Jim had clapped McCoy on the shoulder with a laugh when they read the roster for roommates and saw they were together. McCoy had been less enthused, not really caring, though he was grateful he would be roomed with someone he knew even if he didn't know Jim well. McCoy found himself alone more often than not, Jim staying in another girl's room and coming back after McCoy'd fallen asleep.
In all honesty McCoy didn't mind Jim, he liked him even; though he wouldn't admit it. Jim did tread the thin line that was McCoy's patience, but Jim was quick to step back into his good graces. There was something about James Kirk, his resilience and fight, that had McCoy growing fond of him even if Jim did irritate him.
But having Jim as a roommate meant seeing Ellie daily, and she was not as friendly as her cousin. And try as he might, Jim could not convince Ellie to try to befriend McCoy.
"I'm not here for friends," she told him.
"What are you gonna do if he's on the same ship as you?" Jim asked hotly. "Can't you at least try?"
"No, Jim I can't!" she yelled before stalking off.
And that was the end of Jim trying to get her to be friendly. But Bones, which Jim had taken to calling McCoy, studied in the same hospital as Ellie and they worked close together on many cases.
It was when they were working together that Bones discovered why she didn't like flying.
"Dr. Davis," the hospital's chief Dr. Sullivan called to her.
"Chief Sullivan," Ellie said in greeting. "Is there something you need me to do?"
"Yes," she said pleasantly, "and you too Dr. McCoy," she said looking to Bones. "The knowledge of your incident came with your file, and both the Academy and I feel it would be best for you to be on many of the shuttles that come and go from the hospital until you can fly comfortably."
McCoy had watched the shock and then refusal cross her face at the chief's words. "I don't think I could do that, I mean I have my patients and I don't think I could leave them and I still have my studies," Ellie said quickly giving any excuse she could.
"That won't be a problem, you would only need to fly at least once a month. Take a breath Dr. Davis, I promise your shuttle won't go down."
He was shocked when he heard that Ellie had been in a shuttle crash, realizing he didn't know much about her at all. "I'm sorry Chief Sullivan," he said getting the chief's attention, "but why did you choose me to fly with her?" he asked not wanting to fly anymore than she did.
"I figured she would do better if she had a friend and quite frankly you were the first person I saw near her," the chief explained. "You two will be flying tomorrow to retrieve lungs for a patient."
And that settled it, they were to fly once a month together; and McCoy was not happy about it and doubly angry that he was having to fly because of her. Though his thoughts changed when he saw her the next day staring at the shuttle wide eyed and pale.
"Elenore," a voice called getting both their attention and they turned to see Captain Pike. "Ready to fly?" he asked knowing without seeing the way her hands shook that she wasn't.
"You're piloting?" she asked, her voice calmer than she was. Even McCoy could see she was terrified, wondering why she was so afraid now when she hadn't been on the shuttle to the Academy.
"I volunteered to fly the shuttles you would be in," Pike told her with a small smile. "Figured you'd be more comfortable with me since I got you here safely."
Ellie gave a short laugh of unbelief. "Starfleet is giving me special treatment."
"You're a special case, Elenore," Pike told her gently. "You were the top surgical intern in your hospital and you not only survived the crash but you helped keep four of them alive for three days despite their condition. That's an impressive feat, something Starfleet is looking for in their recruits."
"Really?" Ellie asked nearly sneering, taking both Pike and McCoy by surprise with her cold tone. "Do you know what happened after the shuttled crashed? Does Starfleet? Yeah, I saved four people but nine died. One of them was my best friend, did Starfleet know that? Or that when we were finally found she had been stripped to the bone by wild animals?" Tears could be heard in her voice and seen shining in her eyes, though her face was angry. "I'm not flying," she said quietly as she turned away.
"Get on the shuttle," Pike ordered her but she shook her head as she kept walking. "Get on the shuttle Elenore!" Pike yelled and she turned to him wide eyed.
"I can't," she said, tears filling her eyes and she turned away again.
Pike sighed before looking to the McCoy. "You ready?"
"Like hell I'm flying if she's not," he answered following after her, though in truth he was concerned; she didn't seem like the kind of person to cry or give up and yet she was doing both. He didn't like her, but he didn't have to in order to feel sympathy for her.
Pike had managed to pull enough strings to get Jim to fly with her until she could get on the shuttle without him, it being obvious she couldn't fly without him yet, and within a year she could fly on a shuttle without being petrified; she wasn't happy, but she wasn't as afraid. And as Bones flew with her every time he slowly grew used to being in the air, as equally as unhappy as she was. And they were both relieved when they weren't obligated to fly anymore.
