DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR TREK. The only thing that's mine is my OC, Vienna. By the way, Happy Birthday to her! Anyways, I made a quick update juuuust for you guys. You've been so sweet and encouraging and I couldn't ask for better readers. Time for reviews!
The Sorceresses Apprentice: Oh my goodness. You're too kind. One of your favorites, really? Yay! Here's a new chapter for you, then!
Patrixs: I know, isn't the Russian adorable? I added more in this chapter, but only a little. And hopefully I'll be posting a new story very soon, so be on the lookout for that. I might write both of them at the same time. Anyhow. Enjoy the chapter!
Vienna King opened her eyes for the first time in thirty five hours to see her best friend with his head down on her bed, clasping her hand. Confused, Vienna looked around. Oh. The Med Bay. Grimacing at the sudden burst of pain in her back as she took a deep breath, she attempted to remember what got her in the Med Bay in the first place.
Doctor McCoy walked into her room, PADD in hand. "Oh, you're up. Finally. Maybe now you can get that one to leave." He gestured to the sleeping Pavel.
Vienna chuckled. "Has he stayed here the whole time?"
The older man grumbled. "Yeah. That dumbass insisted. Anyway. You feeling any pains anywhere?"
She shook her head. "My back's pretty sore, but other than that I'm fine-" Vienna was cut off by Doctor McCoy swiftly administering a hypospray to the back of her neck. She hissed in pain and used the hand that Pavel wasn't holding to cover the place where the needle went in.
Doctor McCoy rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a baby. That won't be making you drowsy or anything, but it should come into effect in a few minutes to relieve your back pain. Besides, count yourself lucky, kid. It could have been much worse. No concussion, no lasting damage, nothing."
"That's right," Vienna recalled, "I fell off that beam in Engineering, didn't I?" Doctor McCoy nodded.
"Don't be pulling those stupid ass stunts any more, do you hear me? I had to put up with every goddamn person who came in here asking about you, and it was such a pain in my ass." He complained. Vienna smiled. She knew it was in his nature to tease.
"How long was I out?"
Doctor McCoy's eyes traveled to his PADD. "Thirty five hours, on the dot."
"Seriously?" Her eyes widened. "And Pavel stayed here the whole time?"
"I already told you that." The doctor grumbled.
"Right, yeah. Sorry," she let out a soft smile, "I turn eighteen in an hour."
McCoy let out a huff of breath in response. "Yeah, whatever. You can leave as soon as this one wakes up."
"Thanks, Doctor McCoy."
She could have sworn she saw an almost smile on his face. "You're welcome, kid." He said, and left the room. Vienna let out a half smile of her own and looked down at Pavel.
"Pav," she squeezed his hand once. "Pav, wake up."
The Russian jolted himself awake, and his eyes met Vienna's immediately. "You're awake!" He exclaimed, grinning at her and leaning over her bed to hug her.
"Yeah, I'm up. By the way, I owe you an apology." Vienna chuckled sheepishly.
"For what?" Pavel asked as he sat himself down on an empty place on her bed, still holding her hand.
"I don't know how many times you've told me that I'm going to fall off of those beams one day." She said.
Pavel's eyes gleamed. "Say it."
Vienna made a face. "Do I have to?"
The man nodded devilishly. "Say it, Vi."
"Youtoldmeso." She mumbled.
"And?" He asked, grinning.
"And," Vienna said louder, letting out a huff of air. "I'll listen to you next time because you know best." She repeated the words that had become almost a tradition every time one of them had been in a situation similar to this one.
"That's right." Pavel's grin slipped off his face and his tone softened. "You know, you really scared me there, Vi."
She sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. Can we not talk about it for now?"
Pavel nodded. "Of course." He hesitated for a moment. "What do you remember after falling off that beam?"
Vienna shrugged. "Nothing. I remember falling, landing, and waking up here."Pavel let out a sigh of relief.
"So, I want to apologize too." The Russian said, before she could question why he looked so relieved that she didn't remember anything.
"Pav, you stayed in my hospital room for thirty five hours straight. Whatever you think you did wrong is kind of forgiven at this point."
He chuckled. "I hoped you would say something like that. But all the same, I'm sorry for being rude to you the other day before our match. I didn't mean to upset you."
Vienna smiled softly. "Hey, it's totally fine. You were probably really tired and irritable from your shift, so all's forgiven."
Pavel smiled back at her. It hurt to know that they were back to best friendship and nothing more, but it was better than nothing. "Good. Oh, I almost forgot. I got you these flowers. Well, I told Karu the ones I wanted and he brought them here, but it was my idea. He says hello by the way, and that he'll see you when he gets out. He's busy working double shifts." The man rambled, and pulled a bouquet of white roses wrapped in a red ribbon and handed them to her.
Her eyes lit up considerably. "Oh, Pav. You didn't have to. These are absolutely gorgeous."
"Of course I had to. You're my best friend." He said nonchalantly, and Vienna smiled, feeling a slight pang of sadness. Why did that hurt her? After all, she's the one who's been trying to convince Nyota that Pavel didn't like her like that.
