Note: Christine Chapel has always been a busybody. I was just re-watching the TOS episode The Enterprise Incident and it was reinforced to me that Nurse Chapel is a busybody who is always snooping around where she doesn't belong. Dr. Mccoy left strict orders that nobody enters the room where Kirk's body was being stored, but who shows up and discovers he's still alive and makes a fuss? Chapel. And then it reminded me of the time Spock tossed that soup at her. And the time when Spock had those parasites in his back and she tried to tell McCoy how he should remove them like she was the damn doctor!
Aaaanyway, people always accuse us fanfiction writers of treating Christine poorly or making her out to be an evil crazy person, but she truly is a buttinsky who brings this characterization on herself, lol. I really don't hate her though, she's just an easy target to make into an antagonist. Sorry, Christine. This one's for you.
P.S. How the heck did the Enterprise Incident episode lead to an Amok Time story?
Something's Gone Amok!
"Hey Chris, whatcha doing?" Nyota strolled into the galley of the Enterprise with a bounce in her step and a swing in her hips and greeted her friend who was busy reading the instruction for a dish she was cooking.
"Hi Ny, I'm just... you know, making a little meal," Christine answered.
"Yeah, I see that. But why?" Uhura asked. The public area of the galley was littered with soiled measuring cups, spoons, and bowls, as well as various chopped and diced ingredients on cutting boards. "And what in tarnation are you making. I gotta say it smells god awful." Uhura waved her hand under her nose dramatically.
"It's just a little home-cooked meal for Mr. Spock. Remember we noticed he wasn't eating in the rec room lately?"
"Yes I noticed, but why are you making him dinner? For all we know, he's just been eating in his private quarters. The captain seems to think he's in a 'contemplative phase' whatever that means." Uhura said.
"The Captain is not as observant as we are. And hat's another thing, have you noticed Spock's been acting weird lately?" Christine asked her friend.
"Yes, he's been a bit standoffish but again, it is Spock," Uhura said.
"But even Spock was never like this before. He usually eats with the crew but lately, he just does his rounds and sits alone in his cabin."
"Does he?" Uhura asked with suspicion, "Have you been clocking him or something?"
"Haven't you?" Christine countered.
"No. Chris, Spock is my friend, I figure if something is bothering him he'll either tell us eventually or..." Uhura shrugged, "the Doctor and the Captain will wrestle it out of him."
"I don't believe you sometimes Ny. You say he's your friend but you-"
"But I what?" Uhura interrupted. "Am I supposed to go barging into his quarters and demand answers? You know how stubborn he can be. Besides, I want to remain his friend, and I wouldn't be a good one if I didn't respect his privacy. I trust the Captain's judgment on this one. But you, you seem determined to feed him. What are you making?"
"Plumeek soup," Christine said. She went back to reading the instructions which may have been written in Federation Standard but made absolutely no sense to her. The universal translator left a lot to be desired when it came to Vulcan dialects.
"Why don't you just synthesize it? It seems like a lot of effort for a little bowl soup," Uhura said eyeing the mess.
"Because it wouldn't be homemade soup then, now would it." Chris tapped Uhura on her pert nose with her finger for emphasis.
"It's not homemade soup now. It looks like you're using reconstituted vegetables." Uhura said ignoring Chris's playfulness.
"Well yeah, that's all we have available. There is only one Vulcan aboard and apparently Starfleet didn't feel it cost-effective to stock fresh Vulcan produce for just one person."
"That's terrible," Uhura said with outrage. "No wonder Spock doesn't eat much if this junk is all he has to choose from. We're all entitled to an allotment of fresh fruit and veg."
"You're right, it is terrible what they make him eat. And it doesn't smell as good as the synthesized version either. Have a taste will you and tell me what you think?" Chris held out a spoon to Uhura.
"Um... no thanks," Uhura backed away. "I love you Chris, but not enough to spend the night with you in the sickbay."
"How dare you!" Chris said. "I'll have you know we have a lot of fun at night in the sickbay."
"I'll just have to take your word for it," Uhura said as she walked back to the door. "Well, I'll let you get back to it Chris," Uhura said and she left the same way she came in, with a spring in her step. "Good luck!" You'll need it, she said under her breath.
Christine watched her friend leave and then she got back down to business. She loved Nyota, she really did, but sometimes her lack of support for Christine's pursuit of Spock was disturbing. She almost suspected that Nyota had more than a passing interest in Spock herself, but then Christine always thought better of it. Ny wasn't interested in men or romance even though she was considered the cutest thing on this ship. Uhura had consistently blown off every guy who made a play for her, and there were many. After her breakup with Riley, Nyota seemed determined to climb the ranks of the service and leave romance far behind her.
