Chapter 5: Bad News

Summary:

Valerie wakes up... very, very confused. And despite his own heartache, Bones is determined to help her.

McCoy was due to be off shift an hour later, but he remained, setting himself up in the medbay where Valerie lay. There was no telling how long she'd be out, but he wanted to be there when she woke up. He sat by her bed, scrolling through reports he'd been putting off reading. He wasn't entirely focused on them, but he could at least say he'd attempted to read them.

"B-Bones?" She whispered out in a raspy voice.

He jumped up at the sound of her voice, dropping his PADD into the chair. "Val, you're awake!"

"Wh-where am I?"

Bones frowned. "You're in sickbay, darlin'. On the Enterprise. Do you remember what happened?"

She frowned as well, and her eyes darted back and forth. "Sickbay… Enterprise… I was… in a garden… I fell. Where was I?"

A feeling of dread started to overcome Bones. "You were on an away mission to Linax Seven. You repaired their computer system while the Captain met with their diplomats to begin negotiations for a treaty."

"The Captain…" she mumbled, a look of fear suddenly coming over her. "I—I don't remember that. I don't remember any of that. I—oh my God… I—what am I doing here? I mean—" she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with her hands.

"Okay, okay—just slow down sweetheart. We'll figure this out. One thing at a time. Do you remember my name?"

"You—you're Bones? Right? It's a strange name, but it's the one I remember."

"Do you remember my real name?" he asked cautiously.

She squeezed her eyes shut and he saw tears forming at the corners. "N-no," she whined out. "I can't."

"Okay, that's okay. It's Leonard—Leonard McCoy." His heart was breaking, but he knew he had to stay calm for her. He sat on the edge of the bed and gently pulled her hands away from her face. "We'll figure this out together."

"To-together…" she looked down where he held her hands. "Are we—together?"

He blushed. "No… no, we're just—we're just friends."

"Oh. You called me darling, and sweetheart, and—"

"It's—I'm from the south, it's just something we do." He tried to explain—he did often use the terms, but rarely anymore, and in this instance, for him at least, it meant more than just a colloquialism. But she didn't need more information to process right now about them.

"Oh," she seemed almost disappointed. "Okay."

He heard the disappointment in her voice and though it felt so wrong to be happy she'd assumed they were in a relationship and was disappoitned they weren't, he couldn't help but derive some sense of happiness for that at least. But he shook that off, determined not to muddy the waters with his personal feelings. He squeezed her hands. "But we're good friends. And I'm going to help you through this—not just because I'm your doctor. Because I'm your friend and I'm not going to let you go through this alone, you hear me?"

She gave a weak smile. "Okay. Thank you."

"I think it's safe to say you're experiencing some amnesia, which isn't altogether too surprising with the injury to your head. We'll take this one step at a time and I'm sure before long you'll remember what a pain in your butt I really am."

She snort-laughed and a shot of hope went through his heart. He loved making her do that, it was her first reaction ever to him, back on that cadet transport, and occasionally he'd say something to make her have such a sudden feeling of humor or joy that she'd make the same response.

"Do you remember your own name?"

She considered a moment, then spoke slowly. "Valerie Renee Maynard."

He smiled. "Very good. Do you remember how we met?"

She frowned as she tried to think harder. "We met…" she tilted her head to the side. "I—I'm not sure. Was it—school?"

"Sort of. Do you remember what Starfleet is?"

"Of course."

"Do you remember going to Starfleet Academy?"

She frowned. "I remember leaving home, and—" She stopped, eyes darting back and forth before looking back up at him helplessly. "What have I forgotten about my life? Did I go to Starfleet Academy? Am I on a ship? What do I do here? How do I have a vague recollection of who you are, your nickname—but not your real name? How do I remember some little bits and pieces but not the whole?"

"Amnesia is a strange thing, darlin'. We'll figure this out." He sighed. He had to let Jim know what was going on. "For now, I need to go let the Captain know about your condition. He's a good friend of both of ours. He'll want to know you're awake. I'll be back in just a few minutes."

