"McCoy to Bridge!"
"Bridge here, this is Sulu; what's going on, Doctor?"
"Sulu, where's Spock?"
"He turned command over to me via the comm system, Doctor; I assumed he was with you and—" Sulu swallowed, fighting for composure, "—and Captain Kirk in the Medbay."
"Well he's not, dammit! Get that pointy-eared bastard down here now; the Captain's very much alive and Spock's not stable right now!"
Sulu spun in the chair to look behind him at the recently-restored-to-the-Bridge Communications Officer.
"Uhura," he started to say, then paused. She was already standing, headphone in hand and looking ready to bolt, an almost wild light shining behind her eyes.
"On it," she said, dropping the ear-piece and fleeing the bridge.
"Ze Keptin is alive?" Chekhov asked McCoy tentatively, as though afraid he'd misheard the doctor.
"For the moment, yes, and I'm trying to keep him that way!" was the reply. The helmsman and navigator looked at each other, sharing smiles of wary relief.
"Computer, locate Commander Spock!" Uhura ordered as she slipped into the turbolift.
"Commander Spock is in his quarters," the computer replied.
"Why?" She shouted nonsensically. Unease crept through her, adding an edge of panic to her actions.
"Inquiry not understood. Please rephrase."
"Never mind," Uhura muttered. "Deck five!" she shouted, and the lift took off — far more slowly than she desired.
As soon as the doors slid open she bolted out and down the corridor toward Spock's quarters, nearly running over a distracted yeoman in the process. An inexplicable sense of unease came over her, urging her to get to Spock immediately, before it was too late - for what? Too late for what? Why was she suddenly inundated with feelings of dread and a guilt that hollowed out her insides?
She practically threw herself against the Vulcan's door to halt her mad dash through the halls, the abrupt stop almost knocking her onto her butt. The strange emotions roiling within her became sharper, more refined, and she suddenly realized they weren't hers — the anger/pain/shock/guilt/horror/loss/sorrow/hatred/grief/pain she could feel as a slightly removed-from-herself sensation belonged not to her, but to—
"Spock!" she shouted through the door, jabbing the button beside it repeatedly. "Spock, open up, they need you in sickbay!" There was no response, and the sense of urgency within her grew exponentially. "Spock, Kirk's alive, but McCoy needs you, now!"
The strange feelings flared for a moment, becoming clearer — and then vanished completely, stealing her breath and leaving a blank emptiness in the back of her mind.
"Spock!" She cried fearfully. She hadn't noticed the telepathic impression of Spock in her mind before, but now that it wasn't there, its absense was obvious — and terrifying.
"Uhura to Bridge: Sulu, I need a security override on Spock's door, now!" Sulu, thankfully, didn't question her, overriding the lock on the Commander's quarters immediately. The lieutenant nearly fell forward into the room as the doors opened, and then completed the fall, landing on her knees in response to the sight that met her eyes.
"Uhura to Sickbay: medical emergency in the Commander's quarters!"
"Dammit Uhura, I've barely gotten Jim stabilized – what the hell's wrong now?" She could hear scrambling in the background as a medical team gathered and grabbed supplies.
Uhura stumbled back to her feet, trying not to slip in the bright green blood staining the floor as she moved closer to Spock, reaching out to touch him. He was Vulcan, his body temperature ran lower than hers, and his skin always felt cool to her - but the now the chill reminded her of death as it never had before.
"McCoy, he…he…"
"Nyota, we're on our way, but it'll be a minute; what happened? Is the hobgoblin all right?"
"No! He—" Uhura had an idea and switched channels on her communicator, cutting off McCoy who was still shouting about 'what the hell had happened to Spock.' "Uhura to Engineering: Scotty, can you beam Spock and Doctor McCoy directly to the Medbay?"
"Uh, aye, if they've both got their communicators on them I can, but—"
"Do it!" Uhura shouted, snatching Spock's communicator from the floor next to him and dropping it on his bloody chest as she scrambled away so as to not confuse the signals.
She switched her communicator back to McCoy's channel in time to hear the doctor sputtering.
"What the—? How'd we get— Good God, Spock?" A beat of shocked silence, and then, "Nurse, prep for surgery, you, get M'Benga over here NOW!" Uhura flicked her communicator closed and left Spock's quarters, running headlong for the Medbay, her eyes full of tears.
Her Captain and his First Officer; her friend and her boyfriend. They were both dead, or dying, and it didn't seem to matter which – she could feel the losses throbbing in her soul already. She and Kirk had never spoken about the friendship they'd developed, continuing to bicker as they always had, something she'd never regretted until now.
And Spock...he had no trouble being affectionate, actually; he touched her, he kissed her, he held her when they slept, but neither of them had ever spoken their feelings aloud, and she found herself regretting that too.
She'd been furious with him, hating him for using her, yet still loving him as she had for so long. Seeing him bleeding to death – after attempting suicide, no less! – shocked her into wondering if there was more going on than had appeared. She'd never forgive herself if he died and she didn't get the chance to sort things out.
Gaila was gone, Nyota's parents hadn't been in the picture for a long time, and she had no other family to speak of. If Jim and Spock died…she'd have no one left.
TO BE CONTINUED:
Now that we're getting into the nitty-gritty, I'm getting better at posting. As always, thanks to my wonderful Beta! Have a prosperous and joyful year this year, everybody!
(Also, having some odd formatting issues with this chapter...if it looks funky, don't worry, I'll get it fixed at some point, somehow...)