Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek
They materialized in an empty Engineering bay, just like Harrison had said. Jim handed the criminal a phaser and prepared his own to be ready to fire if necessary.
"It's locked to stun," he informed the augmented human.
Harrison glanced at the phaser. "Theirs won't be."
Jim shrugged, already moving towards the end of the bay. "So don't get shot."
If he had looked back, he would have seen the ghost of a smile cross Harrison's face, as he moved to follow the Captain.
They avoided the 'lifts on their way up, knowing that those were easily tracked, and didn't offer any escape paths if they got trapped.
They met two people about halfway to the Bridge, but swiftly dealt with the opposition. Jim was satisfied to see that Harrison could at least handle himself in a fight.
Jim was incredibly relieved to see Carol once they made it to the Bridge. She was standing off to one side, a mercenary holding onto one arm with a tight grip. She looked pissed, but unhurt.
Jim and Harrison entered firing, and within fifteen seconds, the three mercenaries were down, leaving Marcus unaided. The Admiral remained cool and collected in his seat at the center of the Bridge. Jim noted his position, before looking at his girlfriend.
"You all right?" Jim asked worriedly, as Carol rubbed the arm that had been locked in the mercenary's grip.
She looked up and smiled thinly. "I'm fine, Captain." She remained formal and professional, even though all she wanted to do was run to her boyfriend and hug him as tightly as she could.
Jim nodded stoically, and turned his attention back to the Admiral. "Admiral Marcus, by order of Admiral Archer, I am placing you under arrest for treason. Please do not resist."
Marcus glared. "You don't want to do this Kirk. War is coming, and we need to be prepared."
Jim rolled his eyes. "Admiral, shut up. War isn't as inevitable as you seem to think, and this conflict is all on you. The Klingons don't want to fight the Federation any more than the Federation wants to fight them."
Marcus shook his head. "You're wrong, Kirk, and that kind of thinking is going to kill us all. I'm the one thinking about our future! We need to be ready."
"Get out of the chair, Admiral," Jim said grimly.
Marcus didn't look like he intended to comply, but before any further action could be taken, Harrison cold cocked Jim with his phaser, causing the Captain to drop, gasping for air.
Carol let out a stunned cry and tried to move to Jim's side, but Harrison hit her as well, and she fell to the floor with a loud thud. Harrison stomped on her leg and they could all hear a loud crack as the bone broke. Carol cried out again.
Jim tried to get his feet under him and focus around the stars and black spots in his vision, but all he managed to do was get on his knees. He glanced over at Carol to make sure she was all right. The Lieutenant nodded slightly to his silent inquiry, and they refocused their attention on Harrison, who was now standing by the Captain's chair. Marcus was dangling from several inches off the floor, his neck firmly clasped in Harrison's hands.
The criminal looked over at Jim, his face expressionless. "I'm not going to a penal colony, Captain."
"Wait –" Jim started, but Harrison twisted harshly, and with a resounding crack that echoed across the Bridge, Marcus dropped to the floor, his neck broken.
Carol gasped, her eyes wide with shock, but she forced herself not to make any further motion. She didn't really like her chances of taking the man on with a broken leg.
Jim coughed harshly, trying to force himself to focus; he definitely had a concussion. Harrison opened up a channel and waited for the communication to connect, simultaneously dragging the still gasping Jim in front of the screen so that when the image cleared, showing the Bridge on the Enterprise, Jim's crew was greeted to the sight of their Captain in a near death grip.
Spock stepped forward, startled by the turn of events, before he managed to catch himself. "What is this?"
Harrison leered at the Vulcan. "I am going to take this ship and leave. You will not follow, or I will kill your Captain."
Jim struggled to meet Spock's gaze across the screen. "Spock don't do it –"
Harrison hit him again, and he fell. Several people on the Enterprise's Bridge made sounds of distress, but there was nothing they could do.
