So... I am very sorry for the hiatus in this story. Life has not been really kind to me lately and, unfortunately, I had to put my priorities elsewhere. I can't promise that the chapters after this one will follow soon, but I surely promise that this story will not be forgotten and that it will be finished eventually! For now, have fun with this chapter. And still, all your reviews, favs and follows are highly appreciated :D
Bones quietly picked up the instruments that he needed and turned back to Jim. Those blue eyes were wearily following his every move.
"Alright" Bones sighed deeply. This was something he did every day, but still it was different now.
"I will need to clean your wounds to prevent any infection" Bones explained to his friend, "after that you will need rest. Lots of rest". He emphasized those last words and he could have sworn that the corner of Jim's mouth momentarily curled into a tiny smile.
"I'm not very good at that" Jim whispered with a hint of sarcasm.
"Well, you're gonna. I'll strap you to the bed if I have to" Bones gave Jim one of his characteristic eyebrow raises. Jim did not respond, showing just once more how weak he was, because this would usually have sparked a reaction from the captain.
There was silence for a short while, only broken by the sounds of the Med Bay running as usual on the other side of the curtains surrounding them.
"Jim?" Bones asked quietly. The captain had his eyes closed again and Bones wasn't sure whether he was still conscious. A soft groan came from Jim, but otherwise he remained unmoving.
"I'm starting the procedure" Bones explained, "you will not feel any pain, I promise, but you might experience some tugging or pressure".
"Where's Spock?" Jim's question came out of the blue and caught Bones somewhat off guard. It was as if Jim had only just now realized that his First Officer was also injured.
"Uhm..." was Bones' initial response. The beeps of Jim's heart monitor picked up in pace and the captain opened his eyes to give Bones a fear-filled stare.
"Jim, calm down" the doctor collected himself again, "Spock is going to be fine. Doctor Waters is treating him".
"But he was injured" Jim gasped.
"Yes, he is" Bones tried to calm his friend, "Doctor Waters is a good doctor. He'll make sure that green-blooded bastard will be up and running in no time".
"Chekov?" Jim asked with an effort.
"Shaken up" Bones answered, "but nothing time won't heal".
"Good" Jim sighed shakily and closed his eyes again, "that's real good".
Bones waited a moment until he was certain Jim had nothing else to say. When the captain indeed remained quiet, the doctor picked up his surgical instruments again.
Bones commenced with cleaning Jim's wounds. He tried to be gentle, so as not to cause Jim too much discomfort, but sometimes he did need to be a bit rough to rid the wounds of all the dirt and dead flesh. The spiked bat had left some pretty deep wounds on Jim's back, which made the chance of infection all the more serious. Bones estimated that about two-thirds of the wounds would require sutures to fully stop the bleeding and give them a chance of healing up properly.
A soft beeping alarm warned Bones that the bag of blood Jim was being given had nearly run out. The doctor checked one of the screens and diagnosed that the captain's blood pressure was still too low. He poked his head around the curtain and called over to one of the nurses.
"Two more bags of O-negative, please".
It was only fitting that Jim was the only one on board the Enterprise to have the rare blood type O-negative. His tendency to get injured actually was the only reason that they carried a supply of this blood type on board.
Bones turned his attention back to the patient on his table. Jim had not even moved a finger since the treatment of his wounds had started.
"You alright?" Bones asked his friend. A few muscles along Jim's jawline clenched and unclenched a few times before he answered.
"No" his voice sounded weak, but at the same time strained.
"Do you need me to stop for a moment?" Bones asked.
"No" Jim breathed out, "just… get it over with". Bones nodded his head a few times.
"I'll be quick" he responded quietly. He hated seeing Jim like this, but he knew that the treatment had to be done.
By now, Jim's wounds had been fully disinfected and rid of any dirt.
Bones quietly prepared the thread and suture needles. He would apply the sutures to any wound that would need it on Jim's back, before he would turn his attention to Jim's shoulder wound. He realized that Jim was watching him work through half-opened eyes now. The doctor turned back to his patient to start suturing up the wounds, but he hesitated a moment.
"What?" Jim asked softly.
"I was just thinking… there has only been one time that I treated you for more severe wounds" Bones mumbled, staring at the needle and thread in his hands.
"I was dead then" Jim answered softly. Bones nodded slowly.
"Yeah, well, let's make sure you do not end up like that again today". He gave Jim a slight smile, which the captain carefully returned.
It took Bones another 45 minutes to suture up all the wounds on Jim's back and treat the gunshot wound to his shoulder.
Somewhere during that time, Jim had sunk back into unconsciousness. The captain was still far from alright, but, given the circumstances, Bones was mildly pleased with how Jim was holding up so far.
"Nurse, a hand, please" Bones poked his head around the curtain again and the nearest nurse rushed over.
"Yes, doctor?" She asked as soon as she was within reasonable earshot.
"Grab that bio-bed over there and help me transfer him onto it" Bones instructed.
The nurse quickly brought over the appointed bed, and she and Bones carefully moved Jim onto it. The captain was lain on his side to relieve the wounds on his back and front of his shoulder.
Bones hooked up the machines again that would constantly measure Jim's vitals. He watched the screens for a while and took in the information that they fed him.
"Come on, Jim" Bones mumbled encouragingly, "hang in there, buddy". He momentarily placed a hand on his friend's forearm, before turning around and walking away.
