Chapter 5: Not What Was Promised
Disclaimer: Again I still do not own Star Trek. Many things would have been different.
I still do not have a beta so all mistakes are mine.
WARNINGS: Language and blood.
Edit: I have a beta and she has made this amazing.
Jim found himself on the floor screaming. He yanked at the sheet until it was untangled from his legs. He sat there panting for a moment. His heart slowing back to a normal pace. Looking around he checked for any hidden enemies. Finally, he leaned back against the couch. That dream again. Damn he hated that dream. Shaking he pushed himself up from the floor.
His hand landed in something wet and he hissed. A shard of glass cutting his skin. His other came into contact with the plush blanket still on the couch. He hadn't remembered grabbing a blanket or a sheet. He didn't remember falling asleep either. Not that his mind had been altered by drinking. Jim couldn't even bring the stuff up to his lips without retching. He laughed a little at that. Bones would be happy that he couldn't drink anymore.
The blonde ran his fingers over the blanket. It had to be from Spock. That was just what he needed. Spock to think he was drinking again. He ran his fingers through his hair huffing. Today was supposed to be about them getting help and he had to go and ruin it. He ruined a lot of things. This was just the icing on the cake. Getting to his feet he walked down the hall and stood outside of Spock door.
"Spock? You awake?" Jim asked softly and almost knocked. He raised his hand and noticed the blood dripping from the cut. He still hadn't taken the glass out. He leaned against the door and applied pressure on the cut. "Probably not…I'm sorry. I am so sorry. For that night." His breath hitched as his eyes burned. He wouldn't cry. Damn it he had cried enough today. Over something as simple as being touched. On the hand! It wasn't like it was on purpose. "I shouldn't have left that night. I…still love you ashayam. God I always will love you. I am so pathetic. I can't even say those words to you now. Just…please don't leave me."
He swallowed hard before getting ready to push away from the door. Jim nearly tumbled backwards as the door opened. A strong arm around his waist stopped him. He glanced up and over his shoulder to stare at Spock. Had he heard everything? Jim felt the panic start to rise again.
"Were you awake?" Jim asked softly wanting the floor to open up and swallow him. Better yet he would rather a Klingon invasion happened right now so he wouldn't have to face Spock's reaction to his words. He knew he would agree with him.
"I smelled blood. I came to see if you were alright." Spock answered as he removed his hand from Jim's waist. "May I see?"
Jim held his hand against himself for a moment before slowly uncurling his fingers to let the Vulcan see. "It isn't that bad really. It won't need stitches."
He followed Spock into the kitchen. His heart raced as Spock hesitated to take his wrist and place it under the running water. He hissed as the water stung the wound. It wasn't all that bad considering he had been a captain of a star ship. Jim hopped up on the counter as Spock went to get the first aid kit from the second bathroom.
'Why didn't he just take me in there instead? Would have been easier. And it would have been a small enclosed space.' Jim though as he watched his hand bleed. He hung his head. 'Course he wouldn't do that. He was giving me enough space that I can get away if I wanted to.'
Jim looked up as Spock came back with the kit in hand. One black eyebrow rose as he came closer. "Is there a reason you have your hand in front of you instead of over the sink? You are bleeding all over the place."
The blonde blushed before quickly putting his hand back over the sink. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking about it." It was then that he noticed the puddle on the ground and then the smaller puddles that lead down the hall. He grimaced. "I didn't realize I was bleeding that badly,"
Spock set the kit on the counter and looked up at Jim, the counter giving Jim nearly a foot on him. "Alcohol does make human blood thinner." He took the towel he grabbed form the bathroom and wrapped it around Jim's hand.
"That would be great if I had been drinking. I poured the glass but I never drank it Spock." He watched as those brown eyes widen slightly. "I know you can tell when I am lying. Heart rate, sweating, and all that. I wasn't drink tonight. I wanted to but…" He shrugged his shoulders.
