something to do (Pavel Chekov)

17

Pavel wakes up screaming, Eadie groans and tries to call him down, asking him what's going on.

"They took you again," he says, breaking into tears. "They were cutting you open while you were awake. I had to watch. We might be out of there but they still have us."

"We're safe now," she says. "It might take us a little time to adjust to that."

He nods and kisses her forehead, telling her that he'll be back in a minute. As soon as he's out of her sight she feels her anxiety start to increase. He's only gone for a minute but it feels like a lifetime and Eadie feels her eyes start to cloud over.

"Hey," he says softly. "Eadie, I'm still here. I was only gone a minute."

She nods and takes a few deep breaths, waiting for him to climb back into bed again. He lies back and tells her how he thinks he could sleep for weeks in the soft sheets. They lay down together and Eadie runs her fingers through his curls again.

Waking up is a little easier the second time. They lay amongst the mess of sheets and pillows and sigh in contentment. Eadie's dreaming of breakfast and another shower. Pavel tells her he wants pancakes and she smiles.

"You've really missed sugar, haven't you?"

He nods and buries his face back into the pillow. His body feels gelatinous and he wonders how he'd supposed to leave the comfort of the bed.

"What have we got planned for today?" Eadie says, watching at Pavel looks to her and cracks a grin.

Medbay has requested that they both come in once they've slept enough and eaten something. They both shower again, taking turns like last time and staying close. They still can't seem to break away from each other, even for more than a minute or two. Pavel goes through another milkshake and tells Eadie just how happy he is again. Eadie inspects her hand and wonders if they can put something on it to repair the skin a little. She hopes they can fix her lower half as well. She's been given strict instructions to just leave it and not touch it.

Pavel's kissing Eadie as soon as he's out of the shower. They share breakfast together and talk about all the other things they need to do now that they're back in the real world. They have so many people they want to talk to and they wonder how their parents are managing. Eadie feels a little ill thinking about it. They head to medbay together, quiet and thinking about everything that lies ahead.

The same doctor is in medbay as last time. He reintroduces himself as Doctor McCoy and he takes Eadie first, finding a spray for her hand.

"After being couped up together for so long, I'm surprised you want to be near one another. I thought you'd want your own space after being stuck like that."

"Do you know how long we were in there for...?"

"Apparently eight months. Why, did it feel longer?"

Eadie and Pavel look to one another. "It felt like a lifetime sometimes," Pavel answers. "The creatures that had us captive would occasionally take one of us. When we were separated it was the most frightening thing. I'm already having nightmares about it. After all the things that happened to us when we were alone, we both worry when we're not in each other's direct vicinity."

McCoy studies Pavel and nods. He tells them that they have a few psych evaluations to go through to try and help them process what happened. They're going to start with looking after their physical health first, making sure they get some more nutrients into them after barely eating anything nutritional for the whole time they were in captivity.

Pavel is given a few vaccinations and looks away as they're putting hypos into his arm. It doesn't go as smoothly for Eadie. They go to administer the first one and she freaks out, getting flashbacks and remembering being held down with hyposprays pushed into her. Pavel comes over to try and calm her but she starts hyperventilating and McCoy rubs a patch on her arm that sedates her. Pavel seems very uneasy and McCoy tells him to cool down a little and go back to the biobed he was on before. He's shaking a little and not entirely sure why. McCoy quickly gives Eadie a few vaccinations and other hypos while she's still under.

"Hey," McCoy says gently, attracting Pavel's attention. "You're alright. You're safe now. Eadie's okay too."

"I'm sorry," he says hastily and taking a seat on the biobed. His chest feels heavy and he tries to close his eyes and breathe for a few minutes. Eadie comes back and seems dazed. McCoy tells her what happened, she looks over to Pavel to confirm that he's still there and lies back, trying to relax a little.

McCoy has a spray for Eadie's hand and he inspects the damaged tissue with a small scanner. Eadie recounts the burning sensation and the orange substance that had suddenly appeared on her hand. Pavel can still hear the scream she let out when she touched the ceiling. He shudders thinking about it.

McCoy has a lot of questions that he has to ask about when Eadie started bleeding and the tube that they stuck down her throat. He asks a lot of questions about the area in question and Pavel feels his cheeks blaze over.

"I have to ask, but did you have intercourse in those eight months?"

"No."

"Are you certain?"

"Why wouldn't I be certain?" Eadie asks, shifting a little.

"Because the area is showing signs of trauma." He pulls up a scan and shows her, noting internal bruising and other damage.

"Pavel and I didn't, but when I got dragged away I was sedated quite a lot. Anything could have happened... Is it... Is it repairable? Am I going to have pain there permanently now? What if I ever wanted to have children?"

"The pain we'll be able to fix but I can't give you any definite answers about fertility. There's a lot of damage, Eadie. Your uterus is... It may have to be removed. I can't tell yet, we'll have to see how your body reacts to treatment."

Eadie shakes her head a little and she's tearing up. McCoy passes her some tissues and Pavel comes over, pulling her close. She remembers a conversation about children she had with Pavel back when they were prisoners. She remembers telling him that maybe one day if she was out of those four walls. McCoy tells her they're going to start on some treatments within the next few hours and she nods, clutching Pavel's hand.

For a long while, Eadie goes quiet. She answers when she has to but she seems to be falling out of character and Pavel asks McCoy about it after she falls asleep. McCoy tells her they'll find out once they've worked through some psych evaluations.

"Do you need a little time to yourself? I know you've both been with each other for so long but maybe you need an hour or something just to clear your head. I'll be here with you and I can page you if she wakes up."

Pavel doesn't know how he feels. He doesn't know if he needs space or company but he nods, telling McCoy he's going back to his room for a little. He walks through the corridors with his head down and gets to their room, taking a deep breath. He has one main goal in his time alone. After eight months in a small space with someone, Pavel has an ache he needs to get rid of.