"YOU." growled out a voice that made Pavel shake in his boots. Especially when that voice is paired with hyposprays.
"Bones!" came the surprised cry of the captain. "What a pleasant surprise!"
"Oh drop that bullshit, Jim. I'm here to ask your ensign why the hell he's been haunting outside of medical bay." Chills dropped down his spine as the doctor made his way onto the bridge. "I'm up to my goddamn ears in recovering drunks. And Chapel comes and tells me that she's seen one Ensign Pavel Chekov pacing up and down the halls. I gave his goddamn girlfriend the vaccine!"
"Chekov?" The ensign didn't answer. "Ok. Mr. Chekov, Bones, my ready room, please. Spock, you have the conn." He stood up and stiffly followed the doctor and captain to the captain's ready room. As soon as the doors closed, the captain asked, "Ok, what's going on, Chekov?"
"I-is nothing, sir." Pavel lied through his teeth. "And she is not my girlfriend."
"Nothing, my ass." Dr. McCoy snorted.
"Bones, play nice." the captain warned. Pavel was staring at the floor. "Chekov." Kirk's tone was softer. "Pavel, what's going on?"
There was a long pause. "I went to see Dr. Sandy." he admitted quietly. "No one has heard from her, sir. I am worried."
Kirk narrowed his eyes. "Now that's not possible. Have you talked to everyone on board?"
"I try to message her, sir. She does not respond. She has not been to her office. Not medical bay." His hands clutched the back of a chair. "So I walk by, maybe I see her."
"Maybe you should check out engineering, Chekov. She's there pretty often." Kirk suggested. "And most likely, she's not gonna cruise by Bones' neck of the ship so going around medical bay wouldn't do you any good." He leaned over on his console. "Kirk to Ensign Ricky. Could you come up to the bridge to relieve Ensign Chekov?"
Ricky replied quickly. "Aye, sir!"
"I'm gonna hold it to your word, Jim."
"As long as you're holding yourself against me." And Pavel bolted to engineering before hearing the rest of their conversation.
He ducked under pipes and wove his way through other ensigns. "Mr. Scott! Mr. Scott!" he shouted. "Move! Out of my way!" He screeched to a halt when a tall woman stepped in front of him. "Lt. Young!"
She looked up from her PADD. "Ensign? What the hell are you doing down here?"
"I am looking for Dr. Sandy. Have you seen her?"
She blinked owlishly at him. "No, I haven't." She pursed her lips. "Come to think of it, she hasn't been fielding my calls." She turned her eyes, stylus easily tapping across the screen. "Computer, locate Dr. Linh."
"Officer's barracks. Quarters of Linh, Dr. Sandra." the PADD chirped back.
Lt. Young narrowed her eyes. "Computer, open channel to Dr. Linh's quarters." The chirp sounded. "Dr. Linh, it's Shelley."
"Hi, you've reached Dr. Sandra Linh. I'm not in my quarters right now. Please either contact my office or leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible. Thank you!"
The lieutenant closed the connection. She looked at Pavel carefully. "And you said that she's not in her offices?" She tapped the stylus against her chin. "Go check her rooms. I'll check her offices when I'm done with--"
"OY! YOUNG! YE AIN'T ONBOARD TO TALK TO WEE ENSIGNS! GET YOUR ARSE BACK HERE!" shouted a familiar voice.
"I gotta go, Chekov. But check up on her for me, ok?" Lt. Young jogged off, leaving him alone.
Pavel collected his thoughts as he made his way towards her quarters. The last time he had seen her, she was in the fevered throes of that infection that had the whole crew lowering their inhibitions. It was weeks ago.
"Ensign authorization code 9-5...victor...victor...2." he called out. "Open doors." The doors slid open.