Jim wasn't entirely sure what occurred after, he remembered insisting that he was fine, or would be after getting some rest and a shower, but when he woke up the area around him was bright, a sharp pain caused him to hiss, and there was an annoying hum in his ear.

"It was only a mild concussion, but it looks like he's going to be alright." Oh that voice was familiar.

"That is…fortunate." That stern voice again.

Jim groaned and laughed a little at the hiss of 'idiot'. "Hey Bones."

"Don't you 'Hey' me!" The man snapped. "Do you know how lucky you are that I was here tonight? I walked in to some, wet behind the ears, resident trying to shoot you up with a Codeine monstrosity! You could have died!"

"Wouldn't be the first time." Again Jim laughed, closing his eyes against the bright lights, and cringing slightly afterwards; even to his own ears his voice sounded painful. "So what's my diagnosis?"

He heard the man huff. "You're lucky nothing is broken. Your ribs are bruised, you have an orbital fracture, and your lip was split—took care of that a few minutes ago—you'll be outta here before mornin'." There was a clack next to him, presumably the sound of his chart being dropped on a table. "So you gonna tell me just what happened?"

"Met a girl in the library trying to hide from some guys, we ate dinner, then I walked her to her dorm. The guys jumped me when I passed between 600A and 700B." Jim said listening as the humming decreased and seemed to travel lower.

"Did it ever occur to you NOT to interfere?" Bones sniped.

"Did it ever occur to YOU that I might be a decent human capable of experiencing emotions and empathy?" Jim snapped in return, opening his eyes enough that he could make out the still present dark figure just over the doctor's shoulder. He sighed, forcibly relaxing. "It's not easy to ask for or accept help when people have preconceived notions about you, Bones."

There was silence for a moment. "Hey, official guy," Jim said. "You want a statement before I pass back out?"

"Oh, Hell no, you're not sleepin'till we know for sure your brain isn't going to turn to mush." Bones snapped.

"You said I was fine!" Jim whined.

"You're still under observation, idiot!"

"I will send the proper authorities to retrieve Cadet Kirk's statement tomorrow."

"Thanks," Bones said over his shoulder, paying little mind to the man. "Jim, you need to be more careful in the future."

Jim scoffed, fully shutting his eyes once more. What did he care anyhow? That wasn't fair though was it? It wasn't Bones' fault that Jim was…weird; and the man was, while apprehensive, respectful of the fact that Jim was a man despite his genitalia. That was more than Jim could say about the people back home. Sure the younger ones were cool with it, but his own age group and the older adults tended to avoid him unless they were satisfying their own curiosity.

The sound of footsteps and the thud of a closing door gave Jim the impression he was alone. He sighed, relaxing and allowing a frown to slip onto his face. He might cry if he thought he could without leaving evidence, but his face had a propensity for becoming particularly puffy. Jim scrubbed his eyes with his palms, slowly opening them in hopes of possibly finding water somewhere in the room.

Bones raised his eyebrows at him and plopped himself on the foot of the bed. "You're a fuckin' genius." He said slowly. "So I know I don't need to explain sexual dimorphism to you, but, even though you're a man mentally, you're muscles aren't as dense as the others. Fighting with three biologically gendered men is nearly a deadwish."

Jim glared.

"Don't give me that look." The doctor said with a growl. "You're my friend, and, my roommate. Naturally I'm going to worry about you, especially since you're allergic to everything. I damn near threw that resident across the room when I saw the hypo he was about to shoot you up with." He paused for a moment and bit his cheek. "Have you thought about hormones? That would increase you muscle mass, at least some, though it would come with a slew of other issues."

Jim stared up at the ceiling. Bones was being awkward again, but somehow Jim didn't mind this time. He was trying and that was a good thing right? It was true. Because Jim was genetically female he would have a disadvantage in physical altercations, at least when there was no strategy employed. So he knew that there was no logical reason to be irritated by Bones' factual statement but that didn't stop him; though his emotions were dampened by his acknowledgement of the truth.

He smirked a little. Bones was still sitting awkwardly. He was trying his best to be inoffensive, though the fact that he thought Jim might be so easily offended was more off putting than anything that might be unintentionally hurtful. Jim pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Bones, I don't need hormone treatment. I'm perfectly happy with the body I have." The doctor heaved a sigh at those words. "No dysphoria or anything."

"How did you know?" Bones asked and instantly regretted it. His ears burned with embarrassment. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that."

"Bones!" Jim snapped. "Stop that. I'm not going to attack you for being curious. Just treat me the same as you would treat anyone else, and stop avoiding me. I'm more concerned that my roommate can barely talk to me for five minutes unless I'm being confined to a biobed."

The doctor stood. "You thought I was avoiding you?" He asked.

"Well, yeah, you've turned down all my invitations to have meals together since day two."

Bones actually laughed. "You're not the only one challenging your courses, kid. Not all of us have super functioning brains though and have to spend more than a few hours doing self-study." He ruffled his hair. "You complained that we only had the basic classes together, so I thought I'd try to get a few out of the way so we could have more free time later on."

The doctor was relieved. He didn't know how Jim would take his questioning. This was still way out of his norm, but he could probably adapt much easier knowing that Jim wasn't going to chew him out for making a mistake. Bones supposed he should have already known that. Jim had corrected him on a few occasions, never with any amount of vitriol but rather with a calm demeanor and the same manner professors used when introducing their students to delicate subjects.

"Aren't you going to get in trouble for hanging out in my room?" Jim asked.

Bones glanced at the wall clock, "Nope, off duty now." He did need to go make it clear though and sign out. "I'm definitely not leaving you alone with these quacks though. God knows what they'd remove from you...or add."

Jim laughed. "Hey, Bones." He said. "I knew when I kept forgetting that I was a supposed to be a girl."

The doctor reddened. "Right…That's informative."

"I mean, that I kept thinking I was a boy, and I would get really confused when I remembered I wasn't." Jim pushed on, enjoying the way his friend's blush continued to grow darker and darker. "The first time I can really remember, it was my birthday and mom couldn't even look at me, and I remember thinking 'when I'm a dad, I'll never leave behind my kids with a parent like this'. Then I realized that I couldn't be a dad because I was supposed to be a mom. And after that I started becoming more aware of it until I realized why."

Bones was glowing red as he nodded his head. "Right…Um, I have to go properly sign out…..I'll be right back…." He said quickly. God, he didn't expect Jim to actually answer him, not like that. He hoped he hadn't crosses any lines in asking. He groaned slightly, rubbing his neck as he approached the console and logged his hours.