The Other Woman, chapter 5
Trying to juggle three cups of coffee and one of tea, Uhura looked around for something to carry them on. A big sign said that the trays must remain in the cafeteria, but maybe no one would notice if she swiped one. She'd bring it back. Surely they wouldn't care.
"Would you like some help?"
She looked up at the voice by her elbow to see Helen standing next to her, a cup in her own hand. Smiling, she replied, "Sure. Thanks."
Picking up one of the coffees, Helen asked, "Are you taking these back to Spock's room?"
"Yes." Uhura slid several packets of sweetener and cream into her pocket. "I thought that you, Admiral Kirk, and Dr. McCoy might enjoy some coffee. The tea is for me."
"That's kind of you, but I just purchased coffee for myself."
"Okay. Maybe someone else will want the extra. And it's nothing. I was coming down here anyway."
Helen nodded as they fell into step together and left the cafeteria.
"So. I hear that you're an archaeologist and the curator of a museum. That sounds like, uh, fascinating work." Uhura cringed at her choice of words, but she forged on. "Saavik said that you even let her go on a dig with you."
"We had a good time, and I was pleased to encourage her interest. It's a wonderful career. I've always enjoyed it, and it does my heart good to communicate that joy to others."
Uhura looked up at the other woman, surprised to hear genuine warmth in her voice. From everything she'd heard and seen until now, she hadn't expected Helen to unbend like this. Maybe she'd been too hasty to judge her.
"Saavik said that you're a good teacher. Now I see why."
Helen met Uhura's eyes. "Saavik talks about you all the time, too. As does Spock. I have to tell you that you're a hard act to follow."
Uhura's step almost faltered, not only at Helen's blunt words, but at the admission that Spock would talk about her with Helen. She was glad to see that she managed to steadily keep putting one foot in front of the other, but unfortunately her presence of mind only seemed to stretch so far. Like an idiot, she blurted out the first words that came to mind.
"Spock talks about me? Really?" She, herself, a hard act to follow? This, coming from Superwoman?
"Oh yes." Helen gazed appraisingly at Uhura. "He does. Which is why I probably shouldn't have been so surprised to find you sitting beside his bed when I arrived this morning."
Uhura frowned and faced the hallway ahead of her. "Saavik called all in a panic. She needed me."
"Of course."
Helen's tone had grown cool again. Obviously, she didn't believe that Uhura had come for Saavik. Uhura pressed her lips together. She really was not in the mood to go through this again. Instead of revealing her irritation, she smiled and said, "Spock and I have been friends for a long, long time, but I came here for Saavik. That's all there is to it."
Helen slowed until she came to a stop. Turning toward Uhura, she studied her for a long moment, then said, "I think that you really believe that. All right. Well, Spock is better and Saavik can relax. Dr. McCoy said that you were leaving very soon. I suppose that I should thank you for coming."
Uhura looked unwaveringly up into the other woman's eyes. Carefully keeping her voice even, she said, "You don't need to thank me. I did this for Saavik—not me, and not you. Now, this coffee is growing cold. Why don't we carry it to the room?"
A begrudging hint of respect in Helen's eyes, she nodded, and they fell back into step together. Turning the corner, Uhura noted with relief that they were approaching the intensive care ward. The two women walked in silence until they reached Spock's room.
As soon as she set foot in the door, a hearty voice greeted her, and she forgot her annoyance as she smiled happily at Scotty. She moved toward him, but not before she glanced quickly at the bed. Spock looked good, even better than when she had stuck her head in the door about twenty minutes ago. She almost laughed when he met her eyes. Although he was still very, very weak, his amused tolerance of Scotty's energetic presence was obvious. She smiled even wider, then turned her attention to Scotty.
"Scotty!"
"Why, hello lass!" He put a beefy arm around Uhura's shoulders. "I didna realize you were here! How good to see you. And you too, Helen. I haven't forgotten that I still owe ye a tour of my engine room."
Smiling, Helen said, "Hello, Montgomery."
Uhura leaned into Scotty's embrace and tried not to spill the coffee. "Scotty, how are you? I didn't expect to find you here."
"I'm fine. I heard about Mr. Spock this morning and thought I'd drop by to see how he was doing."
"Would you like some coffee? We just happen to have an extra."
"Why thank ye, lass."
Helen handed a cup to Kirk, as well. Cradling both hands around it, he said, "Thanks, Helen. You're wonderful. How did you know I'd be craving coffee right now?"
She smiled enigmatically. "I didn't. It was Nyota's idea."
"Oh." Kirk grinned at Uhura. "Then thank you."
"You're welcome." Very aware of the fact that Helen stood between her and the bed, that Spock was watching her, and that Helen was watching Spock watch her, Uhura lifted another cup. "This is for Dr. McCoy, so I guess I should go find him. I'll catch you in a bit, Scotty."
She left the room quickly but stopped in the hallway to take a deep breath. How awkward! Hopefully she hadn't caused any friction between Spock and Helen. She really didn't want to make Helen uncomfortable.
Well... Maybe a little uncomfortable wouldn't be so bad. She couldn't help but smirk slightly as she wandered off in search of Dr. McCoy.
...
The hours had passed slowly, but finally it was almost time to leave for Gibraltar. She tiptoed to Spock's room and quietly peered in. She had hoped to see him one more time before she left, but the room was dim and he appeared to be asleep. Before she was able to back away, however, he propped himself on his elbows and looked in her direction.
"I am awake."
"You were resting. I should leave you alone."
"No, please. I would prefer that you stay."
Wincing slightly, he reached around to reposition his pillows, but before he could complete the motion, she hurried over to help. She was very careful not to touch him as she arranged support for his back.