Christine didn't care about her career or her rank. She'd abandoned her promising career as a bio-researcher so she could look for love and she was still looking for it. Right now she had her sights set on Mr. Spock. He didn't seem interested in women or relationships either, but Spock was a man and men had certain needs. And lately, she'd seen him looking... well looking interested in the opposite sex.
Oh, it was subtle, and anyone who didn't know Spock as well as she did may have missed the signs but Christine had noticed. Spock's eyes lingered just a tad too long on the female crew who danced and played in the rec room and he seemed very uncomfortable the last time he was in the turbo lift alone with her. He wasn't himself lately and if ever there was a time to pounce it was now while he seemed interested.
/*-/*-/
"What is this? Don't keep prying, if I want anything from you I'll ask for it!" Spock had shouted at Christine after he tossed the soup she had lovingly prepared at the door and chased her out of his quarters. The hall was busy with crewmen coming and going about their business including the Captain and Dr. McCoy. Spock followed her out and confronted the Captain asking for shore-leave. The captain had taken Spock back into his quarters while Christine was left to sulk alone in her quarters humiliated.
/*-/*-/
"Did you hear what happened?"
"No, what happened?" Nyota asked Sulu who had jogged up to walk along beside her.
"Well, I heard that Spock had a tantrum."
"A tantrum?" Nyota laughed. "I highly doubt that Hikaru. I'm surprised at you for spreading rumors like that." She kept walking.
"It's not a rumor, I heard it from Checkov who heard it from-"
"Sulu I don't want to hear it," she hurried on.
"Why not? I've never known you to pass up on some good gossip... unless it's about Spock that is," Sulu said slyly.
"Sulu, when is there ever any good gossip about Spock?" She asked arching her brow in a very Spock like fashion.
"Okay, okay, you got me there but, but-"
"No buts. I don't want to hear any silly gossip about Spock. He's our friend."
"He's your friend, he's just my commanding officer."
"Sulu I can't believe that after all we've been through on the bridge together you would say something like that." Uhura sounded disappointed.
"Well, it's true. Spock's not friendly. He only seems to take a liking to the Captain, the Doctor, and you." Sulu looked at her sideways.
"That's not true," Uhura denied.
"Yes, it is, and don't act all humble about it. There is no shame in being Spock's 'special friend'."
"I am not Spock's special anything," Uhura said and hurried on.
"Mmm-hmm," Sulu hummed as he tagged along after Uhura. He knew she had a thing for Mr. Spock and one of these days she was going to slip up and admit it. And he also had a hunch that Spock had a thing for Uhura and one of these days Spock was going to slip up also. He had already done so as far as Sulu was concerned. Spock was not that subtle about it and neither was Nyota. Idiots.
Sulu and Uhura rode the lift to the bridge together, each caught up in their own thoughts about the ship's commander. When they arrived Spock was at his station, as usual, manning the scanners but he didn't bother to look up as he usually did when the bridge crew changed arrived for their shift change.
Uhura looked disappointed but she took her station and got down to work. It was an unusual shift and that was saying something for the Enterprise. There was a strange tension in the air, and it only got worse after they received orders from Starfleet to head for Altair VI immediately instead of diverting to Vulcan. Usually, there would have been some discussion about the course change and the captain had tried to engage Spock but the conversation fell flat. Sometimes Uhura and Spock would start up some frivolous conversation when the Captain was not on duty and they would playfully banter with one another for hours, but again there was nothing but silence from Spock tonight. After a few hours, the captain left the bridge giving the CON Spock while he went to his quarters for rest.
Spock stayed at his station rather than taking the command chair and then he suddenly ordered that they change course back for Vulcan. No one questioned his orders but a few hours later the captain himself ordered the course change as well. When he was informed that they already were headed for Vulcan, Sulu knew something was up.
The captain personally came back to the bridge to summon Spock away. When the Captain and Spock left the bridge the crew let out a collective sigh of relief, all except Uhura that is. She looked almost as pensive as Spock had. She was obviously worried about her friend but there was nothing she could do while on duty. Surely the Captain would get to the bottom of all the strange goings-on lately.
/*-/*-/
Meanwhile, Christine was in her cabin licking her wounds. She had presented Spock with her soup and he had practically thrown it in her face! How could he do such a thing? Didn't he know she was only trying to help him? Didn't he know how much she cared for him? Why did he always treat her like some meddling pariah? Was she so unattractive to him? Was she so annoying? Why was he always so mean to her when all she did was try to love him! She cried.
