Work Text:
Looking back, Spock should have gone to see Dr McCoy sooner. But in his defence, the cut across his stomach had seemed merely superficial and not worth troubling the doctor.
It had been two days ago that Spock had gone done to a so far unknown planet with the Captain and Sulu to investigate the local flora and fauna. Their mission had been fairly simple considering the planet was uninhabited and for once they did not run into any major complications.
Spock however, in a moment of carelessness had had an involuntary encounter with a local highly branched flower-like plant, which unfortunately possessed large and sharp thorns. One of those had scratched through his uniform across his abdomen, resulting in an staggered cut that despite causing a minor bleeding hadn’t appeared to be dangerous at first.
And since neither Jim nor Sulu had noticed Spock getting hurt and also because Spock felt a little ashamed about the careless way, he had injured himself, he hadn’t informed anyone about his condition. It was only a little cut that would heal in a few days.
But of course, it didn’t. The next day the skin around the wound appeared irritated and was hot to touch. That worried Spock a little but it still did not seem bad enough to bother anyone with it.
Another day later though, Spock could not deny that the cut did not only look worse, but he was also experiencing some physical discomfort.
He felt too hot and too cold at the same time, was strangely lightheaded and uncomfortably dizzy. Pain was radiating in hot waves across his abdomen. That was no reason to skip his shift of course, but Spock at least considered maybe consulting the doctor later, should these symptoms turn out to be persistent.
“Spock”
His captain’s voice suddenly reached his ears and Spock realised that he had zoned out and was standing slightly slumped in front of his station. Quickly he straightened his back and turned around, trying to look as professional as possible.
“Yes captain”
Jim had gotten up and was now standing closely next to him. Normally Spock wasn’t uncomfortable with his captain being this close but right now he wished for some privacy. A fresh wave of dizziness was making it hard to concentrate and a chill was running down his back and he had to force himself to suppress shivering.
“Are you alright, Spock?”, Jim asked quietly, leaning forward so that only Spock could hear him.
“Why would I not be alright, Captain?”, Spock replied casually although he secretly cursed himself for allowing his discomfort to show enough that his friend would notice.
“I just thought that you seemed a little off today and looked like you weren’t feeling well”, Jim said, sounding concerned, “I just wanted to let you know that you can always take a break if you need to. There isn’t much going on here on the bridge today anyway”
“Thank you for your concern, Captain, but I can assure you I am perfectly capable of finishing my shift”, Spock stated, looking firmly at Jim in an attempt to signal him that he did not wish to have any further company or conversations at the moment.
Jim gave him a brief nod but looked at Spock with a certain worry in his eyes.
“If you say so Spock. But let me know if you change your mind or need anything else”, he said and briefly placed a hand on Spock’s shoulder.
An almost electric sensation ran through his body at the sudden physical contact and Spock felt even more dizzy than before. He quickly turned back to the science station and pretended to work on something while he actually tried to stay upright without passing out. Something was not right, and he knew it was illogical and irresponsible of him to deny it. But he would finish the shift and should he not feel better then go to see the doctor.
-
Spock did in fact not feel better after his shift but even worse. His entire body seemed to be on fire, but he was still feeling incredibly cold at the same time. The light-headedness was really bothering him now and he knew he needed medical attention.
Therefore, he found himself on his way to sickbay, walking slower and more tiredly than he normally would. It was rather late already but Spock had wanted to wait until most of the daily business would be finished because he did not want and unnecessary witnesses of his visit.
“Spock, it’s late so please tell me Jim did not manage to hurt himself in some ridiculous way again”, the doctor greeted him, when he entered without really looking at Spock.
“The captain’s wellbeing is not the reason of my visit, doctor”, Spock replied, his voice sounding unsteady even to his own ears. Now Leonard turned to look at him properly.
“Spock!”, he exclaimed as soon as he noticed the state the first officer was in, “what the hell happened to you?!”
“I have to confess of feeling slightly unwell, doctor”, Spock replied but felt his legs started to feel shaky and unsteady. He would have to sit down soon.
“‘Slightly unwell’ my ass!”, Leonard muttered and grabbed Spock by his shoulders. “You look like you’re two seconds away from passing out. Come on you need to sit down”
The doctor urged him towards a bed, keeping one hand on Spock’s back to guide and steady him. As much as Spock usually avoided physical contact from anyone except Jim maybe, the doctor’s touch was oddly comforting at the moment. Maybe Spock was feeling even worse than he thought.
When Leonard pushed him to sit down gently Spock couldn’t stop himself from briefly crying out in pain. Sitting was not a good position for his stomach.
“Spock! What’s wrong? Come on talk to me!”
“I must apologise doctor, but sitting does seem to hurt me at the moment”, Spock replied, relieved to have his self-control regained a little. But the doctor just groaned in annoyance and rolled his eyes.
“Stop apologising for being in pain you stubborn hobgoblin and lie down then”, he muttered and grabbed Spock’s shoulder to guide him to lie on his back.
The new position alleviated his pain a little and also helped the dizziness. Spock let out a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. He hadn’t realized how exhausted he actually was.
“Now Spock, what kind of trouble have you managed to get yourself into this time?”, Leonard asked him, his voice teasingly but not without a certain amount of worry. Spock hesitated for a second, suddenly ashamed of his injury and the way he got it although he knew that the doctor needed to know.
“There is a cut on my stomach that I believe might be responsible for my illness”, he finally explained, avoiding Leonard’s eyes.
The doctor gave a brief nod.
