001 - The Entrance

The doors to the med bay opened and Dr. Leonard McCoy entered followed by four armed security officers and the criminal. Despite being familiar with his photos from the crime scene, all of the medical staff craned their neck for the first glance at what they could only call a monster who had dared to attack their home and loved ones. It was a morbid curiosity and once each of them caught their glimpse of him they did their best to never see those eyes again. He was sat down on a biobed and surrounded by the four armed guards. The nurses and staff had never seen so much security on one man, and the given effect should have been the feeling of safety, but no one was fooled. Not a single one of them felt safe with this man in the room. He gave off an aura of danger and anyone, including the security officers were visibly shaken to be within 4 feet of the man.

He indeed did have a radius around him that staff subconsciously avoided, as if there was some powerful force field surrounding him and no one dared investigate.

After a few moments the well trained medical staff fell into a feigned attempt at professional continuity. They all busied themselves with their duties and other patients but it was all just for show. Any moment that man was in the room the productivity and quality of the medstaff hit an all-time low. They became forgetful, not just of supplies and duties, but also of medical knowledge they had known for years.

These nurses had trained on and treated the most terrifying of species and injuries. They had seen their friends and loved ones die in agony in front of them. Anyone who works in a medical field has multiple heinous stories of death and injury that they could tell you and they will remember it for the rest of their lives. One of the worst being burn victims from a lithium refinery. One was completely unrecognizable as a human form, and the other was still alive and screaming. Other horrible stories would be ones involving children.

These nurses didn't care if you were oozing blood, throwing up, had 7 horns growing out of your head. They didn't mind. That was nothing.

But this man. This man could and has caused those level of injuries and did not show a single bit of remorse, and though they had no idea of any cause for his crimes, no grounds would make his crimes acceptable to them.

Medical staff did not like criminals.

Not all, but a lot of their job was fixing what criminals had ruined. They had to deal with what these vicious people left behind after their crimes and they saw the long lasting pain and fear of the victims.

They did not like John Harrison at all.

But they would not say it, nor show it. That was beneath their esteemed profession. They were there to give help to the injured. They would leave judgment, sentencing for crimes and bereavement of the criminal to someone else.

And in that absence of anger and pure virulent hate, they were left only with their fear of him. And it was deafening.

Dr. McCoy saw that Mr. Harrison was seated and returned to his post at his desk. There were many forms to be filled and tests to be run on him. Harrison would be treated as if they were documenting a new species. Bones would be pressed for time, he had to run as many tests as he could and find out as much information on Harrison as he could get.

In the back of the great doctors head he was reminded that there were other patients in his clinic, but they had to be put on the back burner until he could get his head on straight again.

A young nurse pulled open McCoy's desk drawer and handed him a file. The one he was shuffling paper around his desk for. He looked up into her face and gave a weak smile. If Bones wasn't put off from all women by his divorce and subsequently married to his career, he would find the young nurse attractive. If nothing else he was grateful to her.

"Christine…..thanks." McCoy said quietly.

She returned an empowering smile and nod to her Commanding Officer and friend.

McCoy grabbed his pen, the doctors sword, and began filling out the long convoluted page.

Nurse Christine Chapel set her patients folder on the doctors file organizer and grabbed the next one. She checked the patients bed number and noted she would have to walk past the criminal. She grimaced but then held the rest of her feelings in . She controlled her breathing and calmed her walking as she strode past the man. Even though it felt like she was walking in slow motion past Harrison she knew she was actually more brisk than necessary. And she was sure those calculating eyes noticed. He didn't just follower her with his eyes, no he turned his whole head as he watched her walk past, like some great bird of prey, eyes straight forward, never blinking. It unnerved her. She felt he put motion to his actions to make sure she knew she was watched.

She tried to section off that area and pretend nothing was there, just for a few moments, forget the criminal existed so she could complete her work.

The whole staff waited with bated breath for their shifts to be over. Some days, especially when there was no injured away teams or colonists being treated, the sickbay was actually a cheerful place. Nurses, doctors and staff could all look forward to their shift.

But now it was a place of dread. The idle chitchat that had been so commonplace had instantly dissipated.

Nurse Chapel went through a checkup list on her new patient, a crewman who had fallen sick with a virus. He wasn't in serious condition, but on an enclosed ship precautions had to be taken to thwart infection.

The crewman looked at his nurse nervously, "Yo-you know...I don't think I feel that bad anymore...Maybe I can just wait it out in my quarters?" His voice had a hopeful inclination.

Chapel gave a soft and sympathetic chuckle, "You seem to be through the worst of it, but I think you'll be staying here until the fever passes." Assuring but firm. The sparkle of hope in his eyes faded and he resigned himself for a longer wait in the sickbay. Christine brought him water and scooted the PADD closer to him in the hope that it would comfort his uneasiness, even if it was not caused by his illness.

"Nurse!" all attending knew voice but being as there were multiple nurses on duty all turned inquisitively to him. McCoy glanced around at his nurses and saw the discomfort in their eyes. He was working with the blue-eyed devil. The nurses desire and duty to help McCoy was not enough to overcome the lead that sunk into their feet at the thought of having to assist the Doctor with the criminal.

