"Lorna?" said McCoy the following day, coming to stand by her side in the med bay he watched her as she made herself a cup of tea.
"What?" she asked, not looking up.
"Why have you been speaking with a French accent all day?" he watched her look up at him with a confused look on her face.
"I have?" he just nodded. "Hmm? Oh I know, I treated Lieutenant Schroth this morning." Lorna started back to her desk leaving McCoy rolling his eyes. Catching up to her he leant against the desk whilst she sat herself down.
"He's German." He informed her, flicking a stray piece of her hair back into place with his fingers. He did little things like that, throughout the day. He'd catch himself smoothing out her hair or wiping some crumbs from her tunic after lunch.
"Oh, well? Then I don't know?" Lorna answered, "You're sure?" he didn't know whether she was questioning the fact that she'd been speaking with a French accent all day or that Carl-Jürgen Schroth was German?
"Schroth?" McCoy repeated, hoping the penny would drop.
"Yeah, you're right." Shrugging her shoulders Lorna shooed him away with her hand, his initial question seemingly never to be answered. McCoy's comm badged buzzed as he walked towards his own office, telling him to go to the bridge. Stopping and turning back to Lorna he stifled a laugh, how anybody could miss their mouth and pour tea down their front was beyond him. "Doctor Heiland, I have to go to the bridge, you're in charge." He instructed her and with a jaunty salute and a wink of her eye Lorna bid him farewell.
"What is it Jim?" McCoy asked storming on to the bridge in his customary jovial style. Kirk didn't take his eyes away from the viewing screen, watching the current events unfold.
"The planet is going through a complete structural degeneration; they have twenty minutes before it collapses in on itself."
"They?" McCoy questioned, already dreading the answer.
"The sixteen Scientists that were sent there to study the planet." Kirk jumped from his chair and instructed his First Officer to take the conn.
"Where you going Jim?" McCoy asked, already knowing the answer.
"I'm going to rescue those people Bones." Of course he was.
"How did I know you were going to say that?" With a long, weary exhale of breath Bones followed him into the transporter room.
"What an idiotic…" Lorna was busy prepping the sick bay for the possibility of receiving sixteen Scientists, and two very reckless members of the Enterprise crew. "Stupid sod…" the Nurses had all been assigned their duties and extra medical equipment was being brought in. "When I get my hands on him…" Lorna wasn't happy, he'd just left, he hadn't said anything! Just left! "Rakam!" she shouted, "Get those beds ready now." Turning back to her PADD she tried to concentrate on the words in front of her, it was no use though. All she could think about was the fact that her Husband was on a dying planet.
"He'll be fine." Looking up at Kostas Lorna gave them a tight smile.
"I know he will," she agreed. She didn't know though, did she?
"Then get your head out of your ass." Watching Kostas go back to work Lorna shook her head to clear her thoughts, Kostas was right of course.
"Right, come on then," and with that she got to work.
"Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead," Lorna mumbled to herself as she watched the Engineer prepare to beam the first batch of Scientists up from the planet. Seeing the faces of the first six Scientists appear threw Lorna into 'work mode', she was no longer seeking out McCoy's face, rather assessing and triaging her patients.
"Kostas! Get these people moving sharpish," she instructed as she noted that apart from a few scrapes and bruises the men and women they were shuffling out looked alright. The second batch of Scientists appeared and Lorna couldn't help but think that the next transport would, should include Kirk and McCoy. "Vallo, off you pop," she said by way of instruction. Her eyes landed back on the Engineer who was frantically working the station in front of him. "What is it?" she asked, intuitively knowing there was a problem.
"I'm struggling to get a lock," Lorna couldn't speak. The lights began swirling on the transporter pad and Lorna closed her eyes, holding her breath and not being able to think of anything at all. "I'm losing them!" the Engineer shouted.
