Free Fallin'

Jean-Luc was in trouble. Big trouble. She had touched him. Granted, he was sick and she was his doctor, but Beverly had touched him.

And in that moment, he knew he was screwed. Absolutely screwed.

Her touch had been electrifying, and his skin still felt as though it was on fire. If he closed his eyes…he could still clearly imagine the weight of her hands on his body.

For the past two months since they had met, he had done his best to push his unexpected feelings away. Despite seeing her every single day…he tried to bury them deep within himself. He was a married man, after all, and for the first time since their marriage he was finally able to be truly invested in his relationship.

So, naturally, the stars had brought Doctor Beverly Crusher into his life.

And he knew – had known from the moment he met her – that she was destined to be something more to him. He felt it in every cell of his body, in every fiber of his being. When he was near her, his soul screamed and his body ached, yearning to be as close to her as possible. His hands longed to touch her soft skin, glide through her silky hair.

He let his head fall hard against the cool tile wall. Screwed. He was just so, utterly screwed.

He stood in the hot spray of the shower, letting the water run over his lean, muscular body. Resting his hand against the wall, he closed his eyes and let himself indulge one more time in the events of the evening.

"Picard to Doctor Crusher."

"Go ahead, Captain."

"Doctor, can you please come to my quarters?"

"Is everything okay, Sir?"

He could hear the thread of concern in her voice. It was late, and he knew she probably assumed something was wrong…which in this case, there was. He had checked on her location first, confirming she was still in her office, as he didn't want to disturb her if she had been with her family. The thought of going to sickbay wasn't appealing unless she was there, but he also didn't want to parade around the ship in his pajamas, and the thought of getting dressed churned his stomach even more.

"I'm not feeling well, and I was hoping you could –"

"I'm on my way."

His heart pounded in his chest, louder than he could ever remember before, with just the anticipation of her coming to his quarters. He had hesitated even calling her at first, as he wasn't one to want medical attention, but as the night progressed his symptoms had become worse, and he was concerned.

The door chimed and he eagerly let her in. Even in the dim light of the poorly lit room he could see the worry in her eyes as she scanned the room for him. Seeing him sitting on the edge of the couch, she reached for her tricorder as she quickly made her way towards him.

"Captain…pardon my frankness, but you look like hell. What's wrong?"

Sighing, he ran his hand over his head. "I'm nauseated and I'm experiencing heart palpitations. When I stand, I'm lightheaded."

"How long have you had these symptoms?" She ran the tricorder over him, interpreting the results as they appeared on the small screen.

"They started earlier today, but they've gotten worse over the past couple of hours. Do you think there's something wrong with my artificial heart?" He looked up at her, the worry in her eyes now echoed in his own.

She shook her head. "Your heart is fine, though your heart rate is elevated." He smiled to himself. Of course it was. She was standing so close he could feel the heat radiating off of her body. "You're dehydrated."

"Dehydrated? That's all?" He looked at her, surprised at her diagnosis.

"That's all?" She shot him an incredulous look as she put her tricorder away and walked over to the replicator, ordering him a large glass of water. "Jean-Luc – Captain – if you're not careful dehydration could lead to severe damage to your internal organs."

She had said his name. It was a slip, but she had said it…and it was heavenly.

Returning to the couch, she sat next to him and handed him the glass. He took it from her and started to drink.

"Slowly." As she warned him, she placed her hand on his back…in the space right between his spine and shoulder blade. All he could do was nod in the moment as the heat from her hand penetrated each layer of his skin. Every cell in his brain was focused on the placement of her hand. He turned to look at her, meeting her gaze and relishing in her closeness. "You really need to take better care of yourself, Captain. I know how much you hate sickbay, but if you keep up this lifestyle…you'll be spending more time there than you'll ever want."

Oh, if she only knew how his perception of sickbay had changed in the past two months. Before, he avoided it like the plague. Now, it took all of his strength not to walk through the doors every day just to catch a glimpse of her.

"I'll try to do better, Doctor." He smiled at her, taking another sip of water.

Reaching over to her medkit, she pulled out a hypospray and pressed it into his neck. "This will help with the nausea."

They sat in silence for a few minutes as he continued to sip the cold water. Her hand had moved to from his back, to his forehead, then to his cheek. He knew it was a reflex of her training, but he enjoyed her touch, nonetheless.

Then her hand dropped to his thigh…and he thought he would drop dead right there on the spot.

"Where is Jenice?" For the first time since she arrived, he noticed her looking around his quarters for his wife.

"Earth. Since we're docked back at McKinley for a few days, she took the opportunity to catch up with her social circle in Paris." Beverly nodded, but didn't reply. "Why were you working so late?"

At his question she pulled her hand away and ran it through her hair. "Still trying to finish that report...that was due, oh, a few hours ago." She gave him an exasperated look and sighed. "It just may be the death of me." She smirked at him, allowing herself to relax a bit.

"I'm sure I can convince your commanding officer to allow you more time to finish, Doctor." He grinned back at her, enjoying the banter between them.

"That would be very much appreciated, Captain – that is if you think you can be that convincing." Her eyes bore into his as her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, teeth catching on her bottom lip. It took every last bit of energy he had, which wasn't much at the moment, to not lean over and capture her lips with his own.

Recognizing he was teetering on the brink of losing his composure, he broke their gaze and bought himself a few more seconds to clear his head by taking another sip of water. "Take all the time you need, Doctor. The report can wait."

Smiling sweetly at him, she rose to her feet. "Thank you, Captain." She hesitated for a brief moment. "Well, I had better be going. Please, call me if you start to feel worse and don't forget to drink plenty of fluids – slowly."

"Yes, Doctor – and thank you, again." He stood slowly to walk her to the door, but she motioned for him to stay seated.

As she reached the door, she turned back to smile at him. "Goodnight, Captain."

The sound of her voice echoing through his quarters reverberated through his mind. Goodnight, Captain. He loved her voice. Every time she spoke it was like music to him. Goodnight, Captain. Oh, how he would love to hear her say, Goodnight, Jean-Luc…under very different circumstances.

Oh boy was he screwed.

He was infatuated with her, and it didn't seem as though there wasn't anything he could do to stop his feelings from growing into something more.

Free Fallin', written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, performed by Tom Petty