Two Alone
Chapter 9
"Struck by lightning! Struck by lightning!"
J.R.R. Tolkien
"Come on, Jimmy. Open your eyes for me. Come on now. Atta' boy, open your eyes just for a minute." Leonard slapped Jim's cheeks lightly.
Jim was clutched tightly against Bones' chest when he opened his eyes. His blurry face was the first thing Jim saw and the worried fright in the blue eyes. He blinked to clear his vision forcing his eyelids to stay open, and his reward was the surge of relief he saw on Bones' face.
" 'ones," he attempted to say, but all that came out was a hoarse, raspy sound. Bones pressed a mug of cool water at him, but Jim's hands refused to cooperate. His shaky fingers couldn't keep a grasp on the mug. Bones shifted him a little in his arms and brought the mug to his lips. Jim took a few sips and looked up at Bones, his hazel eyes dazed and puzzled.
"Jim, do you know where you are?" Bones looked anxiously at him. "Do you remember?"
Jim nodded. "In the cave. What happened to me?" His voice was still raspy, but at least now his vocal cords seemed to work and he could talk.
Leonard drew in a shaky deep breath of relief. "A bolt of lightning struck the cave, probably directly on top of us. You were sitting against the wall and the electrical charge traveled through whatever the hell metal is in these rocks and electrocuted you. You scared the living daylight out of me!"
Jim struggled to sit up by himself, but almost immediately he fell back into Bones arms. His muscles were not working properly.
"Jim!" Bones protested. "Wait. Lie still for a minute. Quit movin'. You got quite a jolt. Here, let me help you." He shifted Jim in his arms and helped him to sit up, keeping a firm arm around him. Jim groaned as he pulled away slightly to sit up straight, then clutched at his head.
"Let that be a lesson to you, Captain. Told you to sit still; at least let me check that you don't have brain damage."
"Brain damage!" Jim looked at him horrified.
"Jim," Leonard ran the tricorder over him and peered at it in the dim light of the lantern. "You were electrocuted. This cave wall was a good conductor of electricity. Who knows how powerful that bolt was that hit the top of the cave." He grabbed his comm, pressed the light module and peered into Jim's eyes to check his pupil reaction. He nodded, satisfied. "Your pupil reactions are normal, thank the good Lord."
Jim ran a still shaky hand down his face. "I'm okay, Bones. I just have a really bad headache and I'm feeling shaky."
"I should think so. If you'd been outside the lightning would have killed you. Sit still a minute, I'll give you something for the headache." He pressed a hypo with a strong all purpose analgesic in Jim's neck, then sat back, watching Jim's face closely, as he waited while it took effect.
Jim breathed a sigh of relief feeling the pain med work almost instantly. "Thanks." He looked around the cave and then at Bones. "Why are you okay if the lightning struck the cave?" His voice was still a little shaky, a further effect of the lightning on his central nervous system.
"Probably because I was sitting in front of you, not touching the cave wall; you were and thank the good Lord only a part of your body was against the wall."
"Oh. Well thank God for that, it's bad enough it got me. Imagine if both of us had been electrocuted!" He looked around. "Is all our stuff okay?"
"Looks like it," Leonard said, glancing toward the neat piles of their things. "They were at the back, I don't think it traveled that far." He still looked worried. "Do you think you can stand up for me, Jim?"
"I'm not sure." He put his hands down on the cave floor to get some leverage. Leonard got behind him, grunting as he helped him get slowly to his feet. Jim stood upright, leaning heavily on the doctor. He swayed a little and then slowly released his death grip on Leonard's arms, standing still but steady. He didn't attempt to take a step yet.
Leonard stood close by, ready to help if he was needed. Jim drew in a deep breath. "I'm alright. Just felt a little unsteady on my feet for a minute."
"It's no wonder, Jimmy." Leonard ran the tricorder over him again. He nodded satisfied. "Your nervous system is getting back to normal. Just don't push yourself. I gave you a small dose of Cordrazine to help things along."
