As Jim and Winona boarded the Constitution for the return to earth, crowds of well-wishers stood waving good-bye. Some of Jim's little buddies from the hospital were right at the front, sad to see their hero leave. Several offered him parting gifts and get well cards they made themselves. Willow came up and gave him a tearful hug. "Goodbye Mister Jim. I hope they can make you a new leg so you can go back on your starship."
He hugged her back and smiled. "I hope so too. Goodbye, Willow, take care of yourself." The young Orion presented him with a stuffed sehlat that had a bandaged leg. "T'Ren wanted me to give this to you. She can't leave the hospital yet."
Jim got a lump in his throat at the children's kind gestures. "Tell her thank you, for me, Willow, and I hope you both live long and prosper." He was smiling as his hoverchair was pushed through the docking corridor into the starship. He was given a small room in the med bay for the duration of the trip, so he could be continually monitored.
The ships CMO was a well-respected, experienced African-American woman with a "don't mess with me" attitude that reminded him of Bones, but Dr. Mathews had a much nicer bedside manner, Kirk thought. She got along nicely with Bones and the two were soon chatting away about Georgia(she was also native to that state) and the trials of taking care of accident prone Starfleet crew(redshirts and captains, generally).
"So I see you've used up another life, Captain Kirk," she teased him as she and Bones settled him into his temporary quarters. "I'm afraid so," he answered ruefully, "I think I'm down to six lives left."
"Hmm, more like two, if Doctor McCoy is to be believed. He says he can't count the number of gray hairs you've given him already." Her eyes twinkled at him in playful rebuke.
"Yeah, but not for much longer. My days on active duty are almost certainly over." Jim gave a sad smile. "It was fun while it lasted." She shook her head.
"If Starfleet can't find some use for that legendary brain of yours, I'd be very surprised. Keep your chin up, hero-boy."
The journey home was mostly uneventful. Jim did his rehab, got examined to make sure things were healing normally, laid around grumbling at Bones (when Dr. Mathews wasn't around; she wouldn't stand for that), and playing chess or scrabble with his mom when she was off duty. He didn't want to be a distraction to anyone, so he mostly kept to the Medbay, occasionally going to the mess to eat.
They were two days from home when bad tidings arrived. Jim was rolling around the observation deck, thinking of the Enterprise, when his mom came up beside him unexpectedly. He looked up in surprise. "Hey, Mom, what brings you here? Thought you were on duty."
He stopped when he saw how serious she looked. "What happened?", he asked, dread coursing through him. She laid her hand on his shoulder as she gently broke the news.
"Jim, one of the crew of the crippled freighter the Enterprise was towing turned out to be a part Romulan spy. He attempted to force information out of Dr. Marcus. When she wouldn't give it to him, he went after her mind. He's been subdued and incarcerated, but Doctor Marcus is in a coma from the mental assault."
Jim felt utterly sick. Carol had been hurt, mind violated by some sick Romulan, and he hadn't been there to help.
"When?" he gritted out, squeezing the arms of the wheelchair so hard, his knuckles turned white.
"Three days ago," Winona answered, looking at her son carefully. "Commander Spock contacted us and said she has been placed in Starfleet Medical. They're going to try bringing in some Vulcan healers soon, if she doesn't come out of this. Are you okay, honey?" Their was concern in her voice. Jim looked ready to boil over: his jaw clenched tightly and his hands in fists.
"She was already struggling because of what happened to me. If he dredged up all the old stuff, too, no telling what kind of damage that caused. No wonder she shut down."
Winona was a bit puzzled. She knew about Carol's problematic family, but why would Jim's accident cause additional guilt?...unless... "You saved her from the rocks, didn't you, Jim?"
He slumped and nodded. Secret was out. "And now I'm stuck here, helpless, while she's lying there unconscious." The captain looked at himself in utter disgust.
"How in the world did he get the drop on her? She's always alert and trained in self defense. Spock's got some explaining to do." He looked positively fierce as he stared at the stars outside.
"You seem to be very protective of her, despite what you say about her self-defense capabilities." Winona observed, seeing Jim's unusual level of turmoil. The stubborn silence from her son spoke volumes to Winona. She smiled at him and gave him an encouraging pat on the back.
"Don't be too anxious, Jim. Well be back on earth in five days and then you can go see her."
"Yeah, once Starfleet's finished telling me how unfit I am for command and any real duty," Jim said morosely. He spent a long time staring silently into space, wishing he wasn't such a failure at protecting those he loved. If Winona could have read his mind, she would have slapped him upside the head for that nonsense.