Death (And All His Friends)

McCoy slammed his hand on the table, making the other medical professionals around him jump. The conference had been dragging on, and dinner was served late, so everyone was already getting a little bit tipsy.

And when certain doctors get a certain amount of alcohol in their system, they tend to bring up certain things.

"We need to talk about death," McCoy announced.

Those who had the fortune (or misfortune) of sitting at this particular table with Dr. McCoy collectively raised their eyebrows.

"Doctor McCoy," Dr. Phineas Garinski began, clearing his throat. He'd been a long-time professor in the medical branch of the Academy, although McCoy had never had him. "Dealing with death is constantly discussed… every medical intern from the beginning has to learn to cope with the loss of-"

"I don't mean permanently," McCoy interrupted. "We need to talk about the cases when the patients don't stay dead!"

Askance stares greeted McCoy from everyone within earshot… except from Dr. Malone of the USS Fontana, who was nodding his head sagely.

"Doctor," Garinski said, still in shock. "Surely you jest."

"No, I don't!" McCoy stated. He took another swig of his drink before continuing. "Do you know how many cases I've had of crewmen or civilians dying and then getting resurrected immediately afterwards? Do you know how many alien entities can play with life like that?"

"Then perhaps they weren't actually dead to begin with," Dr. Anissa Nduke, stationed planet-side, hedged.

"Nope," Dr. Malone broke in. "My ship encountered an intelligent slime mold a while back and upon initial contact it murdered an engineer. Four days later, after first contact was finally established, it brought her back to life as an apology."

McCoy nodded vigorously. "Exactly! My ship's Chief Engineer was struck down by a mutated space probe before my very eyes… and the darn thing 'repaired' him!" He frowned as another memory struck him. "Come to think, when that same engineer was involved in a murder investigation, the culprit dropped dead in our briefing room, and then suddenly reanimated a couple hours later."

"This is all very hard to take in-" Garinski began.

"We had a geologist beam back dead another time," Malone interrupted. "No pulse, no brain activity… just as we were about to pull the sheet over her she opened her eyes and stood up. No idea what happened."

"Rare instances," Nduke dismissed.

"Except it happens more often than you think," McCoy pointed at her. "That's why we need to talk about it! Our navigator was shot dead on a planet once, then we found him back on the ship fit as a fiddle." McCoy suddenly jerked in his seat and patted over his chest frantically with his hand. "Hell, it's even happened to me!"

"It's happened to my captain a couple of times," Malone observed.

"Speaking of which…" McCoy finally spotted Kirk slinking back from the restroom, taking the longest, slowest route possible. "Jim! Back me up here!"

Unlike the doctors, the captain had not had anything to drink yet because he had been doing his best to escape the conference through a series of bathroom breaks. He should've never let McCoy win that fight about dragging him along.

"What are you talking about?" he asked once he reached their table.

McCoy poked him. "How many times have you died?"

Both of Kirk's eyebrows shot up. "Come again?"

"We're discussing impromptu resurrection. Now, how many times have you actually died? –And I don't mean like the situation with the Romulans… or the incident on Vulcan…" McCoy frowned. "Why do all the occasions I've faked your death involve pointed ears?"

"Does Sargon count?" Kirk offered.

McCoy's eyes widened and he pointed at Kirk, gesturing for the other doctors to see and believe. "You hear that? This man was poisoned, died, and now here he is!" His excitement dropped and he became contemplative. "Of course, your mind wasn't even in your body when it died, so that may actually be more of a gray area."

"Doctors McCoy, Malone," Garinski addressed firmly. "As… interesting as this conversation has been, we will not discuss it here. We are all drinking, not in our right minds, and likely misremembering events."

McCoy moved forward in his chair to engage but Kirk planted a warning hand on his shoulder. The doctor glanced at him, then slouched back in his seat and gave Garinski a 'bitch, please' glare.

"Trust me," he said. "I know when a man is dead."