st century!" she tried once again to convince him - knowing full well how futile it would be.
He jumped up from beside her impatiently and started to pace the room. After a moment, he swirled around and looked daggers at her "What more do you need?! Other women get pregnant and give birth without any problem on the colony. It's only YOU who's so picky that she cannot do without the means of alien technology." his voice was demanding and hard.
"How can you be so blinded by bigotry?! How?!" she shouted losing all her self-control "Why don't you see that 24th century technology could tell us what the problem is, and we might fix it too!"
"There's no guarantee for that, ma chérie! And even if there was, we're not risking my career by using illegal means to find out what's wrong with YOU! Or do you want to go to prison?"
"How do you know it's me? Ha? How can you be so sure?" she demanded desperately "What if something is wrong with you as well? Maybe something in your genes renders the baby unfit for life, and that's the reason I'm losing them. Or the combination of the genes of the two of us. Who knows until we checked? But you don't even want to use the available examinations to at least attempt to find out more before putting me through another ordeal!"
"Oh, of course! Once again, we're at this!" he took the few steps separating them and put a hard finger onto her forehead "Try to remember this, ma chérie, cause I won't tell you any more times! It's YOUR damn body that's rejecting pregnancy, which is the most natural of all things! It's YOUR damn body that's incapable to bear a child! The problem is with YOU! Not with me! Have you never thought about it, that it's simply because you'd be an incapable mother? Hmm, chérie? Maybe no child wants to be born of you!" he spat and swirled to go for the door.
"Edmond..." she buried her face in her palms.
He turned back and looked at her with a patronizing expression "Yes, just keep on crying. But your tears cannot wash away the truth! You're unfit to be a mother. You're unfit even to be alive."
"...Edmond..." Emma breathed as her head turned to the side.
"Don't speak, my darling, just lie still." she heard a familiar female voice, but she just couldn't recognize it.
Where was she? What's happened? She surely couldn't be in that hospital... Yes, that was only a dream... But... The pain! Oh, my god, the pain remained and reached almost unbearable levels! What was this?!
A low wailing sound emerged from her throat, and as she managed to open her eyes, she saw that Juliana hurriedly put a hypo to her neck - and the pain became tolerable.
"What... what's happened..." she asked, and had no strength for more than a whisper.
"The chamber crumpled on top of us... a part of it on you. You've lost some blood, but don't worry, we'll get you out." Juliana told her trying to sound as reassuring as she could.
Emma looked into her eyes for a long moment. She studied the elder woman's features. She was exquisite, even in these clothes and dishevelled as she was. And she was so caring. Almost like Beverly. Bev... I hope everything is okay with you, girl... she thought, then another thought seemed to struck her. How bad was it? Was it just a scratch, or something more serious? Was she still bleeding? She couldn't feel anything but the pain in her pelvic area. Should she simply think of a nice recreational facility where she could recover after this? Or of a nice hill where her grave would look good? Should she think about saying her goodbyes?
Juliana went on to scan her life signs, and Emma watched her, then finally decided to take back her control "Show it to me..." she asked on a lot lower voice than she intended.
"I don't think..."
"Juliana... please... Just show it to me..." she managed to get out with some difficulty. It hurt to talk.
Juliana conceded and turned the instrument to her. After some focusing and blinking, Emma managed to get a few values off the screen. "Shit..." was all she had to say afterwards closing her eyes.
"We'll get you to the Enterprise, and you'll be fine." Juliana told her taking her hand gently in hers.
"No..." Emma whispered and tried to focus on the elder woman's features again. She pulled Juliana to herself, who leaned closer to hear her better. Emma swallowed and tried to explain "You see the... small red number on the tricorder. It says 600. That's the amount of blood I lost so far..." she took a deep breath and fought off a wave of pain, steadily growing worse "I'm... I'm allergic to synthetic blood. All kinds... Very rare... Don't want to explain..." her body tensed up, and she tried to catch her breath. It was a miracle she was not in shock - probably the hypo Juliana'd been injecting into her was the only thing that kept her from it.
