Spock knew from the moment Jim proposed the mission it was a bad idea. No one in Star Fleet had been on this planet, so going down there would be all kinds of dangerous. He had warned him several times, but that hadn't changed his mind. He was beaming down with Sulu, and much against his senses, he went with them. The planet named UP – 129 were small and the residents were a highly developed Indian people, who of course thought they would harm them all. Before they knew the three guys was on a run through the jungle like land. The Enterprise was desperately trying to beam them back up, and just before they managed to do a local shot Kirk with a spitting arrow, making him fall to the ground unconscious. Spock turned around and saw the Indians running back, and he ran to Kirk, picking him up from the ground as the Enterprise beamed them up.
"What the hell did that idiot do now?" McCoy asked as he ran to Spock. Spock lifted Jim onto McCoy's arms and shook his head. "He was hit by a spitting arrow; we were attacked as soon as they saw us" he exhaled suddenly feeling very tired. Before everything turned dark he heard McCoy say "Somebody catch the damn Vulcan before he faints" and felt someone he was sure was Sulu's hands on him. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes again was the ceiling of medical, he dragged himself up on his elbows and looked around. Everything was the same, except for one thing. The bed next to him was occupied by James T. Kirk. He appeared to be sleeping. And that seemed like a good idea and Spock let himself drift off.
When he woke again it was because of faint talking in the distance. "When will he wake up?" Lieutenant Uhura asked. "I don't know, the poison was strong, I'm surprised Spock wasn't a more severe case than he was" Bones answered. Spock who was sitting straight in his bed made a fake cough, gaining both people's attention. "Spock! You're awake" Uhura happily said as she ran to the other side of the curtain and kissed his forehead.
"It appears so, now Doctor McCoy, as first officer I demand you tell me everything about the state that Captain Kirk is in" he commanded.
"As you said yourself before fainting, he was hit by a spitting arrow with a bit of poison on, you took some of it, as did your clothes, and his body went full comatose" McCoy said silently.
"Will he wake up?" Spock said looking over at him.
"I, I…" McCoy couldn't really say what he wanted, which annoyed Spock more than he would like to admit. "I don't know".
As soon as he got Uhura and Bones to leave he jumped out of the bed and sat on the nearest chair at Kirks bed. He looked so weirdly innocent sleeping this deep sleep. Spock couldn't help but feel guilty. If he had insisted more on the Star Fleet regulations he would've gotten Kirk talked into staying. If he had been a bit more attentive he wouldn't lie in a bed unconscious. He could've fought them off. He rubbed his nose bridge, there was nothing he could do, and it was basically his fault. He went over every possible scenario of how he could've prevented it. He put his one elbow onto the white mattress and rested his head on his hand, while looking at the captain, the unconscious captain. Kirk who always a bit like a kid and a bit like someone who was ready to go on a killing spree when there was a possibility just looked small, and sick. He looked like someone who was disappearing.
It was late night when Uhura returned to medical. A nurse looked at her, then at Spock and then in her eyes. "He's been sitting there the whole day. Hasn't moved or anything, we can't get him back in his bed, he won't say anything. He just looks". She walked away and Uhura walked to Spock.
"Spock you have to eat" she said putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not leaving Uhura, This is my fault and I can't leave, he has to wake up" He didn't take his eyes off Jim. Uhura could practically give up now. Instead she got a chair, and sat down next to him. She took his hand and squeezed it gently, just so he knew that she was there. Spock half-heartedly squeezed it back, because he knew Uhura needed to know that he hadn't disappeared completely yet.
The following morning different people came to check on the captain, besides the people in medical. Spock hadn't slept at all, he had stared at James all night, waiting for change. He needed to know he hadn't killed his friend. Bones came to check on his vitals around noon, Spock's as well.
"Spock you need to get some rest, you need to eat. This isn't healthy, and it wasn't your fault".
For the first time since he sat down at James bedside he looked up and stared directly into McCoy's eyes. "You can't say that, of course it was my fault. Everything that went wrong on that mission I could've prevented". McCoy didn't dare to say more. He kept coming back to Spock's side, even trying to get him to drink something but Spock was consumed by his thoughts. He couldn't let the mission go in his mind. So much had gone wrong that could've been prevented.
It was late afternoon when Chekov had come to check up on both of them. He just stood and stared at Spock for a long time, it was weird to see look so distraught and tired. He knew nothing that his eighteen year old self could say to make it better so he just stood there in hopes that his presence was enough. Spock closed his eyes for a moment, he was tired and dizzy. McCoy had told him that the poison was still in his body and it could backfire and make him sick. He ignored the pain in his head and focused his energy on looking at James again. Out of nowhere and so suddenly Kirk moved his hand. Making something beep and McCoy came running.
Spock had immediately straightened his back but kept his eye directly on Kirk. He saw Kirks eyelashes flutter and slowly open so his incredibly blue eyes stared right onto the ceiling. Spock let out a very deep sigh and went up from his chair and back to his bed where he let the dizziness take over and just before he fainted once again he swore heard Bones yell Damn it. This time he wasn't out for a very long time, long enough to be hooked to something he knew put medicine in his blood.
"Did he really sit here all that time?" Kirk asked.
"What do you think I'm joking? For god's sake Jim, we've all worried our asses off; he thought it was his fault!" McCoy was rather annoyed judging by his tone of voice. A simple "Oh" was the response from Kirk.
Spock looked over to Kirk when McCoy left. "Hey" Jim said silently. "Oh, okay. Hey" Spock said awkwardly. "Thank you, for you know. Sitting here and all" Kirk said with gratitude. "You have done the same for me if I remember correctly, 4 missions ago. And on several occasions you've described me as your friend so I only thought it was…" Spock lacked words, he would've liked to keep professional, but the half human part of him had a general concern for his friend Kirk. "Logical?" Kirk finished his sentence. It was more than logical to Spock. In this case, it had been what was right, but maybe this wasn't the right time to show it, so he just blinked and said "Yes, it was logical".