SHINEDOWN VERSE: MIRACLE

The Enterprise was orbiting a recently discovered uninhabited but environmentally hospitable planet they were currently calling 'Mona' with teams on the ground conducting surveys and scans. Kirk and McCoy were exploring an area that could best be described as gulleys of bushy scrubland that opened out into large areas that could easily be used for agricultural purposes. The two had been getting under each other's skin in recent days so Kirk decided this would be a great idea to get them some 'fresh air'.

Everything was going well. Bones was rough at first but as they walked around, he relaxed and even started enjoying the experience. They were due to head back to the rendezvous point soon so Jim took the opportunity to 'answer a call of nature' before they regrouped to head back to the ship. McCoy respectfully made himself very interested in the scenery as he mumbled a remark about Kirk being an infant, but a sound of panic had him look straight back at Jim, who was currently falling down an embankment that had given way under his weight. "JIM!"

McCoy could only watch in horror as Kirk slid down, getting caught on a root or something which snapped due to his momentum, causing him a hard landing nearby. McCoy sprinted down the embankment right behind Kirk who was on his side not moving "JIM!?" McCoy panted as he rolled his friend over, not prepared for what he found

Kirk was conscious but not 100% with it, and he had part of a tree going through him! The root or whatever he got caught on as he fell was going in through Kirks groin area and coming out the back just above his hip. He had been impaled.

Kirk quickly gets his senses back and is hit with the pain of his injury, reaching out and grabbing a hold of McCoy's arm with one hand while the other tries to find a leverage point as he tries to arch his back away from the ground

"DON'T MOVE DAMNIT" McCoy orders as he frees a hand to grab out his communicator

"McCoy to Spock"

"Spock here"

"I need you at my location NOW!"

"On my way" McCoy was too focused on Kirk to appreciate the Vulcans sense of urgency at McCoy's tone of voice.

Jim was beginning to hyperventilate, lost in pain and anxiety, but he still had a death grip on McCoy's arm as they both looked down at the mess he was in.

"Get it out!"

"I am, but I can't just pull it Jim…" McCoy was getting a good look at whatever he could get too, and taking scans without moving Jim or trying to make him let go "You're already losing a lot of blood. I can't remove it without doing any further damage. At least while it's in there it's stopping some of the blood flow…"

Turns out Vulcans are fast runners as Spock should have been over a mile away but arrived in record time. Either that or he got Scotty to beam him site to site as there was no way the ensign with him could run as fast.

Spock came down and propped himself behind Kirk to try and support the injured mans weight. Jim looked up at him and immediately grabbed onto him in the same way he was holding onto Bones.

"He is impaled up through the groin and out the top of the hip, there is no way to pull it out without causing significantly more damage." McCoy bought Spock up to speed quickly

"Can we use the transporter to beam him straight to medbay?"

"Give me minute to stabilize him first – I don't like the look of that bleeding and if something moves it'll be like popping a cork" McCoy turned to face the ensign that came with Spock "Get a nurse with an advanced field trauma kit here now" McCoy ordered as he moved down Jim's side and started triaging the wounds. Now Spock was here McCoy got Kirk to let go of him so he could move and work properly.

Kirk could handle quite a bit, but even he has his limits. Pain and pressure were overwhelming, he felt like his body was going to explode, this is how he was going to die. He could feel his abdominal muscles contracting like his body was trying to push the stick out of himself

"Cut it. Bones. Cut it out! … Please" Kirk pleaded. He can't catch his breath; the pain and anxiety are too much. He holds onto Spock like his life depends on it. Like the grip is the only thing stopping him from losing all control and hysterically dying right then and there. He knows both his friends are there helping him, he can hear their voices trying to calm him, reminding him to breath, but they are muffled, and he can't see them because his eyes are screwed tightly shut. If he opens them and sees that this situation is real then he will lose it.

"Jim, I need you to look at me…" hands cradled his face so gently that he barely even registered they were there, but there was something in Bones voice that made Jim aware that he had to pay attention, so he locked eyes with Bones to acknowledge that he was listening

"Are ya with me kid?" the question was heavy with concern, but he saw Bones visibly relax a little when he grunted his response "Yeh…Yeh B'ns"

"You're in bad shape Jim, I don't wanna touch anything until I have better meds and equipment to do it properly but the bleeding in your groin can't wait. its pulsing with your heartrate, so its arterial…" Bones could see Jim was listening but not picking up what he was trying to get across "I need to plug it before you bleed out on me, but I can't reach it without going in…" Jims brows furrowed as he processed the going in part, then he went wild with panic as it registered "no no no Bones please" he pleaded as tears rolled down the side of his face. It was taking everything he has in him to just try and catch his breath between the waves of intense, debilitating pain assaulting him every few seconds. More pain was just not an option for him right now. Jim wants to tell him to fuck off, but no more words form, only pained pants accompanied by an expression of pure fear

"I'm sorry darlin', I know this is too much for you but I gotta do it, and I promise I will give you the top shelf drugs just as soon as I can. I just gotta stop you bleeding out on me before I can fix you up proper" McCoy used the conversation as a distraction while he prepped himself and Jim for what came next.

"A'right Jim. Ready" Bones was not waiting, he needed to stop the bleeding now! so he had to ignore his friends shaking hand shooting out to try and stop him from touching the wound, and the pain he knew he was about to feel. A quick nod from Bones to Spock to tell him it was about to happen had Jim burying his face into Spocks chest as they gripped each other tighter.