Juliana tightened her grip on her hand "It's okay, you don't have to explain anything. Just lie still. I'm sure we can find a donor for you on the ship." she told her with real belief on her features and swept the wet hair out of her forehead. Emma took another deep breath to try to go on, but Juliana could see that she barely had any strength left "Sshh, hush, my dear. Just breath. And if it starts to hurt again, we still have one more dose of painkiller."
Emma didn't have the strength to tell her that it AGAIN hurt like HELL, let alone the fact that she was wrong about finding a donor. Her blood was rare. Really rare. And though, she did have two units of blood on the ship (donated by herself earlier), she had already bled that much and based on her injuries seen on the tricorder read-out, she'd have to be operated on. That two units of blood would not be enough at all.
Data and Earl wordlessly rolled stones after stones out of the way, getting closer and closer to the elevator door. Still minutes crawled on like years, and Data became more and more frustrated by the fact that with his right arm paralysed, he was half as effective as he could have been with two hands. And poor Earl was barely of any help compared to the strength of an android. He suddenly glanced toward his mother.
"Don't worry about her just now. We don't have time for that. Just move." he heard Earl's voice. Data had to admit he was right. He rolled an enormous stone away and finally glimpsed the top of the elevator door.
"Here it is!" he declared.
Earl just nodded in acknowledgement. He had to admit, he barely held on by a thin thread. He was not used to such physical ordeal: the skin of his hands were torn and bleeding, his joints were cracking, and his muscles barely could keep him on his feet. Still he was rolling and lifting stones without a pause now for over an hour. He was sure that he wouldn't stand a chance to help Data, if it wasn't for the shot of Complex-C that Emma had given him the previous night. Thank god for her stubborn hard head!
Suddenly, they heard a chirping sound, and they stopped in their movements startled. Then it down on them: the tricorder!
"Emma!" they uttered in union staring at each other scared for a brief moment before jumping up.
They rushed to the women and crouching next to them saw that Emma lay there trembling with her eyes closed.
Data took the tricorder from his mother "She's gone into shock. She's lost too much blood! It's over 800!"
Emma hearing his voice opened her eyes. There he was leaning above her, taking her hand in his and locking his beautiful gaze with hers. He seemed so worried... I'm sorry, Deadpan, I'm so sorry! she wanted to say, but just couldn't utter the words. It just hurt so much she could only pant. She stared into his eyes and did everything not to lose focus on his face. She imagined that she tightened her grip on his hand. I love you! I love you so much! she wanted to say and suddenly felt panic spreading around in her hurting body "I was so stupid..." she uttered on a barely audible groan, fighting for ever breath... I was stupid that I wasn't able to say it to your face! she finished in her head. I don't wanna go! Please, stay with me my sweet... she moaned again not being able to fight of the wave of pain that seemed to try to flood her whole being.
"Em, listen, you have to hold on, alright?" Data told her staring into her eyes with a determination only he could have displayed "I'll get you out, and you'll be fine! Do you understand! You'll be fine! Just hold on a little longer!"
Suddenly, tears formed in her eyes and seeing them, Data felt his own eyes filling. She was shaking from the effort as she opened her mouth to get the words out "...don't wanna... die..." she mumbled then her breathing became laboured "...wanna be with you..."
Data felt his tears rolling down his cheeks "Baby... You won't! I won't let you!" he swore.
But the next moment, her eyes closed no matter how hard she fought against the darkness that was slowly but steadily engulfing her. She couldn't see him anymore, his voice grew faint, and finally no more thought remained... In her mind's eye she saw herself kissing her love for the last time to say goodbye and then there was nothing...
... and the tricorder suddenly started chirping madly. "Em! Emma! Open your eyes, you hear me?!" Data ordered cupping her cheek firmly in his palm. "Do you hear me?! Open your eyes!... Please!" he was begging now, but his ultra-sensitive fingertips that could feel the familiar rhythm of her heart beat every time he'd touched her skin... they could not feel that rhythm anymore. "Em..." he breathed and stared at her unmoving form with dread in his eyes, then heard his mother stifle a sob. He turned to her and saw Earl pulling her close - he was crying too.
