Breaking Bones

Chapter 9: A Well Earned Break

It had only been a month since the Enterprise's encounter with the Narada, but it already felt like a lifetime ago to Anatalia. Knowing Leonard should be finishing up his shift at the hospital, Ana made her way to surprise him, hoping they could spend some much needed time together for the remainder of the day. As Talia turned the corner to Captain Pike's room where she knew Leonard would be, she stopped short at the sight of Spock looking in from the glass of the hallway. She quietly approached, not wanting to disturb Spock's solitude, but when he made no sign of even noticing her, she quietly stood beside him and looked in on Captain Pike as well. As predicted, Leonard was in the room checking Pike's vitals. When he noticed another figure approach, he turned and smiled wide at Tali, signaling to her that he'd be out in a minute. Talia nodded in understanding before turning to try at conversation with Spock. 

"Commander. I don't know that I ever got the chance to say so on the Enterprise, but I'm sorry for your losses. Your mother and your planet. You certainly took on more than anyone else on the ship. And you did well, given the circumstances." 

"Thank you, Commander Tonks. You too performed admirably under pressure. We are quite fortunate to have you on the Enterprise's crew." Anatalia gave no more than a quick nod in thanks before Spock dismissed himself from the hall and exited the hospital. 

A few more minutes passed before Leonard exited Pike's room and he eagerly pulled Anatalia close to him and placed a passionate kiss to her lips. Since their near death experience on the Enterprise, Leonard had been far more affectionate than usual, not minding PDA the way he used to and spending every possible spare minute by Tali's side. 

"This is a nice surprise, darlin. To what do I owe the pleasure?" 

"I just figured I'd drop in and see if you wanted to grab lunch before heading home for the day. I'm sure you're exhausted so if you'd rather go get some sleep I understand." 

"Well, I'm also starving, so lunch sounds great. Let me go change and I'll meet you out front, okay darlin?" 

"Okay." Rolling up onto her tiptoes, Ana placed a quick kiss to Leonard's lips before pulling out of his hold and making her way out of the hospital. 

As Anatalia stepped out of the hospital, her cell phone rang, and Ana found herself nearly frozen at the sight of the name flashing on her screen. Before she missed the call entirely, Anatalia quickly gathered herself and answered the call. 

"Mom. Hi. I wasn't expecting to hear from you." 

"What? A mother can't call her daughter in her spare time?" 

"No! No, I mean of course you can. It's just been a while. How are you? How's France?"

"It's nice. I'd rather be with you in the States, but they definitely needed some new leadership over the Starfleet division here." 

"Well, you're definitely the person for the job." 

"Thanks, sweetie. I heard you passed your exams. Youngest CSO in Starfleet history. And CSO of the Starship Enterprise no less! I'm very proud of you, Tali." Talia's face lit up to finally hearing her mother call her Tali again. Her mother had called Ana that ever since she was a little girl, but she heard it less and less frequently as her mother got pulled away by work. It wasn't until Ana started dating Leonard that she heard that nickname again. At first, Talia was unsure about anyone but her mother calling her Tali but hearing it from Leonard's lips was a different kind of perfect. Still, there was nothing quite like hearing it from the person who said it first. 

"Thanks mom. It was a rocky first assignment, but the Enterprise should be up and running again in no time." 

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. And also a bit jealous that it's you on that ship and not me." Anatalia chuckled at her mother's somewhat bitter honesty. As much as her mother loved being an admiral, she also missed flying more than anything in the world.