It wasn't long after her humiliating retreat to her cabin that she started getting communications from her so-called friends, probably trying to get the inside scoop on what happened. She never got that many calls on any ordinary night. Some friends they were, she thought bitterly as she put the communicator in silent mode.
Well, she wasn't going to let Spock get her down. If he thought he was going to get away with this he had another think coming. She got up and headed for her shift with renewed determination. She wasn't in the mood for work tonight but she refused to hide in her cabin as if she had done something wrong. She was the wounded party, not Spock and she was going to walk with her head held high and ignore the gossip surely buzzing around the ship about her. She made it without incident to the sickbay but of course, there were gossiping nurses who just couldn't wait to share everything they knew about the situation.
She overheard someone say that Spock was confined to quarters. Good. Let him rot there she thought angrily. But later in the reception area she just happened to be close enough to overhear the Captain discussing Spock while on a call to Starfleet and then with Doctor Mccoy. They said that Spock was ill and dying! And McCoy and Captain Kirk were defying orders to get him home to Vulcan where he could be treated.
Oh my god! Christine dropped everything and rushed to Spock's quarters. She used her medical override code without even thinking about it and let herself into his room. She could barely see through her tears when she let him know that the ship was headed back to Vulcan and he seemed grateful to her. He told her he had dreamed of her and asked for more of her soup. Finally, he noticed her. Finally, he was allowing her into his life she thought as she hurried off to serve him.
The ship arrived at Vulcan in good time and when they established a standard orbit Christine found an excuse to be on the bridge. She walked in just in time to hear Mr. Spock announce that the woman on the main viewer was his wife!
Everything was a blur after that. Spock, McCoy, and Kirk beamed down to the planet and Christine went back to the sickbay in a daze. Spock was married? How could he be married? How could he do this to her? He let her chase him and throw herself at him time after time and he could never mention something so monumental like the fact that he had a wife? How many times could one man break a woman's heart? She tried to call Nyota and commiserate with her but Uhura was not answering her communicator. Her best friend picked a fine time to be incommunicado when she needed her most. Who could Christine turn to in her hour of need?
And all that while Christine couldn't get Spock out of her mind. What was happening on that planet? What was taking so long? What kind of illness did Spock have that could only be cured on Vulcan? When had he married that woman? Was he bringing her back with him? Why wasn't she catering to Spock and preparing his meals instead of letting another woman do it? Spouses were allowed on the ship so why wasn't Spock's wife here? What the hell was happening!
Despite everything Christine still cared about Spock and wanted to know how he fared. She needed to know what was happening down there. Spock may have betrayed her and shattered her heart and her dignity but she didn't want him to die.
Besides, Spock hadn't really led her on. He never at any time led her to believe that he had any interest in her. In fact, he had always gone out of his way to discourage her and reject her. Last night was the first time he had ever shown her the slightest bit of kindness, and now she realized it was only because he was out of his mind with fever. He hadn't been himself when he told her that he had dreamed of her and wiped her tears away. He had been so gentle... Last night if he had asked she would have given him anything and everything he wanted from her. But even in his fever, he had never asked for anything more than a bowl of soup.
Perhaps it was time to accept that Spock was out of her reach and unavailable. He was a married man. In her distraction, she hadn't realized how much time had passed. Before she knew it McCoy was beaming back up with an unconscious Captain Kirk. She helped the doctor rouse the captain and then they all waited for Spock to beam back up.
According to McCoy, Spock was deceived into believing that he had killed the captain in combat in order to save both their lives. It made no sense to her and Christine had a million questions but McCoy could say no more before Spock himself was walking into the sickbay. Before McCoy could get a word in edgewise Spock was talking about resigning and turning over command to Scotty. When the Captain finally made his presence know Spock surprised them all by smiling and grabbing the Captain happily. Christine couldn't believe her eyes. Spock was smiling! But then Mccoy ordered her out of his office.
It didn't matter though. Spock was alive and well and she had seen him smile. She had never seen anything more beautiful in her life and her heart throbbed with joy because of it. So what if he was married and out of reach? She'd just have to love him from afar, but no matter what she couldn't stop loving Spock. How could she not love him when he was so beautiful and when just the mention of his name made her heart beat faster? If she couldn't have Spock all to herself at least she could serve with him on the Enterprise and see him every day. At least she would always have that and the memory of his smile.