"Thanks, Bones." Jim tilted his head. He was feeling stronger, more steady on his feet. "Sounds like the storm is passing. How long was I out?"
"Not too long." Leonard smiled grimly. "Long enough to scare the hell outta' me though, just about 7 or 8 minutes. Whole thing freaked me out I can tell you. Damn crazy planet," he muttered crossly. Seeing Jim being shocked unconscious like that had scared the bejeezus out of him. He shuddered. For a minute he'd thought Jim had been killed.
"I'm going to give you some hot tea with lots of sugar. I don't have any glucose with me in the med kit, so raw sugar is the next best thing. The tea will be too sweet for you, but I want you to drink it all down, no arguments, okay?"
In the dim lantern light, Jim could still see the worry in the blue eyes.
"Yeah, I promise, I'll drink it all. I'm okay now, stop worrying, Bones."
"Easier said than done, and I'll be the judge of that. You sit right down on the sleeping bags. You need to get warm." He helped Jim to sit on the warm sleeping bags, draped both thermal blankets around his shoulders, then used his phaser to prepare the sweet tea.
At the first sip, Jim made a face at the too sweet taste, but he gamefully swallowed all of it down. The sugar hit his system and almost immediately he felt better, stronger and less shaky. He looked up and noticed Bones standing just above him in his thin shirt. "Bones! It's too cold for you to, be in that shirt. Here," he pulled one of the thermal blankets off his shoulders and handed it to Leonard.
"You keep that on you, Jim Kirk, until I say so. I'll put on my other shirt," he said, pulling it out of their field pack and putting it on. Then he leaned down and sniffed at Jim's head.
"Bones, what the hell are you doing?" Jim asked, drawing back, a puzzled look on his face.
"I wanna' be sure you didn't get enough electricity goin' through you that it singed your hair. Burnt hair has a very distinctive odor."
"Did it, Bones?" Jim raised his hand and ran it through his sandy locks.
"Naw. Your golden locks are just fine," Leonard grinned. "Wouldn't want to have to shave your head, now would we?"
"God, no!" Jim exclaimed, horrified.
"Vanity, thy name is Jim Kirk," paraphrased Leonard, gleefully, finally relaxing a little and sitting down close beside him nudging his shoulder.
Jim whacked him playfully. "A shaved head would not be a good look on me, Dr. McCoy, nor for that matter, on you either."
"You can say that again," Leonard retorted. He grabbed Jim's wrist and checked his pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief. Jim's heart rate was back to its usual slow steady beat. "You're alright, Jimmy," he said patting his hand thankfully.
"I'm sorry I scared you. You always take good care of me," Jim said, his hazel eyes warm with affection.
"Yeah, well, someone has to. What would your mama say if I let somethin' happen to you?" he shuddered dramatically. "Hate to think of it, she'd totally cut me off from her home cooked meals forever!"
Jim laughed. "Ma would, but that would be the least of it!" He tilted his head. "Sounds like the storm has passed over us. What I was going to tell you, before I was rudely interrupted by that bolt of lightning, was that we should use the latrine later tonight, because I have a feeling the Romulans will be here bright and early tomorrow morning. We may not have time to use it early in the morning if we hear the shuttle coming. We'll need to grab our rations, the tarp, totally cover the cave entrance with the rocks and make a run for the crevice. The Romulans didn't finish their reconnaissance up here today, so I'm sure they'll be back. I don't want to chance us being in the cave again when they come back and they're that close to us. After that, they'll probably head for the woods and check out that area again, and hopefully that'll be it, because there's really nothing else on this planet of any interest. I hope they'll head back to the ship and leave the planetary system."
"I hope so. They don't seem to be in any big hurry do they?"
Jim sighed. "No, which leads me to think this was only a detour on the ship's regular patrol. They were probably bored like we get sometimes with nothing more interesting than space dust for parsecs on end. The Captain probably thought it would be a good break from boredom for the crew."