Harrison smiled thinly. "I could target your life support systems, Commander, to ensure you do not follow. But I wouldn't want to do anything rash."
He signed off without waiting for a reply, and seemed to watch Jim's struggle to get vertical with amusement, before a noise from the entrance distracted him, and he felt the impact of an attempted stun hit his back.
He turned around as several more hits came, and smiled, entertained by the attempt.
Chris was standing at the front of a group of officers, his phaser raised as he continued to fire.
Jim looked up, relieved to see the assistance, but Harrison just wouldn't succumb to the onslaught of phaser fire. He maneuvered his way around the console, grabbed Jim, and hauled him to his feet with ease. His own phaser pressed firmly into Jim's shoulder, right at the base of his neck.
"Lower your weapons," he stated calmly, as if he wasn't looking down the business end of half a dozen phasers.
Jim shook his head. "Don't –"
Harrison dug his phaser in harder, looking displeased for the first time. "I'm going to leave here a free man. Do not push me."
He slowly worked his way around the room, keeping Jim between him and everyone else; Chris motioned for the officers that had come with him to move, leaving the exit clear.
Harrison turned and walked out backwards, so that Jim would still be between them. He paused on the threshold, and smirked at the group of officers. "I thank you for your cooperation." He then fired his phaser and let go of Jim as the Captain dropped like a stone; before the Starfleet officers could do more than blink, he turned and ran down the hall.
"Go!" Chris yelled, and the Security officers took off after the criminal.
Chris quickly ran to Jim's side, searching desperately for a pulse. It took him a few moments, and when he finally found it, it was weak and irregular. But it was there.
Chris sighed, relieved, and looked over at Carol, who was attempting to stand and make her way over to her boyfriend. "He's breathing," the Admiral assured her.
Carol swallowed harshly and slumped down a little, abandoning her attempt to move, since it really wasn't going so well.
Chris took a deep breath and turned his attention back to Jim, not sharing any of his other concerns as he continued to hold two fingers to Jim's pulse point on his right wrist. Even though he could feel the pulse beating, however irregularly, he knew what damage could have been done. The phaser may have been set to stun, but it had been fired at close contact range, and that could cause serious damage to a person's heart and nervous system.
Jim coughed and groaned, shifting slightly as he came around. He blinked blearily in the harsh light of the Bridge, but seemed to relax minutely under Chris' gentle grip.
"Calm down, Jim. You're fine, Carol's fine. Just sit tight."
The Security officers returned, and Chris straightened to get a report.
"He managed to get to the transporter room, Admiral," one said succinctly. "He's gone."
Jim started to struggle to his feet, despite Chris' protests that he stay on the floor. He ignored the Admiral to grope his way towards the console, using the equipment for support without trying to make it look like he was unable of walking on his own.
"Did you check the location of the transport?" Jim asked, his voice rough and winded as he glanced back at the Security officer. He coughed weakly, trying to get rid of the obvious sounds of pain in his voice.
The man shook his head. "We came right back here, Captain."
Jim nodded slightly, ignoring the spike of pain that flared up at the movement, and started typing, looking for the last transport location. He read the coordinates with a raised eyebrow. He had not been expecting that. He ignored Chris once again, and opened up a commlink, typing in a sequence and waiting for the call to connect.
The screen cleared a few moments later, and a Klingon peered down at them in apparent confusion. "Captain Kirk? I trust your situation is resolving itself?"
Jim grimaced. "K'Temoc. We lost him, but the transporter location indicates he went back to Qo'nos. Same location that we tracked him to before." His voice still sounded pretty winded, but he had more important things to focus on at the moment.
K'Temoc scowled. "Thank you for the information. I will get a patrol out there immediately."
Jim tried to smile gratefully, but wasn't sure it came out right. "I'm sorry. Things got a little out of hand."
K'Temoc's expression lightened minutely, and he inclined his head. "I appreciate your contacting me. I'll try to let you know when we capture him."
