McCoy felt his heart stop, as he struggled to comprehend what had just happened. Practically flying over to the ledge, crying out Hope's name over and over again, all he knew was that he needed to go after her. And if not for Spock's presence of mind, the Vulcan arriving at the ledge seconds before the doctor and forcefully holding him back, he might have done just that. Gone after her over the edge.
It took a few moments of fighting the first officer, before the horror of the situation and the futility of jumping after her finally caught up with him.
"What are you waiting for? We need to get down there!" he yelled at Kirk, who hesitated only slightly before shaking his head.
"We need to get the rest of the ambassadors back on the Enterprise first," the captain said quietly.
"Are you out of your mind, Jim?" McCoy panicked, refusing to believe what he'd just heard.
Surely, Kirk couldn't be serious.
"What are you even saying? That we just leave her and get on with our business as if nothing happened? Hope just fell off a cliff, for Christ's sake!"
"I know, Bones," the captain replied, and McCoy didn't recognise his friend anymore.
The Jim he knew could never be so cold, so cruel, would never just leave a crew member behind. Any crew member.
Kirk looked away, so the doctor couldn't see the pain in his eyes, as he said the words that needed to be said with the remaining ambassadors breathing down his neck.
"We'll be back as soon as we can, Bones, I promise. But the safety of all the ambassadors still has to be our primary concern on this mission. Failing to ensure that, we could start an interstellar war."
McCoy was beside himself. Right now, he didn't give a damn about risking an interstellar war.
"My God, Jim!" he exploded, almost insane with fear and desperation, and getting more frantic with every word. "This is Jenny we're talking about! And she needs help. Not later, but now. She's all alone and injured, in a place crawling with dinosaurs and who knows what else. I'm not going to lose her over some Federation business."
"You don't even know if..." Spock spoke up, but was silenced mid-sentence by a sharp look from Kirk.
"Let's get going, Doctor," the captain ordered brusquely. "The sooner everybody gets back to the Enterprise, the sooner we can return for Hope. You're a Starfleet officer, and so is she. We all knew what we signed up for when we joined the Fleet."
When McCoy saw that Kirk was serious, he changed tactics.
"I'll go alone then. Let me stay. Don't make me commit insubordination, Jim," he pleaded. "I can't just leave her. If for no other reason than my having taken an oath. The ambassadors are all right, I fixed everyone else, you don't need me. You fulfil your duty, please let me fulfil mine."
Kirk turned around and McCoy finally saw the pain and frustration in his eyes, clearly reflecting his own fear and concern for Hope.
"All right," the captain nodded slowly. "You're on your own, Bones. Good luck and take care!"
"Thank you, Jim," the doctor whispered, as he turned around and raced off to find a path down the newly formed precipice.
-x-x-x-x-x-
As he was making his way down the steep, slippery slope, shouting out Hope's name in between listening for dinosaurs, McCoy tried not to imagine the worst. How often had she told him that you got what you expected? He didn't really believe in her universe-vibrations-voodoo, but he definitely didn't want to take a risk, either. She'd make it. She had to. Losing her was not an option. All he needed to do was find her in time. She was young and strong, she was a fighter and a survivor. And she was loved like no one had ever been loved before.
"Jenny!" he shouted again at the top of his lungs, when he reached the bottom, then went back to straining his ears for a reply.
"Over here, Leonard!" came a small voice, not too far away.
McCoy broke into a run, the widest grin spreading across his face, as tears of joy started to run down his cheeks. She was alive. She was coherent. She'd be fine. Probably passed out and just woken up, judging from her weak voice. She must have slid down the precipice rather than fallen. His medical mind went into overdrive, as he raced towards where the voice had come from.
"Keep talking to me, love!" he called out. "Anything. Just to let me know where you are!"
"I love you, I love you, I love you," Hope laughed, and the sound made his heart leap with joy. "Uh, and you might want to know that I don't think I'm seriously injured."
His heart made another leap, albeit a cautious one. With her endless faith in his medical skills, Hope would still say that if one of her limbs was just barely hanging on by a thread, wouldn't she?
Through the thicket ahead, he could already glimpse a speck of Starfleet red, lying on the ground, poking out from underneath a giant fallen tree, and his legs picked up speed on their own accord. Moments later, he was by Hope's side, dropping to his knees, trembling and panting. Instantly going into doctor-mode, he checked her for any visible injuries, then started running his tricorder meticulously over her entire body before even saying hello.
"Have you been unconscious?" he asked in lieu of a greeting.
"I was," she confirmed. "Obviously bumped my head on the way down."
"Any idea for how long?"
"Not really. Well, how long's it been since I fell anyway?"
"Not too long, twenty minutes, maybe? Tops."
"So, you broke a sprinting record for me," Hope grinned at him still catching his breath from the run, then softly added, "I knew you'd come, Leonard. I knew you'd always keep me safe."
McCoy's breath hitched in his chest, as he finally set his tricorder aside, satisfied with the readings, and leaned down to kiss her.
"It's a miracle," he whispered, choking back fresh tears. "You're a miracle. Not a single scratch on you."
Hope chuckled, gingerly touching a hand to her forehead and holding out a blood-smeared finger to him.
"Well, maybe one or two," the doctor amended smilingly, gently dabbing her forehead with an antiseptic wipe from his medikit while tenderly caressing her face, "but nothing that can't be cured with a tissue."
"How fortunate, then, that you're the best doctor in the galaxy," Hope teased, pulling him down for another kiss, before adding more seriously, "There's still the small matter of being trapped under a tree, though."
"There is," McCoy sighed, getting up and inspecting the giant conifer that had fallen on top of her, pinning her to the ground with its many, enormous branches.
