Title: Someone to watch over me.
Author:
strawberrytatooPairing: Kirk/McCoy
Rating: R for language and boykissing.
Word Count: ~2000
Disclaimer: If you think I own this then you are officially too dumb to be on the internet. Seriously.
Summary: Jim gets hurt on an away mission, McCoy angsts, just a normal day on the Enterprise...
McCoy looked down at his unconscious best friend with a heavy sigh. The mission had seemed straightforward, a peaceful planet had been plagued by a rebel faction determined to overthrow the government in order to gain control of the planets natural resources. They were using crude firearms and overpowering them should have been simple, but they had managed to injure a good portion of the security team and Kirk had thrown himself into the fight with reckless abandon, determined to prevent further injuries.
Normally McCoy would already be planning his rant so he’d be prepared to yell at Jim when he came out of his chemically induced coma, but Jim should have woken up by now, and the weight of McCoy’s worry left no room for anything else. Hearing faint footsteps, he looked up to see Spock standing at the foot of Jim’s bed. McCoy was slowly getting to know the Vulcan, enough to discern the tight set to his shoulders and the look on his face that was so blank it could only be hiding the worry he would deny he was feeling. He probably blamed himself for not getting to Jim in time to stop him from flinging himself in harms way to save a member of his crew.
“The Captain should have woken up by this time, should he not?”
“An hour ago, yeah. There’s no medical reason for his unconsciousness, not anymore.”
“I bring greeting from the bridge crew, if you would be so kind as to pass them on when the captain wakes up?” The silent vote of confidence made McCoy feel a little better, and he nodded at Spock with a brief smile.
Inclining his head, Spock replied in a carefully emotionless voice “I should get back to the bridge. Please keep me informed of his status.”
“Sure, Spock.”
With a last look, Spock turned around and exited Sickbay, the doors closing silently after him.
“Jim, you better wake up, goddamnit. Pretty soon you’ll have Spock so worried he’ll have a facial expression and you won’t be awake to see it.”
No change.
With a heavy sigh, McCoy went back to his office. Pouring a small amount in a glass he sat behind his desk to nurse his drink. His shift was over but there was no way he was leaving sickbay, not until Jim came out of it. Staring at his glass instead of actually drinking from it, he pondered the ramifications of Jim’s unconsciousness, the tests he would run again in an hour, resolutely not even considering the possibility that Jim might not wake up. He pushed his untouched glass away and went back to Jim’s bed.
Kirk lay sleeping, chest rising and falling with his deep breathes, his pale pallor the only sign remaining of the blood loss he sustained. The scan showed the same results as before; the dermal regenerator had done its job and Jim was apparently in perfect health. Sagging into the chair by the bed, McCoy allowed his eyes to slide shut, the worry and exhaustion catching up to him.
“Bones! Hey, Bones! Wake up old man, rise and shine. I know it’s not that exciting watching me sleep, but come on!”
Blearily, McCoy opened his eyes and tried to focus. Jim’s eyes bright as ever and he was sitting with his legs dangling over the edge of the bed, the very image of restless energy. McCoy was about to tell him off for waking him up when he realized where he was and what had happened.
“Jim! You’re awake!”
“Wow, nothing gets by you, does it? You should be a doctor, or something.”
The gentle teasing was so achingly normal, so Jim, McCoy couldn’t bring himself to berate him. One step and he was by the bed, dragging Jim to his feet and engulfing him into a tight hug.
“Goddamnit, kid, did you get an extra dose of idiot with breakfast today? You’re the captain, Jim, you’re not expendable! You can’t just do shit like that anymore.” With a final squeeze that made Jim grunt McCoy released him and pushed Jim back down to his previous position sitting on the edge of the bed.
“You said it, Bones. I’m the captain. Keeping these people safe is my job, and I’m not going to lose a single one of them, not if I can help it.”
McCoy shook his head, “protecting them, sure. Stupid shit like that? No. And if you ever do something that dumb again…”
“Relax, Bones, OK. I’ll be more careful when I’m off being awesome, I promise.” Flashing his usual cocky grin, Jim gripped his hands and just looked up at Bones. That was when McCoy realized he was invading Jim’s personal space, still standing between his legs. McCoy opened his mouth, fully intending to continue his tirade but something about the way Jim was looking up at him stopped him. An uncharacteristically serious expression was on Jim’s face, and his grip on McCoy’s hands tightened.
With a single thought that this could end very, very badly he finally gave in to what he had wanted to do since sometime during the academy and leaned down to kiss Jim. First it was just a gentle brushing of lips, McCoy hesitated, about to pull back but Jim gallivanted into action, mouth opening under his, twining their tongues together and he let go of his hands to grip the front of McCoy’s shirt and hauling him closer still.
McCoy groaned as warm hands slid under his uniform shirt to caress the skin of his lower back. Sucking on Jim’s full lower lip, McCoy felt Jim arch against him and gasp. Disentangling himself with a supreme act of will he opened his mouth to say something, anything, but Jim beat him to it.
“Fuck, Bones, it’s about time. I thought I was losing my touch or something.”
“What?”
Jim continued as though his Chief Medical Officer wasn’t looking at him in bewilderment, “Let me guess, medical leave for the next 12 hours and I’m supposed to stay in my quarters and rest.”
“24 hours, and then your ass better be in here for a check-up before I clear you for duty.”
Jim just smiled at himwith soft look in his eyes McCoy had never seen directed at him before. “A whole day in bed, huh? You better stay with me, make sure I follow orders…”
“Jim…” McCoy started only to be interrupted. “Seriously, Bones. Stay with me. I want you to.” The sincerity of his plea was clear on his face, and McCoy was unable to resist, as usual when it came to Jim.
“Fine,” he conceded and the smile that broke out on Jim’s face was positively blinding and he could feel the corners of his mouth curling up in an answering grin.
“Come on, Bones, you look like you could use some rest that’s not in a chair.”
A soft kiss was brushed against his lips and then Jim was on his feet, hand in his. leading McCoy out of Sickbay.
As always, McCoy followed.