I'm sorry that I ended on such a horrible note and then didn't post for a few days...I've been so busy that it's taken me a few days to get all my thoughts out! But here you are, chapter 8! Enjoy and review!:)

Also, I am aware that my chapters tend to be shorter than what is probably considered ideal. It's not to torture everyone, this is mostly because I just don't have the time to commit to long 8,000 word entries. I apologize for this, but it's just kind of how it has to be:)

Beverly felt like she'd been punched in the stomach.

But Jean-Luc was supposed to be safe on the Enterprise while it was in dry dock…how could he possibly be hurt?

Trying but failing to regain her composure, Beverly hardly managed to form words and put them together into a sentence:

"Whaaat… happened? What's going on?!" she felt dazed and confused.

The blonde nurse glanced at the assistant, who grudgingly nodded, and then continued, explaining that according to what she'd been told by her superiors, Jean-Luc had been in Engineering supervising the last of the repairs and modifications when out of nowhere there was an explosion near the warp core. Jean-Luc was at the very heart of the blast site. They were unsure what had caused the explosion at present, but two engineers had already died by the time anyone could get to them and three others, including Jean-Luc, were seriously injured.

Though she was pretty sure she knew the answer to the next question, she had to ask.

"What's his condition?"

The blonde nurse hesitated and breathed out.

"I don't want to lie to you Doctor, he's in very bad shape. They are trying to stabilize him before transferring him."

Transferring him..? Oh! The Enterprise still doesn't have a CMO to replace me.

As irrational as she knew it was deep down, Beverly automatically started blaming herself.

What if he dies during transport? I'll never forgive myself…

Ugh! Don't think like that, Bev. You can't burry him before he's dead. Think positive.

"He's coming here." Beverly was making a statement, not asking a question and she certainly didn't wait around for a reply.

Beverly raced out of the building, running as fast as her legs would carry her to Starfleet Medical's trauma center, where she knew they'd be taking the man she loved.

They had transported him down just moments before she arrived.

The sight of him took her breath away. Though Jean-Luc was unconscious, a pained expression had overtaken his face. A gaping hole expanded across his chest, and red blistering burns covered his arms, neck, and face. His abdomen was grotesquely distended and covered in black and blue bruises. His right leg was bent at an angle she didn't even know was possible and the facture in that leg was clearly compounded. The lacerations and cuts covering his body were too numerous to count.

Beverly had seen Jean-Luc injured, but never ever like this.

Can I even put him back together this time?

While it seemed to her like she stood there forever, just staring at the battered body of Jean-Luc Picard, it was really only a matter of seconds.

Out of nowhere , one of the nurses yelled "he's crashing." That brought Beverly back to reality and she immediately began barking orders at all the doctors in the room. No one dared question an order given to them by the Head of Starfleet Medical.

It took Beverly a solid two minutes to get his heart back to a normal rhythm, and she couldn't help but think that if it stopped again, she might not be able to restart it.

"Dr. Layton, monitor his stats."

"Nurse, make sure we have plenty of blood on hand. He's A negative."

"Johnson, Mason both of you go and ahead make sure that O.R. 4 is prepped and ready for us to come down."

"I need an orderly stat!"

Everyone moved at once, complying with Dr. Crusher's orders.

Each and every member of the medical team was well aware of the rumors regarding the supposed relationship between Captain Picard and their boss, yet if anyone of them had any concerns about conflict of interest or Beverly's ability to complete the task placed in front of her, nobody voiced such objections. They all knew that Beverly had flipped the switch from friend/lover to doctor/surgeon. If anything there was an unspoken realization that she was his best chance at living…if not his only chance.

As two orderlies moved the Captain to the operating suite, Beverly went to change and scrub. She had turned her mind off. She was an emotionless machine; she wasn't allowing herself to feel anything: not worry, or fear, or heartbreak.

If I am to save him, I have to pretend I've never met him before. He means nothing to me, a patient of no importance.

She wished she could stay in the surgical prep room forever. She wished she could wake up from this nightmare and go back to her paperwork. She'd trade the paperwork of every medical officer in Starfleet if Jean-Luc could be safe and sound back on the bridge of the Enterprise. Hell, she'd rather it be her on that table.

Taking a deep breathe, Dr. Crusher stepped into the OR, fully gowned and gloved and faced both the reality of her situation and the fate of the man she loved. Stepping farther from the doorway, she allowed herself a moment to gather her composure.

Beverly couldn't help but think that Jean-Luc looked so small laying there unconscious; he also looked almost peaceful. The mechanical rise and fall of his chest told Beverly that her assistants had done their job and had put him under already. The computer was now completely regulating his breathing, and at this point it was the only thing keeping him alive.

In a last attempt to cope with what she was about to do, she brushed her hand over his smooth head and whispered in a voice so small that no one could hear:

"Fight Jean-Luc, please just fight…I can't live in this world without you."

Her assistants wheeled a tray of surgical equipment up next to Jean-Luc's side, and with that action Dr. Crusher went stone cold. There was no love for this man left inside her, she was nothing but a surgeon about to open up her patient and her patient was nothing more than a very very sick man needing her help. Dr. Crusher was showing medical detachment in its finest form because that was what she would have to do to save his life.

She nodded to the nurse standing next to her and ordered

"Laser scalpel."

The instrument was placed in her hand and all at once, the battle began.