Co-authored with the effervescent SailingAwaySoftly.
Disclaimer: Don't own it, but we're working on that.
-_-_-_
Medical Bay
-_-_-_
"Oh gods, Mac, what happened to her?" Isla asked as she came striding up to him.
"Some sort of panic attack. She's fine for now, but she'll probably have one hell of a headache when she wakes up," he replied. He studied Isla for a moment before returning his attention to his data pad. She was pale. Worried. You saw that a lot in the medical bay.
"She's really sick, isn't she?"
He shrugged. "I don't know."
Isla shuddered and turned away.
"Look, I don't have much of a bedside manner, alright?" he snapped. "I'm not going to beat around the bush with you. Your friend is sick, Knight, so that's why I'm ordering you to stay away from her."
She froze. "You're ordering me? Just who do you think you are, Mac?"
His face was furious. "I'm your commanding officer!" he nearly shouted. "I've put up with your blatant disrespect because you're a damn good doctor, but you're forgetting your place." His hard expression softened a bit. "I know you're worried about her. I'll take care of her, I promise. You can still be with her, but I want you off her case."
"If Jim Kirk were in her place, would you let me take over his case and make you sit in a corner?" she demanded.
He narrowed his gaze. "No, I wouldn't," he said evenly. "Fine. You're not off her case. But we'll both be examining and monitoring her, and any treatment you may recommend has to be authorized by me. Understood?"
Still tight-lipped, Isla nodded stubbornly.
"Hey, I'm meeting you half way, aren't I?" he said.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm tired. I'll go check on Bee and then go to bed. There's no point in losing sleep."
He glared for a moment at her retreating back and then shook his head.
-_-_-_
Spock had returned to his quarters for a short while to further contemplate his theory before questioning Ensign Bell. It was doubtful that she was even conscious at that point, so he was glad for the time to properly weight the pros and cons.
The human psyche was a very complex and delicate thing. By spending only a few minutes with her, Spock had been able to tell that Bell was vastly more complex than the average human being. As a scientist, he had been intrigued by her, and he had been slightly disappointed that she had not waited for him that day. While on the bridge, there was little opportunity to properly observe her, though he been able to pick up on her personality some even then. He had really only wanted the chance to speak with her more because she seemed interesting.
And now that he knew she had for some unknown reason mastered the Vulcan language, he was interested in how that had affected her. His language was so much more intricate than English. A great mastery of it could change the workings of a human's mind immensely. He suspected this was the cause of Bell's problems, and he anticipated questioning her.
-_-_-_
"Spock," said McCoy, looking up from his notes.
"Dr. McCoy, is Ensign Bell conscious at this time?" he asked.
Bones looked a little surprised. "As a matter of fact, Spock, she should be waking up any minute now."
Spock followed him silently as he strode over to one of the beds. Bell was already stirring slightly, and she groaned as consciousness seeped back into her. She blinked a couple of times before opening her eyes fully. She groaned again and put her hand to her forehead.
"Good to see you awake, kid. You've been out a few hours. And yeah, your headache should be pretty spectacular."
She grimaced. "Kid," she muttered. "I'm not a kid."
Bones chuckled. "So how do you feel?"
She blinked a few times and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'm… um… actually, I'm really hungry. Starving, actually."
This pleased Bones. "Well, we'll see what we can do about that. I know I had to knock you out there with that sedative, but how was your sleep?"
She looked hesitant. "They're sharper. Completely clear, as a matter of fact."
He nodded. "That's good, isn't it?"
She shrugged. Then she caught sight of Spock standing at a polite distance, and her eyes widened, a reaction not lost on McCoy.
"I'll just see about getting you some food, alright?" he said, already walking towards the door.
-_-_-_
The land was utterly barren. Rocky peaks jutted up a small distance away, but the ground she was standing on was completely flat. The air was thin despite the low altitude, and the heat was uncomfortable. Sweat prickled her skin and ran down the back of her neck. There was a column of white fire in the sky. It was miles away but still clearly visible. It powered into the ground, making the earth tremble. Clouds swirled menacingly above.
