Pavel blinked, suddenly becoming aware that he was lying on his back, by himself, on a biobed in sickbay. He frowned; what was he doing here? He couldn't quite bring the memory to the surface, though if he strained to remember, he knew at least that he had been sick. The nineteen-year-old stared at the ceiling, and only after a very long time (or perhaps it was a very short time? Pavel wasn't sure) did it truly sink in that he was alone. He wasn't aware enough of what was going on to realize that the privacy screens were just drawn around his bed; indeed, if he had stopped to listen, he would have heard quiet murmuring and the beeping of heart monitors and the hustle and bustle of sickbay, separated from him by a curtain an eighth of an inch thick. As it was, he was too heavily medicated to think about this, or even to notice that the curtains were drawn.

In his time on the Enterprise he had been lucky enough to end up in sickbay only one other time, but he was quite sure that it was not standard practice for a patient to be left isolated like this. What if he was the only one left? What if they'd abandoned him? Terrified, Pavel tried to sit up, only to fall back with a gasp of pain. He was alone, and he had no idea what was wrong with him or where everyone else was. He started to hyperventilate, panic setting in.

He heard, in some corner of his awareness, a blaring alarm. The ship! Were they under attack? Had the Klingons come back?

He was vaguely aware of a blue-clad figure rushing to his side, and only then did he register (however fleetingly) that there had, in fact, been curtains around his bed. Oh.

"Calm down, Pavel," a gruff voice spoke, and Pavel felt the fingers on the inner side of his wrist. "Slow, deep breaths," the voice demanded firmly, and Pavel wasn't sure whether he tried to comply or not. Whether because he passed out or he was sedated, he was not sure; but awareness was quickly lost again, and everything went black.

The next time he regained consciousness, he was able to think clearly enough to remember everything that had happened the last time. Now that he was aware of the curtains around his bed, their presence did not scare him; although, he didn't miss the fact that a small opening had been left, presumably so somebody could see him if he started to panic again.

Pavel tried to take stock of his body, to see what was wrong, but every time he tried to move he found that it was too exhausting, and he settled for relaxing in the bed. The drowsiness that he now realized had plagued him the last time he'd woken up was gone, and he blinked up at the ceiling.

"….. came to check on my crew, Bones," Pavel became aware of the Captain's voice, shutting his eyes as if that would help him hear better.

"What a surprise," Dr. McCoy drawled, but there didn't seem to be any heat in his words. Pavel smiled at the familiar banter.

"Come on, Bones," Captain Kirk answered, half-irritated. "How's Lieutenant Loyola?"

Pavel imagined Dr. McCoy shaking his head.

"I knew you wanted to be here, so I've kept her sedated. She's in stable condition, physically, but I'm worried about what her mental state will be like when she finds out what happened to her."

"I agree," Kirk muttered, and Pavel barely heard him. "And the others?" Kirk asked, louder. "Brady, Rogers, Chekov?"

"I'm actually about to sign Brady's release papers now, Jim," Dr. McCoy said, seeming pleased that he could offer good news. Pavel, too, was relieved to hear this, though it slowly began to dawn on him that he was eavesdropping on what should have been a private conversation. "Although, if you'd like to sit and talk with him for a while, I've got to make rounds first."

"Hmm, I'll do that," Kirk agreed.

"Rogers is stable and conscious. His neuro exams have all come back normal. I'm still keeping him in here until further notice because with head injuries like that, anything can happen. But he should be fine, Captain."

"And Chekov?"

"The Russian whiz kid had appendicitis," Dr. McCoy informed Captain Kirk. Appendicitis! Now Pavel remembered. The day's events came rushing back to him. He flushed as he realized that he'd made quite a scene earlier; he winced when he remembered his impending conversation with the doctor. "We got it out with no complications. It was a short procedure. Pavel's still coming out of the anesthetic; he should wake up sometime soon. He was conscious briefly about fifteen minutes ago, but he'd worked himself into a panic by the time I got to him and we were forced to sedate him."