How Hope had managed not to get herself crushed was beyond him, but he was certainly not going to question her luck. His luck. He gave one branch a tentative tug, but soon realised there was no way he'd be able to move it.
Dammit!
"We'll have to find a way of wrestling you out of under there," he stated the obvious, while silently adding, Before the next quake sets in. "Any chance you can wriggle out?"
"I've already tried, Leonard, believe me," she groaned, "but there's no room to move my legs or hips at all. Can't you just use your phaser to cut me loose?"
"I'll have to think of another way of cutting that damn tree into pieces, love" the doctor grumbled. "I don't dare to use my phaser this close to your body."
"Maybe I can help," a deep voice suddenly sounded beside him.
"Spock!" McCoy cried, incredible relief washing over him. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm delighted to see you, too, Doctor," Spock replied dryly. "And you, of course, Lieutenant. Fortunately, I could convince the captain that I was dispensable, too, and that, however convenient your medical skills might prove in this situation, you're certainly ill-equipped to carry out a rescue mission all by yourself."
McCoy bit back a retort. He could hardly argue with that, could he?
"Well, I've certainly never been happier to see those pointed ears of yours, Mr. Spock," he said instead, feeling, in fact, rather touched that the Vulcan had come after him, even though he'd never say that out loud.
Without further ado, Spock let his hands glide along the thickest branch pinning Hope down, until he was satisfied with his grip, then looked questioningly at the Lieutenant.
"Are you prepared to move quickly, if I manage to lift this branch for approximately five seconds?"
"Approximately?" McCoy couldn't resist remarking, still giddy with relief. "No decimals today, Spock?"
The first officer barely spared him a glance.
"I don't see the point, since Lt. Hope wouldn't find it helpful in any way."
"I'm ready, Mr. Spock," Hope spoke up, understandably eager to get out of her predicament.
McCoy watched in awe, as Spock clenched his teeth and, with a very un-Vulcan groan, actually managed to lift the branch in question long enough for Hope to slip out.
"Oh my God, thank you Mr. Spock!" she exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet, shaking out and checking her legs, and for a moment McCoy thought she was going to hug the Vulcan.
She ended up brushing off and straightening out her uniform, however, and giving the doctor a delighted hug instead. McCoy briefly hugged her back, trying hard not to crush her in his relief, before slinging his medikit back over his shoulder and quickly pulling her along after Spock.
"Beam-up to the Enterprise should be possible from a location 274.816 metres from here," the first officer informed them, as he strode ahead, giving them the number down to three decimals and, at least to McCoy's ears, sounding incredibly smug about it.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Only a few hours later, after another thorough check-up in sickbay, confirming that she'd come out of this adventure without so much as a bruise or a sprain, Jenny found herself back in the bed and the arms of the man she loved more than life itself.
Cuddling up to McCoy, she knew she'd been incredibly lucky, and couldn't be more grateful. To fate, and to Leonard. And from the way he was holding her closer than usual, it was obvious that he still couldn't quite believe she was unharmed, either.
"Thank you for saving my life," she murmured softly, but the doctor shushed her with a gentle finger to her lips.
"Let me just hold you," he whispered, as she felt his tears starting to trickle through her hair.
Jenny felt awful, knowing that she was, once again, the source of his distress, when all she ever wanted was to make him happy. How was she ever going to make this up to him?
"I know that I often make you feel like I don't appreciate you being so protective of me," Jenny began again after a while, "but truth is, I do. More than I care to admit."
"You know, there's no shame in accepting help, or letting someone else take care of you once in a while," McCoy said softly, releasing her from his embrace, so that she could turn around and look at him, his eyes still moist and a little red-rimmed. "Even if you're a woman and, sometimes, the one helping you out happens to be a man."
Jenny smiled sheepishly at him. Of course, he'd long discovered the reason why she always felt the need to prove herself. It really shouldn't surprise her.
"Even when the one, who happens to be a man, has a tendency towards being overprotective?" she couldn't help teasing him.
"Especially then," he grinned, kissing her on the nose, and Jenny was happy to see him cheering up again.
"Right. Even if I sound like I'm in a therapy session, thank you once again for rescuing me today," Jenny smiled. "And generally, for protecting me the way you do. I know I don't always make it easy for you."
That earned her a snort from McCoy. And another gentle kiss, before he pulled her close again, tenderly cradling her head to his chest. Safe and warm in his arms, exactly what she craved. But, surely, he knew that, too.
"Seriously, Leonard. Thank you for always trying to keep me safe. For being my protector."
"Some protector I am," he chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I couldn't have done it without Spock's help today."
"I'm not so sure about that," Jenny lifted her head, and lovingly looked into his eyes. "I think you probably would have."
McCoy just gazed at her, tenderly brushing some stray curls out of her face.
"But making me feel safe and protected has little to do with your physical strength, anyway," she went on. "It's about the strength of your love just as much as about your incredible abilities as a healer. And, of course, about knowing that you'd do anything for me, just like I'd do anything for you. You came back for me today, all by yourself. That alone is enough to make me feel safe. I trust that wherever I'll be, you'll never stop looking for me. And that whatever happens to me, you can fix it. Or if you can't, at least you'll never stop trying."
Seeing the emotion in his eyes, Jenny kissed him tenderly on the lips. It felt good to open up and talk about this.
"I wasn't afraid today, not even while I was falling," she said, hearing the wonder in her own voice at the memory, as she nestled back into his arms. "You were there, and I somehow knew that it was going to be fine. And even if you might not be able to save me one day, you can be sure that I'll feel hopeful to the end, because I just know that you'd never give up on me."
