Christine heaved a sigh as she washed up. It had been a very bad day for the Enterprise. So many things had gone wrong and a lot of people had died.
She took one final look around before leaving as she did every day. One thing caught her eye and she couldn't ignore it.
"Scotty. Come on."
He turned toward her, but didn't really see her, and took a wild swing at her. She'd been expecting it and easily sidestepped it, but she took a firm grip around his arm just in case he tried it again.
"You're a mess right now, Scotty, and I'm not going to let you just sit here all night. She's gone and I'm sorry, but you can't stay here like this. I know for a fact she wouldn't want that." It took a great deal of effort for her to say the words; she'd never quite accepted that Scotty had moved on.
With a bit more coaxing, and no more violence, she got Scotty to stand up and she half pulled him along behind her back to her quarters. She wasn't going to leave him alone in this mood, but she couldn't face going back to the rooms he'd shared with her.
Inside her quarters, she sat him down on the couch and turned her attention to cleaning him up. He was covered in blood, some his own, some hers, some belonging to others from his department. He had only minor injuries, cuts and a few small burns, nothing she couldn't take care of here.
They sat silently, Christine's gaze flicking between her task and his face, Scotty's gaze fixed on nothing.
"Why are y' doin' this?" he finally demanded, his eyes showing a mix of pain and confusion and maybe a tiny bit of anger.
"It's my job," she said evenly. She wanted to say more, explain everything, but this was not the time. "I know you won't give this much attention to yourself."
She finished treating his wounds and stood up. "You can go somewhere else if you want, but I'm going to make sure someone's with you."
"Like y' even care," he returned bitterly.
She bit back the urge to argue. He was hurting right now, probably all the more so because of her presence. "I never stopped caring."
He snorted, but made no move to leave. He just didn't have the energy.
Christine left the room for a moment. She came back in clean clothes, carrying a blanket. She tucked it around his shoulders and then sat down at the other end of the couch, dimming the lights, and curling up with a throw pillow.
They remained sitting silently the rest of the night.