Previously…
McCoy saw Spock leave and with that he went and stood by the operating room entryway. He saw that Jim was finally stripped of his Nazi uniform pants and boots and was now donning a pair of medical scrub pants. Jim's marred back, fully on display under the blue antimicrobial light, looked eerily like a cadaver. If not for Jim's shallow breaths and pained expression…'No, don't' he thought. He quickly put those morbid thoughts aside and started to scrub in. He had to get to work. There was only so much time before Spock's nerve pinch would wear off. And the soon to be administered low-dose pain med could only do so much. He didn't want to imagine Jim waking up in the middle of a skin graft.
As McCoy walked up to the side of the bed he noticed that Chapel had already fastened all the restraints for safe measure.
"Ok, Christine, let's make swift work of this and get Jim on the road to recovery."
As the Nurse administered the alprazaline, McCoy gently laid a hand on Jim's shoulder in a loving gesture and mumbled, "no more harm, my friend."
Nurse Chapel was tired; there's just no other way to put it. Four hours of standing in place for a brutally intensive surgery was not only mentally draining, it took a toll on her body as well. By the time she had gotten the Captain settled in recovery, and seeing to her other patients, her lower back was screaming for attention. She decided to take a moment to sit down at her work station to relieve some of the tension, and in the process, catch up on the Captain's medical chart.
"Computer, medical log, Nurse Chapel reporting—Stardate 2534.3—patient name, Captain James T. Kirk—supporting entry to Chief Medical Officer McCoy's initial post-operative log for medical procedure of 1x5 inch synthetic skin graft to upper right quadrant of patient's back, directly under shoulder blade."
Chapel took a sip of water before proceeding.
"Captain Kirk's synthetic skin graft was successful. No complications occurred during transfer and immediate post-operative results show the graft area is receiving adequate blood supply. To ensure the survival of the new graft, diligent aftercare will be crucial. Additionally, physical therapy will be required to reduce scar tissue and regain full mobility. Current aftercare procedures include: Patient to be reclining on stomach with bio bed kept on an incline to relieve pressure on lungs. A stasis field is implemented to ensure patient's safety and immobility to surgical site for first three days. Standard wound dressing maintenance, to be changed 4 hours after surgery and then every 8 hours after that or sooner if required; alprazaline every 4-6 hours for pain management; numbing cream also to be applied 4-6 hours after surgery and subsequently reapplied once per day, as needed for one week. Support staff have been informed of current skin graft aftercare and procedures will be revaluated in three days or before if warranted."
Chapel massaged her lower back then continued.
"Captain Kirk's left bicep tendon is partially torn. Ice gel packs are being used to reduce swelling. Injury to be rescanned once patient is released from stasis field in three days. Computer, close with my signature and send updated medical profile to Chief Medical Officer McCoy and entire medical staff."
[Computer: "Medical profile updated and sent."]
Chapel took a moment of silence to inhale deeply. What a long day it had been. Her thoughts were consumed with the captain's accident.
"It was an accident," she murmured under her breath. "Still doesn't remove the guilt. Do no harm…that's our oath."
She sighed. "If I feel this way, I can only imagine what Leonard is going through."
After a quick bite to eat, Bones tried to take the edge off the effects of a long surgery by relaxing in his cabin, sipping on a little Tennessee Whiskey. Unfortunately, it wasn't helping. He even tried resting his eyes for a while, but still nothing. He then quickly found himself seated by Jim's side in a private recovery suite, watching him breathe. It had been about three hours since the surgery.
"Oh, Jim boy," Bones brought one of his crossed arms up to his chin and began rubbing it. "You should be sitting across from me enjoying a drink…not like, this." Bones flicked his hand towards Jim and looked over his friend's body in its awkward position. Jim's left side of his face was pressed into the red padding of the bed. Lips parted slightly as the pain meds were still in effect.
"And you would have been, if not for…" Bones didn't finish; he reached out to Jim but stopped and just dropped his hand in his lap.
