Chapter 3. Sickbay.

When Spock arrived at the sickbay Dr McCoy could be heard in one of the nearby operating theatres bellowing orders. Spock was relieved. The last thing he wanted was to tangle with the Doctor.

The hours of stress had taken their toll on Spock. He had lost some of his natural grace, and his posture was more slumped than usual.

A harried-looking Nurse Lewis hurried over to Spock as he entered the room.

"Nurse where are the severely injured crew members?"

"Well the ones here are in the worst condition, burns are in here," she gestured to the main ward. "The serous broken bones are in the next room," She gestured to the ancillary sickbay. "There are only two critical patients at the moment. They are in the alcove," She gestured to an area partly screened from the main room by a tall bank of sensors where the most seriously injured patients were separated from the bustle of the main area.

"Who are they?" Spock inquired, fighting to keep his voice even.

"That's Ensign Patel and Lieutenant Uhura," she continued, "Patel had a serious crush injury and was hit by shrapnel during an explosion in engineering. Uhura severe head trauma and several fractured and shattered bones. She was on the bridge when we were shaken and she hit her head several times, damage to both temporal regions and to the base of the skull. She also has a broken tibia, and two broken ribs, a fractured pelvis and a shattered left ulna. She had a punctured her lung but the doctor repaired that. "

"What is their prognosis?"

The nurse sighed, "I hate to say it but it's possible that Patel and Uhura may not pull through."

"Nurse, I will not take you from your duties any longer," Spock said.

The nurse knew she had been dismissed. Nodding to the commander, she went over to a patient who was signalling for assistance.

Spock moved quickly toward the alcove.

As the nurse listed Nyota's injuries Spock had felt each one like a blow. And then she uttered the words Spock dreaded, "May not pull through." He was aware humans used many euphemisms for death and that was what the nurse was truly saying, that Nyota - his Nyota - may die. Although he was aware that with injuries as severe as hers her chance of survival was less than 23.4% it chilled him to hear it confirmed.

He strove to maintain calm. All his attention was focused on that softly wavering bond. Spock did not pause. He had one goal.

When he walked around the bank of monitors into the alcove. He did not even glance at Ensign Patel. Nyota was on the biobed covered in a blanket. Her hands were on top on the blanket. She had sensors taped to her arms and head. Her face was a mass of bruises and her lip was split and stitched. He glanced around to ensure that he was alone and no one could see him. He took Nyota's hand aligning her fingers with his. Then he closed his eyes and sought her mind. Immediately, he was almost overwhelmed with pain. Damping that pain, he felt for her presence. She was very weak and yes … she was dying.

He heard footsteps and removed his hand from Nyota's.

Nurse Chapel stepped around the corner and gave him a stern look. But then she looked down at Nyota and her expression softened a little.

"She is not doing well, "Nurse Chapel said, "The main problem is the head injurie. She is not responding as well as we hoped. We nearly lost her once already." The nurse sighed and began to record the readings. Then she moved to Ensign Patel took his readings and turned to leave.

Before she left she looked at Spock and frowned, "There is nothing you can do here" she said, "it would be best to leave them in peace."

"I would value a few minutes alone," he replied, "and here it is at least quiet." He knew it was a strange thing to say and nurse Chapel's frown deepened. "Lt. Uhura was my aide at the academy and a valued colleague" he said in an attempt to clarify his request. Spock let some of his exhaustion show and saw her expression shift.

"Well I suppose there's no harm as long as you don't disturb them," she said and turning , she left the alcove.

Spock knew he had no time and no options. There was just one thing he could do to save Nyota. He regretted that he was not more rested; he would need all his strength for what he was going to attempt. Spock knew Nyota needed to be in a healing trance. But she was not Vulcan and she could not do that herself. Therefore, Spock must do it for her. He breathed deeply and centred himself. Leaning over, he gently kissed the uninjured side of her mouth and then her forehead. Then, with one hand he braced himself against the edge of the biobed, while with one hand and with his other hand touched the three contact points on her face.

Nurse Chapel crossed the room to Dr McCoy. "Len," she whispered urgently.

He looked up. "What? Are Patel and Uhura okay?" he looked toward the alcove.

"There's no change there," said Nurse Chapel, "But Commander Spock is in there. He said he would stay a few minutes in the quiet." She frowned. "It just seemed strange somehow… I don't know, he seemed strange somehow."

"Okay, Christine," Dr McCoy replied, "I'll keep an eye on him. He may just want a few moments alone, though it's a strange place to pick."

"I know, it just doesn't feel right." She shook her head. "Well I'd better get back to those broken bones." Turning, she walked in the direction of the other ward.

McCoy had always found Spock a difficult man to warm to. He found him a downright irritating, cold, unfeeling, pointy eared bastard, if he told the truth - efficient but totally unlovable.

Dr McCoy moved to the bank of sensors that blocked the alcove from general view and began to check readings. Neither Patel nor Uhura were improving. From where he stood he could see into the alcove via a strategically placed wide angle mirror on the opposite wall. He glanced up at the mirror and froze. As he watched, Spock leaned down and kissed the unconscious lieutenant on the lips. "Why that green blooded bastard…" McCoy muttered, his temper rising. He would have charged into the alcove and confronted Spock except, much as he disliked the man, McCoy believed that Spock was honourable and taking advantage of an unconscious crew member seemed wildly out of character. So the doctor watched transfixed as Spock placed a second gentle kiss on Uhura's forehead.

As McCoy stared he realised that the Spock's manner was gentle and his demeanour almost sad. Perhaps the Vulcan had some feelings after all. It was hard to think in these terms about the Vulcan; Spock and emotion did not belong in the same sentence. The doctor's eyes grew wider as Spock leaned heavily on the biobed and touched his hand to the meld points on the lieutenant's face.

McCoy took his responsibilities as a doctor seriously. When he realised that he was responsible for the health care of the only Vulcan hybrid in existence, he had put himself through an in depth course on Vulcan medicine. He was exceptionally well informed on the subject, so much so that other doctors dealing with the survivors of the Vulcan genocide sometimes consulted him via subspace link. So McCoy was one of the few humans who could understand what he was seeing, and still he could not believe it.

TBC…

AU: Comments?