*CRASH*
One slip and they all went flying, a shower of PADDs skating across the Sick Bay floor.
Sighing, she knelt to gather them back up again, tension building at the back of her neck. She just wanted to get home and get some sleep, and then maybe she could work through the backlog of reports on her day off.
“Beverly?” The doors opened on the concerned form of Counsellor Deanna Troi. “What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing, Deanna.” She smiled fondly. “You know what stacks of PADDs are like.”
Deanna hummed. “That’s not what I meant.” She knelt down to help.
The doctor looked genuinely confused. “What did you mean, then?”
Deanna put a hand on top of hers. “Stop a minute.” Beverly obliged. “You told me and Will you’d be in Ten Forward ‘in about fifteen minutes’ over an hour ago, and your shift ended four hours ago.”
Stormy blue-grey eyes went wide as Beverly remembered. “Oh my God, I did.” She pressed a hand to her mouth.
“I thought perhaps you’d stopped at home and then fallen asleep, but then the computer told me you were still here.” Deanna murmured.
“I’m so sorry. It slipped my mind entirely.”
The Counsellor shook her head with a sad smile. “It’s not that.” She squeezed her friend’s arm gently. “But clearly I showed up at the right time - you shouldn’t be taking all of those home when you’re off tomorrow.”
“I’m so behind, Dee. It’s been so crazy this week that I haven’t reviewed any of my reports. Thus, the giant stack.”
Warm brown eyes examined her. “You’re exhausted.” Her friend pointed out. “How about a deal?”
The red-head grinned in spite of herself. “What kind of deal?”
“You take the three most important reports home with you.” Deanna raised a finger as her she began to protest. “And, you spend the afternoon in the Arboretum with me. We’ll have a picnic.”
Beverly had to admit it sounded tempting, but… “Deanna, there are about fifteen reports here that were meant to be signed off on this week.”
“And you’ll get through them. Just not all tomorrow. I know how many overtime hours you’ve already clocked, keep in mind.”
Beverly examined her friend through her eyelashes. An afternoon relaxing with Deanna did seem like exactly what she needed. She bit her lip. “All right. But I get to take four.”
The Betazoid’s eyes twinkled. “Fine.”
After that, Beverly allowed herself to be gathered up, her four most pressing reports tucked under her friend’s arm as Deanna walked her home.
“Do you promise you won’t start reading these if I leave them here with you?” Deanna held up the PADDs.
Beverly suppressed a yawn with difficulty. “I promise. Just some herbal tea and then bed.”
Deanna brought a hand up to cup her face, and despite being used to the Counsellor’s easy entry into her personal space, Beverly felt her stomach flutter. “Good. You need the sleep.” Deanna’s thumb moved gently against the skin of her cheek.
Intuitively, she turned and pressed a light kiss to the palm of Deanna’s hand, before realising what she’d done and reddening slightly. “Thank you for taking such good care of me. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Her friend’s face crinkled with joy. “Me too.” She handed over the PADDs, her fingertips falling away, leaving her check feeling oddly absent of warmth. “Good night, Beverly.”
“Good night.” Beverly waved her off, her mind more focussed on the fuzzy feeling in her stomach than the reports she held.
She felt thoroughly charmed, like any man who came aboard the Enterprise and managed to fall head over heals for their Counsellor. Shaking her head, Beverly palmed entrance to her quarters.
No need to get silly over Deanna’s kindness. Surely she wasn’t so touch-starved that she would develop a crush on her best friend for taking care of her.
Abandoning her reports, she replicated a cup of tea and went to get changed. She was just exhausted, that was all.