Kirk and the Neurology Students
by Starsinger
Takes place during Two Weeks of Hell, which means Pike isn't alive, sorry. Dr. Brad Bateman, the neurologist, has pestered McCoy into letting his neurology students watch as Kirk slowly comes out of the coma. That means letting them visit every day, and some of their reactions to what Jim does actually make McCoy smile. No one ever said his best friend was normal! lol Don't own any of them.
McCoy shook his head, he wasn't sure what any of them were in for, but Dr. Bateman had asked oh so nicely. He had seven neurology students coming through the Starfleet Academy, and, since much of that hospital now lay in ruins, he was wafting them through Zurich to study some of the patients in the ICU. Kirk, miracle man still alive, was on the top of his list.
"Alright, everybody, the last patient we're going to see today, and the one on whom you'll right a case study at the end of the semester, is Captain James Tiberius Kirk, USS Enterprise. He is currently in an induced coma after having died going into the warp core chamber of aforementioned ship. The drug McCoy injected him with is experimental, and what will be done with it will be determined at a later date. In spite of all that, we expect him to come out of the coma fully intact. Dr. McCoy is slowly backing off the medication every day, and he will begin to respond to his environment as the days go on until he wakes up."
Bateman pulled out his PADD, "If you look at your PADD you will find his brain scans from when he was admitted to the hospital. He was on full life support. He's currently on no life support, and has stopped trying to die. That doesn't mean he looks good, he's very ill, so be prepared when we enter the room." As they entered the students weren't totally prepared for it. Jim was just out of surgery and his arm was in a mobilizer. He was still a light yellow color, but some of his obvious wounds hadn't quite healed.
"I want you to direct your attention to the monitor at his bedside. As you can see, his neurological scans have improved considerably since he first came here," they all nodded, obediently. McCoy, sitting in the chair to Jim's right writing notes in Jim's chart, barely contains a snort. He had an idea of where Brad was taking this, but Jim was the one who'd make this interesting. He watched as the students asked questions, and even answered a few himself, and they left. Brad reentered the room, "So, what do you think?"
"I think we'll be lucky if Jim doesn't 'accidentally grope' one of the girls," McCoy said with a laugh. Jim's little finger twitched, "Huh, he's letting us know he's in there already." Bateman shook his head and left the room.
The next day they all trouped in to the room and dutifully noticed the pick-up of brain activity as the Captain crept closer to consciousness. They also noticed the splint had been removed from his arm. "Tomorrow, Kirk will be going in for another surgery to repair internal damage not caused by the radiation. So, we'll be visiting in the afternoon instead of the morning. They all watched as Jim's entire arm twitched in the general direction of Dr. Bateman's voice.
"Can he hear us?" one of the girls asked.
McCoy laughed, "This is what we meant about him responding to his environment. Jim's unpredictable, I honestly know what he'll do during the course of the week." Jim's arm twitched again. They laughed, nervously. This man was already a legend and a hero. Nobody told them that he liked the ladies. As the week went on they watched as Jim's head started turning to their voices. On the twelfth day, there was a definite whack as one of the women walked by. She turned around looking for whoever the culprit was who slapped her ass, and only found Kirk, still lying in the bed, all offending appendages lying docilely on the mattress. McCoy managed to wait until the lady left the room before he sat down and started laughing. "Jim, some things never change," he said breathlessly.
The day before Jim awoke one of the students stayed behind, "Dr. McCoy, may I ask you something?" McCoy nodded his head. "What's so special about Captain Kirk? What made you and everyone else on the Enterprise go to such extraordinary lengths to save his life?"
"Are you also a Psychiatry student?" the girl nodded. They both watched as Jim reached out an arm and grasped McCoy's arm briefly. McCoy sighed, "He's charming, good looking, and has this boyish personality that wants to make you protect him. What is it? When he's your friend, he's got your back. He begged for the lives of his crew while facing Admiral Asshole, then he turned around and apologized when he realized that it wouldn't work. He alienated his chief engineer, only to call on Scotty and ask him to go to some coordinates. If he hadn't, well, we'd all be dead now, and Admiral Marcus would have his war. What inspires that kind of loyalty, I don't know. Maybe you should ask Jim when he wakes up. Although, you actually might want to start with the rest of his crew. Jim's not going to be up for long interviews." She nodded as she left the room. McCoy knew that this wasn't over, she'd be back.