Just for a moment on seeing the bed empty and the door to the small bathroom area open Kirk wondered what had happened then he saw Sulu and Scotty standing outside the door to the room Harris was in.

When he looked in McCoy was on one side of the bed and gave him a nod. Spock was sitting holding Harris's left hand and looking at him, "I will have to do further research into this similarity of the gliding methods between a condor and albatross. What was the other bird you mentioned with remarkable flight ability?"

"Humming. Skylark?"

"She is resting. If you like I will get,"

"No, she needs sleep. I hurt you."

"You need rest as well. You did not hurt me. I will do my research and return later."

"Thanks for,"

"You rest."

As Spock started to stand he saw Kirk and for a moment Kirk saw concern and self-loathing on his friend's face before the Vulcan facade was firmly back in place.

"Captain."

"I told you,"

"With all due respect, Sir, I had to see him. When Mister Scott and Mister Sulu came to see me they assisted me in getting here, under my orders. Doctor McCoy said I could talk with him as he could talk in short sentences and words. Lieutenant Uhura was pleased to see me and I insisted she get some rest as I believe she has hardly left him since our return."

"We'll be getting ye back to your room now, Mister Spock. Get ye back in your bed." Scotty stepped forward but Kirk blocked him.

"You two go get some rest. I will ensure Spock gets back into his bed."

"If I may I would like to sit with Darren a bit longer, Sir. He has become a bit restive when one of us is not here. Scotty was here with Uhura when I arrived."

Just for a moment Kirk looked at Spock, Sulu and Scotty. They were just part of his crew yet he knew they represented the feeling of the entire crew. "I'll get Spock back to bed, Sulu, you stay with Harris and you, Scotty, go get some sleep. I will come back later to sit with him while you get some sleep."

As they walked slowly to Spock's room Spock said, "That is all you have not been doing, isn't it, Jim? Not actually staying with him. You cannot blame him for what happened as without him I would be dead."

"I said a few things to him before you left that I am regretting. Things I said and how I said them."

Kirk saw an eyebrow rise, "I did see you talk with him and he just said it was words of advice. Are you saying it was more?"

"Knowing his reputation for taking risks when testing craft I told him if he did anything at all that was against rules and regulations I would see to it he was never on any ship again."

For a long time Spock was silent. "Now I understand the significance of what I faintly heard him say. He had said that Kirk would ground him. By doing what he did meant he did break rules and regulations. I may have been incorrect in how you were standing at the time but I had thought there was more."

"I, I also told him if he did anything to put your life at risk or harm you I would make his life a living hell. Just seeing him like that," Kirk looked away for a moment and closed his eyes. "I remember seeing him climbing out of the shuttle after the last refit Scotty did when Scotty was not too sure if it could handle a certain maneuver and he had pushed it more that even Scotty thought it could do. Seeing how he looked at Scotty and Scotty looked at him before he so casually did a forward standing somersault and was hugged by Scotty. He could have broken so many rules and regulations over all the time he was on the Enterprise that I am not fully aware of. But this, this time I am aware of what he did and why but he still broke,"

"What will happen to him with regard to that?" when Kirk remained quiet Spock reached out and lightly placed a hand on Kirk's shoulder, "Jim, had he not broken rules and regulations I would be dead and nobody would know it was not an accident. While I was talking with him I was deliberately being vague on some things to test his mental abilities although McCoy had said he was mentally not harmed by the accident or what he did for me I felt a strange need to confirm it for myself. I had to know his mental state for if he is charged with breaking any rules or regulations it could have been blamed on him not remembering them. Unfortunately that is not the case as I know of at least six rules and regulations he totally disregarded to save my life, but I will not talk of them." there was pain in the hazel eyes when they looked back at Spock.

For a few minutes the two just sat and gradually the Vulcan saw the pain leave his friend's face and the look of the Captain in command slowly replace it.

Spock gave a nod and very softly said, "Jim, you are his Captain, you must decide what to do. This decision will be more difficult than most for you as this time you must decide if, in this case, you are a captain of a starship or a man who captains a starship. "

Kirk was quiet for a moment then nodded back, "Once, once we are all back on the Enterprise I will have time to think about that." Kirk tried to smile knowing his friend truly did understand how difficult his role was, "I find it easier to think when I am in familiar surroundings and know all my crew are safe and aboard."

Spock raised an eyebrow, "You do realize that should you get him back on the Enterprise it will be more difficult for him to be transferred back to the medical facility?"

Kirk tilted his head as though not understanding the situation and grinned down at his friend, "And the problem with that is what?" He reached out and lightly touched his friend's face as he saw tiredness and guilt in the dark eyes that looked up at him. "You get some sleep. I'll be back in seven standard hours."

Outside the door to the room Harris was in Captain James T Kirk took a deep breath as he could see one of the station doctors in with McCoy and could tell from the way McCoy was standing that he was in a full-blown verbal battle for his patient. Sulu walked over to him and said, "They ordered me to leave, twice. I, Doctor McCoy gave me that look so I left him, Sir, I should not have,"

"If McCoy gave you the look then leaving was the best thing to do. Go get some sleep and I do not want to make it an order."

"You'll,"

"I'll be in there with him."

As soon as he entered the room he could feel the tension as the two men looked at him. "Gentlemen, I will admit that I am just a starship captain and know nothing about medicine but is arguing in the presence of the patient best for the patient?"

"Doctor McCoy has it sedated so much it would not know what,"

Kirk looked at how Harris was laying on the bed and noticed he seemed to be leaning slightly away from them, had his head turned away from them. A part of him riled at how the doctor had referred to his crewman as "it". He pointed to the door and just said, "Both of you out and away from my officer, now."

Kirk's action caught both of the doctors by surprise as Kirk had hoped it would and when they were outside the room he looked at McCoy, "Well?"