Chapter 8: Hallmark Moment

Isara's POV

If I was in a story, I would have woken up in Bones's arms as he bravely carried me out of the rubble of the ship.

Obviously I didn't live in a story.

The first time I woke up, I had to blink several times to break the seal of dried blood which kept them shut. The pain in my legs had settled to a dull ache, but I could see that they were bent at an odd angle against the wall of the corridor. I tried to shift my weight and the pain spiked again. A trickle of fresh blood wound its way down beside my nose as my movements reopened barely-scabbed injuries.

Through the haze of pain I thought that I could hear a voice calling my name, but I might have just been hallucinating. All I managed to muster was a detached sort of amusement at my situation. The ship wasn't moving, I thought, but my dizziness made it difficult to tell. Had we crashed? Were we flying? The usual low thrum of the engines was eerily silent. The only sound—besides the probably-imagined voice—was the occasional spark and pop of malfunctioning electronics.

After a few seconds I blacked out.

Bones's POV

He had gotten Kirk to the hospital, so that idiot was going to be okay. All the rest of the crew were either safe and in recovery or too far gone for him to help. The only one still unaccounted for was Isara.

His heart clenched as he entered the damaged ship. Many of those who had fallen a long way through the ship had broken their necks, but a few had escaped with nothing more than bruises and a broken ankle. The ship had righted itself soon after Isara had fallen, but by that time he had been busy saving Kirk and hadn't been able to look for her. If Kirk caused Isara's death, by God, Bones was never going to speak to him again.

His chest tightened at the thought, forcing her name from his lungs. "Isara!" His voice echoed through the empty hallways. A small engineering crew was on board beginning repairs, but they were mostly down by the warp core. "Isara!" No response.

His breath was coming heavy now as the panic set in. Everything had happened so quickly, he should have looked for her sooner, he should have said something when he had the chance, he should have written. All he could think was how he should have done things differently—he kept jogging around wrong corners and backtracking. The old familiar Enterprise had become a dangerous maze and he was terrified of what he might find around the next bend.

He raced to the med bay before following the path that he had seen her fall. The unpleasant thought that she might be down any number of the branching hallways probed at the back of his mind, but for the sake of efficiency he didn't stray from the main hallway. He sped up to a brisk jog, still calling her name. It was becoming harder as his throat constricted.

"Isara!" He finally spotted her, folded tightly into a corner where the corridor made a sharp turn. Her eyes were just sliding closed when he caught sight of her but he could tell that she had barely been conscious to begin with. He ran up to slide his arms around her, gently pulling her away from the wall. As her knees straightened, his stomach clenched at the unnatural angle of her ankle. He stretched her out so that he could assess her condition, his movements efficient but gentle.

Her ankles were both definitely broken, but he couldn't get the exact logistics because his tricorder was back in the hospital. It looked as though she had rolled backwards from the bruising that he could see through her torn leggings. He made a small tear just above the ankle and slit them all the way up to better examined the bluish patterns on her legs. He couldn't be sure that she didn't have fractures in more places. After a moment, a blush crept up his neck as he realized what he was doing and he flicked his gaze back up to her face.

She had either hit her face on the wall or her own knees; there was a trickle of blood winding down from her hairline and another oozing from her left nostril. Other than that and maybe a concussion, she seemed to have escaped anything too traumatic.

Bones let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding and allowed his brusque medical manner to slip away. He gently eased his arms under her, smiling at the feel of her warm body pressed against his chest as he hefted her off of the ground. She groaned a little at the motion but didn't wake up. It still made his heart ache to see her head loll back, the crimson liquid changing direction to reveal rust-colored streak where it had stained her skin. He took a moment to just press his forehead against hers and take deep breaths. Warm, blurry tears pressed at his eyes and he felt inexplicably like laughing.

He had truly thought that he might never see her again. His Isara. If she had died without ever knowing what she had meant to him, he would never have forgiven himself. He decided to tell her as soon as she woke up.

