Chapter Eighteen
That week both sped by and crawled for Gael. During the day, she was mostly down in Engineering, quickly learning everything Scotty would teach her. As long as she was working, she was content. She grew close to command crew, who seemed to take it upon themselves to never let her alone for long during the day. Even Commander Spock, who had previously had almost no interaction with the Irish girl, invited her to lunch with him one day. He introduced her to Vulcan plomeek soup and willing answered her endless questions about Vulcan culture.
As long as she was with someone and busy, she was fine.
However, at night, when she went to bed, she felt so alone and lost. She missed McCoy. She missed how he hugged her, how he "settled her in" at night, how he talked, how he would press light kisses to her forehead or into her hair almost without realizing it. She missed helping him in Sickbay, she missed their teasing banter...she missed him. But she just could not get the image of him angry and yelling out of her head...