Jim's smile this time was a hair more genuine, and hopefully didn't show the pain currently shooting up and down his body. He felt like he was being electrocuted.
K'Temoc signed off, and Jim turned around, ignoring the looks he was being given by Chris and the Security officers. He maintained his vertical stance by leaning heavily against the console. "Please tell me you being here means the Yorktown is as well."
Chris nodded quickly. "We beamed over as soon as we were within range, but they should be arriving in the next few minutes."
Jim turned back to the comm. "Good." He called Shay and was relieved when she picked up after just a few seconds.
Shay looked stressed, but comforted to see them relatively unhurt.
Jim swallowed harshly, shutting out the pain. "Shay, I am so glad to see you. We're going to need a little help getting back."
She grinned. "Apparently that's the Yorktown's job, right?"
They both smiled a little at the remembrance of Shay giving them a tow back to Earth after Nero and the Narada.
"We'll begin setting up a tow line and should be on our way within the hour." Shay paused briefly. "What about the ship you're on?"
Chris leaned over. "I'll get it back to Earth and figure out what to do from there."
Shay nodded. "Good. Let me know if there's anything more we can do."
Jim bit his lip, thinking through the situation. "We might need to transfer some of our injured over to your Medbay. I don't know the full scope of the situation, but I can guarantee things aren't looking too pretty over there. We've got damage on multiple decks, and the hull has been compromised. We sealed off all the affected areas, but there's probably a lot of injuries that'll need attention."
Shay nodded again. "Anything you need." She signed off, and Jim relaxed slightly, gripping the console as tightly as he was able, but the tingling feeling in his left arm was getting stronger.
Chris moved in smoothly. "Why don't we get you somewhere with a functioning Medbay. You're running completely on adrenaline now, but as soon as that runs out, you're going to remember that you just got hit with a phaser on a high powered stun at point blank range, and you're going to crash."
Jim thought about protesting, but then he realized that he couldn't actually feel the left side of his body, and his heart was thumping rather painfully in his chest. He knew Chris was right, so he nodded slightly. "We should get back to the Enterprise," he said, looking at Carol.
Chris gestured for one of his officers to help the woman up, knowing that Jim wanted to, but was sensibly refraining from moving away from the only thing holding him upright.
Carol met Jim's worried gaze with a painful grimace. "I'm fine, Jim. Promise."
Jim didn't look completely convinced, but didn't argue, and with the air of someone setting himself for something unpleasant, pushed himself off the console, following Carol and the Security officer as they left the Bridge and headed towards the transporter room.
Chris told the remaining officers to begin preparing the ship to leave, and quickly returned to Jim's side, waiting for the inevitable crash. He wondered briefly if he should insist they go to the Yorktown instead, but dismissed the idea almost as soon as he had had it. McCoy was the only doctor Jim trusted. It didn't matter if the Enterprise's Medbay was burning down around them, Jim would still insist on going there.
About halfway to the transporter room, Jim stumbled into the wall, and Chris grabbed his arm lightly, helping him the rest of the way.
Jim didn't like admitting that he needed the help, but he didn't think he'd actually make it without the assistance, so he let Chris provide it.
They reached the transporter room, and Chris sent them back to the Enterprise, before he and the officer that had helped Carol headed back to the Bridge.
XXX
Jim was able to keep Carol vertical while the transporter had a lock on them, but as soon as they materialized on the pad, he gestured for the tech to come give him a hand.
Ensign Hallel immediately moved to take on Carol's weight from the Captain, and helped her down the hall.
Carol glanced back. "Jim, you should get some help too."
Jim shook his head grimly. "I'm fine." It was clearly a lie, as was evidenced by the fact that he wouldn't have even made it this far if he hadn't been using the wall for support.
He knew that Carol didn't believe him, but she was too focused on keeping herself upright to argue with him.
