I just want express my awe and gratitude for my 36 reveiws, 29 faves, and 69 follows! I'm blown away, guys! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Chapter Fourteen
McCoy and Gael entered the mess hall and were immediately waved over by Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu to join them for lunch. They grabbed their meals and sat down, McCoy grateful for the others' trying to include Gael in their lives. However, she soon lost track of the males' discussion of the last planet they had visited, and struck up a conversation with Uhura about life on board a starship.
"We have a lot of duties, but we still have time for fun," Uhura said. "In fact, Carol and I were wanting to have you over tonight."
"Me? Really?"
"Yeah, girls' dinner and a movie night in my room," Uhura grinned. "Usually it's just me, Carol, and my friend Gaila, but we wanted you to join us. We all swapped for later shifts tomorrow, so it'll almost be like a sleep-over, and, of course, no males are allowed at anytime." She mocked glared in the direction of Sulu, Chekov, and McCoy.
"Trust me, I don't even want to know what ship-domination planning takes place at your 'girls' nights'," Sulu adamantly replied.
Chekov shook his head. "Me nee-zer."
"Don't worry, Uhura, I will personally hypo the witless guy who intrudes on the sanctity of your male-free evening," McCoy chuckled.
"Sleep-o'er...wha's a sleep-o'er?" Gael asked.
"You don't know what a sleep-over is?" Sulu asked. "I thought every kid had been to one by the time they were ten. Especially girls."
"A sleep-over is when you...well...sleep over, spend the night, at a friend's house. Boys play video games and tell ghost stories all night, and...I don't know what happens at girl sleep-overs," McCoy said.
"Usually painting nails, playing Truth or Dare, talking about all the cute boys at school, watching chick flicks...that sort of thing," Uhura said. "You never had or went to sleep-over?"
Gael shook her head. "I donnae remember. Maybe we dinnae have them in Ireland."
"Well, we have them occasionally here on the Enterprise, and you are definitely invited," Uhura answered with a smile.
Subconsciously, Gael glanced at McCoy. He had been careful about her activities so far; something about space illnesses and the vaccines he had given her. Would he approve of this sleep-over? Nyota, as she had insisted to be called, and Dr. Marcus were very nice, and Gael was sure this Gaila was nice too, if Nyota was friends with her. She could not remember having much contact with other females. Just her mother and, occasionally, Aunt Claire. And this sleep-over sounded fun; fun was definitely a distant memory for Gael.
McCoy was slightly surprised when he noticed her hesitant glance his way. It was clear she wanted to go to Uhura's, but it was almost like...Gael was seeking his permission. Why would she feel the need for permission? From him? She hasn't made a decision for herself in five years, he reminded himself. "Sounds like...fun...girly...uh...stuff...Y'all will have a blast, I'm sure," he said, hoping that Gael would take the hint that it was okay for her to go.
In fact, he was secretly thrilled; Gael needed some strong feminine influences. She taken away from her mother at an important time in a girl's life. She needed at one person she could turn to for help with more...feminine things. He was a doctor, sure, but there were some things that she would really just need a woman's help with.
"Oh, we will," Uhura grinned. "We'll see you at six here in the mess hall, okay, Gael?"
"Aye, definitely!" she nodded enthusiastically. Inside, she was doing a little happy jig. She could sense Doc-Leonard's approval in his answer to Nyota.
McCoy grinned at Gael's excitement. Thank you, he mouthed to Uhura, who just smiled back.
After lunch, McCoy and Gael returned to Sickbay to finish organizing his office. They finished around four o' clock and had another victory dance the middle of the office since the floor was now clear enough that they would not trip and fall over anything. McCoy could hardly remember a time when he felt happier, more at peace as he did in that afternoon working side-by-side with Gael. They were not even doing something deep or meaningful; just sorting papers and files into order, but McCoy felt something he had been missing for a long time. A sense of family. They both felt free to be themselves without worrying what people would think.
Unfortunately, Nurse Johnson cut their celebration short by coming in and yelling about an Engineering ensign with severe burns.
"You are free to go, Gael," McCoy said hurriedly as he dashed out into Sickbay. Gael followed him to find three injured ensigns being helped onto bio-beds by the nurses. The first two had several red blisters each, and one had a broken arm, but the third ensign had severe burns to his left arm and leg.
"What happened?" McCoy demanded, instantly switching to full doctor/CMO mode.
"Coolant lines for one of the smaller thrusters malfunctioned," the ensign groaned. "It over-heated."
"And, I assume it exploded."
"A little bit. It would have been worse if we hadn't been trying to reroute coolant."
"And, course you were standing right there when it happened," McCoy huffed.
