Fray- Never Say Never

Spock moved through the campus in pursuit of the woman he loved and might have just lost due to an error in logic, an error in logic with a human but not just any human, his Nyota. For years, he had been a part of her life and she his. How could his life be gratifying without her? Memories flooded his mind. Memories of a tree house, a meditation fort, camp exercises and adventure, greenhouses, lovers hide-a-way and a home, their home but worst of all, the thought of him no longer able to hold her or the children they would someday have. It made his focus sharper!

The campus was covered with orange and brown holiday banners. Cadets were coming and going happily and no one seemed to notice him. He looked everywhere for her, her dorm room, the greenhouse,: he strolled through the male dormitory hoping that she wouldn't be finding comfort in another man's arms before he could find her to explain.

"No," he said shaking the thought out of his head. Rounding the corner, to his relief, she was not with the one person he feared, Kirk. Lieutenant Jr. grade Kirk was on the practice football field and Nyota wasn't in the stands or anywhere on the sports complex that he could uncover.

Spock stopped and approached the nearby communication relay to check his messages. There were three: One from Mr. Uhura worried that he hadn't heard from her; One from Captain Pike informing him that he had canceled his classes due to Nyota's medical condition. "Medical condition?" Spock's face showed nothing, but his muscles tightened and he placed his ear as close to the receiver as possible.

The third message confirmed the second, "Commander Spock, this is Dr. McCoy – your, uhm, Lieutenant Uhura is in sickbay and has asked for you to come and sign as her next of …kin." he said

The receiver swung on its cord as the Vulcan ran, not walked, as fast as he could towards the school's infirmary! Life around him was a blur and he cared not about the stares he received as he hit the infirmary doors because they were designed to slow down the hyper-focused, concerned loved ones of the patients inside. Glass shook but held firm and in time the doors opened enough to let him through.

Dr. McCoy, hearing the commotion, walked briskly out of his office. He placed his hands in the air as he said, " Whoa, cowboy, whoa now! Come with me, she is resting right now." Spock didn't want to go with Dr. McCoy; he just wanted to see his Nyota.

"Commander, You cannot see her now! Come with me or go away, you choose!" McCoy said sharply and pointed at his office door.

Spock 'centered' himself and walked into the office and did as instructed, sat in the chair opposite of the Doctor's desk. Dr. McCoy's desk was ordered and neat. Files were pristine and labeled in alphabetical order. Spock watched as he looked for something then swore under his breath and pushed the com button. "Nurse, I'm missing a patient file. Have you seen it!" he spit the words without any regard for the person on the other ends feelings.

"Oh, yes sir. I have it sir." a woman's voice stated nervously

Dr. McCoy looked rather shocked and confused, "Well, bring the damn thing back here!" he said, rising from his desk as the Nurse came into the room holding the file. Spock looked up in time to see Dr. McCoy snatch the file from the Nurse and silently chastise her for removing it from his office.

Spock sat up straight, his face solemn but if looks could kill, Nurse Chapel would have died right there! She caught the glance and chose to look away but the doctor caught both interactions. Dr. McCoy was trained to notice subtle interactions. That is what made him such an astute doctor.

Turning sharply his back to her, the Doctor spoke sternly after grabbing the file. She couldn't see his face but the meaning of his words was very clear. "Nurse Chapel, I'm taking you off this case. I'll reassign someone else to her care. You have the rest of the week off. Oh, and we will talk later, close the door on your way out."

Nurse Chapel raised one hand to protest but knew when Dr. McCoy used a certain tone that was it. So she simply said, "Yes, Doctor" and turned with a worried look on her face and left.

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Five For Fighting - 100 Years

Once the door was closed, Spock turned his attention to the doctor. "Dr. McCoy, may I inquire about Lieutenant Uhura?" he said stoically, bracing himself for whatever news the doctor would give him.

"No, Not until you sign this release form." The doctor responded curtly, placing Padd forms in front of Spock.

