Title: Slainte Mhath
Author: Evenstar656
Summary: He stopped for a while at the access hatch to the warp core and reminisced about how it seemed so long ago that he was closing Jim's eyes and pulling his still warm body from the reactor room. Jim was characteristically reckless and injury prone but it was rare that he had to get so involved.
Spoilers: Post Star Trek Into Darkness, Post Star Trek Beyond, general AOS
Disclaimer: The Star Trek franchise and its characters are property of Paramount.
Author's Notes: Just a bit of shameless h/c. As always, although I am a doctor I'm not that kind so I happily practice with my fictional degree. It would probably be revoked after this one. Slight McKirk.
Warnings: Graphic description of injuries and procedures.
I apologize for any mistakes, this was un-beta'd
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"Chapel to Scott"
Scotty heard the comm panel on the other side of the bulkhead vibrate in the maintenance shaft. It was too difficult to extricate himself from the jumble of piping he was in and they would have to try again later.
"Chapel to Scott"
"Ach, what does that she devil want now?" the engineer grabbed his tool kit and contorted himself to exit the pipe maze.
"Chapel to Scott"
"I'm comin' lassie, jist haud on," he grumbled after banging his kneecap into a low pipe elbow.
"Mister Scott?" a voice called out from the opening in the bulkhead.
"In here," he tossed his tool kit out of the opening and hauled himself out into the bay.
A junior engineer was waiting for him with a stern look on his face, "Sickbay is asking for you, sir."
Scotty pushed himself to his feet, "I heard but I couldnae get to the panel in time. What does the lass want?"
"Nurse Chapel didn't say other than to come at once and bring cutting tools," the message was frantically delivered.
"Cuttin' tools?" Scotty was dumbfounded.
"That's what she said, sir."
Scotty gave his tool kit to the young officer, "Put those back where they belong would ye?"
"Aye sir," the officer was already moving out of his irritated boss's path.
Scotty wiped his hands on his shirt and headed for the turbolift. Still wondering what was going on, he punched the control screen to deliver him to sickbay's deck. Once there the doors whooshed open as expected and the atmosphere inside sickbay didn't seem unusual. He looked around for the head nurse but couldn't find her.
"Chapel called," he grabbed the nearest person in white.
"She's in the OR with McCoy," he was pointed around the left back corner to the polarized windows.
He walked over to the comm panel next to the sealed door, "Scott here."
There wasn't any rustling coming from inside the room but a door further down the hallway opened and the head nurse came out pulling off a surgical gown.
"Mister Scott," she nodded for him to come to her.
"Nurse Chapel?" the chief engineer was even more confused.
"I told you to bring tools." Chapel led him into the scrub room, "In here."
"Now I cannae ken which ones to bring without knowing what you need cuttin'."
The window on that side had not been obscured and he could see into the occupied OR. If he had eaten lunch it would've been splattered over the deck plating.
"Hollllyyyy shit," the engineer was trying to process the image before him.
Sitting shoeless and shirtless on the edge of the operating table was his captain with his arms resting on a rolling cart and the jaws of some kind of large animal trap clamped around his right side with the spikes penetrating to an unknown depth on both his front and back. He guessed the trap was for some kind of enormous beast; it had clamped the human from his lower chest to hip. It surprised him that the young man was alert and talking to the other gowned figures in the room despite little rivulets of blood trickling down into the medical sheet covering his lower half.
"So, uh, I…" he stammered.
"Yeah, this is why we needed you. Let's get you scrubbed up so you can see what you need."
"I haveta go in there?"
"Doctor McCoy doesn't want to put him under until there's a plan and he knows how long to expect," Chapel ignited his question while she guided him to the sterilizers.
Scotty couldn't help but stare through the window as he was taken through the scrub process. He was at the opening door to the OR gowned, gloved, and masked before he could process what the nurse had done to him.
"Heyyyyy, Scottyyyy," slurred the man on the table.
Scotty inched closer and could see the glint of IV tubing feeding into one of his arms as he perched over the cart, no doubt it was feeding him enough pain meds to not care about what was happening to him.
"There's a really good story," Jim's blue eyes were glassy but radiant in the room's bright lights.
"Which you can tell later," the gowned and masked figure that belonged to Doctor McCoy growled.
Scotty could only see the doctor's hazel eyes but there was no mistaking the exasperation in them, "So what do you need me ta do?"
McCoy came around the table to usher the engineer to the display screen showing scans of the captain's side, "As you can see this dipshit fell into some kind of big ass bear trap."
"Bonesss, they don't have bears on Trea Lax," Jim interrupted.
"Keep talking and I'm gonna knock you out sooner rather than later," McCoy tossed over his shoulder.
McCoy turned back to the image on the screen, "Somehow he fell into a pit that had a spring trap at the bottom. It couldn't have gotten him in a worse spot, but seems to have missed splintering any of his ribs and went right between them. Best I can tell from the scans is the 'teeth' are about 4 centimeters in length and did a shit ton of internal damage from the liver, kidney, intestines, and colon. That's just the organ damage, there's also a fuck ton of vascular damage."
Scotty wasn't sure what all the internal plumbing was pictured on the screen, but a lot of areas were highlighted in reds and yellows.
"So you need me to...?" he still wasn't sure what he could offer to help.
"Well, we can't just open it and pull the thing off in one go, there's just too many points of damage to try and control all at once. I need the bulk of the frame taken off so I can pull the teeth out one by one and fix the damage as I go."
"Right," Scotty counted at least a dozen or more teeth on each side. "Any idea what it's made of?"
"That's your department, Mister Scott," McCoy turned back to his patient.
"Well, uh, let's just take a look, Cap'n," Scotty approached the table apprehensively.
The engineer bent over to inspect the captain's side but kept his hands to himself. From this angle he could see that there were several little blinking devices dotting the captain's front close to the entry points.
"It's already got me, it won't bite you," Jim tried to move his arm to give Scotty a better view.
Scotty reached out a hand to poke at the metal of the frames. It certainly was a hard alloy of some kind. He continued to look around, "Well we could probably cut the springs free first of all. That should release the tension on this thing. Then we can separate the spikes from the jaws. Let me call down and have them bring up a couple of different things."