Spock pressed down on the towel just enough to help stop the flow of blood. It would have been better if they had dermal regenerators but they were no longer on a star ship. Unless they wanted to go to the hospital they would have to stick with bandages and ointment. After a few minutes Spock pulled back the now red towel and frowned. Jim's hand was still bleeding. He pressed the towel back on the wound and went back to the bathroom.
The second towel was soaked just as quickly as the first with no sign of slowing. They wrapped a fresh towel on Jim's hand before getting in the car and driving to the closes clinic. It wasn't really busy but by the time they were ushered into the back and a doctor came in Jim was starting to feel dizzy. Spock stepped out to get Jim a bottle of water as the doctor ran some scans.
"Have you been eating right?" The doctor asked as he looked at the results.
Jim thought about lying. He should because the doctor was likely to tell Spock and he just couldn't deal with that on top of everything else. "No not really. I've been a little busy lately."
The doctor nodded. "That is what I thought. Losing a lot of weight and not eating right can cause anemia. I am assuming you are not sleeping as well. You are showing the beginning signs of sleep deprivation. I would recommend that you have a blood transfusion. You lost a lot of blood."
Jim groaned as he laid back against the bed. He just wanted to go home and go to bed. He knew he would receive hell if he tried to leave without further treatment. "Fine. Go ahead and stick me with a needle and be done with it." He looked at the door as the doctor pressed the needle into his arm. "I don't suppose you'll keep this from my bondmate would you?"
The doctor looked at Jim. "If you want me to keep it from him I am obligated to. Patient confidentiality. Currently you are not in danger of dying or in need of further medical assistants. I would have to bring it up to him then but for now you are safe."
Jim nodded and watched the door open. Spock came in with the bottle of water and he smiled. "Thanks. Looks like I will be staying the night here. You don't have to wait for me. I know you have to get up early."
It was strange how they fell right back into taking care of each other after five months of not talking to each other. Spock shook his head and sat in the chair as the doctor left them alone. "I will stay Jim. You lost nearly three pints of blood. From a cut that did not even need stitches."
Jim grinned as he sipped his water. "At least you're not giving me exact numbers." He groaned and got comfortable on the bed as Spock glared at him. "Not an insult Spock. I mean it. I like that you haven't gone all exact and logical on me. It means you still care…you're not trying to hide…by the way don't lose two and a half pints of blood it makes you feel drunk. Not in the fun way either."
His heart was fluttering and he felt cold. The office was chilly but that was every hospital. He hated the cold as much as he hated the heat. Why couldn't anything every be just warm? He looked up at Spock who took the bottle of water from his hands before he could spill it.
"Get some rest Jim. Think of it as an away mission. I will keep watch and make sure nothing bad happens." Spock's voice soothed him. He had missed that voice so much that he would play old videos just to hear it.
Jim curled into the single blanket over his waist. He had never told Spock why he hated hospitals. Even Bones didn't know. Not because he didn't want to tell them but because it was all classified. "Alright, but wake me up in a few hours. You need to sleep too and I slept earlier."
Spock just watched him for a moment. "Though you slept I doubt it was very restful Jim." Before the human could argue he yawned and his eyes drifted closed.
Jim awoke to the sound of soft breathing. It wasn't his own. He tended to snore if he wasn't in his own bed. He had mostly stopped when Spock slept with him. However, that may have been because Jim would use Spock as his personal pillow. Spock's shoulder or chest would prop his head up enough that he would sleep soundly through the night.
He looked around the room. It hadn't been too long since they got here. A couple of hours from the clock on the wall. He sighed and looked down at Spock who had fallen asleep in the chair. His arms crossed over his chest. He had come a long way from the computer that he tried to be. Grinning Jim took a photo and sent it to Bones.
The blonde watched as Spock slept. He was still hooked to the IV which didn't really surprise him. He was feeling better though. His communicator lit up with a new message.
Why are you sending me pictures of the hobgoblin sleeping? And what in hell did you do to land your ass in the hospital?
~ Bones
Jim chuckled a little and leaned back against the pillow. He would have to give it to the man. How he knew he was in the hospital Jim would never know. It wasn't like he had sent a picture of any medical supplies.
