Who: Elizabeth Weir and Leonard McCoy When: After these comments Where: Her hospital room What: A delivery! Rating: Low Status: Complete!
After speaking with Elizabeth on the internet, McCoy collected up some reading material for her. He didn’t want the poor girl to be stuck reading War and Peace... again... so he gathered up some other classics from around the hospital and headed to her room with a stack in his arm. He knocked on the door, gently, and then pushed it open.
“Miss Weir? Are you awake?” He could just leave the books by her bedside and go. He wanted to make sure that she got her rest if she was sleeping.
Elizabeth looked up at the knock on her door, smiling brightly at the doctor on the other side. “Doctor McCoy,” she closed War and Peace as she greeted him, her voice still quite breathy after the operation to re-inflate her lung. “I am indeed,” she raised the book up before placing it on her side table. “Trying the Russian version again,” she joked.
“Oh. Well. These will all seem like Child’s play to you. Some of them quite literally.” He held up a worn copy of Lewis Carroll’s collected works. He set the stack down on the bedside table. There were a half dozen books there, mostly worn copies of the classics. “I guess I don’t need to ask you how you’re feeling, if you’re up and reading again.”
“Lewis Carroll?!” Elizabeth exclaimed, her voice going a little squeaky as she reached for that book first and riffled the pages. “I haven’t read these in years! One of my favourites! My mother used to read these to me when I was a child,” she mused to herself before looking up at McCoy with a grin. “How did you know?” she teased with a cheeky grin. “I’m still a little sore to be honest,” she pressed a hand gently to the wound on her right side and grimaced a little. “Reading helps me keep my mind focused,” she smiled gently.
“I... didn’t.” McCoy said, a little surprised by her enthusiasm. But he was happy to see it. She looked like she was feeling much better now. He handed the book over to her, the rest sitting on the end table. “I simply grabbed the books that looked like they had more literary value than Twilight. Sometimes I don’t know what the nurses are thinking bringing that garbage into the hospital.” He nodded a little.
“Let me check your vitals,” he added, pulling his stethoscope from around his neck to listen to her heart and lungs.
She gave a hoarse chuckle, groaning and holding her side. “Ow...ow, don’t make me laugh,” she sighed and sat back, closing her eyes. “Sorry, I love to read is all.” She placed the book on the table as he moved to put his stethoscope on. “Even if you had brought Twilight, I would probably have read it,” she joked. “My mind feels like its...disintegrating or something,” she shook her head. “That’s not the right word, but I think the drugs have been messing with my head,” she smiled.
“Sorry.” McCoy said, with a little chuckle. He reached forward to put the stethoscope against her chest, the prongs already in his ears to listen to her lungs and her heartbeat. “I’ll keep that in mind for when I see a spare copy floating around. One of the nurses keeps a book room of all the books that have been left behind.”
He pulled the stethoscope down off of his head and wrapped it around his neck again. “I wouldn’t blame your head for being messed with. We’re giving you some pretty strong drugs. Are you finding them to be a bit too much? We can tone it back a little and see how you react.”
“Oh please don’t,” Elizabeth laughed. “If I ever get round to reading that, I’m telling Sam to put me down,” she waved her hand dismissively. “Along with that Fifty Shades of...crap,” she winced and put her hand over her mouth. “Sorry, I don’t normally swear, I just feel a bit...all over the place at the moment, I think I’d like to try lowering the dose if that’s ok” she paused and considered him as he listened to her chest. She couldn’t help but notice how very handsome he was. “Huh...”
“I’d offer to help you with that, but I don’t think that’s...” legal? moral? ethical? “...my place.” McCoy said, trying to make a joke. It felt flat, unfortunately. He cleared his throat. “Right, that’s the other one that I’ve seen floating around. Something about... romance novels...” He shook his head, then withdrew after listening to her heart and lungs.
“Everything sounds good, Miss Weir,” he said, reaching for her clipboard to check over the notes and jot a few things down. “We’ll cut your medication by twenty percent. If that’s too much, we can raise it back up again. Just make sure to let the nurse know if you’re in any pain, all right?”
“You, uh...you don’t have to go, do you?” she asked, feeling a little shy as she fiddled with the corners of the book. Truth was she was feeling a little lonely and she enjoyed their banter.
“I can stay for a few minutes.” McCoy said after a moment of consideration. He turned to sit down on the chair near her bed. “I have some rounds to get to, but I have a couple minutes to spare.” He gave her a little smile. He knew how lonely patients got being stuck in the hospital for so long.
“Thanks,” Elizabeth smiled, feeling a little embarrassed by her need to hold on to this piece of human contact a little bit longer. “I’m not all that good on my own, I’m afraid,” she admitted quietly. “I’m very much a people person,” she shrugged, hissing a little when the action pulled on her wound. “And I am very much not a lie down all day and do nothing kind of gal either,” she told him, annoyance creeping into her voice. “Not that I don’t enjoy the company tremendously,” she grinned at him as she nodded in his direction. “But when do you think I can get back to work?”
