Disclaimer: I don't own anything Star Trek it is all property of Gene Roddenberry, J.J. Abrams, Paramount, and whoever else owns rights to the franchise. I am not making any profits off of this so please don't sue me.
. Author's note- Please listen to Elizabeth: The Golden age Soundtrack track no. 19 "Walsingham death bed" while reading this chapter.
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Chapter 10
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It was very quiet now in the Sickbay of the USS Enterprise. It was almost dead silence all around, the charged drama of the day's events having long since passed into memory. Now all was calm if somewhat empty now in the ship's medical facility with nearly all of it's staff having gone off duty. It was considerably late in the hour now according to Starfleet regulation time. Most everyone on board the docked Star Ship had long since succumb to the pull of sleep. Now only a few people were still awake at this ungodly hour besides the Night Shift crew who were working.
Among these sleepless individuals was the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Leonard McCoy who was at the moment standing by the desk in his office pouring himself a small glass of strong brandy from his secret stash. There was a light tremor to McCoy's hand as he poured some of the deep amber liquid into the small shot glass. Once he'd filled the glass to his liking McCoy put the bottle away and picked up the shot of brandy.
" Dammit." He swore softly under his breath before quickly slugging back the shot.
The alcohol burned weakly down his throat , but the Doctor simply couldn't bring himself to enjoy it like he usually did. Now it just left a sour taste in his mouth. Wincing a little Dr. McCoy simply shook his head and then slowly turned his gaze to the dimmed Sickbay where there was only one soft light coming from the door to the recovery room at the far end of the place. With a small sigh McCoy forced his legs to move. He walked out of his office and made his way past the tables for examining and operating. He came to stand at the threshold of the door to Recovery and let the soft light from inside of it wash over him. Taking in a deep breath through his nostrils, Dr. McCoy silently leaned against the door frame and let his gaze go to the Recovery room's single sleeping occupant.
Dr. McCoy felt a dull twinge inside his heart as he stared at the still ghostly pale and far too still form of Jim Kirk where he lay in one of soft recovery bed, clad in a set of thin medical scrubs and with the bed's covers tucked in very snug around him.
With a moments hesitation Dr. McCoy stepped into the room and made his way over to where his friend and Captain lay. He pulled up a chair by the side of Jim's bed and wearily sank down into it. McCoy stared at Jim's pale yet blissfully unconscious features, he took in the steady rise and fall of the young mans chest. The monitor that hung above Jim's head beep softly in time with the young Captain's vital signs.
All was quiet now and in relative stillness.
McCoy leaned in closer to Jim and focused his sense of hearing on the sleeping man's breathing. It made the Doctor all the more unhappy when he heard the faint but telling rattling hidden beneath the sounds of Jim inhaling and exhaling air. Now along with already having survived through a hostage ordeal and an emergency surgery, Jim had to deal with an infection that had developed in the hours after the internal bleeding had been stopped. McCoy looked up to one of the chronometers that was part of Jim's vitals monitor and saw that it was getting close to time for Jim's next dosage of antibiotics. With lingering eyes on Jim's unresponsive form McCoy slowly rose from his seat and made his way over to one of the medical tables were one of the nurses had left the prepared hyposprays. McCoy picked up one of the sprays leaving only two more to be administered after three hour intervals.
The Doctor quietly made his way back to Jim's side. He stood over the sleeping blond and leaned in close, bringing the tip of the hypospray to the side of Jim's neck.
" Sorry about this Jim." Apologized McCoy softly as he pressed the spray to the unconscious man's neck and and pressed the button to inject the medicine with a small hiss.
Jim Kirk who hated hyposprays with a passion didn't so much a twitch now, he remained completely unresponsive. With a soft sigh Dr. McCoy set the hypospray down on the nearby night stand by the recovery bed and then retook his seat. He rubbed a weary hand over his pale face, feeling like in the course of a few hours he had aged a whole decade. Naturally McCoy's eyes went to Jim's sleeping form once again. For the longest time McCoy simply sat their and stared at Jim, who simply breathed softly in the silence. The dim light of the room made him seem even more ghostly pale, almost like a corpse.
As he sat their, McCoy heard the words that had been haunting him for all these hours that had passed echo through his mind.
" Has Captain James Tiberius Kirk bled enough for all of you to find him innocent now?"