"How long do you think it'll take?" McCoy asked.
"No idea, Doctor."
The doctor seemed to deliberate internally before calling out instructions to the room, "Let's get a thoracic epidural going. We'll start the GA closer to the ex-lap."
There was a chorus of 'yes doctors' and the nurses buzzed around the room while McCoy moved around the table to get access to Jim's spine. Chapel held out a tray of equipment and Scotty quickly turned away to the comm panel on the farthest side of the room once he saw McCoy line up a needle to go into the captain's back. He comm-ed his second in command and told her which tool kits he wanted delivered to the OR. The nurses and McCoy were in the process of guiding Jim to lie on his left side when he was done talking. He swallowed hard as a nurse swabbed at the trail of blood that began to trickle towards the biobed with the position change. Drapes were added and arranged before the nurses stepped away from the captain.
"Better, Jim?" McCoy asked.
"Sure," Jim scrunched his nose as the prongs of a nasal cannula were inserted and the tubing adjusted around his ears.
"We'll get this taken care of, Cap'n," Scotty added more for his own benefit than Jim's.
"It'sss alright, Scotty. Given what you're about to do to me you can call me 'Jim'. Don't tell Uhura that you got to see me naked."
"Uh, okay, Jim."
"Mister Scott?" the comm panel chimed.
"Scott here," he hit the talk button.
"Lt. Page is here with the kits you asked for."
Damn that lass was fast.
"I'll go get them. They need to be sterilized first," Chapel was already headed towards the door to the scrub room.
Scotty stood there awkwardly, "So uh, how did you fall into a pit?"
"Yeah, Jim, how did you fall into a pit?" McCoy's eyes narrowed.
Jim huffed, "Same story as always. First contact gone wrong and we ended up having to haul ass outta there. Pretty sure that shirt was toast before Bones cut it off me."
McCoy rolled his eyes, "If you wanted some attention you didn't have to go through all this."
"Don't be jealous, Bones," Jim smirked lazily.
"Right, definitely jealous that I'm not naked on an operating table while my chief engineer saws a bear trap off of me."
"They don't have bears on Trea Lax," Jim repeated for what was probably the hundredth time.
Scotty's eyes ping-ponged between the two men, "Donnae bring me inta this."
A nurse approached the doctor's side and whispered something in his ear. Scotty didn't catch what was said but he did see the nurse point to the bag with several milliliters of red tinged liquid under the table. McCoy nodded and relayed instructions that the nurse carried out on the control panel the IV line was feeding from.
"Should we have just set up down in Engineering, Mister Scott?" Chapel entered with several cases in her arms stacked up to her nose.
"Didnae ken what we needed," Scotty took two cases before they slipped from her.
Chapel set the other two cases on a counter.
"What do you want first?" she asked.
"There should be an alloy analyzer in one of 'em," Scotty looked at the case labels. "Here," he pulled out a book sized instrument out of a case.
"You'll know what to use after seeing what the material is?" McCoy stood next to Jim with a gloved hand on his bare shoulder.
"Yep, that's the plan," Scotty assembled the pieces of the micro corer that would create the sample ingot that instrument needed. "I'll take a wee core sample and feed it inta the machine. It should spit out a detailed alloy analysis."
"A core sample?" McCoy stiffened slightly.
"Ah, yeah, it's actually a micro sample, just a few millimeter by millimeter bit," he powered up the micro corer that was the size and shape of a stylus.
"Will it vibrate the trap? I don't want that thing shiftin' around more than necessary since it's holding a lot of severed vessels sealed."
Scotty was flummoxed, "I donnae think so, we can take it slow."
McCoy nodded and Scotty approached the table. He placed the end of the micro corer to a piece of the frame holding the springs and teeth together. The device whirred to life once the tip sensed the pressure and miniscule particles of debris puffed away from the metal's surface.
Once the light at the end of the stylus turned green he pulled it away and stuck it into the larger assay unit, "Now I'm just gonna put this back in and in bit we'll have the composition."
Scotty pushed the data to the large display screen. The engineer grit his teeth together when he saw the results.
"What is it?" McCoy skimmed the readout of the ratios of different elements.
"I've honestly not seen anything like this before. It's got osmium, tungsten, carbon, and iridium in it. I don't recognize the alloy structure either. We've got nothin' like it in the Federation."
"Oh just fucking great," McCoy fumed. "Do you know what will cut through it?"
Scotty tried hard not to rub the back of his neck in frustration, "Maybe the plasma torch? That iridium is gonna make it resistant to high temperatures. If you don't want vibrations then I wouldn't suggest one of the saws with a chromium-titanium blade yet."
"Just pick one Scotty," Jim added.
"Pipe down in the peanut gallery," McCoy was not happy.
"Let's start with the torch. I told Page to put some goggles in the kit," the engineer was already rifling through the cases.
"Well this outta be fun," Jim eyed the moody doctor.
"I'm really not happy with you right now."
"Bones," Jim motioned with his head for the doctor to bend down to his level.
Scotty turned around with the assembled torch to see the doctor bent down to Jim's eye level and talking quietly to each other. If he saw a quick press of a masked mouth to the young captain's temple, he didn't mention it. It was not a shock as the two of them had been codependent for as long as anyone remembered, and it had been a relief when they finally made the quiet declaration that they were together soon after the new ship left Yorktown. They rarely displayed anything in public and the crew kept their lips sealed if any of them knew.
"Okay then, I'm ready to go," Scotty pulled down a pair of dark goggles.
Chapel passed out goggles to McCoy and the two other nurses before donning her own pair, "We're ready."
Scotty stepped up to the table and McCoy joined him on his right side.
"Let's go for the springs first," the engineer activated the plasma torch. "He's not gonna move is he?" Scotty stopped the torch centimeters above the trap.
"Shouldn't, the epidural should have everything numbed and paralyzed."
"Okay, just checking," Scotty touched the tip of the plasma stream to where the pin of a spring was threaded through the bottom of the pressure plate.
