Chapter 16 – Sixteen Minutes
Part 4 – McCoy
A strange sound woke him, and for a moment he was completely disorientated. Then he opened his eyes to the almost-familiar surroundings of his quarters, and Jim Kirk, watching him idly, munching on an apple. Oh hell.
"I'm not sure what is more disturbing - the fact that you've got into my quarters, or the fact you're watching me sleep." He mumbled, pulling himself to a sitting position.
Jim laughed. "I was worried. You've been in here for eleven hours straight. You've never been so long away from the sickbay before."
He didn't bother pointing out the inaccuracy of that statement. "Well I was tired." And he had been dreaming. It had been a good dream, made all the better by the fact that it was at least partly memory. He attempted not to smile at that thought.
"I don't doubt it, but you're usually too worked up to sleep for this length of time. Normally you're running back to the sickbay so you can moon over Christine." Jim was grinning, and he was unsure how to respond. "So... How is Nurse Chapel?" He continued innocently. Damn it. He suspected. Jim was about as innocent as a wolf.
"How the hell would I know? I've been asleep for hours, and was trapped in with the damn admirals before that." Maybe he should go and find her. But no, he should let her sleep. She had been exhausted, and he hadn't done much to help that on the other ship...
"Bones?"
"What, Jim?"
"You're smiling."
Oh hell. He was. He straightened his face quickly. "And?"
Jim was grinning. "Well, you've been walking around the ship for weeks like you're about to spontaneously combust-."
"It's impossible to spontaneously combust, Jim." He interrupted.
"And now you're smiling, and haven't sworn at me once, despite the fact I'm sitting in your quarters. You told her, didn't you?" Damn. He hated it when Jim was perceptive. He made no reply. Maybe he'd just go away and leave him with his thoughts. Jim burst out laughing. "You did! I knew it!"
"Go to hell, Jim."
"What? Did she cry again?"
"No." She definitely did not cry.
"Then what?"
"Mind your damn business."
"Come on Bones, you can tell me."
"No. I can't." Not unless he wanted to upset Chapel. And upsetting her was the last thing he wanted to do to her right now. He could think of plenty of other things he did want to do to her...
Jim stared at him for a moment. Then his smile, if possible, widened further. "You slept with her!"
"What the hell Jim? How could you possibly...?" He realised quickly that his friend had been shooting in the dark. Damn it. He hated it when he used his captain moves.
Jim was laughing so hard he was holding his sides. "Explains why you seem a lot more relaxed though." He gasped.
"You're worse than a teenage girl, Jim, I swear."
"Now, now. Don't go spoiling that good mood of yours. Christine will be upset with me."
"Go to hell." He laid back down. "Now, if you don't mind, I was sleeping."
Jim snorted. "Yeah, right. We both know you're going to be in sickbay in ten minutes, waiting on Christine."
Unfortunately he was probably right. He felt that desperate need to see her again, just to confirm to his psyche that she was happy, that she wasn't having second thoughts. And because he just wanted to see those blue eyes and those legs... Damn it. Jim was still grinning at him.
"Get lost, Jim. I need to shower."
"Yes. You should probably make it a cold one."
"Go to hell."
"I assume that we're keeping this a secret."
He paused. He'd temporarily forgotten the restrictions that would be on them now. "Yes. Until we work out what we're going to do."
"Any ideas?"
He frowned, moving his hands behind his head. "Well, I could step down as CMO, but I don't see her liking that..." And with Seams dead, and Zuvolt looking after Kier, things would be difficult if he did.
"Me neither. You'd better think of something better."
"I'm not sure there is something better. It might be that we have to wait for four years."
Jim whistled under his breath. "Wait? Are you serious? You mean wait like not touch her?" He shrugged. It wasn't a nice thought for him either, not being able to touch her. Especially when he'd experienced exactly what it felt like to be with her. But he'd be able to see her every day. And he knew her feelings for him. It would be enough. "That's crazy."
"No – I love her. It's worth it."
Jim shook his head in disbelief. "I really don't understand you."
"Of course you don't. I swear Jim, one day, when you finally find some woman to love and she turns you down I'm going to laugh. Hard."
"Not going to happen."
"Well, at this rate, probably not. But I can but hope."