"Don't you dare," the words came out in an anguished whisper. When Kirk's voice resonated in her ears Lorna dared to open her eyes and upon seeing McCoy's face, who was looking at her in a way that made her heart scream, she finally managed to breathe again. Lorna went to the Scientists and began escorting them to sick bay, she noticed McCoy follow but didn't say anything. Kirk disappeared in the other direction, presumably making his way to the bridge. As she stood in front of one of the Scientists and began administering to his injuries she again noticed McCoy hovering in her peripheral vision, she had seen that Vallo had tried to get him to sit on one of the beds but he'd batted her off.
"Hello, my names Doctor Heiland," moving on to her next patient she introduced herself to the woman who smiled at her relieved. "Let's get you patched up," Lorna noticed the woman shaking, obviously reeling from what she'd just been through. Tell me about it Lady! Lorna thought to herself. "You been up to anything recently?" she asked glibly and when the woman laughed tiredly she gave her arm a good squeeze and told her to rest up.
A hand took hers from behind, turning she saw that it was McCoy. He'd waited until she'd finished treating the Scientists. Looking around the med bay she made sure everything was in order and then silently nodded to him, letting him pull her to his office. She tackled him to the ground as soon as his door closed, his legs not strong enough and her catching him off guard making it easy for Lorna to get him to the ground. And then she just hugged the life out of him, I mean arms round neck to the point of suffocation hugging! And then she punched him in the arm as hard as she could.
"Ow!" holding on to his arm McCoy felt tears prickle his eyes. "Lorna?!" he rasped out, hugging her back.
"What were you thinking?!" she blubbed into his neck. "You're a Doctor not a…" she struggled for the right word, "Rescuer!" McCoy couldn't help but chuckle.
"I'm fine Lorna, really." Pulling themselves up the pair sat on the floor, their hands grasped together and Lorna trying her hardest not to burst into tears.
"This isn't going to work." Lorna exclaimed shaking her head and McCoy's face fell.
"What? Lorna, what are you saying?" Now he was worried.
"You doing things, it's not going to work! You're no longer going to do anything," she informed him and McCoy sighed with relief. He'd been worried there for a moment.
"Anything? Darlin', what do you want me to do, stay in our quarters until we get back to Earth?" he asked, feeling incredibly proud that he had a Wife who loved him so much.
"Yes, that would be great. Do that." Lorna agreed, nodding her head and McCoy laughed.
"Darlin' come on! You know I can't do that…"
"Why can't you?" she interrupted him.
"Because I can't and you know it, our job can be dangerous, and besides, who was the one who came back from the last away mission with a concussion and broken leg from saving that young boy?" he asked.
"Don't know what you're talking about?" she said, flatly refuting his example of her doing something as equally dangerous (even if she had actually done it). Lorna pulled herself up as did McCoy. "I was scared to lose you Leonard," she told him honestly.
"I know," he whispered back.
"Just, be careful, that's all I ask."
"I will," he agreed, pulling her into a tight embrace and placing kisses on the top of her head. Stepping back Lorna took in his appearance and checked him over.
"Did you get yourself seen to?" she asked as they left his office.
"I did."
"Alright, well, off with you then, I'm sure the Captain wants you there while he regales the bridge crew with his tale of heroics." Lorna pulled a sickly face when she spoke and rolled her eyes. Giving her a wink McCoy set off but stopped and turned on his heel.
"Lorna?" he shouted out to her.
"What?" she looked at him with a creased brow.
"You did good too you know." McCoy had registered the fact that as soon as he had appeared Lorna had had everything in order, the triage teams, the med bay set up for a major incident. He had never doubted she could lead from the front.
"Piss off!" swatting his arm Lorna blushed with embarrassment, she didn't do well with compliments. McCoy didn't say anymore, he just gave her the look of 'you know you're good just take the compliment' and then left leaving Lorna feeling the fizz of relief, excitement and fear in her stomach.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie, there's definitely something wrong." Vallo knew there was definitely something wrong.
"There's nothing wrong."
"Tell me."
"No!" Lorna wanted to scream, she just wanted to be left alone.
"You had a fight didn't you?" Vallo stood behind her as she hastily folded blankets, Lorna didn't answer. "I knew it!" Lorna spun on her heel and shushed the Nurse.
"Vallo, for the love of god and all that is holy will you drop it!" Vallo saw that Lorna had had enough, she could push it with the Doctor but only so far.
