Chapter Nineteen
After what seemed to be years to her, Zuria's eyes fluttered open. She briefly recalled the explosion; how she had been hit with a good deal of debris. It must have knocked her unconscious.
Now, however, she was met with a surprising sight: Spock, sitting beside her on the gurney, his head resting upon his hand, his expression showing the smallest amount of concern.
"Spock," She spoke his name weakly, turning her body towards him. "What are you doing?"
"I am visiting you, Zuria." He replied, a frown playing on his lips. "Do you not wish me to be here?"
"Of course I want you to be here. It's just that…" She paused, glancing nervously about, despite the curtains. "There are people here." She told him, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"All medical personnel that are aware of my presence here believe that I am only so because I am tending to you." He informed her, placing a hand on her leg. Her eyebrows furrowed.
"Where's Bones?" She questioned.
"Doctor McCoy is attending a peace conference on Chandra V with Jim and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura." Spock answered, lifting a hand to stroke her cheek before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
"Why aren't you with them?" Zuria asked, pressing her hand against his. He bowed his head for a moment before speaking.
"I was unable to do so." He began, moving closer to her. "Zuria, you are my mate, my love. You saved my life last night. As such, it was only logical for me to remain with you in your time of need. I would consider myself unworthy of being your mate if I had acted otherwise."
Zuria's gave a small smile, placing her hands on either side of his face, tempting him to draw closer before pressing her lips briefly to his.
"I love you, Spock." She whispered, her heart skipping a beat as he lowered his lips, pressing a kiss against her heart.
"And I you, Zuria." He returned, resting his head on her chest. They remained as such for several moments before Spock lifted his head, straightening his uniform.
"I assume that you are hungry, as you have been unconscious since early this morning. Would you require me to bring you food from the mess hall?" He asked, sincerely attentive to her needs.
Zuria sighed, but nodded. "Now that you're here, I'd rather that you didn't leave, but I am hungry." She agreed, accepting his offer.
"Is there anything in particular that you desire to consume?" He questioned.
"No, there isn't. I'm sure that you'll be able to choose something for me, seeing as you know my taste better than anyone." She said with a tired grin.
"I cannot deny the truth in your words." He agreed, lowering his lips to hers briefly before standing from the gurney. "I shall return shortly." He promised.
"I'll be waiting." She said, squeezing his hand before allowing him to leave her side.
Spock moved through the halls of the Enterprise, holding himself in what he considered to be a relaxed manner. Now that he had been with Zuria and was certain that no further harm would come to her, he was perfectly at ease.
The next thing he heard, however, would disturb that ease, if only slightly.
"Spock!" The Vulcan heard his name, turning to face the source of the sound. Jim, Doctor McCoy, and Lieutenant Uhura all approached him, the latter two lightly brushing hands as they walked.
"Hello, Jim. Doctor. Lieutenant. Might I inquire as to the success of the peace conference?" He asked.
"It went well." Jim answered with a wave of his hand. "Boring, but at least those ugly bastards won't be bothering any federation planets for a while."
Spock sighed inwardly. Of course Jim had hoped for something of interest to happen; he lived for action, and always would. "I apologize that the events of the conference were less than scintillating." He said, clasping his hands behind his back. The captain nodded in response.
"How were things here?" He inquired.
"Greatly uneventful." Spock replied. "You most certainly did not miss any manner of excitement."
"Figures." Jim sighed. "Where are you going, Spock?"
"I am going to the mess hall." He answered.
"Ah, ok." Jim accepted this. "Bones, Uhura, back to the main deck." He ordered. Lieutenant Uhura complied, while the doctor stood his ground.
"I'll be right there, Jim." He told him, receiving a nod from the captain. Spock raised an eyebrow.
"Is there something that you wish of me, doctor?" He asked, standing his ground.
"I know what you're doing." McCoy said, his eyes narrowing. Spock's heartbeat sped up slightly.
"And what exactly is it that I am doing?"
"You and my intern. You've been screwing around with her. She ended the blood fever for you." He accused.
"I do not believe that you have used the proper term to describe Zuria and I." Spock retorted, confessing their relationship in doing so.
"You better watch it, Spock," Bones warned in a low voice. "Because if you do anything to upset Zuria, you'll have to answer to me."
Spock's lips curved upward slightly, almost amused at the sheer insanity of him hurting Zuria in any way. "Doctor, what makes you think that I will do something to upset my mate?" He questioned, emphasizing the last two words to show possession.
"She's like a sister to me. You don't feel the way she does. What may not hurt you could completely destroy her."
Spock's expression changed slowly to one resembling cold annoyance. "Do not underestimate my comprehension of your intern's emotions; I observe them very closely. Believe me when I say that would hate nothing more than to cause her harm." He hissed.
"Good. You deserve to be with her, then." Bones said, patting Spock on the back. His eyebrows drew together in confusion.
"Forgive me, Doctor, but I must ask: were you not threatening me only moments ago? Is this a sort of joke that humans are accustomed to?"
"It was a test. I needed to make sure that you were willing to fight for her."