These words had been spoken by a Lieutenant who in the course of a few seconds had lost all the respect she had had for the Enterprise's senior crew. McCoy could still feel those deep amber eyes as they had glared at him and at the others. Her soft voice still rang in his ears. And to be quite honest with himself, Dr. McCoy could not find any way of answering the question the voice was continuously asking. How could he answer when he knew in his heart that Jim Kirk was not supposed to have bled a single drop at all to prove his innocence.
It had been all of them after all who had made their assumptions and thought the worst of a great Captain, a best friend, but most importantly, a good man.
McCoy was so lost in his dark and guilt-ridden thoughts he didn't notice when a new person quietly made his way into the Recovery room.
" Doctor?" Asked a deep voice.
" Jesus!" Swore McCoy as he nearly fell out of the chair he was sitting in. He quickly managed to avert that undignified outcome by gripping the edge of Jim's bed.
The Doctor turned, ready to let fly an angry but hushed rant when instead his voice died in his throat as he saw who it was standing by the doorway.
" Spock." Said McCoy quietly as he eyed the tall half-Vulcan where he stood with his arms at his side and a veiled look of uncertainty gracing his usually blank countenance.
The Vulcan nodded wordless and then made his way over to where McCoy and Jim were. Spock stood tall and silent as he looked from McCoy to Jim's sleeping face and then back to the Doctor.
" How is he Doctor?" Asked Spock softly.
" I just gave him his latest dose of antibiotics, he's still out cold but, he's holding his own. Thank God for that much." Sighed Bones and he straightened up and then leaned back in his chair. He looked to Sock and gestured to one of the other chairs in the room.
" Pull up a chair Spock." He said quietly.
Spock nodded mutely and then wordlessly brought another chair over to the one McCoy was sitting in and smoothly sat down in it. The two men sat in silence, simply staring at their recovering Captain for several long moments. It was McCoy who finally broke the silence between them.
" So, have you checked in with Command and informed them of the situation?" Asked the Doctor.
Dark eyes turned to meet his gaze as Spock answered.
" Affirmative, I have contacted Admiral Pike and informed him of the situation, at my own discretion I left out most of the unsavory details. Admiral Pike assured me that this incident would be handled with the uttmost confidenciality and respect to Captain Kirk's privacy." Said Spock mechanically.
" Well, that much is good to know. How about the Antarian, what have they done with that evil son of a bitch?" Asked McCoy, everything about him hardening at the mention of It'vek.
" Now formerly Ambassador It'vek was treated for some rather painfully severe but surprising all together non-fatal injuries. Though both of his arms had required surgery to repair the compound fractures that had been dealt to them and he will still require extensive reconstructive surgery to repair the massive amount of damage that has been done to his face, there was no brain damage and no other internal injuries save for his ribs. It appears that despite how badly he had been beaten, the one who had beaten him was keenly aware of where to hit in order to get maximum damage and still not cause death to occur. It'vek is now being detained in the Star base's brig with a full security guard his every move. They will not allow for him to escape" Explained Spock.
" Jesus, that sure is one fiery red-head of a Lieutenant." Sighed McCoy with a ghost of a smile for he instantly knew who it was that had beaten It'vek to a pulp.
" Indeed, Lt. Mirna Bansali has shown a great aptitude for hand to hand combat." Agreed Spock.
" She also knows how to put the final nail in the proverbial coffin. Spock, I can still hear her words in my head. I can still see those eyes glaring at me. Now I kinda wish she had knocked all of us on our asses instead of looking at us all like that before she stomped away with Commander Wilson." Said McCoy.
" For once Doctor, I find that I concur with you." Said Spock softly before both he and McCoy looked at Jim were he slept on in obliviousness.
" We screwed up big this time Spock, I don't think he's ever gonna forgive us." Said McCoy sadly as he eyes Jim's sleeping face.
" We shall have to gage his reaction to us when he wakes up but I will concur that it was indeed a grave error on my part and subsequently yours and the rest of the senior crews. It will be very difficult for him, and for all of us to get past this incident." Said Spock with just a hint of sadness coming through behind his deep almost black eyes.
" I get the feeling he won't be happy to see any of us when he does wake up." Sighed McCoy as his saddened eyes continued to gaze at his pale and hurt friend.
