Lee greeted him with her usual smile while the nurses around her were trying to have as much space between themselves and the girl's bed as possible. Well, she had clearly freaked his staff out.
"Why aren't you asleep?" he asked her, looking through her vitals. Apparently, she slept for half an hour and then was up again. This wasn't good for fighting her exhaustion.
"I don't want to," was a reply, "Actually, I'm kinda bored."
Oh, no.
"Can you give me something to do? To read, maybe? Please, give me a PADD, you should have some of them that you don't use."
"Sorry, girl," he said, loading a hypo with melatonin, which level in her blood had dropped without any clear reason, "No PADDs. You haven't healed yet."
"But I feel fine," she insisted, frowning, "I'm not going anywhere, I just want something to read."
McCoy met her eyes and saw determination. To hell with that, she wasn't in condition to do anything but rest.
"Give me a PADD, please," she repeated softly.
He raised his chin.
"No way. You should rest."
He didn't like the smile that formed on her lips (kissing them was very, very nice). A mischievous spark blinked in her eyes when she opened her so tempting lips and started to sing.
"What the hell?" he yelled, trying to outvoice her. It appeared to be surprisingly hard.
"I won't give you the damn PADD!" he roared, his infamous intimidating temper showing its presence.
She ignored him and went on. He felt his staff behind his back and knew that there was no way he'd lose this battle.
"If you don't stop, I'll sedate you," he warned.
She ignored him again, finishing one song and starting another one. He filled a hypo with a sedative that she wasn't allergic to and stood in front of her.
"The last chance to stop."
She ignored him.
He was sure that when he approached she would run, as she did with M'Benga, but she didn't even flinch. He pressed the hypo to her neck and hesitated. She sounded rather good, and if he wasn't that furious, he'd enjoyed her performance.
But his nurses watched him, waiting. And he pressed it.
The silence that fell a second after was highly uncomfortable. He looked down at her still form and regretted doing this to her.
"Keep both eyes on her," he ordered and headed for his office. He had a report to write.
The sedative lasted three hours, and then she opened her eyes again.
He was busy, fixing up an ensign from the Engineering who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and got himself knocked out with a huge pipe.
"I want a PADD," he heard right in the middle of closing the ensign's cuts.
"Oh, crap," McCoy murmured under his breath.
"I know you've heard me. I want a PADD, I'm bored."
"No PADDs," he barked without looking at her.
So she started her singing again.
His patience lasted for about ten seconds, and then he stormed to her.
"Is this some kind of a game for you?" he yelled, "This is your fucking health. You are in no condition to do anything energy-consuming and you are not getting the damn PADD, so just stop."
Of course, she didn't stop.
He loaded another hypo and pressed it to her neck. She didn't back off, letting him do it without a fight again. The hypo hissed, and sickbay went silent. He looked at the bewildered ensign and decided that enough is enough.
"Nurse Cardy, finish this," he ordered, "I'll be in my office."
Without paying attention to the obligatory 'Yes, sir,' McCoy strode out of this hell.
He felt exhausted. This girl practically sucked every bit of energy out of him, and he didn't have a chance to sleep properly for almost a day. So he collapsed on his couch and was asleep in a heartbeat.
Surprisingly, it wasn't the girl who interrupted his rest this time. The buzz of his comm. awakened him, and he was informed that Jim had read McCoy's report and wanted to discuss it. He groaned and raised at his feet. The kid better have something important to say.
The bridge was blissfully quiet, even with Jim sitting in his chair and making an occasional joke. No crazy women on the cupboards. No unreasonable requests. And no singing.
"Have I read this correctly?" Jim asked with an amused grin, waving a PADD in front of McCoy's face, "Did this girl really sing to make you do what she wants?"
"Twice," he said grimly, "I sedated her both times."
"Oh God, I might actually like her. Never thought of this way of dealing with you. Will have to keep this in mind."
The doctor grimaced.
"I seriously don't know what to do with her. I can't just knock her out every time she wakes up. First of all, she can develop a new allergy. Second, she can develop tolerance as well, and then God only knows how I'll treat her because this is the only sedative I have that she isn't allergic to."
"Just give her the damn PADD. She'll calm down and everything will be fine again."
McCoy's harsh answer was already on his lips when Jim's comm. chimed.
"Sickbay to bridge," the head nurse's voice was almost muffled with the Federation anthem, "Captain, is Doctor McCoy with you?"
"Yes, he's here," Jim replied, fighting back a laugh, "He'll join you in no time."
McCoy was already running to his department with Jim at his heels. The kid clearly didn't want to miss the show. Damn him.
He entered the hell that previously was his sickbay and assessed the situation.
The devil that had a pretty face and called herself Lee was again on the cupboard. Apparently, the acoustic up here was better, because her voice sounded louder and richer.
