Disclaimer: I don't own Trek nor make money off of this writing.
Tears
Summary: There are very few times that tears fall down Bones' cheeks. And yeah it's sad.
Aileen Banyu Scot
"Dr. McCoy to ze bridge for a Medical Emergency." Chekov announced over head, his voice only slightly shaky.
Bones had been studying a PADD, but flung it on his desk when he heard the page. He ran out of Med Bay grabbing an emergency pack. Ordering crewmembers out of his way, he went racing down the hallway to the closest Turbo Lift with Chapel right behind him. It wasn't the first time he had been paged to the bridge during his service on the Enterprise, but damnit he had just seen Jim and he was fine! Chapel and he exchanged knowing looks as the lift shot them up to the bridge.
The turbo lift opened just outside the bridge revealing Jim and Spock huddled around the Communications Station. As Bones got closer he realized that it was Nyota who had fainted. "Pavel, call for Med Bay to get a portable bio-bed up here." The Ensign nodded as he complied. While it was unusual for the linguist to have syncopal episodes, she was pregnant and there was not a lot of statically significant data on pregnancies off planet. Although, Nyota was in her second trimester, almost to her third, she should not have collapsed no matter the effects of being in space. Something was much more severe than a dizzy spell or drop in blood sugar. "What happened?" Bones moved Jim out of the way replacing his unsure hands with a physician's steady grasp.
Jim stepped back and rammed his fingers through his hair. "She was running normal frequency checks, when she just gasped out and slumped over." Jim stood by Spock. Spock had moved aside to let Chapel closer to the patient, but the Vulcan had not said a word. He was concerned for Nyota.
Chapel was moving the tricorder over Nyota's body reporting the findings to Bones. Her vitals were not stable. "We are going to move her to the Med Bay, someone call Scotty and tell him to meet us down there." Chapel and Bones gently transferred Nyota to the bio-bed. Bones was nervous, he did not like the way this looked.
There were several things about being a physician that Leonard H. McCoy hated. One of the big ones was that he hated to care for sick children, from fetus to teenager. During his residency he would cry in the break room after every pediatric patient he attended. The older doctors had told him that was something that he would grow out of, but Bones knew he wouldn't. He could not become emotionally distant from the children who were hurt, dying or dead. Not even becoming a Star Fleet Officer or watching Vulcan be sucked into the darkness had changed that. Now, he was worried that Nyota's fetus could be in distress because of her unstable vital signs. The dread in his belly had only grown since Nyota had been discovered to be the reason for the medical emergency.
As Bones and Chapel pushed the bio-bed into Med Bay, Scotty came running up the hall from the other direction. "Bones! What happened? Is she alright? Is the baby alright?" Scotty held Nyota's hand tightly in his, anxiety rolling off of him in waves.
Bones looked to Chapel for assistance. She knew the physician had a hard time dealing with children and pregnant women. "Scotty, we are not sure what happened. We are going to run some more tests and treat her." Chapel's words not only calmed the Engineer but the Physician as well.
Nyota and Scotty had been married for two years now. Their marriage had progressed just as any normal couple, even if they were on a Star Ship. They flirted, they fought and they floated in their own world most of the time. Bones had to admit it was a nice change of pace to see a devoted couple compared to Jim's one-night stands. Bones had confirmed Nyota's pregnancy less than ten weeks ago. They had both been so over-joyed with the news. Scotty had told everyone he came in contact with over and over that he was going to be a daddy to the most beautiful baby in the universe because he had the most beautiful baby mama. They had been so happy.
But none of the happiness from days past was present now; a black curtain had been draped around the Bay where they were moving Nyota's unconscious body off the portable bed to the bio-bed. Bones heart flopped in his chest as he began running the OB tricorder over her abdomen. He winced against the stab thru his chest as the monitor could find no heartbeat other than Nyota's. He checked again and again until Scotty stopped him. "Bones… Leonard, tell me, what is it?" Scotty's voice was low, like he was afraid to utter the words for the horror that would be the answer.