New resolve straightening his posture, he brushed a swift kiss across her slack lips and began the long, stomping path out of the wreckage.

Isara's POV

The next time I woke up, my first thought was that I didn't want to see any more blood. If I opened my eyes, I was sure, I would be surrounded by the stuff. So I kept them closed.

It felt like I was in my bed back in Seattle. The sheets were crisp and clean, but I could feel the weight of a thick comforter above me. The light through my eyelids was dim and soothing, and I thought that I could hear the murmur of rain on the roof outside my window. This room smelled too much like disinfectant, though.

I groaned and cracked open an eyelid. Of course I was in a hospital—though after considering, I was surprised that I was still alive. The light was coming through half-closed blinds above my head and the sound that I had mistaken for rain was the whirring of machines monitoring my heartbeat and cognitive activity.

I looked down to make sure that both of my feet were still attached. Miraculously, they were. I twitched one, and the corresponding lump under the mattress jumped slightly to the left. I continued to run a systems check: arms fine, except for the IV tube stuck in one. Breathing normal.

"Testing, one two three." My voice was croaky from disuse, but still functioning properly. I wasn't even nauseated, so I decided to risk pushing myself up to my elbows. It took some time with many small movements and adjustments, but eventually I was propped up against the pillows. I relaxed into them, not in any particular pain but very, very stiff.

A glass of water with a straw sat on the table next to me. I sipped it cautiously, all too aware of the consequences of putting too much in long-empty stomach. As I reveled in the cool liquid, I caught sight of myself in a mirror across the room. My hair was stringy and flat with sweat and my face was pale except for dark circles under my eyes. At least there was no one else there to look at me.

The door to my room slid open and Bones stepped in, his crisp white hospital uniform reflecting the light from the window. "Isara, you're awake!" I sighed. No such luck. I smiled sincerely, though—there was no one else I would rather have with me when I was injured, except maybe Alanna.

"Hey, Bones." He winced at my raspy voice but came to sit by my bed. "Thanks for not amputating my legs."

He looked pained for a second before smiling gingerly. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah." We both sat in grim silence. I played with the paper edge of my hospital gown. "How long was I out?"

"About a day. We regenerated your legs easy enough, but you were pretty banged up in general. We decided to keep you asleep for a while and let you rest." Bones hesitated, then reached out a hand to hold mine. "You should be able to walk by tomorrow."

"Great." He raised an eyebrow at the sarcasm in my voice. "I mean, obviously I'm glad that I'm not paralyzed for life or anything, but I feel fine. Can't I try walking?" He stared me down until I slumped back, defeated. "Fine."

"For a doctor, you sure are a terrible patient."

I ignored him. "How did everyone else do?"

"Well, Kirk died…" Bones quickly continued when he saw the horrified expression on my face. "But he's back now. We gave him a transfusion from Khan to revive him. You were responsible, really. It was the tribble experiment that gave me the idea." I sighed, relieved. "All of the others on the bridge were fine; Spock, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu—even Scotty came back in the end. You missed quite the adventure."

I sat in quiet awe as Bones filled in the details of the amazing story. "You're kidding! You could hear him all the way up in the med bay?"

"Yeah, I didn't think the Vulcan had it in him." There was a slight reverence in his voice that made me smile. Apparently Bones had managed to dig up some respect for his superior officer. "But then there I was, trying to get away to look for you, and I just hear him bellowing Khan's name." I giggled slightly at the image of Commander Spock raising his voice for any reason, then sobered again for the rest of the somber story. When he finished, there was a long pause.

"Who knew I missed so much just being unconscious one day!" I sighed. Bones seemed startled but I was genuinely disappointed to have missed all of the action. "Where's Khan now?"

Bones's eyes were narrowed as he answered. "They're holding him here at Headquarters. He knows now that his crew is still alive—he's s agreed to donate as much blood as possible over a three day period and then be put back into cryostasis."

"I want to see him." Bones gaped at me with his best you must either be totally insane or suicidal or I heard you wrong face.

"What for?"

