"Adrenaline"
Shakespeare's Lemonade
Rating: T for violence
Genre: Action/Friendship
Summary: McCoy hates space; he hates violence. Maybe he's a bit of a masochist or just a very dedicated doctor. His friends sometimes worry.
A/N: This originated as a one shot, but will probably develop into a rather episodic full length story. Just in case you haven't figured it out, I really like McCoy.
Part One~A Day in the Life of a chief Medical Officer
"We've got patients coming in from the radiation leak on deck seven," Chapel said as Dr. McCoy entered the sickbay that morning. What a way to start the day. But this was life on board the USS Enterprise. Either something was leaking, or attacking them, or blowing up, an McCoy saw the final tally. He announced casualties, saved lives, and at the end of the day, he slept like a rock.
Today it was radiation. There were a few other patients in sickbay needing something for a cold, headache, or menstrual cramps. McCoy hated dealing with those people. When the crew members affected by the leak came in, McCoy felt a jolt of excitement. Sometimes he thought maybe he was a horrible person for loving this.
He examined each patient and determined none of them were in severe danger, and only a couple needed treatment. By 0930, sickbay was empty again and McCoy was contentedly sipping coffee and finishing some reports.
Around 1015, the doors opened and Scotty limped in, assisted by another engineer.
"What happened to you?" McCoy asked, helping him sit down.
Scotty waved off the other engineer and looked at McCoy. "Well, Keenser was climbin' round on the dilithium chambers and—"
"Yeah, I get the picture," McCoy said, examining Scotty's leg.
'But I haven't told you the whole story yet." Scotty winced. "Is it broken?"
"Chapel," McCoy said. She nodded and stood a little closer to Scotty. McCoy gave Scotty's knee and upward shove and he howled in pain. Chapel kept him from falling off the bed.
"What did you do that for?" he gasped.
"It was only dislocated," McCoy said, rising to his full height. "Now stop climbing around on dilithium chambers, and you'll be fine."
Scotty limped out of sickbay, grumbling about a dislocated knee upsetting his whole day.
A while later, the two crew members affected by the radiation leak returned for their doctor mandated hourly checkup.
"Things are looking good," McCoy said. "Consider yourselves very lucky."
He thought it was ironic that there had been a dangerous radiation leak that morning and yet his morning had been so incredibly boring.
After finishing up with the radiation leak patients, and seeing to it that everything was in order, McCoy decided to go for lunch. He wasn't particularly hungry after doing what he felt was nothing all morning, but he was sure some of the bridge crew would be breaking at that time as well.
Upon entering the dining area, McCoy saw Kirk, Spock, and Sulu sitting together in one corner of the room. He got some food and went over to join them.
"Morning, Bones," Kirk said, almost unintelligibly between bites.
"It's afternoon, Jim," McCoy said, sitting down.
"Is it?" Kirk looked up from his plate for a second. "We've had a crazy morning."
McCoy felt a little jealous, but knew that if he'd experienced their day, he would have been complaining the whole time.
"We ran into a Klingon ship," Sulu said, "and went into... strenuous negotiations."
"Thankfully only words were exchanged," Kirk said. "What'd you do this morning, Bones?"
McCoy shrugged. "Took care of the folks affected by the radiation leak."
"There was a radiation leak?" Kirk asked.
"Yeah, on deck seven. Apparently, they've got it under control. No one was hurt." McCoy felt like a bit of a jerk. Jim has enough to worry about, he thought. "Scotty came in later," he said, trying to lighten the mood. "He'd fallen off one of the dilithium chambers chasing Keenser."
Kirk started laughing and Sulu smirked.
"Captain," Spock said, looking concerned, "I fail to understand how Mr. Scott falling is humorous."
McCoy felt his appetite coming back and as he began eating, he said, "he only had a dislocated knee, but the idea of a grown man climbing on a dilithium chamber is hilarious."
Spock gave a short nod, but they all knew he still wasn't amused.
After lunch, McCoy returned to sickbay, feeling a bit lighter. The rest of the day passed in a similar manner to the first half. Scotty came back late in the afternoon saying his leg still hurt.
"Well, if you hadn't run off earlier, I could have fixed it then," McCoy said.
Scotty grumbled and took the pain medication McCoy gave him.
"Just take your medicine. If it keeps hurting come back, but if you only want to complain, I'm sure Jim would love to listen to it."
the day came to an end and McCoy went back to the dining area. He felt like spending the evening around semi pleasant company. However, only Spock and Uhura were there. He didn't want to intrude on their dinner, but Uhura waved him over.
As he sat down, McCoy remembered the event that would take place on their next leave. This was the reason he felt a bit wary around Spock and Uhura. He was comfortable around each of them individually, but when he saw them together, he was reminded that they were getting married soon. Not that that in itself was so bad, but he was a bit confused as to how a Vulcan could have such a meaningful relationship while his always failed. He did not begrudge them their happiness, so he asked, "How are the plans going?"
"Very well," Spock replied.
"We've decided to have the wedding on Earth," Uhura said. "It will be more convenient for Ambassador Sarek and the colony is still under construction."
"Yes," Spock agreed, "it was illogical to desire the ceremony there. In such cases, sentimentality is unforgivable."
McCoy realized that Spock actually wanted his wedding on the Vulcan colony. Because of sentiment. The idea seemed ludicrous.
"I suppose you could have a Vulcan ceremony?" he asked, and wondered why he was trying to make Spock feel better.
"Yes," Uhura replied. "We think it would be a good idea to incorporate both our cultures."
Spock went on to discuss the effect it would have on their lives and future children and society in general. In a day full of bizarre happenings, McCoy wasn't sure what to make of this. He was sitting in the dining area listening to a Vulcan and a human discuss their wedding plans. He wasn't particularly interested, but he got the feeling they needed to talk about it with someone who could at least feign interest. And somehow, McCoy didn't mind. He was a doctor after all, and he understood the importance of mental health.
Okay, so this was a really weird beginning, but I have some ideas about other chapters which will be less disjointed. I think the sort of abstract nature of this chapter works to introduce the way this story is going to work. Each chapter is going to have its own plot, that may or may not have anything to do with all the others. Several chapters will be continuations, but as I said at the beginning, this will be vary episodic.