Medical was crowded and very busy when they arrived. Jim gestured for the tech to get Carol onto a nearby empty bed before heading back to his post, and then leaned against the bed wearily.
Carol reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Jim, please, you need help."
Jim grimaced, rubbing his arm in an attempt to stop the painful tingling. He could feel his body weakening; if he had to describe it, it felt like he was burning and having the blood drained out of his body at the same time.
Carol frowned, seeing him slump slightly, his hands gripping the edge of the biobed tightly. "Jim?" Jim swallowed, and then with a nearly silent groan, his eyes rolled up and he passed out, sinking limply to the floor.
"McCoy!" Carol yelled out, frantically searching the crowded Medbay for the CMO.
The man materialized half a second later, two nurses behind him. "What happened?" he asked brusquely, turning Jim so that he was on his back, and checking for a pulse. His heart thudded painfully as he felt .
"No pulse, get me the defibrillator!" McCoy yelled, and the nurses hurried to comply.
"He was shot," Carol replied quickly, her voice shaking with fear.
McCoy nodded as he ripped Jim's shirt open. He stopped short at the sight of a large burn that covered his shoulder, the bottom part of his neck, and part of his chest. Nurse Chapel was at his side a split second later, attaching pads to Jim's chest and side. The lines on the screen quivered, but his pulse rate was at zero. "V-fib," McCoy frowned, reading the machine worriedly. No matter how scared he was right now, he had to put that all aside. He had to be professional, whatever he felt inside. Jim's life depended on it. "Wait." He stopped Chapel before she could press the button to charge the device. "Epinephrine. Hurry." He began performing chest compressions.
Carol pressed one hand to her mouth, eyes wide. "What's going on?"
McCoy glanced up and tried to muster up a reassuring smile. He was fairly certain he didn't even come close. "That's an electrical burn. How close was that phaser?"
Carol bit her lip. "Pressed against his shoulder." She gestured to the approximate spot she had seen Harrison holding the phaser.
McCoy nodded. "I thought so. His heart's already had too much stress. I can't risk shocking him."
"But –"
Nurse Chapel returned, administering the hypospray quickly. McCoy stopped compressions and held two fingers to Jim's throat, checking. After a moment, he nodded, relieved. "Got a pulse. Get him to OR two."
He helped the nurses get him on a gurney, and rushed them off to the open OR, shouting down the Medbay, "April, I need you!"
April quickly handed the bandage she had been wrapping around a nearby Lieutenant's arm to the closest nurse, and rushed into the OR after McCoy.
Carol watched the door long after they had disappeared, only stirring slightly when a nurse began to set her broken leg.
XXX
On the Bridge, Spock felt the unfamiliar sensation of unrest. They hadn't received any more information since Captain One's communication that they had arrived and would begin the process of attaching the tow to get the Enterprise back to Earth. He had no idea what was going on or where Jim was. He did not like this uncertain feeling.
After what felt like eternity, but Spock knew to be forty-six point three minutes, Uhura got his attention. "Sir, the Yorktown is hailing us."
Spock nodded shortly. "On screen."
Shay smiled thinly at the acting Captain. "Commander Spock, we're all set to begin heading back. Admiral Pike will take charge of Marcus' ship."
Spock inclined his head. "Our communication was cut abruptly by Harrison; can you clarify the events that transpired after that moment."
Shay pursed her lips. "I'm not sure exactly. Admiral Pike took a team over to help, and the situation seemed to be resolved over there when they called us. I don't have all the details."
Spock did not allow himself to show any of his concern. "And Captain Kirk?"
Shay frowned. "I thought he was back on the Enterprise. He indicated he was going back, and that we might need to help out with some of your injured."
Spock nodded again. "Thank you. Should you need us to make any adjustments to our course, please do not hesitate to inform me."
Shay smiled. "Will do. Shouldn't be too difficult, but let us know if you need any help with anything else."
