Chapter 4- Travel Companions
I never saw Jim again, but I almost exploded with excitement when I noticed Pavel strolling by eating what looked like ice cream. "Pavel!" I called excitedly. "Thank God."
His blue eyes lit up with surprise as he made his way toward me through the throng of pedestrian traffic. "Dr. Morgan. Vhy do you sit here? Are you vaiting for someone?" His young face was almost angelic as he looked down at me with a pleasant smile.
I stood up to face him and sheepishly said, "No, I am lost. I have never been good at directions."
His eyes fell just a little as he casually mused, "Vell, this is a strange place for you. It is not so strange that you forget your vay. I vill valk vith you." His voice was quiet and sweet but most of all completely free of any judgment or ridicule. He smiled and took another bite of his ice cream while I followed him.
"I'll bet being lost is a strange thing for you to understand being a navigator." I observed.
"Not really." He countered with a small shrug. "I have felt lost sometimes."
"When?" I asked intrigued.
He quickly swallowed his cold treat with a wince and replied, "Vhen I vas a child I got lost in the woods around my home during the vinter time. The trees seemed so big then." His eyes seemed far away as though he were seeing it clearly as he spoke. "But I figured it out. The snow vould come from the Vest and my home vas to the North, so I let the trees tell me vich vay to go by vhich side the snow was on." He said this with such certainty as though everyone should know to do this.
"How old were you?" I asked almost in awe.
He squinted as he thought and answered, "I think I vas about 6."
I laughed and stated, "Wow. You truly are a whiz-kid." He gave a faint smile, but it had the quality of social necessity rather than genuine amusement. There was something about it that bothered me. Perhaps he didn't like being noticed for his intellectual ability. The more I mulled it over, the more I realized the problem most likely was calling him 'kid.' Even though I was older, no 17 year old wants to be referred to as a child or thought of as such. His body may have been young, but his mind was much older. I stopped and he turned and looked at me expectantly. "Pavel, I am sorry." I stated with a smile. "It was rude of me to call you a kid. I didn't mean to insult you and I will try not to do it again."
His cheeks flushed ever so slightly as he smiled. "It is ok." He muttered looking at the ground. "The Captain and others do it all the time. I vill not be angry vith you if you forget."
We continued walking and I told him, "I can't control what the others do, but from my perspective you deserve more respect than that. You have proven yourself up there both by skill and bravery alongside everyone else. You know that they wouldn't bother with you if they didn't like you, but I know that they feel the same."
"Yes, I know that they tease me. But I get revenge in vays most unexpected." He said with a deviously wicked grin.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side." I laughed. "So, will you still have time to see your family before we go?" I asked as we neared the structures I recognized as the dorms.
"No," he said sadly, "There is not enough time. But I did get to talk vith them this morning. My brother Sasha is bigger than me now! He vants to join Starfleet like me, but my mother worries. I tell her I am fine, but you know…" He gave a helpless shrug and took another bite of ice cream.
"It's her job to worry about you, Pavel. That's what mothers do. Did you have any other plans?" I asked. I found him to be so easy to talk to and unassuming, very unexpected for a man his age. There was no sense of awkwardness or rush to fill gaps of silence, he was very honest and open yet careful to be unobtrusive.
"Probably just stay here." He answered gesturing vaguely with his spoon at the sprawling campus.
An unusual thought popped into my mind. "Pavel, I am going to Chicago. Do you want to go?"
He looked at me in surprise. "Really? But von't you be seeing family?" I noticed the slight cringe when the last word fell from his lips after he realized his mistake.
I smiled and let it pass. "No. I am just going to see how it has changed and to maybe say goodbye. If you have nothing else to do, I would be grateful for your company."
A slow smile climbed across his lips. "I vill go with you to see your city. You traveled to see my home now I vill go and see yours. Vhere should I meet you?"
"I am staying with Uhura for now. The Captain said he was making arrangements, but I haven't seen him." I lamented. I really hated the not knowing.
"We are leaving in two hours." Came a gruff voice. Pavel and I turned to see McCoy leaning against the wall with a 5:00 shadow, dark circles under his eyes, and a very sour look on his face. "I suggest you get your shit together."
