Chapter Thirteen
McCoy woke from the nap he had not meant to take, still holding Gael's hand. He raised his head and let his eyes take in his little Irish girl's face-wait-since when was Gael his? He shook his head to dispel the strange thought and tried to ignore the warmth and serenity that budded in his chest when he saw Gael's peacefully slumbering face.
"Nurse-" He tried to remember which nurses were on duty. "Nurse Snyder," he called.
"Nope," came a distinctly Texan voice. "Snyder, Rossi, and Johnson got off thirty minutes ago.
"Lee?" She was from Texas and good with loud, obnoxious, stubborn patients. The tall brunette walked over and handed McCoy his PADD.
"Yep, it's lil' ol' me, Levenworth, and Kelley, right now."
"Really? How long was I out?"
"Two hours."
"Two hours! Dang it, Lee, why didn't anyone wake me up?" McCoy sputtered.
"Well, I can't speak for the last shift, but I know why I didn't."
"Oh?"
"Ya clearly don't get enough sleep, Doc, and ya looked too darn comfortable. I didn't have the heart ta wake ya up."
"Oh, 'looked too comfortable', my foot," Levenworth commented as she and Kelley came in from the supply closet. "We didn't wake you up because it was too cute seeing you passed out next to the Irish girl."
"Great. Just peachy," McCoy groused as he stood and straightened his uniform.
"Oh, stop grumbling, Doctor," Kelley said "Absolutely nothing has happened since you fell asleep. Not one patient has come in."
"But doesn't change the regulation about sleeping on duty!"
"What we don't report to the captain won't hurt him," Levenworth rolled her eyes. "besides, I highly doubt he'd punish you for it anyway."
"That doesn't change anything!" McCoy answered. "From now on, if I accidentally fall asleep on duty, I want somebody to wake me up."
"Yes, Doctor," the three nurses chorused.
Just then, Gael stirred with a small moan.
McCoy was at her side immediately. "How ya feelin'?" he asked as he whipped out a tricorder and scanned her. The nurses exchanged knowing smiles.
"Head...feels...fuzzy..."
"Sorry, Darlin'; side-effect of the sedative."
"Okay...dinner...promised Pavel an' Hikaru..."
"Nope, you're having dinner right here with me."
She sighed, not having the will power to argue. "Okay..."
After a dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, Gael's head was feel much clearer, so McCoy discharged her and took her back to her room. In the bathroom, she changed into her pale blue pajamas (they had little black Starfleet symbols all over them.) from Uhura and let McCoy...settle her in bed. (He still refused to think of it as tucking her in. She was nineteen, not five, for heaven's sake.) He tugged the grey blanket up to her chin as she slipped beneath the sheets into a comfortable position on her side.
"G'night," he whispered.
"Night, Doctor."
"Darlin', I think we're past formalities at this point; just call me Leonard."
"Leonard...Leonard..."she mutter drowsily, testing it out how to pronounce his name.
"You got it, Darlin'," he chuckled. "Sweet dreams," he added, but she had already drifted off.
The next morning, Gael rose early (the clock...er...chronometer on her bedside table said it a little after six.) and dressed for the day in jeans, a thick, over-sized hunter green sweater, and black Starfleet boots. She found it to be kind of cold here in space. Grabbing the communicator that Captain Kirk had left on her desk, she headed out in search of breakfast.
Gael was a little scared of the thought of walking around the ship alone, (What if she accidentally went somewhere that she was not supposed to?) but she did not want to bother Doctor Mc...Leonard. He had told her to call him Leonard. Anyway, she was sure that he was already busy in Sickbay, getting ready for the day.
After a few minutes, she realized that was lost. She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, now she had no idea where she was. She was just pulling out her communicator to see if she could figure out how it worked to call Pavel, Hikaru, or Nyota, when a voice rang out ahead of her.
"Ye alright there, lass?" A thick Scottish brogue asked, and she looked up to find a man with short brown hair and kind blue eyes smiling at her. He wore a uniform like the others, and it was red like Nyota's.
"I-I was tryin' t-tae find the mess hall...I thin' I'm lost..."
"Well, tha's nae problem, lass; I'm a-headin' for a bite o' breakfast meself," he said. "I can take ye there, if ye don' mind an ol' Scotsman's company."
A small, tentative smile grace her lips. "I'd like tha', sir," she answered.
"Ah, a polite one, ye are," he said, offering his arm with a wink. "If I may escort ye, me lady."
Gael giggled and took his arm as he lead her down the hallway. "Thank ye, sir. I'm Gael."
