"Don't ask what I had to do to get this."
She hoped he'd appreciate her light tone.
Yet Tuvok looked up with a sense of unease; the woman in front of him was only vaguely familiar.
"I'm Kathryn Janeway."
He closed his eyes to better concentrate, quickly becoming overwhelmed with memories and sensations. Tuvok shook his head back and forth, grimacing as he tried to make sense of all he was experiencing.
Janeway waited patiently, as was her routine. She'd been coming to the facility to visit at least once a week since it became clear that Tuvok's condition was too far advanced for treatment. Her guilt at her inability to get Voyager home in time was palpable. She felt it as if it were a living, breathing shadow that occupied the same, small space as she did, and it ate away at her, constantly reminding her of her failure to the closest friend she'd ever had.
Tuvok's expression cleared, and he looked back at her after a small nod.
"Are you well, Captain?"
Janeway smiled sadly, and nodded. Today was a good day, then. At least, he'd remembered her, if not her new rank.
"I've come to have some tea, and I brought you a present." Janeway withdrew a large sheaf of plain paper from her satchel. "I hope this is the colour and grade you need?"
Tuvok furrowed his brow, then seemed to recover quickly.
"For my work."
Janeway nodded, relieved that he remembered. Tuvok had never said what his ‘work' entailed, only that he felt compelled to complete it.
The special paper had only cost latinum, and was nothing compared to the price Tuvok had paid with his mind. She would do anything to take it back, to save him.
She WILL do anything to save him.