All right, I know it's been forever. Unfortunately, I'm stuck and don't think I'll ever get out of this quicksand. So I'm giving you a quick teaser and will probably have to leave it at that, unless someone else wants to continue on this line of thought for me. If you do, please e-mail me or review.

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Chapter Six

When Kirk awoke, the first thing he saw was McCoy's concerned face. "Hey, Jim. How do you feel?"

"Awful."

"I'm not surprised." McCoy hesitated for a brief moment. "Jim, when were you planning on telling us about this?" His only answer was a shrug.

"So what's wrong with me now?"

McCoy paused. He didn't know exactly what to say. How do you tell your best friend that he's dying and there's nothing you can do to stop it?

"The kironide held off the symptoms, but it actually caused your...condition...in the first place. Jim...too much kironide in someone's blood has some pretty gruesome effects."

"Cut to the chase, Bones."

McCoy decided to say it before he changed his mind. "You have some form of cancer I've never seen before. I don't know how to stop it." [A/N: This is actually a fact I got from the StarFleet Medical Handbook that I borrowed from my science teacher. When overdosed with it, kironide causes an incurable form of cancer.]

"I'm dying, then?" His voice was strangely calm.

McCoy swallowed hard. "Yeah."

"Lovely." Kirk's voice was almost without emotion, but there was a hint of sarcasm in his comment. He was in a dangerous mood, and McCoy didn't want to know what the captain would do if pushed.

Making his excuses, McCoy left the room and went to work on a cure.

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And that's all, folks. Nothing more. I really don't know how to proceed from here, so this is all you're getting. My sincere apologies.

Peace, love, and flourescent tribbles (Come on, you know you want one)

-Ael L. Bolt