November 2024.
As the first month of Lavinia's return came to an end, the young woman found herself at a complete an utter loss. Her nightmares consumed her life day in and day out, leaving her in complete distress by the time she pulled herself out of them. Eventually, she moved into Chris room, instead of slinking through the halls at three in the morning. During the day, she would hide in his office, sleeping on the sofa or writing in a journal of all her memories. After her near death experience, her mind opened up and released a wave of memories. From the time she was a child to the night her parents told her about taking the passage to New York on the RMS Titanic. At first, she wrote on scraps on paper, ignoring the use of a PADD. Eventually, Jim gave her a leather bound journal and a pack of pens and told her to have fun.
Once Chris finished his work for the day, late into the evening hours, he would wake her up and they would retire to his room. Some nights, she would already be in bed asleep, a book discarded to her side. The only people who knew of their sleeping arrangements were Jim and Leonard, whom found the situation shocking. Jim only knew of the situation, after Leonard found them asleep in bed and threw a shit fit at them. When she stated that had this been 1912, she and Chris would've already been married and consummated the relationship by now. This shut him up quickly and he muttered his opinions and left it alone.
Now, a week before Thanksgiving, Lavinia found herself bundled up in sweaters and socks, laying back against the pillows with her journal. The pen scratching against the paper was the only sound filtering through the room, before a wet-hacking cough ripped through her chest. Balancing the journal on a bent knee, Lavinia used her other hand to cover her mouth. Outside, it was cold and rainy, the sun hidden deep behind the clouds. Chris was off with Scotty and Pavel in god knows where, leaving her alone in his room.
There was a knock on the door, "Lavinia?"
She looked up at the closed door and cleared her throat, "Who is it?" she called out.
"It's Jim," she sighed in relief. "I brought you something to eat."
Sticking the pen between the pages, Lavinia closed her journal and set it on the night stand. "Come in."
The door opened slowly and Jim appeared, balancing a tray in one hand, before moving the other off the door knob. He smiled at her as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
"What did you make?" she asked, trying to keep the cough that fought its way up.
He set the tray down on her lap, "Soup and tea- lemon and honey this time," he said, settling down on the chair near by. "I figured you could use something warm in your body. Bones said you still have the chills and the tremors keep popping up."
Lavinia nodded, "Thank you, Jim," she said, managing a small smile.
Slowly, she picked up the spoon, gripping it tightly as her hands shook. Closing her eyes, Lavinia let out a shaky sigh, before hacking out a nasty cough. Jim quickly stood up and moved the tray away and sat down next to her, patting her back as she coughed.
"Easy, easy.." he murmured, as she shook with each violent cough. "Jesus.."
Once she stopped, the wheezing took over and she shuddered. "MmOkay.." she gasped, coughing twice before settling back.
Jim reached over and touched her forehead with his hand, his eyes going wide. "Shit! You're burning up!" he exclaimed, as she moaned.
Standing quickly, Jim moved one arm under her knees and the other wrapped around her body and he hoisted her out of bed. "I'm taking you to medical," he said, as she began to protest. "If I don't take you, then Chris will."
The entire trip down to medical was filled with silence, along with the occasional hacking cough from Lavinia. When they finally reached her brother's station, they found him working over a table with vials and syringes. The door slamming open startled him, as he looked up from his work. But when he saw Lavinia in Jim's arms, he quickly threw out his remark of idiocy and stood up.
"What happened!" he demanded, as Jim set her down on a gurney.
"She has a fever and the most disgusting cough I've ever heard," Jim said, as Leonard started his normal checkup.
"Hey!" Lavinia scolded, before coughing again.
Leonard cursed, "How long have you been coughin' like that?" he asked, grabbing the tricorder off the table.
She shrugged, "Not long.."
He stared at her, his eyes glaring and his expression of one to not mess with. "Fine… a week."
"A WEEK!" he shouted, as she winced.
"Please don't yell," she begged, her head beginning to throb. "Just do what you do and let me go back to my room."
Jim snickered, "Your room? I thought it was Chris' room?" he asked, as Leonard took her temperature and other vitals.
"Shut it, Kirk," she hissed, as her brother pushed him out of the way.
