Make it better if you can [Sickbay]

[genius_level]

Their progress to Sickbay was slow, but Jim kept Paula tucked close at his side as they navigated the corridors, his head up and watchful. They didn't encounter too many people; he skirted the busier areas, taking a couple of shortcuts to avoid too much notice. He didn't think either of them wanted a show right now

Comments

[trek_npc]

Geoff had been working double shifts since McCoy's disappearance, but nothing would have dragged him out of the infirmary once he saw them come in. The captain, clearly bruised up a little, half-carrying Paula Collins, who looked as if she'd been in a fight. "Over here," he said, leading them to a private area.

Paula's clothes were torn, there was a nasty bruise starting on her cheek, and she had that dead look in her eyes. "Get Chapel over here," he told one of the medics before he closed the curtain around the three of them.

"What happened?"

[genius_level]

Jim kept his voice low. "She had a run-in with the other... with McCoy," he told M'Benga with a heavy sigh. "It got pretty nasty, from what I can tell." He filled the doctor in on everything Paula had said before Spock had knocked McCoy out, everything he knew. His gaze was worried when he glanced at her again. She was wavering on her feet, but hadn't budged from his side. Her hand was curled tight around a fistful of his shirt, her tangled hair hanging around her face.

He shot a look at M'Benga. "You'll need to send a medic to the brig." Another thought occurred to him. Fuck, someone had to tell Sulu. "And..."

[lt_paula]

"I want Hikaru," Paula interrupted Jim, her voice soft, almost inaudible. Hikaru would be furious, he was so fiercely protective of her. "Please. Someone needs to tell him."

Rousing herself to speak took an effort, but once she had started she continued in halting steps, her volume never changing. "He wouldn't let go." Paula inhaled sharply as she remembered that. "I told him to stop, tried to fight. He slapped me."

There was a metallic taste in her mouth, and as her tongue touched the edge of her lip the taste called to mind the sensation of biting Leonard, drawing blood. Her stomach heaved, and she pressed a hand to her mouth.

[trek_npc]

Chapel had walked in while Geoff was getting the details, and she quietly began putting together the kit they would need to gather evidence as well as treat the patient. On the one hand, Christine was fuming for her friend, angry as hell that this could happen on board. She remained professional and calm, but under the surface there were storms.

That this could be Leonard - that hit her hard. That any version of Leonard McCoy could have such little regard for a woman, to try and force himself on her - it was unthinkable. Never, ever could she see this.

Paula probably had thought the same... "Captain, Doctor - can I have some time alone with the patient?" she asked, her eyes a little harder than normal. "I'll contact Lt. Sulu."

[trek_npc]

Geoff found a bed in a private area, and waited for Kirk to follow him. "Tell me what happened - to you," he said, pulling out a scanner and beginning on the top of Jim's head and moving lower. "Chapel will take care of Collins, and I'll get someone down to the brig soon."

He caught Jim's eyes. "Are you okay? Anything feel weird?"

[genius_level]

It was clear that Paula was in good hands with Chapel, so Jim let M'Benga lead him away to another biobed. He eased onto it without complaint, feeling like he'd aged at least ten years in the past few days. One hand went to his belly and spread flat over the swell in an unconscious gesture, rubbing in circles. "I heard her scream and got the door open, found them struggling. He had her boxed in against the wall, was trying to get her clothes off. I tackled him."

Jim sat still while M'Benga scanned him, but kept talking. "I don't know how my lip got split. It happened when we went down." He looked up, meeting the other man's eye, unapologetic. His hand flexed as he reached up to scratch his neck, and the pain in his knuckles and shoulder made him wince. "I'm okay. My shoulder hurts, and my hand. I landed one good punch, anyway."

[trek_npc]

"You tackled him," Geoff repeated, trying not to let any irritation show. On the one hand, yeah, it was what any man would have done if they'd seen someone in that position. But right now, Jim wasn't just 'any man'. Reaching for some gauze, he cleaned the blood off Jim's lip and pressed a cold compress to the side of his mouth. "Hold this," he told him, as the scanner went off in his hand, a series of soft beeps.

"Feeling any fetal movement?" he asked, his eyes moving between reading the scanner and looking over at the biobed.

[genius_level]

"Yes." The word was clipped, but Jim knew the irritation M'Benga was trying to hide was well-meant. He exhaled slowly, swallowing the urge to say anything more in his own defense. It was what anyone would have done, but he knew he was supposed to be more careful. He needed to take care of himself and the baby, especially with Bones... lost. Jim took the compress and held it as instructed, grunting as it touched the swollen, torn skin.

"Not sure yet," Jim hedged. He'd promised Bones he would be the first to know, when he felt something definite, and he clung to that. It made it easier to believe he would be back soon. "I know you said any time now..."

[flying_katana]

Private message to Hikaru Sulu

There's been an incident. Paula's in the infirmary and she's asked for you. Come find me when you get here so I can explain.

Christine

Hikaru had been getting ready for bed when he got the message. Sickbay? There was something strange about this entire situation. He'd known she and Christine were going out tonight, a girls night out, but what could have happened for them to end up in sickbay?

And why hadn't Paula contacted him herself? Christine didn't say it was serious, so it couldn't have been that. So many strange things had been happening lately, he hadn't any idea what it was, but as he sped out the door and toward the lift, he couldn't help but worry.

When he got there, the look on Christine's face didn't make him feel any better. "What happened?" he asked, looking around. "Where is she?"

[trek_npc]

"She's in the back, in one of the private rooms." Christine had been going over this in her head, how to tell him about this. Talking to patients was something they all had experience with, but this sort of attack, especially against a friend - the words were difficult in coming.

At that moment, Lt Vidal came up to the front, nodded at Christine, and said, "We're all done," before heading out of the doors.

Christine knew that Paula was alone now, and probably needed Hikaru right now, more than ever. "I need you to understand, first, that she's okay. Shaken up, but okay. I'll let you take her back to her room when we're all done. But after that, I need you to promise me that you won't do anything rash after that. You let Security take care of it."

[flying_katana]

All of a sudden his skin went cold. Security was leaving, and Christine didn't want him to do something rash. "What happened to her?" he asked, his voice low and worried. "Why is Security here?"

[trek_npc]

Christine took Hikaru aside, where no one could hear them. Her voice dropped as she spoke, her stomach still tight as she thought about it. "Paula was assaulted tonight. She was trying to help the other Leonard McCoy to his room, he was drunk and needed assistance."

She paused, seeing his face freeze with anger. "When they got to Leonard's room, he... he tried to rape her." When Hikaru started to move, she stopped him, her arm on his. "Paula managed to get someone's attention, that something was wrong, and the captain got there before-"

Before what? She couldn't say 'before anything bad happened', because Paula would remember this, someone's unwanted hands and mouth on her, for the rest of her life. It made her skin crawl. "They're both here now, and he's in the brig, locked up."