Bones slipped his finger into the entry wound along side the stick, the pain took Jim's breath away completely. Bones hesitated for just a moment to let Jim adjust to the new pain but as he pressed in Jim roared a blood curdling scream of aguish, before collapsing and finally passing out. Bones maneuvered his finger in deeper feeling for something that would tell him where the tear in Jims artery was, he moved carefully but quickly, trusting his gut and relying on all his skill and experience to feel his way around. He felt sick doing this, but the relief of finding the damage outweighed the urge to cry at causing his beloved friend so much pain.

"Got it! Don't let him move Spock!" Bones stayed there, using his fingers to clamp the damaged artery as Spock cradled Jims torso. It felt like forever but was probably only a few minutes at most from the time the ensign commed the ship to the time McCoy seen his nurse Courtney materialize at the top of the hill with a complete field trauma kit. Courtney was, in Bones opinion, one of Starfleet's best trauma nurses second only to Christine Chaple. McCoy released a breath he didn't know he was holding before jolting into action, using his free hand to grab the portable bio-monitor out of the field kit and throwing it to Spock as Courtney (bless her cotton socks) did a quick visual assessment and got straight into cutting Jims uniform off so they could properly tend to the captains wounds.

"Ok Court, I'm blocking a tear in the femoral artery, I'll need the laser scalpel, a field clamp and get some saline ready to irrigate. I need to cut the wound open so I can get in and put the clamp on, I can feel his blood pressure dropping so we need to do this quick then get a line in him" Bones got his nurse up to speed as she got everything organized with an efficiency that made the veteran surgeon proud.

Spock attached the bio-monitor nodes to Jims torso before returning to holding Jim still as he watched McCoy and Courtney work in sync to stabilize the bleed in the captains leg. When McCoy backed away and sat up straight Spock studied his face for any sign that told him if the doctor was satisfied or not. McCoy was normally a visually expressive man, but the doctor had a solid poker face when he was focused on his work.

"right, that's bought us 20 minutes. Court we need that line in NOW. Set him up on shock rates, with a 500ml bolus" McCoy ordered as he waved the tricorder over Kirk's unconscious form. "he's crashing…Doxapram and 1 amp adrenaline going in IV…" Spock didn't exactly understand what was being said but knew it made perfect sense to the two med personnel so he didn't interrupt. "That's got his heart rate and respiration stabilized for now, you finish getting that bolus into him and we'll do the rest back on the ship" McCoy said as he looked over the thick vine-like stick still skewering his friend. All things going well Jim would get up to the ship, into the OR and be a good patient while Bones fix him up. But things rarely go so well do they. Jims eyes started to move under his lids, his face went from being slack to being contorted and he made a sound like a strangled moan.

Court and McCoy instantly moved to brace Kirk so he couldn't move and hurt himself as he came-too. "Doctor what is happening" Spock was unsure of the situation and didn't know what to do

"He's reacting to the adrenaline in his system – he's trying to wake up instead of doing us all a favor and staying out. Damnit" Kirks heartrate and resp rate increased substantially as he became more aware of not just pain, but also hands on him holding him down. He inhaled sharply as his eyes shot open, momentarily frozen while trying to take everything in.

"Jim? …" Bones moved so he was directly in his friends line of sight and hopefully blocking most of Jim's view. Jim was still frozen from shock but was quickly becoming aware enough to verge into freaking out. They locked eyes with each other as Jim's brain caught up and he started to feel everything. Bones released his hold on Jim's body to cup his face instead and get him to focus.

"Jim? I got you. OK. I got you" There was complete understanding and trust between the two men from those three words - 'I got you' stopped Jim's panic in its tracks as he fixated on McCoy, almost as though there was a subconscious telepathic link between the two men. Spock was fascinated at how the captain responded even in his current state and made a note to study their interactions more closely in future.

"H'rts…B'nes" Jim breathed out through gritted teeth

"I know darlin, I know it does" Jim watched as Bones pulled away to prep a hypo "I'm gonna fix that ok". He knew that Jim had to be in more pain than he could handle and had already gone through his mental textbook of Jim-safe pharmaceuticals to decide what he could safely give. Jim's eyes didn't ever leave Bones face. As the Buprenorphine took effect everything started to go fluffy for kirk as a warm darkness clouded around him and pulled him back into unconsciousness. He seemed unaware of Court who was gently holding his leg and abdomen still so he didn't jostle the stick still going through him, and thankfully completely unaware that he was also 'fully exposed' due to the location of the injury. He would be absolutely mortified about it later.

"McCoy to Sickbay"

"Sickbay receiving"

"Prep the OR for incoming human male with extensive internal trauma from penetrating injuries. Prep for a blood transfusion and prep the large osteo saw. McCoy out"

"McCoy to Scotty"

"Aye how can I help?"

"Are you gonna be able to use the transporter on Jim while he has a tree sticking out of him?" he hoped to all the known gods and deities that the answer was 'yes' because he had no idea how to get it out of him down here without Jim bleeding out.

"Aye, it'll take a wee bit of recalibration on the fly but I'll get him here"

"Can you do it without aggravating his already critical injuries?" McCoy's gut clenched with anxiety over Jim being dematerialized in this state but it was a necessary risk

"Well I can no' guarantee it will be a picnic, but any ill effects should be minimal"

"Good enough. Soon as you're ready get Court, Kirk and myself onboard"

Hell Jim, the things I do for you Bones thought as he prepared himself and Jim for transport. He had just enough time to place a privacy drape over Jims 'exposed area' and say "Sorry to leave you with the clean up Spock" before they were being dematerialized.

To be continued...

I am in no way affiliated with Star Trek - if I was I would be sharing a bottle of bourbon with Karl Urban.

It has been a long while since I have written or posted so hopefully you enjoyed this.

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Let me know what you think :)

- D.A