"No!" he uttered in a sob. Because it couldn't be! It just couldn't happen! He turned back to Emma's lifeless body and gathering all his remaining strength he steeled himself "No. It's not over." he declared on a hard voice, and leaning above her chest, he started the most basic first-aid technique: pressed her chest with his palm forcefully.
Juliana looked at him with some unreal hope in her eyes "Do you think it could work with the amount of blood..." but he cut her off.
"Mr. Mils. Please take it over from me! Doing this one handed is not as effective as it should be." Earl nodded and obeyed without a question as Data added "Check her pulse every thirty seconds, and if it's back, you can stop!" he then turned to his mother "Mother." he looked deep into her eyes, and she could see that there was an unbreakable determination - the same determination Noonian looked at her with, when they had to escape an invincible enemy on Omicron Theta. It was shocking how similar they were.
Ever since they started to move the rocks with Earl, Data had been considering the option he wanted to avoid most throughout the time he'd been knowing his mother. But here and now... he had no choice any more "Please, mother. You have to help me moving these rocks."
Juliana stared at him with shock and confusion on her features "What?" she shook her head "Data, I'd gladly do anything, but..."
"Mother!" he took her hand and gave it firm squeeze "I don't have time to explain or to tell you this gently or to give you time to understand or to help you adjust to the thought. I just ask you to believe me when I say... you and I have the same capabilities. You have the same strength, the same mental abilities that I have. You and I... are no mother and son. We are sister and brother."
"No!" Juliana took her hand away "What are you saying? What are you saying?! This is impossible! I'm an old lady above 70! I'm your mother! I helped your father create you. I..."
"You're a Soong-type android, just as I am. Only better than I am!"
"No! No, this is impossible! I don't want to hear any more of this!" she started to get up to get as far away from him as she could. But he reached out to her before she could escape.
"Stop it!" he took her by the arm firmly, and pulling her back down next to him, he stared into her eyes so full of dread and disbelief. "Mother... I'm begging you..." he whispered "...begging you..."
And as they locked gazes, she could see in his eyes that whatever he'd just said was the naked truth. And she also could see the desperation it took him to tell her that truth, to stop protecting her from it... Her eyes filled with tears "Oh, Noonian..." she moaned hanging her head as utter desperation overwhelmed her. She sobbed for a long moment before Data held her close.
After a few moments of agony, laying her head on her son's shoulder, she glanced over to where Emma was still lying. Earl was still pressing her chest, doing as Data had told him. He only had eyes for the younger woman. She then pulled away and looked at Data with a tormented expression. Then finally, reluctantly nodded.
They got up and rushed back to the elevator door. Data started to roll the stones, but Juliana stood there still unsure.
"Data..." she said on a small voice. He looked at her questioningly, and she went on "I do want to help you. Believe me, I do. But... I've never lifted hundred-kilogram rocks ever in my life. How..."
"Your human boundaries are rooted in your belief that you're a human. You do have the ability to lift these stones. However, why would an elderly human lady even venture to try something like that? Nonetheless, you ARE able to do it. Mother."
She nodded and reluctantly wrapped her arms around a huge stone. She still did not believe it when she actually lifted it. It did seem heavy! Very heavy! So Noonian managed to somehow bridge the gap between digital data and human sensations. He somehow managed to translate weight into the sensation that something was heavy. He finally achieved what they were working for. Because she could feel and sense! Better than Lore and certainly better than Data - just the way a human does. Or so she remembered... Just stop thinking and move! she shouted to herself.
It didn't take five minutes for them to clear up the entrance. Data tried the console, but there was no noise of the elevator coming down, so they opened the maintenance box underneath and started to examine its contents. The tension was palpable as every passing second took away another fragment of chance from saving Emma's life.
"Some of the connections got severed here and there." Juliana pointed to the two top corners of the box, where the optical wires seemed to be torn. No wonder it had some wear and tear, it was under hundreds of kilograms of rocks. Data examined it more closely and tried to fix the connections.
"I need a phaser. I dropped mine, ask Mr. Mils. Please." he told her on a commanding voice and Juliana rushed to Earl who was still pushing Emma's chest rhythmically.