The miniscule jet of plasma was burning so hot that the flame it produced was a pale blue color. The engineer could barely see the tip of the flame through his tinted goggles but he managed to advance it to the surface of the metal. He pulled back after a few seconds of contact to see that the torch had only managed to singe the surface. He put the tip of the plasma jet back to its previous spot and held it there longer.
Again no change, "Christ this thing is tough," he held the torch to the pin even longer.
"This isn't working," McCoy said after surveying the minimal progress.
"BP is dropping," Chapel called from the vitals display screen.
McCoy looked up and then down at Jim's greying pallor, "Get him a unit of B negative and keep it going. Open up the Ringers too. Scotty, what else ya got? We need to move this along."
Scotty pulled the torch back, "We can try the saw."
The engineer left the table and swapped out the torch for a handheld rotary saw that he outfitted with a blade made of the toughest alloy Starfleet metallurgists could create.
"I cannae guarantee this," the sound of the saw made an unnerving high pitched whine as it's RPMs were brought up to full power.
"I won't hold you to it," the heavy drugs thickened and slowed Jim's speech.
"Doin' alright, Jim?" McCoy set his hand on his patient's shoulder.
"Easy peasy."
"Ready?" Scotty positioned the whirring saw blade over the spring pin.
McCoy nodded and he touched the blade to the metal. The sound of the metal on metal was teeth gritting. Small sparks shot up but micrometer-by-micrometer the saw blade advanced through the metal pin. It took over five minutes before the blade of the saw broke through to the other side. Scotty quickly slowed down the speed and reversed the blade's spinning direction to pull it straight back through the cut he just made. He inspected the blade to see that the teeth had been severely worn down despite the small amount of progress.
"Uh, someone comm Lt. Page and have her find me all the chromium-titanium bits we got," Scotty held up the half eaten blade up for the doctor to see.
"I'm on it," a nurse called out.
"Dammit," McCoy eyed the blade's teeth.
"Let's get the other side of the spring," Scotty revved the saw back up and positioned it over the other end of the spring.
The process on the other side of the spring continued the same, albeit slower as the saw's blade continued to dull as it was pushed through the alloy. The bits were almost completely gone by the time the saw pushed through to the other side of the pin and it was pulled back out of the cut. McCoy reached through the trap and pulled the disconnected spring out with forceps.
"Let me change the disc," Scotty brought back all of the chromium-titanium bits he had in the kit and set them down on a cart to his left side.
"Mister Scott?" the comm panel chirped.
"We're on an open loop," one of the nurses Scotty didn't know replied.
"Scott here."
"Lt. Page is here again."
"Got 'em," the surgical nurse left through the scrub room.
"What happens if we run out of blades?" McCoy asked the question he didn't want to know the answer to.
"Ach, one thing at a time," Scotty positioned himself to cut through the remaining spring.
It was just as painstakingly slow cutting through the second spring and required another blade change. Once the spring was pulled free the jaws of the trap visibly lost tension.
"Hang on," McCoy watched the pieces shift with an arched eyebrow. "We need to scan again, I saw a lot of movement. Step back for a second, please."
Scotty set the saw on the table and stepped back from the table. A green light from the ceiling made its way from the top of Jim's head down to the bottom of his feet. The updated scan was displayed on the large screen. McCoy overlaid it with the original scan and the offset was only a few millimeters.
"Those spikes moved, but not as much as it looked like. I think we're okay to keep going, but we need to watch it closely. The vascular stabilizers can only do so much, and if one of those things slips it'll be a shit show to control the hemorrhaging."
Scotty nodded and stepped back up to the table, "Which side you want first, front or back?"
"Let's do the back first," McCoy went around the table.
Scotty grabbed the handheld saw and rounded the bed to stand next to the doctor.
"You guys leaving me?" Jim whined.
"Yeah, kid, coming over here to stare at your ass. Christine's right there if you wanna talk to her."
"I'm ne'er leaving the ship after this," Jim huffed.
"You're damn right. I'm tired of you bleeding all over my deck."
Scotty held up the saw indicating that he was ready to go. McCoy nodded and he powered up the saw. The first tooth on the trap was situated in between two of the captain's lower ribs. It was several centimeters wide at the base where it connected to the jaws of the trap, but luckily it was only a few millimeters in height. Scotty set the whirring saw at the edge of the tooth and began pushing it across the base. He managed to disconnect two of the teeth from the jaws before having to change the worn blade for a fresh one. There were nearly a dozen of those teeth just on this side of the jaws alone, not even counting the twin set on Jim's front. He held back the groan he wanted to make and started cutting through the third tooth.
"How squeamish are ya?" McCoy asked as Scotty changed the blade after the fourth tooth.
"Changin' by the minute," the engineer replied. "Why?"
One of the nurses pushed a cart and a rolling stool next to the surgeon, "I need to start removing these now that you're far enough down and I've got some space."
The engineer paled at the mental image of a bloody spiked being pulled free.
"I can set up a drape or somethin'," McCoy watched Scotty's brow break out in a sweat.
"Nae, I'll manage it," Scotty swallowed hard.
McCoy plopped down on the stool and reached for a set of loupe glasses, "Let me know it bothers you before you pass out."
Scotty only nodded and angled himself so that the surgeon wasn't in his field of vision. The saw blade revved up and he started to cut through another tooth. He had just finished cutting through another one when he mistakenly got a glimpse of a bloody four-centimeter tooth drop into a pan on the bed. If that wasn't gruesome enough, a long skinny instrument was shoved into the auto-retracted wound that had begun to bleed freely.
There was a warmth rush through the pit of his stomach and he broke out in a cold sweat. Before he could comprehend what was happening, the saw had been pulled from his hands and he was pushed onto a stool that had been shoved behind his knees.
"Deep breaths, Mister Scott," A nurse had a tricorder wand in his face.
"Hayes, your new job is to watch him. Give him a few minutes. What's his pressure?" McCoy didn't look up from where he manipulated the tools in Jim's back.
"Did Scotty pass out?" Jim called out.
"Not yet," McCoy added another tool into the opening.