"Okay, sorry," she answered. "Please don't worry, you and Doctor McCoy are super cute. He can't be angry at you for long."
"Why is he angry at me?!" Lorna replied, "I haven't done anything wrong, I'm angry at him!" Vallo held her hands up in surrender and backed away slowly.
"Yeah, right. Well, gotta go, do something over here." Hitching her thumb Vallo made a quick retreat.
Lorna watched the stylus spin round and round on her desk, her head resting on her forearm the world appeared horizontal. Another night shift, another mind numbingly boring time for Lorna Heiland-McCoy. She could really do with a cupcake right about now! She popped her earbuds in and pressed play on her music, her fingers instantly tapping out the tune on her desk.
"You get up every morning from your alarm clock's warning, take the 8:15 into the city. There's a whistle up above and people pushin', people shovin' and the girls who try to look pretty." Sitting back Lorna began playing air guitar, of which she deemed herself a proficient. "And if your train's on time, you can get to work by nine and start your slaving job to get your pay. If you ever get annoyed, look at me I'm self-employed, I love to work at nothing all day!" Pushing her chair back it wasn't long before Lorna was on her feet, stomping round the medical bay and fully committing to the air guitar. Eyes closed and head rocking she continued on, rocking out and enjoying herself immensely. "And I'll be taking care of business EVERYDAY, Taking care of business EVERYWAY, I've been taking care of business IT'S ALL MINE! Taking care of business and working overtime, work out!" You know when the old rock stars use to play guitar? They'd jump in the air and land on their knees, skidding across the floor and leaning back as they killed some major guitar rift? Well, Lorna had always wanted to do that, so she did.
Suffice to say, it did not end well.
"Sonofa…!" Wow she really hurt her knees! I mean she went down hard! Stopping the music and all but throwing her earbuds out she stumbled to one of the beds, swearing all the way. Picking up a dermal regenerator she passed it over her two bruised and redden knees, wincing and feeling like an absolute prat. Tossing the medical equipment onto the nearby trolley, rolling her eyes when it just bounced off the side and onto the floor she let herself fall back and lie on the bed. Her legs swinging over the side Lorna let her mind drift, not thinking about anything was one of her favourite things to do.
"Medical Emergency! Doctor Heiland to Engineering." Lorna jumped up so fast she flung herself into the adjacent bed and then, trying to compensate, managed to thwack her forehead on the side of the bed. Letting out a pained howl Lorna messily picked herself up again, not having time to feel sorry for herself. Grabbing a med-kit she ran from the bay, heading for Engineering and trying not to throw up on her way.
Running into Engineering Lorna immediately caught sight of the commotion over by the warp core. Running over she made her way through the concerned crowd and knelt down beside the poor Ensign who looked like he'd seen better days.
"Hello there Ensign Fayyazi, what've you been up to?" She set about easing his pain, which she knew he'd be feeling pretty heftily given his injuries. Lorna noted the Lieutenant next to him, "What happened?" she asked him, still assessing Ensign Fayyazi's injuries.
"The console blew out, Mehdi was right in front of the thing." The Lieutenant answered, wiping his face in concerned anguish. "Hey, your heads bleeding?" he pointed to her with his finger, a confused look on his face but Lorna didn't have time to worry.
"Alright, nothing to be concerned over," Lorna smiled at the young man as she checked his vitals. "Are you at the start or end of your shift Ensign?" she asked, waving a dermal regenerator over his face and chest.
"Start," he answered, being glad of the distraction.
"There's easier ways of getting out of a shift Ensign, you could have just told Lieutenant George here you were getting a cold." The Ensign and his colleagues around him laughed, one or two of them joshing with Lorna about her giving them sick notes. "Right, do you think you can walk?" she asked, seeing that his vitals were returning to normal and giving him enough pain relief to know that he wouldn't be feeling any pain at all.
"Yeah, I think so." Helping him up Lorna took her time, holding Ensign Fayyazi by the elbow and making their way out.
"Thanks Doc!" she heard one of the Engineers shout.