"Ye be tha' wee Irish lass they found, then? "
She nodded.
"Young Chekov spoke highly o' ye when he came down tae Engineerin' yesterday. Montgomery Scott, at yer service. Friends call me Scotty, though."
"What do ye do here, Mister Scott?"
"I'm CEO."
"CEO?"
"Chief Engineerin' Officer."
Gael's eyes widened. She was walking arm-in-arm to breakfast with the head of Engineering? "Ye mean, yer in charge o' th' engine room?" she gasped.
"Well, 'tis a bit more than jus' a 'engine room'," he chuckled. "but, aye, I make sure we keep our silver lady happy and goin'."
He was in charge of keep them going in space!
"Wow...Ye mus' be a very busy man..."
"Aye, but no' tae busy tae share breakfast with bonnie wee lass, if she be willin'," he smiled shyly.
"Tha' would be lovely, Mister Scott," she grinned back as they reach the mess hall.
"Now, now, none o' tha'. It's Scotty, lass."
"Okay...Mister Scotty, then."
Scotty just chuckled and shook his head. They went through the line, finding that they both liked their oatmeal with an apple cut up in it and a liberal amount of cinnamon sprinkled on top, and sat a table in a quiet corner. Scotty kept Gael giggling by recounting several Engineering mishaps involving himself and his colleague, Keenser.
She rested her chin in hand in with a happy sigh. "Aiden woulda loved tae meet ye and follow ye around all day."
"Who, lass?"
Her smile faded thoughtfully. "Aiden," she answered softly. "My eldest brother. He so wanted tae be an engineer. He ne'er even got tae go tae college."
"I'm sorry, lass." Scotty gently covered her hand that was on the table with his own.
"Thanks," she whispered. "It's jus'...we were close, me brothers and I."
"Tha's good, Gael; I had five brothers and sisters, but we ne'er got along." Scotty checked the mess hall chronometer. "Well, lass, I got tae get back tae Engineering; can I drop ye off somewhere?"
"Sickbay?" she asked shyly.
"Aye, I can do tha'," he grinned. They returned their trays and headed to Sickbay.
"Thank ye, Mister Scotty," Gael said when they reached the Sickbay doors. "Breakfast was lovely."
"Aye, 'tis no' every morn I get such a bonnie messmate," Scotty winked. "If ye come by Engineerin' sometime, I'd be honored tae give ye a tour."
"I'd like tha'. I will definitely come down sometime," she answered. "Have a great day, Mister Scotty."
"Ye too, lass," he sent her a playful salute and headed down to Engineering.
Stepping through the door, Gael found Sickbay nearly empty. Only one patient occupied a biobed. The red-shirted ensign was having his hand wrapped by a nurse.
"Um...Excuse me; where's Doctor McCoy?" she asked tentatively.
Without raising her eyes, the nurse jerked her head towards a door in the back of the room. "In his office," she said with a heavy German accent.
"Thank ye," Gael nodded and headed towards the door. Gathering her courage and praying that she was not interrupting anything, she knocked on the door.
A gruff, muffled "Come in!" sounded from the other side. Pressing a button on the doorframe, the door slid open, and she hovered uncertainly a step into the room. McCoy was sitting at the desk, which had piles of papers and PADDs all over it. He was bent over a stack of papers, a look of frustration plastered on his face and a few strands of his normally perfectly neat hair sticking up.
He did a double-take when he finally looked up and saw her there. "Gael, Darlin'? Ya okay? What on earth are ya doin' up this early?"
"I'm fine," she shrugged. "I was wonderin' if there was anythin' I could help ye with."
He cast a defeated look around his messy office. "I don't suppose ya would be willin' to help me make heads 'r tails of all this?" She nodded enthusiastically. A wry grin broke out on his face. "Why don't ya start with the science journals on the couch?" She looked across from the desk and found his couch covered in stacks of science and medical journals. "I was scanning them into one of my PADDs so I can leave the hard copies in my room, but I've lost track of which ones I have and haven't done. I need you figure out ones are on there and which ones aren't, and sort them for me. Can ya do that?" he asked.
Gael sent him a mock salute. " Aye, sir!" she answered cheerfully.
McCoy shook his head, and took a long sip from his large coffee mug. "Darlin', when did ya get up?"
"Around six," she answered, not looking up from the stack of magzines in her hands.
"Six!"
"Aye, I had breakfast an' everythin'."
