Patient 646: Kirk, James T
"So Bones thinks that I can persuade you to get some actual bedrest." Sandra sighed before the doors even opened. She lowered her head onto her desk when the captain's voice filtered into her office. "Pretty sneaky of you to trick cute, little Chekov."

"He hates it when you refer to him as something cute or little." she replied, her voice muffled. She turned to glare at him. "I didn't trick him. He went to his bridge shift and I just so happened to not stay in my room."

"Better watch out or he'll find a way to program the ship to lock you in your room."

"He did. I broke the code." Sandra replied. "Now are you going to let me do my work or are you going to bother me?"

He plopped down on the couch. "I've got time on my hands. Go ahead." he grinned. "Analyze me, doc."

"Captain, there is little I can say that Dr. McCoy couldn't tell you." she replied. "You're a goddamn adrenaline junkie who has daddy issues."

"Jeeze, cut to the heart." the captain chuckled. "Come on, anything else?"

"You want a head exam, go see McCoy. He seems to specialize in you seeing as how often you wind up in sick bay." She looked over the damage reports. "You really don't get it. You're so busy looking out for everyone else on the damn ship, you miss out on what it's right in front of you." She froze when he laughed. "It's not about proving to daddy in whatever afterlife that you're capable of doing things and for him to be proud. It's not about proving to Pike because you would've been done already or gone on to admiralship."

"Hey, I didn't do this because of my father or Pike."

She snorted. "Yeah, right. Tell me you don't constantly seek approval from McCoy or Spock." He turned his lips into a line and stared at the floor. "You seek daddy approval in both men. You're a bit better now than you were back at the academy simply because you have found your place." His blue gaze finally looked up at her, rage burning. "I saw the ceremony, captain. When you all returned from the Battle for Earth. My patient was absolutely itching. She was thrilled to see her son up to relieve Admiral Pike."

He froze. "My mom was your patient?"

"Yeah. I was a masters student when she first contacted me. She had heard that my thesis was on the grieving process and its role in Starfleet."

"God, did everyone study my parents?"

"Nope. Your mom came to me. Pike studied your dad and the U.S.S. Kelvin." She set her stylus down and leaned on her hands, staring him down. "There are people who have seen you as the golden child because of what happened. Your mom was proud because you were her little boy and managed not to get yourself killed in saving Earth. She was crying and beside herself during the ceremony."

"I'm failing to see how any of this really is supposed to help me." He moved to get up.

"You are doing the right thing. Wave your mom. She'll tell you that she's so proud. Maybe not in so many words but watch her carefully."

"She's that proud?"

Sandra sat back again. "You're mostly settled, captain. No matter what McCoy says. You're pretty settled. Something about you being in the captain's seat is just right."

Kirk stood at the door. "You haven't been talking to Spock Prime, have you?"

Confusion appeared on her face. "Spock who?"

He shook his head and gave her a dazzling smile. "I'll tell Chekov not to worry so much." Kirk winked at her as the doors slid open. "Oh and thanks for giving us a hand with sick bay!" He disappeared from sight and the last she heard of him that day was, "Hey Bones!"

Sandra rolled her eyes. "Little boys, the whole bunch of them." She looked over her reports. Quite a few in engineering needed time off to focus on managing their post traumatic stress disorder. "Shore leave should take care of all that."

"Chekov to Dr. Sandy."

She opened the channel. "Sandra here, what do you want, Pavel?"

"Sulu and I are fencing in a few hours. Would you like to come?"

"Pavel, I've got reports to file."

"You can file them at practice. We're getting dinner beforehand. Please come?"

She frowned. "No. I've got reports to file."

"Ok, ok. I will bring you dinner. Chekov out."

Sandra blinked at the cheerful parting. When the hell did Chekov decide when she would do things?

The chime to her office rang out. "Er...come in!" she called out. Her eyes widened. "Commander Spock!"

"My presence surprises you, Doctor?" he asked.

"Er...yes. I wasn't aware that you needed any psychological evaluation." She sat up straighter nad shuffled her PADDs. "Please, have a seat."

"I am not here to inquire upon the state of my own mental health. I am actually here to inquire of your relationship with Ensign Chekov." He sat down on the couch and waited for her to reply.

She narrowed her eyes. "What relationship?"

"You and Ensign Chekov are in a relationship, are you not?" he asked.

"Not to my knowledge."

He processed the information. "Then may I query as to an explanation of the ensign's behavior?"