She signed off, and Spock sat back down, considering what he had learned. If Jim was back on the Enterprise, logic would indicate that he was down at Medical. Harrison had hit Jim over the head at least once, it was entirely feasible that he had allowed himself to be checked over by a qualified medical professional; however, if the Captain's actions over the last five years they had served together was any indication, willingly submitting to medical attention was not Kirk's first priority, no matter how desperately he may need it.
Still, Lieutenant Wallace had also been on the floor when Harrison had commed them. Perhaps the Captain had gone with his girlfriend to ensure her wellbeing? Spock didn't think Jim would put his personal relationship ahead of his duties, but it was the first time Lieutenant Wallace had been seriously injured on duty; it was not beyond reason that he had made an exception in this instance.
"Lieutenant Uhura, please contact Doctor McCoy for an update," he instructed.
Uhura nodded quickly and did so. Everyone on the Bridge waited in anticipation for her report.
The Communications officer signed off several minutes later, and turned around, looking shaken but trying to regain her composure. "Doctor McCoy wasn't available," she said steadily, meeting her boyfriend's gaze with her own worried one. "Nurse Chapel was able to talk for a few minutes. McCoy and Doctor Vanderbilt are in an OR with the Captain right now. She didn't know all the details, but apparently, Captain Kirk collapsed shortly after they arrived in Medbay. He wasn't breathing." There were several surprised or shocked gasps, and Uhura swallowed. "Lieutenant Wallace has a broken leg, but should be fine by tomorrow."
Spock inclined his head stoically, setting aside his distress for the moment. He would allow himself to worry, but only once all necessary duties had been carried out. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Please contact Admiral Archer. We must update Starfleet on the situation."
Uhura nodded, and typed in the commands, transferring the call to the vidscreen.
The screen cleared a moment later, showing Archer sitting behind his desk, looking properly concerned. Spock concisely shared the information he had about the situation, and Jon sighed heavily. "I've spoken with Admiral Pike; Harrison escaped, but we're working on tracking him down. At least, that's what Pike said." He grimaced. "Marcus is dead."
Spock inclined his head. "Captain One has kept us apprised on the coordination with the Yorktown. We should return to Earth in approximately six point two days."
Jon nodded. "You will be expected to report for debriefing when you arrive." He paused, and then relaxed slightly, no longer appearing to be the strict Admiral most had come to expect of him on the job. "Chris said Jim had been hurt. How is he?"
"Nurse Chapel reports that he is currently in surgery with Doctors McCoy and Vanderbilt," Spock replied succinctly, noting the Admiral's switch to first names, a sign of his concern for someone the Vulcan knew he thought of as a friend. "I will pass along updates as they arrive."
Jon let out a long breath of air. "Thank you. Please do."
The Admiral signed off, and Spock forced himself to focus on the present situation, and not let his thoughts wander to Medbay and their Captain currently injured and undergoing surgery.
Everyone else on the Bridge settled into their own tasks, assisting the Yorktown in what little way they could, running diagnostics on their departments, and submitting requests for repairs, organized by need and seriousness.
As soon as Uhura finished with her own reports, she fiddled around, trying to keep herself occupied, and her mind not on imagining worst-case scenarios. After a few minutes, she gave into temptation, and placed another call down to Medbay, wanting to speak with Carol.
The nurse gave Carol the comm. and went back to her job, setting up the osteoregenerator to fix the bone in her leg.
"Carol, how are you?" Uhura asked quietly, not wanting to alert anyone to her actions. She wasn't doing anything wrong, but she didn't want people to overhear anything she might say or hear before she had a chance to get the story from Carol.
Carol's voice wavered slightly, but she was able to keep herself mostly under control. "I'll be fine, Nyota. My leg's getting set right now, but I should be back on duty tomorrow."
Uhura bit her lip. "And… Jim?"
