McCoy had managed to shoo most of the others out of the sickbay but Spock was being particularly stubborn, and he knew it would be hard to get T'Leiarel to answer any of the questions without Spock stopping him, not that he should really be taking advantage of pain medication to get gossip. He could have made conversation though...
"Right, so I've patched up the muscle and bone damage for the most part, but you might want to take it easy for a few days... and expect to be a little sore when the analgesic I gave you starts to wear off, and you might be a tad wobbly for an hour or two, so I'm going to see about sending one of my nurses to sit with you, since Spock is supposed to be seeing to his own treatment." He said with a sigh, still wondering what exactly was so secret about Spock's condition and treatment, but if it had something to do with marriages and coming of age or puberty or whatever was setting his hormones off then perhaps that was why the Vulcans were so secretive yet calm about it, it wasn't exactly something wrong so much as something happening as expected perhaps? It was still frustrating to be out of the loop though.
"No." T'Leiarel said, pulling herself to a sitting position and clearly getting a head rush from it. She was not really in a fit state to be left on her own right now, whether she liked it or not. "No going away... I just, I need to get my head less fuzzy and we can talk." She pulled Spock towards her and he sat awkwardly next to her on the bed, his eyebrow raised questioningly at McCoy, though given his behaviour the last few days the Doctor wasn't sure he would listen if he told him to do anything else. "I just, I need to..." She shuffled closer to Spock and leaned her head on his shoulder, which was amusingly sweet and very not Vulcan, Spock frowned at McCoy's smile. "I'll be ready to go in a bit."
"There's no hurry, take your time." Spock responded with a soothing rumble. He felt more at peace than he had in a while. He was still emotional, but he was with his bondmate, and she was safe from the rest of the world here on the Enterprise where he could protect her. It wasn't that he didn't want more right now, but they were going to talk, and that was more than he had been able to hope for a few days ago, that he might ever have a bondmate with the kind of connection that only another Vulcan could provide.
"We have an incoming communication for Spock from the planet." Uhura informed them over the comm. "It's his father. We've also had a call for T'Leiarel but the Captain told them they would have to call back tomorrow, once she's been cleared by the doctor." There was a hint of amusement in her tone suggesting that Kirk had been less than polite about the matter. "Do you want me to put Sarek through to the sickbay?" McCoy looked at the two Vulcans sat on his bed, they didn't seem ready to walk anywhere just yet, maybe he'd get his answers after all.
"I would appreciate that Nyota." Spock responded.
"Spock. I have been hearing..." Sarek's words trailed off as he saw T'Leiarel leaning against his son. He raised an eyebrow. "Is this the young woman that I have been informed you have married?" His tone was concerned beneath the mild disapproval, it was hard to be sure if that was about the mistakenly reported marriage or the fact that Spock hadn't told him. "I thought you had arranged to meet with the priestess?"
"Father, this is T'Leiarel. We..." He wasn't entirely sure what to say, they hadn't discussed anything, he didn't know what she was going to decide, and all he could do was hope. Though it was hard to be sure how much of this deep yearning was really him.
"No." T'Leiarel murmured sleepily, without opening her eyes. "Not married, I don't want to be married. I won the fight so I don't have to get married." The analgesic induced drowsiness made her blunt. Spock swallowed hard, wishing he could hide the pain from his father, and from Doctor McCoy who was definitely eavesdropping as he pretended to clean something on the other side of the sickbay and had looked up at the question. "But bondmate is okay. I like that... If I'm going to be bonded to anyone, I'm glad it's Spock." She was glad? Spock frowned slightly, it wasn't quite what he had hoped for, but it was more than he had any right to expect. It was hard to be quite sure what he felt on it, so after a moment's contemplation he just looked at his father.
"How is your condition at the moment?" Sarek asked after the brief pause.
"Manageable, for the moment." Spock responded. Sarek nodded. "I did mean to contact you once matters were more... conclusive." It was part apology, though he hadn't truly had the time to consider his father, he knew that it must have been difficult to hear of this in rumour from another.
