Chapter 5

"Can… can….can't fee-fee-feel…" McCoy wrapped his arms around Jim's body, pulling the blanket tighter and rubbed his hands up and down to add heat, all the while pulling Jim closer to his only heat source: the doctor's body.

"Stay calm, Jim," McCoy whispered. "I can't knock you out so stay calm and fight through it."

"No-no-no mo-mo-more c-cold pl-places," Jim was shaking constantly his eyes hooded and dazed. "N-n-no m-m-more."

Sulu walked over and sat down next to him. McCoy looked at Sulu as Jim's shivering heightened for a few seconds before returning to its continuous shake. "Where's Spock?"

"He is discussing how long it takes for storms to normally go through," Sulu glanced at Jim. "He doesn't look very good."

"That's because he's getting worse," McCoy muttered darkly. "He's lost feeling from his hands almost to his elbows. His feet were covered so we are only worried about his hands. But at any rate we're dealing with possible irreversibly damage to his hands. He needs to be back on the Enterprise."

"B-b'nes. Sc-sc-scold," Jim whimpered. "S-s-so c-c-c-cold."

McCoy rubbed Jim's arms and chest, trying to keep the blood circulating and his temperature up. He whispered something in Jim's ear, something that caused him to relax. Sulu frowned and looked away, like he was witnessing something private. "Can I do anything?"

"You can switch places with me and keep him calm and awake," McCoy said starkly. Sulu didn't have time to reply as Jim was shifted, like brittle foil into his lap. "Try to keep his temperature up. I'm gonna go get them into trying to transport some supplies down."

Sulu opened his mouth to ask a question but McCoy was already blundering off towards Spock. He looked down as Jim heaved a shaky breath and coughed. Sulu tentatively wrapped his arms around Jim, rubbing the blanket up and down like McCoy had done. "B-b-b'nes…"

"It's Sulu, Captain," He said softly.

"Su-su-sulu…?" Jim paused dumbly. "H-h-hi. S-s-scold."

"Just a bit, Captain,"

"Scuse me! Coming through!" Christine was running through the hallways and thanking her elder brother for getting her into running everyday. "Hold the lift!"

She skidded into the lift just as the doors shut and regained her breath, bent over her knees. The Ensign raised an eyebrow at her. "You ok, Nurse?"

"Just fine," She stood up smiling.

"I know it's rather odd to ask but what's the rush?" Chapel grinned like she had just drawn the winning hand in the annual poker game between the female officers on the ship.

"The captain has a cold,"

"Why is that a good thing?" Scotty asked after Chapel explained to him that Jim had a cold from the last planet they had been on. "The Captain being sick has never been a good thing."

"It means he's going to develop a fever in," Chapel checked the clock on her PADD. "About 30 minutes. The fever will raise his core temp and give us more time."

"That sounds risky, Christine," Uhura said worriedly.

"It's not like we can stop it from happening," Chapel said with a shrug. "Might as well let McCoy know."

McCoy glanced away from his conversation with Spock at where Sulu and Jim were talking, Jim nodding his head to Sulu's questions.

"It's not safe for humans. Yeah I get it Spock," McCoy rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What about blankets or medical supply?"

"It is possible although it would depend on how strong the signal has become in the last hour and 20 minutes," Spock flicked open his communicator to Lt Uhura's voice.

"Odd timing," She muttered. "Commander is Dr. McCoy with you?"

"He is,"

"What do you need?" McCoy continued to rub his eyes.

"I checked over Jim's blood work and he has the beginning markers for a cold," Chapel's voice rang like sweet bells in McCoy's ears. "It's a strain of bacteria that gives a high fever and little strain to the body."

"Lucky bastard," McCoy growled a small grin on his face. "It'll stop his temperature from falling and speed up his heart rate. How'd you find it?"

"I was cleaning up your office and recognized the symptoms," Chapel said off handedly. "You need to clean up more."

"Christine, remind me to give you a couple days off when we get back," McCoy grinned.

"I'm holding you to that,"

"Lt. Commander Scott," Spock said authoritatively.

"Aye sir?"

"We need medical supplies and blankets transported down here. Can you do it?" Spock asked.

"Aye… I can do tha blankets but the signal isn't strong enough for the machines," Scotty said.

"Send what you can. Spock out," He closed the communicator and looked at McCoy. "Will that suffice, Dr?"

"For now it will," McCoy replied, rolling his shoulders. "The fever has bought us at least another hour but he still needs to be back on the Enterprise in about 3 hours."

"I will get a status report when they transport the supplies," McCoy nodded and they walked silently over to Jim and Sulu. They were still murmuring towards one another, Jim's words slurred and broken while Sulu's were short and crisp.

"How's he doing Sulu?" McCoy squatted down and ran the tridcorder over Jim's body.

"He's still shivering but he's holding a conversation," Sulu replied. Jim shifted and he looked up at McCoy.

"B-b-b'nes," He smiled tiredly. "T-that litt-ttle gir-girl and th-the other on-on-one. Th-they're re-real."

"Yeah, Jim," McCoy administered a hypo and sat down next to them. He helped Sulu to squish Jim in between them and pull the blanket tighter around him. "I won't doubt your depraved mind again."

937

A/N: Thanks for reading! Next Chapter will be up Sunday.