He ran a hand down his face. "Gael, ya are way too chipper for someone who went through what ya did yesterday and got up that early. How much coffee did you have at breakfast?"
She glanced up at him to see his sleepy eyes gazing in bemusement at her. "Oh, I dinnae have any; I've ne'er liked coffee at all. I've jus' always been a mornin' person...I think..."
"Lucky you."
"It also helps if I donnae think about yesterday," she added quietly.
"Oh, shucks, and here I brought it up," McCoy groaned. "I'm sorry, Gael."
"'Tis okay. It was a fair question." She sounded fine, but McCoy noticed her eyes glaze over in memory. Rising from his desk, he crossed the room and pulled her into a hug.
"If you ever need to talk about it, I'm here, okay?"
She nodded into his shoulder. He slowly released her and returned to trying to sort through the papers on his desk. They worked all morning in a easy, companionable silence until McCoy's coffee kicked in. Once he was fully awake, a light banter developed between them, broken only by McCoy's hourly rounds in the main Sickbay. After Gael finished sorting the medical journals, she helped him with organizing his paper files.
"How did all this get like this anyway?" Gael asked.
"New nurses misfiling everything, " he sighed. "I have to keep both the paper files and the electronic files up to date. We had three people come in here last night, and I can't find their files."
"Dinnae the nurses get trained on filin'?"
"They're supposed to, yeah, but there's a couple here that I think must have called in 'sick' that week, or somethin'."
Gael giggled. "I'm guessin' they were havin' ocular problems."
"Ocular problems?" McCoy asked. "What on earth makes ya say that?"
"'Tis wha' me Uncle Bryan always said when he dinnae want tae go to work," she answered laughing. "He always said tha' he had an ocular problem; he couldnae see himself goin' in tae work tha' day."
McCoy just shook his head and laughed. "I might actually have to use that one on Jim sometime," he grinned.
From outside, the three nurses on duty gazed at the office door in wonder as the sound of laughter floated from the other side.
"Well, wonder of wonders," Nurse Rossi said, shaking her head in amazment. "The grizzly bear actually sounds happy this morning."
"Ja," Nurse Snyder said. "it is a day to mark on the calendar."
Nurse Johnson, who was testing tricorders, added "Yeah, in bright red ink and sparkles."
Snyder nodded, her blond ponytail bobbing. "She is goot for him," she said with a rare smile.
Rossi grinned. "And, believe it or not, he is good for her. He may be rough, but he is very caring."
"I just wonder how it's gonna take," Johnson said.
"How long what's going to take?"
"Doctor McCoy realizing they are perfect for each other and seeking adoption."
"You really think he would?" Snyder asked.
"If he is half as smart about personal matters as he is about medical matters, then yes," Johnson nodded. "In fact I bet it will happen by Thanksgiving."
"You're on," Rossi answered, as another gale of laughter came from the office.
Gael and McCoy, competely aware that they were the topic of the nurses' conversation, were laughing as they attempted a victory dance in the middle of his office in celebration of finally piecing together the three missing patient files. However, papers, files, and PADDs were still stacked all over the place causing the pair to nearly trip and fall over.
"Ooooookay, I think it's time for a break," McCoy chuckled.
"Lunch?" Gael asked brightly.
"Sounds good, Darlin'." He grabbed her hand and led her out towards the Sickbay door.
"I'm goin' ta lunch; Rossi is in charge till I get back," he called over his shoulder, chuckling when the nurses caught sight of his grinning face as he walked hand-in-hand with Gael.
"Is it really tha' rare for ye tae smile, Doctor Leonard?" she asked.
"I told ya, it's just Leonard, Darlin'," he answered, his smile fading. "Honestly, I haven't had much to smile about in the last few years."
She squeezed his hand gently. "We'll jus' have tae work tha' then, won't we?"
He looked down at her softly smile face, and felt his heart swell in graditude and pride. She had literally been through a living Hell, and yet there she was, encouraging him. Gosh, your parents would be so darn proud of you, Gael.
"I reckon we will; I reckon we will."
You've already made a start on making my life a more bearable place to be.
So, yes, Bones has a fun side! Sorry if this seems a little random, but after all the angst, they all need some happy fluffiness.
Please, leave a review; they are the cure for writer's block. (No, there isn't a hypospray cure for writer's block yet. I asked Bones and he chased me out of his Sickbay.)
Ooo, one last thing: Thank you so much to the three people who left reviews and to the one who PM-ed me about my one-shot Just Like Jesse James. I've actually had a request to write more about that OC, so if you have ideas or requests let me know!