"I'm sure I'd never give you the satisfaction. Besides, no woman can resist my little boy charm." He grinned. "Right, I suppose I should be off. I have a nice meeting with that appealing little ensign from engineering. You need anything?"
"A new best friend?"
"Well, I hear Spock's available, if you want to replace me." He laughed. "But let's not pretend you wouldn't miss me."
"Like a hole in the head."
"Exactly." The captain winked at him, and departed his quarters. McCoy lay still for a moment, trying, unsuccessful, to blot the conversation from his mind, then gave in and got up.
His walk to the sickbay was a short one which was lucky because he was paying no attention. He couldn't stop thinking about her. That smile. The way she had responded to him. The way she had told him she loved him. He couldn't stop the smile that came to his lips. She loved him. Christine Chapel loved him. It was embarrassing how happy three simple words made him.
"Doctor?" Galloway walked towards him, pausing in the corridor next to him.
"Lieutenant." Damn it. He wasn't sure what to say. The man had helped him – had helped them both. He'd also admitted to be in love with Chapel, and he wasn't happy with that. Thanks for beaming me to the ship, but stay the hell away from Chapel?
"I'm glad you're well sir. I'm glad you both are." The man's face was blank, but he could read between the lines.
"Me too. I'm glad we got out of there together." The emphasis on the final word was enough. Galloway bowed his head slightly, saluted and continued up the corridor. And that, hopefully, was the end of that.
When he entered he half expected her to be there already, sitting at her desk with that serene smile as the nurses worked around her. But she wasn't of course. She'd still be asleep. She at least didn't have an irritating friend who would break into her quarters. When he greeted the nurses they looked at him like he'd grown another head. Temple had the audacity to ask to scan him. He shut himself in his office because he wasn't sure whether he could stop smiling like a lunatic.
There was a knock at the door a few hours later and he put down the PADD he had been working on. "Come."
He was relieved when Chapel came in. He wasn't sure how much longer he could have gone on pretending that he wasn't thinking about her, and ignoring the instinct telling him to go and find her. Damn, but she'd think he was pathetic if he told her that. "Hell, I'm glad it's you. I thought Jim had come back to wind me up some more."
She smiled at him, and gracefully took the seat opposite him. He tried very hard to keep his eyes on her face, and to stop the straying elsewhere. "About what?"
"What do you think?" This was Jim they were talking about.
She frowned slightly. "You told him?"
"Of course not. He damn well guessed." Unbelievably. He sure picked his perceptive moments. And it didn't help he'd been half-asleep when he started his inquisition. He realised her eyes were on his face, and felt suddenly awkward.
"So..." Clearly she was feeling the same.
"So." He wondered what she'd do if he got up and kissed her. It would certainly ease the tension, and she probably wouldn't protest. But then, it probably wasn't a good idea. Damn it.
"I think I've solved our problem, doctor."
"Is that so?" That was quicker than he had expected. Which probably meant that she'd come up with the one solution he'd hoped she wouldn't. "Let me guess, you're planning on standing down, and making Temple head nurse?"
She gave him a surprised look. "Actually no."
"No? Hell, thank goodness for that. Because there was no way that was going to happen."
"It would have made sense." The fact she was defending it, suggested that the thought had crossed her mind.
"Chapel, we both know that the sickbay would fall apart if you weren't head nurse." He told her honestly.
She smiled at him. He would never tire of her smile. "Temple's not that bad." He supposed not – if you liked the fact she was neurotic.
"She's not that good either. And more to the point, she isn't you."
"Well, there is another option."
He felt suddenly suspicious. "Does it involve you leaving?"
"No." Thank goodness for that.
"Then please enlighten me."
She laughed affectionately. "I was re-reading the medical code. Do you remember Section 141, subheading 12."
"Remember it? Hell Chapel, of course I don't remember it. I'm not some damned Vulcan."
She looked amused. "Well, I'll read it to you." She pulled it up on her PADD. "Section 141, subheading 12 – in respect to shoreleave: All medical personnel upon shoreleave, are unable to give orders, nor are obligated to respond to orders from higher rank, unless there is direct threat to life which deem such actions necessary."
