Sam and Joe stood with the group of children watching as Tom tried to help B'Elanna find the problem that had cut short the children's day at the beach.  Kathryn had opted to stay in her quarters with the twins while Chakotay had insisted on taking the bridge for the duration of the outing. The group had been thoroughly enjoying the beach and quiet surf when for no reason, the wind and the surf started getting rough, far too rough for four and six year olds.

B'Elanna's initial reaction had been to blame Tom for being careless with the program, but Tom insisted that it wasn't his fault.  They terminated the program and started checking the equipment.  They finally found a relay that had overloaded but hadn't burned out.  Tom went to get a replacement while B'Elanna finished checking the rest of the equipment.

B'Elanna was nearly finished when Tom returned, so Tom opened the panel to replace the relay.  He was bent over when B'Elanna opened the pull out panel above his head.  She warned him.  "Be careful; don't hit your head."

Tom heard her but didn't understand and stood up to ask.  "What…?"

That was as much as he got out before his head thumped against the open panel and he slumped to the ground.  Sam immediately rushed forward to check Tom.

"He's comatose, B'Elanna.  Let's get him to sickbay."  Sam didn't wait for a reply, but slapped her comm badge.  "Wildman to the bridge.  We need a site to site from holodeck one to sickbay.  Lock onto Tom and B'Elanna and transport immediately."

Chakotay's voice responded.  "Acknowledged.  Prepare for transport."  After Tom and B'Elanna had disappeared in a twinkle of light, he continued.  "What happened, Sam?"

"Nothing much.  We had a problem with the holodeck and Tom and B'Elanna were fixing it.   He stood up and hit his head on a panel and knocked himself out.  He's probably fine but he needs to be checked by the doctor."

"Anything further I can do to help?"

"Well, Joe just finished checking the holodeck – Tom had already completed the repair when he hit his head.  I hate to cut the day short for the kids but Joe and I really could use someone else.  It might also be a good idea to find someone to take RT and Anna to sickbay in a few minutes so they know their dad is ok."

"Harry just volunteered to come join you on the holodeck.  He'll be there in about five minutes.  I'll see if T'Pel can come for RT and Anna in about half an hour.  That should give the doctor a chance to check Tom over and B'Elanna time to calm down.  Bridge out."

The look Harry sent Chakotay's way on the bridge would have landed an officer in the brig on any other ship.  Chakotay just laughed and commented.  "Feel free to ask Kathryn to join you."

When Harry arrived on the holodeck, the group on the holodeck was back in the gentle surf frolicking except for two very worried and scared siblings.   Although RT and Anna knew their parents were occasionally hurt on duty and had been to sickbay, they had never seen either of them actually hurt before. They were a bit subdued and stayed close to Sam until T'Pel came for them.

As the trio entered sickbay, they could hear B'Elanna talking loudly and Tom defending himself.  RT and Anna both felt better.  Their dad was talking and their mom was telling him what to do  – this they understood.  B'Elanna quieted down as soon as she saw her children.

"Come on over.  Your dad is fine."

"Hi, guys.  Were you worried about me?"  Tom smiled and tried to sit up but had to lie back down.  As the children started looking worried again, he continued.  "I'm fine.  I just have a headache.  The doc here will give me something to make it go away and then I can come back to the beach with you.  Is that ok?"

RT and Anna walked over next to Tom and reached up to hold his hands.  Tom reached his arm down and gave the pair a passable hug.  Reassured the two moved back as B'Elanna started talking again.

"You don't need to go back to the beach.  You had me really worried.  You can stay in here with the doct… "  The discussion heated up again between Tom and B'Elanna, this time with the doctor joining in.

T'Pel watched and listened from a distance.  The children seemed to have accepted Tom's injury and aware that he was in no danger.  RT whispered something to Anna and moved to the end of the biobed near Tom's feet.  T'Pel was just about ready to suggest they return to the holodeck when RT lifted the light sheet covering Tom.

"Hey!"  Tom's comment cut the doctor off in midsentence.

"What?"  B'Elanna was confused.

"What are you two doing?"  Tom directed that question to RT and Anna.

"We just wanted to see for ourselves, Dad."

"See what?"

"Your toes."

"You've seen my toes lots of times.  Why did you want to see them again now?"

"On the holodeck, Lieutenant Wildman said you had comet toes.  We wanted to see them."  RT spoke for the pair.

"Comet toes?"  Tom was perplexed but B'Elanna started laughing.  She stepped closer to her children and hugged them.

"Don't worry.  Your dad did have comet toes but the doctor has already fixed them.  Why don't you go with T'Pel back to the beach now?"

As they left, the two children could hear their mother talking to their father and the doctor again, this time much more quietly.  As the door slid closed behind them, they heard the doctor exclaim in frustration.

"Comet toes?  What are comet toes?"