"Anytime, get back to work!" As Lorna and Ensign Fayyazi slowly made their way back to the medical bay Lorna kept his mind occupied by asking 'Would you rather?' questions. By the time they got there and she had him settled on one of the beds and resting up she'd completely forgot about her own bump to the head until Fayyazi mentioned it to her.
The only mirror in the medical bay was in the toilet so making her way there (dermal regenerator in hand) Lorna squirmed up against the sink so that she could get a good luck at her head. Whoever had installed the mirror must have been at least a foot taller than her, lifting herself up on her tiptoes Lorna just about managed to wave the medical apparatus over her head. It had only been a scratch really, nothing to write home about.
When she came back out she noted Ensign Fayyazi was fast asleep so took her seat behind her desk. She sang to herself quietly, just letting herself calm down from the recent activity.
"When I take you out, tonight, with me, Honey, here's the way it's goin' to be, You will set behind a team of snow white horses, In the slickest gig you ever see!" She didn't notice the door open and Kirk walk in, she didn't notice him until he was stood in front of her desk and calling out her name.
"Captain Kirk!" Standing to attention Lorna found her heart was in her throat.
"At ease Doctor Heiland," he said laughing.
"Is everything alright?" A visit from Kirk was never a good thing in Lorna's eyes, he was either injured, stirring up trouble or collecting her Husband to take him on a risky, foolhardy mission. Eyeing him suspiciously she suspected him of the second.
"Yes, everything's fine. I'll get straight to the point Doctor Heiland, I want you to take the Bridge Officer's test." Lorna stared at him, that wasn't what she was expecting.
"Who put you up to this? Leonard? Captain Kirk please, don't get me involved in your shenanigans, that's between you and Leonard…" Lorna laughed and sat back in her chair.
"It's not a prank Doc, I'm being serious."
"Get the hell out of here?!" Lorna still didn't believe him.
"I can't!" Kirk laughed, "I'm being serious." Lorna continued to look at him as if he was nuts.
"Can I think about it?" she asked warily.
"Of course!" Kirk stood and smiled at her. "You're good Doc, I think you'd ace it." Kirk left leaving Lorna not quite sure what to think. She was good Doctor, she was in no doubt about that but she'd fudged her way through the expedited Officer training! It had never occurred to her that maybe she'd end up climbing the ranks in Starfleet?
"Well?" McCoy looked at Lorna anxiously as she made her way towards him from the assessment centre located in the heart of Starfleet Academy. She nodded her head slowly, pondering herself how she'd performed in the Bridge Officer's test.
"I think it went well," Lorna answered, enjoying the feeling of McCoy rubbing her arm reassuringly.
"When do you find out?" They started walking down the corridor, making their way through the throng of Instructors, Officers and Cadets.
"A day or two they said," Lorna answered, letting McCoy pull her one way or another to stop her from bumping into people. "Anyway, what will be will be, where are you taking me?"
"Taking you?" McCoy feigned ignorance.
"Leonard? Don't toy with me," she warned him as she stepped through the door he was holding open for her. "We have three days of leave, woe betide if we're not doing something!"
"And why is this my responsibility?" Lorna looked at him aghast.
"Because, dear Husband of mine, this is your responsibility."
"And that was decided when?" Lorna stopped walking and folded her arms across her chest. To anybody else walking by it looked like two senior officers having a very in depth conversation about something very important, not a couple winding each other up.
"When you married me," Lorna answered and McCoy couldn't help but laugh.
"I don't remember signing up for that?" he questioned.
"Oh! You signed up for the whole shebang my friend!" Hooking her arm through his they continued on their way until it was too much for Lorna to bear and she pleaded with him to tell her what they were doing.
"If you must know, I've got us a little place in the country. We're going to pick up supplies on the way and then we're going to sit on the porch with our homemade lemonade and watch the lightning bugs dance all night. How does that sound?" Lorna scrunched her lips to one side in thought.
"That sounds perfect."
The End
I am so very happy that Lorna Heiland has struck such a chord with you! She's glitter in a bottle! Thank you for your heartfelt reviews which are so appreciated. LLAP ;-) XOXO