"Open," he nodded to her mouth, holding a long cotton swab-tipped stick in his hand. "I need to see if you have strep," he said, as she eyed the tool in his hand.
Lavinia did what she was told, kicking him as he took a sample from her throat. It left her shuddering, gagging and coughing all at once, as he bagged it. He then listened to her chest, shaking his head as he listened.
"I think you have pneumonia."
"W-what?" she asked, pulling the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands. "That doesn't sound good."
Leonard shook his head, "It's not," he confirmed. "Especially in your case, since you were floating around in the goddamn North Atlantic for who knows how long," he moved to the supply cabinets. "I don't even know how long this has been inside you!"
Lavinia watched as he grabbed a bottle from the cabinet along with several other items, growing nervous as he moved around the room.
"I want Chris.." she said softly, as he came over with the items. "I want Chris."
Jim stepped forward, "He's working, hon," he rubbed her shoulder. "I can stay with you if you'd like."
As sweet as the offer was, Lavinia only wanted one other person at the moment. "I want Chris," she repeated again, gritting her teeth as she said it. "Don't touch me, Len," she hissed.
Leonard watched as she struggled through another body wracking cough, which ended with her throwing up on the floor, barley missing Jim's shoes.
"Dammit Lavinia!" Leonard snapped, as Jim grabbed a stack of paper towels to cover the mess. "Don't be a goddamn baby!"
She began to sob, "Please!" she begged. "Please, please, please! Don't touch me! I don't want you!" she grew frantic each second, as they watched her. "I can't…I can't breathe!"
Leonard set the bottle of medicine down and stepped forward, slowly putting his hands on her shoulders. "Lavinia.." he said quietly, as she sobbed and coughed. "It's going to be alright."
She shook her head, "No, no, no. It's not," she cried, as he pulled her into his arms. "You don't understand.."
She had yet to tell the others about what happened, simply saying it was a bad accident that included really cold water and she left it at that. Eventually, the truth would come out and Lavinia was sure that they'd want to go back and explore more options as to what happened to her. Especially when they'd find out about the person who gave her a nice gash on her head.
"I'm going to give you something to make you feel better," Leonard said softly, easing her up off his shoulder. "And you're going to stay here for a little bit and rest and when Chris comes back we'll move you."
She nodded frantically, shivering as she did so. Every part of her body screamed in agony, the feeling that she was being ripped apart from the inside out. Leonard gave her a small dose of cough syrup, this time without a hypospray, before giving her a light sedative. He laid her down on the gurney, before moving to clear the supplies. The last thing Lavinia saw, as the sedative took over, were the blue eyes of Jim Kirk watching her with a concerned look on his face, as he covered her up with a blanket.
….
Chris shuffled out of the wet clothes and dropped them into the laundry chute, before grabbing a dry pair of pants and shirt from the pile of clean clothes. Pulling them on, he grabbed a towel and stepped out of the laundry room and headed up to the main floor of the station. He was glad to be back home and out of the cold, ready to climb into bed and sleep. He was also glad to be back for Lavinia, who would no doubt be waiting for him upstairs. In the last month, she hardly cracked a smile or laughed around the others. Chris was the only one who got her to smile, though it never really met her eyes, or laugh.
Whenever Hikaru was in the same room with them, she would keep herself close to his side. Or to Leonard's. Chris knew that deep down Lavinia still cared for the younger man, though she insisted that whatever feelings she had for him died that night when he flew into rage. For a while, Chris wondered if she truly cared for him like she claimed, or if she was using him for emotional support. It was too early to really tell, and Chris didn't want to pester her with such observations. But eventually, he would have to find out for his own heart.
Making the trip up the stairs to the kitchen, Chris spotted Jim waiting out in the hall. When the younger man turned and saw him, relief flashed across his face.
"There you are!" Jim said, moving quickly towards him.
"What did you do now, Kirk?"
Jim shook his head, "This time, nothing," he insisted, his face serious. "It's Lavinia."