"Always, Commander. But, as you know, I can't release information without consent of relevance to the situation at hand." She sat back and crossed her arms. "So what's going on?"

"Ensign Chekov has made repeated weekly trips to your office hours. The number of visits has increased from 1 to 3. There are occasions where there are 2 trips in a week simply because he was occupied with matters." He looked at her again. "I am also aware he brings sustenance to you. He was also your primary caretaker during this past incident."

"And your query is the state of said relationship?"

"Correct."

"I am not in a relationship with Ensign Chekov, Commander." she smiled. "You and the captain seem to have the same thing going on. Are you in a relationship with each other?"

"No, we are not." He stood up again. "Thank you."

"Commander, I have a question before you go."

He faced her. "You may speak freely."

"Who's Spock Prime?

His eyes narrowed at the mention of the name. "You are aware of Spock Prime?"

She weighed her answer carefully. "I have heard of him."

He straightened and adjusted his blue shirt. "I have no comment on the matter." And with that, he briskly walked out into the hallway.

When the doors slid close, she logged onto the subspace connection. "Search for Vulcans over 100 years of age, please." The screen blinked rapidly as it flew through the profiles of the remaining Vulcans. Five profile pictures appeared at the end of the search. "Eliminate Ambassador Sarek and the Vulcan Elders from results." She looked closely at an elder Vulcan left. "Zoom picture 150%."

The image that stared back at her seemed so...Her eyes widened. Sandra rubbed her eyes to make sure she was not hallucinating. "Ambassador Solek...is Spock?" she whispered. The chime sounded and she quickly closed the profile. "Come in!"

There stood a rather angry looking ensign. "Dr. Sandy."

"Pavel, I told you I was busy." She glared right back at him. "What're you getting all pissy about?"

He stalked over to her desk and shut it off. "You work too hard." And with that, he threw her over his shoulder and walked out of the office. He keyed in the lock to lock the doors to her office and stalked off in the direction of a turbolift. "You will come have meal with me and Hikaru and then you watch fencing."

"Pavel," Sandra crossed her arms. "I can get you court marshaled for this."

"Doctor McCoy ordered bedrest for you." He set her down when the turbolift's doors closed. "You disobey doctor's orders."

"I do that a lot." She reached to signal her floor again. He batted her hands out of the way. "Hey!"

"You disobey CMO McCoy orders and he get really mad." Grey eyes watched her. "I do not want Doctor McCoy to get mad. And I want you to get better."

She waved him off. "Pavel, I'm fine. I saw two patients today."

"Is too many." He grabbed her hand when the doors slid open and nearly dragged her towards the mess hall. "Hikaru, I got her!" he shouted down the hall.

Sandra could barely get a word in edgewise while Pavel sat her down and slid over a tray. She sighed and began to eat. The pilot smiled at her sympathetically. She smiled back. Of all of the people on the ship, Hikaru Sulu knew of Pavel's boundless energy. "Glad you could join us for dinner."

"I had no choice." Sandra cast a look over at Pavel. "Are you gonna sit there and absorb your food slowly or are you going to eat it?" The young man blushed and began to shovel food down his throat. "Pavel announced I was to join you two for dinner and fencing." She looked over to the ensign and smiled. "Seems like I didn't have a choice." Hikaru only smiled.

As the night wore on, fencing didn't turn out to be that bad. If anything, it was entertaining to try and follow the many rules associated with it. Finally, she excused herself with the true promise of heading back to her quarters for some shut eye. She slipped off her coat and uniform down to her federation issued undergarments and collapsed on her bed, exhaustion claiming her consciousness.

The chime of a video call awoke her from her slumber. Sandra grumbled as she dragged herself out of bed and threw on a pink, satin robe. She didn't even bother to look presentable when she sat down and accepted the call. Pavel looked both excited and nervous at the same time, still dressed in his uniform. Probably just getting ready for a shift.

"Yes, Pavel?" She thanked whatever deities existed out there that technology filtered the mind's chatter even more. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"We will be approaching New Vulcan in 10 hours." Pavel began. She stared blankly at him. He seemed to fidget even more. She sat back and watched him. He cursed in Russian. A flush appeared on his pale cheeks and she heard the hushed whispers between him and who she guessed was either Sulu or the captain. "No, captain! I will not say that I can see myself in her pants!" came the harsh whisper. Sandra chuckled silently to herself.