Spock quickly understood the "next of kin" permission to treat forms. He had seen his mother and father fill them out when someone in his family was ill but this was the first time he himself had been asked to sign papers for someone – his family.

Under the heading of "relationship to the patient" Spock did not hesitate, he quickly signed "fiancé" and returned the Padd to the doctor.

Looking at the Padd the doctor scanned it for all the proper items signed and secretly noted the relationship line. "This will be sufficient until her parents arrive. She wouldn't let me call them. Now, that duty falls to you." He then leaned in and said, "She is your fiancé and you treat her with such disregard for her physical well being?" his words full of anger.

"I do not understand doctor. Clarify" Spock said, his eyes gave him away before he could 'center' himself. He truly didn't understand.

The doctor took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Commander, but this little girl is special to a lot of people, me being one of them. So you can imagine when I found her so upset, standing on the sidewalk this morning, I was taken aback." the doctor said, softening his tone

McCoy continued, " She looked so tired and anemic so I took a quick scan and was surprised that her brainwaves showed that she hasn't been reaching REM sleep for days, maybe months!" he said looking at the Vulcan

Opening the file McCoy began reading, " Upon concluding the medical exam it was found that she suffered from sleep deprivation and a secondary infection caused by the multiple birth control methods." , closing the file sharply and looking directly at the Vulcan. "How in the hell did you not know she wasn't sleeping? I understand the infection; it was moving through her bloodstream. Thank goodness we caught it early but the not sleeping? I don't understand." he said, then turned to check a monitor "Excuse me, Mr. Spock" he clamored, moving quickly out the door.

Spock sat still until, seconds after the doctor left, Uhura summoned him with an urgency he had never felt come from her. Leaping to his feet, he raced past the doctor and the doctor's shouts to stop, turning down the long private hallway he unfortunately knew well. This was the private ward where he and Nurse Chapel were allowed to perform his "medical treatment" some years ago.

He was running so fast that he had to make a correction as he had passed the door. Turning sharply, he opened it and was shocked at her condition. An I. attached to her arm like an unwelcome Lxoyo worm, slithering in time to her thrashing body. She was sweating profusely, her hair slick to her head and her eyes wild. "Spock!" she screamed summoning him over and over.

Spock moved quickly, "I am here Nyota. I am here," he said, moving to the bed and placing his hands gently on her face. She is so hot. he thought to himself. He had to block her summons', they were sporadic and uncontrolled and he needed to be clear to help her.

He stood there and looked at her, trapped in the confines of the gray walls. No flowers, or sunshine, no pictures of any kind. Gray walls and blue hospital blankets and white sheets covered in perspiration! All of which were practical and logical but none spoke of the joy for life that his Nyota brought to people.

A few seconds later, but what seemed like hours to the Vulcan, Doctor McCoy and his new nurse rushed into the room with a hypo-spay and began running diagnostics. "Get out!" Dr. McCoy shouted at the Vulcan. "Nurse, get him out of here!' McCoy yelled again.

The nurse walked quickly to the bed and placed herself between Uhura and Spock. "Commander please, we need room to work on her. Please Commander, let us do our duty."she said very professionally

The last words helped to snap Spock too. "Duty? Yes nurse" he said slowly and gently removed his hands from Nyota's face. He turned reluctantly and moved to the hallway, jumping slightly at the noise the door made when it closed behind him.

He could not hear the doctor or nurse because the walls and doors were very well insulated and virtually sound proof. That was why his pon farr occurred here, but he wasn't thinking of that mistake. He was only thinking that logically he could continue his life without her. The question was would he want to? Spock leaned on the wall, closed his eyes and waited.

________

George Michael; Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

Dr. McCoy came out of the room, wringing his hands after washing them. Spock opened his eyes and waited for the doctor to give him some news about his Nyota.

The doctor turned and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Commander, I need to ask you some personal questions? Did…, did Nyota take medication to stay up, that you know of?" he asked, looking closely at the Vulcan

"No, Nyota did not believe in taking medicines unless absolutely necessary. Even if she was ill, she would meditate first before taking something. I don't have human medicine beyond the aspirin-like pain relievers in our suite," he said candidly, trying to look into the room at her "Why doctor?" he inquired, focusing on the question.

