something to do (Pavel Chekov)

50

Pavel is still hiding in bed when Eadie returns. She sits beside him on the bed and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Pav," she whispers. "You should eat. You n-need food. Have you even m-moved?"

"Your voice," he mutters, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "You just..."

"I was t-talking to a d-doctor. She helped me. I'm getting b-better. You n-need to eat though."

Pavel looks at her and his heart aches knowing he doesn't have the capacity to be excited over her achievement. He wanted to hear talk again and now that she is, he can't seem to enjoy it. She takes his hand and he shakes his head. He doesn't want to eat. He wants to stay there and not move until he feels better again.

"Have you at least b-been to the t-toilet?"

"Da, yes, I have. I've been up twice. I just don't want to eat."

"Pl-please. Eat with m-me. I want someone to t-talk to. I miss you."

Pavel wants to bury his face in the blankets and hide his guilt away. He shakes his head softly and Eadie kisses his nose. She comes back a minute later with a plate of nachos and a small bar of white chocolate. She puts it beside him and he goes back under the covers, not interested in eating.

"What's on your m-mind?" Eadie asks, putting her free hand into his curls.

"I don't know," he says honestly. "I just can't do anything today. I don't want to eat. I just want to stay here."

"C-can I join?"

"Please," he mutters, shuffling over to make some room for her. He wraps around her and squeezes her gently. She starts playing with his curls and he looks at her sleepily, wishing he could understand why he's feeling so down. He was on top of the world yesterday. He was thinking of making Eadie a ring rather than trying to replicate or source one elsewhere. He thinks about it for a while and zones out.

Pavel wakes up a few hours later with Eadie beside him. He convinces himself to get up and go to the bathroom. He washes his face and looks at his reflection in the mirror. He doesn't remember his hair being so messy. He doesn't recognise himself anymore. His eyes have sunk into his head and he wonders if he always looked like this. He finds one of Eadie's hair ties and pulls his curls out of his eyes and ties them back. He goes into the kitchen and gets himself some juice. He hasn't eaten anything in the past day and a half and he realises just how hungry he is.

Eadie appears and watches him for a few seconds before joining him. She signs and asks if he's eating and he nods.

"I l-like your hair," she smiles. "L-looks good on you. Is that m-my hair t-tie?"

"I'm just borrowing it," he says softly. "I wanted to keep my hair out of my eyes for a few minutes. I might keep it like this for today. I feel like I can think more clearly with my hair out of my face. I'm sorry about yesterday... I just... I'm really excited for you. I'm excited to hear your voice again."

She takes his hand again and kisses it, sitting at the bench across from him. He asks what she wants for breakfast and she shrugs.

"P-porridge, maybe."

"Like how I have it?"

She nods and he presses a few buttons on the replicator. He opts for something other than porridge and sits down with a mixed breakfast plate and another glass of juice. They eat together and Eadie asks what they're planning to do for the day. Pavel thinks for a little while.

"I might go down to engineering a little later but maybe we could stretch together, you know, like we used to?"

Eadie nods. They'll have to check into medbay again and Pavel sighs thinking about it. Eadie tells him that she's basically clear now and Pavel blinks for a few seconds.

"You're basically clear? As in, all better? No bonus organs or anything?"

"It's back to n-normal. Fully f-functional apparently."

Pavel's eyebrow raises a touch at the term 'fully functional'. He has a few follow up questions he wants to ask but he decides not to. He tells her how glad he is that she's getting better and not in pain. She smiles at him and keep eating, wondering what's on his mind.

They head to medbay together and McCoy shows them another scan of Eadie. There's very little showing up on his screen at all and she smiles in relief. Pavel gets scanned over and he's fine too. McCoy asks if they can stay a little longer for a short session together and they nod. McCoy sends them into a meeting room and they wait there for a while. Eadie asks if she can braid Pavel's hair and he nods, sitting on the floor so she can reach a little easier. She braided his hair a few times in the cell for something to do. He never cared all that much. He was relaxed getting to sit there with her hands in his hair. Eadie ties up the little braid and tells him he looks cute. He kisses her hand and joins her back on the couch.

They spend a while talking together in their session. Pavel recaps his bad day yesterday and being unable to get up and do anything. The councillor thinks it's to be expected. She tells Pavel that some days are always going to be harder than others. She gives him a few strategies to help with the bad days. He thanks her, hoping he can bring himself to better for both him and for Eadie.

(Author's Note)

Thank you for reading. I'm hoping to fix where I went with this story but the support always helps. Hope you enjoy.

-Clover