"It's in my jacket pocket, there!" Earl answered to her inquiry out of breath and nodded toward his jacket on the other side of Emma. Juliana fetched it out and tried her best to use her newly found android speed to get back to her son. Son? ...oh, god...
"Here." she held it up to Data, who wordlessly took it and started to tinker around in the box.
"How's she?" he asked after a moment's time.
"The same." she replied on a silent voice.
And suddenly as another wave of anguish flooded his neural net, his self-restrain burst "I can't believe I cannot fix this!" he snapped and suddenly tore up the service door on his lifeless, skinless arm.
"What are you doing?!" Juliana asked shocked seeing the stunt. She was not used to watching her son dissecting himself - and the thought that if it was required of her, she could have done the same... was frightening to say the least.
"Bridging the fused parts with one of my servos. I cannot make use of them right now anyway! Please, hold it here." he asked her, and as she obeyed, he soldered the servo into its new place with the phaser.
When they were finished, he pushed a few buttons, and they both exhaled a long breath hearing the elevator descending.
"You made it!" Juliana smiled.
Data glanced at her, and the corner of his lips twitched upwards, the expression was meant to be a tiny smile - and failed. He then rushed over to where Emma and Earl were with Juliana in toe.
Earl was about to lift Emma, but seeing how exhausted he looked, Juliana offered "Let me carry her!"
Earl couldn't even utter a word, just nodded. Sweat was sheeting down his face, and he could barely catch his breath. He wiped his forehead as they went to the elevator, but he could barely stand on his two feet. Data pushed the button on the console, and the door closed with a slam. Then he pushed another button meaning to bring them up, but the elevator remained motionless.
"No..." he breathed looking at the others with dread in his eyes. This was just impossible! He pushed the buttons again, but again, nothing happened.
"What's going on?" Earl snapped now in panic.
"I do not know!" Data replied "It's as if the elevator cab had no power supplied to it."
Juliana exhaled a long breath "Ah, of course... a safety measure. It can only be bypassed from upstairs. The whole shaft is cut off from the system. It powers up only if the buttons are pressed upstairs. The lift is designed to go only upwards during seismic activity, and then all power supplies are cut off. You bypassed it with your servo in the console box, that's why you could call it down. But that doesn't mean that we have power in here."
"So bypass it again!" Earl commanded impatiently.
"It cannot be done from the shaft or the cab. Only upstairs. We have to figure something else out!" Juliana answered, she looked at the lifeless body in her arms "And make it quick."
Data glanced around suddenly completely out of ideas which only fuelled his frustration. He then looked up at the ceiling and saw the maintenance door there. Without further ado, he took out his phaser and cut the lock in half. He jumped up, and pushed the lid outside, opening the small square shaped door.
"Mother, quick! Help me up there!"
"What are you planning?"
"We'll have to pull ourselves out of here." Data told her simply. They looked at him gaping to which he impatiently snapped at them "Hurry already!"
Juliana shook her head "Data. Think about it for a moment! The shaft of such an elevator is divided into cells of different pressure zones. If the shaft has no power, the zones are not functioning either. We'll all get decompression sickness by the time we get out from ten thousand meters deep!" she then suddenly realized what she had uttered and added on a lower voice "I mean... maybe the two of us wouldn't. But Earl and Emma surely would."
It was Earl who spoke up finally "Decompression sickness can be treated, Juliana. ...Death cannot... and we're running out of time." his gaze dropped to Emma's ash-gray face, and he shut his eyes.
Juliana conceded and gently placed the younger woman's body into Earl's arms.
"Go on with the chest compression." Data commanded, and Earl put Emma's body on the floor, and started all over again.
Juliana then helped Data up on top of the elevator cab, he cut the duranium wire on top of it with his phaser, and then gave the loose end a hard pull. The cab made a small jerk. The next moment, he found Juliana right next to him, and when they tried together, the cab ascended a little.
"That's it." he nodded. She held onto the wire to hold the cab in place, while he jumped back into it, then she followed him when he held onto the loose end again from inside.
This time she took command "I'll pull, and you keep hold of it, when I have to reach over and find another grip on it again."
Data didn't argue, and after a minute of rhythmical pulling and holding, they quickened the pace. Finally, Earl gaped as their motions became so fast that it was impossible to follow with the human eye.
