Title: Asclepius Revisited

Author: Still Waters

Fandom: Star Trek TOS

Disclaimer: Not mine. Just playing, with love and respect to those who brought these characters to life.

Summary: 76 McCoy episodes. 76 McCoy-centric reflections, codas, and missing scenes.

Notes: "The Conscience of the King." I must admit, after the first viewing I had no idea what I was going to write about. I couldn't stand Kirk's scenes with Lenore, and felt that McCoy's character was kind of "off" for much of the episode. Finally, it was the scene where Spock insisted that Riley must survive that struck me. It bothered me that Spock basically told McCoy to save Riley because Kirk would be next on the list. Although Spock probably didn't meant it that way, and he did show concern for Riley when Kirk demoted him without explanation, it just felt like Riley's condition was only there to lead us back to Kirk's situation. So, I began to wonder about Riley and the resolution of his own traumatic experience – how he listened to his commanding officer and handed over the phaser, but was never heard from again in the episode. I could see McCoy feeling guilty about logging his report so that Riley overheard that Karidian could be Kodos (clumsily written – makes McCoy look like an idiot, but was obviously used to further the plot). And I could see Spock, having gone to McCoy with his research and concerns during the episode, being the catalyst here for revealing how McCoy treated Riley. This takes place before the final tag on the Bridge. Nurse Mara is an original character from my other stories. McCoy's toast at the end is paraphrased from Kirk's dialogue in the episode. I hope I did the characters credit. Thank you for your continued support, and thank you to the reviewers I am unable to personally respond to via private message. I truly appreciate you reading!

11.

"Spock to McCoy."

Christine glanced up from Lenore Karidian's monitor and reached for the comm. "Sickbay, this is Chapel."

A pause. "Nurse Chapel," Spock acknowledged, audibly surprised to hear her voice. "Is Dr. McCoy unavailable?"

"He's in a procedure and asked not to be disturbed." She could almost hear Spock's eyebrow rise – and understandably. McCoy had been known to answer comms from the OR while on his fifteenth straight hour of trauma surgery.

"I see," Spock intoned, clearly working through every possible permutation of her words. "In that case, would you please ask Lt. Riley to report to the Captain's quarters?"

"I'll send him as soon as Dr. McCoy is finished with him," Christine promised.

Another pause. "Has the Lieutenant's health declined? It was my understanding that he was medically cleared prior to the Captain's order that he remain in sickbay."

Christine sighed, cursing herself for that choice of wording. She would have come to the same conclusion. "Riley is fine, Mr. Spock," she assured him, smiling softly at Spock's understated concern.

A breath. "Then I do not understand….."

Christine heard Mara chuckle from outside the door as Christine rolled her eyes, took a breath of her own, and interrupted the ship's second in command as respectfully as she could. "Mr. Spock, I will send the Lieutenant to the Captain's quarters when Dr. McCoy releases him. If you require any further information, I would be happy to discuss it with you in sickbay at your convenience."

Mara bit her lip, eyes dancing as she leaned around the doorframe.

"Of course. Thank you, nurse," Spock signed off.

Christine blew out a breath.

Mara grinned. "What's the matter? Didn't want to broadcast Riley's medical status and McCoy's treatment plan to the whole Bridge?" she teased.

Christine shook her head ruefully. "I know there are no secrets on a starship, but really, you'd think a Vulcan would at least consider the logic of confidentiality."

"You realize he's probably on his way down here right now," Mara pointed out.

"Probably? Try definitely," Christine scoffed, glancing up at the chronometer. "You have a few minutes to monitor Miss Karidian for me when he gets here?"

"Yeah," Mara nodded. "She's basically just a one-to-one now, right? Vitals are stable, she's handling the sedative well?"

"Yes on all accounts," Christine confirmed.

"No problem. If any injuries show up while you're running interference, I'll just have one of the orderlies take over," Mara said.

"Thanks, Mar," Christine smiled.