For a moment he didn't understand. He thought the words back to himself. Then, he had the first glimmer of understanding. "Hell, does that mean...?"
"Yes..." She encouraged him.
"That... on shoreleave, you don't have to respond to my orders."
"Yes."
"And I can't give them to you."
"Yes."
"So technically... technically, you're not my head nurse?"
"Exactly."
He couldn't stop the smile that came to his lips. "Which means, technically, on shoreleave, we can do whatever the hell we want."
"Something like that."
"Hell." He couldn't believe it. She'd found a loophole. Somehow she'd found some way for them to actually have a relationship. He should have never doubted her. She was, if nothing else, extraordinary.
"We'll have to be careful whilst we're on the Enterprise. No one can suspect – not a thing. We won't be able to do... well anything." Chapel was saying. He realised she was right. They couldn't do anything to endanger her reputation – Starfleet couldn't get even a hint.
"No." Hell, but that was going to be difficult. Because right now all he wanted to do was push her onto that desk and... "Remind me, Chapel, how long it is until next shoreleave."
"A month."
"A month." Thirty days. He couldn't lay a finger on her for thirty days. He had a feeling shoreleave was going to be his new favourite word.
She gave him a nervous smile "At least we don't have to worry about this moving too fast." Move too fast? They'd gone from colleagues to lovers in the space of about an hour. It probably couldn't get much faster. Not that he minded. Hell, he was fairly sure he wanted to marry her, which was mad, given how poorly that had worked out for him the last time. But he didn't want her to have any regrets. He would take things slowly for her. He was going to do this right.
He noticed she was looking worried, and suddenly understood. He almost laughed. Hadn't he already proved to her how committed he was to her? "Christine, I assure you I can screw up any relationship, fast or slow. However, if you're worrying whether I'm going to wait to have a relationship with you, well, I'd not lay a finger on you for the next four years if I had to."
She gave him such a brilliant smile that he felt himself catching his breath. "You would?"
"Yes." Damn, he wanted to kiss her. "Although I would probably spontaneously combust." Impossible or not. It would be hard enough to wait a month.
She laughed, blushing slightly, then gave him an impish look. "I think I would too." Damn, that wasn't helping his raging emotions. "Did you speak to Intelligence?" He understood her change of subject. This probably wasn't the time to explore the other one.
"Yes." He frowned. "It wasn't pretty." It had involved a great deal of shouting – and not even by him. Well, he had disobeyed a direct order. And illicitly been beamed to a ship. And helped Christine save Earth. That was enough to get them all hot and bothered.
She raised her eyebrows. "I heard that you punched an admiral."
Damn right. "Well, he deserved it." And he had been somewhat highly strung at the time. "Unfortunately, I think Chapman's going to make me pay." He probably wasn't the best person to get on the wrong side of.
"Well you're a hero, and Jim's best friend, so they can't do much."
He rolled his eye. She always thought the best of people. "I wouldn't put my money on it. What did they say to you?"
She shrugged mildly. "The usual. Offered me a medal, then what ever I wanted when I turned it down." He'd forgotten she'd done this sort of thing before – saving all those people during the Narada. Damn, they were going to offer her a job if she kept catching Intelligence's attention.
He scowled. "Me too. What did you say?"
"I asked that they looked after the clones." Well that sounded like her. "You?"
"I asked them to give Farie Ajec a decent funeral." It was the least he could do for the woman who had given her life for them. He wouldn't forget. Chapel was looking sad. He had a feeling that she wouldn't forget either. Well, he'd best tell her the rest. "I asked for something else too. I'm not sure what you'll think of it." She was looking at him curiously. Hell, this could go very badly. "I asked if I could carry out your medical training." It hadn't been easy. He'd had to apologise to Chapman, which had been painful. And he was going to have to jump through hell knew how many hoops. Thankfully, they seemed to think a lot of Chapel, in a way they didn't think much of him.
"What?" She was staring at him with wide eyes.
He felt suddenly nervous. "Well, Chapel, you practically act like a doctor here anyhow, so it seems idiotic for you to have to go to medical school and learn things you already know. Starfleet have agreed to allow you to carry out your training on the Enterprise, under me whilst you're still head nurse, and then to take your exams at the end of our mission." But then there was the possibility that she might not want him to take on her education. Things certainly were complicated enough between them. The fact she was giving him a wide-eyed look said maybe he was pushing things. "Only if you want to."
