Extreme Solitude

Disclaimer: This is a piece of fan fiction. It is a continuation of my storyline from Exigent Succor. No copyright infringement is intended

After leaving Vulcan, Christine returned to Starfleet Medical to finish her training. If she couldn't have Spock, then she would at least have her career to keep her sane. So with nothing else to do she had thrown herself completely back in her studies. She found it difficult to find the previous connection with the others, no one had known why she left. They had just continued on with their training, but to her everything was different. They were unable to relate to the changes that had occurred so fast for her. She had bonded to him during his pon farr and then had been abandoned on Vulcan to wither away from neglect. He had left the planet without even telling her. Even before he left, he had abandoned her. Shortly after arriving at Vulcan he had cut off the bond between them. Without his presence through the bond, she had felt so alone. How could she have grown so attached in such a short time. So she had made the only choice she could, she had returned home and rejoined her classmates.

She had tried to contact Spock to inform him of her safe return to Earth. He didn't answer then or later when she left the message with his father's aide. The loneliness was starting to take its toll on her health. She couldn't complain, it was what she deserved. She knew it was her own fault for interfering with his plan to meditate himself through his second pon farr. This time he had been unbonded and had been unable to contact Doctor Leonard McCoy. Having been a witness to his first one, Spock declared it logical for her to replace his friend and fully trained doctor. Now they were stuck with a bond that he didn't even want. There was no time for more self-recriminations, they didn't help anything, she was here and the loneliness just kept continuing. Being around her friends didn't help, all she could do is to concentrate on earning her MD.

Christine was kept very busy, trying to makeup for the time spent on emergency leave, all the while maintaining the requirements for completing the course load at an accelerated pace. She started to feel run down and tired, she felt like she had caught something from one of her patients. She continued to work ignoring her discomfort, until the day that that she had to leave a patient's room during a procedure. On her exit, she was aware that her reaction was not missed by the attending physician. She was supposed to be a battle seasoned medical professional, not having to leave a room due to a simple procedure. So it came as no surprise that she was called in by the attending, Doctor Katie Jenkins.

"Christine, I know that all the workings to get your emergency leave arranged were very highly placed and confidential, but I know something happened while you were gone. I don't want to say that your work has suffered, because you're still the best of the best. But there is something and your reaction today is just one more indicator. I would like to help you if I could. You could speak to me and it won't go any further than this room," Katie stated.

Christine stood mute visibly shaken, until her hastily eaten lunch fought to make itself known. As she struggled to regain her composure, Katie tried to guide her to the nearest chair.

"Could you be pregnant? I felt the way you look with both of mine," Katie asked calmly.

Christine collapsed at the quietly asked question, while she had not seen it, it was so obvious now that someone acknowledged it first. "I can't be pregnant." Unsure if she had asked a question or made a statement.

"So, it's not possible," Katie clarified.

"It's possible, but how?" Christine demanded the shock and realization evident.

"We'll get you examined. Get the process officially started. I had my first one while completing my training, it'll be rough but it doesn't have to delay your completion of the program," Katie stated calmly. "Should I call someone for you?"

"There's no one. This must be handled strictly confidentially," Christine declared, already accepting the outcome and beginning to plan now that the obvious had been pointed out to her. She sat quietly while Katie made all the arrangements for the exam.

TBC