Bones now turned his attention to the other people that were in his ward. Almost all were other casualties from the fight on the planet earlier that day. There were some minor injuries that could be treated without an admittance to the ward, while some others had sustained injuries that would require them to stay in the Med Bay overnight. However, they were all expected to be discharged again tomorrow morning. The only one that was in for a longer stay, besides Jim, was Spock.
Bones stood at the foot of the First Officer's bed, brow furrowed into a crease. Jim might be a regular "guest" in the Med Bay, Spock certainly was not. Seeing the Vulcan injured, weak and unconscious was a novelty and, quite frankly, it unsettled Bones. His eyes scanned the displays that showed Spock's vitals and he came to the conclusion that he was doing a little better than Jim, but that his condition was still worrying.
The doctor passed a hand over his face and sighed a deep, miserable sigh. He was used to seeing patients in critical condition, but it always hit a little closer to home when friends were involved.
"Will they be okay?"
Bones whipped around to the voice coming from behind him, and found Chekov standing a few feet away. The young Russian looked beaten down and tired, and was supporting his injured arm with his good hand. He stared at the doctor with wide eyes.
"If their conditions don't deteriorate overnight, then they're one step in the right direction" Bones answered, overcoming the initial scare. Chekov averted his gaze down to his own shoes.
"It's my fault..." he mumbled softly.
"Whoa, what?" Bones took one step closer to the ensign.
"It's all my fault" Chekov said a little louder this time, "I left them, I..."
"Hey, now, don't do that to yourself", Bones placed his hands on either side of Chekov's shoulders, "you're not going to blame yourself for this". Chekov was quickly working his way into an anxiety attack, and Bones could feel him tremble all over.
"Calm down, kid" Bones tried to sooth, "let's sit you down somewhere, before you hit the floor".
"I actually came for this" Chekov held out his injured arm to the doctor. Red spots were getting visible through the hastily applied bandage, meaning the wound had started bleeding again.
"Sure" Bones answered, "come on, I'll take care of it".
Bones directed Chekov to a treatment table and sat him down on it. He gathered some supplies and removed the old bandage from the Russian's arm. Upon closer inspection, Bones had to admit that the laceration was deeper than he had first anticipated.
"Must have been quite a tumble" the doctor commented.
"It was" Chekov said softly. His trembling had not subsided in the least, and he was taking short and a little ragged breaths.
"Tell me about what happened on that planet" Bones said, whilst washing the dirt out of Chekov's wound.
"No" Chekov nearly gasped the word and a fresh wave of panic seemed to wash over him.
"Trust me, kid" Bones encouraged him, "talking about it helps. You might not see it now, but it really does".
Chekov did not utter a word for a while and seemed to think hard on whether or not the doctor was right. Bones worked on in silence, as he did not want to push the matter.
"He yelled at me..." Chekov suddenly said softly. His voice sounded utterly broken and vulnerable. Bones deliberately kept his eyed fixed on the wound on Chekov's arm, to prevent the Russian from changing his mind.
"Who? Jim?" Bones said.
"Yes" Chekov answered, "at the… crater where they were… taken".
"I'm sure he didn't mean to" Bones said.
"He was afraid" Chekov nearly whispered the words. Bones sat back in his chair and now he did look at the Russian's face.
"What happened in that crater?" he asked. A hint of tears was sparkling in Chekov's eyes and his trembling worsened marginally.
"We were halfway through the route we had to clear" Chekov began, "I had fallen a little behind. Suddenly the captain and the Commander stopped and… I… could feel something was wrong. They could see something that I couldn't, and the captain was signaling me not to come closer".
Bones nodded encouragingly, while he applied the first of the stitches to Chekov's arm.
"I didn't know what it was" Chekov continued, "Well, now I know it was the Klingons, but I couldn't see them then... I wanted to go to the crater too and that was when the captain yelled at me. He ordered me to run, so… so I did. I hid behind some rocks and I heard the captain get shot. He crumpled to his knees and after that I did not dare to look anymore...".
Chekov fell silent and took a few deep breaths to attempt to calm himself down.
"After that you returned to the shuttle and radioed us" Bones completed the events for him. He glanced up shortly to find a single tear roll down the Russian's cheek.
"Yeah" Chekov mumbled.
"You did very good" Bones said, "without you Jim and Spock wouldn't have stood a chance".
"I don't know about that..." Chekov avoided to look at the doctor now.
"Take it from a doctor that it is true" Bones said determinedly.
Chekov remained silent and watched Bones finish the stitches to his arm.
"What do I do now?" The Russian had never sounded so lost before. Bones observed him shortly. Chekov's trembling had gotten even worse and he looked to be on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"I'm gonna keep you here in the Med Bay overnight" Bones finally said, "we don't want you going into shock. I will give you a little sedative to take the edge off, so you can have good night's rest and hopefully you'll feel better in the morning". Chekov buried his face in his hands and nodded quietly in agreement.
"Appreciate it, sir" the Russian mumbled through his hands.
Bones applied a bandage to Chekov's arm to cover up the stitches.
"Alright, let's get you to a bed". Bones guided Chekov to the nearest available bio-bed. The sedative he hypo-ed into the Russian's neck earned him a soft wince, but otherwise there came no protest. Chekov lay down in the bed and buried himself under the blankets. Bones watched as the young man rolled himself onto his side and closed his eyes.
"You comfortable?" He asked, "is your arm not hurting too much?"
"No, it's fine. Thank you, sir" Chekov answered. His voice had already started to sound drowsy and the sedative was clearly taking effect.
"Don't worry about it" Bones mumbled back. The doctor turned around and pulled the curtains closed around Chekov, who had drifted off to sleep in a matter of seconds.