"Thank you, Nyota." He pushed himself up to a sitting position and eased back onto the pillows. "Although I am much recovered, my mobility is still somewhat restricted."
"I'm sure it is. You're doing great for someone who just had open-heart surgery, though. Do you feel pretty good except for the soreness?"
"Yes. I am much more alert now and regaining my strength rapidly." He motioned at the chair. "Please have a seat."
"Okay."
She dragged the chair closer to the bed, and they gazed at each other for a long moment. She licked her lips, so glad to see him looking more like his old self, but all her words seemed inadequate in the aftermath of such a close call, and she didn't know what to say.
Finally, she picked a neutral topic. "You had a lot of calls today. I wasn't sure I'd get a chance to talk to you."
"Indeed." He nodded slowly, as if the effort cost him. "Dr. McCoy threatened to disable my communications if I did not rest, but of course I had to speak to my parents. Also, it was only logical that I review next week's course work with my replacement at the Academy, and I could not refuse to speak with Commanders Sulu and Chekov since they were kind enough to call. I must admit that I did not anticipate the alacrity with which they contacted me. Evidently, the 'grapevine' is a more effective method of communication than I had realized."
Uhura chuckled. "Oh, you'd be surprised."
He raised an eyebrow at her amusement, but to her relief didn't question her about it. "Admiral Kirk stated that Saavik handled herself very well," he said.
"I think she's done wonderfully all through this." Uhura lowered her eyes demurely. "She and I had a long talk in the hospital cafeteria last night, and I was really impressed with her maturity. She's growing up quickly. I know that she seemed a little shaky when you first saw her this morning, but she's really been through a lot. I think she did very well, considering."
"I understand that. I will not comment on her slight loss of composure today."
"Good."
"Did I understand her to say that you would be gone by the time she returned from class?"
Uhura nodded. "It's time for me to go on to Gibraltar. I'm behind on my plans for next week's class, and I really need to prepare."
"I know that it was an inconvenience for you to come. I appreciate what you did. For all her bravado, Saavik is still quite a young girl. Your presence gave her strength."
"I was just glad that I was in a position to be here for her. And you, too. So did Helen leave? I haven't seen her for a while."
"I encouraged her to return to the site at Monte Alban. Her students cannot be left unattended for any great length of time, and my recovery was obviously well underway."
"She seems like a nice person."
"She said the same about you."
"She's also very pretty."
"She said that about you, as well."
Uhura shook her head. "Well, she's being polite. I'm afraid I couldn't have impressed her too much. I know I'm a wreck."
"Your appearance is perfectly acceptable."
She looked at him sideways. "Now you're being polite.
"Your appearance is always perfectly acceptable, Nyota." Continuing too quickly for her to respond, he said, "Saavik told me that she located you at your sister's house. I regret that you were forced to shorten your visit. Did you have plans for the weekend?"
"Oh no, I didn't miss anything. We had talked about going to the market today, but mainly I just wanted to see her because we missed each other last time I came to Earth. We had a good visit Friday. That was enough."
Nodding, he seemed to sink a little further back into the pillows, and she couldn't miss his growing fatigue despite his attempt to hide it.
"Spock, you really are tired," she said with concern. "I need to leave you alone."
He sighed. "I will admit that I am tired, but I do not wish for you to leave. We have not spoken at great length for quite some time. I will have sufficient opportunity to rest later."
"True. And do you know what? I really don't want for me to leave right now, either. It's just too good to sit here and see that you're whole and healthy and alive. I was afraid that I might not ever get to do this again."
She hesitated. There was so much more that she had planned to say, but suddenly she felt awkward. She remembered her talk with Saavik, however, and how terrible it was to think that she might never have had the chance to tell Spock how she really felt, so she took a deep breath and continued.
Her voice very low, she said, "I don't know how to tell you how frightened I was when I got the word that you were ill. It scared me to death. As I traveled from London to San Francisco, little snippets of the times we've had together, both good and bad, kept playing through my mind." She felt her cheeks grow warm. "Some of what I remembered was very personal, but a lot of it was surprisingly simple—how you helped me when I almost fainted on the bridge that time, the way you pretended not to understand when I teased you, the gleam in your eyes when you solved an especially difficult problem, the gentle patience you've always had with Saavik. All I could think about was how much less wondrous the universe would be without you. And how badly I wanted just one more chance to talk to you so that I could tell you these things."
He shifted, and she could see that she had made him uncomfortable.
"Nyota, I am uncertain how to respond to this, except to say that words are not always necessary. I understand that we will always retain a certain... affection for one another, but you must not feel that you have to actually define it in so many words. Words are unimportant when actions can suffice."
She shook her head vehemently. "But don't you see? To me, the act of voicing something like this is important in and of itself. So many times we let moments go by, unspoken and unacknowledged, simply because we assume that the other person knows without being told. Not this time. I have to say this." She leaned forward. "Maybe we're a little uneasy around each other now—maybe we always will be—but no matter what we've been through, I want you to know that more than anything I'm glad you're my friend."
Embarrassed at the choked, unsteady quality in her voice when she had spoken the last sentence, she looked down at her hands. No one said anything, and finally she faced him again. Although he held her gaze, the lines in his face seemed deeper than usual and his eyes sagged heavily. He was tired, so tired, and she saw that he was struggling against his body's demand for rest even while struggling for a reply to her comments.
She decided that maybe she should let him off the hook. "You need to sleep now, Spock. Go ahead. I have to leave in a few minutes, anyway. If you don't mind, I'd like to just sit here and relax until then."
Nodding, he murmured, "I do not mind. Thank you for coming, Nyota, on both Saavik's behalf and my own."
He closed his eyes, and she settled back in her seat to enjoy the peacefulness. When she was sure he was asleep, she left.
End chapter 5