She stared at him for a moment, then broke into a brilliant smile, and he let out a breath in relief. "Of course I want to." She shook her head at him. "How could I not want to?"
He felt slightly embarrassed at the look of gratitude she was giving him. "Well, we're see if you're still saying that when you're trying to do all that learning on top of your duties. And don't think I'll go easy on you because I... well because of my feelings for you."
Her smile widened, light shining in her eyes. "Leonard, you've never gone easy on me in the past. I would hardly expect it to start now."
"Don't get cocky Chapel." If she kept looking at him like that he was going to lose all inhibitions fast. "So, what do you need me to do today?" He glanced at her PADD – he probably shouldn't be surprised she'd already written a things-to-do list. She followed his eyes down, looking slightly perplexed as her hands moved across it. Then she paused. "Chapel?" He knew that look of hers too well.
"It's one of the ghost files – Spock gave it to me. He said it would interest me." Damn it. Why the hell was Spock interfering? She was looking at it like it was about to bite her. She needed this to be over, and he needed to be there to help her pick up the pieces.
"Play it." She looked at him, vulnerable, but nodded slowly and ran her fingers across the screen.
The voice was familiar. Roger Korby. Not a voice he was ever expecting to hear again. Clearly neither was Christine. She'd frozen, her face expressionless. Damn it, he hated it when she shut herself off from him. He couldn't help but move, worried by her pain, and, if he was honest, by a feeling of possessiveness. She was shaking, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close, listening to the dead scientists words.
"Nevertheless, from what I have seen of you on this ship, there may be others that will fill my place better and more completely. Leonard McCoy seems attached to you, and perhaps the stern chap could benefit from a person such as yourself." He pulled her closer. Damn right. Didn't take a genius to work that out. "But forgive the ramblings of an old man. I have moved on to a higher place now, and have left my possessions to you. I am, and always will be, your servant."
Her servant? Damn melodramatic idiot. He felt her lean back into him, relaxing suddenly, and hoped the worse was over. She wasn't crying. She wasn't speaking. Hell, he wished he could read her better.
"Chapel?" He kissed her cheek and felt her smile, much to his relief.
Her voice was normal when she spoke. "We should be careful, doctor. If someone was to walk in now, there would be talk."
He laughed, partly from relief. She was his. Korby was gone. "The nurses will simply think I'm trying to strangle you."
"I don't know – they warned me you've been acting awfully out of character. Apparently you've been smiling a lot recently." Damn, it explained why they'd been looking at him like he was insane.
He kissed her on the forehead, allowing himself to hold her close for one moment more, and then took his seat again with a smile. "I can't think why."
She laughed softly. "Me neither. What could have possibly occurred to put you in a good mood?"
"Well, you've got a month to work it out, Chapel. I'll hear your hypothesis on shoreleave." Ideally, she could show him her hypothesis on shoreleave. Now that was something nice to think about.
"I'd best do some research then."
"Yes, you probably should." Hell, he wondered if she saw what she was doing to him.
She laughed again and handed him a PADD. "But in the meantime doctor, we have quarterly reports coming up, and you're already behind." Well at least she was back to normal.
"Damn it – how is that even possible?"
"I believe you've been preoccupied lately."
He scowled at her. "Of course I have. Do you have any idea how distracting it is sitting opposite you every night?"
She shook her head at him, smiling archly. "Well, I don't have to, you know."
Oh hell. "Damn right you do. You belong in the chair, Chapel, so you'd best come to terms with it."
She gave him a penetrating look, eyes calmly on his own. "I already did doctor, a long time ago." Hell. He wanted to kiss her. It was excruciating. "Right, now the quarterly reports. I thought we'd start with Jim." She smiled. Clearly his thoughts were obvious.
He returned her smile. Well if she wanted to play it like this... "Very well, Nurse Chapel."
"Thank you, Doctor McCoy." They smiled at one another for a moment longer, before a wail assured him Jim was calling him to the bridge, and shouts outside called for Chapel's attention. They separated wearily. Shoreleave. His new favourite word.
