Stardate: 1873.4. Enterprise, in orbit around Upothas II
Acting Captain's log, Supplemental. Dr. Mayweather is prepping for surgery, getting herself familiar with the surgical instruments found on the planet. Dr. Boyce will assist from the ship, linking the away team tricorder to the main computer. They hope that they can keep the procedure under twenty minutes to minimize the possibility of Captain Pike to go into shock. Mr Spock, Landais and Johnson have continued their exploration of the underground cavern, hoping to locate their main engineering. We still have no words from the village or the members of the original landing party.
"Nineteen minutes." Alathea stopped the chronometer on her tricorder before cutting the sutures on the makeshift practice leg.
"This is probably as fast as you will be able to complete this surgery." Boyce informed her. They both knew that nineteen minutes were already too long but even with the added power of the Enterprise's main frame, Alathea would have to perform this surgery without relying on the technology she had become used to during training. If Pike was onboard the ship, the computer would be able to render a 3D image of his condition and trace the most efficient path to bullet removal. The microsurgical tools would then get to work, limiting the amount of cutting through skin and muscle. Although her tricorder was capable of giving her the 3D rendition of Pike's leg, Alathea would have to use macro-surgery tools.
"Phil, this means twenty-five to thirty minutes on Chris." She whispered from the other side of the alien sickbay. "This is too long."
"Thea, I wish we could beam Chris over or that there was a way we could salvage any of the chemicals at your disposal to concoct an anesthetic. You are his best chance. He will get through it." Onboard the ship, Boyce exchanged a quick look with Number One. Chris' vitals were strong despite his condition and Alathea's presence could only benefit their situation. "He needs you now as much as you needed him when you were teenagers. He doesn't just need a doctor."
Alathea glanced over her shoulder at the immobile form of her friend. Chris was facing away for her, no doubt trying to hide his pain and fear not only from her but Br'tar, Boyce, and Number One. She looked down at the suture in front of her. Deep down, she knew Boyce was right. This was the best she could do. Running a hundred more practice runs wouldn't improve Chris' chances. You don't have the difficult job. She reminded herself. Chris did. And Boyce was right, he needed a friend more than he needed her to try to shave off another 30 seconds off the surgery time. "Phil, give me fifteen minutes to get everything ready. I'll call back then."
"We'll have everything ready up here. Boyce out."
Thea's eyes were glued on the tricorder display. Nineteen minutes. For Chris, it would be an eternity. She bit her lower lip to prevent herself from crying out. She imagined Chris screaming in agony and fighting against the restraints. One wrong cut and she could sever his artery, leaving him out to bleed on the table.
Her dark thoughts were mercifully interrupted by Br'Tar coming back to the infirmary with buckets of boiled water and bandages. The Masonian had worked tirelessly since they had found the refuge to provide Alathea with everything she would need for the surgery as well as blocking the wind from entering the cave, keeping the ambient temperature from plummeting to dangerous levels. "I found more blankets in the crew quarters." The lieutenant informed her. "We will probably need to shelter here tonight. I can use the remaining power in one of our phasers to heat up the walls."
"Can you boil more water?" She asked, gathering her tricorder.
"Now?" Br'tar asked with a frown. "Yes, but…"
"We will need it for consumption tonight." Alathea interrupted.
Br'Tar nodded in understanding. "I'll get a couple more liters ready. Should take about 10min."
"Thank you, Lieutenant." Alathea made her way towards the middle of the room on shaky legs. Br'tar admired her strength. He hadn't been deaf to the rumors swirling around when Dr. Mayweather had joined the Enterprise a few months ago. Although the exact nature of her relationship with the captain had been surrounded by much speculation, one thing was clear: they had known each other for a long time. If he were in her position, he doubted he would be able to carry on with his duty. An image of his wife flashed in front of his eyes and he shuddered at the thought that she could be the one laying on the bed, waiting for an unimaginable amount of pain. Br'tar exited the room silently, focusing once more on their immediate survival.
"Hey." Alathea called out softly as she sat down on the stool near Chris' bed. His eyes were unfocused and his breathing shallow, betraying his pain and apprehension. She moved her hand under the blanket to let it rest over Chris' abdomen. She softly caressed him through his jacket, waiting for him to acknowledge her. Once his blue eyes focused on her face, she gave him a soft smile and kissed his forehead tenderly. "How are you doing?"
Chris shivered violently and whimpered when the movement sent jolts of pain up and down his leg. Alathea knew that the original reaction was as much a response to pain as it was to fear: not only the fear of the pain he knew was coming but also the fear of showing his vulnerability to his crew. She ran her fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair soothingly. "It's ok, Chris. It's just us." Chris took a shaky breath, tears escaping his eyes despite his best effort. "You're going to be ok." Althea continued. "I'm going to take the bullet out and you're going to get plenty of rest. Before you know it, we'll be back on Enterprise and when this is all over, Number One will find us a nice little planet for a long overdue shore leave."
Chris grabbed the hand resting on his abdomen and held on to his friend with an iron grip. He let the tears flow freely, tired of fighting against the pain. "You're ok," Alahtea comforted. "You're going to be ok." She caressed his cheek, noting that he felt a little warm. "I'm not letting you give up on me today."
Pike wasn't afraid of dying. He already knew his fate and it was much worse than his current predicament. But he was afraid of the pain and he hated to have anyone witnessing his breakdown. "I want to know." He whispered so low that Alathea strained to discern the words.
"Know what?"
"What you're gonna do."
Alathea hesitated. She didn't want to frighten her patient more but in Chris' case, not knowing could be as detrimental as understanding the details of the surgery. She finally nodded, moving her tricorder on the bed. She punched a few commands and the 3D rendering from the Enterprise's computer floated between her and Chris. "One of the fragments is in your femur," she explained, pointing at the red area on the rendered bone. "The other two are in the muscle above it." Alathea played the accelerated computer animation for Chris. "First, I'll have to cut around the entry wound to the bone so I can get to the first bullet." The animation showed retractors holding the surgical site open while a forcep was plunged inside the leg to extract the first bullet. "Then I'll get the fragments in the muscle before closing."
Chris' eyes drifted towards the surgical tray. The instruments were covered by a sheet but he could make out the contours of clamps and retractors. His breathing became faster as the animation replayed in his head. "Close your eyes," Alathea placed herself between Chris and the instruments. "Just listen to my voice." She waited for her captain to obey her orders before running the back of her hand over his cheek. "Deep breath in… and out." She repeated the exercise until Chris relaxed his grip on her hand. "Just keep breathing slowly. Can you do that for me?" Chris nodded.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Br'tar setting the two buckets of water down near the others. Alathea was astonished that a man of Br'tar stature could move so stealthily but she was grateful to him for not startling Chris. "Lieutenant Br'tar is going to place the restraints," she addressed both men in the room. "Just keep concentrating on me," she instructed Chris as Br'tar grabbed the leather restraints they had found in the infirmary. The Masonian first secured the captain's legs and hips while the doctor kept talking to her patient soothingly. She placed Chris' arms along his body for Br'tar to restrain his torso and hands. Still holding Chris' right hand, she picked up a rolled up sheet they had planned to use as a bandage and pressed it against his lips. "Bite on this." Chris squeezed his eyes before taking the offering. "Mayweather to Enterprise." She said as she flipped her communicator open with one hand.
"Boyce here."
"We're ready here. Linking my tricorder…" Chris tightened his hold on her hand. Alathea ran her thumb over the back of his hand, trying to impart as much comfort as she could through the small gesture.
Within a few seconds, her tricorder came to life, displaying her patient's leg and the location of the three bullet fragments. The Enterprise's computer would update as the surgery progressed, adjusting as needed for the most efficient extraction. Alathea released Chris' hand and nodded at Br'tar before standing over the captain's leg. She flipped over the sheet hiding the instruments and grabbed the scissors to cut the captain's pants. As soon as Chris felt the motion of the fabric, his eyes shot open and his breathing fastened. "Chris, deep breaths… you're ok. Keep taking slow, deep breaths." She waited for Chris to calm down before putting latex gloves on and grabbing the scalpel. "Computer, time." She ordered before cutting the surgical site open.
Chris bucked against the restraints and screamed through the gag. "Hold him!" She ordered Br'tar, trying her best to ignore her friend's pleas for her to stop. The Masonian held his captain against the table, averting his eyes from those of the man screaming and sobbing in pain beneath him.
Onboard Enterprise, Boyce was livid as he watched the animation on the screen amid the screams. Within a few minutes, Mayweather had cut through the muscle and was ready to extract the first fragment. He watched helplessly as the forcep scrapped against the bone. Chris was thrashing around in agony despite the restraints, making it almost impossible for Alathea to get a grip on the bullet.
After a few more minutes, she managed to get a hold of it and removed it, causing a new wave of pain to flow through Chris. "Almost over, Chris." She threw the fragment in a metal pan before fishing around for the second one, guided by the computer display in front of her.
Alathea almost broke down in tears when she realized that Chris' movements had caused the last fragment to move deeper into the muscle. With a shaky hand, she grabbed the scalpel and cut transversely. Chris wailed as he felt the flesh rip apart. "Stop!" he begged, trying to dislodge the mountain of brick off his chest. "Please! Stop!"
"Thea, you're doing great." Boyce encouraged, trying to center the doctor back on her task. "The bullet is right below the cut. Nice and slow, don't try to grab it, just scoop it out."
Alathea let out a deep breath as she removed the last fragment. "I'm closing, Chris. It's over." She sutured the wound as quickly as she could manage. By the time she was finished, Chris laid limp on the table, with Br'tar standing a few feet away from the scene, in shock. Chris' eyes were glazed over in pain, dry tears on his cheeks. His breathing was shallow and fast. She bandaged his leg with the clean sheets and removed her gloves to unfasten the restraints. "You're ok. You did great." Alathea cupped his cheeks and kissed his forehead. She removed the fabric he had been biting on and moved the hair plastered on his forehead. "You're ok." She repeated soothingly. "All you have to do is get some rest. You're doing fine."
Chris moaned in pain as Alathea placed the blankets back on his shaking body. Chris was in shock and they needed to keep him warm. "It's all over." Thea looked away from Chris, unable to keep her tears from flowing down her cheeks. She caught the tricorder's display: forty minutes. She bit her lower lip to prevent herself from screaming. She had tortured Chris for forty minutes.
Boyce's fingers had turned white around the communicator. He felt utterly powerless. He blamed himself for what had just transpired on the planet. He had known for months that Pike needed to be relieved from duty or, at the very least, placed under psychiatric care. All the signs of PTSD had been there but he had ignored them because the patient was his friend. As a consequence of his apathy, he had placed Alathea Mayweather in a position where she had been forced to inflict more pain on the man she loved than any being should suffer through in a lifetime. "Thea…" Phil waited a few seconds for her to answer. "You are the best friend Chris could have by his side." He said sincerely.
As Alathea looked into Chris' eyes, it was hard for her to believe Boyce's words. All she could see in the normally warm blue orbs were pain and fear. Chris visibly flinched when she reached for his hand. He was scared of her. He was scared that she would inflict more pain. "Chris, I'm so sorry." She sobbed her apology, unable to keep up pretenses any longer.
"You saved him." Br'tar placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, having regained some of his composure. "I know he doesn't see it right now but he will soon be thanking you."
Alathea bit back her tears and nodded. As a doctor, she knew she hadn't had a choice. Without the surgery, Chris would have either bled out or died of an infection before Enterprise could get to them. At least, she had given him a fighting chance. But as his friend, she felt lousy. "Excuse me!" She ran out of the infirmary just in time to spill the meager content of her stomach right outside the door.
She felt the gentle hand of the Mansonian pulling her long black hair back. "What you did back there… it took more courage than fighting an army of Klingons," Br'tar said sincerely.
Alathea wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and nodded slowly. "He isn't out of the woods yet."
"Perhaps not. But without you, he would be dead." Br'tar handed her her water pack. She thanked him before taking a few sips of the cool liquid. "Stay with him. I'll make sure we are secure for the night."
"Thank you." She placed her hand on Br'tar's forearm. "For being here."
"Nobody gets left behind." He looked at the shaking form of his captain. "When I came aboard Enterprise, this was the first thing Pike said to me. He told me that as a security officer, my first duty was to make sure that no one would be left behind."
Alathea gave him a small smile. "We're not leaving him behind."
"We're all getting back to Enterprise. And right now, he needs his doctor… and his friend." Br'tar handed Alathea her closed communicator back.
Alathea pocketed the device before making her way back inside the infirmary. Chris' breathing was still faster than she would like but the shaking had diminished and her tricorder showed that his lifesigns were mostly returning to normal. She silently sat by his side, monitoring him for any changes.
After ten minutes, Pike reached out for Alathea's hand and laced his fingers with hers. Alathea caressed his cheek tenderly with her free hand in response. No words needed to be exchanged; the simple gestures representing all the love and trust they had in each other.