"Right," She said, hoping her forced smile didn't look fake. But of course, Pavel noticed immediately.
"What's wrong?" He asked, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.
Vienna shook her head. "I'm thinking I don't want to go on that date with Aaron Michaels now."
If it were a more appropriate time, Pavel would have leapt to his feet and jumped for joy, punching the air victoriously. However, seeing as how Vienna had no idea that he liked her and that was a hospital and it was 11:50 PM, he refrained himself. "Oh? Why is that?" He asked, nonchalant.
Vienna shrugged. "I just don't like him like that."
"Hm. That's too bad." Pavel replied, sneaking a glance at the clock. He would have to time this perfectly, but he still had a little bit to wait.
"I suppose," Vienna said. "So what were you doing while I was out?"
Pavel blushed. "Uh, I just stayed here. Sometimes there were friends I could talk to, but not all of the time."
Vienna's heart swelled. "I still can't believe you stayed here for almost two days while I slept. That must have been really boring."
The Russian shook his head. "No, not really. I was just hoping you were going to be okay."
Vienna's eyebrows knit together. "Didn't Doctor McCoy tell you that I would be fine?"
"Yes," He admitted, "But I wanted to make sure."
"So you stayed by my bed for thirty five hours?"
"Pretty much, yes."
Vienna giggled softly. "Thanks, Pav." She said, squeezing his hand.
"Come on now, Vi. You would have done the same for me. It was nothing." He noted in that adorable accent.
"That's true. But you wouldn't have been stupid enough to not listen to your best friend when they told you to not balance themselves on beams."
Pavel laughed. "No, if I were as stubborn as you, I would have kept on balancing on the beams."
Vienna grinned. "Does this mean I'm off the hook?"
"Of course not," he scoffed, sneaking another glance at the time. His mental countdown began. "In fact, there's something very, very serious we need to talk about right now, and it's important that you listen to me very, very carefully."
His playful blue eyes turned just a shade darker, and Vienna's eyes widened as the Russian leaned in closer to her. Her heart skipped a beat.
"What is it?"
Pavel leaned in closer to her. They were a mere inch apart. He looked into her eyes for a split second longer, and pressed his lips to her cheek, almost touching her lips. He pulled away too quickly for her liking. "Happy Birthday, Vienna Audra King. Lyubov' vsey moyey zhizni. " He murmured in her ear.
He stood up from her bed and pointedly looked away from her. She touched her cheek in shock. Of course Pavel had kissed her cheek before, but this felt different. She didn't know how, but it did. And what was it he had told her in Russian? She would have to ask Ny, because she had a feeling Pavel wouldn't tell her.
Vienna didn't have time to think on what just happened any longer, because a gaggle of people she all knew burst into the room at the same time. "Happy Birthday, Vienna!"
She let out a laugh as they all began to sing, loudly and out of tune (with the exception of Spock and McCoy, who stood awkwardly next to the door, their lips tightly sealed). All of her friends were there. Nyota, Scotty, Hikaru, Jim, Spock, McCoy, and even a few other senior officers that she had met but never got to know.
"Finally legal!" Jim grinned. "What are you going to do with yourself now, King?"
"Nothing that you probably did when you turned eighteen," Vienna said, making everybody laugh.
Jim pouted. "You're no fun!"
"She is in a hospital bed, Jim. What can she do from there?" Nyota said, elbowing him in the ribs as he whined in protest.
McCoy rolled his eyes. "She's free to go any time she wants."
"No offence, but I'd like to get out of here ASAP. These beds aren't very comfortable." Vienna interjected, sneaking a glance at Pavel, that was duly noted by the rest of the crew. Jim already had a plan to hound the boy for information once he was alone. Nyota flicked him on the forehead.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?"
"You know what it was for." Nyota responded, keeping a tight smile on her lips.
Vienna raised her eyebrows, but let the exchange go. She had better things to worry about. For example…
"Karu, are you wearing Avengers pajama pants?" Vienna asked, amused. Hikaru laughed heartily, not embarrassed in the slightest.
"Yeah, so what? You jealous?" He asked.
"Always," She shot back.
"Anyway! It's time for the cake, so get your ass up, King, we're gonna celebrate." Jim said, pleased with himself.
"It's not even one in the morning yet." Vienna noted.
"Yeah, so?" Jim grinned.
Vienna shrugged. "Alright," The room erupted into cheers.
"Keep it down, damn it. You're going to wake the whole Bay." McCoy grumbled.
"Aw, don't be such a party pooper, Bones!"
"Shut up."
"Never."
Lyubov' vsey moyey zhizni = The love of my life. Cute, right? I put it in there because people seem to like the Russian and Pavel just confessed to her without really confessing. It seems like the kind of confusing thing a guy would do, right?
Well, I liked it. Tell me what you guys liked, what you didn't, what you want to see in this story, etc. Thanks for reading! Also, let me know if you guys want me to post the party in the story, or as a separate story, or just not post it at all. Please review!
-Les