"I'm alright," Scotty waved off the nurse hovering over him. "Just got a wee bit woozy there."
"Can you work sitting?" McCoy looked over the magnifying lenses on his glasses at the engineer.
"Yeah, I'm fine now. Just wasnae ready to see that."
"Stay on him, Hayes," the surgeon turned back to his work.
"Aye, sir," the young nurse put away her tricorder wand.
"I'm so telling everyone about this," Jim said.
"Jim?" McCoy latched onto the second tooth with his forceps.
"What?"
"Shut up."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Hey, boss?" Chapel inserted herself between the two men.
Scotty wasn't trying to pay attention but he could follow along enough to know that they were concerned about a rising temperature and increasing instances of Jim's vitals fluctuating. McCoy relayed more instructions that Chapel carried out at the control panel feeding the IV line.
"Ready to keep going?" the surgeon asked.
The engineer looked at the mountain of work still in front of him, "I'm good."
Scotty took a deep breath through his mask and powered up the saw with a fresh blade. The pattern of cutting through the teeth and frequently replacing the saw's blade went on for some time; he had no idea where a chronometer was or what time he started working. He would scoot further down Jim's flank to disconnect a tooth from the jaw and the surgeon would soon follow, removing the tooth and repairing the internal damage.
"Last one," Scotty powered down the saw after he finished separating the final tooth from the back half of the trap.
The disconnected frame was removed easily, leaving a partial line of teeth still in the captain's flesh. It was still a gruesome sight but it certainly didn't look as macabre with half of the structure gone.
"How's he doin', Hayes?" McCoy asked without looking up from the tooth he was inching out of a wound.
"He could use a breather," Hayes was waved the tricorder wand in Scotty's face again.
"Can you take him out? Get him something to drink, walk around a bit, the works."
"I can finish this," Scotty pleaded.
McCoy stopped what he was doing and looked over his glasses, "I know, Mister Scott. It's been a few hours and I need you to be focused for the second half."
With the look from the doctor, Scotty understood that he wasn't saying. It was his Jim they were working on and it was his Jim that he needed to be focused for. Scotty nodded and followed the petite nurse to the scrub room where she removed his cap, gloves, gown, and mask. He decided that the first breath of crisp Enterprise air was might have been the best thing he'd ever experienced outside the company of a lovely lass. When he opened his eyes after savoring the unfiltered air entering his lungs he saw Nurse Hayes holding a can of cold soda out to him.
"Thankye," he popped the tab and took a long pull of the sweet caffeinated liquid. "Is McCoy gonna take a rest?"
"Probably not, Doctor M'Benga should be on duty in a couple more hours and can help if he needs to step out."
Scotty knew that there was no way the good doctor was going to leave any patient during a long surgery, let alone Jim.
"You're doing very well, Mister Scott."
"Aye well, it's certainly not easy. Donnae how McCoy does it for a livin'," Scotty drained the last of the soda.
Hayes took the empty can and tossed it in the trash chute, "Don't tell the boss I gave you one of his Coke Classic's from the original Atlanta factory."
Scotty gulped.
"Just kidding," the nurse teased. "Need a head call while you're already scrubbed out?"
The engineer thought about the state of his bladder for a second before deciding it was best to take care of the matter now than to need to in the middle of the last session. He nodded and was shown to a private bathroom. When he finished Hayes was waiting for him at the scrub room door and helped him get suited back up to return.
Upon entering, Scotty saw that the captain had been positioned on his back with his arms pulled away from his body. McCoy stood at the head of the table while Chapel was pushed a syringe with a milky white liquid into an IV port.
"Doctor McCoy must've finished the work on his back and now they're putting him under to work on the front," Hayes explained as she led him to his previous spot.
"Be here when you wake up, darlin'," McCoy said as Jim's eyes fluttered closed.
Scotty was silent as the surgeon took a moment to take a deep breath and roll his neck and shoulders out.
"Everyone okay for the next part? The damage is worse from this side," McCoy stretched out his back.
The nurses all verbally agreed so Scotty added his own verbal assent when everyone's eyes turned to him. Hayes nudged the stool closer and he took it as his cue to settle in and get back to work. The work was more difficult on the front side with the vascular stabilizers placed as close as possible to the entry points. The engineer had to contort himself to keep the saw blade at an angle that wouldn't get too close to the things keeping the bleeding controlled.
Scotty was changing saw blades when he looked up at the head of the table where McCoy and Chapel were responding to a set of yellow and orange flashing lights on the vitals display.
"How much longer do you think, Mister Scott?" McCoy connected another IV bag to a second line he hadn't noticed before.
"It's no goin' any faster on this side."
McCoy nodded and gave instructions he couldn't hear to Chapel. He did see the nurse remove the nasal cannula and tip up Jim's chin. There was a glimmer of some kind of force field powering up around his head. Scotty cut through three more teeth before the action surrounding the head of the table picked up again. He tried to ignore it but it was clear the medical folks were growing tenser.
Scotty grabbed another blade from the cart and saw that only one more was remaining and he had just gotten to the halfway point, "Uh, Doctor McCoy?"
"Yeah?" McCoy turned to face the engineer.
"I've got one more blade after this one," he held up the saw for effect.
McCoy looked down and saw that it wasn't going to be enough to separate the remaining teeth from the frame.
"Get Geoff in here. Let me see which ones we can do with pulling straight out with the frame"
Scotty waited while the surgeon manipulated the scans on the display screen. He couldn't help but be drawn to the mop of blonde hair at the top of the table. The poor kid, and he looked like a kid laid out so, was in rough shape. Chapel stood the ever-ready sentinel constantly adjusting the medications feeding into the outstretched arms. He didn't have much time to muse before Doctor M'Benga arrived, scrubbed and ready to get to work.
"Leonard," he greeted his colleague as he surveyed the state of things on the table. "Well that's a new one."
"Yeah tell me about it," McCoy pointed to the screen.
The two surgeons held a quiet conference while the rest of the room stood in limbo. He could get the gist enough to know that neither of them was particularly thrilled with their options.
