A/N: I am sooo sorry for the unforgivable delay in updating this story. Between school and writer's block, I've been unable to do much. I hope this update doesn't disappoint. I kind of like it, but I would love to read your thoughts. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I'd love to read them too!
McCoy was alone for the first time in 10 hours. Ever since the incident, he'd been under constant supervision. At first, he'd welcomed it, more scared out of his wits than he cared to admit. He did not want to be left unattended with this creature attached at his his shoulder.
However, now that the shock and adrenaline had ebbed, he was grateful for the solitude. His arm was still strapped down, though it hadn't moved since Nurse Chapel gave it that large dose of sedative.
He stared at it now, wondering how on earth he got himself into these dire situations. Well, actually, it wasn't usually him that was in the situation, but someone else that he had to get out.
"It had to happen to me eventually," he sighed, letting his head fall back on his pillow.
Doctor Leonard McCoy...
McCoy lifted his head again, glancing around. He hadn't heard anyone come in the room. If someone was calling him over the intercom...
He groaned, reaching over with his right arm and pushing the button. "McCoy here."
No one answered for a moment. "Yes, doctor? Did you need something?" Chapel's voice asked.
"I don't need anything," McCoy said as patiently as he could.
"Then what can I do for you, sir?"
"Someone called me over the intercom."
Another pause. "I'm sorry, doctor, but no one called you that I am aware of."
"I heard them," McCoy insisted.
"Perhaps it was the Captain, sir. Or Mr. Spock?"
"It was a woman's voice I heard," McCoy said.
"It wasn't me, doctor. I'm the only one in Sick Bay at the moment, and I can't imagine anyone else who would call, sir."
McCoy swallowed, an eerie suspicion creeping over him. "Me neither. Maybe I just thought I heard something."
"You are very tired, sir. Why don't you try and get some sleep?"
"Thank you, nurse, I will. McCoy out."
The intercom went quiet, and so did McCoy. He stared at the dim ceiling, waiting, listening. He knew he'd heard that voice...a woman's voice. He'd heard it clear as day.
After several long moments, McCoy whispered, "Who are you?"
Doctor Leonard McCoy. You speak to me fearfully. Why?
"Maybe because you tried to strangle me," McCoy suggested dryly, though humor was the furthest thing from his mind. He tried to keep his breathing steady.
I must apologize, Doctor Leonard McCoy, for my earlier conduct. It was an unethical approach to my predicament.
"You think?" McCoy muttered.
We own, however, a similar situation, Doctor Leonard McCoy. We are both in want of a body.
"In want of a body!" McCoy cried, "It's my body! I have every right to it."
Does not age take precedence? I have existed a thousand years before your ancestors were conceived. It is the way of my kind to reincarnate.
"It is the way of your kind to murder innocent forms?" McCoy asked. He stared at his arm, strapped to the bed. It felt strange to be talking to it as though it were a living form, though, in truth, it was.
We have preexisted with willing participants; however, I took by your actions that you were not interested in such a compromise.
"You might have asked," McCoy said sarcastically.
Again, I ask that you accept my apologies, Doctor Leonard McCoy.
McCoy grunted. "What if I refuse your 'compromise'?"
Then, I will be forced to exterminate you and assume your identity. We are wise beings, our kind. We do not merely do away with our host's knowledge, but absorb it.
"It doesn't bother you that I am male?"
You refer to my voice. My kind does not recognize sexes. We simply exist. I have adopted the voice of my previous incarnation. A woman by the name of Doctor Grace Fellow. The host body was killed by drowning, and was buried by the path. When the body decomposed, my being was reincarnated as a plant. And for obvious reasons, I searched for another form.
"Which so happened to be me," McCoy sighed.
Indeed. I hope now you understand and appreciate my predicament?
"Understanding something and appreciating it are two different things," McCoy said, "And in no way do I 'appreciate' you trying to steal my body."
There is no other way for me to survive.
"But couldn't you assume a different form? Or..." McCoy wracked his brain desperately.
I would happily accept an alternative if it met my criteria.
"I have friends, scientists, who might know of one," McCoy said, "they just need time."
If I agree not to assume you, will you have the device removed?
McCoy hesitated. "How long will you give me and my team?"
Seventy-two human hours. Will that suffice?
"Will I be in contact with you?"
Always. I hear all.
McCoy shuddered. "Then how is it only now I can hear you?"
Breaching the device was a difficult task, and before, you couldn't hear me. My DNA was too fractured.
"I will remove the device," McCoy said after a few moments, "but you must agree to stay contained to my...arm."
Of course, Doctor Leonard McCoy. My kind is not prone to breaking promises.
McCoy swallowed. "I hope not."
A/N: Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I think I've gotten in over my head in sci-fi. Yikes! I hope you all enjoyed this update, and I hope to update again WAY sooner than this one.