Carol let out a half sob before she got control. "I'm sorry. I just… I don't know what's going on. They've been in the OR for a while, and I don't know…" Her voice quieted slightly as she whispered, "I'm scared."
Uhura nodded sympathetically. "We're all glad you're all right, and thinking about Jim. Please let us know if there's any update?"
Carol mustered up a small smile. "Will do. It could be a while though." She sniffed, looking down. "Leonard looked worried. What if…"
"I'm sure everything will be fine. This is Jim," Uhura tried to reassure the other woman.
Carol let out a weak laugh. "I know. No one knows how to defy the odds like him." She sighed wearily. "Thanks for calling, Nyota. I guess I'll see you when your shift ends."
Uhura nodded slightly. "See you then."
She signed off, and went back to her duties.
XXX
The command crew was surprised when their reliefs arrived five minutes early, but when Spock, normally a stickler for punctuality and preciseness, indicated that they relinquish their posts immediately, they realized that in his desire to ensure their Captain's wellbeing, he had requested that Beta shift arrive early.
As a group, they all headed down to Medbay, finding it still in a state of chaos, but calming down.
They located Carol still on a biobed, the osteoregenerator doing its job and leaving her with little more to do than fret over her boyfriend.
She looked relieved to see the command crew, glad for something to take her mind off of her fear.
"He's still in surgery," she informed them as they circled around her bed. "It's been several hours." She glanced over at the closed door to the operating room.
"How are you?" Sulu asked, reaching out and clasping her hand gently.
Carol attempted a smile. "It's a little painful, but I'll be fine."
"I would like to offer condolences for the loss of your father," Spock intoned, gaze searching.
The others all looked like they weren't sure if they should be sad that the Admiral had died – it was their friend's father, but he had caused so much pain and trouble. They were also a little upset that Carol hadn't told any of them about the connection, and they had had to find out on the Bridge when she called the man 'dad'.
Carol looked around at the small group and somehow knew what they were all thinking. She sighed ruefully. "Thank you, Commander. We weren't that close, but he was my father, I suppose. I use my mother's surname. It makes it easier, and no one thinks I'm using his name to advance my career."
They all nodded their understanding. "I'm sorry," Uhura said, though she looked a little uncomfortable offering sympathies for the death of a man who had ultimately been responsible for so many deaths as well as nearly starting a war with the Klingons.
Carol inclined her head, but it was clear she didn't want to discuss her father anymore, so they all settled in to wait.
"Mr. Scott indicated he would join us in Medical if he is able to resolve the critical issues in Engineering," Spock informed them. A hint of a smile crossed his face, just enough for them to see the amusement. "He felt that Captain Kirk would not forgive him if he 'let the Enterprise fall further into disarray while he took time out of his schedule to stand uselessly in Medbay and wait.'"
Sulu snorted. "Sounds about right. Jim would tell us all to get back to work and stop worrying about him."
"Da," Chekov nodded. "He hates being the center of attention."
"So he should stop getting hurt then," Carol admonished, glaring at the far wall.
There was no arguing with that, so they all fell silent.
It was almost an hour later that they finally saw some indication that McCoy was finishing up.
April left the operating room first, brushing herself off wearily before making her way over to where the command crew was waiting. "He's stable for now," she assured them, but no one felt any relief. The for now at the end of the sentence did a good job of conveying the seriousness of the situation. She sighed and leaned against the bed, grateful for some support. It had been a long afternoon. "I'm not sure how much you know about what happened, but Jim was shot at close contact range with a phaser set to a high powered stun. On that setting, it's basically like an over-powered electrical charge. The optimal range is ten to fifteen feet. Set to stun, phasers work by temporarily overriding the body's nervous system."
She thankfully took a bottle of water that a nurse passed her, and drank half of it in one sip. Setting the water down, she continued. "When these phasers are fired at closer range, they can cause more damage. This one was literally pressed against Jim's shoulder. The electrical shock overrode everything, and his heart stopped. We've had to do a lot of work just to keep it going the last couple hours."
