HELLO ONCE AGAIN! I HOPE YOU HAVE ALL HAD A GOOD WEEK! WELL HERE COMES CHAPTER 11! ENJOY!
CHAPTER 11- CAROL
I awaken to the feeling of Jim stirring beside me, nightmares. He's been getting them all week. Sometimes when he wakes up he will talk about them, others he merely pretends to shrug off. Most of the dreams have been about Tarsus, and I don't know what to do to help make them stop. I have told him that he should talk to Leonard, but all he says is that he doesn't want to bother him.
Jim seeing Lenore everyday doesn't help, if anything it makes his nightmares worse. I have met her, she seems nice, and luckily she doesn't seem to have any of her father's murderous genes. I also told Jim he should tell her about the nightmares, that since she was there she would have a greater ability to help him. But he just says the same thing over and over, that he doesn't want to bother her.
Aside from the nightmares the topic of Tarsus hasn't come up since, and I can't help but be thankful. After seeing the amount of pain it caused Jim when he was reliving that experience for me, I would never want to make him have to do that ever again.
By the sound of Jim's steady breathing I can tell he is sleeping calmly once more, and I cuddle up against his side, resting my head on his chest, and fall back to sleep as Jim's arm wraps around me.
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Completely exhausted I head back to my quarters from the torpedo bay, and now I know that I need to start sneaking naps in my office when I work twenty-four hour shifts, or at least find some stronger coffee. When I enter my door I head directly to my bed and I merely take off my uniform leaving myself in my undergarments, and I slide under the silky covers.
I'm so tired I don't even notice the fact that I am not alone in my bed, "Well, hello to you too," says Jim with mock hurt announcing his presence, and making me jump slightly.
"I didn't even notice you were here." I mumble into the pillow too tired to look up, but I do anyways and my eyes meet his perfect blue ones. He wraps his arms around me pulling me close, and resting his hands on my abdomen.
"I just realized I sleep better when I have you next to me, so I came over after my shift." He explains, whilst lacing his fingers with mine.
"I'm glad you came," I reply, my drowsiness evident in my voice, "Are you still having nightmares?" I ask, knowing he doesn't like to talk about it the majority of the time, but that doesn't stop me from being concerned.
"Yes," he replies, "but it helps when your there when I wake up to remind me they aren't real." He says, and he brings my hand up to his mouth and places a light kiss on each knuckle.
"Do you want to talk about them?" I ask.
"Not particularly," he replies.
"Okay." I say not wanting to push the subject. "How far away are we from Tellar Prime?" I ask.
"I would say about a day or two." He replies.
"What's going to happen to Lenore once we get there?" I ask, genuinely worried about Jim's childhood friend.
"The Tellarites will take her into custody and arrange transport for her back to Earth to await trial." He says simply.
"And you're okay with that?" I ask, wanting to know where his mind is at.
"Doesn't matter what I think, I mean she did shoot down two Starfleet vessels."He says and I give him a stern look, and he sighs then proceeds to actually answer my question. "Well, I know she should receive punishments for her crimes, but what she's been through makes me think she doesn't deserve it."
I only nod in reply contemplating what he said, "Well I think that's enough talking for tonight, I'm exhausted." I say after a few moments of silence pass.
He then rests our hands back on my abdomen, as he rests his chin on the crook of my neck, "Goodnight Carol, I love you." He softly whispers into my ear, which makes smile.
"I love you too." I reply softly.
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I wake up late the next morning, overjoyed by the fact that I have some time to relax, If I see one more torpedo in the next ten hours it better be counting down to detonation.
I turn, but I stop suddenly when I realize that Jim's arm is draped around me, he must still be asleep. I delicately lift his arm off my waist, and sneak out of his grasp; I head straight to the replicator to get some coffee, but not before grabbing one of Jim's shirts. Only a few feet away from the replicator I hear a loud yawn telling me the Jim's awake.
"Mornin'," he says lazily as he stifles another yawn. I have really missed him over the last few weeks; with these long shifts we have hardly been able to spend a minute together when we weren't seconds away from sleep.
"Morning, you want some coffee?" I ask.
"Sure," he says, his bright blue eyes lighting up at the mention of a caffeinated beverage.
"One coffee coming up," I reply, once I get the coffees I head back over to the bed where Jim is sitting up waiting for his. "I would say that the guy that runs this place is a pain in the ass, with these exhausting twenty-four hour shifts, but then I remember that I am dating that pain in the ass." I say as I sit on the bed and hand him his coffee simultaneously.
He laughs in response, "Your dating Admiral Archer?" he asks mockingly, and laughs again.
"Why I even asked you for a drink four months ago, I will never know." I reply, with a small laugh.
"I might be the fact that I am a deviously handsome genius." He says in a mock seductive voice, which makes me laugh.
"Maybe…" I say, a mischievous grin spreads on my face as I lean in, leaving my lips a few centimeters away from his. He rushes in to close the gap, and would have been successful if I did not turn away at the last second, making him pout. "Well, I'm going to get dressed, I'm going to go visit Uhura, I need to convince her out of having the wedding on the ship." I say, suppressing a laugh caused by his childish pout.
As I stand up he quickly pulls me back down and presses his warm lips onto mine, which makes me reluctantly give off a giggle. I playfully push him away, "I really have to go," I tell him laughing.
He groans in reply as he falls back onto the bed pulling me down with him, making me give off a surprised laugh. I turn to him, his electric blue eyes staring into mine, "I'll be back in a few hours, then we can the rest of the day together." I say and I give him a quick kiss on the lips, and I start to get up off the bed.
When I finally get up, I quickly change into some of my only clothes that aren't uniform, and I run a brush through my hair. I jump when I feel Jim's arms snake around my waist from behind, "Can you believe that Spock and Uhura are getting married?" he asks me.
"Not really, but I can't believe Uhura wanted to get married on the ship either."
"I don't know why you're so against that, if they got married on the ship as captain I would get to officiate!" he says excitedly.
"But then you wouldn't get to be the best man." I reply.
"Hmmm…..You've got me there." He says, then changes the subject, "So, what do you want to do tonight?"
"I don't know, there isn't much to do on a starship. How about we watch another movie." I say, smiling at the idea of Jim sitting through another one of my old movies.
"I can get onboard with that, as long as it's not another movie like Love Actually." He says, pretending to shutter at the movies title.
"Admit it, you loved it." I reply as I finally turn around to face him.
"It was okay," he says.
"Really, because I remember a certain someone rooting for Hugh Grant under their breath." I say with a tantalizing tone.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he says with a snooty expression.
"Uh huh. Well I will see you later." I say and I give him a quick kiss on the lips and I walk toward the door.
"Love ya!" he shouts, even though we are only a few meters apart.
"I love you too," I say back, with a wide grin, and I walk out the door.
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