Over the next few weeks, Lavinia played the role of nursemaid and loving girlfriend, as Chris recovered from his surgery. The wound was healing nicely, much to Leonard's delight and relief, clearing Chris for mild work in his office and the start of physical therapy.
"Why do I have to do this?" Chris whined, as Lavinia helped him stretch the tense and sore shoulder. "It hurts."
"Because it's the only way you'll get better," she insisted, shaking her head as his consistent whining. "If you're a good boy and two four more of these stretches, I'll give you a treat."
He scowled, "I'm not a dog, Vinia," he muttered, as she gently and slowly rotated his arm; up, around and down, the muscles flexing under her fingers.
She glared at him, "Do you want me to get Leonard?" she asked. "I'm sure he'll love to get his hands on you and I assure you, they aren't gentle like mine."
"No," Chris quickly shook his head, wincing as the pain flared up his shoulder and across the back of his neck. "Just.. easy, alright? I'm old as it is and certain things don't work like they used to."
Lavinia smirked, "Could've fooled me," she shrugged "Especially last night."
"How's our patient doing?" Leonard announced as he came into the medical station, startling them both. "Oh god, please tell me you weren't talking about something inappropriate."
"A lady never talks out of line!" Lavinia mock gasped, turning her attention back to Chris. "I was just telling Christopher here how much you want to get your hands on him. The threat alone stopped his crying and moaning over doing physical therapy."
Leonard snickered and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "A true McCoy," he shook his head. "You'd made for a great physician's assistant, Vin. And I could use the extra help down here when these fools get sick or injured on missions."
"Which is very rar-OW!" Chris shouted, falling forward. "DAMMIT!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Lavinia exclaimed, holding him still. "Shhhh, just breathe. Len, get me that hypo on the tray! The painkiller."
Leonard quickly grabbed he hypospray and pulled the cap off, pressing the needle to Chris's neck.
"Easy, old man," he said, injecting the medication into his body. "Should kick in any second now."
The heavy breathing and groaning stopped slowly, as the pain stopped and the exhaustion kicked in.
"I think that's enough for today," Lavinia said, as Chris groaned. "Let's get you back into bed and I'll get you something to eat from the kitchen."
Easing him off the gurney, with Leonard's help, Lavinia wrapped her arm around his waist and steered him towards the door.
"Vinia," Chris whined, as they walked.
Leonard looked over at them, his sister steading the man who was twice her size towards the door, and shook his head.
"Shhh," she urged. "The quicker you move those old feet the quicker you can lay down in bed."
"Don't work with McCoy," Chris whined, as they stepped into the hall. "You'll turn into a mean, hypo-wielding woman and I won't like that very much."
Leonard snorted, "Infant," he shook his head, clearing up the used hypospray and other items Lavinia left behind on the tray.
….
"You make sure to keep your asses in sight of one another," Leonard warned, as the trio stood before him. "And if any of you come back with a scratch, you'll be given a routine prostate exam."
Pavel flinched and shook his head, "We'll be good!" he exclaimed. "Promise!"
Jim snorted, "Bones, if you keep stressing like this, you'll give yourself a heart attack," he sighed. "Relax! We'll be fine!"
"We'll be fine," Leonard mimicked. "How many times have I heard that before and ya'll come back looking like death?"
Hikaru snorted, "Let's get going before we lose this opportunity!" he insisted. "We have three hours to get this done."
Sitting at the control table, Lavinia and Scotty watched with amusement as Leonard gave out his threats.
"Alrighty!" Scotty nodded, tapping at the controls. "Bring back a souvenir, eh? Ah've never been to Paris circa nineteen seventy!"
"Have fun, boys!" Lavinia waved at them. "Bring me something pretty, Jim! You owe me for doing your laundry!"
Jim grinned, "Sure thing, sweetcheeks," he winked, blowing her a kiss. "Tah Ta!"
Once the three of them left in a blur of white lights, Lavinia shook her head and stood up. "Well, I'm off," she nodded. "I need to finish the rest of the laundry and I'm going to take a nap."
"Are yeh still coming down to the library later?" Scotty asked, as he sat back in his seat.
"Of course!" she nodded. "I wouldn't miss our routine engineering lesson!"
Scotty grinned, "Ah'll bring the scotch and biscuits! Bring yer questions and that PADD with the lessons Ah gave yeh."
She nodded as Leonard made his way over to them, "Make sure the old man is sleeping," he warned, as Lavinia started towards he door. "If he's got a PADD in his hands and it's not for leisure reading, I'm sedating him."
"You'll do no such thing, Leonard McCoy," she scowled. "You leave him alone!"
Scotty chuckled as Leonard cursed, "See ya later, lass!" he waved to her, as she stepped into the hall. "Oi! Since Ah can't leave, will yeh get me a sandwich?"
"DO I LOOK LIKE YOUR GODDAMN MAID, SCOTTY!" Leonard screamed, as Lavinia started towards the staircase.
"Ah don't know," Scotty replied. "Ah can get yeh a costume and a feather duster if yeh want."
Lavinia nearly tripped up the steps, snorting as Leonard began to shout and curse at the Scotsman.
….
After a short nap, Lavinia woke for supper feeling achy and nauseous, as she climbed out of bed. As she and Chris straightened up their bedroom, fixing the bed and moving to clean up in the bathroom, Lavinia couldn't hide the discomfort.