"Come on! She'll think it's cute!" whispered an off screen voice.

She cleared her throat. "Captain." she called out. "I know you're there."

Pavel's grey eyes widened. She heard the captain mumble "shit" and the sound of scuffling. "You're on your own, Chekov. Good luck!" The blush spread to the rest of his face.

"Pavel? Why was the captain in your quarters?" she asked.

Fidget. "I needed his help with something."

"And why did you call me?" She really shouldn't enjoy watching him squirm. But it was highly entertaining. "Are you ok, Pavel?"

"Yes!" he blurted. "I...er..." He took a deep breath. "We will be arriving at New Vulcan in 10 hours. Do you have shore leave?"

She smiled. "Yes. I was planning on accompanying Lt Young on a tour of the Vulcan Council." His eyes kept darting back and forth between her state of dress and the floor of his own room. "Is Commander Spock letting you go planetside?"

"Yes. Yes." He nodded a few times. "I was wondering if...if you would like to accompany me." The floor of his bunk seemed VERY interesting. "To see a tour of the new Vulcan Science Academy."

She blinked. "Pavel, are you actually asking me out on a date?"

"Yes."

Her face softened. "Pavel...wouldn't you feel more suited for someone who can keep up with you on trans warp theory? I'm your psychologist. It happens often. You're feeling an attachment to me because of what transpires in my offices. It's nor--"

"No, is not that!" His head snapped up and she saw what almost seemed like anger in his eyes. "I can talk trans warp theories with Scotty or navigation with Sulu. Or even the Captain. And it is not doctor-patient affection. I do not come to your offices for therapy."

She blinked, thinking back on their meetings. He often came by with food. Or to keep her company. He spoke fondly of his home in Russia, how he misses it sometimes. He listened to when she spoke about home.

"I come by because you seem so lonely. The first time, you looked like you missed home. Then I got to know you with our meetings. And you are pretty." He blushed again, bravado ebbing. She smiled at his comment.

"All right. One date." she finally replied. A smile brightened up his face. "But after I have a tour of the Vulcan High Council with Lt. Young."

"Ah I will come with you!" She found herself smiling at his enthusiasm.

"Great! We're leaving at 1300."

"Does this mean I can call you Sandy?"

She rested her chin on her hands. "I introduced myself to you as Dr. Sandra Linh. You insisted that you call me Dr. Sandy. You're the only person I have allowed to call me Sandy in a very long time."

He smiled even wider. "Then I will see you at 1300. Good night, Sandy."

She turned off her monitor and chuckled. Of course, she had a date with the youngest officer in Starfleet. Sandra snuggled back into her sheets. He'll understand that it was simply a normal feeling between doctor and patient.

Sandra was dragging an incredibly reluctant Lt. Young towards the transporter room. "Sandra, let go!" But she kept a firm hold on her friend's arm. "This is assault!"

"It isn't." Sandra replied. They stepped into the transporter room with Pavel and some other crew members on the pad, waiting for them. "We're all here, Scotty."

The Scotsman gawked at her. "You're taking me best engineer?!"

"She needs a break from cleaning up after your messages. Plus it would be better for her mental health." Sandra replied.

"Just bring her back in one piece!" the chief engineer joked as he set the coordinates and beamed them planetside.

Immediately, they felt the hot air hit them. The other crew members walked off to explore the planet. Sandra linked arms with the engineer. "Come on, Shelley-belly, let's go see that council!"

Shelley glared at her. "I told you not to call me that."

"I've told people to not call me Sandy, but a certain ensign insists on it anyway." Sandra threw a glance back at Pavel. "Now come on, I've arranged for a fun, private tour."

"With who?"

Sandra's eyes sparkled. "Ambassador Solek." She saw the other girl's eyes widen. They walked over to the Ambassador's chambers with Pavel in tow. Shelley's eyes took in the Vulcan architecture and threw glares at Sandra whenever she could.

"You're dead." she promised. "I have engines to tend to."

"Scotty and the others can take care of it." They were led to a sitting room outside of the Ambassador's offices.

A young Vulcan, possibly in his mid 20's, walked out of the offices. He canted his head. "My apologies. Ambassador Solek has an appointment that could not be interrupted. He would not be able to escort you as planned. I am Silak, aide to Ambassador Solek. I will be taking his place."