"Lee!" McCoy howled, pacing towards the cupboard. He would probably remove this damn thing away from here, "Get your ass down there!"
She obliged in her special manner and jumped right into his arms. The girl stopped her singing only for a couple of seconds while falling and then resumed it again.
He carried her to bed and resisted the urge to throw her to the bed just to make her stop. Or kiss her, which would also do the job.
"Shut up!" he bellowed when she was comfortably resting again.
"Make me," she smirked and went on.
McCoy loaded the third hypo and stood in front of her, not bothering to hide white-hot anger that was tearing him up inside. He looked into her eyes and saw the same determination, but this time there was something else. It wasn't even fear, it was just readiness for everything that he would do to her.
She trusted him. She fucking trusted him and let him do whatever he wished to her. He knew she would allow him this hypo, and then the fourth, and another one too. This would ruin her nervous system, but she would let him do it anyway.
Because he said he won't let her fall.
He couldn't do this. Not to her. Not when she trusted him so blindly and let him, only him, for fuck's sake, touch her.
But it didn't mean he would go down without a fight.
McCoy lowered the hypo.
"Transfer her to the private ward," he ordered.
The hint of smugness disappeared from her eyes, but she kept on singing.
He personally transported her bed to the private room and let the door slid shut. The songs became less loud, but they could still hear them.
"Bones," Jim approached him carefully, "Are you sure that all this," he waved his hand, "performance is less energy-consuming than reading?"
Why was all of this happening to him?
"She'll give up sooner or later," McCoy snapped and entered Lee's room again.
The girl sang some old Earth love song this time. She looked at him happily, but he ignored her and ordered the computer of her biobed to send her vitals to his personal PADD. Then he issued a privacy mode.
"I made this room soundproof," he shouted at her, "Nobody's gonna hear you now."
With that, he made his leave. He was met by half-amused, half-worried Jim and tried not to let his temper get loose on his best friend.
"There. Dealt with it."
"I highly doubt that. The girl is a disaster," the Captain noted, "I do think that you should just give her the damn thing."
"Are you a doctor?"
Jim shrugged.
"As you wish. But please, keep writing these reports. They are so hilarious to read."
McCoy shoved the kid out of sickbay and looked around. His staff was staring at him apprehensively and he realized that he had no choice but to stay here all the time. He was the only one who could just remotely control the girl. The Doctor shook his head and without another word stomped to his office. His shift had just started, so he would be able to keep her in line. In the meantime, he might catch up with some paperwork that was waiting for him to pay attention.
He checked Lee's vitals before he started and was glad to see that the devil was peacefully asleep. Finally.
He sighed and switched his PADD on.
The rest of his shift went smoothly. The girl slept the whole time, obviously exhausted from the havoc she'd been wrecking on his domain.
He looked wearily at M'Benga who came to relieve him. The other Doctor was calm and composed, but McCoy knew better. His personnel were utterly terrified by their patient at this point. Who would have thought that such a tiny creature could cause so much anxiety in people?
"I'll stay," he announced and saw a glimpse of relief in his subordinate's eyes, "Tell me when she starts it again."
He received 'yes, sir,' and went back to his work. The little devil was still out, so he could at least try to enjoy some peace and quiet, even for a short time. But when had he ever had what he wanted? He didn't even reach his desk when his comm. chimed and he was informed that Spock wanted him in the laboratory 'to assist in the experiment that falls exactly within his proficiency.'
He was muttering curses under his breath while walking to the lab, but, in the end, he had to admit that the First Officer was right. The experiment had promising results and might actually evolve in much more sufficient treatment of Klingon fever than they had now. They were studying the data when sickbay called for labs. He knew what happened without even asking.
"What?" he snapped.
"Doctor," he heard M'Benga's voice along with the compulsory singing in the background.
McCoy didn't let him finish.
"On my way."
Oh, she was dead. She was soooo much dead. He was going to kill her personally.
The devil was on this fucking cupboard again. She sat on the edge of it and was dangling her feet, obviously enjoying herself. He'd order to remove this useless piece of furniture the next second the girl jumps down.
"How the hell did she get there again?" he roared, "She had to pass the entire room to reach it!"
"She is fast," M'Benga said apologetically, "We tried to catch her, but she can run really, really fast. I've attempted to get her down myself, but she hid in the far corner so I couldn't reach her."
"Oh for the love of God!" McCoy yelled, and his voice sounded louder than he'd expected because the devil suddenly halted her vocal exercise and turned extremely pale. All anger in him flew out of the window, and he rushed to her just in time to catch his fainted patient before she hit the floor.
That lunatic of a girl exhausted herself completely just to make him submit to her will. Damn her, damn her stubbornness, and damn her weakness.
He carried Lee to her room and then ordered someone to find an unused PADD and leave it on the table beside her biobed.