“Alright, let me take a look then”, he said, fortunately sounding completely professional and closed a privacy curtain around them although there was barely anyone left in sickbay at this hour.
Carefully Leonard pushed up Spock’s uniform shirt, his eyes widening when he saw the wound.
“Why the hell did you not come to see me immediately with this?! Looks like there is a freaking war going on across your stomach!”, he exclaimed and looked reproachfully at Spock, who still avoided his eyes.
“It was not as bad earlier and only started bothering me this morning”, Spock replied which unfortunately was only aggravating the doctor even more.
“This morning?! You might have noticed it’s evening by now Spock! There is a lot of inflammation here and it’s definitely infected which it might not have been had you come to see me earlier!”
When Spock didn’t say anything, partly because he felt dizzy and slightly nauseous and partly because he knew the doctor was right, Leonard just sighed and sat down next to the bed.
“Tell me how you got this then, so I have an idea what I’m dealing with”, he softly ordered and looked at him expectantly.
Spock took a deep breath before he quietly started to explain, being completely honest but staring at a fixed point at the ceiling the entire time. Once he was finished Leonard let out another deep sigh and Spock wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean but he was feeling too bad to think about it.
“Alright then Spock, since we don’t know what that plant was exactly and since you waited this long to come to see me, we’ll just have to try a few things to figure out what works best to treat this”, the doctor explained slowly.
“Not a very pleasant but the most logical way. I agree doctor”
“Great to hear that Spock”, Leonard muttered and rolled his eyes. “My guess is that this plant did not only cut you but released some kind of substance into the fresh wound, preventing it from healing and probably also causing that infection”, he added.
Spock once more just listened and didn’t reply which seemed to worry the doctor.
“My god Spock, usually I would throw a party if you don’t talk back to me but right now it’s kind of scarring the hell out of me”, he stated and reached out to grab Spock’s hand, giving it a quick and surprisingly comforting squeeze. “You really are feeling pretty miserable, aren’t you?!”
“Which is why I came to see you”, Spock pointed out and was almost a little sad when the doctor withdrew his hand. The touch had been grounding and not at all unpleasant. Leonard chuckled.
“Fair point my pointy-eared friend”, he said, “I’ll give you something against the infection and then I’ll properly clear this cut. I won’t artificially close it for now in case I have to drain it later, but you should feel better once the inflammation stops”
Spock only nodded tiredly. “Go ahead doctor”
Leonard smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder once before he got up. “Try get some rest Spock, I’ll be right back”
Complying gratefully, Spock closed his eyes and allowed his body to relax as much as possible in the current situation. He didn’t even stir when the doctor returned to inject a hypo and barely blinked when he was forced to drink something. Only when Leonard started to clean the cut, Spock winced as new waves of pain shot across his abdomen.
“Sorry, this might sting for a little while”, Leonard explained and smiled somewhat apologetic at Spock, before he probed the wound again, as gentle as possible but it still wasn’t without considerable pain for Spock.
“I believe this might be the first time I ever heard you apologising to me”, Spock replied through gritted teeth and raised an eyebrow.
Leonard chuckled. “Well, I can tell you are feeling pretty much like complete shit right now so I figured I might be a little nicer. Don’t get used to it”, he said gruffly.
“Don’t worry doctor, I won’t”, Spock simply replied but a small smile found its way to his mouth.
“You never told me about those impressive abs you have here by the way”, Leonard said, after a moment of silence had befallen them only interrupted by Spock sometimes wincing or groaning quietly during the cleaning process.
“I cannot think of situation where this would have been relevant, doctor”, Spock pointed out and Leonard laughed again.
“Just saying, if you were interested in the ladies, you could impress them with this”, he replied and finished wrapping the cut with a light bandage. “Alright, all done”
Spock breathed out and relaxed back into the bed. Although the cleaning and bandaging had hurt, it felt a lot better now. The hypo was having an effect as well because his body had stopped aching so much and he wasn’t feeling as hot or cold anymore.
“Thank you doctor”, he said sincerely and finally looked at Leonard who just briefly nodded himself.
“It’s my job you know, but still, no problem”, he replied and went to get a blanket for Spock. Gently he covered him completely with the soft fabric, even tugging in the edges a little which was somewhat odd but not unpleasant in Spock’s opinion.
“You should try to sleep, I’ll put you on sick leave for an unknown period of time”
“I must protest doctor, clearly I can return to my shift tomorrow if the infection disappears overnight”, Spock said, having no intention of staying in sickbay any longer than absolutely necessary. But Leonard did not seem convinced.
“Don’t even think about it Spock, this bed is going to be your home for a while because I won’t let you back on the bridge until this stupid cut is properly healed”, he immediately ordered, “leaving it untreated the last time obviously didn’t end very well. So you might as well get comfortable cause I won’t let you out of here any time soon”
Since there was nothing to say against that, Spock just leaned back and closed his eyes. Truth be told he was really tired and felt like he could use the rest.
Suddenly Leonard grabbed his hand again, this time just gently holding it in his own.
“Maybe next time when you get attacked by an unknown plant you come to me directly”, he whispered, “could save us both some trouble”
“I might consider it”, Spock replied still with his eyes closed. Although he couldn’t see it, Spock was sure that Leonard rolled his eyes. The doctor went to withdraw his hand but to his own surprise Spock held onto it.
Their eyes met briefly and the surprise in Leonard’s soon changed fond look accompanied by a small smile.
He sat down next to the bed, holding Spock’s hand between his own again and gently brushed along his palm in soothing, circular motions.
“Get some sleep Spock”