I glanced at Pavel who was no doubt having second thoughts on his acceptance to my invitation. "Jim said he was going to make arrangements, but I didn't think…" I couldn't think of a tactful way to end the sentence without making it clear I was uncomfortable with the situation.
"Yeah. Highlight of my fucking day too, sweetheart." He grumbled with a squint. "Now get a move on so we can get this over with." He turned to go, pressing the palms of his hands against his temples and swaying a bit.
I again turned to look at Pavel, who was apparently amused with the whole situation. "It looks like the good doctor had too much last night." He mused with a smile. "And people vorry about me holding my alcohol. This woyage should be wery interesting."
We walked past McCoy's room where he left the door open. Inside I could hear the unmistakable sound of retching coming from the bathroom. I excused myself from Pavel who smiled and raised his eyebrows, but kept walking toward his room. It felt strange being in McCoy's room uninvited, like I was somehow intruding, but I stood in the doorway and waited for him to emerge, pale and breathing heavily. He noted my presence with a groan and stumbled to the bed where he fell face down, arms and legs splayed. He looked like absolute hell and probably felt every bit of it.
I cautiously approached and sat on the edge of the bed, placing my hand on his arm. "What can I do to help you?" I asked quietly.
His eyes flickered open before again closing to shut out the world. "Find something heavy and bash my head in." He replied sarcastically. "Anything to put me out of my fucking misery, I really don't care how you do it."
I smiled remembering how I felt a few hours ago. "How about some water?" I asked. "You must be dehydrated."
He smiled faintly and inquired, "So you're the doctor now?"
"Well, someone has to do it. Who fixes you when you are broken?" I asked rhetorically as I got a glass from the bathroom and returned to hand it to him.
"No one." He mumbled into the mattress. "I don't get broken although Jim tries his damndest by getting me into fucking impossible situations with his hair brained plans. Christ, I'm not going to live to see middle age if I keep hanging out with that crazy bastard." He sat up enough to take a few sips of water which he clearly didn't enjoy. "Like this shit." He frowned. "What the fuck? Why me? I'm a goddamn doctor, not a tour guide." He took a deep breath and chugged the rest of the glass. I took it from him and refilled it although he didn't want anymore. "I tell you why he does it, he thinks the shit is funny. 'Let's see what kind of fucked up mess I can get Bones into so he gets all pissed off.' It's like a game to him. I am his goddamn personal entertainment and let me tell you, it sucks."
"You know, McCoy," I sighed, "you are obviously not feeling well. You don't have to go with me, Chekov said he would go. You could stay here and take care of yourself instead of making the long trip."
"The hell I can." He mumbled. "It's what I get for losing at poker…cheating motherfucker. You should have seen the goddamn smirk on his face this afternoon when he called it in. There I was, kneeling with my face over the goddamn toilet barking at the floor and he didn't even have the fucking courtesy to leave me be." He sighed and rubbed his temples. "If I don't go, god knows what kind of sick and twisted shit he will make me do. Probably run up and down the halls butt ass naked wearing a bonnet or something equally humiliating. Fuck him. Wait 'til the next time his sorry ass needs my help. A little hypospray injection will be the least of his worries."
"Ok," I chuckled, "I won't get into the middle of the revenge game the two of you have going. But if you insist on going, is there any medication or anything I can go get for you so you can at least tolerate the travel?"
He sighed and let his head fall back onto the pillows. "Nah. But I am warning you that I will probably be sleeping most of the way. At least you will have the boy wonder to keep you entertained. I hope he remembers to pack his teddy bear."
There was a light knock at the door as Spock entered. "Forgive the interruption, doctors. But I was just informed of your travel plans. I wish to remind the both of you of our launch date. Please endeavor to be on time upon returning from your voyage, delays in doing so will be noted." McCoy didn't even look at the half Vulcan when he raised his left hand to extend his middle finger. Spock did nothing more than raise an eyebrow and calmly state, "Interesting."
"Fuck off already, pointy eared bastard." McCoy growled.
"As you wish, doctor." He replied with a slight bow. Before he left, his eyes took in McCoy's prone, disheveled form and then he looked to me with another raised eyebrow as though to wish me good luck, but I knew Vulcans didn't believe in such things.