Chapter 24
Stepping into the infirmary, McCoy paused as he saw a familiar silhouette sitting by the hospital bed, the only light in the room coming from the various machines the patient was hooked up to.
"You know... I'm getting some serious déjà vu here".
The blonde didn't even stir.
The doctor sighed, walking over, "Jim... You just sitting here isn't going to do any good".
"What if wakes?" He replied, voice raspy, "What if Spock wakes and he's alone, Bones? Then what?"
"Then I would be notified immediately and would be by his side in less than three minutes" He shot back, holding up his tricorder, "And how do you think he's going to feel if the first thing he sees is your lovely face?"
"I'm sensing a little sarcasm".
"You should be. I'm laying it on pretty thick".
The blonde continued to stare religiously at the Vulcan on the infirmary bed, his own hand clasped lightly around the smaller one.
McCoy placed a gentle hand on Jim's shoulder, "Look, kid... You've been here three days. Spock's been unconscious for three days... You need to take a break sometime".
"I'm fine".
"Liar" He growled, "You haven't showered, you haven't shaved, you haven't slept, and the only time you eat is when I practically shove nutrition cubes down your throat!"
"And?"
"And you hate nutrition cubes".
Jim gently traced the Vulcan's wrist with his finger, "... When is he going to wake up, Bones?"
"... I don't know, kid".
"Will he wake up?"
He received a head slap in return.
"Hey! You do not talk like that" McCoy snapped, "Of course he's going to wake up! It's just a matter of when".
"You don't know that".
"Yes. I do" He bit, folding his arms across his chest, "Who's the doctor here?"
"What?"
"The doctor" Bones replied, "Who is he?"
"... Well, you, obviously-"
"Yes, me! And if I say he's going to wake up, then he's bloody well going to wake up! Do you understand me mister?!"
"... Bones-"
Man, did he want to chuck his tricorder at the idiot's head!
"No!" He snapped, "Spock is healing, Jim. That battle-axe all but sliced his liver in two, not to mind all the muscle and tendon damage... He needs time to heal".
"... He has nightmares, you know".
"I know".
"He starts twitching and turning, frowning at something... I can't always snap him out of it".
"I know".
"Then, when things get really bad, he starts jerking, whimpering... I mean, I know it was bad, but not this bad".
"I know".
"... You seem to know a lot of things, Bones".
McCoy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Jim... You need to get out of here".
"No".
"Jim".
"I said no!"
"You haven't left in three days! This isn't helping anyone, and most definitely won't help Spock when he wakes up to find you stinking the place!"
"I don't smell that bad-"
"Don't even try to tell me how much I need a clothes-peg right now" He shot back, "Now get up".
"No".
"Jim, I will personally hypo you myself if you don't get some decent food in you right now!"
"Then let me eat it here".
"That defeats the entire purpose! Stop mopping around and get your ass to the canteen right now! It's dinnertime. The others will be there. And they're just as worried as you are, Jim, yet what are they doing?"
The blonde remained stubbornly silent.
"Exactly!" Bones snapped, "They're continuing as normal! You're their captain-"
"Oh don't even try to play that card-"
"And why the hell shouldn't I?!"
"Because- Because- Because it's different! They don't-"
"Don't what? Care for him? Worry about him? Well, news flash genius, you're not the only friend Spock has!"
Jim let out a heavy breath and leant back in his chair, rubbing a hand through messy greasy hair, "... I can't leave him alone, Bones".
"You won't be" He replied softly, "I'll stay right here until you return. Just... Go to the canteen, let the others know you're still alive, and... and get some good food in you, alright?"
"... You'll stay here?" He asked quietly, almost childlike, and it broke the doctors heart to see his best friend looking so lost.
"I'll stay here. I promise".
Jim slowly nodded, "Alright... Alright, I'll... I'll get some food".
He shakily got to his feet, still staring at the unconscious Vulcan on the bed in front of him, and McCoy sighed, rolling his eyes as he stepped forwards to cut off his view, "Go!"
"Alright! Alright, jeez, I'm going already!"
He half-walked, half-stumbled towards the door, but paused once he got there.
"And you'll... you'll tell me if anything happens-"
"YES!" Bones yelled, "James Tiberius Kirk, I swear on my life, that if you don't get the hell out of my Med Bay right now, I'll personally ensure that this tricorder gets shoved up your-"
"Okay! Okay! I'm gone! Honest!"
Making sure the infirmary door shut behind him, the doctor sighed and turned back to the Vulcan lying unresponsive next to him.
"... He really loves you, you know that?"
Taking the seat that the blonde had just occupied, he resigned himself to an uneventful security post.
"It's just a pity that you're both to blind to realise that".
Turning back to his tricorder, he quickly scanned it over the unconscious figure, "Now so, let's see if there's any change, shall we? It's about bloody time you woke up, after all, Vulcan healing trance or not".
Running through the usual tests, he found everything to be relatively the same, if not marginally better.
His blood pressure was slightly up, which, while not exactly an improvement, it meant his body was trying to regain consciousness, but his liver seemed to be functioning as usual, which was a good sign.
Glancing up, he placed the tricorder to the side and eyed the thick bandage wrapped around the teenager's side critically.
"You gave us all quite the scare, you know. Damn hobgoblin" He started, "Going and saving Jim like that, and getting stabbed in the side in return... And then, of course, you had to go and complicate things, didn't you Spock? Because where the human's large intestine is, I found your liver. And let me tell you, stitching up a liver is no small feat. For starters, you can hardly see anything with all the blood, and then trying to put in sutures to close the wound... And then, on top of that, because you just love to make my life difficult, I had to transplant omentum fat, and, considering how malnourished you are, there wasn't a whole lot of it to begin with. Blood vessels had to be closed, the wound itself had to be closed, and then I had to try and repair the damaged muscles... Basically, you better be bloody grateful when you wake, you hear me?"
Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand over his eyes, "... If you wake".
Looking back up at him, however, he froze.
Because there, lying on the bed, amongst the bandages and stitches and bruises and cuts, lay the Vulcan...
With both eyes open.