Instantaneously, the trio begin to appear in the Medbay, their bodies materialising in swirls of blazing gold glow. Momentarily, their forms are made concrete once more, the light fades, and the room returns to its typical luminescence. Immediately, the physician beckons to a proximate nurse for assistance; complying, the staff member hastily approaches. With her help, McCoy and Uhura hoist the Vulcan's limp figure off the floor, and carry him to a nearby biobed, gently lowering him onto the bleached bedding. Still within their proximity, the Communications Officer moves aside, maintaining some distance from the medicos, granting them the space they require to properly assess their ill crew member.
Amongst the usual goings-on of the Medbay, the hapless Vulcan lay there, his strong and lengthy figure strewn onto the biobed, torpid and vulnerable. His shipmate and lover watches on helplessly as the physician and his associate hook their patient up to the facility's monitors, checking and recording his vital signs. The Captain soon marches into the wing, burdened with concern for his friend; somehow, a biting feeling deep inside of him had known that something was amiss with his crewmate. As it turns out, the gut instinct that he had so ardently followed, had been correct, as it always is.
"What happened, Bones?". At once, he sights the Vulcan on the biobed, with the medical staff hovering over him.
"Uhura and I found him unconscious in his quarters. Jim,", McCoy takes a step closer to his friend, "did he tell you anything? Symptoms? Something that might give us a clue as to what's wrong?".
"No, he only said he had a headache.". He then turns to the Communications Officer. "What about you, Uhura? Did he say anything to you?".
"He told me it was just fatigue from the away mission.". Her voice is quivering with worry.
"Well,", continues the physician, "I have a feeling that this is more than fatigue. We won't know for sure until we've run some tests.".
And run tests is precisely what McCoy does. He employs the invaluable assistance of Doctor M'Benga, an expert in Vulcan physiology; this qualification makes him perfectly suited for the treatment of the ill First Officer. The two physicians work almost tirelessly, gathering blood samples, completing thorough full-body scans, and lastly, a complete head scan.
During the initial examinations, McCoy had noticed some rather unusual swelling and mild burn marks on Spock's fingertips. He confides in M'Benga's expertise for what this could mean. The latter physician recalls that the specific location of the markings on the digits are the points on which mind melds are performed. Both men find this discovery quite odd indeed; M'Benga in particular, with all his years of training in Vulcan physiology, had never witnessed such a thing until this present moment. The two physicians, it seems, are beginning to close in on what is ailing their crewmate. M'Benga seeks out evidence to correlate his hypothesis on a connection to the Vulcan patient's tactile-telepathic ability. He suspects that something may have entered through the meld points on Spock's fingertips, consequently making its way up to his brain.
After completing the considerably thorough scan of the patient's brain, the doctors glimpse dark spots, albeit small in size, peppering parts of the cerebral cortex. Additionally, the scan reveals evidence of deterioration within this region, leading the two men to believe that the markings are malignant tumours of some kind. The cause of these growths, however, is still unknown to the physicians, yet both suspect that the results of the blood test will reveal more clues.
Indeed, the results of the blood test confirm M'Benga's hypothesis: a foreign chemical is present within the Vulcan's body. In order to find out more about this substance, such as its origins, the physicians make use of the ship's database, as well as one of the crew's junior science officers. Moreover, the team need to ascertain how the compound came into contact with their patient, and if it has affected other members of the crew.
For this part of their investigation, the physicians trace the Vulcan's activities within the past week. Together, they verify that his recent away mission contains the key to the cause of his ailment. Low and behold, they discover that the substance found in Spock's bloodstream originated from the ore samples he had collected and categorised. Utilising the ship's database, the junior officer closely matches the chemical to an element found on Vulcan; or, at least, within its solar system. This is rather perplexing, as the planet had been destroyed, and the Enterprise is currently thousands of light-years away from the Vulcan system. Yet, the bright, young female scientist theorises that the compound had travelled on an asteroid thousands of years ago, which somehow bypassed Vulcan, continuing on its trajectory, eventually colliding with the planet in this system. The junior officer further theorises that, over time, this rare element might have merged with those currently existing in this planet. However, only small amounts were detected within the ores and the patient, yet as the chemical is rather toxic, it is still enough to have a profoundly negative effect on the Vulcan patient.
During this time, the rest of Spock's away team had been quarantined, each given the same thorough scans as he had. With all tests returning negative results, the crew members are released to active duties once again. All of this new information causes the physicians to conclude that this substance only affects Vulcans, and possibly species whose physiology is similar, such as Romulans. Thankfully, there are currently no Romulan crew members serving aboard the Enterprise.
It had taken the efforts of the two leading doctors and junior science officer, working almost tirelessly, nearly two days, but they have at last acquired the answers that they seek. The Vulcan patient had awoken a few times during this period, mildly disoriented at times, then mumbling about returning to duties. Yet, eventually he had slipped back into unconsciousness, after suffering another severe headache. Once all of the evidence has been collected, the information is accumulated, McCoy summons Kirk to the Medbay. Lieutenant Uhura accompanies him, having overheard the summons.
"What did you find out, Bones?". The Captain storms into the wing, his Communications Officer mere centimetres behind.
"I was right, Jim. This is more than just fatigue, and much more than a damn headache. We discovered what looks like tumours in his brain, most likely caused by a toxic chemical we found in his bloodstream.". The physician's tone is austere as he delivers the grim news.
"How did it get there?".
"Well,", it's now Doctor M'Benga's turn to speak, "with some help from one of the junior science officers, we ascertained that the compound originated from the ore samples that the Commander collected recently. No other crew members were affected, which led us to believe that this substance only reacts with Vulcan physiology. It seeped through the meld points on his fingertips, and travelled up to his brain. There was also evidence of neurological degradation; the damage is irreversible. Unfortunately, Captain, there is nothing that we can do.".
The entire Medbay seems to descend into a dreaded silence. It's almost unbelievable, an action so seemingly harmless as gathering ore samples can have such a negative effect. In utter shock, Kirk and Uhura gaze at the gravely ill Vulcan, heavy tears forming in the eyes of the female officer. Nevertheless, she amasses the strength to speak, her voice barely stable from the grief.
"How long does he have left?".
"Judging by the rate of deterioration,", begins McCoy, the words baring a solemn intonation, "we...estimate he's only got around six weeks, maybe two months at best. I'm...sorry.".