"Huh," Leonard scoffed. "I can count on one hand the number of times when that's happened on this mission, Jim Kirk, so don't you try to pretend otherwise."
Jim grinned around his tea mug. "Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little, but once or twice it has gotten a little boring."
"And I've treasured and appreciated those two times, I can assure you, and so has my Sick Bay staff, as they'll be more than happy to tell their Captain," Leonard laughed softly. He felt a little giddy with relief. What if the lightning had stopped Jim's heart? What would he have done then? He didn't even have a defibrillator to restart his heart! He would've had to use barbaric chest compressions like they did in the old days; there was always a danger that a rib or two could be broken or cracked with aggressive chest compressions and it was hard work, very physically demanding for one person to do. When they got back to the ship, he was going to talk to Admiral Boyce about including a small portable defibrillator in every field med bag.
"I'm feeling a lot better, Bones. The sugar gave me a real surge of energy."
"That's good. That's what it was for. Okay, let's get you up on your feet and have you walk around for a bit. I'm gonna' monitor your heart rate while you walk. If we have to travel fast tomorrow up this rocky hill, I need to know it won't put a strain on your heart. A bolt of electricity like that has been known to cause heart damage. Also, I wanna' be sure you're steady on your feet before we do anything else such as going outside to use the latrine. It's pitch dark out there, so we're gonna use the flashlight for sure and I'm gonna' go with you. I don't want to chance you getting another sprained ankle on top of being electrocuted."
Jim grimaced, but nodded in resignation. There was no use arguing with Bones when he was in this kind of uber protective mode; and he had a point. Climbing rocky terrains in a hurry was physically very taxing.
"Okay, Jimmy. Up we go." He gave Jim both hands and helped him get on his feet. Jim stood still for a minute, clutching Bones' hands tightly until he felt steady on his feet; he let go slowly. He looked down to check his hands, they had stopped trembling, a good sign that.
"Alright?"
Jim nodded. " Yes, I think so."
"Good." Bones moved away from him. "Walk toward me. I wanna' check your gait as you walk. Slow and easy now," he told him, as Jim began to walk toward Bones.
Leonard sharp gaze tracked Jim as he walked toward him. When Jim was in front of him, he took his pulse, then Leonard moved to the other side of the cave. "Again."
Jim turned and walked toward him again. Leonard checked his pulse and nodded satisfied. "You're fine, Jim. Heart rate is normal, your gait is normal. You were very lucky!"
"Yeah, I was! Lucky to have you here with me, Bones. What would have happened to me if I'd been here alone!"
Leonard snorted. "As if Spock, Giotto, me or any of the Command crew would have let you come down here by yourself. Besides, Starfleet regs say the Captain cain't go on any away mission by himself, no one can. And don't ever try it, Jim Kirk, or I'll sic Admiral Komack on you!"
Jim laughed out loud. Trust Bones to bring out the big guns. Komack, always the proverbial thorn in the tenderest part of Jim's anatomy.
"Duly warned, Doctor. Alright, now that the storm's passed over us, let's move some of these rocks. If it's stopped raining, we'll go use the latrine, but we're not going out there if it's still raining. It's too cold, and there's no point in getting wet and chilled. When we go out, wrap the thermal blanket around you to keep those Georgian bones warm. Me, I'm Iowa born and bred, we Kirks are used to the cold; we can take it." Jim's hazel eyes glinted mischievously.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Why anyone would wanna' live in a place where winter lasts 7 months out of the year and the temperature is always hovering at zero is beyond me."
"Why anyone would like to live in a place where summer lasts 7 months out of the year and the temperature is always hovering at 90 is beyond me," Jim quipped right back. They grinned at each other. Both of them had been to their respective states several times on shore leave and enjoyed it every time.
They rolled away some of the big rocks blocking the cave entrance and looked out. Everything was wet, drenched, gleaming in the light which was streaming down from the golden moon in the now clear sky. The storm clouds had totally dispersed.
