Stranded

Chapter 4

"We are indeed drifting into the arena of the unwell."

Bruce Robinson

Nyota inserted the cartridge and pressed it straight into the carotid artery. She looked at Leonard worriedly; his bedroom was freezing, "Len, it's too cold in this room. I'm going to light the fire in the living room and we're going to get you warm and comfortable on the sofa. I'll fix you some hot tea to warm you up; get you warm inside and out. Wait right here until I get the fire going."

Leonard looked at her for a moment, his blue eyes fever bright, then nodded. Uhura hurried to light the fire, then brought one of her own quilts to put on the sofa. The small living room began to warm up quickly.

She went back to the bedroom. "Come on, Len. Let's get you settled in the living room." She helped him sit up, draped a quilt over him, put his slippers on his feet, grabbed his pillow, put the med bag over her shoulder, and helped him stand. She could feel his pajamas were wet with sweat, and once he was settled in the sofa she would change them for some warm dry ones and put his robe on over them. Her strong arm supported his slight frame as they shuffled their way into the living room. Uhura was alarmed to hear him panting softly as she sat him down. She pulled his slippers off, lifted his legs and pushed him gently back on the pillow she'd placed against the arm of the sofa. She pulled the quilt off his shoulders and tucked it in around him. Now to change his pajamas, at least the top because she doubted she could navigate Len's body enough to get the bottoms off and put on the fresh ones on. She'd wait on that until his fever went down.

Leonard was very still, his eyes closed, breathing heavily. She'd brew more hot tea and then begin to wipe him down with a cool cloth. That would help bring the fever down.

She came back in a few minutes with the mug of tea and a cool compress. Leonard's eyes were open now.

"Nyota, darlin'" he whispered. "I'm so sorry to be so much trouble."

"Nonsense, Len. Haven't you always taken care of all of us on the ship at one time or another? You're no trouble at all, believe me." She drew the cool compress over his hot face and Leonard sighed.

"Feels good," he whispered. "Think fever's goin' down some."

"Good. Can you sip some of this tea? You've sweated a lot; don't want you to get dehydrated."

Leonard nodded. She brought the teacup close and Leonard brought both hands up to clasp the cup and sipped. He drank slowly and carefully until it was all gone.

"Good, that's good, Len. Now we're going to get you out of that pajama shirt, it's soaking wet and you'll get chilled if you leave it on. Here," she handed him the cool compress. "Keep this on your forehead while I get your fresh pajamas and your flannel robe."

She hurried back to the bedroom, got his second set of pajamas and the warm robe. It was freezing cold in the room. In the morning she'd call Doranna to tell her Len was sick and find out if there was a portable heater they could borrow or buy. Leonard was dutifully wiping the cool compress across his face. The hectic flush on his cheeks was receding; his temperature was going down.

"Let's take your temperature again." Uhura ran the tricorder over him again. "It's 38.0 C (100.4 F), much better. Now, we're going to get you out of those wet pajamas and get another cup of tea down you. I've brought your other pajamas. Think you can sit up?"

"I think so." With effort, and with Nyota's help, Leonard sat up and leaned heavily against the sofa. "Fever really took it outta' me," he murmured.

"I can see that," Nyota said calmly. Not for worlds would she let Len see how worried she was. She unbuttoned his pajama shirt and pulled it off quickly, then put the fresh one on him and put the robe on him as well. Leonard was very thin, he'd always been thin, but it meant he had very little bodily reserves. The wet shirt and pants she'd put in the fresher right away, they might be needed if Len's fever went up again. "Can you get your pajama pants off by yourself and put these clean ones on?"

"I think so. I'll go slow, and for sure I ain't lettin' you do it, Nyota," Leonard answered firmly.

Nyota snorted. "Okay, Mr. Modesty. I'll go fix your tea while you do that. I'm putting honey in it this time, it'll give you a little energy...I hope."

In the kitchen, she went about her task quickly and efficiently, her worry escalating. Len was pretty sick she thought, and she needed some advice. At the beginning of Alpha shift, she'd comm Jim to tell him about Leonard. Maybe Geoffrey M'Benga and Christine could advise her. She'd also call Doranna about the heater and ask her to spread the news that Dr. McCoy was ill and wouldn't be able to see patients for the next few days. One step at a time, she told herself, willing her tired brain not to panic.

