3 AM Patch Up Job
Dr. Leah H. McCoy, court physician extraordinaire, was dragged from a peaceful sleep by a loud pounding on her door. She groaned and sat up, blinking sleepily. Three A. M. was an unearthly hour and probably meant an emergency in the family, which would require her presence.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" She croaked out, slipping on her robe and stumbling to the door. If that idiot Prince had been in another fight...
"I'm so sorry to wake you up, Doctor, but we have a situation."
Uhura looked apologetic at Leah's sleepy state.
"What has his highness done now?" Leah groaned, mentally calculating the possibilities of grievous injuries the catastrophe-prone Prince might have.
"Only gone and wrecked his motorcycle," Uhura sighed. "He's got some serious road rash. Thankfully, the knucklehead doesn't appear to have broken bones, for once."
"Not that death trap again!?" Leah griped. "I've told him in great detail over and over again how many ways he could kill himself on that thing and does he ever listen? No!" She took a deep breath. "I'll get dressed and be down in a minute. Where is he?"
"In the prime minister's study, getting bawled out by Pike and the Queen. It's glorious." Uhura gave a satisfied smirk at the thought of Jim's dressing down.
"Hmmm...okay. Tell them I'll be right down." And with that Leah had shut the door again and looked for her clothes. There was no way she was going to get Jim's blood on her luxurious pajamas.
Having found a t-shirt and jeans, she fumbled to dress, then went into her study area and pulled out the first aid kit she kept there for Jim's many weird incidents. She'd needed it before when he'd had a giant nosebleed and bled all over himself.
Muttering to herself about dimwit royalty and accident attracting blondes, Leah took the elevator down three floors to the office wing of the palace. A quick stroll down the hall and she was knocking on Chris Pike's door, behind which angry and worried voices could be heard. Yep, James was hearing about it, all right.
The door was quickly opened and she was ushered in by the Queen, who was understandably stressed.
"Thank you for coming down, Doctor," Winona said. "Jim's done a number on his skin this time. I'm so thankful he had his helmet on, at least."
Prince Jim was seated on the leather couch, clothes ripped and numerous bloody patches peaking through the fabric. He had an ice pack on one wrist and looked profoundly chastened and miserable. His eyes didn't even have the usual saucy spark in them for once.
Leah's caustic speech died in her throat when she saw how pained he really was. "Hey, doc," he managed weakly, trying for his usual cocky grin and only pulling off a grimace.
"What happened, Jim?" She asked, setting to work to check for a concussion and other head trauma.
"Slipped on a patch of oil or something that leaked on the road and went down hard. Good thing I wear a helmet, huh?"
"Yep. I'm glad you do have some common sense. I was beginning to be afraid you were a hopeless case," she answered, picking up the injured wrist. "But three in the morning, really, Jim?"
"I was at Scotty's talking and we lost track of time. He was showing me his newest "baby"he's fixing up." Jim winced a bit as she examined the sore wrist, gently checking for breaks.
"Might as well have just stayed over. Scotty wouldn't have cared and you'd be much safer," she said, frowning as she saw more and more raw skin. Jim's good friend had a large classic car collection and he was always buying more to restore to their former glory.
"That's what mom and Chris think, too. I really thought I could make it," Jim sighed, fixing her with his most "woe-is-me" look.
She couldn't deny the fact those blue eyes were her weakness, especially when they looked at her like that.
"Your ribs hurt?" She asked, feeling his sides and watching for a reaction. He squeezed his eyes shut, but didn't look to be in pain.
"No, much to my relief," he said faintly. Oh, dear. She wasn't going for THAT reaction.
She quickly took her hands away and began to clean the worst scrapes, Jim letting out a hiss as the disinfectant did its work.
"Wow, does that sting!," he said through clenched teeth as she wiped the blood and dirt away.
"Pace yourself, your highness," Leah mumbled. "You have about fifteen more chances to gripe about it. Maybe the pain will get you to use some logic, like Spock's always sayin'."
Spock was Prince James's advisor and close friend who was known to be a stickler for rules and logic. He didn't get along well with the doctor generally, so Leah mentioning him without scorn and derision was a miracle and Jim's jaw dropped in surprise.
"You agree with Spock? Has the world ended?" Jim gasped, clutching his heart dramatically.
Leah scowled and affixed a bandage somewhat more firmly than necessary.
"Your whole right side is a mess, your highness," she said as she worked her way down. His jeans were shredded and she had to cut strings of material away from the wounds.
"I know. That's the side I landed on pretty hard-ahh!" he choked out as she dealt with the worst abrasion on his thigh.
"I strongly suggest you have that wrist x-rayed, Jim. If he won't agree, I'll help you drag him there," Leah added to Winona, who hovered in the background, occasionally patting Jim's hand.
"Baby, you can drag me anywhere," Jim spoke up cheekily, the annoying leer back on his face.
Chris groaned and shook his head. "It's like George all over again," he moaned. "Why do I even try?"
"It took you a whole twenty minutes to throw out one of your lines," Leah said, turning pink and scowling at him. "I was wondering if you'd finally given up."
For some reason, Jim had made her the target of his obnoxious flirting lately and Leah had no clue why. He normally went for the young leggy type, so naturally she was thinking he wasn't in any way serious with her and coldly rebuffed his advances.
Strangely enough, this hadn't discouraged him and she'd secretly enjoyed their lively banter back and forth. No, that was NOT flirting, at all. Anyone who dared to suggest it soon quailed under the force of her wrath.
She was a doctor, not a wanna-be princess.
Jim didn't say much while she finished her tasks and wrapped the wrist carefully. He was looking at her with those disconcertingly blue eyes very soberly.
"You're the best, Bones," he told her quietly. "I hope you know that. Thank you for patching my sorry hide up again."
Leah was caught off guard and rather touched by the kind words.
"Jim, I mean it when I beg you to be more careful," she said wearily and earnestly. "I-well-a lot of people would be really upset if you kicked the bucket so soon. It would be a rotten shame not to have you around, even if you do plague my life half the time."
Jim broke into a real smile, grabbing her hand and ghosting his lips over it in a very Princely gesture that fluttered the good doctor very much.
"I'll try, Bones. Next time, I'll stay over somewhere instead of risking it. I want to stay around to keep on being a nuisance to you and maybe you'll change your mind about me."
"Doubt that." Leah said, picking up the leftover first aid equipment.
However, she was proved wrong. This encounter led to the development of feelings, which led to realization of feelings, which led to confession of feelings(that were most definitely mutual), which led to a courtship, which led to Leah becoming a Princess in a royal wedding, which led to...well, we won't go there as this is a family friendly story.
I can tell you that they lived (mostly) happily ever after and Leah was greatly relieved when Jim finally sold his "death-trap" shortly before the arrival of their adorable son, David.