The Captain replied with something too quiet for Pavel to catch.

"By the way, Jim, how'd it go with the Klingon mess?

The Captain heaved a long, loud sigh, and Pavel figured that this meant that things hadn't gone well at all.

"What a disaster. We've got them in the brig, no problem, and the Grant has their half," Kirk assured. "The Grant is matching pace with us back to Earth."

"Earth?" McCoy asked, sounding surprised. "I'd sort of assumed that they want us to detour to drop the Klingon prisoners off elsewhere."

"Yeah, you'd think. But the Enterprise is damaged. We don't have warp power, though their chief engineer is over here helping while Scotty is out of commission. How is he, anyway, Bones?"

"Hmm? Oh, he's fine, Jim. Ready to go back to work, or so he says, but I say differently."

Kirk snorted. "You always do." The Captain sighed. "We'll still reach Earth within a few days, and Starfleet is still giving us a week of shore leave. They say that we handled the situation as well as we could given the circumstances, but the big question now is why a Federation starship was attacked in Federation space by both the Romulans and the Klingons within two days. They're sending the Grant back out to investigate as soon as they drop off their prisoners, and then, when we get done with shore leave, we're going to bring the Klingons back to the neutral zone, where apparently a Klingon ship will be waiting. Starfleet says they've already worked out the details."

"They don't waste much time over there," Dr. McCoy muttered. Kirk snorted a laugh. "Jim, I've got to go check on the whiz kid… you gonna be here when I'm done? I'd like to wake up Loyola as soon as possible; it's not good to keep someone sedated like that."

"Yeah, Bones, I'll be here," Captain Kirk agreed quietly, his voice fading as he walked towards the other end of the sickbay. Pavel focused on the doctor's footsteps as the man came closer to his bed. The curtains moved aside, and then his eyes flashed to meet Dr. McCoy's.

"Oh, you're awake," McCoy said, sounding sort of surprised. Pavel shrugged noncommittally, not wanting to admit that he'd been awake for at least the past five minutes and that he'd heard all of the supposed-to-be private conversation between Captain and CMO.

McCoy didn't seem to notice Chekov's evasiveness, or if he did, he didn't comment. He stepped up to the side of the bed, reading the biomonitor above the navigator's head. He nodded in approval, picking up a tricorder from a table next to Pavel's head. Pavel held still while the doctor scanned him. McCoy finished what he was doing and smiled slightly at the Ensign in a way that Pavel thought was meant to be encouraging (although it honestly looked a little pained), reaching over to carefully press his fingers against the area where his appendix used to be.

"Any of this hurt?" the doctor asked, and Pavel shook his head.

"Nyet."

"Okay. Well, we've got you pretty heavily medicated right now, so you shouldn't experience much discomfort, but if you need painkillers, press the call button, got it?" Chekov nodded his assent. McCoy continued, "Your surgery was a success; you did just fine."

"Thank you for this, Doctor," Pavel said, wincing as he remembered his outburst earlier. McCoy's face clouded over as he apparently remembered the same incident.

"You and I need to have a talk, kid," the doctor said with a sigh. "But for now, I want you to get some more sleep, if you can. I've got other patients to deal with, but I'll be back in a little while, alright? Would you like the curtains opened or closed?"

Pavel almost suggested that they be left open, but then he remembered his reasoning for wanting them in the first place. He shivered. "Closed, please."

McCoy nodded, smiling again and this time managing to look reassuring. He disappeared, leaving Pavel alone to his thoughts.

Pavel closed his eyes and went back to trying to pick up on the different sounds in the room. He could hear Captain Kirk's voice in the distance, though the Captain was speaking too softly for him to make out the words. He could hear a heart monitor closer to him, the person's heart rate almost too slow, Pavel thought; but he was not a doctor, so he wasn't sure. He heard the whir of a tricorder as Doctor McCoy checked on one of the other crewmembers, though Pavel was not sure which one. Before long, the sounds all blended together, and Pavel found himself floating; and then, before he knew it, he was asleep.