something to do (Pavel Chekov)

30

Pavel spends most of the next day talking to two people he hasn't spoken to in far too long. He's sleeping when his PADD starts buzzing and he wakes up hoping it's McCoy telling him Eadie's awake. He turns the light on and rubs his eyes before answering.

"Pasha?"

His mouth falls open a little. "Mama? Papa?"

"Pasha! Pasha, we've missed you."

He starts tearing up then. He's trying to form some kind of apology for not calling since he was freed but he doesn't know how to tell them he's just been crumbling ever since he got out. They have a million questions and they ask if he's okay. He shakes his head and looks away from the screen.

"I'm so sorry," he says, wiping his eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"Pasha," his mother says softly. "Please, please don't be sorry. We aren't upset. We aren't angry. We're just glad that you're alive."

"I've been so lost since I got back. I thought it would be easy once I was out of there, but it was a nightmare. Everything is just messy, and I don't know what I'm doing anymore."

"The doctor told us you were stuck with another girl. Can she help you at all? She'd understand how you feel, wouldn't she?"

Pavel turns away from the camera for a few seconds. He wipes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"She does. We got really close. She's... She's actually my girlfriend..."

For a few seconds, Pavel's parents look at each other and then back to Pavel. They look to be a little in shock. "Pasha, you have a girlfriend? You're not asexual?"

"No, why does everyone think that?"

His parents share a look of 'do-we-really-need-to-answer-that' and start going on about how he always had his head in a book. He never showed any interest in another girl, never mentioned a crush of any description. He gets where they're coming from the more he thinks about it. The closest he'd get to a crush was daydreaming about holding hands or actually being able to talk to a girl without being a nervous mess. His parents want to know more about her and he tells them everything he can. He tells them about learning Romanian and everything he loves about Eadie. He tells them about all the medical things going wrong and how scared he is for the next few days. They listen to him and he feels like a weight is lifting off of his chest.

Pavel is a little tired after his conversation with his parents. He feels substantially better than he did the day prior but he still feels a little under the weather. He heads into medbay and there's a doctor talking to McCoy. Pavel watches from a distance and the doctor notices him watching. He gestures for Pavel to come over and he introduces the new doctor.

"Chekov, this is Doctor Vessa. He's been talking me through what he thinks we should do with Eadie. He has a few questions and I'm thinking maybe you can help answer them."

"Nice to meet you Chekov, I've heard a lot about you. I'll do my best to look after your partner. Shall we take a seat somewhere?"

They head into McCoy's office and Pavel is asked to give a run down of everything that happened to Eadie while they were in the cell. He goes over anything he can remember that she's told him. The doctor listens and takes a few notes. He asks all sorts of questions and Pavel does his best to answer them.

"I'm going to wake her up to examine her. Would you like to be there?"

"Please," Pavel says softly. "I've missed her."

"She might freak out if she wakes up and he's not there anyway," McCoy notes, standing and gesturing for Pavel to follow.

Pavel's holding Eadie's hand when they start waking her up. He whispers to her in Romanian and when her eyes finally open, he starts smiling. She blinks and frowns, seemingly bothered by the bright lights of medbay. Her hand is so warm, and she squeezes Pavel's hand gently.

"Pav?"

"I'm here," he smiles. "I'm right here."

She sits up a little and groans, McCoy gives her something to help her wake up a little and she nurses it slowly. She asks what happened to her and McCoy starts filling her in. She seems distant and Pavel wonders if that's because she just woke up or because she's frightened hearing that she was put in a coma.

Eadie gets examined by Doctor Vessa and stares up at the ceiling. Pavel just holds her hand and tries to keep himself calm. She seems unphased. The doctor has a few more questions for her and Pavel tries to hide his awkwardness listening to her talk about periods and everything of that nature. She notices the soft red glow on his cheeks.

"Okay," Doctor Vessa finally says. He looks a little more serious than he did before. "You're presenting the same kind of thing that all the other girls I've met from this planet have. Which is good, it means I know how to treat you. We're going to try and stop removing the new uteruses and let the one you have forming now grow completely. The only problem is your body is probably going to try and grow another after that. We have two options from there. You can either take a few types of medications to combat another one starting to grow, or you can fall pregnant. The pregnancy will stop another from growing and after six weeks you can terminate the pregnancy. I don't suggest carrying to term because of the likelihood of complications. You don't have to make any sort of decision yet. I know it's a lot to think about."

Eadie nods absently. She looks a little stunned. She doesn't look to Pavel, worried about what sort of expression he'll be wearing. McCoy studies them both, a little surprised about the treatment. The doctors leave the two of them be and neither of them know how to start talking. It's Pavel who finally breaks the silence, squeezing her hand and telling her how much he missed her.