McCoy turned back to the table after a few more minutes of discussion, "Alright folks, new plan. We need to separate what we can from the other end and then be ready to pull the frame and remaining teeth with it. We'll have to do a shit ton of DCS to control the likely bleeding before we can go after the organ damage. How much plasma and whole blood do we have in here?"
The nurses answered and one left to bring in more. Things sounded like they were about to get really bad.
"Mister Scott, can you get what you can from this end?" McCoy pointed to the lower end of the trap that has pierced Jim just above his hip.
"You got it," he powered up the saw.
He was able to get four more of the teeth separated from the jaw's frame before he powered down the saw, unable to cut through anything else. As soon as he was finished some of the drapes covering the captain were removed, leaving him bared from the bottom of his chest to just below his pelvis. The two surgeons stood ready on the other side of the table.
"Mister Scott, this is going to be messy but I need you to pull the frame off when I tell you to."
They're not going to do what I think they're gonna do?
"Hayes will get you outta here right after. Four blade," McCoy took an outstretched laser scalpel from M'Benga.
"Right," Scotty gulped as McCoy set the laser scalpel at the bottom of Jim's sternum and drew it all the way down to the top of his pelvis.
The pit of his stomach flushed hot when the surgeon lined up for another deeper cut in the same shallow incision. The scalpel was close to the bottom of the incision when a putrid odor that made him want to vomit hit his nose through the mask.
"Fuck it definitely got the bowel. What a damn mess. We're gonna need an ostomy kit here," McCoy breathed heavily through the smell.
A surgical nurse was ready with a suction wand as soon as the cavity was exposed. Excess blood and other fluids squelched their way through the tubing while M'Benga placed sliver instruments on top, bottom, and left side and opened the incision wide. The engineer couldn't help but stare at the plumbing that was Jim's internal organs. He could feel his head buzzing and a sense of floating washing over him. His chest began to heave, unable to take anything more than a shallow breath.
"Boss," Hayes's voice was tense.
"Hey, Mister Scott, look up here at me," McCoy's words were sharp enough to pull him back to the moment. "You with me?"
Scotty couldn't get words to form but nodded that he heard the man.
"I know; you're almost done here. I need you to hold it together for another five or ten minute. Can you do that?"
Scotty nodded trying not to look down at the glistening viscera on display before him.
"Hayes, get him outta here the second we have this out."
"Aye sir."
"Okay, Mister Scott, I want you to grab hold of the trap and pull it out very very slowly. We're gonna have to do some quick repairs as we go because we can't just yank it out and let him hemorrhage."
Scotty's hands were shaking and his brow was sweating, but he stood up and took a firm hold of the trap's frame.
"Millimeter by millimeter," McCoy dove his gloved hands deep into the open cavity.
M'Benga added his hands and Scotty pulled up ever so slightly on the trap. The two surgeons worked quickly, shoving tools and packing into the captain's abdominal cavity before instructing him to pull a few more centimeters.
"I'm killing this asshole myself when I'm done here," McCoy seethed.
"A little more," M'Benga ordered.
Scotty lifted the trap another centimeter. His arms were quaking but he wasn't sure if it was the weight of the trap or adrenaline dumping into his bloodstream.
"Fuck it. This isn't working like I thought. Let's just start packing and get it out of here. I can't reach shit with the teeth still in there," McCoy threw down his instruments onto the cart next to him and picked up a stack of cloth sponges.
"More," M'Benga looked at the engineer and helped shove packing into Jim's gut.
"BP is tanking; he's going tachy," Chapel's voice was firm over the alerts from the vitals monitor.
"I see it," McCoy then rattled off more drug changes.
"We need to hurry, Leonard."
"Pull it the last bit, Mister Scott."
Scotty froze and looked into the surgeon's steadfast hazel eyes, "Are ye sure?"
"Yeah, we're ready," McCoy said for his own self as much as the engineer.
"We need it out the rest of the way to work," M'Benga reaffirmed.
Scotty nodded and freed the trap from the Jim's flesh. All hell broke loose and bright red blood bubbled from the holes that were now un-stoppered. There was shouting from the two surgeons and the incision was pulled the rest of the way open on the remaining side. He stood there dazed and dumbfounded as the trap was taken from his hands. A firm hand grasped under his arm and dragged him away from the table. Hayes pulled off his gloves, mask, cap, and gown before he could process that he was no longer in the operating room and was shaking on a biobed out in the main bay.
"You with me?" Hayes had pulled down her own mask and was snapping an ungloved hand in front of his face.
"Wha?" he tried to gain control of his rapid breathing.
"Deep breaths. Stay with me, Mister Scott."
"I'm alright," he tried to swat the tricorder wand away.
"Are you sure? I can't have you cracking your head open if you faint. The doctors need to help the Captain, not be out here checking you for a concussion."
"I'm alright, lass. Just give me a wee moment. That was a lot to see."
Images of internal organs and pooling blood played on repeat inside his brain. When he refocused, Hayes was in front of him with a soda already opened and a corpsman behind her.
"Drink this. I need you to sit here for Mister Avery."
"I told ye, I'm—" an uncontrolled volcano erupted up his esophagus and spewed onto the deck plating.
Avery and Hayes were seasoned professionals and managed to duck in time.
"Damn, I owe Chapel twenty credits," Hayes shoved a basin into the engineer's hands.
Scotty was flushed red with embarrassment, "Ach, 'm so sorry."
"Not a problem, sir. I've been a nurse for over a decade, you're not the first person I've seen faint or ralph all over the deck. I do appreciate you missing my shoes though," she chuckled.
"Embarassin'" Scotty clutched the basin.
"I promise it's alright. Besides, you're an engineer not a doctor. Seeing a blood vessel in your friend spring a leak is not the same as seeing a coolant line spring a leak," Hayes held out a wet cloth.
Scotty nodded as he wiped his face and hands. Seeing a blood vessel was one thing but seeing Jim's internal organs was in a whole different orbit. The soda was returned to him with instructions to sip it very slowly. The corpsman left to find a bio spill kit seeing that the engineer looked less likely to take a nosedive off the biobed.