Sandra's eyes widened as she took in the young man before her. She cast a glance over to Shelley, seeing her eyes widen in interest. A plan formulated in her mind. She stood up. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Silak. I'm Dr. Sandra Linh of the U.S.S. Enterprise. This is Lt. Shelley Young and Ensign Pavel Chekov." He acknowledged them. She watched him steadily and smiled.

"Lieutenant, I see you are associated with operations."

Shelley didn't answer. Sandra nudged her in the ribs. Immediately, the woman nodded. "Yes, yes. I'm an engineer. Uh...assistant to Mr. Scott."

"I am sure your work is...fascinating." Silak replied. Shelley blushed. Sandra grinned. He cleared his throat. "We should begin our tour of the High Council chambers."

"Uh, you know what? Lt. Young is the one that was really excited to come to New Vulcan. Why don't you guys go ahead? I just realized that Ensign Chekov had invited me to a lunch date. If you will excuse me, Mr. Silak." Sandy smiled. She turned to Shelley, her grin widening. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. I did promise him. But have fun!"

She grabbed Pavel by the arm and sauntered out of the chambers. She dared to look back at the remaining tow taking off in the direction of the chambers. "That was very sneaky, Dr. Sandy." Pavel chuckled.

Sandra looked at him, her face a picture of wide eyed innocence. "Why, Pavel, I was telling the truth!" She looped her arm around his. A blush crept to his face. "You promised me the science academy. Lunch was just...an exaggeration."

After wandering around a bit, they were able to find a restaurant with Vulcan cuisine. "So you never felt out of place at the Academy?" she asked.

He shook his head, curls bouncing slightly. "Not really. I was so cute to all the other cadets. My roommate loved me because he used me to lure women." he chuckled at the memory. "I was teenager. It was not difficult to adjust with so many women wanting to hang around me."

She chuckled. "Jim must not have been happy about that."

"Net, he was not. But I never met him. I have worked with Sulu before. And took Commander Spock's classes before. But other than that, I had not met any of them before the Narada incident." Their salads arrived and they forked through some of it. "I had seen a psychologist when we returned to Earth. We all had to."

"I remember. The offices were flooded for a week. People cycled in and out." Sandra nodded solemnly. "Myself, I got most of the engineering crew."

He nodded. "Dr. Tamul worked with me. He was wery nice. Psychology...is not so different from physics. It is physics in the mind. Emotions...they do not follow algorithms. I do not see how you can do it. You must be amazing to do so."

"Pavel, I'm a Betazoid. I can read thoughts." she smiled. "Except for Ferengi."

"What about you? You grew up in San Fransisco. How did you get there?" he asked.

"My birth parents passed on when I was young. Hence, I was put in the adoption system on Betazed." Their meals arrived and Sandra carefully cut her food. "When I was 3, my human parents had vacationed on Betazed and saw me. They wanted children and were tryign desperately. But for some reason, they could not conceive. So they decided to take a vacation away from it all and came to Betazed to relax. They said that they were at some park as was my agency. I walked over and told my adoptive mother that it would be ok and that I understood her pain."

He was watching her in rapt attention.

"And so I was whisked away to Earth. That's where I grew up and attended UC Berkeley then went off to Starfleet." She finished and took a bite of food.

"Why did you join?"

"I wanted to see space." she smiled. He smiled back at her. "During my time there, I would take all sorts of classes. Primarily science, but I liked stellar cartography and first aid and took a few physics and engineering classes."

"So that is why you helped in the medical bay? And how you go down to engineering?"

"Not really. I go down to engineering to visit my former patients. They suffer the most loss during any scrimmage. So they take a bit of precedence over others."

They continued chatting through lunch and laughed their way through the Science Academy, gawking at the various displays. She smiled inwardly. Pavel's thoughts were on his sleeve. Anything he did not say or express normally related to ships and equations and physics that made her dizzy. She noticed that as the day wore on, she held onto his arm more comfortably. Moved more comfortably towards him.

Her joy slipped away when they approached the council. Her mind was suddenly slammed with oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. She looked up to see Lt Young and Mr. Silak standing a bit apart. Her face red and the tips of his ears a minty green.

Shelley ran down the steps towards them with a mumbled "Let's go." Sandra bid a goodbye to Mr. Silak and off they went to the guest houses that they had booked. Pavel left them alone to speak while he walked off to check them in.

"Shelley, what happened?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Sandra...I high fived him." Sandra's eyes widened. "I forgot Vulcans are touch telepaths! And I high fived him! Oh god! It's like I kicked him in the balls!"