Nothing Will Ever Be the Same

Chapter 2

You wake up in a cold sweat, screaming with tears running down your face. This has happened at least twice a week since you were about ten years old. The odd thing though, you could never remember what you had dreamed about. As soon as you calmed down and your vision cleared, you noticed that it was 6 a.m.; half an hour before you actually had to be up.

Since the nightmares had been going on for so long, your parents had stopped coming in to check on you. You have gone to countless phycologists and none of they can figure out what is wrong or what triggers them. And to make everything even worse than it was before, all of them have prescribed drugs and a bunch of other stuff that ended up making the nightmares worse. Then, you ended up going back week after week, trying drug after drug, changing thing after thing, but nothing ever worked.

Seeing that there was no way to go back to sleep, you, as quietly as possible, go through your suitcase and backpack one more time. Everything is were it should be, and that relieves a fraction of the anxiety and tension causing a knot in your stomach. Looking at your clock, the green digital numbers showing 6:25, you decide its time to start getting ready.

After leaving the bathroom and trying to be as quiet as humanly possible (and making as much noise as humanly possibly), you pull on a pair of worn jeans, combat boots, your favorite t-shirt, and an aviator jacket. Pulling your hair up into a high pony tail, you grabbed your luggage and the car keys, sneaked downstairs, and loaded everything into the bed of your Ford pickup.

Upon going back inside, you saw your dad was up with breakfast on the table. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast, and other various items that you love. You hear footsteps and turn around, seeing your mom enter the kitchen, looking sick and slightly off. You were about to ask when your dad tapped your shoulder and when you turned around you were presented with a small envelope. On the front of it, it read "Open when you get to the academy."

And with that you were led to the table where your parents talked as though nothing was wrong and loaded up your plate with everything that looked appetizing. You hadn't realized how hungry you were until now.

After breakfast, everyone got into the truck. As you were driving you noticed that your mom wasn't looking too good, so you asked her "Hey mom, are you OK?" "I'm fine dear. Just a little nauseas." And with that she promptly reached into her purse and pulled out a bottle of pills and a bottle of water, and swallowed about three of them. That was odd. Since when had she had to take medicine for nausea?

You didn't have long to remember because by that time, you were distracted by the sight in front of you. There was a star ship being build right in the middle of a field! You stopped in front of a fence about 8 feet tall with a booth for clearance purposes. You showed him your I.D. and enrollment acceptance letter. He then pushed a button on the console and the fence slid to the side, allowing you to pass.

When you arrived at the luggage drop-off, you pulled a letter out of your pocket and handed it to your father and told him to not open it until they got home. A confused look crossed his face, but was cut short by your mom throwing her arms around your neck and sobbing into your shoulder, mumbling goodbyes and love yous. After she was done your dad gave you a hug, whispered "I love you. Be careful" into your ear. Smiling ear to ear like a moron, you got onto the shuttle, hesitating only a moment to turn back and wave bye to them.

After you were seated and buckled, a man in his early 30's was making a fuss about being a doctor and having a real fear about dying in space or something. After he was seated and somewhat calmed down, a few more people filed on and seated themselves. When the shuttle took off and you hit some turbulence, the man who was making a fuss before got up and ran to the restroom. Concerned, you grabbed your bag, got up and went after him. You found him with the door open and his head in the toilet. You carefully stepped over his legs, shut the door, and sat down beside him. He only looked up for a second before putting his head back down and throwing up. And with that you moved up onto your knees and started rubbing his back comfortingly. Through his coughing and throwing up, you heard him say "Why are you here?" Well, so much for first impressions. "I'm a nurse. But I've been accepted into Starfleet as a science officer." you said.

Seeing that he didn't care, you pulled a tricorder and medical scanner out of your backpack. As you scanned him, you noticed that his hydration level is a lot lower that it should be. Your training kicking in, you took off his jacket, rolled up the sleeve of his left arm, and prepped a hypospray that should get his levels back to normal.

When you were about to give him the shot, a knock came from the door. Hesitantly and carefully, you stepped around his sprawled legs and opened the door. On the other side, you found a very annoyed looking flight attendant. "I'm sorry but you have been in there far too long. I have to ask you to leave." she said in her somewhat sweet yet annoyed voice. "Who? Me?" you asked her. "Yes, you!" she retorted, poking you in the shoulder.

Stepping aside to show her the figure with his head in the toilet, you asked her, "Do you want to deal with this?" And to add emphasis to your point, he decided to throw up again. A look of disgust crossed her face before she practically ran away saying "Please, carry on." As the door closed you were back at his side, hypospray in hand. "You might feel a little pinch." You said. "WHY? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he said as the needle was pushed into his skin.

Five minutes later he was sitting on the floor with his head between his knees while you checked his vitals with your tricorder. "I never got your name." he said. "Y/F/N Y/L/N." you said. "McCoy. Leonard McCoy. I'm going to try to be a doctor." he said, extending his right hand for you to shake. Shaking his hand, you flash a smile. You swear you saw something change in his expression, but it quickly dissolved back to his previous sour expression.

"Nice to meet you, Y/N." he said, running his hand through his dark uncut brown hair. As you prepared another hypo, you said "Nice to meet you too Leonard." Without even needing to be told, he rolled up his sleeve, exposing his toned upper arm. Giving him the shot this time was easier than before, on account of his head wasn't in the toilet and he wasn't shaking like a madman.

"Thank you. For everything." was the only thing to be heard as you two left the bathroom. When you got back to your seats, everyone was staring at you. At first, you thought it was because you had been in the bathroom so long. Then you realized it was probably because you looked like you hadn't slept in days. Oh well, what can you do now. You were there!