"Bones, I have an opportunity to examine a superhuman whose blood can apparently cure death. What doctor wouldn't jump at the chance? Besides," I continued as Bones raised an eyebrow, "I examined him on the ship. You'll be busy babysitting Kirk and they'll need someone with a basis of comparison."

"You're being awfully scientific about the man who just tried to kill you and everyone you care about."

I sighed. "How he reacted was terrible and wrong, but understandable. Do you think that Kirk would be able to negotiate rationally if he was threatened with the deaths of his whole crew?"

Bones leaned in, scowling. "Maybe not, but I don't think that he'd go on a killing spree!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "People will do unbelievable things when they've been backed into a corner. My point is that a little human compassion can go a long way."

"Towards a mass murderer?" he exclaimed, shocked.

"Humor me, Bones. He's restrained, it's not like he can do anything."

Bones eyed me suspiciously, but after I defiantly held his gaze for a few seconds he backed down. "Fine. But not until tomorrow evening; I don't want you collapsing just trying to walk down there."

I tried to hug him but winced when the IV tugged at my arm. "Thanks, Bones."

The next evening I was up and walking just fine. I had been off of the IV since that morning, solid food was causing me no trouble, and the medications had almost completely taken care of my lingering bruises. I easily got into a crisp white ground hospital uniform and marched down to the basement where Khan was being held.

The evening was thick with lingering summer heat and the smoke from the dying fires around the city. Even with everything I had gone through, I knew I had gotten off easy compared to the death and destruction some people had experienced. It was humbling to see the entire city banding together to rebuild with such firm determination.

I finally reached the foot-thick steel doors that barred access to Khan's cell. A dozen or so frightened-looking security guards fidgeted in front of them, glancing between me and their leader, who was seated at an info screen.

"Dr. Isara Jones, here to see Khan," I announced. The man glanced up at me, then pulled up my information without a word.

"Everything seems to be in order, Dr. Jones. I ought to warn you that he's manipulative at the best of times, but he's just experienced defeat. He'll be extra dangerous."

I nodded briskly. "I know. I was with him on the Enterprise, I just need to complete the data I was collecting on board."

The man perked up. "You serve on the Enterprise? I don't suppose you have any news of my brother—last name of Norwood, he's an engineer." He hurriedly continued when I began to shake my head. "It's just, I know he's in the hospital but none of us are allowed to see him. I don't know how he's doing."

"I'm sorry," I said. It hurt not to be able to help the man, but then I wasn't responsible for everyone on the Enterprise.

The guard slouched back down in his seat, face blank. "I can give you five minutes. After that, he's going to have another blood draw and you'll have to leave."

I nodded, then frowned when two of the guards tried to follow me in. "That won't be necessary, thank you." They stopped, probably more out of surprise than obedience, and I used the opportunity to open the first of the passcode-locked doors that barred my path.

Khan still wore his shredded black uniform. It looked like it wouldn't do much to protect against the cool air of the sterile white room, and I wondered why he hadn't at least been cleaned and clothed while he was sedated. He was stretched out on a kind of inclined platform, from which sprung the thick metal bands which encircled his limbs, torso, and head.

I simply watched him for a moment. His eyes slid languidly open at the sound of the door sliding shut behind me; it looked like he was heavily drugged. With hit metabolism, he must have been on a huge dosage. He blinked a few times as his dark eyes focused and slid around the room to rest on me.

"I'm sorry." I spoke quietly and without moving my lips, in case there were cameras watching. "I'm sorry that they treated you the way that you did." I stepped forward to take his pulse. "I'm sorry that they held your crew. I'm sorry that they treated you like an experiment gone wrong. I'm sorry that that idiot Marcus forced you to work for him."

I moved around him slowly like I was trying not to startle a wild animal. "I understand why you did what you did. It wasn't right and I can't forgive you—you did unspeakable things to people I care about very much—but I understand why you thought it was your only option." His arm tensed and he hissed out a breath as I pressed a needle into his forearm. The skin was peppered with punctures, some of which showed the beginnings of infection. I grimaced at the sight and set about cleaning them. "If I thought there was somewhere you and your crew could be dropped where you couldn't cause any problems, I'd suggest it to the Admiralty, but now you've backed them into a corner."