Chris quickly snapped to attention and followed Jim down the hallway, asking twenty questions a mile a minute. When they stepped into medical, Chris quickly made his way to her side and observed what he saw. She was still out cold, lying on her side with a heavy blanket over her. She was much paler than this morning, with obvious circles under her eyes. But the wheezing that came from each breath she took, the wet crackle in her throat and chest, is what caught his attention.
"Pneumonia."
Chris looked up at Leonard, who sat at his desk filling out a chart. "How bad?" he asked.
Leonard sighed, "If she waited another day.." he shook his head. "She was close, Chris. Very close."
The older man shook his head, looking down at the sleeping woman. Ever since her disappearance, Leonard threw himself into an emotional pit of despair. Not only did he learn about his real identity and that he had an older sister who "died", he found her and lost her all at once. Then she came back from the dead and he was on her like a hound dog, making sure she was taking care of herself. Leonard McCoy didn't have any other family, except for an ex-wife and a girlfriend who continued to work as their spy.
Lavinia stirred and opened her eyes slowly, "Chris?" her voice was hoarse, cracking as she spoke.
Chris leaned down and took her hand into his, "Hey," he managed a small smile. "I hear that you have a nasty cold.."
Leonard and Jim excused themselves, promising to return with soup and tea. Chris nodded and turned his attention back to Lavinia, answering all her questions about what happened.
….
"So like.. what if Chris and Lavinia decide to get married for real?"
Leonard set the pot on the stove to boil, "What?" he asked, moving to the cabinet.
Jim shrugged, "I mean, technically their engaged so that wouldn't make it weird."
"I don't think we'll be expecting a wedding anytime soon, Kid."
"But…" he looked at Leonard. "They're sleeping in the same bed!"
Leonard went to the fridge to pull out the soup, "So? Just beause they're sleeping in the same bed don't mean shit!"
"Bones! Your sister is sleeping in the same bed with her finance, who's our boss and you're okay with this?" Jim asked.
"Jim, what are you trying to ask me?" Leonard sighed, turning to look at him.
Jim shrugged, "I'm just trying to grasp the fact that you're totally fine with Chris having a sexual relationship with your sister."
Leonard rolled his eyes, "They're not having sex."
"How do you know?" Jim asked. "Did you ask them?"
When Leonard didn't respond right away, Jim groaned. "Oh god, you did."
"Look, it was the only way I'd let them share the same damn bed. I don't need my sister getting involved with someone sexually and god forbid she gets pregnant! We aren't in a safe situation for babies."
Jim sighed, "I can't believe you."
Leonard shook his head, "Call me overprotective, but she's my sister. I love her and I only want the best for her."
"You don't think Chris is good for her?" he asked, frowning. "Because it's quite obvious that he's so in love with her. And I think she loves him too."
Popping two bowls into the microwave, Leonard moved back to the stove to check on the water. "Chris is perfect for her, "he said, shaking his head. "It's smart, mature and he understands their situation a lot more than anyone else could. And I know he loves her."
"But…"
"But I think part of her still loves Hikaru," he shrugged. "I have a bad feeling that in the end, someone will get hurt. Either it's going to be Chris or its' going to be her."
Jim shook his head, "Of course she loves Hikaru. He was her first love," he pushed the sugar bowl around on the countertop. "But he also broke her heart."
Leonard looked at him, "You don't think she would give him a second chance?" he asked.
"I wouldn't give him another chance, Bones." Jim shook his head, "That kid said such awful things to her and it destroyed her. And then she disappeared for six months and left us thinking she was dead."
The microwaved beeped and Jim pulled the two bowls of soup out, setting them on the counter and picking up the next two. "I blame him for everything that's happened to her,' he said.
They finished putting lunch together onto two trays, walking slowly back to medical.
"I don't think you need to worry about what they do in bed anyways," Jim said, as they walked. "I'm pretty sure that's happened already."
Leonard frowned, "What?" he asked. "I don't understand these hidden codes you kids use these days."
Jim snorted, "What I mean is that Lavinia and Hikaru totally did it already," he shot a look over at the doctor. "I'm like, 99.9 % sure that they did the nasty."
The older man walked in silence before cursing, "That little shit!"
Jim walked ahead, snickering as he did, before whistling a merry tune that echoed off the walls.