Title: "Breathless" Part Five

Author: Anna Rousseau <annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk>

Series: IntERactive Fiction Part Five

Genre: ER/VOY Crossover

Rating: PG 13

Summary: In the holodeck, Torres is attacked by Sobricki after she tries to save Carter and Lucy, the only problem being she disengaged the safety protocols.

Disclaimer: Hmm. Please don't sue me, I am too young to die...

Thank you for the large response to this story and for all the ideas you put forth for option c), I hope I can mix and match most of the elements to make this chapter interesting.

RESULTS

a) Tom and Harry drop in from their game of hoverball to find ER crew

working on Torres.

<7 VOTES>

b) Janeway turns up to see why Torres over-ruled the safety protocols, and

she is whisked to the sickbay for some 23rd century trauma work.

<1 VOTE>

c) What do you think should happen next?

<1 VOTE> Carter goes to look for Lucy and finds Torres (JaclynRae)

<1 VOTE> Torres is worked on in the ER and then transferred to the sickbay (EHursh)

<4 VOTES> Carter gets stabbed when he looks for Lucy, Lucy returns from pysch and the ER team have to work on them (Heather; JR; Kristen; Pam Smith)

<2 VOTES> Tom drops in to find Torres, then there is a short on the holodeck meaning no one can get in or out and he is forced to help the team (HeavenSent4973; Darragh Hickey)

<1 VOTE> Dave stops Carter as he goes to look for Lucy and asks him about Torres, and they both go to curtain three (Cimerene)

"BREATHLESS" PART FIVE

======================

"Hey, Dave," Randi Fronzac pulled on his scrub top, luring him towards the area that had been claimed as the dance floor. "What'cha say, you wanna dance?"

Dave Malucci was gazing down the hall after the woman who had dashed off in such a hurry. That had been five minutes ago, but still he was debating if security needed to be informed of her suspicious actions. He shook his head to clear the question from his brain and instantly turned to the vivacious desk clerk with a charismatic smile.

Randi was leaning provocatively close to him, he felt her breath on his neck and the smell of her hair.

"With you, anytime," Dave replied following her lead. He smiled, she was definately coming on to him. Even though they annoyed the hell out of each other, Dave couldn't deny the sharp electric current that ran up his spine when she placed her hands on his shoulders and his arms went impulsively to her well defined waist. Randi tossed back her mahogony layered hair and her deep brown eyes made contact with his whilst they danced. She moved closer to him and he began to reciprocate Randi's advances.

But there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Dave broke thier gaze and grabbed Carter as he walked past them, engaged in some friendly banter with the nurses.

"Carter can we talk?" Dave disentangled himself, before apologising to Randi who waited patiently for him to return.

"Yeah, as long as we walk, I've gotta check on Lucy," Carter replied, rolling up one of his sleeves.

Malucci matched Carter's pace as they headed down the hall, "Do you have a new med-student? Torres...mm, Emma Torres?"

Carter laughed as they nearly bumped into a nurse and a radiology technician who burst out of the drug supply room, "Isn't Randi enough for ya, Dave?"

Dave raised his eyebrows with a nervous laugh, "So you don't know her?"

"Never heard her name," Carter opened the door to Curtain Three and he and Dave stepped into the deserted exam room. "Oh, I thought Lily said they were still waiting for a consult?"

"Hmm," Dave said, noticing something out of the corner of his eye. He rushed around to the other side of the center gurney, a masculine scream emmitted from his mouth as he dropped to the floor.

Torres' body lay on the ground, her olive coloured skin was broken in several places where blood now protruded. He eyes were fixed open, but yet she wasn't concious, her fearful stare unnerved the young doctor.

Dave found only a faint pulse and weak breath sounds, "Carter, geez...Carter I need some help." He heard only a moan and a gasp by way of reply.

Carter was stood by the door, a confused look covered his face as he pulled his hand from behind his back. Malucci saw that all his fingers were covered with blood.

The attacker stood behind Carter, his knife delved into his flesh once more, twisting and torturing the doctor, who beagn to fall limply to the ground. Dave only caught him just before he hit the floor. He felt tears creeping to his eyes, overwhelmed by the cold-blooded violence of the event he had just witnessed. He heard the sound of footsteps as the door opened and closed.

Carter's eyes stared up at Dave, his voice hoarse and strained as he whispered, "It was my fault, I...didn't listen...Lucy..." he trailed off as Dave panicked about what to do.

"It's no-one's fault, man, come on," Dave pleaded, feeling his jeans become stained with Carter's blood. He winced as he prized his eyes open againd, struggling for breath.

Fear crept into his eyes, "Is Lucy..."

"She's fine," Dave confirmed, "But he got the new med-student."

Carter sighed as his eyes rolled back beneath his eyelids, "My fault..."

"Carter!?"

*********

"You cheat, Thomas Eugene Paris!" Harry Kim protested, wiping his neck with a Starfleet towel. Mentally denying that Tom had beaten him so easily at Hoverball.

"Face the facts, Harry," Tom laughed, "I am just too good."

"Too good a cheater, you mean," Harry replied, as Tom walked up to the console outside Holodeck 3, "What are you doing, Tom. Stalking B'Elanna?"

