"Ah," The young woman twisted her hair in her fingers. "This poor man," She clicked her tongue and smiled. She brushed her fingers against Kirk's bruised face, stopping when she reached the oxygen mask covering his face.
"Can you heal him?" Spock asked impatiently, wringing his hands nervously behind his back.
The woman smiled at him seductively. "Do you have faith in my abilities?" She asked, taking a small, swaying step towards him.
"I have not yet reached a decision, as you have yet to prove your abilities." Spock snapped, his temper growing short. Uhura pulled gently on his arm, and his muscles relaxed slightly.
"Well," She huffed, a sly grin still spread across her face. "You shall soon see." She reached into the pelt bag around her waist and pulled out a small, squiggling root. Spock and Uhura stared at it in confusion as she moved it over Kirk's head.
"We should wait until Doctor McCoy gets back," Uhura pleaded, her eyes still glued to the root.
"I will do this now, or not at all." The woman shrugged, pulling the root back towards her bag.
"Now," Spock blurted. He cleared his throat and regained his composure. "You will do it now." He said, more calmly this time.
"As you wish." She reached into her bag again and pulled out a small, skin drum and handed it to Spock. "This is necessary to complete the ritual." Spock reluctantly accepted the drum and Uhura pulled on his arm slightly.
A ritual? Are you sure about this, Spock? Uhura's thoughts pushed into Spock's head.
It is the only choice we have, Nyota. Spock let his thoughts move to Uhura's brain as he tapped on the drum with his hand.
"Good," The woman smiled at him and waved the root over Kirk's head again. "One more thing," The woman pulled a sleek knife from her pouch, and Spock instinctively reached for his phaser. "I need you to slice my palm." Spock and Nyota shared an uneasy glance. "Do you want this man to be healed?" The woman persisted and Spock gulped, then reluctantly accepted the knife. The woman held out her palm and Spock hesitantly slid the knife across her palm, releasing the crimson blood under her skin.
The woman smiled at him and tenderly placed the squirming root over a gash on Kirk's head. She began to wave her hands around the room, to the beat of Spock's drumming. She muttered gibberish about 'together' and 'souls' as Spock beat on the drum nervously. She slapped her hand on the root and Kirk's body began to seize slightly. Spock's heart skipped a beat as he watched, but the woman seemed unconcerned as she continued her ritual.
McCoy pushed the door to Kirk's room open slowly, a cup of coffee in his hand. "So," McCoy said, looking down at the clipboard in his hand. "We've only got-" He froze as heard the steady beat of the drum and looked up with a cocked eyebrow. "What the hell?!" He threw the coffee and clipboard into the air and rushed to tackle the woman, but Uhura stood in his path and held his arm back. "What the ever-loving fuck is going on here?!" McCoy snarled as Uhura tried in vain to pull him back through the door. "Get away from him!" He growled as he tried to pry Uhura's hands off his arm.
"Doctor, this woman claims to have the ability to heal him," Spock said, feeling a nervous sweat breaking out on his forehead.
"And you just fucking believed that?!" McCoy snapped as he took a few small steps forward, pulling against Uhura's weight.
"It has passed!" The woman cried out to the sky and fell to the floor, her body limp. Everyone in the room stood still, watching the events unfold. Silence filled the room as everyone was too petrified to move.
Suddenly, Kirk's chest filled with air and he began to choke on the tubes in his throat. "Jim?" McCoy snapped into action, throwing himself to Kirk's bedside and beginning to undo the machines shoved down his throat. "Spock, get her out of here!" McCoy ordered as he called in the med team to assist him. "Jim, I need you to stay calm." McCoy pleaded and Kirk's vibrantly blue eyes watched him with confusion.
Spock and Uhura rushed to pick up the woman and dragged her out of the room, each person grabbing an arm. They barely made it out before the med team swarmed the room.
"It's going to be okay, Jim." McCoy said soothingly as Kirk's heart started to race. "I promise."
/
"How is he, Doctor?" Spock asked, standing up quickly to meet the exhausted doctor. The entire crew in the waiting room stood up, each of their hearts beating rapidly with the anticipation.
"He's resting now." McCoy said through a twisted frown, his eyes peering through Spock's skull. "He should make a full recovery, save for the effects that that goddamn witch might've brought on." McCoy snarled.
"Let's discuss this in a more private area." Uhura stepped in, her eyes darting from Spock to McCoy. McCoy kept his gaze on Spock as the Vulcan began to move towards the door to the hall. Uhura grabbed McCoy's arm gently and pulled him through the doors and into the hall.
"Doctor, before you-" Spock started.
"Where the hell did she come from?" McCoy interrupted sharply, growling through clenched teeth. Spock opened his mouth to speak, but McCoy quickly shot him down again. "What the hell did she do to Jim? You don't even know do you? You just fucking bring her in here, no clue what the hell she's capable of and -"
"Leonard, that's enough." Uhura scolded McCoy and he hesitated for a second and turned his gaze on her, but a little more softly. "Let Spock explain." Uhura said firmly and turned to Spock, who was slightly taken aback by her commanding tone.
