Aviophobia (Leonard McCoy)

24. First Date

A week later, Kate found herself doing the same thing she had done for the past six days.  They had waited until they had landed on Earth and gotten Jim in Star Fleet's best hospital before starting the transfusion of Khan's blood.  After the transfusion, they put some sensors on him and got him back in the cryo-tube, still needing to preserve his brain function.  It took about a day, but Jim's heart did start beating again and they could see that his brain function was starting to return.  Only then did they feel safe enough to pull him out of the cryo-tube.

Since then, her days had fallen into the same pattern.  Since the Enterprise was severely damaged, she and Leonard had started shifts at the hospital so they could still be working.  Kate had the ulterior motive of taking this job so that she could keep an eye on Jim and his progress.  She had yet to return to her apartment since they had returned to Earth as she had been at the hospital the entire time.  Every day consisted of taking a shower and getting ready at the hospital, eating breakfast, doing rounds, checking on Jim, doing more rounds, checking on Jim, eating lunch, checking on Jim, doing more rounds, checking on Jim, then finishing her rounds for the day.  After she was finished with work, she'd grab dinner and go to Jim's room so she could sit with him and watch his progress.

His brain function seemed like it was back to normal, but there was so much that was still repairing itself in his body that his vitals hadn't come back to normal yet and he was still in a coma.  She wanted to be there when he woke up, which was the reason she was spending so much time at the hospital.  Kate even slept in Jim's room, just in case he woke up in the middle of the night, so she could have the best chances at being there for him when he woke up.

She hadn't seen Leonard much in the past week, but he knew better than to complain about it as Kate was still terribly worried about Jim and if he would fully recover or not.  Part of her felt bad that she was spending so much time away from Leonard, but she knew she would regret it if something happened with Jim and she wasn't there for it.  Still, she didn't know how long this process was going to take, and part of her worried that Leonard would get tired of her spending all her time waiting on Jim to wake up.

That's basically what happened after a week of this routine.  Kate clocked out of her shift and didn't bother changing out of her work uniform before she headed back to Jim's room.  She was exhausted and it had been a long day, as had the past six days.  She arrived at Jim's room and realized that, in her hurry to get here, that she forgot to grab dinner.  She stood there for a moment and sighed, considering if she wanted to go back and get food or not, but decided she wasn't really all that hungry right now.

Kate opened the door to Jim's room and was surprised to see that Leonard was in there waiting on her.  She smiled and crossed over to him so that she could hug him and asked, "How's he doing?"

Leonard hugged her back before replying, "No change.  He's stable, but vitals are still low, which brings me to my next point."

Kate pulled away from him and cocked her head the side before asking, "What do you mean?"

Leonard sighed and shook his head before grabbing her hands and pulling her to the couch that had served as her bed for the past week.  They took a seat and he said gently, "Kate, I know you're worried about Jim.  We all are, but this isn't healthy.  You can't stay living here and being worried about him at all times."

Kate felt herself getting defensive and said, "He's my brother, Leonard.  What do you want me to do?"

Leonard smiled softly at her and nodded before saying, "He's your brother.  I know he is.  But do you think Jim really wants you in here, worrying about him all the time?  Or would he rather you take care of yourself?"