She carried the tea back to Leonard who was now settled back in the sofa with the quilts over him. The wet pajamas were on the floor.

"Here, Len. Drink it all up. I'm going to put your wet pajamas in the fresher to wash and dry them. We might need them later."

"I want you to wash your hands real well, Ny, do it every time you touch me; best to take precautions. Too late for a mask, but hand washing is a must. Don't know what I have, but it ain't pleasant. I'll run the medical scanner on me in a bit and see if it spits out a diagnosis. Might not, if it's an unknown virus, but we'll try. I'm feeling a bit better; why don't you go to bed, try and get some sleep?"

Nyota snorted. "Not a chance! I'm not leaving you alone in here, but I'll go wash my hands. Now finish that tea. In another hour I'll fix you another cup. I'll just sit in the big chair and dose, but I'm setting my comm to ping in one hour."

"Alright, Ny. I know there's no changin' your mind. But bring your quilt and stay warm. Don't want you getting chilled. Might need IV fluids if my fever, continues," Leonard told her, clinically. "But I can set up the IV drip on myself if need be."

"And you can teach me how," Nyota said, thinking of possible worse case scenarios.

"Now that my fever has gone down, let's see if the medical scanner will tell us what I've got." She handed him the bag and he pulled out the diagnostic medical scanner. He ran it over his head, his chest, his stomach, his lower body, and they waited while it ran through thousands of possible diagnostic symptoms stored in the Enterprise medical data base about illness and diseases from all Federation worlds. The scanner would read symptoms, compare them with similar ones in the data base, and list the diseases that best matched the symptoms. It automatically listed them in order from common to rare, and in this case only in humanoids. It also indicated how the disease could be contracted. New medical data was routinely uploaded into all ships' libraries, Sickbay diagnostic instruments, and bio beds every week by Starfleet Medical who collected it from all Federation worlds. Of course the Enterprise bio beds' diagnostics were much faster, but the medical scanner was invaluable on away missions or just off ship. Leonard was never without his in his field bag.

The scanner whirred softly than pinged.

Leonard peered at the medical scanner, sighed, shook it gently and peered at it again.

"What does it say, Len?"

"It lists a bunch of different illness; it could be, flu, bacterial and viral respiratory infections, reactions to insect bites, mild poisons, or severe allergy to airborne particles, none of which are specific enough. I'll have to refine the search parameters and use the scanner again in a while. I don't like this. I cain't treat what I have until we know what it is." Leonard's voice was weak and a little hoarse. "I think we can rule out allergy and mild poisons, so I'll delete those possibilities. I don't think I've been bitten by anythin'. Nothin' itches or feels irritated. Have you seen any bites on me, Ny, on my back or neck maybe?"

"Not on your face, chest, back, or arms, Len. I would have noticed. Do you want me to check your legs?"

Leonard looked at her and flushed a little. Then nodded. He was a doctor, damn it, and there was no reason to feel embarrassed. Nyota looked calm and serene, not in the least hesitant.

She sat on the edge of the sofa, uncovered his legs, put one on her lap and pulled up the pajama pant leg up to his briefs. Keeping her face well down, her lips twitched. Len's leg, always covered by his black uniform pants and boots, was skinny and hairy. She checked the leg and foot, front and back, very carefully, tucked it back under the blanket, then checked the other one.

"No sign of a bite. I'll go freshen the cool compress; you go ahead and check your stomach and groin area and your butt if you can." Nyota got up, took the face cloth, went to wet it again with cool water and wrung it out.

When she came back Len was panting softly, his face pale, the effort to check his lower body had tired him. "No insect or other bites," he said. "And I contorted myself to look at my behind, too, so don't you even think of checkin'," he glared at her. "So I'll eliminate bites and that only leaves bacterial or viral infections. I'm doubtful it's human, the scanner would have identified it right away, and I've had every human flu vaccine known to man, also Vulcan, Andorian, Betazed, and most other Federation flu vaccines. Tellerites and Klingons don't get flu; no self respectin' flu bug would dare even try to infect those two species. You've gotten those vaccines too, Ny, all the crew has." He put his head back against the sofa. "I'll look for more possibilities in a little while," he added hoarsely.

"Okay, that enough talking, Len. Finish the tea and try to sleep. When you wake up you can do another search. I'll be right here if you need me."