The sickbay doors opened.

"Well, that's my cue," Mara grinned, moving into the room to take Christine's place.

Christine stood up with a good-natured sigh and headed for the main sickbay.

Spock paused several steps from the doors at Christine's arrival. "Nurse Chapel," he greeted, tilting his head slightly to the right.

"Mr. Spock," Christine nodded in response, gesturing toward the nurse's desk. She gratefully took a seat as Spock, predictably, chose to remain standing.

"How is Miss Karidian?" Spock began, rocking slightly on his heels, hands in a loose backward clasp, trying not to pace as his mind moved through the upcoming conversation. Christine couldn't help but notice the restraint – she had always found his frequent tendency to pace while thinking to be one of his most human traits.

"Resting comfortably," Christine gave the standard report. "Dr. McCoy completed the initial evaluation and he's already spoken to the Benecia clinic's psychiatrist. She'll be transferred to a larger facility from there."

"Then he is overseeing Karidian's autopsy," Spock ascertained.

"Actually, Dr. McCoy is performing the autopsy himself," Christine corrected.

Spock's eyebrows shot up briefly before furrowing in analysis. "I thought Dr. Sanchez handled the majority of the autopsy cases, particularly those of non-crew members," he recalled.

"Usually, he does," Christine confirmed, "but Dr. McCoy wanted to do this one."

"So then Lt. Riley is also attending the autopsy," Spock reasoned from their earlier conversation.

"Right," she nodded.

Spock shook his head. "I do not understand. The Lieutenant has no medical training. He is not suited to assist such procedures."

"Maybe Dr. McCoy didn't need an assistant," Christine offered softly, watching Spock's face for understanding.

Instead, he looked almost…..frustrated. "Then the Lieutenant's presence is highly illogical," Spock insisted. "Such action serves no practical purpose. It is not medically necessary…."

"If it's all the same to you, Mr. Spock, I'll be the one to determine what's logical and medically necessary in my sickbay," McCoy's voice interrupted as he and Riley came down the back hall.

Spock inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Doctor, the Captain requests the Lieutenant's presence in his quarters if he is still eligible for discharge."

McCoy felt the young man tense. "Easy, Riley," he murmured. McCoy looked back to Spock, eyes narrowed in what Christine recognized as his 'someone better not be fixin' to mess with my patient' glare. "Might we be safe in assuming that this meeting will involve Riley's reinstatement to the Bridge?" he asked pointedly.

"I cannot speak for the Captain's intentions – he simply requested that I inform Lt. Riley of the meeting. However," Spock's eyes twinkled, finding McCoy's with comfortable camaraderie, "the Captain was highly impressed with the Lieutenant's professionalism in the face of personal crisis today and wishes to extend his gratitude and offer….insight….into the Lieutenant's altered assignment."

"What he means, is that the Captain's gonna apologize," McCoy leaned over and stage-whispered to Riley.

"I did not say that, Doctor," Spock corrected.

"Well, I did," McCoy bounced lightly on his toes, sharing a grin with Riley.

Riley smiled, the tension melting. "Should I go now, Mr. Spock?" he asked.

With Spock's nod, Riley turned back to McCoy. "Thanks, Doc," he said sincerely. "And I'm sorry again, I didn't…."

McCoy held up a hand. "What did I tell you about apologizing?" he insisted. He sighed heavily. "Now, I might not agree with how the Captain did it, but he meant well by what he did. It was my own fault for not logging the report in my office. While you needed to know, that wasn't the way it should have happened. For that, I'm sorry."

Riley froze, stunned at McCoy's words. But something in McCoy's eyes finally made him dip his head, accepting the apology.

McCoy smiled sadly. "Good," he nodded. The sadness faded as he defaulted back to passionate compassion. "Now, remember what we talked about. You know where to find me."

"Yes sir. Thank you." Riley held McCoy's gaze for several seconds, a world of unspoken emotion, before looking away shyly.