"Boss asked how you're doing. What do you want me to tell him?" Hayes appeared in front of him again.
"I'm sure you'll tell him the truth no matter what I tell ye," Scotty continued to sip his soda.
The nurse just smiled and disappeared into the scrub room. The deck plating was spotless and the soda was finished by the time she returned.
"Okay, boss wants you here another half hour and then you're free to go as long as you eat a good dinner. He's released you from duty for the next twenty four hours."
He paled at the thought of eating and didn't want to be taken off of duty either, "But—"
Hayes held up her hand, "He said no 'climbing around down there in that death trap of a department' but tinkering in your office should be fine if you need to be kept occupied."
Well that was perfectly reasonable, the engineer mused. The doctor knew he needed to keep busy after that experience.
Scotty nodded, "How's it goin' in there?"
The nurse's mouth tightened, "Not well, it's going to take a while."
Scotty searched the room for a chronometer and realized that the sixth hour since he had been called to sickbay was about to pass. It was now well beyond his dinnertime since he'd been on alpha shift today.
"We'll get your tools cleaned up and returned later. I need to go back in and help."
Those tools were more likely to be shoved out of an airlock when he could get the chance, "Thank ye, Nurse Hayes."
"Thank you, Mister Scott. Avery here will let you up when you're free to go," she patted his knee before retreating to the scrub room.
The corpsman had the timing of a Swiss chronometer and would not let him leave a second earlier than instructed. Scotty passed by the mess hall on the way to his quarters and got the least offensive food he could find, a sandwich. He tried to eat but his stomach was still unsettled so he made do with a pot of tea and a few biscuits before forcing himself to bed.
###
Sleep had been elusive and he found himself brewing a pot of tea in his office before gamma shift left. He saw from the shift turnover that sickbay had asked for blood donations during the night and subsequently several folks had been placed on light duty for their next shift. Each person on the donation list was sent a quick but personal note of thanks before he left to make rounds. His sub group leaders were reserved when talking to him and kept their reports short, they all knew what had kept him occupied the previous day. He stopped for a while at the personnel access hatch to the warp core and reminisced about how it seemed so long ago that he was closing Jim's eyes and pulling his still warm body from the reactor room. Jim was characteristically reckless and injury prone but it was rare that he had to get involved. He shook his head to get rid of the maudlin thoughts and went about the rest of his rounds, which were mercifully short and he was able to retreat to his office.
"Mister Scott?" his second in command, Frieda Page, had come on duty and found him right away.
"Mornin' Miss Page."
"Sickbay told me you wouldn't be in today," she held up her data pad to emphasize her point.
"I ken, I'm not technically here."
"It was bad wasn't it?"
Scotty didn't have to say anything for the young lass already knew since she'd been the one to deliver the equipment and extra saw blades when the situation worsened.
"I saw that the kits were returned to Supply 3-J."
"Ach, someone from sickbay said they'd bring 'em back after they were cleaned."
The engineers stared at each other for a few moments contemplating what those tools had been used for and how neither one of them would want to use them again.
"I can schedule a trash dump in twenty minutes," Page offered.
"You're a right good lass, meet you at the starboard exhaust port in ten minutes. 3-J you said?"
Page nodded and started tapping away at her data pad. Scotty turned around and headed for supply room 3-J. The kits had been placed on a staging table inside the storage room and had yet to be put back in their proper storage racks. He returned the unused kits to their rack and grabbed the plasma torch and miniature saw kits as he left. The crewmembers he encountered on the way to the exhaust port nodded and kept about their own business.
"I talked to the Bridge and they'll drop us out of warp long enough to vent," Page was already waiting for him at the exhaust hatch.
"Aye," Scotty entered his authorization code on the keypad next to the hatch.
The two engineers nestled the cases close to the ship's exterior hatch. It wasn't the way trash was usually jettisoned but it would get the job done.
"Ready?" Scotty asked.
Page nodded and they retreated, sealing the second hatch behind them. There was some tapping on the data pad and the ship's PA system gave out its automated chime to signal an upcoming change in speed. There was a faint shudder under their feet as the ship dropped out of warp. Scotty hit the green 'vent' option on the display screen and with a barely perceptible 'whoosh' the contents were sucked out into the vacuum of space.
"Good riddance."
With the exterior hatch sealed the ship's speed alert chimed again and the warp drive was reengaged. Scotty patted his second in command on her shoulder and left. He walked around aimlessly and unengaged with the operations of his department for some time. His feet took him all over the ship and subconsciously led him to the doors for sickbay.
"The doors don't bite," he turned around to see Nurse Hayes with mess hall take-out containers in her hands.
"Aye, I know. I was just walkin' and ended up here."
"You can go in there," she pointed to the closed doors.
He hesitated but the doors had already parted to let the nurse through.
Get on wit' it.
Sickbay was surprisingly calm and quiet. The main bay was empty of patients meaning the captain had been put somewhere private. His assumption was confirmed when he saw Spock exit a corridor off to the right side.
"Mister Scott," the First Officer greeted.
"Mister Spock," he nodded in return.
"I was told you were released from duty today," the Vulcan stopped and took his customary stance with his hands clasped behind his back.
"I am, I'm no workin'," no doubt Spock knew they were here for the same reason.
There was a small but perceptible nod, "Doctor McCoy relayed your efforts in his preliminary report. I must offer my gratitude and inform you that a commendation for your actions has been submitted on your behalf."
Scotty was stunned, "Ach, I donnae need one of those."
"I understand the circumstances were no doubt trying and the Captain's survival is a large result of your efforts."
Scotty just nodded, "Is he…"
"As you know the damage was severe. The Captain is currently sedated and Doctor McCoy is asleep. I'm sure if you confirm with the nurses they would allow you a few moments to ascertain the fact for yourself. On another note, should I be expecting an approval request for a new rotary saw and plasma torch?"
"Uh," Scotty anxiously rubbed the back of his neck.
"Thank you, Mister Scott," the Vulcan bowed and departed.
Scotty caught sight of Nurse Chapel sitting at the nurse's desk and approached her.