The doctor rubbed his head, "Well, because she had an adverse reaction to the medication designed to fight the secondary infection and barbiturate drugs she had somehow ingested. She was compromised." he stated almost apologetically. "The drug was somehow left off the screening report." he said, looking back at something or someone, Spock could not tell.

"Is she functioning properly, doctor? Is she going to be okay?" Spock asked quickly. He remembered his human mother asking him this same question over and over throughout his youth. He understood its importance now.

"Well, I think we have the interaction under control, but she will need to stay here to detoxify her blood stream and fight the infection. Nether drug is a gentle one on the body." Dr. McCoy stated gruffly. "She is not going to be feeling like doing anything for sometime so, I think we will keep her in a medical coma for the first few days and then ease her out of it." McCoy repeating the treatment to himself more than to Spock

"Mr. Spock, I don't know what's going on but someone has been giving her anti-sleeping pills, strong ones, not the kind you would buy over the counter. It's not illegal for her to take them so there will be no report but if she was not taking them herself, someone else has been feeding them to her." McCoy stated and then moved closer to Spock "She maybe in danger and you need to do your job and protect her or find someone who cares enough too!" McCoy said, his words like ice as he turned and walked back into the room, closing the door behind him.

Spock spied a chair and lumbered over to it. How could he be so irresponsible towards her well-being? He thought to himself. She had been very tired lately but he assumed that she would regulate her sleep as he did. He stated in his inner thoughts. "She is only human." He remembers his father saying that about his mother. He often felt it to be a negative statement towards humanity, but now he understood. His father was concerned about his mother's welfare. She is only human. He vowed never to forget that again

"I'm so tired." He remembers her saying to him several times for the past few week but she would not let him place her in a meditative state. "I'll just stay up and check the language lab reports with you." she said, yawning. He continued to reminisce and then chastised himself for being confident that she had valued her duty and workmanship after the very rough start in the early months. Now he was starting to wonder if those mistakes were hers or some unknown force working against them?

Had he been too busy to notice her or wrapped up in fixing Nurse Chapel's advances that he let the woman he should have been taking care of become ill in his proximity? he contemplated.

As a million of these thoughts ran through his mind, he could not 'center' himself. He needed to, however; Nyota needed him to be clear. Someone was trying to destroy her and he needed to find out who and why.

Standing, he made his way back out to the nearest public communication device. He needed to call Mr. And Mrs. Uhura and his mother and father and let them know about Nyota. Then he needed to see how many days Pike had cleared his schedule.

He would return to duty if ordered but he hoped, just this one time, that Pike had taken his teaching duty away from him. He could monitor the language lab by remote and have Riley deliver the reports to him directly to the infirmary. Nyota would expect him to stay and he really desired to be here with her. It was my job to take care of her, I have failed at this, I will not fail again! he said with conviction.

The communication device rang only two times before a frantic voice answered, "Hello, Ny is that you?" Mr. Uhura said, Spock could hear Chica in the background asking "Is it her? Is she okay?"

Spock took a deep breath, "Mr. Uhura, this is Spock. Nyota is in the medical wing due to a secondary infection, sleep deprivation and possible barbiturates interaction." He relayed the information to her father in as orderly a way as he could.

Mr. Uhura simply said, "Spock, did I just hear you say my daughter is in the hospital with multiple medical ailments?" his words smoldering

"Yes, I have been neglectful in my duty to her welfare. It will not happen again." Spock replied in Commander mode

Mr. Uhura replied in father mode, "You're damn right it won't. We'll be on the first flight out tomorrow morning. We're taking her home, Mr. Spock!" he seethed as the communication device went dead.

_________

Christina Aguilera - I Turn To You

Spock took the receiver and placed it back in its holder. They are taking her home? Never! Never again would he allow anyone to rip them apart! Nyota and he would make that decision when she was well enough! He hammered the words in his mind hard! The reaction of losing her was so acute that it turned his stomach and reminded him of something so vile that he had to close his eyes and push the memories back down. "Not now!" he said to himself . Noticing the time, he decided to wait and call his mother and father when they would be awake.

