Part III of III in the Jonathan & Emory series. Also, I needed an excuse to write dark Emory so. Enjoy. Especially you Trin, it's huge. I tried to edit it down, I really did, but. SO, for the sake of length (and everyone's sanity) I had to skip some big parts. Maybe I'll do those later.
Honestly, I should give these two their own book at this point.
"Did that sound okay?"
"Emory?"
Emory looked up at her husband from the desk and rubbed her eyes, "Sorry Jon, I wasn't listening. I'm still out of it today."
Jon gave a sigh, setting the PADD down and sitting across from her. "What's wrong? And don't tell me that it's 'nothing' again. I know you better than that. Is it your shoulder?"
"I promise you, it is nothing. It's just a weird day. And both of us know that Phlox fixed my shoulder for good a week ago." It was true; everything was back to normal, Jon was under enough stress trying to put together an alliance, she didn't want to add to the exhaustion and anxiety. She'd convinced herself that it was probably just a cold; nothing major, right?
It was certainly not due to that time they'd fooled around on the day after she left sickbay. Definitely not. She was only curious, and Jon had let her explore. She didn't think anything would happen from just one time. Especially when neither of them was really trying. It was experimental and just for the sake of knowing. She was fine. He was fine. Everything was fine.
Right?
"Em," he complained, "I can't help you if you don't talk to me. Seriously. Do you need the day off?"
"No! Just because I'm your wife doesn't mean I'm entitled to more days off. Rumors spread, Jon," she snapped, mentally cringing at her tone. She didn't think she took that many days off, but over the years, people had assumed she married the captain for... benefits. Hell no. Thank god Trip was there to speak to the rest of the engineers that dared to even mention it.
"Sorry."
"It's fine. I'm just trying to help."
A few moments of silence passed before Emory started feeling nauseous. She grabbed the nearby trash can and threw up, mentally wanting to slap herself. Jon had other things to worry about, things that were much bigger and more important than her. Like a galactic federation. After she finished, she was red in the face, but Jon didn't look judgemental. More like... worried.
And boy, was she worried now, too.
"You're not 'fine.' Why don't you go see Phlox?" Jonathan took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I need to ask Hoshi about this Tellarite's name."
"Okay," Emory agreed. She gave a smile and headed out of his ready room with him, crossing the back of the bridge to the turbolift. Once there, she ran a hand through her hair and set it for sickbay, where she saw Trip Tucker.
Oh, no.
"Emory? What're you doing here?"
Oh, NO.
"Just stopping by to help Phlox feed his animals," Emory lied, as convincingly as she could.
Trip walked over to her, giving her a skeptical look. "Well, you never were a good liar. Come on, Em. You can tell me."
Dammit, he'd spotted the lie. Emory knew that she was a horrible liar, from telling Jon she was fine to not telling Trip why she was here. And she didn't want to make him worry either about something that might, just might, have happened.
