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“Worf to Crusher.” Beverly grumbled slightly. Wasn’t he down on the surface? What could he possibly need her for?
“Crusher here.”
“Captain Picard...he’s been shot in the chest....” Beverly’s eyes went wide and she immediately stood up from behind her desk where she was trying to catch up on paperwork.
“Beam him directly here!”
“Aye, Sir.”
In the ten seconds it took for Worf to contact the Chief and get beamed up to Sickbay, thousands of scenarios ran through Beverly’s head as she pulled on her lab coat and started briefing her team.
“Bring the stasis units in here, and have them online. Tell Doctor Selar she can use ward three for the ambulatory cases, and I'll stay here.” She left the unspoken words ‘to care for the Captain’ hang in the air. Her entire staff knew that if Captain Picard was ill or injured, Beverly wouldn’t let anyone else treat him.
Would he still be alive? Can I save him? Worf said he was shot in the chest...did affect his heart? Do I have a replacement in case he needs a new one? Can I perform that kind of surgery on my.... She let her thoughts trail off, not willing to admit even in her own head how she felt about the Captain. Beverly wrung her hands together and tapped her foot impatiently waiting for the transporter. Every second counted, especially if Jean-Luc was fighting for his life. She took a few steadying breaths as another medic walked into the room pushing a stasis unit towards the bio bed. Beverly pointed where she wanted it to go and closed her eyes for a minute as a voice came over the conn.
“Transporter room four to Sickbay. They're coming in now. “
Beverly took another few breaths. Showtime.
She nearly gasped when Worf laid the Captain on the biobed and she saw the raw scorched hole over his chest fusing his uniform to his skin...or what was left of his skin. Was he still alive? Detach myself. It’s not Jean-Luc, it’s just a bald man in a command uniform. She ran her tricorder over him, shouting instructions to the rest of her team. “He's in cardiac arrest.” Keep your hands steady, Red. You can do this. “Connect the pulmonary support units. He's got internal haemorrhaging. The bioregulator of his artificial heart's been fused. He's got liver and spleen damage.” Beverly’s staff did as they were told, all the while shaking their heads as the situation looked Grim. Beverly looked up at Worf and tried to hide the tears in her eyes.
“What kind of weapon caused this?”
“A compressed teryon beam.” Shit! That’s bad. Very very bad. Oh, Jean-Luc....Stop it. He’s just a patient....He’s just a patient...Oh, who am I kidding? It’s Jean-Luc! Beverly studied the readouts as she continued to direct her staff. She tried not to let her voice catch as she looked at the latest readings.
“His respiratory system is shutting down.” Jean-Luc...please don’t leave me. Don’t go...I need to tell you....I need you to know how much I love you....
Beverly refused to give up. Any other doctor might have declared her patient dead and moved on to an autopsy, and maybe she would have too if her patient wasn’t the Captain of the Enterprise. But she knew Jean-Luc was a fighter and she knew he would make it. She grabbed at the breathing mask one of the Medics held and put it over his mouth and nose. Come on, Jean-Luc. She kept glancing at his numbers and making the nurse activate the stimulator over and over. Of course, she knew the longer she kept trying to stimulate his battered heart, the worse off he might be, but if he could just....hang on...she could get him into surgery and repair everything...Eureka! Beverly grinned with relief as Jean-Luc let out a nervous chuckle on the bed.
“His vital signs are stable. Captain. Jean-Luc. You've been injured, but I think you're going to be all right.” She reached down and cradled his hand in hers, heedless of the medics, nurses, and of Riker and Worf standing by watching. He gave her hand a squeeze. “Can’t get rid of me that easily, Doctor. But Beverly...do I have a story to tell you...”
“Glad to hear it, Captain. But we need to get your into surgery now that you’re stable. Tell me all about it once you’re in recovery.” Jean-Luc nodded and squeezed her fingers once more before she was ordering him transferred onto a gurney to get him into surgery. She kept a running commentation for him as she walked beside his bed, her fingers brushing against him as she talked. “Your uniform is fused to your skin. I’m going to have to cut it off and potentially use a skin graft from your thigh to cover it. I’ll have to check your heart as well and make sure it hasn’t been damaged. Hopefully only a valve or two and we won’t have to completely replace it, and I’ll have to make sure your spleen and liver will heal with the regen and not require cloning and-“ she stopped abruptly when Jean-Luc grabbed her hand again. “Beverly.”
“Sorry. I thought we...I thought I lost you. I was doubting my skills as your Doctor.”
“I have every faith in you that you will always be able to fix me.” She grinned. “Right then. I need to change into my surgical scrubs. I’ll see you in there.”
“I’ll be the one with the giant hole in his chest.” Beverly shoved him gently on the bed. “Not funny.”
“I thought it was...”
The medic pushing the Captain wisely chose to pretend he hadn’t heard the exchange.