Safely ensconced in the doctor's arms, Jenny felt all right for the first time since waking up. When he'd opened his arms for her, his kind eyes so full of compassion, she'd been helpless to resist the offered hug and just let herself sink into his embrace. And when his strong arms had closed around her, so carefully, so gently, she'd suddenly felt confident that, somehow, she was going to be fine again.
Feeling the solid beat of his heart against her cheek, his hands drawing slow circles on her back, Jenny wished he'd never let her go again, or that she could at least ask him for another hug later. But of course, she couldn't. And wouldn't. What would he think of her? She was a Starfleet officer after all. Or so she'd been told. And Dr. McCoy had been kind enough to spend so much time with her already. Surely, he had other patients, too, or wanted to go off shift at some point and enjoy his free time.
But when she finally brought herself to pull out of his embrace, the doctor still didn't seem in any haste to leave. He performed a few more tests, drew a little blood from her, and called the friendly nurse from earlier to take the blood sample to the lab. The two of them shared an amused smile, obviously some inside joke, when Jenny mentioned how glad she was that she wasn't working in the medical department and didn't have to do anything as gruesome as drawing blood.
After that, she soon grew tired again, and was relieved when the doctor reassured her that this was completely normal under the circumstances, and that, no, she wasn't normally that tired. Quite the contrary, he laughed, his eyes shining with mirth and this soothing almost-tenderness with which he'd already looked at her several times before.
He helped her rearrange her pillow and settle back down in her bed, tucking her in like a child, which made her smile, because it was so sweet, and yet so comforting. And he was still there, busily tapping away on his PADD, when she drifted off to sleep.
Unsurprisingly, he was also there when she woke up again some time later, greeting her with the softest smile, and Jenny had the impression that he had hoped for her memory to miraculously return in her sleep almost as much as she had. He didn't say so, of course, but she still felt like she was disappointing him.
After a few more tests, and obviously satisfied with the test results of her blood sample, the doctor took her off the drip, then went to get her a sandwich and a coffee, confident that he knew what she liked without even having to ask her first. As it turned out, he'd made a good choice, the sandwich was scrumptious, the coffee perfect. Although it was still unsettling that other people should know her better than she did herself, she didn't really mind with Dr. McCoy. His kindness and concern were heart-warming, and the realisation that he knew her so well sent a pleasant shiver down her spine.
Not yet having eaten, either, the doctor had brought a sandwich and coffee for himself, too, and Jenny enjoyed a little semblance of normality in her disturbing situation, as they sat at a small table sharing a meal, even though it was still in sickbay. His help with getting out of bed and covering the few steps to the table with his arm tightly wrapped around her waist in support, had also been extremely pleasant, of course. She remembered craving safety, touch and physical connection ever since she'd found herself catapulted into this century, and the doctor's protectiveness was like balm to her soul.
Sensing that she had yet to rediscover big parts of her personality, Jenny was still feeling insecure. But Dr. McCoy was so easy to talk to, that she soon found herself engrossed in an animated conversation. She admitted that, grateful as she was for all the memories she'd regained already, things just weren't going fast enough for her, at which the doctor smirked knowingly. Patience was quite obviously not her strong suit, she concluded.
She also told him that she couldn't believe she was an officer, a lieutenant even, and on Starfleet's flagship, too, without remembering any of it.
"You're a pretty impressive lady," McCoy smiled, eyes sparkling with fond amusement, when she voiced all this, "and I'm confident you'll remember that about yourself soon."
"To think that the famous Captain Kirk hugged me!" she gushed, blushing when she realised that she sounded like an infatuated teenager, and relieved to see the doctor just grin and shake his head indulgently. "And how did I become an officer anyway, when I was barely cleared for being stationed on a starbase? I know about parallel universes. Is this one of them?"
The words and ideas were tumbling out of her now, and McCoy seemed torn between hilarity and regret. No matter how much she pleaded with him, he refused to give her any answers, adamant that she needed to remember the details in her own good time. He did, however, reassure her that this wasn't a parallel universe, that she was still in the same one she remembered. And that she had definitely earned her stripes, and absolutely deserved where she stood, and everything she was, now.
He clearly wanted her to feel confident and good about herself, and it meant a lot to her. To make her feel even better, the doctor told Jenny over 'dinner' that he'd let her have more guests tomorrow. People he knew were good friends and might help her uncover a few more details about herself.
"If your test results tomorrow are as good as today, I might even consider letting you return to your quarters, Lieutenant!" he smiled.
Jenny thought it was sweet how he put special emphasis on her rank, quite obviously wanting to boost her self-confidence a little more, and was happy at the prospect of being released from sickbay soon. She didn't miss, however, that he also seemed a little uneasy at the thought, probably preferring to have his patients close by, she guessed. He did seem protective like that.
-x-x-x-x-x-
When Jenny woke up the next morning, the door to her room was open, and she could hear a jumble of voices outside. It took her a few moments to remember where she was, and when the events of the last day came rushing back, the realisation that she still didn't remember any more about the people she'd met yesterday, hit her hard.
A cold fear that she might never recover all of her memories gripped her, and she wished Dr. McCoy were here to hold and comfort her again. Things had seemed less scary in his presence, and she really hoped he would be back today.