Checking on her one more time, he called Captain Pike and gave him an update, leaving out the barbiturates interaction. He required more information and refused to allow that to be entered into her records at all. Thankfully, Captain Pike had secured a sub-instructor for most of his lower classes but he would be required to teach one of the upper level classes; ironically one that Uhura could have easily taught for him because she had done so in the past. The irony was not lost on Spock.

Walking back to her room, he found a chair and placed it beside her bed. There were more tubes than before and more monitors. He reached over and softly moved the hair out of her face and was so very temped to meld with her. He wanted, needed to be closer to her but knew that he should not. Her system was already so weak, at meld might do more damage or worse so he moved his hands down her cheek and rested them finally on the covers besides hers.

He did not know how long he sat there before the first visitor arrived. "Excuse me, Mr. Spock? How is she doing?" Spock turned towards the voice and motioned for them to take his seat. It was Gaila.

"I heard she was sick but I didn't think she would look this bad," she replied in shock. "What happened to her? I know she was tired but she has always driven herself. She was moody and pouty but I just thought it was a phase she was going through!" she said through tears

"This room is so bland. I…I'm sorry. I'm just not used to seeing her this way." she moaned softly.

Spock's voice sounded weak because he hadn't spoken to anyone in hours. "Lieutenant Uhura is strong, she will persevere. I do need some assistance, Cadet Gaila." He said and then motioned for her to come out of the room with him.

"I believe someone has been giving Lieutenant Uhura barbiturates" he stated straightforwardly but watched as Gaila shook her head.

"Barbiturates? I don't know what that is. A drug of some kind, Commander?" Gaila inquired, biting her nails, her eyes wide with fear

Spock answered the question quickly, "Anti-Sleeping pills, caused her to be more emotional than she normally would have been. It also explains her problems that are worse than insomnia." he reported dryly

"Who would want to hurt her so badly that…." Then Gaila's eyes narrowed. "You don't think?" she questioned nervously.

"It is unclear and not highly likely but not entirely out of the question that your suspect and mine are the same. I need your assistance and covert operation is key." he responded.

Leaning closer to him, she placed her hands on her hips and said, " Yes, keep it quiet and find the bastard who did this. Got it!" Gaila said quietly.

Spock stood as tall as he could, "One more thing. Could you sit with her while I go back to our suite and get some supplies?" he inquired.

"Yes" she responded quickly.

Commander Spock turned and headed in the direction of the Officers' barracks. He made quick work of packing supplies and non-essential items and was back with his Nyota, within thirty minutes.

Gaila stood and watched the Vulcan do the most un-Vulcan things. He removed the blue hospital blanket and replaced it with the one his mother had made for him. He took the only picture he had of both of them and placed it on the bedside table. He had apparently stopped by the gift shop and brought her some flowers in a vase and placed them outside her door on a small table he had moved from the hallway and the most surprising thing, he laid two books down on the bottom of the bed to read to her while she was in the medical coma. Gaila peeked at the titles, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, Vulcan edition and Romulan, all three dialects – 2nd edition.

Gaila looked lovingly at the Commander. He may hide his feelings but when it really counts, he knows how to show love. she thought to herself

"I know what to do Commander. I'll get the information you seek," she swore, as she rose from the chair, bending over to touch Nyota's hand. "Oh and Commander Spock, don't be to hard on yourself. I didn't see it ether." she spoke comfortingly to him

Spock nodded and Gaila swiftly departed.

tbc

Okay, so I'm going to take a wee bit of a break to get the real world under control. I'll be back though. Oh and don't worry, we will get the dirty…. Well, see ya soon.

.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,904677, For information regarding the effects of anti-sleeping pills

Don't feel too bad if you were mad at Nyota's behavior. Spock didn't even pick it up.

Tondelayo (smile)