I'm SOOOOOO sorry for not posting this sooner... I meant to get this finished a few weeks ago.

yeah... I have some excuses, but I get the feeling you all don't want to hear them...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Trek or anything related to it. Anything familiar you see here does not belong to me. I don't even own the guitar T.T

also, if anyone is interested in a Sherlock Holmes story, let me know in a review please :) I'm thinking about writing a AU story set in a modern day high school. It'd be based a bit more off the movie than the books (I love the books, but I think the movie would be easier to write for xD)

Okay, I think I've kept you from the story long enough... here it is! sorry it's not as long as i planned.


McCoy came into work the next day a little earlier than usual. His newest patient (or rather, his patient's illness) seemed complex and presented an exciting challenge. His medical curiosity was one of the reasons he was so eager to get to work and look over Rachel's test results but there was another.

The night before, he had a dream involving Rachel. She was just sitting there, reading a book like she had been when he first saw her. She looked rather peaceful as she read a passage that made her grin broadly. He noticed Jocelyn starting at her, her face unreadable.

Jocelyn walked up to her and stood in front of Rachel, arms crossed, waiting for the teenager to notice the older woman's presence. Rachel didn't seem to notice until Jocelyn started tapping her foot impatiently. Rachel's head twitched up, her muddy green eyes staring up with curiosity as her fingers subconsciously placed a bookmark between the pages.

"Can I help you?" Rachel asked amiably. If she was annoyed by the interruption, she didn't show it.

"He doesn't belong at the hospital," Jocelyn spat, hands moving to her hips.

"I'm sorry?" Confusion crossed Rachel's face. "Who doesn't?"

"My husband, that's who," Jocelyn replied, "Leonard McCoy."

"But he's a doctor," Rachel replied calmly, sensing Jocelyn's furious disposition. "Shouldn't he be at the hospital?"

McCoy was distracted from the conversation, though it didn't stop him from noticing Rachel stayed calm and collected while Jocelyn remained furious, when he felt a tug at his hand. He looked down to find Joanna looking up at him with sad eyes.

"Can you help her, daddy?" Joanna asked with a small voice.

"I'm going to try, Joey," McCoy smiled. "But first I have to find out what's wrong with Rachel."

"I meant mommy."

"What's wrong with mommy?" McCoy knelt down so his face was closer to Joanna's.

"Can you help her?" Joanna asked again, ignoring McCoy's question. He heard footsteps coming closer and he turned his head up.

"Pick one, me or her," Jocelyn told him, her arms back to their crossed position. Her face held none of the anger that it did earlier but her eyes were dark and narrow, showing she was still mad. Joanna sensed her mother was acting strange so she ran over to Rachel, smiles crossing both of their faces.

"I'm your wife," Jocelyn continued. "I'm your priority, not her and not the hospital."

McCoy stood up and looked past his wife and at his daughter and his patient. Rachel had a brilliantly white guitar out and was playing while Joanna was smiling and dancing.

"You can only pick one," Jocelyn reminded him.

Though his dream didn't make him impatient to get to work, he was eager to get away from his wife, afraid his dream would cause him to give her a funny look and earn himself another yelling at.

He couldn't help but yawn as he walked through the automatic door. He brought his arm up to cover his widened mouth which blocked his view of the lobby of the hospital and he didn't get a good look until he got to his desk. There weren't many people there, just a receptionist, a few nurses and Dr. Hartell.

His early appearance didn't go unnoticed by Dr. Hartell but she didn't say anything. Instead she just walked over to his desk and set down a PADD, muttering a hello as she did so, and walked away.

McCoy picked up the PADD and scrolled through the test results. As he went through the list, he muttered 'normal' to every category until he reached white blood cell status. The results didn't make sense. The count was normal but it appeared as if there was something attached to the cells. McCoy clicked a few buttons, trying to see if the test results had been able to figure out what the supposedly-parasitic substance was but the computer classified it as 'unidentified virus- non-contagious-possibly harmful.'

McCoy frowned and rested his chin on his hand. He made a mental list of all the tests he could do on the virus. The first on that list was to ask Rachel about the shots she had received six years ago.

-

McCoy lightly tapped on the door to Rachel's room and waited for an answer before walking in. Rachel was reclining on her bed, a journal propped up against one of her thighs and a pen in her hand. Rachel greeted him and motioned for him to sit in the arm chair across the room.

McCoy noticed Rachel's guitar case leaning against the chair. It was open to reveal an old, rather worn looking guitar. It was a light brown color, same as the majority of acoustic guitars McCoy had seen. It was nothing like the shiny white one he had seen in his dream.

"The test results came in this morning," McCoy began, watching Rachel's face carefully. The girl had set the journal on the bedside desk and was sitting with her legs hanging over the side of the bed. "Everything's normal except for your white blood cells." He went on to explain the results and how the computer was unable to identify the virus.

Rachel didn't say anything. She just sat there and nodded, biting her lip as she took in the information. McCoy gave her a few moments to digest the news completely before speaking again.

"Rachel, I need to know why you got all these vaccinations," McCoy said as he showed her the list on his PADD. Rachel hesitated a moment before sighing and looking back at McCoy.

"I suppose you have clearance to know, seeing as how you're my doctor… it's strictly confidential," Rachel started, still unsure if she should tell McCoy. The doctor nodded encouragingly and Rachel continued.

"I got them because I went off planet for a summer. I went to the Federation colony Tarsus IV."


Review Please :) and don't forget about the Sherlock Holmes story! It sounds like something fun to write but I'll never post it if no one reads it!