He started to walk out and she called out to him. "Wait! You—please don't leave me alone! I don't know where I am, I don't hardly know who I am. And I don't know—anyone."

"Okay, okay, just calm down, sweetheart." He frowned a moment, then went over to a wall display and tapped a few buttons. "McCoy to Kirk. I need you down in sickbay immediately."

"On my way, Bones."

A few minutes later Nurse Greyson came in and Bones introduced her to Valerie—again. Thankfully Greyson had some of the best bedside manners of anyone in Sickbay and was very friendly and a few minutes of conversation was all that was needed for Valerie to relax around her. It was enough for him to be able to slip out when he heard the main doors of sickbay open and shut. He stepped into the main area just as Jim was looking around for him.

"Bones, what's up?"

"She's awake."

"She is? That's wonderful!"

"Not so wonderful," Bones said with a frown and motioned Jim towards his office. They walked in and the door slid shut behind them.

"I don't understand, Bones. She's awake, that's great."

"I told you there were any number of possible complications from the head trauma she received in the fall. Well, she's experiencing one of them."

"What is it?"

"Amnesia."

"Oh god, Bones—what has she forgotten?"

"Pretty much everything about the past six years. She remembers leaving home, but doesn't remember going to Academy, nothing about the Enterprise. At least not that she can grasp at right now. Strangely enough, she remembered that I'm called 'Bones' but couldn't remember my real name. Amnesia is a funny, tricky thing. There are things we can try to help her memories come back, but they may or may not work."

"Well we have to try anything—everything. Whatever we can do—to help her."

Bones frowned and his shoulders sagged. "I don't know what to do Jim. It's breakin' my heart to see her like this."

Jim came over, planted his hands on the desk, and leaned over towards his best friend. "What you are going to do is help her get through this, Bones. Not only because it's your job, but because you care about her and it's what you do for someone you care about."

"Damn it man, I know that. I just mean—with the way things were developing between us, and now this. I want to help her however I can—it's just so hard when she looks at me like she doesn't really know me anymore."

"She'll get her memories back, Bones." Jim said, putting a confident hand on his shoulder and squeezing. "We'll do whatever we have to to make sure of it."

Bones sighed. "Thanks, Jim. Now—would you like to see her?"

"Of course, perhaps seeing my charming handsome face will bring back her memories."

'Jim—" Bones said in a warning tone.

"Oh, come on Bones, you know I'm just teasing. Of course I want to see her, she's come to be my friend, too."

They walked into the private room where Nurse Greyson still stood by Valerie's bed. The bed had been moved into a position so that she was sitting up and she smiled when Bones came back in the room, causing his heart to thump hard. When Jim came in behind him, her head cocked to the side as she worked to recall memories and she spoke up. "You—you are…" She scowled as she thought a moment. "Kirk."

Jim smiled. "That's right! I am! You remember me?"

She frowned again. "Just a name—like Bones. And sort of a feeling going along with it."

"I hope it's a good feeling."

"Is Kirk your real name? Or a nickname like Bones?"

"No, Kirk is my name—my last name." He approached her bedside and smiled. "It's Captain James T. Kirk, of the Enterprise. Around here we're often called by our rank and last name—but my friends call me Jim—and when off duty, that includes you."

"Thank you… Jim. That—that is what I sensed—that you were a friend. But I didn't want to presume that my feeling was right since right now I don't know up from down."

"Sounds like you can still count on your gut instincts, Val. You've always had good ones, and they've been a great asset to our crew more than a few times. What about Bones here—what's your gut instict on him?"

She turned to look at Bones, and he couldn't deny that he desperately wanted to know. "Friendship… but… different… trust… deep trust." She shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure how to explain it.

"That's alright. Still sounds like you're on the money. Bones here is going to make sure you're back in tip top shape and I'm sure between the two of you you'll find a way to regain your memories. If you need anything, just let me know, okay, Val?"

She smiled and nodded. "Thank you… Jim."