"I was trying...to...contain...the damage."
"With your body?" McCoy shook his head. He turned to Nurse Johnson who had just stood there hovering over the doctor's shoulder. "What are you waiting for? Set up the dermal regenerator! This man's skin isn't gonna heal itself anytime soon!"
She just stood there and gaped at his sudden outburst.
"Go!" he shouted, pointing to cabinet where the equipment was kept. "Don't fret," he told the man on the bed. "We'll do a few rounds of dermal regen, and you'll be fine. What's ya name, Ensign?"
"Avery, Thomas, J."
"Ok, I'm gonna get you a sedative; this is gonna hurt like you won't believe." He turned to head to the medicine closet only to run into Gael. "Darlin', you need to either get out of here or stay in the office; you can't be under foot in here!"
Calmly, she held up a hypospray. "I brought ye a sedative for Ensign Avery, Doctor."
"What?"
"I got his name, looked up his file for med allergies, then had Nurse Snyder explain how tae prepare th' hypo. Ten CCs o' isoflurane is correct, isn't it?" she said.
He snatched the hypospray from her and examined it. She had indeed prepared it correctly. He dashed over the PADD sitting on the counter by the med closet. He found the ensign's file still up and that he did not have an allergy to the sedative Gael brought him. He went back over to his patient, and he found Gael holding his good hand.
"Donnae worry, Ensign," she softly told him. "He's just double checkin' the hypo. Would nae want to accidently give ye too much or somethin'."
Avery chuckled weakly. "No, that's not something I care to experience."
"Well, Doctor McCoy is th' best. He'll be fixin' ye right up, good as new."
McCoy leaned over and administered the hypo. "That'll be takin' affect in a minute."
"Thanks, Doc," Avery nodded. "You know, some of you down here should take bedside manner lessons from Miss Gael here."
"We all can't be as sweet as pie, Avery," McCoy answered wryly. "Besides, Starfleet does not pay me enough to pander to all you Engineering folks. Ya'll come in more often than everyone else, I think. The only ones that come close are Security and the Captain."
"She still made me feel better about the prognosis..." he trailed off as the sedative took effect.
"Good," Gael smiled. "Cause ye have nothin' tae worry about."
Avery smiled back just before his eyes fluttered closed.
McCoy sighed and ran his hand down his face. "Gael Darlin', ya can't be in here doin' stuff like that."
"Like what?" she asked, confused. "I jus' told him he would be okay."
"I'm talkin' 'bout the sedative!" He paused to take a deep breath to calm himself. "Darlin', you're not a trained, licenced medical professional. I can't let you go around doin' hypos and stuff!"
"And she is a trained professional?" Gael whispered, nodding toward the nurse who was still trying to set up the dermal regenerator. "Could have fooled me, Doctor."
"Gael-"
"Nay! She was jus' standin' there like a bump on o log, an' tha' poor man was in pain, waitin' on her tae do her job. I couldnae-"
"Gael!" McCoy half shouted, and sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "Your desire to help is wonderful, but I can't let you do that. I'm CMO; the head of tiny hospital in space. If word of me letting an untrained teen dispense medication got back to Starfleet, I could lose my job and license to practice, Darlin'."
Gael's shoulders slumped. "Oh..." she said in a small voice, lowering her head in shame.
"Besides that, you could have very likely have gotten the wrong drug or the wrong amount. It could have hurt or even killed him. Then, we'd have a malpractice lawsuit on our hands."
"I...I w-was jus' tryin'...t-tae..."
McCoy huffed a sighed and pulled her in to his chest. "I know, Darlin', I know." He held her tight as she buried her face in his uniform. "You know what, though, I am kinda proud of ya, in a way."
She slowly raised her head. "What for?"
"Your quick thinkin'. Without any training, you were able to access the situation, figure out what we needed, and had it ready and waitin' when I wanted it." He grinned. "That's pretty good for an amateur."
Gael blushed. Just then, Nurse Johnson finally brought the dermal regenerator over.
"Look, I gotta see to my patient. Why don't you just go relax in your quarters till you have to go meet up with Uhura?"
"All right..." Gael released him and stepped back.
"I'll see ya tomorrow, Darlin'."
"G'night, Leonard," she whispered.
"Have fun," he softly grinned and brushed a kiss to her forehead before turning to his patient.
Gael slipped out of Sickbay and headed back to her room. Thoughtfully, her fingers brushed the spot where McCoy had kissed her, and she smiled shyly to herself.
Next up: Girl's Night with Nyota, Carol, and Gaila!
I'd love to hear what all y'all think so far; please drop off a review!
Oh, and please check the poll on my profile!