Bones wanted ever so badly to touch Jim, his best friend. He needed to convey his emotions somehow, even if he couldn't come out and say them. However, he couldn't. Not with the stasis field activated.
Bones had to satisfy himself with only being near his friend. His eyes lingered on Jim and studied his face. In his unconscious state, he looked much like the kid he knew back at the academy. Oh, how he wished he could go back to those carefree days…where the worst thing he had to worry about was how many one night stands Jim would bring back to their dorm room and the subsequent afflictions he would have to remedy the following day. Now, it seemed like every mission ended with Jim being injured to the nth-degree.
"Hell, he wouldn't have been so bad off after this mission, if you had been more alert," Bones mumbled to himself and sighed.
"Leonard, it's just as much as my fault as anyone else's."
Bones snapped his head up to see Christine standing next to him.
"Oh, Nurse…sorry, I didn't see you there." Bones went to stand but was halted by a hand on his shoulder.
"Leonard, Christine will do," she said. "We're both off the clock now anyways."
Bones sat back heavily in his chair and Christine guided another chair next to his.
"If we're both off the clock, then why are we here?" Bones asked sarcastically.
"I think we both know the answer to that question," Christine said as she took her seat and glanced from her CMO to their favorite patient. "Doesn't get any easier, does it?"
"Especially when much of this could have be avoided." Bones followed her gaze to Jim.
"I know… I keep replaying the events in my head, and… I… I don't know what happened… I should've..." Christine didn't finish for the lump that suddenly appeared in her throat. "I'm so sorry, Len."
Bones turned his attention to Christine. "Chris, it's not your fault. I've been replaying the same incident in my mind too… but the truth is, what happened was a series of unfortunate events. All we can do is learn from it and move forward."
Even with the words leaving his mouth, it took a moment for what he was saying to be accepted as the truth.
"Thanks for saying that Len." Christine stood, straightened her skirt, and made her way around to the opposite side of Jim's bed. She grabbed a new dressing and began laying out the alprazaline and numbing cream.
"I thought you said you were off the clock." Bones noted.
"To be honest, I told the nurse on duty to check on the rest of the patients while I handled the captain's care," she said with an almost bashful approach as her eyes fluttered a side eye to the doctor.
Bones' tired face pulled into a slight smirk. "I guess we both had the same idea… Here, let me help you," he said as he stood up.
They lowered the bed from its slight angle and switched off the stasis field. They made quick work of peeling off the pressure pad from off his back to apply the numbing cream and replaced with a clean one. As to be expected, the wound looked swollen, tender and quite painful. They could feel Jim's body heat amplified from the surgical site as they gently spread on the cream.
"Looks good so far," Christine said. "Hot to the touch, but not too concerning this soon after surgery."
Bones nodded as he administered the alprazaline. "Agreed. So far, so good."
"Now, why don't we both go and get some actual rest…" Bones said as he looked up at Christine. "You know we'll need all our wits about us for when he wakes up and starts whining about being stuck in this stasis field."
"You do know your patient," she let herself grin a little at his words. "Ok, then… I'll be turning in just as I update his log in my office."
As she made her preparations to leave, she turned back and said, "Thank you, Doctor." To which Bones grinned and replied, "Thank you, Nurse."
"I guess we aren't ever really off duty, are we, Jim…" Bones turned his attention back to his friend. He took a moment to place his hand on Jim's right bicep. He squeezed ever so lightly to let him know he was there. He then switched on the stasis field and resumed the angled position of the bed.
"I'll see you bright and early in the morning, ok Jim boy?" he asked rhetorically.
To Bones' surprise he heard a breathy response from his friend, "goo…jaw 'ones…nigh."
Bones smirked and dabbed his eye with the base of his wrist.
"Get some rest, Jim," Bones watched as Jim's face fell slack from the recent dose of alprazaline and then shuffled off to his quarters for some much-needed recuperation of his own.
