Day Three

by Starsinger

No one expected their jobs to be easy, but do they need to make their jobs harder? Don't own them

The next day Joanna returned and was fussed over by the nurses and visiting members of the Enterprise. Finally, the little girl wanted to know why he was stuck in this place. McCoy took her in to see Jim. "Joanna, this is my friend, Captain Kirk. I call him Jim. He's very sick, and I'm his doctor."

"Is that why he's so yellow?" she asked.

"Yes pumpkin, he's yellow because he's sick."

"Why won't he wake up?"

"You know how you sleep a lot when you're sick?" Joanna nodded her little head. "Well, that's what he's doing. He's sleeping a lot so he can get better." Such a simple answer for a small child, McCoy wished that the answer was truly that simple.

"Mr. Captain Jim, you need to wake up. You're making my Daddy sad, and I don't like it when my Daddy is sad." McCoy nearly choked, and simply kissed the little girl on the forehead instead. Life was so innocent and straight forward at her age. Soon, Jocelyn came to get Joanna. Before she left, however, she left a note telling McCoy where they would be staying.

"Any progress?" Crachett asked. McCoy was seriously considering asking for her to transfer to the Enterprise when all was said and done.

"Well, he hasn't tried dying again in the past two hours, if that's any progress," Crachett chuckled grimly at his wit.

"He's not going to appreciate that catheter when he wakes up," she said with a grin.

"He may not, but I'll start appreciate it when he starts needing it," Jim's lack of kidney functions were the least of McCoy's problems.

"Doctor, believe it or not, he's started using it. This morning we emptied a full, almost overflowing bag, it's in his chart."

McCoy stumbled to the nearest chair before sitting down to look at the latest data. Sure enough, four hundred mils of fluid were taken from the bag this morning around 0800. It was a mid-yellow color but a clear sign that Khan's blood had started to produce some good results. The toxins were starting to flush out of Jim's system. He walked in to find Nurse Chapel recording Jim's latest vital signs. "His fever spiked again. It's at 101."

McCoy stopped, Ambassador Sarek entered the room followed by Admirals Johnson, Komack, and Archer. He sighed, he knew why they were here. Sarek's presence was a balm. The Ambassador announced that he would sit with Kirk while McCoy talked to the Admirals. Sarek's presence was a soothing balm to the sudden tension that filled the room. McCoy handed the chart to Chapel, "Call if you need me. Thank you, Ambassador." He watched as the Ambassador settled himself into a chair and pulled out a PADD. He nodded almost absently as the group left the room.

"If Mohammed won't go to the mountain?" McCoy asked whimsically. Archer nodded. McCoy watched as the recorder accepted their names and date and time.

"We've read your report, Doctor. Just take us through what happened, in your own words," Admiral Johnson said.

McCoy did, step by step. He only paused when he remembered the technicians opening the body bag to reveal Kirk. No one said a word, they had heard several such moments over the past four days. "How is Kirk?" Johnson finally asked.

"A pain in my ass," came the reply. He heard the admirals chuckle at his comment. "Brain scans suggest that his brain functions are normal for a man in a coma. The soonest I'll consider letting him come out of the coma is next week."

"How much of his body is actually functioning," Archer asked.

"Heart, lungs, digestive, brain, oh, his kidneys roared back to life last night," McCoy said.

"Alright, we're going to boil this down, Doctor. This is not to go outside this room. Officially, while Kirk received a massive dose of radiation, he did not die. We admitted that he's close to death, but not there. You found a new treatment that has allowed him to begin recovery, and we hope that's what he'll do. Jim Kirk has been put on a pedestal. The Enterprise crew is out there telling reporters what he did that saved so many lives. So, Kirk will not be the villain in this case, whether or not he lives. If he does, we'll pin a horde of medals on him and send him off on that five year mission everybody's been clamoring for.

"Somehow, John Harrison's real name has been leaked to the press, and the descendants of his original victims are demanding justice. We've told them that he's dead. The fight with Spock rendered him unconscious and he died as a result of his injuries. Your orders, Doctor, and you've already accepted them, are to keep Jim Kirk alive. His grasp of situations is unmatched, he simply puts the pieces of the puzzle together so fast no one can keep up. This mission we're sending you on is to hone that mind, make him continue to think outside the box, and, hopefully, learn some tact while he's at it." McCoy chuckled, he wasn't the only one to notice that there wasn't a filter between Jim's brain and mouth.

Archer continued, "When he's awake and up to it, we're going to start putting him in front of the cameras for interviews. We need that wit and charm and handsome face to become the public face of Starfleet. He's already become a teen heartthrob." Archer was about to continue as Chapel rushed in.

"Doctor, Jim's crashing again. He can't seem to catch his breath."

McCoy left the room at a dead run. The admirals close behind. When he entered the room Ambassador Sarek had moved out of the way as a team worked again on Kirk. McCoy sighed, they were going to have to stick yet another tube in Jim. He could hear his friend gasping for air. This was what killed him to begin with. Methodically, McCoy went through the steps. The biobed informed him that Jim's left lung had filled with fluid and had subsequently collapsed. It was Ambassador Sarek's presence at the time that alerted Chapel as to what was going on.

"Okay, everybody, we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way," McCoy announced. He pulled out an instrument that allowed him to look down Jim's throat as the nurse lowered the bed flat. He then inserted a tube down Kirk's throat that was soon hooked up to machines that breathed for the captain. He then pulled a needle out of its protective packaging and slowly inserted it into Kirk's side. Using the biobed's sensors as a guide, the needle penetrated the affected lung and McCoy started pulling out the fluids that filled it. The only noise in the room was that of the machinery as McCoy fought to pull Jim through yet another crisis. Once completed, it had taken several vials of the fluid to get the lung reinflated. "Keep him on the vent for now," McCoy informed Chapel. They all watched as Jim's stats once again rose and stabilized. "Thank you, Ambassador," he told Sarek.

Sarek nodded before settling back down in the chair. McCoy left the room, rubbing his eyes. "Is that typical?" Komack asked.

"Unfortunately, yes, Admiral. Jim's daily attempts to die have been fairly eventful. I do stress that IF Jim Kirk lives, then he can be your flavor of the month, Admiral. You'll excuse me, I have more paperwork to fill out."

Scotty arrived that evening with three glasses and a bottle of scotch. He looked at the captain and shook his head, "Tried to die on ye again, did he?"

McCoy grinned at the proffered glass, "Yeah, he actually almost succeeded this time." He took a long swallow, Scotty found the best stuff. McCoy settled on the cot someone had brought in. He kicked off his shoes before settling back. "How's the eye?"

"Sore," came the chuckle. "He knows how to throw a punch! I want him wi' me in a brawl, I'll tell ye!"

The two men settled back companionably as the evening shadows fell. Soon, Scotty heard faint snoring issuing from the cot. "Sleep, good Doctor. I'll stay up wi' the Captain fer now." He smiled as the moon rose lighting the snowy landscape outside in its soft light.