McCoy understood. John Harrisons eyes did not differ when he looked at the security officers or McCoys nurses. They all knew that if Harrison decided to make a move he would not care who was in his way, all would perish equally mercilessly.

The doctors eyes met Christine's. She inhaled deeply and tried to harden her gaze. The first step was extremely difficult, but once she lifted her foot she was freed and she stood beside the doctor with a curt smile. "I need tissue samples." They exchanged hard glances with each other and Chapel grabbed a tray of supplies and fell in line behind Bones as he approached the criminal. The security guards lowered their weapons and stood aside. Even though they most likely were no threat to John Harrison, it felt even more dangerous without having all four phaser rifles pointed directly at him.

Harrison looked the doctor in the face and McCoy starred back seemingly fearless. Harrison noted the sweat on the doctors brow and hands, he noted though his face was solid, his breathing was short and heavy. His eyes shifted to the nurse. She was putting on a strong face, but she was visibly innocent and gentle , a bleeding heart. Harrison saved that thought in the back of his mind for possible future uses. He noted that whereas her face was determined and she showed no fear except in her eyes, her breathing was nonexistent. She was unconsciously holding her breath, something people do when they are mortally afraid.

It made him smile, so genuine a smile it was frightening. It would have been mistaken as a greeting.

They were taken aback but McCoy straightened and said "I need tissue samples. I'll swab your mouth for them but I need a skin sample too. That will sting, but I'm sure you'll manage." Christine noted how curt and controlled the doctors voice was. A real professional, it didn't matter who was his patient, they were all treated equally. It was a hard concept to accept.

Harrison gazed at Bones but not hostility, his eyes seemed naturally cold, he was not going out of his way to seep so much discomfort to the people around him. He didn't rebuke. Chapel clicked a button on the side of the medical tray and it hovered midair, motionlessly. Harrison appraised it. Christine breathed a little more easily as the calculating eyes found a new target. She held open gloves as McCoy put them on and then she put on a pair herself. Then she prepared a swab, passed it and prepared a petri dish of clear liquid. "Open." Bones put one hand on Harrisons jaw and Harrison quietly obeyed. With the other hand McCoy swabbed at the mans cheek briskly. He set the swab in the petri dish and Christine prepared the cells in the dish and put the top securely on. She passed the doctor a device that looked much like a large hypospray. "Your arm" was all he said. Again Harrison obeyed wordlessly, holding out his arm. Christine cleaned the area with a portable decontaminating device and McCoy activated his tool. There was a hissing noise, the machine shot out a small needle. It would take tissue samples of every layer of skin. It is important for all medical personnel to try out the tools on themselves so they understand the level of discomfort, it was this way Christine knew just how uncomfortable the process was. It was more painful than an injection but the man made no noise and his face did not alter in the slightest.

Harrisons eyes flickered across his attendees. Not being a man predisposed to silence, he picked the most open channel. His eyes settled on Christine. "Oh no…." the words poured out of his mouth like a liquid and the corners of his mouth pulled up in a devilish smile. He had a mockingly dismayed tone to his voice. Talking to the girl directly was enough to throw her off guard. Her eyes widened and her and the doctor exchanged glances. Harrison continued as his piercing eyes caught hers again and began analyzing them, judging her reaction, "….It seems your peroxide is washing out…"

A joke?

John Harrison…?

Was mocking her….her hair?

McCoy was so taken aback, he couldn't help but let out a small hint of a laugh be it from shock or nerves. Christine was beyond taken aback, she was floored. She had nothing to respond with so she just took a deep, surprised breath and turned and walked away, taking the tray of samples with her and the doctor followed suit.

Harrison watched them retreat and couldn't help but be amused. A man must entertain himself somehow, right?

Now that two tissue samples and a blood sample had been taken the doctor and his nurses had enough to tasks to properly busy themselves, and try to forget the specter-like man sharing the room with them.

As they approached McCoy's desk he whispered to Christine, "You know, I've got to go look at these samples in the science lab…" he trailed off and looked at one of the only nurses sturdy enough to deal with Harrison, and it was not withstanding.

McCoy rethought his game plan. "Well maybe that holier-than-thou first officer can study them.-""No, you're the doctor. You need to study them. We'll be fine here." He was really too considerate. And it's not like he could even slow John Harrison down if he decided to bolt.

McCoy didn't like the thought of leaving almost everyone he cared about in a room with a murderer, his only other close friends being Kirk and possibly that chaffing hobgoblin, both of which are the only friends he had that have a hard outward demeanor. In McCoy's mind Khan was a monster. And monsters don't care for the people with hard outward demeanor, no, they live to terrorize the gentle. He seriously contemplated packing up all the machines he would need and bringing them back to the sickbay but that would alert Khan to his fears.

Without any other option, he took his paperwork and the samples and left, promising to himself to finish it quickly and be back. If something happened he would never be able to forgive himself.