Title: The Boy and the Sea Dragon (10/?)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek AOS
Characters: Kirk, Spock, McCoy
Summary: On an away mission, Captain Kirk encounters an old friend he hasn’t thought of in years. Unfortunately, their meeting is less than fortuitous and bodes ill for the rest of Jim’s crew.
Previous Part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Part Ten

Christine Chapel is carefully recording Doctor McCoy’s examination results when an odd reading immediately makes her stomach clench with worry. She does the only thing she can: follows protocol, reruns the scans, then performs an additional set of tests to confirm her suspicions and shudders at the undeniable indicators. With a PADD in hand, the woman is on verge of entering McCoy’s temporary isolation unit when the sound of laughter—Leonard’s and the Captain’s—stalls her intentions. She braces herself against the outside of the hard opaque wall which separates the patient from the lab areas of the medical bay. Eavesdropping is not her usual style, but Christine needs a moment of distraction before she barrels in and turns Leonard McCoy’s life upside down.

“Spock? The same Spock that chastises crewmen when they practice violence on inanimate objects in lieu of socking real people?”

“Yeah. The same Spock that nearly choked me to death,” clarifies the Captain. The man’s voice is all wry humor.

“Well… damn.” Christine peeks around the corner just in time to catch Leonard grinning broadly at the stony-faced Vulcan. Accent thick, the doctor crows, “Why, I’m honored, Mr. Spock!”

News has spread like wildfire throughout the ship. The calm and collected First Officer apparently lost his head on the planet and forced the creature to return the Captain and the Vulcan to the ship. Not that anyone was previously aware that the two missing officers had been trapped on the planet. The plan to search the surface was stalled by transporter and shuttle malfunctions—suspicious coincidental occurrences now that the crew has the luxury of hindsight.

From Spock’s stance, Chapel assesses his silence to McCoy’s teasing as I refuse to acknowledge that I may have displayed uncharacteristic behavior.

McCoy isn’t the only one clearly wishing that he’d had a ringside seat for that particular adventure.

She breathes deeply, steels herself and interrupts the moment between the three officers. “Doctor, a word?”

Leonard turns a bright-eyed look on her, peruses her expression before the smile drops from his face. The shadows in his eyes are unnerving, because Christine sees not only a spark of understanding but also a deep and sudden sorrow. She acknowledges his professional reply “As you wish, Nurse. Please wait in my office—I won’t be but a moment” with a short nod.

Catching the Captain’s hushed, concerned “Bones?” Christine refuses to believe the doctor’s next words to Kirk. “It’s alright, Jim” is a quick band-aid on a gaping wound; what bothers the nurse is that Doctor McCoy seems to know this as well as she does.

She rounds on her boss the moment he steps into the CMO’s office. McCoy shudders once and Christine wonders why, then, the man insisted that they talk here. The second (unbelievable but true, Christine thinks) creature has been removed under heavy surveillance to another part of Sickbay. It’s not dead, but it may very well be for all the signs of life that it displays. Leonard had argued with Kirk’s instant decision to have the creature transported off of the ship. Despite the trauma—and the staff is still working to determine the extent of that trauma—it reeked on the crew, the doctor says that they cannot leave it to die on the planet. In that moment, Christine understood how seriously McCoy takes his Hippocratic Oath. Even an enemy’s life is worth saving if possible.

The creature, a double (Christine isn’t sure), resides in the brig under equally heavy guard. It has given no indication of attack or distress. Chapel along with the rest of crew are deeply disturbed by its lack of caring. A cloud of unease and distrust continues to preside over the Enterprise. Ensigns walk carefully and always with a backwards glance.

Christine breaks from her rapid succession of thoughts to accuse McCoy, “You knew.”

“Knew what, darlin’?”

She isn’t buying his innocent act. “How long, Doctor?”

“You’ll have to be more specific, Chris. How long what? How long have I known that I was dying? How long do I have to live?”

Hearing the diagnosis confirmed by someone experienced and erudite enough to do so, she makes a small noise in the back of her throat—like a gasp aborted. “Oh Len, I—”

Don’t his eyes say. She collects herself under a veneer of gentle professionalism. “The Captain must be told.”

“Chris…”

“Doctor, the Captain of this ship, by regulation, has the right—”

“Yes, I know all of that!” snaps McCoy.

She lowers her voice to add softly, “I can do it, if you want.”

It’s painful to watch the man deflate. Leonard shakes his head at her offer. “No. I’ll do it.”

Because she does wonder how long he has kept this information to himself, how long he has suffered in silence while everyone worried for the Captain and First Officer, and because she knows the man much too well, Christine takes a step forward. With a firmness that has earned her a reputation as a no-nonsense nurse, she demands of him, “Now. Tell him now.”

McCoy swallows. “Bad timing.”

“You have xenopolycythemia, Leonard. You don’t have time to waste.”

The man closes his eyes against the blunt slap of her words. She aches for him but does not budge. Walking to the door she asks him to stay where he is. Christine thinks that she may have to place a call to Uhura to find the Captain but to her surprise, Kirk and Spock have not left the medical bay. She can’t bring herself to smile. “Captain. Doctor McCoy requires you in his office.”

Kirk glances at his First Officer, and Christine leaves the decision up to the Captain. She won’t stand in the way of the Vulcan if Captain Kirk decides to ask Spock to attend the meeting. Kirk turns back to her, his blue eyes questioning. He nods once, having reached a decision and says to Spock, “Mr. Spock, you may resume your duties.”

“Understood, Captain.”

Kirk follows her back to the CMO’s office. “M’Benga said after the tricorder scan that Bones—”

“The tricorder won’t pick up on everything, Captain, if the symptoms are initially subtle.”

Kirk halts, not touching her, but she pauses as well. “Symptoms?” he asks sharply.

“Doctor McCoy will provide you with the details.” Christine gestures. It’s not my place, Captain—please understand that.

Just when the Captain of the Enterprise turns a determined face to the office door, it slides open. McCoy doesn’t pause in his rush, despite that he almost literally runs into Kirk.

“Bones!”

“Jim, come with me!” McCoy latches on to the freshly laundered shirt of the Captain’s and hauls him away.

“Doctor McCoy!” Christine calls hurriedly. What in the world is he doing? One or two of the curses running through her head must have accidentally slipped out her mouth because the Vulcan, seeing their hasty troupe to the exit, raises his eyebrow at Chapel. She doesn’t spare a thought for why Mr. Spock is still lingering on this deck when he’d been ordered to return to his duties.

McCoy tosses a flaying glance at the Vulcan. “Well, are you coming or what, you green-blooded hobgoblin?”

Spock easily glides to the front of their group and through the open doors of Sickbay.

Leonard releases the Captain’s sleeve and points to the turbolift. “Let’s go.”

“Where, Bones?”

The intense look on Leonard McCoy’s face has Christine suddenly hoping when she should be initiating research on a way to prolong the doctor’s life. McCoy is already striding away as he responds. “To the brig. I’ve got a few things to say to that overgrown lizard.”

Chapel follows without hesitation.

Next Part

Related Posts:

• The Boy and the Sea Dragon (14/14) – from December 7, 2010
• The Boy and the Sea Dragon (13/14) – from December 6, 2010
• The Boy and the Sea Dragon (12/14) – from December 2, 2010
• The Boy and the Sea Dragon (11/?) – from November 27, 2010
• The Boy and the Sea Dragon (9/?) – from November 20, 2010