"Just a few minutes and don't wake the boss, please," she tilted her head to the corridor containing the private rooms.
"How's he doin'?"
"Better than he has any right to be," Chapel stated matter-of-factly. "The damage control continued for a while after you left. Lots of organ and vascular repairs. Doctor McCoy finally closed some time in the middle of gamma."
"And yer workin'? I wasnae there as long as ye."
Chapel gave a tired small, "Hayes and I are taking turns napping and working. Lucky for us we're the only two nurses certified in critical care, and Jim is still pretty unstable and needs a lot of care. Geoff is in McCoy's office asleep in case someone needs to be seen."
Scotty had never seen the medical team after an event like this and had a hard time wrapping his brain around the fact they were never really off duty. He had countless engineers he could delegate too but their department was a lot smaller.
"Thank ye, Miss Chapel. I'll be quick," he rounded the desk and turned into the corridor.
Only one of the doors along the corridor was closed. The placard above the keypad said 'ICU' and the door swished open without a sound when he tabbed it open. The lights were almost completely off in the tiny room that had been crammed full of all kinds of medical equipment and monitors. The only thing he recognized were the multiple IV stands and pumps clustered at the top of the biobed. The captain, Jim, was nearly translucent from a lack of color. He looked incredibly boyish with the covers pulled all of the way up to his neck, leaving only his disheveled blonde hair illuminated by the warm lighting. Various tubes and wires coming from the equipment fed under the multiple blankets he'd been tucked into. Between the soft chirping of the display screens he could hear the injured man's rhythmic breathing, no doubt it was supported by one of the many bits of machinery crammed in the room. Scotty took a steadying breath and surveyed McCoy who was covered with his own blanket and asleep in a reclining chair next to the biobed. The doctor had grasped the underside of the captain's wrist, which had been pulled out from underneath the blankets.
Chapel, snapping on a pair of gloves as she entered, broke the engineer's reverie.
"I'm just checking drains and dermal regenerators, you don't have to leave."
Scotty pressed himself against the wall to give her plenty of space. She was efficient in pulling down the layers of blankets to bare Jim's mottled and tube riddled abdomen. Chapel inspected a plastic pouch adhered to his skin and emptied several containers tucked under biobed that collected fluids from the drains coming out of the captain's gut. She checked the charge on each dermal regenerator that clicked away in a line over the massive incision he'd watch McCoy carve down Jim's torso.
"All done," Chapel tossed her used gloves in the biotrash chute and righted the blankets.
"How long before he's up and movin'?"
"I don't have a good estimate, McCoy will reassess tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have a better idea afterwards. Right now the focus is to get him past this critical part."
Scotty nodded and followed her out. He'd seen enough to replace the image he had in his head of the two surgeons shoving packing into Jim's open abdomen.
"Do you need anything to help you sleep, Mister Scott?" Chapel asked when they returned to her desk.
She placed a blister pack of pills in his hand the moment he began to hesitate to give an answer.
"I'll let the boss know you stopped by when he wakes up."
Scotty closed his fist around the pills and left for his quarters. He knocked back the drugs with the remnants of a cup of tea that had gone cold. Blessed sleep overtook him by the time he changed into pajamas and crawled into his bed.
###
Scotty was performing a bit of percussive maintenance at his workbench when his data pad chirped to alert him that he'd been sent a flagged comm. He set down his wrench and rolled his stool to the counter holding his data pad.
Jim's asking for you - McCoy
It had been several days since he went to see the sedated captain, but he'd been sending regular comms to the nurses for updates. He knew Jim had woken up for the first time yesterday after two 'touch and go' days. Scotty tapped a pre-populated reply to acknowledge that he was on his way.
"Hey Mister Scott," Nurse Hayes greeted him warmly from the nurses desk.
"Evenin', Miss Hayes."
"I happen to know of a nurse who's off duty in three nights," she winked at him.
"I know you donnae mean yerself? I didnae know nurses here took breaks."
"Har har. You're certainly one to speak. McCoy's back there. The Captain's been drifting in and out all day."
"Thank ye, Miss Hayes. I may be able to find a hidden bottle of Chateau Picard I could share with ye since you have the time."
"You better," she threw over her shoulder as he headed down the corridor of private rooms.
Scotty knocked gently before tabbing the door open. McCoy's back was turned to him, but Jim lit up when he saw the engineer in the doorway. The captain was glassy eyed but alert, and reclining deeply into the biobed's padding. He was dressed in a soft blue gown that made his eyes seem more radiant. Scotty noted that the man's color had improved dramatically since the last time he saw him.
"Hey, Scotty," the sound of Jim's voice sent out a wave of relief over the engineer.
McCoy turned around, "Mister Scott."
"Cap'n. Doctor McCoy."
Jim swatted at the tricorder wand McCoy had whipped in front of his face, "I distinctly remember telling you it was okay to call me 'Jim'."
"Jim, it's verra good to see ye awake."
"Buzz me if you need anything before I come back with your night meds," McCoy squeezed Jim's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Bones. I can't get into too much trouble."
"I'll believe that when I see it," McCoy shook his head as he left.
Scotty stood there in the room alone with the man.
"You can sit if you like," Jim's head rolled along the pillow to face the chair at his bedside.
Scotty realized how awkward it was with him standing there just staring so he took the offered seat.
"How are ye feelin'?" Scotty angled the chair better to have a conversation.
"Can't complain considering…" Jim waved an IV encumbered hand.
"Yeah, no kiddin'," Scotty relaxed into the seat's cushion.
"Bones filled me in on what happened after they knocked me out. I know what you had to do must've really sucked and I'm really sorry you had to go through it."
Scotty was confused, "Ye donnae need to apologize. Yer the one who had their gut splayed open by Doctor McCoy."
Jim waved his hand, "Bones doesn't like it, but he's a doctor. He's trained to handle that kind of...stress."
"I think the good doctor would beg to differ."
"I know. We'll talk once he's less angry with me. He usually needs a few days to cool down after it's been bad like this."
The room fell silent as they both contemplated the tirade McCoy was likely to have.
