Chapter 4. Healing

As soon as Spock's hands touched Uhura's meld points his shoulder drooped and his legs almost buckled, and he leaned heavily on the biobed for support. Even at a distance, McCoy could see Spock's breathing was laboured and intense. McCoy fought with his instinctive urge to intervene.

As he looked into the mirror, McCoy could see Spock's head was moving slightly like a person looking around for something. The Vulcan's face was a deathly greenish white and covered with a sheen of clammy sweat. Pain seemed to ripple across his features. On his hand monitor, McCoy saw that Uhura's readings were beginning to stabilise. All he was witnessing could only mean one thing: an induced healing trance.

McCoy knew an inevitable effect of any mind-meld was transference of feeling, both physical and mental. He had read about the assisted healing trances that Vulcan healers used in cases of severe illness, where the sufferer was unable to enter a healing trance themselves. Such things were only possible with a highly skilled healer or between bondmates who were intimately familiar with each other's minds. The latter was an act of pure altruism. Even in a normal meld the person initiating the meld did so knowing they would experience the other's pain. In this case, they blocked the sufferer from the effects of their injury, allowing the sufferer to enter an induced a healing trance. McCoy's mind raced as he added up this information. Uhura was not Vulcan. Could she maintain the trance or would he Spock have to maintain it for her?

McCoy's question was answered, as Spock remained bent over Uhura unconscious form. Time ticked past slowly. The doctor found his eyes were tearing up as he watched. The Vulcan was now visibly trembling, his breathing was laboured and his form was starting to slump, even as Lieutenant Uhura's readings slowly started to improve.

"Doctor!" came Nurse Lewis' voice from across the room. McCoy was snapped back into the reality of the busy ward. Nurse Lewis' face showed her panic and he hurried over to attend to the patient. As the Doctor dealt quickly and efficiently with the latest crisis, his eyes flicked to the mirror. But he was too far away from the bank of monitors and he was at the wrong angle to see Uhura and Spock fully. He checked Uhura's main readings on his hand monitor. They were still slowly improved.

McCoy was caught up in the blur of activity. When he looked up next he saw, Nurse Chapel heading towards the alcove and realised it was time for the regular readings.

"Nurse Chapel," he called out and she stopped. He gestured with his head that she should come over. When she came he said "Take over here will you? I want to check on those two myself."

First, McCoy went to the storeroom and quickly gathered some items. He also grabbed a stool on wheels from one of the corners of the sickbay and rolled it into the alcove with him. Spock was standing next to Lt. Uhura's biobed. He was no longer melded with her and was now holding her hand, his whole posture showed his utter exhaustion.

McCoy rolled the stool into position behind Spock and said, "Sit". Spock sat. From his position behind Spock, McCoy injected a hypo into the Commander's neck, he knew he would never have gotten away that if Spock was not been close to passing out from fatigue.

"It's a mild stimulant and something for the pain that head must be giving you," McCoy said. Then he passed Spock a hydration sachet, "Drink that. You need to stay on your feet. It's just electrolytes and glucose. It'll help." The doctor moved around the bio-bed checking readings while Spock drank.

"Damn it, man! What where you thinking?" McCoy demanded in an angry hiss as he moved around checking the monitor connections on Lt Uhura's head. "Do you realise you could have both died? She has already flat-lined once. Did you realise that? If she had gone while you were melded you could have gone with h…" The Doctor looked up at Spock as he spat out the last sentence and saw the answer clearly on his face. The Doctor's anger drained away, "Of course you knew." He whispered resignedly, "Of course. And I suppose that was your plan." The Doctor closed his eyes and breathed deeply as the reality of what had happened dawned on him. For the first time since he had met Spock he looked at him with true compassion.

Spock's gaze remained implacable.

Without further comment, McCoy finished checking the monitors, "Her readings have improved across the board. She is no longer unconscious…"

"She is sleeping," Spock said in an exhausted voice.

"Yes," McCoy said gently, "and you look like you need some sleep too."

"Later," Spock replied with a dismissive shake of his head.

For a time, McCoy stared at the Vulcan, whose eyes never left Nyota.

"She wakes," whispered Spock, as Uhura's eyelids fluttered open.

She frowned and slowly focused her eyes. Looking straight at Spock she murmured, "Ashayam." McCoy did not have to speak Vulcan to know what that meant. Uhura's tone said it all. "You found me," she said cryptically. Then she frowned and tried to raise her hand. "You are injured."

"It is of no significance," Spock replied in a tone that had McCoy raising his eyebrows to his hairline. He wondered how he, a doctor, who relied on his skill in observing people, could have missed the obvious love he now saw. Maybe Spock was just too exhausted to mask his feelings effectively. McCoy knew that Spock had performed miracles with the ship and crew. Now he realised that all the time Spock had known Lt Uhura lay dying in sickbay.

No he would have more than known. They must be bonded. He would have actually felt her dying and still he had continued, placing the needs of the ship before the needs of himself or Lt Uhura. McCoy was unsure if he was impressed or appalled.

"You gave us quiet a scare little lady," said McCoy. Uhura blinked slowly and looked like she noticed him for the first time.

"Spock found me," she repeated cryptically.

"I'm sure he did darling," replied McCoy. "And who am I?" he asked.

She frowned, "Dr McCoy."

"Where are we?"

"Ummm…Sickbay," replied Uhura slowly.

"And who is he," said McCoy gesturing to Spock.

"K'hat'n'dlawa," she replied, causing McCoy to frown. She smiled slightly and winced as her stitched lip protested. Then she said, "Commander Spock."

"Ok, how are you feeling?" asked Dr McCoy.

She smiled weakly, "Terrible, but I think I'll live."

McCoy missed the look that passed between Spock and Uhura when she said this; he was too busy noticing that the Commander's hand was gripping the bed so hard his knuckles were white.

"I think you had better get some sleep," McCoy said to Uhura. "You too," he said looking at Spock.

Spock just looked at him.

"I know, I know, later," mumbled the doctor as he moved over to examine Patel.

Later in his office McCoy poured himself a glass of 100 year old scotch and looked up two words in his computer's Vulcan Language Dictionary. They were not words he had encountered in his medical studies.

"Ashayam," meant "beloved" and "k'hat'n'dlawa," meant "one who is half of my heart and soul". "For an unemotional people Vulcans sure have some emotional language," he thought as he rose to go to his quarters and finally get some sleep.

As he relaxed into sleep McCoy reflected on the things he knew now that he had not known a day ago. He knew Nurse Lewis trended to crumple under pressure. He knew working with Christine Chapel was as good as having a second doctor.

"Learn something new every day," he thought.

With a grin he thought that he now knew the best piece of gossip on the whole ship. He sighed and his expression softened, because he also knew he would not tell a soul.

And finally he knew that, unbelievably, their Vulcan commander was crazy in love with the vivacious Lieutenant Uhura, and it seemed that she was crazy in love right back. Well, he was a doctor not a clairvoyant, so he couldn't be expected to know everything.

Doctor McCoy was smiling as he drifted to sleep.

The End.

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