It had been too quiet in the med bay today. Hell, it had been too quiet and too calm ship wide for the last week. Things had been running smoothly for the past couple of days but yesterday the Enterprise had run into a planet that wanted to make a treaty with the federation. Christine had heard from McCoy that Kirk was going down to officiate the deal. Something was wrong, she could feel it in her gut. The away team had left at least twelve hours ago. Maybe it was just her but it seemed like a long time to finalize the deal and sign your signature. Or maybe there was just more to it that she didn't completely understand. Either way, McCoy was down there and he had become something akin to a brother to her. They were very close friends and he watched out for her. Christine's mothering nature had taken a hold of her while he was a way and she'd set to worrying about him, like she did for everyone she cared about. Granted she should worry about the captain but she didn't know him at all.
Christine sucked in air and held it as Chekov came over the comm system. In these next few moments he would either relieve her fears or twist the knife in her gut. By the end of his transmission Christine was sprinting down the corridor towards the transporter room at the speed of light. Ensigns and other Starfleet officers quickly getting out of her way lest she bulldoze over them with out even the slightest utterance of a sorry. A gaggle of nurses followed behind her but not as fast as Christine. As she burst into the Transporter room the smell of blood filled her nostrils and crimson blood pooled on the floor. The head nurse locked eyes with McCoy and set to work as McCoy ordered nurses that came in behind her to do other things. Christine slipped on her gloves and quickly worked the body over; most of the damage had been done by a gunshot wound to the lower right quadrant of the abdomen. It didn't look like the works of a phaser or a new aged weapon it was definitely an old gun, like the antiques her father collected. If they didn't take care of the wound fast he'd bleed out. Christine hopped onto the stretched as the nurses rushed the dying man to the medical bay. She straddled his legs as she put all of the pressure she could muster onto the wound to staunch the bleeding. Stomach wounds were the worst if they weren't caught in time and that's what they were running out of.
The medical bay had been cleared of any patients they had earlier before the medical alert went out. As they entered the med bay McCoy handed Christine a hypo spray full of sedative. They were going straight into surgery. Christine placed the hypo spray against her patient's neck but before she could pull the trigger his eyes fluttered open in a moment of consciousness. She was surprised at how blue his eyes were especially now against his ashen face.
"It'll be okay. We're gonna get you all fixed up in no time. Do you understand?" Christine spoke soft and calmly like it was a secret conversation between her and her patient. He looked like he wanted to nod but couldn't muster the will power. He was going into shock.
"Is that my blood?" The whisper was barely audible and Christine had barely caught it. If she hadn't been so close to him she definitely wouldn't have. Instead of answering him she pulled the trigger and the familiar hiss of the sedative being released followed by the patients eyes closing against his will, not that he had a lot anymore.
"I'm sorry, but I promise everything will be okay." She never broke her promises. The surgery wouldn't even take a half hour. As long as they got him in there soon, which wouldn't be a problem at all. Just as she'd predicated the surgery was a snap, but they had overlooked a slight head injury that would leave him out of it for a while. McCoy estimated a few days, and added that the man needed rest anyway. Something about him working too hard Christine had barely caught the older physicians grumbles. As she watched over the man that she'd forced McCoy to place in her custody she felt a pang of guilt surge through her. She'd been so cruel to leave him hanging there. Obviously it'd been his blood but she couldn't very well have him panic, that's what they were first taught in med school, keep the patient from panicking. Her gloves had been just satiated with his deep red blood this was her way of making it up to him; by making sure no other nurse could mess things up with his recovery. He deserved the best, and he would get it.
Christine had made it a point to check on her patient every hour on the hour, no later. Though McCoy grumbled she was taking too much pity on the man she disagreed. Though maybe she did find herself slightly attracted to the blonde haired angel resting on the bed she now stood next to, but didn't many women find themselves somewhat attracted to him? Not to mention she'd locked eyes with those baby blues underneath his sleepy eyelids. This was no way to view a patient. With a shake of her head she pulled out a scanner as she passed it over his face his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist roughly. The Scanner flew out of her hand and on to the other side of the bed clattering to the floor. Her eyes slid from her wrist to his flaming blue eyes, an anger burning somewhere behind his attempt at self-control. Christine wiped the shock from her face as fast as possible and replaced it with her best smile.
"It's nice to see you awa-"
"What happened? Where am I? Did the treaty go through? Is everyone else alright?" his questions came fast and slurred sleep and drugs prevalent in his speech. It took her a few seconds to process what he'd said.
"Just let me go get Dr. McCoy, he can explain everything." Christine attempted to pull out of his grasp but he only tightened his already rough grip. He was much stronger than her and he knew it.
"No! Just answer my questions." He urged and jerked her closer to the bed. She was never one to let her temper get the best of her but he could not treat a woman or a nurse in general this way. Especially not after all she'd done to ensure he had the best care the ship could offer.
"You were shot in the lower right quadrant of your abdomen. Welcome to the med bay, you've been out for the past three days. I'm sure the treaty is fine and for the record you're hurting me." Christine ground out through her teeth attempting to keep her anger from seeping into her words. She jerked her wrist back to herself as soon as his grip loosened. With a sharp look she turned from him and rubbed her wrist to ease some of the redness. "I'll get Dr. McCoy now if that's alright."
"Sorry, I shouldn't have acted like that. But please don't get Bones yet, he'll just give me an earful about my reckless ways and probably punch me full of drugs." He looked slightly ashamed of his rash behavior and according to Chapel he should. That was no way to treat someone that was taking care of him.
"It's fine. But you should watch yourself. Honestly you're lucky it was I and not another nurse. Most of them here are jumpier than frogs at feeding time." And there she went letting her origins slip out in her speech. She often tried to keep her New Orleans sayings out of her speech bit sometimes she just couldn't help it.
"Well I guess I'm lucky to have you as a Nurse. I'm James T. Kirk." He gave her a devilish smile like that was just suppose to melt her under wear off and then he could have his way with her. As if, he may be good looking but she had more self respect than those other girls.
"I'm Head Nurse Chapel." She gave him a pleasant smile as his face dropped. That was exactly the response she often got from new visitors. Christine was young she knew that, so for her to be head nurse was quite the accomplishment but after the Narada fiasco she was the one left with the most nursing experience and McCoy had appointed her his number one.
"So you're the Head Nurse Bones always talks about. Go figure, he always keeps the good looking ones to himself." Kirk threw her a wink and she rolled her eyes. "Aren't you a bit young to be head nurse?"
"Aren't you a bit young to be captain of your own ship?" A smirk graced her lips at the same time Kirk smirked.
"I thought head nurses were suppose to be old and bitter."
"And I thought that captains weren't suppose to try and bed all of his female crew members." She trumped him and they both knew it. Her smirk widened into a smile. "I think I'll go get McCoy now. I bet he has a lot to talk to you about." Christine turned and started walking away as he called after her.
"It's not all the women you know!"
"Oh so you go for boys too?" And with the last word she disappeared into McCoy's office.
