A strange body numbness yet a strangely familiar nausea were what he was first aware of. Almost instantly Spock recognized the symptoms only too well and immediately knew where he was. He slowly exhaled then took a deep breath of home. Only Doctor McCoy's medications gave him that distinct sense of nausea. Only the Enterprise's Sick bay had that special smell. He was aware he required rest and that his body needed far more time to heal. What he had to do was just remember what had happened. Calling on his Vulcan training he calmly let his physical being relax and prepare for more healing while he let his mental being recall the past events and attempt to put them in order.
He had been standing with the Captain helping the last evacuees get organized so that they and their most important belongings were beamed up. Officer Ganner had come running over and informed them that one officer was trapped in a building a kilometer along the beach from where they were and that help was needed to clear him. At the time he had not thought much of how Ganner had so roughly gripped his arm to get his attention but recognized it as a most likely reaction of a Human new to such situations. Only for a moment had he looked at the captain and said, "I will not be long, Captain." and Jim had nodded.
The run along the long sandy beach had not taken long despite the debris on it from the first small wave and when her arrived at three piles of rubble he knew that they were clearly the remains of the buildings Ganner had spoken of had been and he could tell at a glance that no living thing apart from some micro-organisms could have survived. Even as he had stood those few seconds looking at the rubble and wondering if Ganner was correct about the location of the building he started to feel not only the seismic activity intensify but also a strange sensation in his arms and legs. Realizing that there was no way for any officer to have survived such a collapse he started to run back to where he knew the Captain would be waiting. He knew Jim would wait to beam him up. He oddly was losing the use of his legs and his arms were starting to just hang useless at his sides. He saw Officer Walker running towards him at the same time he saw a tsunami racing towards them, seeming to grow in height and speed as he watched it. Some primal instinct made him call out to the one being who meant the most to him to let them know in his last moments he thought of them.
The last thing he clearly recalled feeling was being flooded with reassurance in the arms that had suddenly encircled him, hearing the confidence and certainty in the voice that said, "I've got you. I won't let go. Relax and trust me." There were totally unrelated flashes of moments when his conscious had slipped into a fair state of awareness and Officer Walker was always there. He had not been fully aware but he had some senses. His back hard against a solid surface with Walker pressed hard against him and the water pressing against him, slamming the flotsam against Walker's back, from the pungent odors they were clearly surrounded by a variety of floating debris. There were vague times when he recalled bands of clothing being wrapped around him and finding he could not move his head or his arms. Caring hands oddly stroking his throat so he had to swallow a hot foul liquid, like some sort of unusual tea, which warmed him and oddly relaxed him. And that constant assurance that all was going to be fine every time he felt the hands on him.
He turned his mind to thinking about Ganner and what it was he had done and what his goals were. For eight months two weeks and four days standard time Ganner had been on the ship and had constantly been watching him whenever he was allowed on the bridge yet not when he was in the Science Department. On recalling Ganner's record the one thing that seemed a constant was that Ganner seemed totally relentless in wanting to advance in Starfleet and took unwarranted risks to promote himself. Although he did not like to speculate on the possibility of his involvement in the accident the more Spock recalled Ganner gripping his arm, there clearly being no way the collapse of the building was survivable, and how his limbs suddenly were losing all strength and mobility the more certain he was that Ganner saw getting rid of him as a way to further his career. But what was the connection? Had he thought of it before the beam down? Why was he a part of the landing party? Was Ganner really willing to kill two officers for his own advancement?
As he thought of what had transpired on the planet after he felt his arms and legs becoming useless and seeing Walker racing towards him and the tsunami rushing at them, he knew Walker was an innocent victim in this obvious attempted murder. He had known the man too long, had seen how he so many times had risked his life to save a fellow officer's life even when the odds against him were very high. Had Walker seen something that made him suspicious of Ganner? When he closed his eyes Spock remembered a reassuring voice and the feeling for friendship and certainty in the hands that had held him. Oddly he could remember being moved a few times, of a voice saying, "Just relax, we just have to move." It was said in such a way he believed it to be true.