McCoy nodded. He dealt with people who were ‘people people’ every day, and he could see how difficult it was on them to be secluded in a hospital room for so long. His face fell into a frown when she hissed, glancing up at the monitors that were keeping track of her vitals. His eyes came quickly back to her in the bed, though, and gave a little nod. “You’ll need a few days in the hospital, and then we’ll send you home. But you need to take it easy for another week or so.”
“You know, I’ve spent more time in hospital with this damned flu than when I got shot,” she joked darkly, a hand grazing over the right side of her abdomen below her new wound at the memory as she shifted to get comfortable against her pillows. “I suppose I could teleconference from home and get my TA to bring in people’s assignments,” she gazed sadly out of the window while gently rubbing her side before smiling. “And I’m sure I could get Sam to make cups of tea and dinner while I’m convalescing.”
“When were you shot?” McCoy asked, frowning a little. He’d read up on her chart a bit about the previous injury, but was hoping to hear more about it from her. “Just make sure that you’re taking it easy, but getting back to your normal routine is a good idea. Don’t carry anything heavier than a few pounds. Try to limit the number of stairs you take.” He nodded. “Give your body a chance to heal--really listen to what it wants.”
If I really listened to what my body wanted it wouldn’t just be me in this bed, Elizabeth thought to herself before she realised. Luckily she hadn’t said it out loud, so shook her head and replied to his original question, studiously avoiding his eyes. “Oh, about...six, seven years ago?” Elizabeth thought back. “I was working in the Balkans trying to hammer out a peace treaty for the UN when a gunman from a rogue element of the peace process appeared out of nowhere,” she fiddled with the bed covers as she spoke. The memory of that day still hadn’t left her; practically everyday she felt the bullet slice through her stomach and if she pondered on it for too long she found herself getting maudlin. “He managed to fire three shots off before security could get to him and one of those left me this memento,” she held her hand over the old wound, smiling bitterly.
“Despite nearly dying, that day was a pretty good one for me, turned me back to teaching and my best friend Sam,” she looked up at the doctor. Oh...he is cute, she thought to herself, quickly looking away as she felt a blush start to crawl up her neck. She bit her lip, feeling bold as the tramadol had stripped away her usually steadfast self-control she teased him gently, “I didn’t have a knight in shining armour back then though...”
“That’s a good thing.” McCoy said, nodding. “Finding out where you fit in in the world is almost always a good thing.” A little chuckle escaped him. He’d been called everything from a knight in shining armor to a savior to a hero to an angel. It came with the job, really. He was used to it. “Well, let’s just be glad you had one this time, hmm?” He said, softly. “And don’t let it happen again.”
“You have no idea how glad I am,” Elizabeth grinned, feeling herself blush a little. “The irony is that I was just starting out on a non-proliferation of weapons treaty,” she told him. “And I can say that I have been actively avoiding those types of situations, even if the UN comes begging I only tend to operate on home soil now,” she smiled sadly. She had always felt like she should be out there, doing more. The dreams of Atlantis made her think especially so. She gave a quick shake of her head and reached out to look at the other book she had brought.
“Let’s see what my handsome, white knight has brought me to save my sanity,” she teased. “Dickens...Tolkien...Asmiov...ooo, Bram Stoker,” she put the others down and held Dracula up. “This used to be another one of my favourites growing up, are you sure theres something you’re not telling me?” she winked at him with a cheeky grin.
McCoy laughed. “Handsome, white knight, am I?” He shook his head. “Just doing my job, really.” He added, then lifted his hands up in a ‘not guilty’ pose. “I think I caught one of the nurses reading that one. No hidden meanings there, I swear.”
“Are you going to carry me off on your noble steed?” she teased with a wink. The tramadol had stripped her of her normal reservedness, but she found she didn’t mind. Besides, didn’t Sam tell her to get out more?
“Not for a good long while, Miss Weir.” McCoy said, giving her a smile. “You’ve got quite a bit more healing to do. But those books should help.” He climbed up from his chair, giving her a little wink. “I’ll check in on you again soon.”
“Then I look forward to that day,” Elizabeth grinned happily, mentally noting that he hadn’t turned her down point blank. “Oh...well thank you for the reading material,” she waved one of the books in the air. “And thank you for keeping me company, it means a lot,” she smiled sadly, disappointed that he seemingly had to leave.
McCoy gave a little nod, smiling. “You’re welcome. If there’s anything else I can do, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to call. You have my office number.” He might respond faster than the nurse’s station, if she caught him behind his desk. “Get some rest, I’ll see you soon.” He said, then let himself out of the room.
Elizabeth gave him a bright smile and a wave as he left. The door closed behind him and she gave a wry smile to herself as she thought about their talk. She reached over for her phone to text Sam and tell her about him. Maybe she would talk her out of asking him out next time she saw him.