A Kiss Yet To Be Had

Chapter Fifteen

Meara woke up with her head pounding. She felt like she was going to puke. Sitting up, she realized Grey was sitting next to her groaning, clutching his head. Going to his side, she made sure he was okay. He was staring at her with an utterly confused look. 

"What the fuck just happened?! I was on my way down from the bridge to look for you. You weren't in the lift when it fell..." 

The doors slid open and they confronted with a waiting Lussar who raised an eyebrow at the pair of them. Meara looked at him in shock. This is exactly what happened before. That meant... She clambered to her feet and ran out of the lift ignoring the confused officers and going for the nearest computer. The date! She'd gone back in time! She checked her hand for her ring. It was gone. She was right back where she was before the lift fell the first time. Meara choked up and let a sob out. This whole thing was messing with her. Looking at Grey who was getting to his feet at the other end of the corridor, several things quickly became clear. Unfortunately, there was one thought that hurt more than anything else. Grey didn't love her. They had no relationship. Nothing more than friends. She sank to her knees and curled up as waves of tears broke out. 

A gentle tapping on her shoulder alerted her to Grey. He was asking something. Was she okay? Meara rolled that question around and around her mind. No. Of course not. She had just lost someone else who meant the world to her. 

"Meara? Come on, lets get you to sickbay." Grey murmured to her. He knew the turbolift terrified her, but the way she was acting now. Tears rolling down her cheeks. It was awful. He reached down and picked her up in his arms. She didn't seem to resist so he began to carry her to the Jeffries tubes where he could get her in a sickbed and calmed down. He felt disgusted with himself the way he had snapped at her in the lift. 

Meara woke up in sickbay. There was no one around her. Sitting up, she recollected her thoughts. Okay. So she had just lost everything that meant something to her. So what? She could just sit here and reminisce on it all or she could get up and do something about it. Meara got to her feet and walked towards the exit where Grey was standing. 

"I'm sorry about earlier," she mumbled and walked past him towards freedom, but he stopped her. 

"No Meara, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that at you. I was just so confused. Seeing you like that after was, well, it hurt." Meara looked at him before letting out a small laugh. That's not why I was upset you old fool she thought to herself. It had a tad of hilarity about it. Grey looked at the woman standing before him confusedly. 

"It wasn't you who upset me, uh, sorta wasn't you. Not your fault." She said attempting to relieve his confusion. Grey frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Meara smiled at him dreamily. 

"I was dreaming and didn't want it to be over." She said softly. She walked past him and headed for the canteen for some coffee. 

Meara loves him still, more than words can describe. Her heart throbs with pain of separation. But to start her life again, the past must be dealt with. Somewhere amongst the multitude of different dimensions, there is a lovesick Callie Meara rejoined with her fiancee, and the thought gave her peace. She can start her own love story, maybe a family one day. Grabbing her coffee and heading for the bridge, one thing is clear; she was going to make the most of every opportunity. She opened a comm with the infamous Commander Grey.

"Fancy dinner? I make a damn good ziti."