The sun set on the unnamed planet. Spock and the captain were still stranded.
"Captain,"
"Yes, Spock?"
"I believe that the logical course of action has changed. We must search for resources tomorrow. You cannot function for much longer without sustainance. I can function for longer than you can, but we simply cannot survive if we stay here."
"I... agree."
The captain clearly wasn't well. He was flushed and was sweating excessively. He could barely think, Spock could tell, and was weakening.
"Captain, I suggest another mind meld. You will need my help to survive, both mentally and physically."
The captain nodded, obviously exhausted, dehydrated, and starving.
Spock formed the link, and flinched at the captain's true state. Thoughts were in disarray, cognitive abilities foggy, temperature rising. He felt the captain's achiness, pain from bruises and cuts from struggling with the creatures, and hunger pains. Spock realigned Kirk's thoughts, made his mind more clear, but not much, he didn't want to damage either his or the captain's mind. He could feel order coming from disorder, Kirk himself returning. He pulled away.
"Where am I?"
"You're on the planet that we were exploring. Please don't attempt to move, you've been injured by some of the creatures here. You have multiple bone fractures; specifically three ribs on each side, as well as numerous wounds that need to be attended to. "
Kirk complied. It was good to be himself again.
"Captain, you're still unwell. You need to sleep. Try to rest."
Kirk tried to sleep, but simply couldn't find rest.
Spock noticed. He came closer and issued a telepathic suggestion to sleep.
Several minutes later, Kirk was asleep.
Spock opened the emergency medical kit that he hardly remembered bringing. He performed another meld to ensure Kirk's unconscious state, but issued a mild sedative that would last for several hours while he examined and treated Kirk. He checked Kirk's heart rate just to be sure that the sedative really was working. Spock used the tricorder to ascertain his captain's injuries. He lifted the captain and sat him on his sleeping area, then proceeded to remove his command yellow shirt, then his black undershirt. He used the bone knitter on the ribs, then examined the wounds around the breaks. Several were inflamed and draining yellow pus. The Enterprise's stoic first officer was immediately alarmed. The captain's condition was not encouraging, to say the least. He used the sterilizing solution in the kit then used the dermal regenerator. He sighed in relief, but realized that his task wasn't over. He examined Kirk's arms. Nothing out of the ordinary. The dreaded part of treating his captain was yet to come. He removed Kirk's trousers, muttering an apology to his unconscious superior officer. He repeated the procedure he had used to treat Kirk's other wounds, then used the tricorder to make sure that he hadn't missed any fractures. He hadn't. He flipped the captain onto his side to examine his back and legs, then used the tricorder. He treated several cuts on Kirk's lower back and a few on his calves, then flipped the captain back over. Just as he was beginning to put Kirk's trousers back on, he began to wake. Spock immediately sedated him again, not wanting to have to explain the situation. He had heard rumors of Kirk's affections towards his person, but only viewed Kirk as a brother, a close friend, his captain. He suspected that Kirk felt the same way. He felt uncomfortable even performing first aid on Kirk, but that discomfort was alleviated when he had redressed Kirk again.
Spock gave Kirk an analgesic hypospray, then set off.
Spock went out to find water. He found the 'banana' plant and created a sort of large bowl from some of the leaves. He could only hope that it would be watertight and stay watertight long enough to retrieve water and bring it to his captain, and , if any was left, himself.
Spock stopped, thinking he heard running water hitting rocks. He jogged toward the sound, and found that he was correct. He gathered some water, and, amazingly, the bowl was sufficiently waterproof, and watertight. He jogged back to the hut.
In less than two minutes, Spock arrived at the hut. He saw that his captain was still asleep. He merely sat down and tested the water. Water was necessary, but it would be worse than water deprivation to be poisoned by the very water that could have saved your life. He didn't want to poison his captain. Better to poison himself because at least he could treat his own symptoms using biofeedback. Kirk could not in that he hadn't been trained, and may not have been able to in any case.
About twenty minutes later, Spock still didn't feel any ill effects from the water. He decided to wake the captain and give him water. Spock shook the captain gently.
"Sorry to disturb you, Captain, but you need water. I have some here. I will assist you if necessary."
Kirk ended up needing help sitting up at a slight angle to drink. Spock supported him slightly and gave the bowl to Kirk. Kirk spilled some water on his face and Spock wiped it off gently with his own sleeve. Kirk was surprised that Spock seemed to be so compassionate in spite of not showing much emotion at all any other time. Kirk finished drinking and Spock took the bowl and gently lowered Kirk to the ground again. He then sat and observed the captain, looking for any possible change. He noticed little change, the captain still had a fever and still needed nourishment, and rest. Spock sent the captain another telepathic suggestion to sleep, and it worked as well as it had before.
Spock soon left in search of the 'banana' plant. He roamed the forest, systematically searching for the plant.
After twenty or so minutes. Spock found a 'banana' plant with fruit on it. It did indeed look like a real Earth banana plant. He reached up and grabbed a 'banana' that seemed ripe, then picked another. It began to rain heavily, and Spock decided to make another larger water bowl to collect rainwater. He finished the bowl. He then ran back to the hut.
When Spock arrived at the hut, he sat the bowl outside. He decided to sample a 'banana'.
He was tired. He didn't know why, and knew that the captain needed to be guarded in case the creatures returned. He couldn't fall asleep until his captain was well, and awake.
However, Spock's hearing was superb, he could fall asleep and wake to the sound of someone approaching from a quarter of a mile away. He was strong enough to fight several of the creatures at once, and could probably fight them for several hours. He would be able to sleep for a while, and even if many creatures gathered around, he could still fight them off. Reasoning in such a way, he allowed himself to sleep.