She knew she was looking at total destruction. Above the atmosphere loomed the death-bringer, with its spikes and its weapons and its sheer size. The blazing pillar suddenly disappeared, but a few moments later, the real quakes began. The earth shook violently, and thunder cracked in the dark clouds. Now there was fire and far-off screams as the world became undone. And then there was nothing. All gone. All dead. All completely sucked into oblivion.
-_-_-_
At least Bee now knew what her dreams were about. She was seeing the destruction of Vulcan – it couldn't have been anything else.
This confused her. At the Academy, it wasn't enough to learn syntax to master the language. You had to understand the culture, the way of life. It was a state of being. All this she had understood. She knew what it meant.
But it made no sense for her to have these dreams. The Vulcan genocide had been terrible, yes, but she had certainly not been there and harbored no deep-seated grief because of it.
She inwardly cursed herself for not being able to think of an excuse quickly enough for Bones to stay. Spock was there, and since he had been trigger of her attack, she naturally recoiled from him. However, she realized that her skin no longer prickled around him, that there was no force inside her compelling her to run. Was her brain trying to tell her something?
"Ensign," he said in his usual cool voice, "I am sorry to disturb you; you have experienced quite an ordeal today."
She nodded. "I – I'm sorry for what happened on the bridge. You must have had no idea why I was being that way."
He took that as an invitation to approach. There was a chair beside her bed which he took. "Not at all. It was puzzling, yes, but I believe I may have an explanation to these experiences."
Her eyes widened. If Spock could tell her what was wrong with her, maybe she could tell her how to stop it.
"I read your file," he continued. "You have an impressive academic record."
"Thank you."
He inclined his head slightly. "I noticed that you demonstrated exceptional mastery in the Vulcan language. I am curious as to the… effects of this on your psyche."
"Wait a moment, commander," said Bee. "Are you suggesting that Vulcan is changing who I am?"
He shook his head. "Not your personality, no. However, your thought processes and your perception may be slightly altered. As I am sure you are aware, Vulcan is not merely a language of words."
"I know," she replied. "I just… I suppose I just didn't think about it. It sort of became a part of me, I guess."
He raised one slanted eyebrow. "That would be one way to put it, yes. Now, about your dreams – you said they were now more defined?"
She explained to him what she had just discovered about her dreams.
He reflected upon the information for a few moments before answering. "The destruction of Vulcan is by far the greatest disaster to our culture," he said. "If your brain is partially operating, so to speak, in Vulcan, then it is only logical that certain Vulcan nightmares should occasionally bother you. I believe now that you have fully realized this, the dreams should stop."
"But I was there! I wasn't an outsider observing it! I was on the planet! I was destroyed too!" She was now upset.
"I would not put too much store in these dreams," said Spock. "Your first person account is also logical. I would not worry, if I were you."
Oddly enough, Bee felt assured. He was calm and collected – the epitome of control and self-mastery. She admired him for that, and now she no longer felt discomforted by his presence.
"I believe Dr. McCoy will return soon with nourishment for you," he said as he stood to leave. "I trust you will recover soon. If you like, I could explain this incident to the other crewmembers, if that would give you reassurance. They too could most likely do with some explanation."
She nodded. Bones came in a moment later with a tray. Normally a nurse would have done that, but he had promised Isla. Spock nodded to the doctor and Bee and walked away.
"Thank you," she called after him in his own language.
He paused only for a moment before turning back. "You are welcome."
-_-_-_
Arlo was furious. The ordeal with his sister had occurred hours before, but no one had bothered to tell him until just then, and that had only been because Bee was awake and asking for him. Not bothering to ask Scotty for permission to leave engineering, he made his way to the medical bay.
"Tell the lass I hope she's better soon!" Scotty called after his retreating form.
He stormed into the ward. "Isla, what the hell happened, and why wasn't I told about it?" he demanded to know.
"Arlo, calm down," she said coolly. "She's fine."
"That's not what I heard!" he nearly shouted.
