Leonard McCoy was enjoying a couple moment's peace when his communicator chirped. He groaned, but accepted the message nonetheless. "McCoy here."
"Bones, I need a medical team to the bridge!" It was Jim. Naturally. "Chekov just collapsed."
McCoy was grabbing his equipment before the communication even ended. "I'll be there, stat. Chapel!"
"I heard him, Doctor." Chapel said, already in motion. Bones said a silent thank you for great nurses. Before the two could get out the door, however, his communicator chirped again.
"Belay that order. Prepare for direct transport to sickbay."
Bones and Chapel shared a tense look before dropping their equipment and preparing a bed for the patient. They didn't know what kind of condition Chekov would be in, so they had to be ready for anything. Seconds later, the familiar buzz of a transporter energizing filled the sickbay, and an unconscious Chekov appeared on the bed.
The young ensign was as pale as fresh cotton, except for a red flush to his cheeks, and he wheezed with each breath. Once glance at the biobed reading told the doctor the patient was in critical condition. His blood oxygen levels were dangerously low and he was running a high fever.
"I need oxygen, please, Chapel," McCoy ordered as he shined a penlight into each of Chekov's eyes. Chapel placed an oxygen mask over his face, but almost immediately after yet another alarm began to scream.
"He's not breathing, I need to intubate. Now. And give him 20 ccs of leporazine." McCoy said, grabbing the equipment he needed.
The doctor had done the procedure many times before, and he was steady as he inserted the tube into Chekov's mouth. Even so, he couldn't push away the feeling of concern he felt. Normally, he hid behind a mask of indifference, but intubating a deathly pale and unbreathing Chekov left a sick feeling in his stomach.
"Pavel!" McCoy heard someone exclaim, and he was aware that Jim had entered the sickbay, but he was too focused on the task at hand to acknowledge him. He finished the procedure and connected the tube to a ventilator. "Jim, hand me that tricorder."
In seconds the tricorder was shoved into his hands by an out-of-breath Kirk. He must've run through the halls. "How is he?"
"Not good." McCoy waved the tricorder over his patient, and his eyes grew wide in disbelief. "This isn't possible."
"What, what is it?" Jim asked, anxious, but McCoy carefully double and triple checked his readings.
"This isn't possible. There's some sort of vegetation growing in his lungs!"
Kirk looked down at Chekov's unmoving body as if he might see a plant growing up through his chest. "Vegetation? You can't mean-like a plant?"
"Somehow, yes." McCoy said, taking a more advanced scan. "It's like an infection - the plant matter is wrapping around his alveoli and restricting his ability to absorb oxygen."
"How could this have happened? I spoke with him yesterday and he was completely fine, it wasn't until he came onto the bridge this morning that he seemed ill." Jim asked.
"I don't know, Jim! I'm a doctor, damnit, not a botanist!" McCoy snapped, looking at the biobed readings as they improved marginally.
"Well, I'm not a botanist, but I know a lot about plants. I think I know what happened." A new voice entered the sickbay, and the two turned to see a disheveled and slightly out of breath Sulu.
"When did you last see Chekov? Did he seem sick?" McCoy probed.
"I last saw him the day before yesterday-he was on the away mission to Eslon 5 all day. However, he did send me a message before he went to bed." Sulu explained, approaching the biobed, looking down at his friend with concern. "He sent me pictures of the plants he saw. One of them was a large flower that he said launched pollen in his face."
"Pollen. Of course," McCoy said, connecting the dots. "I've never heard of anything like this before, but it could have been a defense mechanism for the plant. If Chekov actually breathed in the spores, it might've caused the plant growth, like an infection."
"Well, can you treat it?" Jim asked, "If it's like an infection, can't you give him some sort of antibiotics?"
McCoy examined a scan of Chekov's lungs. "I could operate, but the plants are very well intertwined with his lungs. If I don't get every bit of plant matter out it could very well grow back. And with the extent of the growth, removing all of it will be nearly impossible."
Jim ran a hand through his hair. "So we'll have to try something else."
"There's just one thing," McCoy said grimly, "The vegetation is continuing to spread, and even with the ventilator, Chekov's not going to last forever. I'd estimate he has four hours at this current rate."
McCoy saw Sulu's head fall, and he squeezed Pavel's hand. A pang of sympathy went through the doctor knowing that the two were good friends. He thought Sulu would look up with tears in his eyes, but instead they were aflame with determination."I have an idea, sir.
"Let's say I had a garden that was completely covered in weeds. I could pick every individual weed and remove it from the garden. But that would take a long time, and time isn't something we have an excess of. Instead, it would be much more effective to use another method-like a herbicide."
"Are you suggesting we spray poison in the kid's lungs?" McCoy asked incredulously.
"We've become very good at creating safe ones that don't harm people. If I could get a sample of the plant, I could create a low concentration herbicide that wouldn't hurt Pavel. Like an antibiotic for bacteria." Sulu explained, with what knowledge he had. "Then Dr. McCoy could remove the dead vegetation through surgery without risk of it growing back."
"Take whatever resources you need, Ensign." Kirk said, "You're cleared to make an expedition to the surface, but maintain full quarantine procedures."
With that, Sulu jogged out of sickbay, determined to save his best friend. McCoy exchanged a look with Kirk over Pavel's bed. "Don't you think you're putting a bit too much pressure on him?"
Kirk put a hand on Chekov's shoulder, feeling his chest rise and fall artificially. "Unfortunately, yes. But if we want to have a chance at saving Pavel, we have to at least try something."
"Hang on, Pavel," McCoy murmured.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Another update tomorrow :)