Chapter 28
Laughter, quiet and bubbly. A soft murmur. The dull patter of bare feet hitting the cold floor and shuffling across the room. Noah slides into view and I watch as he crawls slowly onto Khan's bed and burrows into his father's side. Noah's smiling, his eyes glowing, as Khan pulls him close and rests his chin atop the small boys head. He's missed him. He still isn't feeling all that hot, but, for Noah's sake, he isn't even letting on that he's ill. As long as Bones doesn't catch him, Noah will never know.
"This is cheating, you know." Cassie looks at me and I shrug.
"If he didn't see the kid soon, he was going to destroy the ship and everyone on it. I figured it be better to sneak the boy in."
"And risk the wrath of McCoy the Great and Terrible?" A corner of her lips curls upwards and I hide my own smile.
"Hey, if we're caught, I already have my escape plan all mapped out."
"Oh, really? And what would this grand plan entail exactly?"
"Blaming you and running."
"You suck." She elbows me lightly in the ribs.
"Perhaps," I agree. "But I'll be the only one who survives."
Cassie sneaks Noah out of the room just as Bones slips into view. I nod at him and shift uncomfortably as he passes by. He raises a curious eyebrow at me but says nothing. Cassie pauses to roll her eyes at me bother mouthing "smooth". Then, she's gone.
"How are you feeling? Weak? Dizzy? Nausea?"
"I'm fine." Khan says firmly but Bones merely rolls his eyes at him.
"Your vitals are all over the place. Try again."
"Slightly nauseous." Khan admits finally in defeat but his eyes burn stubbornly. Bones looks like he's about to smack the man but he settles instead of curling his hands into fists and examining his instruments closely.
"Anything else?" He prods. Khan says nothing. "The faster I figure out what's wrong with you, the faster you get better: the faster you get better, the faster I can shoot your butt out the airlock and wave my goodbyes."
Khan sighs, "Lightheaded. Feverish."
"Now I have to ask you a series of standard questions. Bear with me here: it's protocol. Do you have any allergies?"
"Do I look like someone who has any allergies, doctor?"
"A simple yes or no would suffice, but thanks anyway." Bones snaps sarcastically.
Cold blue eyes narrow: "No."
"Are you pregnant or nursing?" Bones stares down at his tricorder as he speaks.
"No." Khan glares at him.
"Have you been on drugs in the past month? Or been anywhere that would have given you some type of deadly and/or exotic parasite?"
"Also no." I think Khan is going to attack the poor man. "If I were you," Khan interupts as Bones opens his mouth to ask another question. "I would stop at that one. It may be detrimental to your health should you ask another question, doctor."
Bones inhales deeply and sighs. His brown eyes roll heavenwards, "I can't ever get an easy patient can I?" He shakes his head. "Alright, I'm going to take another blood sample and send more broth your way. Eat all of it. If you feel like puking," He smashes a small trash can onto Khan's bed irritably. "Then this will be your best friend." He takes his sample and storms away.
"What's wrong with him?" I ask and Khan shrugs.
"I sense nothing off. Must be his sparking personality peeking through."
"Good thing you were here to say 'hi' before it slipped away, never to be seen from again." I joke and he smirks slightly.
"Why is it they allow you in here but not my son?"
"I have a better immune system and nowhere better to go."
"Well that makes me feel better. Made me almost feel as if someone cared about me," He rolls his eyes at me and I stick my tongue out at him.
"Almost." I point out and he eyes a pillow on the table next to his bed.
"Don't you even—" I'm cut off as the pillow flies across the room and hits me squarely in the chest. I fall backwards onto the floor and blink up at him in surprise, my mouth wide and gaping. He roars with laughter and I go to throw the pillow back at him when Bones steps back into the room.
"Stop harassing my patient!" He snaps.
"Me? Harassing him? Where were you two minutes ago?"
"I will sedate you." He threatens.
"How? You're both blind and deaf. What are you going to do? Throw the hypospray through the air and pray it hits me?" Seriously! The walls are made of glass! He could have seen the entire thing! Blind old geezer!
"Don't make me go over there." The doctor hands Khan a bowl of broth and then winks at me before leaving. I am so confused right now. What just happened here? Did he just…smile? Okay, I must be sick. Or dying. Bones McCoy doesn't joke around…does he?
...
"Hey, Noah." I wave to the boy as I head towards the cafeteria. "How goes it?"
He smiles, "Daddy is getting awesome!" He skips a little as he heads towards me and I pick him up into a hug.
"Is he now?" I ruffle his hair and he giggles.
"Yes!"
"Awesome!" I put him down beside me. "Want to come with me to get something to eat?"
"Can we bring something back for Daddy?"
"Sure, what?"
He thinks for a moment, "A cupcake!"
Khan Noonien Singh, a viscous warlord and mass murderer likes cupcakes? Really?
"For real?"
"Yes!" He jumps up and down and I nod slowly.
"Okay, yeah. If they have some." I agree hesitantly.
…
They have cupcakes on this thing. Who knew, right? Noah picks out a large one with blue icing and sprinkles. Kirk, who is behind me in line, raises an eyebrow at us when we grab three more of varying colors.
"Hey, save some for the rest of us!" He jokes and I grin at the blond.
"That an order, Captain?" I ask and Noah laughs quietly behind his hand.
"Oh,, you better believe it," Kirk smiles and I grab two more.
"There. See? There's one left." I smirk and he narrows his eyes at me playfully. They'll have made more in mere seconds. It's not like I've stolen the last of their precious desserts.
I walk away with our try and Noah practically sprints to keep up. I find a table in a far corner that's deserted and plop our food down. Noah grabs his cheeseburger and I eye my own. I don't quite trust the food on this ship yet but various people have reassured me that it's perfectly safe. This burger looks strange though…
Oh, well.
I'm hungry.
We eat quickly and gather the desserts up into a small take-out container. I eat one as we walk back to the medbay. Bones eyes our little box and takes one cupcake as ransom for safe passage into Khan's room. Noah explodes onto the bed and Khan catches him expertly and set him down gently beside him.
"Look, Daddy!" He pushes the cupcakes at him and Khan chuckles at the manic excitement gleaming in his son's eyes as the boy practically bounces up and down on the bed. Through the glass, I see Bones roll his eyes at us and mumble under his breath, but he still eats our little bribe…err, 'peace offering' to let Noah come in.
I bet the old doctor will love me tomorrow when I stick him with Noah Watch Duty tomorrow. Cassie is growing tired of watching the kid and Kirk has been too busy lately. Since Khan is the only patient here (besides an ensign with a pulled muscle) the poor doctor will be bored out of his mind…
Yeah, he's going to kill me.
It's a good thing I have Khan to hind behind.
