Half a Minute of Thought

I sent Bones to help Dr. Marcus with the torpedoes, because I knew that she needed good hands and he would enjoy the company. Very rarely did I ever call Bones, Dr. McCoy. Pretty much only when he was on assignment, and even then, it was rare for me to use his name. Then again it was rear for him to call me something other than Jim. Most everyone called me captain or sir. Every now and then I'd be called Jim by Scotty or Spock. But Bones, well…he and I have a very special relationship in our friendship. So for us Jim, and Bones are who we are.

I heard Dr. Marcus tell Bones to cut the wire. And then I heard Bones yell out in agony saying that he couldn't get his arm out, and then I saw the clock start to count down. 30 seconds. Half a minute and my mind raced at the fear that something had gone terribly wrong. Bones, the man who had roomed with me at the academy. The man who had gotten me through so many things. Now, in a matter of seconds he could die. I didn't want that thought in my mind and tried to throw it out the window.

10..9..8..7..Come there has to be a way to shut off the torpedo. If not, Bones, my best friend would be dead. Not something I wanted to compute in my mind. A world, my life without Dr. Leonard McCoy. 6..5..4..My heart was beating too fast. I couldn't breath. This was it, Bones was going to die and it would be my fault. 3..2..Deactivation achieved.

A huge sigh of relief came over me, the torpedo had been stopped, but Bones didn't say anything. Was he okay? "Dr. McCoy are you alright?" Still nothing. "BONES?!"

"Jim, you're gonna want to see this." Bones said.

Thank goodness he was alright. I was never so happy to see Bones when I came into Medbay to see what he was talking about. I didn't want him to know so I kept myself under control. There was still a lot to come before I'd be able to talk to Bones privately.

I was still in recovery, after barely dying. Bones was scanning me over for the millionth time. "Bones?"

He down at me.

"Bones, put the scanner down. I'm fine."

He set it on a table. "Happy?" He grumped.

"Bones, I never told you that I'm glad that you were okay."

He looked confused. "Of course I'm okay. I'm not the one who died Jim, you are."

"No, I know. I mean when you had your arm stuck in the torpedo. I feared the worst. Yes, it was only thirty seconds, but seemed longer. I feared losing my best friend."

"Well, I'm fine. But I know how you feel. When they brought you're dead body into med bay, I had never felt such a loss."

"I'm sorry Bones."

"Well, thankfully Khan's blood did the trick." Bones stopped for a second with another confused look on his face. "I'm you're best friend?"

"Yes, you are. Who else would you think it to be?"

"Spock."

"Bones, you're more than just my best friend. You're family too. Not even Spock knows me as well as you do."

"Thanks Jim." Bones said with a smile.