But his sympathy for Ellie quickly waned as he worked more with her, and though she offered her patient's comfort and she proved she was a gifted student, there wasn't emotion behind her actions.
"Can I ask you something about Ellie?" McCoy asked Jim as they settled in their rooms for the night, one of the few times Jim stayed in his own bed.
"Yeah, what do you wanna know?"
"Has she always been so hard or is it because of the accident?" McCoy asked him.
Jim was silent for a while, wondering how to explain her. "It has a lot to do with the crash but I guess she's been like this awhile," he answered. "She's not as hard as she lets on."
McCoy nodded, knowing it wasn't his place to question further even if he wanted to. But he needn't say anything because Jim could see the unbelief on his face.
"Give her time, you'll see she's actually pretty great," Jim insisted though Bones found that hard to believe. Ellie didn't make it easy to believe, she treated her patients well and cared for them well as well as proving she would be a great surgeon when she assisted her residents.
But Jim was right, all Bones needed was to give her time. The first time he had seen that she actually did care was when he realized he liked her more than he had thought; that over the time they had spent together because of the hospital or because of Jim they had become friends.
"Thomas Peterson age thirty seven, came in complaining of chest pains," Ellie said when he came to look at the man's chart.
"It's really nothing I feel fine now," Thomas said looking to Bones.
"He just wants to be discharged so he can take his son fishing," Ellie explained. "I'm sorry Mr. Perterson but we don't take chest pain lightly. I'll try to make it as quick as possible," she said before turning her full attention to Bones. "I sent his blood to the lab but scanning's backed up for a hour, what do you wanna do?"
He looked over the electronic chart to see Thomas had high blood pressure. "I say we wait."
"Do you know how long?" Thomas asked.
"It could take a while," Ellie told him. "But we don't know what's going on yet and there are a number of things it could be that can't be diagnosed without the lab results and a CT of your chest."
"Sorry, that's probably my son," Thomas said when his communicator rang. "Hey Max," he said in greeting. "No, the nice doctor said I might be here for a little bit longer. Could you tell him?" Thomas asked holding the phone out for Ellie.
Bones watched amused as Ellie took the phone and said hello to Max. "Your daddy is sitting here patiently and talking to us, I'd say that's a good sign. You'll be fishing with him in no time, Max," she said with a small smile. "I can answer one more question," she said and then waited for him to ask. Bones' brow rose when she laughed. "No, a watermelon won't grow in your stomach if you eat the seeds."
"He's seven," Thomas told Bones in explanation. "This is the first weekend I've had off from work so I could take him fishing, he's been begging for months."
"We'll get you out as soon as we can when we're sure your health is stable," Bones told him.
"Five is the best time in the morning to fish," Thomas said, knowing he would miss it. "It's only an hour away."
"He wants to talk to you," Ellie said, saving Bones from having to respond. "I have another patient are you good to stay with him if he has anymore questions?" she asked Bones quietly while Thomas talked on his phone.
"Backed up an hour?" he asked and she nodded.
"Welcome to the night shift."
The hour went by faster than they thought, to which Bones left to check on his other patients, getting a page saying Thomas was coding.
In the end Bones restarted Thomas' heart and Ellie called the cardio surgeon to meet them in CT. "Is that a tear in his aorta?" Ellie asked once they looked at the scans.
"We need to operate immediately," the cardio surgeon said. "Even then we might not save him."
The surgeon had been right, they hadn't been able to save him. "You did all you could, these are hard to catch and by then it's too late."
Ellie and Bones nodded though neither of them was pleased their patient had died. The cardio surgeon left Bones and Ellie standing by the main desk. Bones was about to excuse himself when they heard Thomas' phone ring. "I'll get it," Ellie said softly.
Bones watched as she held the phone for a moment and hesitated before answering it.
"Hello," she answered, her voice strained. "Hi Max, it's your daddy's doctor" she said and Bones could hear the tears in her voice. "Can I talk to your mom?" she asked nearly crying, and Bones placed a hand on her shoulder; giving her the only comfort he could as she told Mrs. Peterson her husband was dead.
The second time Bones saw that Ellie cared was when he started falling in love with her; though he didn't know it at the time.
This chapter is only part of the three years in the Academy (I believe it goes into their second year), going partially into her past but it does explain why she doesn't like flying. And it's mostly all from Bones' point of view. This will continue next chapter because it got too long, and more about her past is revealed there and possibly the start of the movie. I figured since Jim and Bones became such good friends in the Academy that they would have been roommates, so that is my reasoning behind doing that.
I would like to thank those who have favorited and followed, it means a lot. And especially to the two who have reviewed. I will say I don't typically continue updates when reviews are low so I'll give it a few more chapters to see if I'll continue. So if you would like me to keep writing then please let me know.
