You Can't Be Too Careful [Star Trek/Leonard "Bones" McCoy Love Story]

[23.] Twenty Years of Shenanigans

A/N: Unedited! Please let me know if you spot any mistakes! This one's for Nicole. I love you to pieces <3

[23] Twenty Years of Shenanigans

I managed to cease in my tears by the time the elevator doors slid open. Dragging my thumbs underneath my eyes and hoping that my eyes weren’t too red, I stepped out of the chamber and made my way down the hall towards the Warp Core, more than ready to be away from the Bridge and closer to Astrid. Even if she wasn’t working in the Warp Core at the moment, just being in her area of expertise made me feel like she was right there next to me. And in all honesty, that was enough to keep me going for a lifetime.

When I entered the Warp Core, I found, much to my dismay, that nothing was any better than it had been when I left. People still ran frenziedly around the expanse of the room, shouting to each other and wearing looks of distress. The blinding lights and blaring cacophony of beeps, whirrs, and buzzes didn’t help. I scanned the room for Chekov. When my eyes finally landed on him, I immediately opened my mouth to call his name. But, of course, I was cut off by the beeping of my communicator.

Sighing, I pulled it out of my pocket.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Catherine.”

Kirk.

“You ran off pretty quickly. You alright?”

“Fine,” I lied. “I was just a little shaken up. I’m fine now.”

“Good to hear it.”

I could tell from his tone of voice that he didn’t believe me, but I wasn’t about to tell him the truth.

“Is that all you wanted to speak to me about?” I asked, wanting to get on with my work.

“Actually, no,” he said apologetically. “There’s been a computer malfunction in the Medbay. I need you to go and take a look at it.”

The moment the word Medbay hit my ears, I swear, my lungs stopped working. I could hear my heartbeat return to my ears as it pulsated violently. My stomach turned inside out and did about a thousands flips, both forwards and backwards. I felt like my heart was going to crawl into my throat and fall out of my mouth. My eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets. The pounding of my heart resonated in my head, so forcefully I thought that my skull would crack and my brains would spill out.

But I still said yes, that would be no problem at all.

“Great,” he said. “I can always count on you.”

He hung up. I stood there, communicator pressed to my ear, still struggling for breath. Letting out a groan, I finally pocketed the device and turned on my heel to exit the Warp Core again. I hugged my arms to my chest and kept my eyes trained on the ground. I can’t do this, I kept repeating in my head. I can’t do this I can’t do this I can’t do this. And yet, my feet kept moving forward.

My arrival at the Medbay came quicker than I wanted it to, but there was no avoiding it now. I was there. I had a job to do. Who cared if Bones, the man who, for whatever reason, made my stomach flutter nervously and my heart pound ridiculously fast and my cheeks turn red, was in there? Oh no, I thought nervously. I care. I care I care I care.

Somehow, my hand found the door and pushed it open. And somehow, I managed to step inside.

A few nurses walked about, but other than that, I saw virtually no one. Frowning, I moved further inside and approached one of them to ask about the malfunction. The nurse, a young girl only a couple years older than me with wise green eyes and shiny black hair, directed me towards the computer and explained what was wrong. I thanked her and went over to the computer.