Cut my hand on a shard of glass. It bled a lot even though it wasn't that deep or big so he took me to the hospital. Doesn't he look cute sleeping like that?
~Jim
Jim waited for the next message. It was nice to talk to Bones. He had been neglecting everyone lately. If he bothered to text anyone it was either to ask a question or to give a one-word reply.
Damn it Jim have you been taking care of yourself? You shouldn't bleed like that! You didn't pick up some diseases I don't know about did you? And in what universe do you think I would find the green-blooded hobgoblin cute? Well at least it wasn't a picture of him sleeping while you had a baby.
~Bones
Jim laughed. He laughed so hard that he couldn't stop and it hurt his sides. The down side to his laughing was it woke up Spock. "Sorry Spock. Bones thinks we are having a baby."
Spock's eyebrow rose as he straitened in his chair. "Why would he under the impression we were having a child?"
The blonde blushed and look down. "I may have sent him a picture of you sleeping in the chair. It was cute, I couldn't resist." If Spock was one to roll his eyes it was obvious by the look on his face that he would have done it in that moment.
How did you know we were at the hospital? And we can't have children. We are both male. Neither of us come from any spices that can procreate like that. He is cute and you just can't admit it
~Jim
"He is right we are having a child. A thirty-three-year-old one that finds this to be funny." Spock said as he watched Jim type with one hand. His eyes took in the amount of blood left. "They changed out your bag. Twice."
Jim winced and looked up from the small device on his lap. "Yeah?" He shrugged. "Have to find humor somewhere. Even if it is at my own expense."
They were both silent. Small jibs like that wouldn't normally bother either of them. Now they felt like personal attacks. It hurt. His communicator lit up again. Wanting a distraction Jim read the text and wished he hadn't.
Three words for you Jimbo. First Ectogenesis. The other two uterus transplant. Granted you would need to have a way to connect the uterus to an opening and make sure the proper blood vessels are there to support proper functioning of the new organ. They started this in the twenty first century Jim. It isn't used commonly and after the third world war and all that it wasn't looked into anymore. I just preformed my first transplant a week ago. It is still very experimental right now. Hormone treatment and all that.
~Bones
Jim set his communicator down and just stared at it. They could have children together. Not with a surrogate but one of them could actually carry children. They had talked about it before. Both agreed that it was too risky. Which of them would donate? Would they use a friend to act as a surrogate mother? If they used an outside source would the woman try to exploit them for money or worst, not give up the child? There were so many possibilities that they chose not to have children. There was also the fact that Jim was human. If they had a Vulcan child, then he would die long before both of them. If they had a human child that child would die before Spock and Jim just couldn't do that to him.
"Jim, may I inquire as to why you seem to be close to a panic attack?" Spock's voice broke through the onslaught of thoughts running rampant in Jim's mind.
The blonde forced a smile to his face not really feeling up to it. "Bones preformed his first ever uterus transplant into a male host. Whoever he is, is expecting a child in the future."
He watched as Spock's faced changed. Yeah he thought the same thing. If they had found this out sooner than these last five months wouldn't have happened. This really wasn't the path that they were promised and it sucked. Jim hated the look on Spock's face.
"I…I will get you a bottle of water." Spock said quickly and left. Neither mentioning the fact that Jim still had a full one sitting on the counter.
Author's Note: ectogenesis is a real thing. Currently we are working on it for women who cannot have children of their own for various reasons. Also uterus transplants have been looked at for both women who have either been born without a uterus or has had to have hers removed. Right now it would be dangerous as the person who had the transplant would have to go on medication to prevent their body from rejecting the organ which would lower their chances of fighting off infections. Currently it is not worth the risk. However, with the advancement of sciences in Star Trek I believe it would be possible to create the needed organ form the host which would in fact negate the need for medication. Which they have done in the shows before. There are many theories and test we are working on right now to allow two men or two women to have children together. One would be to remove the female's DNA from the nuclei of the egg and replace it with one male's DNA before introducing the sperm from the other. I read too many science journals.