Title: Vulcans Can Be Grumpy Too (#17, The Drabble Bin)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek TOS
Characters: Kirk, Spock, McCoy
Summary: Sick Spock. That is all.
Previous Drabbles: The Old Four | Those Neighborhood Hoodlums | Trapped | A Cage of His Own | Of Perky Starfleet Bottoms | An Hour Past | War of the Bots | The Best Substitute | Surprise Meeting | Little Help | Dreaming | The Tower | Brother | It’s Complicated | With Close Friends | Not As It Seems

The bickering can be heard from the outer corridor of the med bay per usual, but unlike in the past this bickering seems to be heavily one-sided. It mainly consists of a series of orders, followed by the occasional hoarsely voiced disagreement.

“Just stop would you,” insists the doctor in charge. “Like it or not, you’re as weak as a puppy, Spock. You’re not going anywhere.”

“I would recover more quickly in my quarters.”

“I don’t make house calls.”

“Pre—” The word is interrupted by a cough. “—cisely,” finishes Mr. Spock.

Leonard McCoy’s mouth twitches, though whether from amusement or irritation one cannot tell. “Too bad. You’re officially in my care. Jim signed the paperwork this morning.”

“I am not—” Cough. “—an object—” The coughing doubles in strength. “—to be passed from owner to owner.”

“No, but you’re medically unfit for duty and your captain has assigned you some of that leave time you never take.” McCoy tugs a blanket back into place that has slipped down Spock’s chest. “Listen, Spock. The harder you fight me on this, the longer it will take you to convince me to release you. You do want to get out of Sickbay before we arrive for the Babel Conference, don’t you? I heard the Vulcan Ambassador is attending.”

The patient appears to have no reply to that.

Leonard loads a hypospray. “This new cocktail seems to be working for you better than the last one. Your coughing fits are subsiding. Do you think you can tolerate a second dose?”

The complaint is a low mutter but the doctor is close enough to hear it:

“Apparently I am left with little choice… it is my recuperation.”

That last part is said almost petulantly.

Leonard pats the officer’s arm as he depresses the hypospray into his neck. Placing the empty cartridge aside, he declares, “There you go. All better.”

Spock slants a look at him that reads Hardly.

“If your stomach feels upset, let one of the nurses know.”

Again, the Vulcan says nothing.

McCoy crosses his arms. “I have other patients to see to, so I’d better not hear that you’re harassing my staff while I’m gone.” He starts to leave but pauses to add, “Jim plans to stop by later. Since he’s already had this bug, at least you’ll have some sympathetic company.” One side of his mouth quirks. “Surely you know it’s because you visited him when he was bedridden that you got sick. So much for Vulcans having superior immune systems…”

“I believe it is you who are harassing me at present, Doctor. Shall I file a complaint?”

The doctor winks, says, “You do that,” and walks away.

An hour later, the Captain of the Enterprise is perched in a chair beside Spock’s biobed with a paperbound book in his lap. He remarks, “You look pale, Spock. Isn’t Bones treating you?”

Spock replies hoarsely, “I assume the Doctor is performing to the best of his ability, although the effects of his concoctions leave much to be desired.”

“Well…” Kirk starts to say, then seems to think better of it. He opens the book. “Where did we leave off?”

“Page 192, with the passage that begins ‘Anne laid herself out to decorate in a manner and after a fashion that should leave Mrs. Barry’s nowhere.'”

“Ah yes,” agrees Jim. “Here we are.” He hesitates. “Are you sure I should keep going? I know I can find something that you haven’t read.”

“Negative, Captain. This suffices.”

Jim nods just once and begins to read: “Anne laid herself out to decorate in a manner and after a fashion that should leave Mrs. Barry’s nowhere. Having an abundance of roses and ferns and a very artistic taste of her own, she made that tea table…“

McCoy returns some time later to find Spock with his eyes closed, expression serene. Jim is smiling faintly at the book in his lap.

Leonard comes to stand beside his friend’s chair and drops a hand to his shoulder. “Thank you,” he says quietly.

Jim raises his eyebrows. “For what?”

“For putting him to bed. Saved me some trouble.”

They share a secret smile.

Spock sleeps on.

-Fini

Footnote: the passage is from Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Upsetting the CMO

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