"If this isn't the weirdest damn planet as far as weather is concerned," Leonard said. "I wonder what causes these freakish storms. Could it be that second tiny moon, you think, Jim?"
"I don't know. We'll have to wait for Spock's Science guys to answer that question and all the others we have now about Perseus 2."
The wind had also died down and the stars overhead were brilliantly crystal clear. There was no air pollution or ambient light to dim their brightness and Jim, always susceptible to beauty in any form, looked his fill at the glory above him. He glanced at his chronometer. It was past midnight ship's time. They'd go use the latrine, cover everything up, and come back to get some much needed rest. He wished he could go for a short jog, his muscles needed loosening up after the electrical shock he'd received, but he knew better than to try. Bones would have a good old fashioned southern conniption.
"Let's go, Bones." He stepped out of the cave and stretched his whole body. The cold air felt good on his skin as they walked and he wished he could discard the thermal blanket Bones had insisted he put over himself.
When they reached the latrine site, Jim saw with dismay that the hard rain had flooded the latrine hole and water was seeping out through the rocks. They removed the top rocks, and Jim sighed in frustration. If the water didn't drain off by tomorrow, he'd have to dig out another latrine area for them. Hiding two places was already difficult enough, adding a third would be problematical. He said as much to Bones.
"Maybe it won't be necessary. If the Romulans come back tomorrow and don't find anything, they'll probably just decide to leave and we can uncover this one to dry out in the sun."
"Yeah, maybe. We'll just have to wait and see what they decide to do." They emptied their bladders into the water filled hole, but it was evident that they'd have to cover the latrine with a lot more rocks. They were well aware that human waste could still seep out and it would certainly be recognized by the Romulans . "It's a good thing we came out here. They would have spotted this otherwise. We have to hide all this mess with more rocks. It's just too muddy to add more dirt to cover the top of the hole."
"Jim, are you feeling up to hauling rocks? It'll take a little longer, but I can do it by myself."
"No, Bones, I'm alright. Let's get started."
"If you start feeling tired, you stop. Promise me. I cain't treat you down here if something goes wrong with your heart or your brain."
"I promise."
They looked around to find good sized rocks that weren't too heavy and then stacked them haphazardly over the entire area. Jim kept stepping away to check that the area didn't look staged. At last he was satisfied. "Okay, I think it looks fine now, natural; we've done as much as we can." Jim stretched his tired shoulders and back. "I'm feeling tired and I'm hungry again, Bones. Let's head back to the cave and hunker down."
"I want you to get some rest, but first I'm going to fix you some hot soup. You need to replenish your minerals and electrolytes."
"That sounds good."
Once back in the cave, they closed up the opening again except for a small hole so they could listen for the shuttle in the morning and get a little fresh air. Thry opened up the small tent to get ready for bed, then Leonard made Jim sit under the thermal blanket while he fixed the soup. "Finish it all, Jim, you need the nourishment. Then it's bedtime. Your body needs sleep and warmth to recover."
Jim ate hungrily. "Thanks, Bones, I was really hungry."
"Your body burned a lot of extra calories with that bolt of electricity that hit you. Then you burned even more by hauling those rocks. Now what you need is some rest."
Leonard put the waterproof tarp down, spread out the two sleeping bags like they had done last night, then placed the thermal blankets on top of them. They took off their boots, socks and top shirts to let them air out, then got in. Leonard savored the sudden warmth and wiggled his cold feet. He hoped with all that was in him, that the Romulans would not come callin' in the morning. He'd had enough excitement today to last him a lifetime.
"Good night. Or should I say good morning."
Jim yawned, wiggling closer to Bones for extra warmth "Good night, Bones. Thanks for taking care of me."
"It's my job, Jimmy. Go to sleep now," Leonard told him. And thank God I was here, he thought. Wait 'til I tell Spock, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov. Jim being electrocuted by lightning inside a cave. They're not gonna' believe it.
There was no answer. Jim was already sound asleep.