"The woman is a Kahn-ut-tu." Spock cleared his throat and spoke softly. "She is a member of the Hill People of the planet Neural, where she was trained to be a healer. I know not how, but her people have mastered the use of locally grown plants to aid in the healing process." Spock explained, and McCoy opened his mouth to speak. "I discovered her healing prowess through a tape that Ambassador Spock left, in case of an emergency."
McCoy fell silent, his muscles relaxing slightly at the mention of Ambassador Spock. The Vulcan had not steered them wrong when he was still with them. "This woman. I need to know what it is she does, how she does it, and what she wants from us." McCoy said stiffly, trying desperately not to lose his temper again.
"Those are fair demands, Doctor." Spock nodded slightly and Uhura breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now, we'd better go-" Uhura started, but was cut off by a sharp beeping coming from McCoy's watch. McCoy swore under his breath and immediately took off down the hall, Uhura and Spock hot on his heels.
"Doctor, what is going on?" Spock asked as he caught up to McCoy.
"It's Jim," McCoy swore as he pushed through the doors. The startled crew jumped up at the sudden intrusion, but McCoy didn't let up pace. He burst through the doors to Kirk's room, only to be met with blaring alarms and an empty bed. "Goddammit." McCoy growled, then turned for the door. "Where the hell did he go?!" He yelled, searching around the room, only to find nothing.
Uhura and Spock shared a concerned glance and each went for the doors connecting Kirk's room to the adjacent rooms. Spock quietly opened the door and found the Kahn-ut-tu woman laying on her bed, her eyes sealed shut with slumber, and Kirk's weak and fragile form kneeling beside her bed, his hand wrapped tightly around the woman's.
"Doctor," Spock called back to McCoy, who came rushing to his side.
McCoy stared at the scene in confusion for a brief second before snapping himself back into reality. "Jim?" He asked, his voice just barely hovering above a whisper. "Jim," McCoy said, louder this time, as he took a step towards Kirk. He placed a soft hand on Kirk's shoulder and Kirk barely shifted under the touch. "Jim," McCoy pressed as he gently shook Kirk's shoulder.
Kirk's head slowly turned around and his eyes met McCoy's, cloudy and confused. "Bones?" He whispered hoarsely as his eyebrows knit together.
"It's me, Jim." McCoy said soothingly, helping the shaky man to his feet.
"Bones, what am I doing here?" Kirk asked quietly, looking around the room, and down at the hospital gown around his body. "What happened? I... I went up on stage and...and... oh God," Kirk shook his head and blinked his eyes quickly, before letting them meet McCoy's again. His once cloudy eyes were once again vibrant and filled with life. "Bones, all those people at the banquet," He said fearfully, all of the memories coming flooding back to him.
"They're alright, Jim." McCoy shifted his grip from Kirk's shoulder to under his arm, keeping him steadily upright. "There were no casualties."
"Oh my God," Kirk rubbed his head, closing his eyes tightly. "Who did it?" He asked quietly.
"We'll talk more later, Jim." McCoy insisted, gesturing towards the door. "You need to rest first."
"I feel fine, Bones." Kirk shook his head. "My head's just a little garbled." He admitted, looking around the room. His eyes caught on the slumbering woman, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Who the hell is this?"
"Ask Spock," McCoy raised an eyebrow and sighed. He tugged at Kirk and Kirk reluctantly walked with him back into the other room. Kirk noticed Spock in the hall and opened his mouth to speak, but McCoy stopped him. "Later." He said, using his best parent voice.
Kirk hung his head as he walked with McCoy back to the room. His head was still a jumbled mess, his thoughts swimming around without anything to catch on.
"How am I still alive?" He asked as McCoy helped him back into the bed. "I... I remember the shrapnel in my stomach." He instinctively reached for his stomach, which was still heavily bandaged. McCoy tried to stop his hands from peeling back the thick bandages, but Kirk swatted his hands away. He pulled back the gauze to reveal smooth, untarnished skin below. "What the fuck?" He whispered, inspecting where he had expected the wound to be.
"That information will be disclosed to you at a later time, Jim. For now, you must rest and regain your strength." Spock said quietly, Uhura attatched to his arm in the doorway.
"For once, I agree with the half-breed." McCoy sighed, pulling the bandages back onto Kirk's skin and wrapping the covers around his shoulders. "I've got a million tests to run on you, but I need you to be a little stronger first." McCoy said quietly as he noticed Kirk's eyes beginning to close.
"Yeah," Kirk nodded slightly. "M'kay." He settled under the blankets, his eyes drooping shut.
"Get some sleep, Jim." McCoy said softly as he made his way to the doorway.
"Whatever you say, Bones." Kirk said quietly and McCoy shut the door softly behind him.
Kirk's eyes closed and he felt his body entering a deep sleep. Suddenly, it felt as though a siren went off in his head, jerking him awake again, his breathing heavy and his heart racing.
Fuck. He thought, with a heavy sigh. Something's not right.
/
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and there's more to come... Things are just getting started...
Anyway, feedback is always welcomed, and I want to thank all of you that have taken the time to review for your very sweet and thoughtful reviews. I really do appreciate them, and they motivate me to actually get stuff done :) Hope you'll stick around for the rest of the story! There's plenty of action and drama to come!
-buckminsterbarnes