She'd enjoyed their conversation over coffee immensely, and had had a hard time concealing her dismay, when he'd announced that it was time to go to sleep. He'd called the nurse on night duty to help her to the bathroom and get ready for the night, and then made a rather hasty retreat, wishing her a good night and promising to be back in the morning.
Maybe he'd lost track of time, she thought, and had suddenly remembered that he had somewhere else to be. She didn't know when his shift had started and ended, but it was pretty obvious to her that he'd stayed in sickbay much longer than a single shift could last. For her. And she was very grateful for that. But of course, he had other things to do as well. As she'd found out, he wasn't just any doctor, either, he was the ship's CMO, no less. And he'd still taken all that time to personally be there for her. Further proof that he really was the kind-hearted man he seemed to be.
Jenny hadn't been awake long, when Nurse Chapel came through the door, carrying coffee, juice, and some toast on a tray, which she placed on her bedside table with a smile.
"How are you this morning, Jenny?" she asked brightly, then quickly added, "Is it all right, if I call you Jenny? I mean, we used to be… er … we are friends."
"Of course it is! And I sincerely hope that I'll actually remember this soon," Jenny chuckled ruefully, "Christine, isn't it?"
The nurse nodded, delighted that she'd remembered her name, and Jenny suddenly felt a little lighter. Lovely as the doctor was, having a female friend was absolutely fantastic.
As if reading her thoughts, Christine said, "Dr. McCoy actually wanted to see you first thing this morning, but something came up and he's busy now. Would you like to have breakfast with me instead?"
Jenny beamed at the nurse and eagerly nodded, so Chapel quickly went to get herself another coffee, then pulled up a chair and made herself comfortable next to Jenny's bed. Christine had, of course, been instructed not to divulge any 'private affairs', but thought it was harmless enough to talk about the Enterprise and her crew in general, which was just fine by her patient.
McCoy, Jenny learned, had arranged for a few other friends to come and visit her this morning, and Christine gave her a little heads-up as to what to expect. There would be Nyota Uhura, apparently her closest friend aboard, who was head of communications and the other singer in a band they had started together almost two years ago. Jenny was absolutely delighted to hear about being a singer in a band. She'd always loved music.
Pavel Chekov, a young navigator on bridge duty, was another close friend, and Chapel told her that he was sweet, very funny, and her dancing partner, which was why she spent quite a lot of time with him. This was getting better and better! She absolutely adored dancing and couldn't wait to meet Pavel.
Christine mentioned a lot of other names, and Jenny tried hard to memorise them all. Apparently, there was Hikaru Sulu, Chekov's friend and her self-appointed sparring coach, Scotty, the lovable but nerdy chief of engineering who lived for his engines, and a number of other people who she was friends with. Much to her joy, she seemed to have a lot of them aboard the Enterprise. Unless Christine was exaggerating, she even had quite a cordial relationship with the captain and the first officer.
Her head still buzzing with all this new information, she almost didn't hear Dr. McCoy come in a little later, but the moment she looked into his kind face, she felt a pleasant warmth surge through her body, the memory of his gentle arms around her coming rushing back in full force.
The doctor didn't have much time, apparently there had been an incident in one of the labs, but he still wanted to see how she was doing today. Quickly checking her vitals and briefly touching a hand to her forehead, he grunted in what she took to be approval, and promised to deal with her release from sickbay when he was back in the afternoon.
He was in a hurry and quite obviously exasperated with whoever had caused the lab incident, but Jenny could still feel his genuine interest in her well-being as he wished her an enjoyable morning with some of her friends. Before he left again, he hovered over her for an awkward moment, and for a weird second Jenny thought he was going to kiss her forehead or something, but then he just reached out to give her a friendly pat on the cheek, and was out the door without another glance.
The rest of the morning passed in a flash. Nyota was plainly awesome, and she felt an immediate connection, clearly seeing how this clever and feisty woman could be her best friend. Pavel was really sweet, too, with his adorable accent and his silly jokes. He eagerly agreed, when she suggested a training session as soon as Dr. McCoy let her out of sickbay, and the way he looked at her made her wonder, if he had a crush on her, and if they were, in fact, more than just friends and dancing partners.
As promised, when McCoy returned in the afternoon, he scanned her one more time, and then officially released her from sickbay. He insisted, however, on personally taking her to her quarters, hopeful that anything there might spark further memories. Unfortunately, her quarters did nothing to help, and the doctor seemed really disappointed at that.
"It's all right, Doctor," Jenny said, feeling the urge to comfort him for a change, "everybody is being so kind to me, and I really had a blast getting to know some of my friends again this morning."
McCoy was standing close to her, searching her face carefully and listening intently as she spoke.
"Really, it's okay," Jenny went on, resting a hand on his arm, "I seem to have recovered all my professional knowledge, I even know my way around the Enterprise without anything actually seeming familiar, and I've got almost my whole life's memories back. So, even if I never get the last two years back, I'll be fine. It's only a couple of years, and it'll be fun to get to know everybody again."
The way the doctor's eyes welled up compassionately at her words, she almost expected another comforting hug, and was secretly very disappointed when he just briefly touched a hand to her cheek.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion, before more or less bolting out the door with a quiet, "Good night, Hope!"
What a soft-hearted man Dr. McCoy really is, to let a patient's fate affect him so much, Jenny thought fondly, staring at the door that had just slid shut behind him, and basking in the lingering feeling of warmth and security.