"Any who, how do ye actually feel?" Scotty broke the silence.
"They still have that nerve block thing going in my back. Can't feel anything from the chest down."
"Well that's good."
"So Spock tells me we're a plasma torch and rotary saw down," Jim's eyebrows arched.
"Ach well, I couldnae keep them. Not after what they were used for."
"Well, thank you, Scotty. You truly are a miracle worker," Jim offered another olive branch.
Scotty considered the reconciliation, "Well in that case, sir, ye owe me a dozen or so chromium-titanium discs as well. You wore down all of the ones we had on the ship."
"Anything for you," Jim chuckled.
The two continued chatting about Scotty's 'episode' in the main bay and other ship gossip. They could've kept going longer if McCoy hadn't interrupted and administered Jim's night meds.
"Sleep tight, darlin'," McCoy tucked Jim in with a quick kiss on his cheek after leveling out the biobed. The doctor dimmed the lights on his way out of the room.
"Sorry, Scotty. I only have a few minutes before I'm not much company."
"No worries, Jim. It's just good to see ye awake and all."
"Come see me tomorrow," Jim was fading. "Bones keeps me on a leash and I'll need entertainment."
"Sure thing, get some rest," Scotty scooted the chair back softly.
The drugs hit fast and Jim was out cold before he could get out of the room.
"Wanna drink?" McCoy motioned to his office from where he had perched at the nurse's desk.
"Aye," Scotty followed the doctor into his office.
McCoy pulled two antique crystal tumblers and a bottle of Kentucky's finest bourbon from the bottom of his desk. The doctor poured each of them a few hearty fingers of the amber liquid. Scotty was offered a glass and the two gentlemen plopped wearily into the two chairs in front of the CMO's desk.
"Cheers," McCoy held up his tumbler.
"Slainte mhath," Scotty clinked his glass.
"What's that mean?" McCoy asked after a long sip.
"It's 'cheers to yer health' in Gaelic," Scotty took his own long sip, relishing the burn of the oaky liquor. "Oi, man this is somethin' special."
"Had a case of it shipped to Yorktown before we left."
"I'll have to trade ye some real whisky from the Highlands. I have a bottle or two of a nice peaty one you'd like."
"You're a regular liquor store from what I hear."
"Well, Doctor, it's a long journey and one must be well supplied."
"Ain't that the damn truth," McCoy toasted his glass and took a pull from his tumbler. "They're ruining the purpose of a drink with that new synthehol crap they've cooked up."
Scotty raised his glass and followed, it would be bad manners not to return a toast.
"While I do love a good drinkin' partner I have to say that this isn't an entirely social chat."
Damn doctor is an insightful bastard.
"I just wanted to see how you were doin' and if there was anything you saw you wanted explained."
What part about seeing a friend's internal organs needed explaining?
"We train in classrooms and labs for years before we watch a surgery on a real person and it's even longer before we're allowed to participate. You had to do all of that in minutes and without any warning. That kind of desensitization takes years of practice and some people never get over it. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry I had to ask that of you."
Scotty toyed with his glass coming up with a place to start, "How do ye do it?"
McCoy took a sip, "Lots of practice and knowin' it could always be worse."
"No, I mean how do ye do it to Jim? To people yer friends with?"
The doctor took another sip of liquid courage, "Being one of the only two surgeons on this tin can makes that shockingly easy. There's just not that many options if I don't or can't help Jim, or anyone else for that matter. I can't watch a person needing a doctor anymore than you can watch a warp core malfunction knowing you can fix it."
Scotty contemplated the man's answer, maybe they were more alike than they realized. No doubt it pained him when his ship was hurting but he also took the same comfort knowing he could fix it. Still repairing a coolant leak wasn't going to make anyone hurl at the sight.
"It's no quite so graphic when the ship needs work. I cannae say I'll ever look at haggis the same way after all this."
"If it makes you feel any better, I have fainted in front of a patient before."
"Oh really?"
McCoy smirked at himself, "Yeah, I was a second year med student and it was my first clinical rotation ever. I had been assigned OB/GYN for the first one. Boy was I excited, a year of classes under my belt and I thought I was the greatest gift to the world of medicine. My plan was to deliver a thousand babies during those 8 weeks. So anyways, its day three of the rotation and I finally get called to come observe a delivery. I hustle down the L&D room and I bust through the door. The mom's there with her legs wide open and one of the residents is there 'catching'. As soon as I step foot in the room the baby decides its coming out and just slips outta there like a greasy pig. All of this blood and other 'gunk' sloshes out with it. I took an immediate nosedive to the floor. Broke my nose and knocked myself out when I hit the deck. Years later when I was a senior resident for the trauma service, the nurses who were there would still remind me of that day every time they saw me in the halls. They loved talking about the trauma surgeon who'd seen the worst of Atlanta crime break his nose fainting at a simple delivery."
Scotty couldn't help but smile at the story. It was hard to imagine that the surgeon he saw working days ago could've been anything other than stoic and unflinching in any medical situation.
"Are ye and Jim gonna be alright?"
"Yeah, it's never easy once I get him through the worst of the shit and there's time to process everything. You know that asshole fell into that trap because he was pulling one of the science techs outta the way of some big ass moose looking thing?"
Scotty had not heard that and it really wasn't surprising that Jim had been protecting someone else when he got hurt himself.
"As much as it infuriates me at times that's just who he is and my job is to put the pieces back together. It's taken a while to realize this but fighting it only takes more energy out of me."
The two senior officers enjoyed the rest of their drink in companionable silence.
"Well, Doctor McCoy, if it's alright with ye I think I'm gonna go hit the rack," Scotty stood up. "Thank ye for the wee dram."
"Any time. I feel like I owe you one now; next time you need some help in engineering let me know."
"Ach, please stay away. It's bad enough when Jim comes down there to tinker; I donnae need you shoving your hand in a live conduit by mistake."
"Good choice, Mister Scott. Bar's always open if you need to talk to a bartender."
"Same to ye, g'night," Scotty left the CMO's office feeling more refreshed than he had since that fateful comm from Nurse Chapel days ago.