Bones sat down the equipment without answering. He began to push in on Nyota's abdomen to locate the uterus. It was right where he knew it would be, but it had begun to loose its firm shape. Bones could not answer the man without being completely sure. "Chapel, I want you to re-run the lab work I did on Nyota two weeks ago." Chapel nodded and began to test Nyota's blood for HcG levels. "Scotty, I'm not completely sure what happened, so let me get all the results before I answer you. I do believe that Nyota will be fine here shortly." That was all the comfort he could offer the Scot, however he could not meet the devoted husband's gaze. Thankful Scotty had not asked about his child.
Chapel quietly handed over the test results to Bones. He shut his eyes to force back the tears. Still unable to meet Scotty's gaze, he delivered the results. "She has lost the baby." His words were feather soft, but they hit Scotty like a ton of bricks. Tears streamed down his face as he quietly sat down.
Bones tired so hard to separate himself from this situation, but his emotions ran too deep. "Scotty, I'll have to help her finish aborting the fetus." He didn't go any further with that. Pressing the hypo to Nyota's neck, he relaxed her body for the heart wrenching task ahead.
Chapel had called for another nurse to assist Scotty to the waiting room before turning to assist Bones with the delicate task of unwrapping a loving mother's body from her lifeless baby. Even in the twenty-third century with all the medical advancements, Bones was still performing a D&C on a perfectly healthy woman who should not have lost her first born. Tears streamed down his face as he gently and quickly worked from the very spot he should have been to deliver the healthy child in less than three months. To allow the physician his dignity, Chapel kept herself busy monitoring Nyota's vital signs so as not to see his tears.
Bones finally brought forth a perfectly formed angel, a mocha colored baby girl with gentle black curls. Her tiny features were perfect, ten toes and ten fingers. She had Scotty's nose that would never taken in a breath. She had Nyota's eyes that would never see the light of day. Chapel gently took the baby and wrapped her in a pink blanket just as she would have done to keep the newborn warm as she cried for the first time. Only this time it was the blanket that was warmed for the chilled body as a comfort to her parents while they said good-bye. As Bones finished his work on Nyota, her vitals stabilized and the danger for the mother passed.
Shortly before Nyota regained consciousness, Scotty was allowed back into the room. Bones gently laid his daughter in his arms. Scotty's anguished cries echoed against the sterile walls, waking his wife. He could not see her waking thru his tears. Nyota had sat up quickly eyes focused her husband. "Scotty, what has happened?!" Tears were already streaming down her cheeks.
Scotty was not able to form words, so Bones reached out for Nyota. "We lost her." That was all he could say. Nyota's scream of ache broke his heart. Scotty stumbled to the bed and handed their lost baby to his wife. She clutched the tiny bundle to her chest and rocked back and forth crying against Scotty's chest.
After so much had been taken from them could the universe not have spared this one tiny life? Could Nyota not have been spared so much pain? Could Bones have done something differently? Should he have checked her sooner than the standard four weeks? The answer was no , for whatever sorry ass reason the answer was no. Allowing the couple a private time to mourn, Bones left the bay shutting the door behind him. Though it did not shut out the tortured cries of parents whose baby had been stolen from them, it did keep out prying eyes of those who did not deserve to interrupt their moment with her. Bones stumbled into his office, slumping down on his couch. His body was racked with heavy sobs as he cried for the youngest life he couldn't save on the Enterprise.
Dr. McCoy would always remember Aileen Banyu Scot with her perfect features.
A/N: This story is a product of a much larger story idea from TresOrleans. While I decided not to go with that plot, the scene of Nyota and Scotty loosing their baby would not leave me alone. So I wrote this in hopes of getting it out of my mind so I could stop crying.
Please feel free to leave comments, I'm going to wipe my tears now.
I may keep going with this, but not doing any more baby- dying stories EVER.