Spock inclined his head. "I most certainly am willing to fight for her. I am willing to do anything for my mate." He informed him.
"Dammit, that sounds so weird." Bones cursed, shaking his head. "It's going to take me a while to register the fact that Zuria's your mate."
"In time, you will come to accept the fact." Spock assured him.
"When's the wedding?" McCoy grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.
"I have nothing to say about the matter." He replied stiffly. "I will let Zuria make the decision."
"Then it'll probably be tomorrow." The doctor said, allowing his eyebrows to move up and down as he thought of his intern.
"If she were to make such a choice, I would hardly be one to complain." Spock returned, allowing a small smile to touch the corners of his lips. McCoy nodded.
"Well, I'm going to go see Jim. You get back to Zuria." He instructed. Spock nodded, moving away from McCoy and progressing to the mess hall to retrieve food for his mate.
Zuria found herself reentering a state of complete lucidity when Spock at last returned to her makeshift room with a wide variety of fruit sorted neatly on a plate.
"I was beginning to think you were never coming back." She jibed, offering a grin and accepting the plate.
"I apologize for the length of my excursion; I was met by Jim, Lieutenant Uhura, and Doctor McCoy." He informed her, taking his place on the edge of her bed. Zuria glanced briefly down at the fruit before speaking.
"And what did they want?" She questioned carefully. Spock gave a sigh.
"Doctor McCoy is aware of our relationship, and I believe that he approves."
Zuria's eyes moved from Spock's, gazing instead at their touching hands.
"How many people know about us?" She asked.
"As far as I am aware, only Jim and Doctor McCoy know of our relationship." He answered, rubbing his thumb over her hand. She tilted her head to the side, considering his words.
"Well… that's good." She commented, her eyes meeting his. He shook his head, causing her brows to furrow.
"Surely you are aware that we cannot hide our love forever." Spock said, looking at her unblinkingly. He spoke to her softly: "We are mates."
Zuria swallowed hard at his words. "I'm not sure what to do. This has been the only concern about our relationship from the beginning."
Spock was silent for a moment, seeming to consider something. "You are correct, however…" He trailed off, glancing backwards, his eyes narrowing. Both of them were soon met with the appearance of Jim Kirk.
"Hey, guys. Hope I'm not interrupting anything." He said with a smirk. Zuria rolled her eyes.
"And what if you were?" She questioned snarkily.
"All the more reason for me to stay and watch." He responded. Zuria made a sound of disgust. Spock glared at his friend.
"Ok," Jim continued, waving his hand dismissively. "All joking aside, I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I know that it really hasn't made anything easier for you guys, being in the situation that you're in." He said, his tone attesting to the truthfulness of his words.
Zuria glanced to Spock. He nodded, assuring her that Jim meant his apology.
"Thanks, Jim." She told him.
"There's something else I want to talk to you about, though." Jim informed them. "And that's keeping this whole thing a secret. I think you guys should just go public."
"And what makes you say that?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"In a month, you won't even be Spock's student anymore." Jim replied. "You'll be a doctor, and then your relationship won't be against regulations."
"I was just about to make that comment, actually." Spock interjected. Jim nodded in agreement.
"If that's not enough, you know that I'm good at making things difficult for other people. If anyone has a problem with your relationship, I'll threaten to quit. Star Fleet doesn't want to lose its best captain." He told them. Zuria smiled briefly.
"Best captain?" She repeated in question. Jim spread his arms wide.
"Nothing but the truth, Zuria." He answered, grinning. Despite his moment of cockiness, Zuria knew that what Jim had said was at least partially logical. He was Star Fleet's youngest and most celebrated captain; obviously, they didn't want to lose him.
Heaving a sigh, she nodded. "Alright, Jim."
She glanced down at her and Spock's interconnected hands. Mates, she thought. That's what we are. Star Fleet couldn't possibly get upset over that.
"I'll have Sulu set course for Earth." Jim told them, taking a step back. "I think you guys deserve a bit of time without me here."
"I could not agree more." Spock said, his eyes shifting to Zuria. As Jim left them, he pressed his lips to hers, twining a hand in her hair. To be able to do this without fear of retribution by Star Fleet, Zuria had to admit, sounded incredibly agreeable to her.
Hey guys!
Ok, wow. Let me just say that I'm more sorry than you could imagine for not having updated in such a long time. I started college this year, and it's been kicking my ass. I also had a sort of family emergency that left me rather distracted for quite a while. I just managed to crank this chapter out in a couple of hours this morning before crashing and waking up just a little bit ago.
Anyways, I appologize. I have only one chapter left to write after this: the epilogue. It will most likely be relatively short. I'm, as of now, unsure whether or not I want to do a sequel, so I'll have to take that into account. My next writing project is much more fitting with my schedule, as it stands; as I've said, I will be writing some Sylaire one shots. After that, I may continue some of my Dark Knight things, or perhaps I'll return to the Star Trek universe, or write more for Heroes. I'm not quite sure at this point.
As always, I enjoy reviews. They give me a kick-start to get working.
Thanks for your patience,
Harley