Jim was actually a little proud of his CMO and First Officer when they didn't return to hover at his bedside immediately after they had agreed to actually attempt to get some rest. Even Jim was able to fall back into a fairly restful doze after the pair had left, despite the other med staff doing routine checks throughout the next few hours.
When he next woke up and checked the hover clock, he was pleased to realize he had gotten a decent six hours of sleep, and without nightmares or lucid dreams to boot. Hopefully Bones and Spock could say the same. Turns out he didn't have to wait long before the mother hens had returned with a whoosh of the medroom doors.
"Well you look better," Bones said, breaking the quiet first as his eyes immediately jumped to the screens next to Kirk's bed.
Jim snorted, "Nice to see you guys looking well rested too."
"It appears we each received adequate sleep, Captain. How are you feeling today?" Spock asked, his hands tucked primly behind his back as he gave his attention to Jim.
Jim felt uneasiness seeping into him, both at having two pairs of intelligent eyes assessing him and at the reminder of their upcoming discussion. Thankfully, his momentary silence was enough to prompt Spock into continuing their conversation.
"I hope you don't mind Captain but I reached out to some of the remaining Vulcan survivors onboard about our...incident the other night."
"Well, don't leave us hangin'. What'd they have to say?" Bones spoke up.
If Jim didn't know better, he would say Spock's eyebrow twitch almost looked chagrinned.
"Eloquent as ever, Doctor. It seems what happened was a form of…"
"Emotional transference, yeah," Jim nodded absently as his mind was still caught on the mention of the Vulcan survivors. Their entire race, but a few, completely wiped out of existence. How would they ever-
"Jim! Seriously, I'm gonna have to start checking you more often for head injuries with how often you're spacing out on us.
"Sorry, sorry. I just- Bones can I get out of here yet? I've been flat on my back for forever now and...Can I get some clothes?"
If Bones and Spock were startled by the sudden change in topic they certainly didn't show it, besides maybe an exasperated sigh from Bones.
"If I discharge you will you sit down and actually explain to us what the hell has been going on?" Bones asked with a pointed glare, daring Jim to disagree.
"Fine, fine. Just- get me pants and then we'll talk." Jim agreed, more than ready to get out of Medbay, but far from excited about the upcoming conversation that was finally going to happen.
Hey Guys! Sorry for the delay, I received some negative comments last chapter that took some joy out of this story but I figured the best way to spite the haters is to continue forward! So thank you very much for those of you sticking around! One more chapter tentatively planned to wrap things up!