Chapter Ten
Stardate 2272.247
McCoy was worried. That emotion was nothing new but what he was currently worried about was. S'nell was an hour late for their meeting which was unprecedented. She'd been slightly late on occasion but she'd always let him know if she was running late. S'nell had been scheduled to take a shuttle back from an exobiology conference in Melbourne Australia that day. Before the conference she had arranged to meet him at his quarters an hour after the shuttle had landed in San Francisco. He'd taken the next day off so they could spend the entire weekend together. So where the hell was she? Dammit, something bad had happened to her hadn't it, he thought. McCoy wasn't sure if he wanted to turn on the Federation News Service or reach for alcohol. He finally decided on the later and poured himself a drink of bourbon. He'd barely swallowed one sip when the front door chime beeped.
"Come in." he called and set down the glass. He stalked from the kitchen to the front door with a curse on his lips but that died when he saw who had just walked into his quarters.
"Nice place you have here Doctor McCoy." said Nurse Dominique as she looked around his quarters. She was holding a duffle bag which she set gently by the door.
"Do you mind if I make myself comfortable before we talk?" Nurse Dominique asked as she removed her shoes and black wool jacket. She placed the shoes neatly beside his own footwear and hung her jacket in the front closet. McCoy noticed that Nurse Dominique wore blue jeans, a long white blouse, and black socks. But why was his former head nurse and S'nell's friend here in his apartment at all? She'd never visited here before now.
"Make yourself at home Nurse Dominique." he offered. She nodded and then reached for her bag. Then she pulled out a bottle of alcohol, re-zipped the bag, and stood with it.
"You got any wine glasses around here Doctor McCoy?" Nurse Dominique wondered. He shook his head and followed her into his kitchen.
"That's fine. I suppose a glass will do. You see, when I have a bad day I drink a glass of red wine. This is the latest bottle from my father's vineyard. It's vin de pays, or table wine in English, as I don't have the credits for the better quality AOC variety. I see you have your own alcohol." Nurse Dominique stated as she poured a generous amount of wine into a glass, closed the bottle, then turned to face him.
"Grab your glass and then let's sit on the couch shall we?" she concluded.
"What is it? Tell me Nurse Dominique." McCoy urged her as they both sat down. Nurse Dominique had just drunk one sip of her wine when the right hand pocket of her jeans began to vibrate. She set down her glass on the table and then pulled out a communicator.
"Sorry. I really have to take this Doctor McCoy." she said, then opened the device and held it up to her face.
"Dominique." she spoke into the communicator. The other person's voice responded in a language McCoy had never heard before. It sounded like a woman who spoke but otherwise he had no idea of what was being said. Given Nurse Dominique's intent expression and the occasional nod she did. That was confirmed when she replied in the same language. McCoy tuned the conversation out until he heard his own name. The conversation ended shortly afterwards and Nurse Dominique returned the communicator to her pocket.
"Well, it seems I'll be staying here for the night. Do you have a guest bedroom or am I sleeping on the couch tonight Doctor McCoy?" she asked.
"I have a guest bedroom. Now enough stalling Nurse Dominique. Where is S'nell?" McCoy questioned. Nurse Dominique took another sip of her wine then looked him in the eyes.
"Unfortunately Doctor McCoy, the shuttle that S'nell was taking from Melbourne to San Francisco crashed in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco two hours ago. When the rescue crew got to the shuttle they discovered that S'nell was the only survivor. She's in critical condition in a hospital in Marrakesh right now. If she makes it through the night then the Moroccan doctor has told me her condition will change to a serious one. They've allowed the two of us to visit S'nell tomorrow after they've run some more tests. But for now she needs to rest." Nurse Dominique stated in the clear and steady voice she used when talking to a patient. McCoy drunk some bourbon before he set the glass aside. He needed the alcohol to steady his nerves after hearing the words shuttle crash and S'nell in the same sentence.
"Well, thanks for telling me. S'nell's a fighter Nurse Dominique. She won't give up easily. But how the hell do you know all of this and not me? I'm her partner dammit." McCoy replied once he felt he could speak. Breathe McCoy, he told himself, and took another sip of the bourbon.
