"I weigh how much again?" Indy repeated, still not believeing what Doctor McCoy had said.
"Fifty-two kilos." McCoy gave her an amused smirk as he turned his head back to glance at her. "One-hundred-fifteen pounds. Eight stones... you want me to keep going?"
Indy forced a very weak smile, and shook her head.
"C'mon, Indy, you've gained three pounds! That's a step in the right direction from where we were before. I'd imagine you'd be please with that."
Yeah, you'd think... she thought, and sighed aloud.
"Here look," he huffed, walking over to her with his PADD extended toward her. "Your vitamin levels have just about leveled off; your mineral levels have stabilised- not at a level that's recommended, but, y'know, at least they don't appear to be declining anymore."
Indy took hold of the PADD and looked at her health status. Her vitals appeared to be functioning properly, and her blood pressure could have been a little higher, but everything else checked out all right. She felt perfectly fine- well, by bodily standards she did.
"Oh, and, uhh, I forgot to ask," he took the PADD back. "Your period hasn't returned yet, has it?"
Indy shook her head.
The doctor nodded solemnly, and tapped a few buttons on the screen. He glanced up at her and smiled gently, "That's alright. Amenorrhea doesn't last forever. And you seem to be getting better, so it should return anytime soon."
"Uhhh." Indy huffed.
"Uhhhhh." McCoy echoed her, trying to make a light-hearted joke out of her reaction.
"You'll feel better once it happens, Indy, I promise." He set the PADD off to the side and walked over to the sink. As he washed his hands he said, "By that time, you'll hopefully be better mentally, eating regularly... and by that I mean eating more than you've been telling me you have... I'm still trying to get into contact with Starfleet about a real therapist, but nobody ever listens to me when I need something, so it may take a little- Indy?"
McCoy stopped his sentence short as he turned to see Indy with her head in her hands. She was hunched over so far that her forehead nearly touched her knees, and her boney spine protruded from the neckline of her dress. She was rubbing her face gently in her hands almost as if she was shaking her head.
The doctor quickly dried his hands and rushed over to her side.
"Indy-"
"I'm fine, Leonard." She huffed, hesitating as she said his name.
Then she sat up. She stared into his eyes without so much as a reassuring smile. If she smiled, then he would definitely believe she was lying. He had seen through many of her lies too easily in the past. She didn't see any use in attempting to lie anymore, so she just never told the truth.
At least, never the whole truth.
McCoy sighed and looked down to her hands. Scabs and scars littered the perimeter of each fingernail on both her hands. She presses the hem of her dress down with the pads of her fingers, and continued to into look his eyes.
He didn't say anything to her, but he did get up to retrieve a syringe filled with a potent dose of stokaline. He put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, then injected the hypospray into her arm.
"Thank you." Indy said quietly.
Doctor McCoy studied her for a second, and his heart ached at the sight. The barely-audible volume of her voice is the thing that hurt him the most. The fact that she didn't try to hide her pain from him anymore was almost unbearable.
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Between the Stars | an AOS fanfic
Fanfiction"Spock, do you know what the word hiraeth means?" Spock's eyebrows cocked upward and he took a shallow breath in. He didn't answer. Indy waited for his answer a few seconds more, then left him. ☆~☆ Indiana Eastman has been through many hardships in...