"I understand. It seems like a complicated situation. Perhaps we can discuss it this evening, over dinner?" Sarek asked gently, Spock had been getting on slightly better with his father lately, and the slight softness of his tone was evidence of that, he was worried about his son. "If your new... if T'Leiarel is up to it she would be quite welcome also." He added.
"Thank you father. I will discuss the invitation once she has rested." Spock responded, he brushed some of T'Leiarel's hair from her face, only to feel uneasiness through his fingertips. "Given the recent events on New Vulcan, would it be possible for you to come to the ship? I know that Ryota will be pleased to see you again, and the synthesisers are getting better with Vulcan foods." It wouldn't be the same as a home cooked meal, one which his father had much practice in preparing, but to be honest Spock didn't really want her to go back to the planet either, there were too many unmarried young Vulcan men down there. As irrational as it was to worry about that when she'd clearly show her dislike of the option, he still felt the strain a the thought.
"I would be happy to. Though I do hope you will find some time to visit me on New Vulcan as well at some point." Sarek responded with a nod. He could understand the tensions surrounding the situation, in fact he had probably already had some of that disapproval come his way if he had known about this, but he seemed unshaken, then again he was Vulcan. Spock would have to discuss it with him this evening. "I look forward to our discussion." Sarek gave T'Leiarel a pointed look, clearly wanting to know more but able to tell that things were far from settled in order for Spock to tell him. He ended the call.
"Was there anything else you needed doctor?" Spock asked gently, when McCoy shook his head Spock scooped T'Leiarel up. It felt right holding her in his arms, though he would have preferred her to be more awake while he did.
"You know if you don't want people getting the wrong idea, carrying her through the corridors of the ship and across the threshold of her room is not likely to help. It's quiet in here, she could just sleep it off here for a bit and I can let you know when she wakes up?" The doctor offered. It was the logical option but it wasn't the one he wanted to go with, Spock wanted to take her somewhere private so that he would know she was safe and protected. Okay there were other reasons he wanted to go to her rooms, but right now rest was the priority.
"I want to snuggle." T'Leiarel said firmly with a small shake of her head. McCoy raised an eyebrow with a smirk that made Spock both uncomfortable and mildly smug somehow? Yet more emotional issues, he would be glad when that ended. "And Spock wants to show off how manly he is since he didn't do any fighting. At least I figure that's why he's so eager to be doing lifting and stuff." That somewhat dented the feeling. "Can I tell you a secret?" She asked the doctor, it was Spock's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Shhh, just don't tell Spock." He wasn't sure if he should remind her he was in fact holding her, but he didn't have the time to have to decide because she was already speaking again. "Being all protective and fierce is kinda sexy." McCoy had that smirk again... "But you know what's sexier?" There was a long pause during which both men found themselves both curious and amused by the conversation. "Oh right, I didn't finish... right... what was I saying... sexy... right, yes it's knowing when to not. Like when to just let someone be them and... stuff. Difference between sexy protectoring and possessive judgy smothering."
"Right." McCoy responded with a glance at his friend. "Well I won't tell him if you don't okay?" She nodded. "Seems like her brain chemistry is even more susceptible to getting spun out by the medication than most people's. So good luck and make sure neither of you go wandering off by yourselves okay?" Spock nodded. "I still don't know what's going on with you so just... don't do anything I wouldn't do. And it should wear off soon."
Well... Leonard couldn't say he hadn't found out more about Vulcans, or at least these two Vulcans, but if anything it raised more questions instead of answers, like what exactly was a bondmate? Why had she had to fight in order to not get married? And was Spock crashing the wedding going to be taken as some sort of proposal like in the old Earth films? Too bad he wasn't allowed to talk about any of this with Uhura or Kirk... being a doctor meant you got all the juicy gossip but it also meant you couldn't talk about any of it.