Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Stardate: March 30th, 2252 (Julia's POV)

"Give it to me straight," I said locking eyes with the doctor who had just finished scanning my ankle. "How bad is it?"

"Not as bad as it looks," She said, looking at the screen of a tricorder. I frowned. That wasn't the answer I was looking for.

"Is her leg broken?" Spock asked. He was standing dutifully by my side. I glanced at him, and hoped that was not the case. A broken leg would mean I would need to spend the night in the hospital - and then stay off my leg for a few hours. And, of course, I couldn't participate in any kind of combat class for at least 6 weeks.

"Thankfully, no," The doctor said, looking up from her data. I sighed in relief, and beside me I felt Spock become less tense. "But she does have a dislocated ankle."

"Oh, great…" I said, taking in a deep breath. I knew what this meant - my bone needed to be popped back into place. And it would no doubt be painful.

"It's not as painful as you might think," The doctor said, giving me another smile and putting the tricorder aside. "And it's fairly quick to cure."

How did she know it wasn't as painful as I might think? Had she had a dislocated joint before or something? I was about to open my mouth and ask her that, until Spock spoke.

"How long before her injury will be fully healed?" He asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. I leaned into it, glad for the comfort he was providing.

"She should be fully healed in two to six weeks, but she should be able to walk around within a week," She said, picking up a panel on the bio bed I was sitting on. "Can you lie down on the bed,please?"

A spike of fear coursing through me, I slowly lay down on the bio bed. I was afraid of the pain that would come next, and when the doctor's cold hands touched my ankle, I flinched. But I didn't feel any pain. Not yet, anyway. I still had my socks and shoes on, and I felt the doctor's hands peeling off both of them.

"I'm going to pop your bones back on the count of three," She said, and my hands clamped onto the bio-bed in anticipation. "1…"

"Julia," Spock said, and I looked over at him. "I think we should cancel our meeting with James."

"2…" The doctor's hands found a place on either side of my ankle. But I tried not to notice. Maybe if I was distracted, then I wouldn't feel as much pain.

"Yeah, I should probably send him a message or call him or -" I stopped as pain shot up from my ankle and over my whole leg. My mouth opening in a silent scream, I felt tears prick my eyes and drip down my face. I shut my eyes close tight, and tried to fight back my tears.

"...3!" The doctor said, stepping away from my leg. I couldn't even glance at her, I was in so much pain. How on earth could anything hurt so bad? And what happened to popping it back into place on the count of three?!

"Ow…" I said quietly, biting on my lip. I would not scream. I would not scream. I would not -

"Julia," Spock's hands came to my shoulders, and I opened one eye. He was looking down at me with worry. "How does your leg feel?"

How did my leg feel? How did it feel? Did he not just see my reaction!?

"Like it was dragged through hell." I stated, closing my eye and swallowing the lump in my throat. I wanted to start bawling, but I couldn't. No, I was too proud.

"That's normal," the doctor said, and I wanted to give her a good talking to. "The feeling should pass within a few hours. If it gets too painful though, there are some medicines I can prescribe." I nodded my head, and I heard her walk out of the room.

With a groan, I forced myself to sit up, noticing how Spock's arms stayed around me as I did so. Opening my tear stained, I looked down at my foot. It was less swollen than before - but it still hurt like hell.

"Why did my stupid brother have to sit on my ankle," I grumbled, leaning back into Spock's arms. I felt the bio-bed cushion shift in weight as he sat next to me.

"As I said in our previous conversation," He said, bringing me in for a hug, "I suspect he did not notice you were limping."

"You know what - how about you call him and cancel," I said, turning towards him, and gently lifting legs off the bio-bed. "And then you can chew him out for the both of us."

"I am unsure if that would be a good idea," He said, releasing me of my hug as the doctor came back in. She had a couple of bottles in her hand.

"These," She said, holding up a pink bottle, "Will help you sleep. And these other ones are for your pain in the day time."

"Okay," I said, taking each bottle and examining the labels. "Is there anything else that I need to know?"

"You'll need to wear a brace for two weeks when you start walking. At least at first," She said, "And I'd suggest crutches for when you wear the brace - just in case."

"All right," I said, hoisting my leg back up on the bio-bed. It was throbbing now, but it didn't feel as bad as before. "Lets get it over with."

"I promise you, this won't hurt." the doctor said, and sent her a glare. Like I was going to believe her after what she just pulled.

Spock's hand squeezing my shoulder told me not to respond with anything sarcastic. Which was, to say the least, excruciatingly hard. Instead of responding, I bit my tongue, and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as I counted to ten.

"Do you have a specific color you'd like for your brace?" the doctor asked, and I shook my head. I decided it was better that I didn't talk for a while. Not until I was safely out of the hospital and on my way home. "Okay, just making sure."

Several hours later, after the doctor had put on my ankle brace - I was sitting in the car as Spock drove us to the airport. There was a scheduled flight for the Academy in the morning, and for now Spock and I were going to stay in a hotel. And, thanks to the refund we got last time, we could afford at least a 3 ½ star hotel.

"How is your foot?" Spock asked, trying to start a conversation with me. I shrugged, looking down at my ankle. The brace covered it so I couldn't see how re and puffy it was. But it didn't really hurt anymore, the painkillers took care of that.

"It doesn't feel like anything," I said, moving my ankle from side to side. Another side effect of the painkillers - they made me a little loopy. "They feel kind of like clouds…" Okay, maybe they made me more than a little loopy - but I didn't really care. So what I sounded a little crazy? I knew Spock knew that I wasn't crazy.

"It is illogical that your feet would feel like clouds," Spock said, and I giggled. He glanced at me, and I folded my arms and looked at him cynically.

"How do you know? Have you ever held a cloud before?"

"No,"He said. I giggled again, and leaned my head down on his shoulder.

"Then how do you know?" I asked again, smiling up at him.

"Because, it would be illogical that your ankle would feel like a cloud," He said. I smiled then, and moved my head so it was resting comfortably on his shoulder. This was a very comfortable position to be in.

"Why?" I asked.

"Clouds have mass, thus they must have weight," he said. But at this point, I wasn't really paying attention. The sound of his voice was very calming, and his monotone voice was making me sleepy.

"So?" I asked, letting my eyes close. They were getting heavy, it was becoming a hassle to keep them open.

"So, they cannot feel like nothing."

"Okay," I said, wishing that I wasn't buckled up. I just wanted Spock's arms around me, holding me close and keeping me safe - on a nice, comfy bed. "Are we there yet?"

"To which location are you referring?" He asked. I shrugged, not really caring where we were going.

"I dunno," I said, letting out a yawn. "Wherever we're going to."

"That would be the Airport Hotel," He said. "Which is approximately…"

His voice continued to talk, but I was falling asleep, my mind being lulled asleep by his voice. With one last yawn, I snuggled up as comfortably as I could into Spock and let myself fall asleep.