Star Trek Imagines (Reader-Inserts) Part Two

SNW. Christopher Pike - Brink of Death

A/N: Fandoms_Unite1206 requested this. BTW, all imagines about Pike are now titled as SNW for his new series, unless the request is specifically related to Discovery.

His heart lodged in his throat. He felt the colour drain from his face as he registered what he'd been told. You had been in engineering when a conduit overloaded due to the ship passing through an ion storm. You were suffering second degree burns and were going into organ failure. If the doctor couldn't stabilize your vitals within the next few hours, you could become brain dead.

"Sir?" Number One asked, looking at him with a furrowed brow. She knew you and he were close friends, and she'd always had a hunch that there was more than friendship between the two of you.

Christopher licked his lips, moving his gaze to her. The entire bridge had gone silent. "I..." He cleared his throat. "I'll be in sickbay if anyone needs me. You have the bridge, Number One."

She nodded silently and watched him leave for the turbolift. Once the doors shut in front of him, he let out a ragged breath. He ran his hand through his hair and tilted his head back to stop the tears from falling.

The turbolift doors opened and he walked briskly to sickbay. He took in a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was going to see. He stepped inside, seeing several crewmembers on the biobeds, all with seemingly minor injuries—a few burns, a cut or two, and what looked like a dislocated shoulder. They should all be fine, and he nodded their way. His eyes found you. You were lying on the biobed furthest from the door and had the most people around you. You weren't awake, thank God. If you had, Christopher knew you'd been in excruciating pain.

"Captain," a nurse said as she made her way towards one of the other crewmembers. "Is there something I can do for you?"

He blinked, drawing his gaze away from you. "No, thank you. I just came to check on Y/N."

"The doctor's working on stabilizing her vitals now."

He nodded and went closer to you, making sure to stay out of the way of the medical officers. He watched as the doctors and nurses fretted over you; as they gave you several hyposprays; as they ran handheld devices over your burnt skin. He felt helpless as he stood there. There wasn't anything he could do to help you get better. All he could do was wait and let the doctors do their work.

"Heartrate is back to normal," a nurse said, and Christopher let out a breath.

"Does that mean she'll make it?" he asked.

The head doctor turned to look at him briefly. "There's a good chance. Now that her vitals are returning to to normal, we need to bring her into surgery and repair the damage on her internal organs."

Christopher nodded. "Contact me when you're done, please."

The doctor nodded and Christopher left, heading straight to his quarters.

As he waited for your surgery to be over, he paced around his room. There was still a risk that you wouldn't make it out of surgery, though it was low. Still, the thought of losing you made Christopher's chest hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before. The thought of a future without you in it was something he couldn't bare to imagine. You had become such an integral part of his life. You filled a gap that he didn't even know was there. You just... completed him.

He ran his hand through his hair. He hadn't ever really thought of how much you meant to him. Sure, he knew he cared about you deeply and you him, but he had never thought of your friendship with this much scrutiny before. But now, he was coming to the realization that he was madly, deeply in love with you.

He sighed heavily, wishing he had realized sooner. If he had, maybe he and you could have been dating all this time. Maybe you wouldn't be teetering on the edge of death without knowing how Christopher truly felt about you.

He was going to tell you. As soon as you woke up, he would tell you.

The doctor contacted him about an hour later, telling him that your surgery was a success and you were on the road to recovery.

Christopher had nearly cried out in relief when he'd gotten the message, but he kept his composure and told the doctor he would be there soon. When he arrived, he sat by your bed and watched your vitals closely.

Your eyes moved under your eyelids as you started to wake up from the anesthesia.

"Y/N, can you hear me?" Christopher asked softly, taking your hand in his.

Your fingers twitched against his hand and you cracked open your eyes, squinting at him. "What happened?"

"There was an accident in engineering," he replied. "You were pretty badly injured. But you're going to be okay. The doctor can give you a full overview of your injuries when you're more awake."

You nodded slightly and swallowed.

"I can't tell you how relieved I am that you're okay." He ran his thumb over the back of your hand.

You smiled softly. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

He chuckled. "Y/N, I... while I was waiting for your surgery to be over, I realized something."

Your eyebrows rose in question. "What's that?"

He pursed his lips together, looking at your face. He smiled nervously. "That I'm in love with you."

Your heart fluttered in your chest. A broad smile spread over your face. "Really?"

"Yes, really," he said. "I hate that it took you being severely injured for me to figure it out."

You reached up with your free hand and placed it onto his cheek. "Better late than never."

He bit his lip and regarded your expression.

Your smile widened. "Well, I'm in love with you as well."

"You are?" he asked, his smile as wide as yours.

"I wouldn't have said it if I weren't," you replied, eyes starting to droop.

Christopher laughed and leaned down. He kissed your forehead gently. "You need your rest. We can talk about this more when you're feeling better."

You gave his hand a squeeze. "Will you be here when I wake up?"

"I'll be here," he said. "I'm not going anywhere."

You smiled tiredly and let yourself drift off to sleep, your hand still in Christopher's.