Now, safe at home on the Enterprise, even if it were in Doctor McCoy's territory, he could calmly reflect on the timeline more, do the calculations. They had obviously been moving to keep above the water, the water that was rapidly cooling and was polluted. Then they stopped moving and he lay on top of Walker. Words were said that at the time meant nothing. "Your code. Repeated. I'll put it there." A cold hand had placed something cold against his chest then those arms encircled him. "Just relax now. They'll know where you are. They'll come for you. They'll come for you."
They'll come for you. You. Not us. For a moment he lay still and could hear a sound that took him a moment to a different time and yet this place. He had heard it once before in Sickbay and recognized it as the sound of a machine McCoy used to force warm fluid through a patient suffering severe hypothermia. A barbaric system but an effective method. Warm fluid being slowly but constantly forced into and through the body with the patient on a special bed to assist with the flushing of the liquid. Clearly Walker had saved his life and was in that condition because of using his uniform as the material to secure him, to immobilize him, to protect him from the elements. He had heard many who had received such treatment, Jim Kirk being one of them; say that they would rather die than go through even another hour of that treatment again. His internal chronometer let him know he had been back aboard the Enterprise for four point nine hours. He had been back but what of Walker? They'll know where you are. You. They'll come for you. You.
Not wanting to alert McCoy to the fact he was awake Spock made no movement but slowly started to open his eyes and looked first at one empty bed across from his then at the one next to his. He was aware of relief and anger in him. Relief that Walker was alive yet anger that he had to experience what he was He saw Walker on a rehydration bed and closed his eyes. Jim had undergone the rehydration treatment for just over two hours and told him if he were ever to be severely hypothermic he did not want the treatment and it was duly noted in his medical records. Slowly Spock opened his eyes enough to again see the rehydration bed and noticed that there was the auxiliary attachement used to make it a warming rehydration. A warming rehydration was rarely used as it totally cleared the entire digestive tract and flushed out all the other organs associated with it as will as the urinary tract. The liquid also contained a mild stimulant to increase the heart rate slightly. Despite all his protestations about McCoy's use of medications Spock found he was pleased that the good doctor obviously had Walker heavily sedated. Barbaric, he realized, was too tame a word for that the treatment.
He closed his eyes knowing that he needed rest, he needed time to think, he needed to talk to Jim about the events on the planet, and he knew if McCoy was around that he would not be disturbed while he recovered.. There was no doubt that he would recall all the events in their correct order if he rested and he was aware his body needed time to heal from what happened on the planet as well as deal with the aftereffects of McCoy's medication. While it would be difficult for Jim to wait as his friend did like to tie up the loose ends as Humans call sorting facts and events into their correct and chronological order Spock knew his friend would understand that it was necessary for him to have time in a healing trance. Briefly he felt a familiar hand rest on his forehead and heard that soft drawl, "You just take all the time you need, Spock. I'll take care of Jim and the others. You just rest now, ya hear." That voice removed the last hesitation he had had before he fully yielded to the logic of a long healing trance. They were all safe. They would all be waiting for him. Jim would be waiting for him.
A/N Hope you are enjoying this – now that that chapter with the medical folk is out of the way, for now (escaped with a 90 day trial they asked me to be a part of for them and I saw it as a way out so said yes), I hope to be able to post something about every 3 – 5 days. By year's end I should have about a third to half the stories up here plus the Z-A caper my friend asked me to do – 26 flash-fiction bits each starting with a word that starts with the relevant letter of the alphabet (starting with Z going to A) and the Where/What/Who flash-fiction dozens . . . Geeesh – in those two years in the 1980's I sure wrote a lot but knew she was on limited time. Enjoy and, if you have time and feel like it, let me know what you think about it.