Disclaimer: You know what? If I owned Star Trek, the DVD wouldn't be taking so darn long to hit stores. Curse you, November 17! *shakes fist*

A/N: Erm. Short chapter. More coming this weekend. Sorry for the sudden hiatus that seemed to sprung over the course of the past couple of weeks.

It had been nearly three weeks after she had gained consciousness in the critical care unit and Christine Chapel was back on her feet once again, having been released from medical supervision two days prior. Save for the bandages coated with aloe, she was relatively unscathed. Her forearms, though still in pain, were much better after all of the shrapnel was picked out of her skin, avoiding a dangerous infection.

She had a dangerous yearning to return to work as soon as possible, so Starfleet Medical had given her the position of substituting for Doctor Gallagher; he had to travel to a planetoid penal colony on short notice. Christine had surveyed the small list of patients she was temporarily in charge of and she had been surprised to find Spock's name on the list.

Christine took long strides as she passed through a pair of double doors; she was now in a long corridor, lined with a numerous unlabeled doors. As she passed each one, she peered into the laser-proof glass and glanced at the bedridden patient, hoping that the virtually unrecognizable ones weren't the object of her search.

It was when she reached the end of the hallway, as she was beginning to lose doubt, that she had found the room she was looking for; the identification PADD attached to the door gave it away instantly. How many Starfleet patients are Vulcans, after all?

She immediately began to adjust her blue Starfleet uniform for reasons unbeknownst even to her. As she reached up to press the button that would automatically open the door, her hand began to tremble, not knowing what she'd find on the other side.

Spock closed his eyes and did his best to block out the sudden upheaval of pain in his chest cavity. The hospital-assigned short sleeved-shirt concealed the white bandages freshly stained with his green blood, but did little to ease his physical suffering.

He did not need to look over at the digital clock on the to know what time it was. The doctor was seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds late for his latest check-up. He had been notified that a substitute was taking the place of his original doctor; he silently mused that the substitute was probably some sort of teenage intern who did not know the difference between an Andorian appendix and Betazoid liver.

He heard footsteps approach the door and pause momentarily before entering the room. Then, the doctor entered; a trigger of unwelcoming familiarity rushed through the back of his mind.

The short sleeves of her uniform revealed her bandaged forearms. Slowly her blue eyes met his dark ones, but immediately after focused her attention on the PADD in her hand. He let his eyes wander to the deep cut that was stitched up at an approximate thirty-two degree angle from her right eyebrow.

Christine Chapel, the young woman whom he had risked his very life in saving, was standing before him, relatively unscathed. Her blonde hair was pulled back at always, but instead of the severe bun, it was in a loose ponytail -- for some reason, it made his heart beat slower, as if it somehow relaxed him.

A small smile seemed to creep upon her lips as she scanned her PADD for his medical report. "Life can be ironic." She looked up at him for the first time. "I'm so sorry."

He, of course, did not see the irony in the current situation. "I fail to see what you find as ironic, Doctor."

Her smile began to fade away. "It seems that every time I get in some sort of scuffle, I end up in a hospital bed. It's a surprise to see it's you this time." She pulled up a chair that was against the wall and sat down. "I'm so sorry."

And she was being sincere; her eyes began to steadily fill with tears, but she breathed inward and pushed them back. She was trying to hide her weakness.

"I suppose it's time we changed out those bandages," she muttered, standing up suddenly and pulling out a roll of bandages from the small medical table next to her.

Spock eased himself up and did his best not to show the immense pain that he was in. Once he was positioned close enough for her to do her job, she reached for the bottom of his white shirt and pulled it up, revealing the blood-stained bandages. Worry flashed across Christine's eyes, but she pulled out a small laser from the table and began to angle it.

Suddenly, a warm sensation jetted across his lower stomach, only to rise up to his chest cavity; as the bandages were burned off, Christine began to dispose of them, tossing them quickly into a small disposal cylinder. Once the tourniquets were disbanded completely, she pulled out a small hypospray and inserted it into his midsection, causing him to mentally wince; suddenly, just as quickly as the pain occurred, it began to numb.

As Christine began to tear off the bandages from the roll, she glanced at his barely-healing wounds.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered. She did not look at him.

"For what are you apologizing for, Doctor?" he asked, lifting up his arms as she wrapped the bandages around his body. She stepped forward to securely layer the back; as her arms reached around his body, she smoothed out the material. Suddenly, she stood there for a moment, hands remaining on the cotton bandages on his back.

Suddenly it occurred to him. This was a hug, or at least what Humans used to express sincerity or friendship of some sort. He recalled Nyota's embrace in the elevator shortly after he lost his mother.

It took him a moment to realize what he should do, and as he slowly reached up to touch her back, she pulled away and buried herself once again in the PADD. "Looks like you're all done."

As she turned towards the door, Spock leaned back against the head of his bed, watching her leave. Suddenly, as she reached for the small button that opened the door, she froze.

"Why did you do it?"

"I am at loss for what you are asking me, Doctor. Why did I do what?"

"Why did you do it…Sacrifice your life to save mine."

"You are a member of the Enterprise, and as First Officer, it is my duty to see to the safety of every member of the crew."

She closed her eyes and shook her head furiously. "It was a stupid thing to do."

"It would be hardly logical to consider an act of sacrifice for the good of Starfleet to be considered, as you call it, stupid."

She did not answer, but instead remained in silence.

He continued. "Logic dictates that the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few."

"That was not the Kobayashi Maru simulator. That was real. For the guy who programmed the damned test, you seem to be pretty out of tune with what reality entails." She was not angry. She was frustrated, but she was not angry.

"And what does reality entail, Christine?" This was the first time he used her first time in recent memory. Not since…He pushed back the memory of that night and focused on the present.

"Reality entails that the good of the needed outweigh the good of the one."

And with that, she turned to take her leave. As the door closed behind her, he continued to stare at where she previously stood.

"You are needed, Christine," he whispered, his eyes glued to the door. What caused him to say those words was completely unknown to his keen mind.

Seconds past and he remained staring at the door; a strange thought passed through the back of his mind. He wanted her to come back. He could not explain his sudden craving for her presence, which was accompanied by a strange and unfamiliar feeling at the pit of his stomach.

Spock could have sworn that his acute hearing picked up a muffled sob on the other side of the door. Suddenly, the footsteps started up again, gaining speed as they fled from his room.

If it had not been for his embedded ability to obey the orders that rendered him bedridden, Spock would have gone after her.

A/N: Well this is getting interesting. I hope. Oh, and you can totally tell that I watched Wrath of Khan quite recently. Oh, and for everyone's patient waiting, I have a surprise for you all. Go look at my avatar on my profile page. Ooh yeah. :)