Bones looked up from the data pad he was checking. "Ensign, if you don't lower your tone a few decibels, I'm going to throw you out," he warned.
Arlo scowled but did as he was told. He pushed past Isla and made his way to Bee's bed where he threw his arms around her neck.
"Gods, what happened?" he asked again.
She smiled at him. "Sit down, Arlo, and I'll tell you," she said calmly. She continued to explain what had happened to her. "I've just been missing some sleep," she finished. "I'll be fine."
"But why didn't you tell me?" he asked. "This has been going on for a month!"
"I know, and I'm sorry. We haven't really seen much of each other though, and I was a little preoccupied."
He sighed. "You don't look good, Bee," he said.
"I know. I'm sorry. You're looking a lot better though."
It was true. Arlo had filled out nicely since joining Star Fleet. Once he realized that he could eat his fill whenever he was hungry, he ate like tomorrow would never come. On the other hand, Bee's appetite hadn't grown much, and she ate just enough to curb hunger. Now she realized that she couldn't continue to do that due to the hours she worked.
"Actually, I'm hungry now," she said after a moment.
Arlo grinned, and she smiled back. "I'll get you something," he said. He returned a few minutes later from the replicator with a tray of food. He had gotten her a turkey sandwich, water to drink, and chocolate pudding.
"Pudding?" she asked.
"Just eat it," he said with a smile.
They talked for a few minutes, but as soon as she was done eating, Bee began to feel drowsy.
"Isla says it's the sedative still in my system. It was pretty powerful," she explained.
"Well, just go to sleep then. I have to get back anyway. Scotty says hello."
"Tell him thanks for me."
"I will." Arlo stood and kissed her on the forehead before leaving. She was asleep before he had taken two steps.
-_-_-_
She didn't dream. There were no colors, no shapes. There was only peace.
When she awoke a few hours later, the lights on the ward had been dimmed. Someone – probably McCoy, had attached the wires to her temples again, but she didn't care. She still had a lot of sleep to catch up on, and she soon fell unconscious again to the sound of Bones and Isla's muffled voices coming from the end of the hall.
-_-_-_
"Her brain activity for sleep has been normal," Bones said. "I think her full mental meltdown snapped her out of it. Either that, or whatever the hell Spock said to her did."
Isla's head snapped up. "Commander Spock? What could he know about it?"
McCoy shrugged. "No idea. I'll get it out of him eventually, but for now I think we should just be thankful that she's returned to normal."
"Almost normal," Isla corrected. "Have you seen her increase in appetite? She's never eaten so much in her life."
"That'll probably wear off some, but let's hope that she'll be eating better from now on."
Isla ran her fingers through her barely shoulder length red hair and sighed.
"This has put you through a lot, hasn't it?" Bones asked her.
She nodded. "Gods, I don't know when I've ever been so tired. I've never worried about anyone so much in my life."
Bones sighed. "You're going to hate me for this, but I'm going to order you to take a week off to recover."
She sat straight up. "What? What for?"
"You've been stressed enough, and you've been taking on extra shifts. I can't afford for you to run yourself into the ground."
"I'm fine, alright? All I need is a good night's sleep, and I'll be okay!"
"Not by my analysis. It's just a few days anyway."
She scowled at him. "You're bloody unbelievable."
McCoy smirked at her. "Commanding officer," he said, tapping the silver bands at his wrist.
"Mac, you are the most… difficult human being I've ever met. And I've been sharing a room with Bee for almost four years." She glared at him. "No, I won't take a week off."
By now, such a statement didn't faze him at all. Frustrated him, yes, but it was not unexpected. "It's an order. You will not set foot in this medical bay for the next week."
"Yeah?" said Isla as she stood. "I'd like to see you try."
"I will have you physically removed, lieutenant," McCoy said evenly, standing to face her.
Isla was furious. He couldn't do that. Before she could stop herself, she drew back her hand and smacked him as hard as she could.
-_-_-_
A/N: Are you all less confused now? It will progress, so don't worry about certain details that have been left vague.