He responded, his lips also still. He was much better at it than I was. "Is that why you came here? To apologize for the actions of your superiors?" His fingers twitched once more as I reopened a poorly-healed cut. "You said it yourself: my actions were wrong."

Startled by this stark admittance, I laughed shakily. "What kind of doctor would I be if I didn't finish a scientific investigation once I started it? Your actions don't change my responsibilities as a medical professional," I said, not bothering to disguise my words. Apparently some of my colleagues needed to be reminded. "You have been forced into situations beyond your control. That's no excuse for your revenge plot, but none of us know how we'd react in your shoes. This all could have been avoided with a little more human compassion on both sides."

I leaned across him, ostensibly to insert a small needle into his other arm, but gave him a quick hug out of sight of the cameras. It was furtive and quick, mostly just my left arm snaking under his shoulder to squeeze him close. He tensed beneath me but did not protest. "There's a little bit to make up for the deficit."

When I pulled back, his eyes were shut and his mouth was set in a hard line. "It's not much," I hurried to add, "but you owe too. It's a start." The room fell into silence as I began packing up my supplies.

Just as I had turned to leave, Khan spoke. "What is your name?" His low, gravelly voice was hard to make out.

I hesitated for a moment. "Dr. Isara Jones."

"Your perspective is an interesting one," he said. Then his eyes slid open and met mine. They were piercing and deep, but up close they were perfectly human. Whatever genetic engineering had brought this man into existence had not changed that. I imagined he would have nodded at me if he had not been secured, so I nodded back and made my quiet exit. That felt like it had been a sort of "thank you."

As I walked slowly back to my rooms, I wondered how long it had been since he had experienced real human contact. Had he ever had a mother? I stumbled when I realized that he might never have been hugged before in his long, cold life. Even the most hardened of men needed it every once in a while.

Mind filled with various conflicting emotions, I headed home for another full night of sleep before I returned to my duties.

This is an announcement to all members of Starfleet assigned to the USS Enterprise. Repairs are estimated to take most of a year. The first two months will be given as shore leave in light of recent traumatic events. Crew members will then be assigned ground positions until repairs are completed. Thank you, that is all.

I strutted across campus, Bones at my side. Our hands were clasped tightly together and swung between us as we walked. The sun was out, repairs were beginning all over town, most of our patients were well on their way to a full recovery, and we were out of our uniforms and heading to meet an old friend.

"McCoy! Isara! Wait up!" Kirk chased after us, waving. Bones and I rolled our eyes in synchronization—we were getting good at that—but allowed him to catch up. "Can I come with you guys? Scotty still has to work, Spock's covering for me for the afternoon."

Bones glanced at me, but I smiled. "Sure. Just try not to be an ass."

Kirk smirked at Bones. "You two are so perfect for each other."

"ISARA!" The scream very nearly deafened me, but I smiled and waited for the distant figure to dash over to us. Alanna was soon close enough to throw her arms around me, nearly tackling me to the ground. I laughed as we separated. "Hey! Long time no see!" Bones put his arm around my shoulders and Alanna smiled knowingly at me. I grinned back.

"So! The gang's all together." Bones looked around at the three of us. "What should we do?"

Alanna yelled "Go clubbing!" and Kirk echoed the sentiment, if a little more tiredly.

"I honestly don't care, as long as we all do it together." I smiled around at everyone. It was a beautiful pause, until—

"Hallmark moment!" Kirk grinned mischievously at me through his exhaustion, and I charged him. He ran away and I gave chase, intent on slapping him. Bones and Alanna followed at a leisurely pace. I heard Alanna laugh.

"Same old, same old."

The second story in this series is called Isara Jones: New Friends and Old Flames. You can find it (and the upcoming third story) on my profile.

Please leave a review! As always, I hope that you enjoyed the story. :-)