something to do (Pavel Chekov)

11

Three more weeks pass. Pavel can hold out a conversation in Romanian. Eadie can sign to Pavel in Russian with some success. They can both do fifty pushups. Eadie sings with Pavel to pass the time and on one night, they dance together. Pavel kisses her cheek as they finish and Eadie rests her head on his chest. He feels like he has much to tell her but never the right time. He looks into her eyes every night before he drifts off to sleep and tells himself that tomorrow he'll find the words to tell her, but tomorrow never really comes.

Time eventually stops passing. They spend their days together as they always have until one of them gets taken away for a while. More often than not it's Eadie and she keeps apologising to Pavel for it. She knows how much worse it is being the one stuck in solitary confinement. Their breakdowns become more and more frequent until one day Pavel snaps and says some words Eadie didn't think she'd hear from him.

"They're not coming."

She starts crying then too, turning away from him and shaking her head. She sobs into her jacket and Pavel cools down for a few minutes before trying to apologise. She doesn't want to hear it. She doesn't want to hear anything other than the sound of the black bars being shattered by a phaser beam. Her ears ring uncomfortably and she falls asleep alone in the corner.

Pavel is awake when she finally comes back to consciousness. He's looking to the floor and she notices how red his eyes are. The dark blue she's become so used to is a pale grey and he doesn't even look up.

"I'm sorry," she says finally. "Come rest a while. You look like you need sleep."

"I need to talk to you."

She nods, waiting for him to get up and join her. He winces as he moves. His back aches from the hardness of the concrete wall. He takes a seat beside her and rest his head on her shoulder. He lets out a sigh and she wonders just how many hours he's been going over what he plans to say.

"It's more than the cell, Eadie. Surely, it's more than these four walls and way, way too much time together."

"Surely," she repeats, her hand resting on his knee.

"I can't imagine my life without you by my side anymore. In here or in the real world... It doesn't matter anymore."

"What if we do die in here...?"

"That's why I'm having this conversation now... It's why I'm sitting here, trying to tell you that I think I'm in love with you."

Eadie pauses for a few seconds, trying to wrap her head around what she has just heard. She sits up a little and looks at Pavel. He's not meeting her eyes. She can tell he's petrified. She kisses his cheek and he finally looks to her, wondering if her kiss is a good sign.

"I think I'm in love with you too," she says, in Romanian. He thinks for a few seconds, doubting his language skills but she smiles and he thinks that he's understanding perfectly. He places a gentle kiss on her cheek and cups her chin with his hand.

"Eadie," he whispers. "Can I kiss you...?"

She nods and he presses his lips ever so softly against hers. He lingers for a second before kissing her once more. He pulls his hand away and she grins at him. He returns her look with a smile of his own and he brushes his lips with the tips of his fingers. He looks content for the first time in weeks and Eadie wishes they'd had this conversation earlier.

"Can I kiss you again?" He asks. He's so polite, she has to hold back from telling he doesn't have to ask. She gives him a nod and he kisses her lips once more, lingering just a little longer this time. "I'm not scared anymore..." His voice is only a whisper but it makes her smile just a touch more and she cuddles close to him, hoping that their kiss will make the next little while just a bit more bearable.

Later, they plan to sleep and Pavel kisses her goodnight before he falls asleep in her lap. She runs her fingers through his hair for a while and she notices his hands twitching as he sleeps. She wonders if he's signing in his dream and keeps playing with his hair for a while. She kisses her hand and places it on his head before falling asleep herself.

They wake up to visitors not long after they've fallen asleep and they have both of them pinned before they can even think. Pavel's handcuffed to the bench again and he struggles while Eadie is held down. One of them has her arm pinned against the wall and holds her mouth open. She starts screaming and they stick a tube down her throat as she coughs and splutters uncomfortably. Pavel screams at them, watching in horror as Eadie tries to free herself. A pale blue liquid enters down the tube and they take a few notes, muttering and seemingly unphased by their screams. They pull the tube out and she cries, falling to the floor and going limp. Pavel is unlocked as they leave, and he scrambles over to Eadie.

"It burns," she says, her voice so hoarse he isn't entirely sure if he's heard her correctly. She goes over and drinks from the tap for a long while, muttering about the water making her feel better. She drinks and wipes her eyes, her hand periodically touching her neck as if to check that it's still working.

"Do you think they've poisoned me? Do you think I'm going to die?"

"No," he says honestly. "If they wanted either of us dead they would have killed us weeks ago."

She nods, curling up into his arms and returning to crying. He stays around her, taking a second to wipe his own eyes.

A few hours later they figure out what the liquid does. Eadie complains of a sore stomach and groans, clutching her lower half. She lets out a shrill cry and puts a hand between her legs, switching to Romanian and cursing.

"Eadie," Pavel mutters, looking at her.

She opens her eyes and her pants are covered in blood. She yelps in surprise and asks him to turn away. He does, not wanting to argue but feeling as though it may be a little late. She peels her pants off and then her undies, feeling incredibly exposed. Her underwear is soaked through and she keeps bleeding and bleeding, wondering if they've given her something that has liquefied her uterus. She uses her undies as a rag to try and clean herself a little but she keeps on bleeding. Pavel keeps his eyes averted as promised but asks her what's going on. She doesn't know how to answer.

"I just keep bleeding! I don't know how to stop it, I don't know what to do!"

Pavel suggests that she just stays there a while and that for now, that may be her only option. She voices her concerns of a liquefied uterus and Pavel fears she could be right.