Backwoods Voodoo

Summary: Lost and alone in the backwoods of beyond, McCoy finds himself on the receipt of some unorthadox medical treatment.

Warning: Contains mild profanity.

A one shot written for 'Archaic medical treatment' on my HC bingo card. As always, reviews are appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star trek or any of its characters. This is purely for personal enjoyment, not profit.

Leonard woke uneasily to a ceiling he did not recognise. He was unfortunate enough to know every inch of the sickbay ceiling, like the back of his hand, and the one in his quarters. Those were the only two places he wanted to be considering how crap he was feeling. This was neither. It was thatched, Dammit.

McCoy groaned. His head was pounding, his mouth tasted like something had died in it and there was an elephant sitting on his chest. Add to that, he'd been stripped down to his boxers underneath the sheet and he had no idea where he was, let alone how he'd gotten there.

Something tickled the back of the his hand.

The effort was exhausting but Leonard eventually managed to raise his hand into the range of his vision. He had to blink several times before his hand came into focus.

McCoy found himself staring at a huge crimson leech latched onto his skin. He quickly closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten before opening them again, checking to make sure that the creature was really there and not just a figure of his imagination. Sadly, no such luck.

As he looked closer, he could see that the leech was actually clear and he could see his own blood swirling around as the creature drank. McCoy swallowed against the bile rising in his throat. He reached across to pull the damn thing off.

A hand caught his before he could succeed. 'Leave them.' McCoy turned his head to follow the arms and see the girl sitting on the edge of the bed, holding down his own arms. 'Their spit contains enzymes breaking down the venom in your blood.'

Now that he was aware of it, he could feel dozens on the damned things all over his body.

McCoy had never really been a squeamish man. As a Doctor, he hadn't been able to afford that luxury but it was one thing to be a doctor and another to be the patient. The leeches were a far cry from his hyposprays and dermal regenerators; They were in a whole different league.

He wanted them off, right now.

'Easy.' The girl warned, pushing him back down. McCoy was too weak to fight her. Just that small movement had set the room in motion, leaving him nauseous. It was several minutes before the room settled.

'Get them off.' He moaned.

'I can't do that.' The girl said calmly. 'The venom from the snake will kill you if I take them off before they are finished.'

McCoy groaned. He was in the backwoods of beyond at the mercy of some voodoo princess who looked young enough to be his own daughter. She could be lying to him, for all he knew. She could have poisoned him and the leeches were actually killing him.

He had nothing; without his medical tricorder, or any of his other equipment, he had no way of knowing the truth. McCoy hated being blind, so to speak.

Something the girl had said had sparked his memory, though. The images were fuzzy, but somehow, deep down, he got the impression that she was telling the truth.

Something had gone wrong and they'd found themselves running for their lives. In all the chaos, McCoy had been separated from the others. He remembered running through a swamp, lost and alone.

Something had stung his leg but McCoy had been too focused on keeping moving to pay it much attention. He'd made it ten meters before the dizziness set in. Another five before his legs had buckled and he could no longer stand. He'd been on the ground.

After that the memories got even muddier. Focusing on them just made his head pound harder, leaving him with nothing for his efforts. He didn't know if the memories were real or something conjured up by the easy suggestibility of his subconscious in his weakened state. In the end he had to give up.

One thing he did know was that he too weak to fight her, if it came down to it, so had no choice but to let the girl finish.

'How long?' The growl lost it's effect when the sound came out all weak and pathetic.

The girl was unperturbed. 'They will fall off by themselves when they are full or there is no longer venom in your blood.'

McCoy closed his eyes against the increased pounding inside his head. The relief the brief darkness brought was only passing; all the talking was making steadily turning his headache into a raging migraine. The nausea was growing too, though whether it was from the dim light or the thought of the vampiric creatures attached to his veins, he did not know.

'You should sleep.' The girl coaxed, his actions failing to escape her ever watchful gaze. 'I will wake you when the cleansing is finished.'

Leonard knew that sleep was an important part of the human recovery process but he couldn't let himself sleep yet. He didn't know that he could trust this girl. He had never felt so vulnerable; Who knew what she would do to him while he was asleep.

His body unfortunately had different ideas. Sleep tugged at his eyelids, pulling him downwards into darkness. He could still hear the girl talking to him as he drifted off.

Don't fight it. Save your strength.

Sleep.