"And Mara and I know where to find you," Christine threatened under sparkling eyes, "if you don't follow those instructions."

"Yes ma'am!" Riley had the good sense to look nervous as he snapped to attention.

Christine laughed. "Come on, Riley, I'll walk you out," she smiled, catching McCoy's grateful eyes briefly, before leading the young man to the main doors.

McCoy watched, bemused, as Spock's gaze followed the officers until they were gone, before turning purposefully back to McCoy.

"What's on your mind Spock?" McCoy asked.

"Relieving Dr. Sanchez of his primary function as ship's medical examiner and performing Karidian's autopsy with the assistance of non-medical personnel is highly irregular," Spock immediately launched into his observation.

"Well, at least it wasn't 'illogical,'" McCoy muttered, ignoring Spock's look before moving on. "First of all, I didn't need an assistant. Karidian's death was witnessed – we knew a phaser blast killed him, so the autopsy was really just protocol to transfer the body off-ship. Any other findings would be purely incidental. Secondly, Sanchez is an excellent medical examiner, but he's just not comfortable with people observing his procedures. I wanted Riley to be there, so I offered to do the autopsy myself. Made sense all around."

"I still do not - " Spock started.

"You said it yourself, Spock – there never was a positive ID on Kodos' body on Tarsus IV. Twenty years ago, Riley saw his parents' murderer and was told that a charred body that was most likely Kodos meant he should put it all to rest. He sees that same face today, and what? He's just supposed to take our word for it that the man is dead? In a sort of macabre way, Jim was lucky. He saw Kodos' death – saw the phaser hit, checked the body. Riley had already been sent back to me at that point, and physiologically, sure, he was still fine, but psychologically? The boy was a mess. He needed to see Kodos' body just as much as Jim did, to get that closure. I offered Riley a chance to observe the autopsy and he stayed for the whole thing – watched as every body system was analyzed and confirmed nonfunctioning. Way I figure, that's a hell of a lot more effective than throwing sleeping pills and psych consults at the boy. Not to say he won't need those too, but they'll be a lot more useful now that he's had physical confirmation."

Spock was silent for a moment. "Indeed," his eyes radiated respect. "An irregular, yet….. inspired decision."

"Well, we're an irregular crew leading an irregular life," McCoy shrugged. "What kind of physician would I be to ignore that?"

"You would not be McCoy," Spock said simply.

McCoy flushed at the sincerity in Spock's eyes and ducked his own under the rare praise. "You know," he cleared his throat, "I'm moving the body down to the morgue until we get to Benecia, but the same offer stands for Jim, if you think it'd help."

"I believe, as you stated, that the Captain had his closure," Spock said, "however, your assessment as Chief Medical Officer would be most accurate."

"I don't know," McCoy smiled, "you've been pretty accurate where Jim's concerned since this whole thing started."

It was Spock's turn to look uncomfortable.

"Logic, intuition, persistence, whatever you want to call it….you really pulled Jim through this – saw stuff I couldn't. So, thanks for helpin' me do my job."

"I didn't - "

"You focused on Jim so I could focus on Riley," McCoy insisted. He saw Spock's reluctance and sighed. "Fine – if you won't accept my thanks, then you'll at least accept a drink."

Spock sighed. "Doctor, we have already been through this…."

McCoy fixed him with a look. "Mr. Spock, I'm an old, country doctah," he drawled. "If you think I got through rural practice without bein' able to fix a decent cup of tea….."

Spock's face lightened. "Tea would be most appreciated."

McCoy grinned. "Good, follow me."

Fifteen minutes later, settled in his office, McCoy raised his teacup. "To all those affected by Tarsus IV," he offered the toast. "May both the dead, and the living, rest easier."

"And may history cease to repeat such tragedy," Spock added.

They both knew it wouldn't happen.

But Spock had still said it.

So McCoy lifted the teacup to his lips in soft solidarity.

"Amen."