"I'm not just S'nell's friend; I'm also her medical next of kin. We agreed that I would only be contacted if her condition was serious or critical and that I would be the one to make the funeral arrangements if it came to that. She asked soon after we got back to Earth from the first five year mission and I agreed." Nurse Dominique explained.
"Why did S'nell ask you?" McCoy wondered.
"Who else could she have asked, Doctor McCoy? She is friends with Mr Sulu but their relationship has always been more based around shared activities then anything else. The same went for her sparring with Lieutenant Commander Umal or the weekly meetings of the native language club on the Enterprise that Lieutenant Commander Uhura organized. I got close to some of the officers there but S'nell never did. When it came to her work she was professional but nothing more with everyone on the crew. She got along well enough with her roommates except Ensign Harper but that doesn't mean she considered any of them friends. She only spoke once about her family with me so I assumed that she was estranged from all of them. As for you, she maintained a certain distance not only because of professionalism but because you were married and therefore unavailable to her. So as Commander Spock might say, I was the logical choice." Nurse Dominique stated.
"What was this native language club on the Enterprise Nurse Dominique?" McCoy asked.
"That was organized by Lieutenant Commander Uhura for all crew members who did not have English as their native language. We would take turns talking in our native language and explaining the customs and history of the culture through language. S'nell went to practice Andorii and I went to practice my French and Arabic. When you hear English all day you sometimes forget how to speak anything else without practice. In case you were wondering, I was speaking Arabic earlier not French. After World War Three no one still speaks French in Morocco." Nurse Dominique stated.
"Right. I'm not sure if I want to know but how likely is it that S'nell won't make it through the night?" McCoy quietly inquired.
"Now that the initial treatment is done S'nell has a ninety percent chance of survival. But there could also be some mental trauma over this incident. No offence Doctor McCoy, but you might not be the best person for S'nell to talk to about this experience given your aviophobia. I can recommend some counselling if that does become necessary." Nurse Dominique soberly replied.
"Oh God, I hadn't even thought of that. To be honest I'm not sure what I would do without S'nell Nurse Dominique. No matter how long her recovery takes, I'm not leaving S'nell's side for one second longer then I have to." McCoy declared.
"Well I'm glad to hear that for S'nell's sake." Nurse Dominique replied right before she drunk some more of her wine.
"So tell me about this vineyard that your father runs Nurse Dominique." McCoy said as he wanted to talk about a subject that didn't have to do with death.
"My father doesn't run the vineyard anymore. My cousin took it over after my dad Claude died of a brain hemorrhage when I was twenty. At least his death was quick, which is more then can be said for my mother Annabelle. That's why I can't stay past tomorrow evening in the hospital. I have to be in Nice for her funeral the next morning." Nurse Dominique answered.
"I'm sorry to hear that Nurse Dominique. You really have had a crappy day huh?" McCoy answered.
"Yes. But don't worry Doctor McCoy. I can hold my alcohol and my emotions in check. We're not that close at any rate." Nurse Dominique told him.
"Why is that? Do you not like me Nurse Dominique?" McCoy wondered.
"Permission to speak freely sir?" Nurse Dominique asked.
"Neither of us are on duty right now but go ahead." McCoy urged her.
"Doctor McCoy, when we first met you were my boss and commanding officer. That was the extent of our relationship throughout our time on the Enterprise. By the end of the mission I was unable to see you any other way and I believe you felt the same way about me. You may no longer be my boss but you are still my commanding officer in Starfleet Medical. So why is it surprising that before tonight I have never told you any deeply personal things about my life?" Nurse Dominique answered.
"Well, when you put it that way it makes sense." McCoy said.
"Everyone has secrets Doctor McCoy. Or if they don't then they have things they have no desire to discuss with anyone else. Can you understand that?" Nurse Dominique said.
"Yes I can Nurse Dominique. So since you're going to be staying tonight let me give you a quick tour of this place." McCoy offered. He slowly finished off his alcohol and so did Nurse Dominique before they rose from the couch.
