Two hours later the man was laid in a bed and wired to Sick Bay's monitoring system, where his all his vitals, nutrient intake and level of discomfort were to be monitored twenty-four hours a day. Dr. McCoy had just finished a full examination of the mysterious man and returned to his niche in a far corner of Sick Bay to record his findings.

"Medical Report; Stardate 3087.6

I have completed my examination of the strange man that came aboard the Enterprise today. There is evidence on his chest, legs, and arms of third degree burns, but by the time I got him wired to the monitoring system they had made significant progress without any medical attention. I underwent the standard preliminary examinations of the patient's vitals. His heart beat is almost undetectable and I could not detect any breathing. He is hooked up to the life support system, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. Judging by his vitals, he appears to be nearly dead, yet his tissue is healing at an alarming rate. I believe he is in a self-induced coma; regenerating comas are common in some species so they may devote all their energy to the healing process.

What I discovered in the physical examinations was astounding. This man is not human, though he has every appearance of being one on the outside. For one, his body temperature is below freezing! Yet his heart is still beating, though barely. I counted twenty-six ribs instead of 24…and even the electronic readings backed me up on that. I did not miscount. I am still unable to locate the lungs. They aren't a major organ anywhere. Instead, this man has two hearts; one on the left like a human's and one on the right where his lungs should be. I also discovered two livers. All other organs are the same as a human's, but the appendix is missing. I have collected a sample of this fascinating creature's blood. It is thicker than a human's and slightly orange in color. I will report my discoveries on that later. Examination closed."

Dr. McCoy leaned back in his chair, giving his computer a puzzled look. He glanced back towards the comatose man. No sign of movement, life, anything. Not knowing his species, he couldn't back up his regenerative coma theory. McCoy hoped to God this man would live. He longed to talk to him; to find out what sort of creature he was, to learn more about the extraordinary physiology of his species! This man made his research on Vulcan biology dull as a doornail.

Late into the night, Captain Kirk tracked down Dr. McCoy in the laboratory as he peered into his high-powered microscope.

"I see you're up late, Bones. How are your examinations coming?"

"This man is a biological gem, Jim!" McCoy exclaimed. He never took his eyes from the sample in front of him. "I mean, there is no blood type! There are no A or B antibodies…no antibodies that I can distinguish. And the structure of the hemoglobin is very unusual. I've never seen such a structure. If anything, it makes his blood highly regenerative. Look here Jim! You can see the cells reforming and dividing. This man's metabolism must be off the charts…"

The Captain placed his eye on the looking glass. The microscope automatically adjusted the focus. He could see the hundreds of little blood cells, dividing rapidly into thousands, millions, over and over. Kirk was not a medical man, but the little he remembered from biology courses at the Academy was enough to find significance in those hyperactive little cells. "Hmm…have you determined his species?"

"No! I have been examining charts of every known alien species all night and there is no match anywhere. I really don't think we've encountered anything like him before. He has two hearts!"

"Well I can't wait until this man wakes up." Kirk withdrew from the microscope. "I would love to know what he has to do with that planet and you will be free to grill him on the biology of his species. But in the mean time, you should get Mr. Spock in here and show him what you've found. I bet he'd be interested. Good night Bones."

"Night Jim."

Alone, among the low hum and rhythmic beeps of the machines, lay the unknown man as stiff and cold as a corpse. Indeed, with his bodily temperature now touching -16 degrees Celsius, the body froze whatever touched it. Yet, if his body were to be cut open, one would find it burning. Deep inside, the cadaver's blood was boiling; its cells in a frenzy of dividing, separating, and dividing again. Inside, the cells went to work repairing damaged DNA and on the outside, if one watched for long enough, the raw, discolored yellow and white patches of severely burned flesh could be seen undergoing all the stages of healing in the course of a night. The afflicted patches opened at the cracks, oozing a discolored liquid, blackened, scabbed, and fell away. It took only ten hours for new healthy skin to form and emerge with the old layer shed around the body like a grotesque halo.

The eyeballs could be seen rolling under the skin. Occasionally the long thin fingers shifted or the lip twitched. Surfacing from the thick darkness, he was aware of the air around him and that the smells and sounds of his environment were unfamiliar. He sent conscious signals from his brain to both hearts, starting them up again at will. Without ever exhaling, he mentally sighed as he felt the warmth of his blood circulate through his veins again. He became conscious of breath as the respiratory system surged and with a gasp he came back to life.

His eyes snapped open and he bolted upright, heaving as he engulfed all the air he could. "HA!" He exclaimed, beaming from ear to ear as he threw the blanket back. He examined his hands, arms, chest, legs, and felt around his face; completely healed.

His skin was covered in patches with wires connecting him to a life supporting computer system. With a chuckle, he yanked the pads from his skin. The computer went wild, blaring a warning siren as its patient quitted its care without authorization.

"Nononono! Be quiet! Shhh!" The man hissed to the machine, hands fluttering over the controls. He looked around the room frantically. "Where's my screw driver!"

Just then, he heard the sound of hissing air and the doors to the medical room slid open as two figures ran in.

Well here's to another chapter! The Doctor rises! By the way, all my information on Galifreyan phisiology came from the TARDIS index file. Incase you're interested. :)

Criticism and reviewing are strongly encouraged. Thanks!