While Dr. McCoy and Spock were together by a sleeping Jim Kirk's side in the Sickbay recovery room other members of the Enterprises crew lay awake with sleep stubbornly eluding them.
In the Enterprise's engine room Lt. Cmdr Montgomery Scott worked diligently on the ships engines, checking and rechecking all systems and equipment parts. Most everyone else had gone to bed hours ago but for the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, sleep would not come because his mind was plagued by vivid images of the horrible event that had transpired during the day. From the images of what the recording device had revealed to finding the Captain in the hands of that vile Antarian, to watching that same Antarian get reduced to a bloody mess on the floor, and then seeing the fiery bright amber eyes of the one who had saved Captain Kirk's life and done all but ripped apart It'vek gazing upon all of them with a look of utter disbelief and disgust.
Scotty could still hear that red-haired woman's words.
Has Captain James Tiberius Kirk bled enough for all of you to find him innocent now?
" Aye, I know he is innocent now. But I'll ne'er forgive meself for not thinkin' that from the very start." Said Scotty to himself before he dove back in to checking the wires of the Enterprise.
In the ship's deserted mess hall, Sulu and Chekov sat at a table, each nursing a cup of coffee that had long since gone cold. They didn't really have much to say. A lot had already been said and now in the dying embers of a day filled with fear, heartbreak, anger, harrowing situations, and a whole a whole lot of blood being spilled by both human and Antarian. Now Chekov and Sulu sat together and wondered what they could possibly say that could describe what they were feeling inside. They were also wondering just what they could say to the Captain they had so wrongfully treated with such disrespect while being totally blind to what had happened to him and the sorry physical state it had left him in.
" We should all be shipped off to a penal colony for what we've done." Said Sulu finally.
" No, ve should be sent to someplace ewen vorse than that." Said Chekov shakily.
In both of these men's minds, like the minds of the others, Lt. Mirna Bansali's parting words haunted them without mercy.
Had their Captain bled enough for them to realize his complete innocence. Yes, to Chekov and Sulu he had bled more than enough for anyone's liking. Now these two young men to who sleep had shown her rejection to, they believed whole heartedly that they were the one's who deserved to bleed for what they had done. They deserved to bleed, not their Captain.
While these two sat in desolation, all the way up in her quarters Lt. Nyota Uhura lay in her bed and stared up blankly at the plain ceiling above her. She had climbed into bed hours ago and yet here she lay wide awake. Her guilty conscience, much like those that the other members of the Enterprise's senior staff was not allowing for sleep to take hold. The second Uhura would close her eyes she would either see the image of her Captain's brutal violation at the hands of the Antarian, or she would see him the way he was when that same Antarian had taken him hostage, ghostly white and looking like he had been fast on his way into the arms of Hades.
With a small noise of frustration Uhura threw back the covers she was laying under and quickly climbed out of her bed. Pale blue eyes and deep fiery amber eyes were continuing to haunt the communications officer's mind. Uhura made a B-line for the bathroom attached to her bedroom. She stopped in front of the sink and pressed the button for some cold water to douse her face with. Once that was done Uhura quickly reached for a towel to dry her face with. As she stood up straight and dabbed the towel to her face, Uhura froze when her eyes caught her reflection in the mirror that stood above the sink.
The person who stared back at her was hardly the image of what Uhura normally saw herself to be. Her eyes were still slightly puffy and red, in the light her skin looked dull, and her eye, her eyes reminded her of a condemned prison just before their execution. Uhura slowly turned away from her own reflection and walked out of the bathroom. She made her way over to the bed and slowly sank down onto the edge of the soft mattress. As she sat words that had long since been said rose up in a loud, disjointed cacophony inside her head.
As she sat there Uhura could not find an answer to the question. Only more questions rose up inside of her. Like how she could have been so cruel and so stupid? Why hadn't she asked the Captain for his side of what had happened between him and Spock? Why hadn't she been there for him like he had been there for her and the others on countless occasions?
So many question but not an answer in sight.
That was how all of these sleepless individuals spent the remaining hours of the night, asking themselves why they had allowed all of this to happen to their Captain.
And in the very wee hours of the morning in the Sickbay where Commander Spock had already left and Dr. McCoy had just dozed off into a state between being really sleep and being fully awake still. He was totally unaware that eyes of the patient who's bedside he sat beside had begun to move rapidly beneath closed lids.
Signaling the return to consciousness.