Jenna's recovery began to progress in larger increments when she started keeping food down. It was so good to be able to eat again, she would have devoured everything in sight if Bones would let her.

"Whoa there, Jen," he'd remind her. "Not too much just yet. I know you're hungry as a horse, but your system can't quite take it in that fast. I'm pleased you've come this far, though."

"Only thanks to you and Doctor Boyce," she said with a wan smile. "I feel like I'll never be right again."

"You will, Jen," he assured her. "It's going to take some time. Pretty soon we'll be starting therapy to help you get back on your feet. That sound good?"

"I don't know. Chris always complained his therapists were sadists," Jamie said with some trepidation.

Bones snorted with laughter. "No pain, no gain, my dear Captain. Just look at how well he regained mobility."

"True," Jamie said. "I wonder how the trial and investigation is going."

Chris had been even busier than ever with Overseeing the new cryotube development with Khan and now dealing with a lot of hearings and Khan's trial. Despite this, he took time to see her every day, even if it was only for ten minutes. There had only been one other panic attack, thankfully, and it wasn't nearly as awful as the first one. Jenna still dealt with nightmares disrupting her sleep, though, and had been talking to a therapist about them. She guessed time was the key in that case.

Winona was busy too, but remained a steady presence for which Jenna was extremely grateful. They'd had time to do a lot of catching up and reconnecting and old tensions went by the wayside in the wake of what had transpired. Jenna asked for Yorktown news and gossip and was treated to many stories of engineering mishaps and pranks aboard the Yorktown, as well as many juicy Chris stories. He'd been quite the character in his youth and she relished knowing he'd done his fair share of stupid stunts.

"I'm totally going to ask him about that one," she declared, when her mother had finished a story, passed down from Caitlin Barry, wherein Chris had nearly ended up in some alien empress's harem due to his tempting good looks.

"Oh, you do that," Winona agreed with a wicked grin. "I'd love to see how he tries to downplay THAT episode."

Chris, upon being confronted with her knowledge of said incident on his next visit, groaned and glowered at Winona.

"Did you have to tell her THAT story?" He sighed, sitting down in the chair beside Jenna's bed.

"I figured a little levity was needed around here," Winona told him, arms crossed across her chest as she grinned at his discomfort. "C'mon Chris, don't tell me you've become one of those big shot admirals who can't laugh at themselves."

"I'd rather Jenna still have proper respect for me," he claimed. "She barely has any as it is."

"You know all my embarrassing stories. It was Time to even the playing field, Chris," Jenna stated, with an over the top smirk. "How in the world did you manage to get into that jam?"

He smiled ruefully.

"I️ apparently accidentally indicated sexual interest and she was...quite pleased at that."

He winced, and Jenna saw the tips of his ears getting red, which was a tell tale sign Chris was really embarrassed.

"So, How long did you have to wait before the misunderstanding was cleared up and they let you go?"

"Three very, very, long days," Chris said, with a slight shudder. "Long days of being cooped up in a house with all her...lovers...getting stared at and ogled."

Jenna was secretly empathizing with the empress. She couldn't blame her for wanting Chris. Even decades later, he was still quite fine. She got lost in thought for several minutes and didn't snap back to reality until she heard him say "Jen?" Repeatedly.

Realizing he'd caught her staring at him with what must have been a very dopey smile, she hastened to explain it away. "Sorry. I tend to zone out sometimes. Must be the drugs."

He looked a little uneasy, though.

"We'll get out of your hair and let you rest, then," he said, squeezing her hand. "Get better, Jen."

She smiled sleepily. "I'm doing my best, Chris. I'll be back up and driving you crazy anytime now."

"I'll look forward to it." With these words, He left the room, feeling suddenly both elated and troubled. Leaning against the wall, he ran his hand through his hair and wondered just what sort of a creep he was to have such feelings for a bright young woman like Jen.

"You know, if I don't know any better, I'd say your daughter was having some inappropriate thoughts about me," he said to Winona half teasingly.

"Don't try to tell me you haven't had similar thoughts about her, Chris," the Commander retorted. "Or that those thoughts stem from the fact that you're in love with her."

He couldn't hold Winona's challenging stare for long. He wanted to protest, tell her she was all wrong, that he would never...But his mother had raised an honest man and he couldn't lie to Winona.

"Okay. So what if I did...have feelings for her?" he questioned cautiously. "I have no idea what to do, or if I should do anything about it. She's young and has a bright future; I'm past my prime. Plus, After everything that's happened, the last thing she needs is this dumped on her. Surely you can't disagree with that reasoning."

"No, I can't, but I fear you'll keep using those same excuses over and over again and never getting around to actually telling her. You've done that before."

Winona's pointed words hit home. He'd loved Number One for years, but had never found the courage to tell her, a fact he rued very much the day she got engaged to somebody else.

"You'd be okay with it?" He asked skeptically.

"I want her to be happy and she very clearly is with you. Chris, open your eyes next time and really look. You've been so busy telling yourself she can't possibly love you, that you've ignored or missed the signs. If you still doubt, watch the security footage of her when she thought you'd died. She was a woman possessed. Jenna Kirk doesn't snap like that for just anyone. Well, maybe McCoy, but still..."

Chris had seen a few clips, but mostly the footage with Khan. He'd been too busy to really dig deeply into the archives and mostly relying on Spock's reports. It was about time he bit the bullet and took a look.

"I still say she could do a whole lot better than me," he finally said. "But I promise I'll take your advice."

"Thank you, and Chris, thank you for taking the time to come. It means a lot."

Winona looked at him with deep gratitude in her eyes and he cleared the sudden lump from his throat.

"No problem. Anything to keep her spirits up. I know how monotonous Long hospital stays can get. Take care."

Chris left the hospital in a contemplative mood. He knew he had issues, but Winona's Words about making himself unable to recognize love when it was being shown to him seemed painfully accurate the more he thought about them. It was time to take the blinders off and really look.