Carol felt a few tears leak from her eyes, but made no move to wipe them away. "What happens now?"
April sighed. "We can't do much more as we are. He needs Starfleet Medical. So for right now, we're keeping him in a sterile room, to lower the risk of infection. His immune system is nonexistent for the moment. We'll get him back on Earth as soon as we can feasibly transport."
"The Yorktown has initiated the tow at the maximum recommended speed. We will arrive at Earth in six days." Even Spock looked shaken by the severity of Jim's condition. "If you will excuse me, I must update Captain One and the Admirals."
He left the room, and Carol turned back to April. "Can I see him?"
April bit her lip. "We can't let anyone in the room. But once the osteoregen's done with your leg, I'll see if we can work something out." She looked at the others. "You should all go get some dinner or something. Please, there's nothing you can do here."
Slowly, giving Carol a last farewell, Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu followed Spock out. Once they were alone, April leveled a weak smile at the young Lieutenant. "I'm sorry, I know how worried you must be. We're doing everything physically possible." She looked down, valiantly trying to hold in her own tears. "Sometimes it's just not enough."
Carol nodded, wiping her tears away. "Thanks, April. If there's any change…"
April grasped her hand tightly. "You'll be the first to know."
She walked away, and Carol could do nothing more than lie there, waiting for the osteoregenerator to finish.
XXX
April found McCoy in Jim's room. He was wearing a full sterile suit, to minimize any risk, and he seemed to be almost done setting the machines up, so she waited outside, trying to avoid looking at Jim, so weak and pale and small in the bed. If it weren't for the steady beeping, she wouldn't even be sure he was still alive. The burn that covered most of his right chest and shoulder was protected by a white bandage; right now they were more concerned with his internal organs, not the burn. They could heal it relatively easily, but it would put too much strain on the rest of his body, so they were keeping it clean and dressed, and would address it after they fixed everything else.
McCoy finished, and April watched as his hand ghosted over Jim's, resting there lightly for a brief moment, before he headed for the door. There was a small room where doctors and visitors could disrobe and discard of any dirty gowns and gloves, before re-entering the rest of the Medbay.
April felt her heart breaking for her boyfriend. Jim was Leonard's best friend; it had to be killing him to see the man like this. It was painful for April as well; Jim was like her brother, and she hated seeing him hurt.
McCoy slumped against the far wall, back in his plain medical scrubs. He rested his hands on his knees and seemed to breathe slowly, before his eyes screwed shut and he sunk down to the floor.
April couldn't leave him alone any longer, so she quickly made her way into the small room and sat down next to her boyfriend.
They were silent for several minutes, before McCoy sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. "He's not supposed to look like this."
April glanced over and raised an eyebrow.
McCoy looked back and shrugged. "He's just always so… restless. It's like he's always ready to move, ready for something to happen. He's not supposed to be this still." April opened her mouth to speak, but McCoy kept going, "I mean, I know he can be still. Sometimes, when he's concentrating on a task or a problem, it's scary how silent and calm and focused he can be. But this is different. It doesn't feel like he's there."
April grasped his hand tightly. "He's there," she promised. "I know it's serious, but he's still there, Len. And remember, you're the only doctor he trusts with his life. He wouldn't want anyone else in his corner."
"Never an option," McCoy grimaced. "As if I'd ever let anyone else take my place. It's my job to keep the idiot alive. And I don't like to fail."
April smiled. "No you don't."
McCoy let out another weary sigh, and used the wall to lever himself to his feet. "Come on," he said softly. "We've still got a lot of work to do."
April shook her head, standing as well. "Christine's already got the worst injured over to the Yorktown. It's much quieter out there. Shouldn't be anything serious enough to keep us from going off shift once you do that final check I know you'll insist on."
McCoy even almost smiled at that. "One round, promise. Then we'll get dinner."
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