Visitors
by Starsinger
Bones gives in and lets Starfleet Brass see Kirk. Don't own them.
"Look, I don't think you understand what I'm telling you, Admiral. Jim is in no condition to talk to anyone much less see anyone. You'll just be wasting your time," Bones was tiring of this conversation, as well as every conversation he was having with these people. Admiral Komack, Admiral Johnson, and Admiral Archer had shown up in force this time. Three days since Jim Kirk died, and they still wouldn't get the hint.
"You let Ambassador Sarek in," Komack stated.
"Ambassador Sarek's son is on the Enterprise. He wanted to make sure that wasn't his son in there. Sarek has since gone to the Enterprise and spoken to Commander Spock himself. Look, you have no idea what it was like having Security bring in body bag after body bag, and then opening the last body bag and discovering his body in there…" Bones' voice broke off at the awful memory. No warning, no hint of who it was, he opened it and there Jim lay.
"Doctor," another voice chimed in. "I believe that the Admirals might better understand if you gave them some education." Bones looked up and found Spock standing at Jim's door.
Bones considered his next words carefully, "Alright, but I'm not going to warn you. You asked for this," Bones told them.
Bones pushed past the Admirals and opened the door into Jim's room. The Admirals strode into the room with purposeful steps only to be stopped by what they saw and heard. The machines that beeped, the deathly palor that gleamed a slight yellow. The cannula running around his ears and into the entrance of his nose. Even worse, the rattle deep within his chest that meant that something was wrong with his lungs. Admiral Johnson stumbled back out the door, Komack went into the bathroom while Archer simply turned and looked out the window. Spock and McCoy simply waited.
Archer turned back and emotion clearly showed as he asked, "Will he make it?"
McCoy sighed, "I don't know. His body is fighting what we're trying to do to keep him alive. I've asked myself over and over again what right do I have to do this to him, he was dead. I just can't help but feel that terrible things will happen if I don't at least try. That Jim Kirk is meant for great things."
Archer sighed as he approached Kirk's bed, he laid a hand on the side of Kirk's face, "Jim, please, we need you, the universe needs you, your friends need you, come back to us when you're ready." Archer then turned and swept out of the room, collecting the other two in his wake. They stopped at the elevator, "We won't bother you again, at least until his condition or improves." Unspoken was what would happen if Jim lost this fight.
"Admiral, I have supreme confidence that Jim won't lose this fight," Bones responded.
"Wait," Johnson said. "We forgot something. Captain Kirk, for supreme courage and valor, even in the face of death. For ensuring that many more lives would not be lost when the Enterprise would have slammed into the ground in San Francisco, we have been given permission by the United Federation of Planets to give you its highest civilian honor, The Medal of Honor."
In proper reverence Spock gently tilted the comatose man's torso forward far enough so the medal could be place around Jim's neck. It seemed out of place decorating a hospital gown, but no one knew if he would ever wear a uniform again to let it decorate. Nurse Chapel snuck in with a PADD and took a picture. This lone picture would be sent to the Enterprise and her crew to give them hope that they're captain would be alright.
Three weeks later Kirk was going through the drawers on his nightstand when he found the box containing the medal. He opened it and nearly choked. He pressed the button, asking for Bones. McCoy entered to see Jim holding the box, "Bones, is there something you forgot to tell me? Did you steal a Medal of Honor?"
"No, when have I had time to do that? Spock did it," Jim nearly choked on the laughter that came bubbling up. McCoy pulled out the PADD he was holding in his hand and pulled out the picture of Kirk on the day of the Admiral's visit.
"Wow, I looked awful!" Kirk commented.
"Yeah, well, prepare yourself. They'll probably subject you to the full ceremony when you can stand for more than a few minutes without falling over."
"I just did what needed doing, Bones. I'm no hero."
"What do you think the definition of a hero is, Jim? You went into that chamber not thinking of yourself, but of everyone who would die. When I looked at you and wondered if I was doing the right thing, I kept telling myself that there were times the needs of the one were the needs of the many, sometimes." They both looked at the medal and remembered those friends, no longer here, that also deserved this honor.