"You okay?" Chris asked, as they stood by the sink, toothbrushes in hand. "You look a little pale."
Lavinia nodded, "Just tried," she said, setting the toothbrush back into the holder. "And I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."
He nodded, "Go on down," he said, rubbing her back. "I'll be there in a bit."
"Okay," she sighed, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. "Don't make a mess."
"I won't," he grinned, before turning his attention back to the mirror.
Making her way downstairs, Lavinia could hear the commotion in the kitchen as the boys prepared dinner. The smells wafting down the hall made her stomach roll and not in the good way, as she darted into the bathroom in the hallway. Just making the toilet, Lavinia managed to empty out the contents of her breakfast into the bowl, before sinking down against the wall in exhaustion.
Wiping her mouth with a towel, Lavinia sat up and flushed the toilet, before sitting back against the wall.
"Anyone in here?" a knock on the door followed, startling her, as it opened. "Oh, sorry!."
She shook her head, "It's okay, Scotty," she sighed, wiping a hand across her face.
He frowned, "What are yeh doin' on the floor, lass?" he asked, taking note of how pale she was. "Yeh look like shite."
"Thanks," she snorted, wrapping her arm around her torso. "Just a little queasy is all. I'm fine."
Scotty shook his head, "Yer not fine, Lavinia," he said, moving to help her off the floor. "Yer as white as a sheet and yer shirt is glued to yer back.
They started down the hallway, moving quickly past the kitchen, and towards medical. "Let's get yeh something for the pain and then Ah'll have Jim whip up a bowl of soup."
"I really don't want to eat anything," she winced, the idea of food making her stomach roll again. "Oh no!"
Rushing the last few steps down the hallway, Lavinia rushed through the doors of the medical station and managed to throw up into the garbage pail near the door.
"Okay," Scotty said, rubbing her back. "It's alright, lass."
Once the vomiting came to an end, Lavinia allowed herself to be steered towards a gurney. "Y-you sure you know what to look for?" she asked, as Scotty went to the storage cabinet.
"I've had enough bouts of food poisoning to know what to take," he snorted, grabbing a hypospray from a drawer.
Pulling herself up onto the gurney, Lavinia waited almost patiently as Scotty grabbed what he needed before making his way over to her.
"Now," he set the items down next to her. "Before Ah give yeh this, Ah need to ask yeh a question that's important. ."
She nodded and Scotty began to blush, "Do yeh think.. have yeh… been yeh know," he waved his hands about, making her frown. "Bloody hell, do yeh think yer in the family way?"
Lavinia's eyes went wide with shock and Scotty cursed, "Ah know Ah have no right to ask," he stammered, as she shook her head. "But if yer in that co-"
"I honestly don't know," she shook her head, trying to remember when her last monthly was. "Oh god…"
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, lass," Scotty patted her shoulder lightly. "It's not like yer not in a relationship and hopping from bed to bed."
She looked at him, unable to speak. "Ah'll get the tests out of storage," he sighed. "Don't move."
….
A half an hour later, Lavinia sat quietly in the bathroom attached to the medical station, starting at the counter. Upon in, six plastic sticks laid in a line against the porcelain, exposed for viewing.
Standing in the doorway, Scotty watched as the young woman went from shock to devastation as she stared at them.
"Do yeh want me to get Chris?" he finally asked, startling her.
She shook her head, "No," she whispered. "I.. I just need a minute alone, please."
Scotty nodded and pushed away from the door, "If yeh need me, just shout," he said before pulling the door open.
"Scotty?"
He paused and turned to look at her, "Thank you," Lavinia nodded.
"You're welcome," Scotty said, giving her a small smile. "Don't take too long. We'll have to eat the scraps."
Once he left her alone in the bathroom, Lavinia stood from her spot on the toilet and leaned against the counter. Looking into the mirror, Lavinia looked at her reflection and sighed. No longer did she look like her former self, immaculate and put together. Her red hair laid limp down her back and the circles under her eyes were a shocking shade of purple. Her once porcelain like skin was now clammy and nearly grey, as the lack of sleep and the violent vomiting attack from earlier wracked her body.
If only her Mother could see her now; nails broken and a hair out place, as parts of her body filled out from the unhealthy eating and drinking everything that wasn't champagne or wine. The Lavinia staring back at her was unrecognizable, compare to the Lavinia circa nineteen-twelve.
Looking down at the plastic sticks on the counter, each one reading the same result, the young woman sighed as her eyes filled with tears. Without thinking, her hand came to rest upon her belly and for a moment she swore she could feel the tiny heartbeat within her. Then, as she glanced back up at her reflection, Lavinia allowed herself to cry for the first time since taking the test.
From the counter, the six pink positive signs stared up at her, almost mocking her for being careless towards the situation she was in. Twenty years old and pregnant by a man much older than herself, a girl out of time in hiding against a organization that wanted the man she loved and her family dead. And now, as a new life grew rapidly within her, there was no doubt in her mind that she would join the death toll. Once Starfleet learned about her existence, along with the child's, and their connection to Chris, the reward for their blood would match Chris's.
Not only did she have to worry about Chris and the others, but now there was a baby to worry about. Now, as Lavinia stood before the mirror with her hand on her belly, the stakes were much higher than before.