Tom analysed the screen, "Computer, what programme is running?"

Harry rolled his eyes as the computer spurted out a holoprogramme code, "Authorisation Torres, safety protocols over-ruled authorisation Paris."

Tom opened the door, "What the hell?"

"What are you doing, Tom? Crashing B'Elanna's programme?" Harry joined him as they edged into the programme and rushed to the door of the hospital.

They were hit instantly by the smell of disinfectant and panic in the Emergency Room. Tom, who used this programme for training with The Doctor, expertly negotiated the corridors until he found the place where all the staff were running to.

"Oh my god!" A thick Croatian accent exclaimed, "Chuni, roll over that gurney! Abby, Chen, Lydia...we'll take Carter."

"I wanna take Carter."

"No, Dave," the man replied, "go get changed, we can handle this."

A gurney rolled past Harry and Tom as they stood outside the door, on it lay a young man in a dress shirt, tie, braces and slacks pushed by the Croatian, a dark haired woman, an older nurse who was on the verge of tears and a Chinese doctor who was calling the victims name repeatedly to assess his state of conciousness.

"No I can't stay on the line," a large black nurse yelled down a phone from another corridor.

Tom entered the room and reeled back at the sight he saw. B'Elanna was laid on a hospital gurney, a tube stuck out of her mouth whilst a nurse and a doctor carrying a crutch pushed her out of the room to the other trauma facility.

They followed her, confused by her critical condition, "Oh, god, there weren't any safety protocols." Harry gasped, tapping his com badge.

Suddenly they were moved by a seismic shock underneath their feet, "Paris to the Bridge."

The commline was dead, "Kim to sickbay."

They waited without any positive response, "I'm going for help, you stay with B'Elanna." Harry retraced his steps quickly whilst Tom headed after Torres.

The pace in the trauma room was different to any medical emergency he had experienced in the sickbay, which usuall involved just himself and the doctor and maybe a nurse. Here, in each room, there could be up to four doctors, two medical students and seven nurses at one time.

Paris gulped as he watched the characters work. He was glad that Dr. Weaver was working on Torres, she had the most knowledge of all the characters. But he knew that the situation wasn't good. B'Elanna had been attacked in exactly the same way Lucy had, and this was not a good sign. He looked on dazed as the medical professionals worked calmly, in a way different to how they had treated Carter and Lucy. The same urgency, but less passion.

"Tracheal lac, lacerations to L6, L5, mid abdomen, two in lower right quadrant," Weaver barked, "Lily, get Benton in for a trach, page Mark, Elizabeth, inform the OR, ultrasound, type and cross, 2 litres of saline IV, 4 units of O neg on the rapid infuser."

"What else?" A nurse asked.

"LFT, chest film, lytes, 5 NS fluid draw, and a central line."

A shrill tone filled the room a few minutes into their struggle for Torres' life, "V-Fib."

"Paddles, 120. Clear," Paris' heart sank as B'Elanna slipped further away.

"No pulse."

"Dammit, 130. Clear."

"Still no pulse."

Weaver sighed, "Thorocotomy tray, sternal saw."

Two other doctors entered the room, the balding male gowned up, "Whoa, a patient did this?"

The woman grabbed a scalpel, "I'll cut," she made an incision as the Croatian doctor entered the room and stood ready after being briefed by a nurse.

Kim pushed open the door as Weaver powered up the saw, Paris felt as though he might throw up. The young ensign also looked on in terror as everyone fell quiet and there was a horrifying sound of metal on bone, as Torres' sterile dressed chest was prized open.

"Pericardial sac is lacerated, needle, 6-0 nylon, quick!" The English surgeon barked, blood spurting up at her face.

Kim nudged Tom whose mouth was open in fright, "Tom, we can't get out, some conduits are frazzled...and, oh god. The com link won't work. What do we do?"

Paris' voice was hoarse, "You have a tricorder?"

"Always."

"Bring the Doc on-line here and replicate some medical supplies."

"140. Clear," Weaver ordered.

"Sinus tach," announced the Croatian doctor.

There was a flicker and the holographic doctor appeared next to a few items of 23rd century medical gadgetry, "Please state the...my god!"

The Doctor picked up a medical tricorder and scanned Torres, "What the hell are you doing?" Asked Weaver, whilst the surgeon attempted to suction the thoracic cavity.

"Lt. Paris, I need your assistance, the dermo regenerator if you please," the Doctor worked quickly and rolled his eyes, "I've used this programme at least once a day, and she never remembers my name!"

Paris quickly handed the Doctor the requested item and stroked B'Elanna's hair, "Come on, B'Elanna. Come on!"

Suddenly the floor lurched beneath their feet and there was a huge explosion before the holographic images started to degrade around them. The ensign noticed a shiny object falling from B'Elanns' pocket as a nurse bagged up her clothes, he sighed in relief- she had been working on the emitter. Quickly Harry lunged forwards and attached the Doctor's mobile emitter before the programme disappeared from around them, leaving them trapped inside the holodeck, with only a holodoctor and a medical tricorder.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

a) What do you think should happen next, in the last installment?

Feedback & voted via a.t.e.c.

Feel free to archive, just tell me where <annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk>