For Author's note and Disclaimer, see chapter 1

Chapter 26

Wanting to make sure the doctor received the needed sustenance Jim did not want to wait for the last meal of the day before he took his share of the stew. Instead he also made sure that Spock and Bones would join him. He had been informed that sickbay had been kept busy the whole day, and he knew Spock had been as well. He had been informed by Sulu that McCoy had gone to the mess for coffee and nutrient, and had once more left with nothing so he was glad that he was finally getting something.

The doctor took his bowl and sat at their table with a tired sigh.

"Rough day?" Jim tried to convey sympathy and got a nod in turn as Bones stared at his bowl.

"You can say that again," he muttered.

"To repeat the same statement would be redundant," Spock offered and was repaid by a half-hearted glare.

"It's really pretty good today," Jim mused as he was halfway through his own bowl. A little confused that Bones hadn't even started. "Something wrong?"

"Wait for it…" Bones mused quietly.

"Wait for what?" looking around himself there was no indication that anything was wrong.

"It's coming," Bones picked up his spoon and held it over the steaming bowl. "Wait for it…"

"I do not understand…" Spock was cut off as the comm crackled to life again.

'Sickbay to Doctor McCoy.'

"And there you have it," Bones threw his spoon back on the table, rubbing the bridge of his nose briefly. "Been like that all day, didn't see why now should be any different." He got up without even looking at the meal he would not eat. Tapping the button on the speaker. "McCoy here, I'll be right down there."

"Fascinating," Spock mused.

"I don't care if I have to abuse every privilege possible, I'm gonna make sure he has something to eat later if I have to force it down his throat myself," Jim decided. "I don't care if it's only supposed to be one bowl per person a day, he's not really had anything all day, and if I have to pull rank to make sure he gets one I'll do it."

"As the doctor never even was able to touch it, I do not see how it would need any form of abuse of rank and privilege," Spock mused. "I assume we only need to take it back to the chef and request it to be reheated again later for the doctor."

"We'll do that, and then I'll be damned if allow him to run off without it," Jim decided. "He's gonna sit down and eat a whole meal if I have to tie him up to make sure he does it."

"Captain, you appear quite aggravated," Spock frowned sounding concerned.

"Sorry, just frustrated," he sighed. "I said I was gonna look out for him, and I keep thinking I've not done a very good job out of it today."

"It seems to me you have done the best possible thought the events of the day has not been in any of our favour," Spock simply shrugged, picking up the abandoned still full bowl that stood between them on the table. "I shall take this back to the chef and explain the situation, I am confident it will not be a problem to have it heated again later."

"Thanks Spock," Jim offered him a warm smile. At least the stew later would be better than just another nutrient bar. If it had not been so tragic the way he had just waited for the call to interrupt him from his meal would be amusing. Trust Bones to manage that…

The doctor for himself was not surprised at all, he really had not been able to even get an uninterrupted mug of coffee the whole day. Getting down to sickbay he found Uhura with a bloody cloth around her hand.

"I cut my hand on a sharp piece of metal on the console," she mused. "I didn't notice it, and brushed against it. I'm sorry to call you away from your dinner, I told Christine I could wait a few minutes so you could eat."

"I wouldn't hear of it and she knows it," he mused, removing the cloth to check the hand. Keeping the fabric under her hand as it was still bleeding sluggishly he picked up his scanner and ran it over the hand. "You're lucky, no nerve damage at all, but it cut deep." Putting the scanner down he reached for his hypo. "I'll give you a painkiller, then I'll do what I can to make sure it won't scar." There was a light hiss of the hypo as he injected the dose and he noticed how she relaxed. Carefully wiping the blood away and using a spray bottle to clean it briefly he studied it closer. There were those who only relayed on their instruments, but the way it looked and felt could tell you more sometimes and he quickly wrapped it up with a gauze that would stop the bleeding.

She was shivering already and he frowned, touching the back of his hand to her forehead, then her arm. "Nurse, could you get a blanket?"

"Of course," Chapel was already carrying one over.

"It's too cold for you down here to sit like you are my dear," McCoy stated softly. "The dermal regenerator is going to take nearly an hour to fix that. It's going to take a minute or so for the wound to close so I can start anyway."

"I'll survive," Uhura mused, then frowned as the doctor took off the borrowed sweater. She knew it belonged to her friend and was always amused over how well it fit the doctor. She was even more confused when he took off the tunic that everyone knew would belong to their captain. As the cold air hit his skin the hairs on his arms raised in goosebumps though he held out the uniform tunic to her. "Here, put it on. It'll still have some heat and while not the most desirable it'll keep you warm as long as you have to be here."

"And what about you?" she frowned though she knew the uniform dress she wore was horribly ill suited to the chill of sickbay and she would be miserable if she had to stay there long. McCoy had always been a man who could make her smile with his gentle manners and soft drawl when he allowed it to shine through. She truly cared for him and was well aware that the chivalry he now showed was deeply ingrained into his very core. You could take McCoy away from the south, but you could not take the gallantry out of him.

"I will be perfectly fine my dear, but I will not stand for my patient contracting pneumonia while I treat her," he stated firmly and she knew there was no helping it. To refuse would hurt him, deeply, it would cut at his very core to try and deny him what he felt he needed to do.

"Thank you Doctor," she smiled softly instead as she pulled the tunic over her head. It was soft and still warm from his body heat, a faint fragrance of disinfectant as she pulled it over her head. He draped the blanket around her legs and she was at least as comfortable as possible before he slipped his borrowed sweater back on again. Christine giving her a grateful smile, presumably because she had not tried to deny the doctor what was in his nature.

Her hand was numb by now and she felt nothing as he took it again, a soft towel under it to catch the liquid from the spray bottle before she felt the whiff of heat against her face. She preferred not to look at what he was doing exactly even if she saw the instruments out of the corner of her eye.

"You're lucky you didn't cut yourself like this before," he mused. "At least today we have some marginal heat down here."

"I heard," she nodded. Everyone knew they had been evicted up to the mess. "I'm glad to, even if it was not intentional on my part. I would have preferred not to cut myself at all."

"You and me both," he nodded, his focus on her hand. It amazed her sometimes how he could stay so focused for so long. Even with the borrowed tunic and the blanket she was cold, and now he wore almost less than she did and yet he was just standing there, not the faintest tremor in his hands as he worked on hers. Christine rubbed her hands together from time to time, and even poured a hot mug of tea from a thermos that Uhura could sip from, trying not to move her other hand as not to make it harder for McCoy. The wound didn't look quite so raw when she looked now, the flesh was slowly binding together under the dermal regenerator.

She remembered how cold his hands had been before when he came up to the bridge and felt guilty that she had been amused when he claimed to try and warm them over her console. It wasn't amusing that any of them were so cold.

It took forty five minutes for him to finish with her hand, but by then it looked unmarked and unmarred by cut or scar. Picking up the spray bottle he doused it liberally, gently rubbing it dry with the towel and repeating the process twice more until he was finally satisfied. "There, good as new," he smiled softly. Putting down the spray bottle and the towel he reached for the hypospray again and fixed a different cartridge in it. "Might not have been a bad cut, but even so and in spite of modern treatment it places a strain on the body. I'm going to give you a booster vitamin to be on the safe side. Have you had any of the stew today?"

"I had a bowl before, by lunch," she mused.

"I'll send up a medical order for you for a second portion today," McCoy decided. "I want you to have the nutrition or you might experience some fatigue, even possible headaches and dizziness. If you feel any ill effects at all, I want you to come back. You might experience just a little soreness over the next few days, that is normal, but any longer than so and I want to have a look at it again, okay?"

"Perfectly," she nodded. She took off the borrowed tunic again. "And thank you, you have no idea how grateful a girl like me is that there are still a real gentleman around."

"My dear, with ladies like you, how can an old man like me be anything but a gentleman?" his smile seemed to cause his eyes to sparkle and she felt her cheeks heat up. Removing the sweater he wore he pulled on the tunic again and then the sweater once more. She saw the way his arms were still covered in goosebumps from the cold, he had to be miserable and the fact he still could smile like that was amazing. It made her feel better though, he had that way about him. So many said he was ill tempered and grouchy, but deep down McCoy was one of the kindest men she knew and she worried about him sometimes. It was easy to forget how much he sacrificed for them when you seldom saw him. Often busy in sickbay or one of the labs, or more relaxed when he came up to the bridge but if things were wrong he was always one of the first ones to give everything for the rest of them.

"Now get up to the mess for that stew," he urged. "Doctor's order, I want to make sure you have enough nutrition, and don't forget to come back here if there is any problems. Nurse, your shift is almost over, you might as well go with her and I'll just finish up here," he decided.

"Yes doctor," Chapel nodded and Uhura voiced her agreement. That was probably the best she could do at the moment, do exactly what he told her to do because then if nothing else he had the comfort of knowing he had done all he could for them and that they were well enough for the time being. It did not feel like a lot, but it was truly the best she could manage under the circumstances.

Later she would try and think of something more she could offer him and hope she could really make a difference in some way. As the one who always looked out for all of them it was wrong that not more of them seemed to look out for him.

TBC

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