Unusually docile, which truth be told, alarmed Nyota even more, he nodded, closed his eyes and was instantly asleep. The cold compress dropped from his hand. Nyota sighed as she picked it up. Fluids, rest, warmth, the antipyretic, and pain medication, that was about all she could do for Len right now. She checked the fire and added more fuel, settled in the big chair with her other quilt and got out her padd.

To distract herself from her worry she made her list; first thing in the morning she had to do several things right away. First fix a nourishing breakfast for Len, nutrition she decided had to be optimum, poached eggs, more tea, and soft toast with butter, if his stomach could handle food, she thought worriedly. She'd call Doranna to get them a heater, two if possible. She also had to let Killeen know they wouldn't be going to dinner since they didn't know if Len was contagious and besides that he felt terrible. She'd also ask both if they were familiar with Leonard's flu symptoms. Maybe it was a simple local flu variant. Yeah, right, she thought to herself. Nothing was ever that simple with the Enterprise and her crew. If they didn't recognize Len's symptoms, then she was going to take the bull by the horns and comm the ship so she could speak with Dr. M'Benga.

Of course first she had to speak with Jim, and she didn't look forward to that. He was going to have a hissy fit about Len. He was nothing if not protective about the doctor. Maybe that would bring the Enterprise back sooner, she thought. She had a sudden vivid vision of Jim, Spock, and Scotty in their EV suits out in space pushing the ship to make it go faster. She giggled to herself. Okay, she had to get some rest; she was getting giddy from worry and tiredness.

She glanced over and saw that Len was deeply asleep and he seemed to be resting comfortably. The fire was burning brightly, merrily, and the room was warm enough. She set her comm to wake her in 60 minutes to check on Len's temperature and make sure the fire didn't go out, settled herself back in the big chair, closed her eyes and slept.

The comm buzzed Uhura awake. She glanced at it and saw it was 4:00 am. As always, she woke completely alert. Being an officer on the Enterprise trained a person to react quickly, no matter if you were awake, asleep, on duty or off. She got up from the chair to check on Leonard. He was still asleep, but she could tell his temperature was going up again, his cheeks were slightly flushed, and when she placed her hand lightly on his forehead it was warm. She sighed. Should she wake him up? She didn't want his fever to get out of hand again, but he needed to rest too. She'd let him sleep another 30 minutes, then wake him, she decided. She might as well get dressed and get ready for the day. There would be no more sleep for her of that she was sure.

She stretched her cramped body, folded the quilt and placed it on the chair in case Len would need it, went through the bathroom to wash her hands, then went to her bedroom. She wouldn't chance taking a shower, she decided, fearful Len might need her. She gave herself a quick sketchy all over wash with a hot, damp washcloth, drying herself hurriedly in the cold. She combed her hair, brushed her teeth, then looked at herself critically in the mirror...she looked a bit tired, but not too bad. The bathroom and bedroom were both cold so she dressed quickly in her shift and tunic and threw a thick shawl around her shoulders. She shivered; this house definitely needed the additional heaters. She and Len hadn't thought to find out what the seasonal weather was like here, thinking they wouldn't be here for long.

She went back to the living room and sat on the edge of the sofa. "Len," she shook him gently. "Wake up. You need to wake up." She shook him again gently and he opened his eyes looking at blearily for a minute.

"I'm awake, darlin'. What time's it?"

"It's 4:30 am." She smiled down at him. "We need to take your temperature and get some fluids in you and then some nourishing food. It'll be time for your antipyretic soon, your temp is climbing again."

"I can feel it," Len murmured. "Nyota darlin', if you could help me up, I'd appreciate it, 'cause I really need to use the facilities, all that tea I drank."

"If you're getting up, I'm going with you, Len," she said ignoring his look of outrage. "I'll walk you to the bathroom and wait just outside the door. You're very weak, and if you fall or faint I won't know it." She grabbed the quilt and put it around him.

Leonard sighed. Unfortunately she was right, so he let Nyota help him stand up. He swayed dangerously, and if she hadn't been holding on to him, he would have fallen forward on his face. To her credit, Nyota didn't say a word as they shuffled slowly to the bathroom. Leonard let go of Nyota's arm and closed the bathroom door firmly behind him.