Unspoken

My fingers touched the reality of everything.  Beams.  Panels.  Interfaces.  Air.  Plating.  It was all frozen in place.  It was a sudden, harsh reality.

I looked at the wall panel once more and turned away.  I opened a channel, “B’Elanna.”

“On your mark, Captain,” she came back.  Despite herself, her voice told of the sorrow we all felt.

Standing now before the bay’s station panel, my fingers shakily tread to tap in a short sequence.  I hesitated on the final command to wipe impending tear.  Before I spoke again, I made sure I wouldn't shatter.  “Ok, Lanna,” I stumbled.

As the lights dimmed behind me, I closed my eyes.

Through my uniform, the smooth panel of the station chilled my skin as I sank to the floor.

There was no preventing the accident.  If there was one person who could have done anything, it was Seven.  Whoever said the only person you can ever truly count on is yourself lied.

Seven was a week dead and there was no turning back.  That’s what Chakotay said.  It’s what the Doctor told me.  They all said it to me.  My heart told me something else and if its true that the dead can hear your thoughts, I sincerely hoped she was listening.