McCoy barely noticed the heat of Marrakesh the next day, though he did notice the crowds as they made their way from the transporter platform to the civic hospital two blocks away. McCoy followed Nurse Dominique through the narrow streets until they found the modern looking hospital. Once in the visitors waiting room they were informed that the visiting hours were from 1300 hours to 1600 hours. While McCoy decided to wait Nurse Dominique went out to explore the city in the meantime.
Ten minutes later he regretted that decision as it was still several hours before he could see S'nell. McCoy wished he'd brought a PADD as the ones provided in the waiting room only had magazines with nothing he wanted to read about. He didn't care about the latest singing sensation from the United Asian States, or who won the latest World Series, or the latest fashions from Paris. All he wanted was to see S'nell. Finally McCoy was led into the intensive care treatment room by a nurse and then left alone by the bio bed of S'nell.
"Goddammit S'nell…" McCoy softly exclaimed as he stood on the right hand side of the bio bed and took in the sight of S'nell lying beside him. Clearly Nurse Dominique hadn't been exaggerating about her condition. The green hospital gown S'nell was wearing was short sleeved and ended at her knees. The gown couldn't entirely cover up the signs of the healing of deep lacerations on her torso, arms, and legs, as well as broken bones, specifically her right elbow and left knee. Both of her antenna were shortened and bandaged. Of more concern to McCoy was that S'nell was not currently breathing on her own as she had a ventilator attached under her nose. He took a glance at her vitals on the bio bed which currently indicted a weakened lung response. If the shuttle had caught on fire in the explosion then she probably had inhaled the smoke which was bound to be quite noxious.
What was just as serious as her lungs however was the amount of blood S'nell had lost. This was attested to by an IV in the bend of her left elbow that was pumping blue blood back and forth between her arm and a blood transfusion machine on the left side of the bio bed. If her blood loss wasn't so severe then the doctor or nurse on the rescue crew would have given her a hypospray for the blood loss instead. McCoy knew her blood loss had to have been at least a grade two for her to get an IV. Given how deep her wounds were and her current blood pressure her blood loss had to be at grade three at the time of the accident. That was one level away from the most severe grade four blood loss which could kill you if not promptly treated. He glanced at her legs and noticed another tube between her legs that was attached to a urinary analysis machine used both to assist with bladder function and to analyze such bodily fluids. Such older medical equipment was only used now in cases of serious traumatic injury or intensive care patients. He'd noticed that this hospital didn't have the latest Starfleet equipment. But what they had wasn't that out of date either. McCoy noticed on the monitor over the bio bed that S'nell's vitals were increasing to a more alert state as she seemed to be waking up from what was likely a drug induced sleep.
"Hey S'nell, can you hear me? It's Leonard. How do you feel?" he asked. She opened her eyes slowly and then turned her head to see him. He gently placed his right hand over her right wrist, then he took a deep breath before he continued speaking.
"Good God S'nell. Don't ever scare me like this again. You could have died and I…" he cleared his throat at that grim thought. S'nell gestured with her hand toward the PADD which was on the small cabinet to the right side of the bio bed. He handed it to her. She laid the PADD on her stomach then began to write slowly on it with only her left hand. Once she was done S'nell pushed the PADD toward him. McCoy picked up the device and read the screen which said:
According to Doctor Samara I need to use PADD to communicate until my lungs fully heal. Lieutenant Chekov was right that swearing is your way of showing concern.
"Damn right it is." McCoy declared before he leaned down and lightly kissed her on the forehead. In response she raised her left hand to his cheek and smiled softly at him. Their tender moment was broken by someone clearing their throat which caused S'nell's hand on his cheek to drop to the bed. McCoy turned to see Nurse Dominique holding a large drink in her right hand at the foot of the bio bed.
"Sorry to interrupt you two. But I suspected that you would be thirsty once you woke up S'nell. The nurses said you can drink this. It's lukewarm mint tea. Here, Doctor McCoy can help you drink it." Nurse Dominique said as she held up the drink and walked closer to S'nell's side. She handed the drink and a straw to McCoy who then helped S'nell to drink a small portion of it. When he'd felt she'd had enough McCoy gently set the rest of the tea aside on the cabinet beside the bio bed.
"You can drink more later but you shouldn't drink too much at once right now." Nurse Dominique told her. S'nell nodded then winced.