They were out in ten minutes.
The upper chambers were empty, and it could be seen that the quake took its toll in these areas as well. Juliana carried Emma, and Earl helped her climb over the various obstacles, while Data kept calling the Enterprise.
"This is Lieutenant Commander Data from Epsilon Four requesting an emergency beam-out. Do you copy, Enterprise?"
And finally, after the third try, following some static noise, they heard the voice of Commander Riker "This is the Enterp..., Data, we read..."
"Commander! Can you lock on to us? We are a group of four underneath the Ridgeback Mountains to the north of Ethel city. We are about 1500 meters deep."
"Please, repeat, ...mander, the trans... breaking up!" Riker's voice was intermixed with static noise, and Data tried again.
"We're requesting an emergency beam-out directly to Sickbay! Commander! Do you read me?!" his voice was becoming more and more stressed with the frustration of not getting through.
There was some more static, and a full minute passed by before they heard Riker's voice again. This time, loud and clear: "We've adjusted our frequencies, Data. Is the transmission better now?"
"Yes! A lot better! Commander, we're requesting..." Data started to repeat his emergency call again, but Riker cut him off.
"We're attempting to get a lock on you as we speak. Please confirm, you are a group of four, and you need to be beamed directly to Sickbay."
"That is correct!" Data confirmed. Though Riker was silent for a few moments, they could hear from the background noise, that the Bridge crew was working hard to get them out of there. Then Riker spoke up again.
"We are having difficulties locking on to you. Apparently, the stones and minerals of the mountains you're underneath are blocking the scanners. Can you get closer to the surface, Data?"
"Negative, Commander! We're moving as we speak, but our progress is slow." he glanced over to his mother carrying Emma and went on on a shaken voice "The injuries of one of us are life-threatening, and she needs medical attention NOW!"
"Understood. Stand-by, we're doing all we can." Riker replied - he had a good hunch who was hurt, if Data's voice was as upset as it sounded.
It took the Enterprise Bridge crew three more minutes to figure out how to compensate for the reflecting effect of the minerals, and when Riker announced "Stand by for beam-out." the profound relief and joy the small team felt was indescribable. It was almost unbelievable, when in a moment's time, the Enterprise beamed them safely out of the mines, right into Sickbay.
Doctor Powell was on call, and though he always felt a certain resentment towards Emma, he was shocked to see her on a biobed virtually dead.
"She broke her hip-bone and lost a lot of blood." Data started to explain, but the doctor cut him off seeing the first read-outs of the bed's medscans.
"A lot of blood! Tell me about it! She virtually bled out into her abdomen! What took you so long to get her here?! Broken ribs, broken tibia... burst spleen and on top of all that ultra-high Nitrogen levels in what remained of her blood! Where the hell have you been to contract decompression sickness?! ...Doesn't matter now! Get the hell out of here and let us work! Geny, 13 miligrams of Lectrazine, oh hell..." he growled seeing the new readings of the biobed "She's allergic to synthetic blood..."
"Which type?" one of the assistants asked.
"Basically... she hit the jackpot, to all of them." Powell replied with an edge of frustration in his voice "Unbelievable..."
Nurse Ogawa quickly checked the computer "We have two units of her own blood reserved for emergency cases, Doctor."
"Will do for now. Give me those two units, and check the files of the crew for possible donors. Check the other members of the away-team for decompression sickness! And get Doctor Crusher aboard! Now!"
Data felt himself gently pulled out of Sickbay, but through the windows of the ever closing-opening entrance, he could still see the struggle for Emma's life that the doctors and nurses fought mightily amidst what seemed to be an organized chaos. He could see the readings too. Emma was on full support, she was not breathing on her own, her heart was not beating on its own. Was he to watch another lover die like this? Was he to watch it this time being fully capable of feeling the emotions it awoke? How selfish these thoughts seemed to be! But he had no strength to reprimand himself for it. He felt yet again paralysed. He could only stare ahead till the people inside pushed Emma's bed into the operating room, and she disappeared from his view.
He then collapsed with his back against the wall and finally, let his golden tears roll down his dirty cheeks.
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