"What is it? Are you in pain? Should I get Doctor Samara to give you another hypospray?" asked McCoy rapidly. S'nell gestured toward the PADD again and he handed it back to her. She wrote more on it then pushed it towards him.
I am not in pain. But I'm suffering from dizziness and loss of balance from my injured antenna which will take months to fully regrow. McCoy frowned as he read what S'nell had written. He sighed then he placed the PADD down on the cabinet and turned back to her.
"Dammit S'nell, your antenna are the least of your medical concerns. Don't you know how serious grade three blood loss from multiple lacerations and broken bones is? Not to mention severe smoke inhalation as well. If the rescue crew hadn't found you when they did then things would have turned out very differently. You were the only one they found alive in that shuttle wreckage and thank God for that. The other twelve people on that shuttle weren't so lucky as they are all dead." he barked. His fear of what had almost happened to her made his voice much sharper and more gruff then usual. Upon hearing that S'nell inhaled sharply then turned her head away from him. She clutched the sheets as tears began to run down her face.
"I'm sorry S'nell. I thought you knew about your colleagues." McCoy told her as he moved a hand to her shoulder as she continued to cry quietly.
"Doctor McCoy, you have the bedside manner of an Andorian bull! You could have broken the news of the other passengers of that shuttle to S'nell more gently. The medical staff here didn't want to tell her about the other passengers until they were sure that she would make a full recovery. Right now S'nell is not simply your partner, she is also a patient in a hospital. So treat her better in future or I will see to it that you won't be able to see her again until she is released." Nurse Dominique demanded.
As he met Nurse Dominique's fierce gaze McCoy was reminded of one of his professors in med school who had warned him and the rest of the class to never piss a nurse off. He knew that if Nurse Dominique thought he was upsetting to S'nell's continued recovery then she would have no problem carrying through on her threat. So instead of his first response of snapping back at her he chose a different path.
"I want- no I need to be by S'nell's side Nurse Dominique. Please. I know I'm often gruff and have no bedside manner. But it won't happen again." McCoy sincerely said. Nurse Dominique's face softened slightly at his earnest response. Before Nurse Dominique could respond a tall brown skinned woman swiftly approached S'nell's bio bed.
"Don't worry. It will be all right. It might not feel like that now but it will get better in time. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the other shuttle passengers earlier S'nellastina. I just didn't want to upset you further when you were still recovering yourself. Can I get you any further pain relief before I check on your wounds?" she said softly as she gently stroked S'nell right arm. Slowly S'nell began to stop crying. After S'nell had shaken her head and dried her tears, the woman punched a few buttons on the flashing display over the bio bed which then returned to the usual display. Then she turned to face them both.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Samara. As much as you'd like to stay I'm afraid that visiting hours are now over until tomorrow at the same time as you are upsetting my patient. Nurse Dominique, I'll inform you once S'nellastina has been released from the hospital. Doctor McCoy, you had better not upset S'nellastina again. Otherwise I will see to it personally that you cannot see her until her release. I'm not a woman to make idle threats and I take the medical care of my patients extremely seriously. Do I make myself clear?" Doctor Samara stated sternly.
"As glass, Doctor Samara." McCoy replied.
"Good. Then why don't you go explore Marrakesh right now? Go for a stroll through the gardens while it is still light outside, take a look around the museum of Islamic art while they are still open, or go do some shopping or have a meal in the souk before it closes for the night. S'nellastina will still be here tomorrow Doctor McCoy." Doctor Samara suggested.
McCoy sighed. He had no desire to get into an argument with the doctor in charge of S'nell's care. From what he'd seen of S'nell's injuries they had been healed competently so far. He knew that he would not have had the composure to have healed S'nell from such a severe accident, which is why he wasn't her doctor. Perhaps a walk though the city and a meal would settle his mind before he came back to the hospital and spent the night here.
"I'll see you tomorrow S'nell. For now get some rest." he told her. He gently squeezed S'nell's left shoulder and headed out of the treatment room. Nurse Dominique walked behind him. They separated in the lobby of the hospital as she headed for the transporter and McCoy headed out through the main entrance into the streets of the city. That night McCoy stayed in an overnight visitors room in the hospital, but he got almost no sleep.