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Spock sat on one of the sickbay beds. His legs dangled off the edge, and his hands rested beside his thighs. Thick green blood dripped from various parts of his body onto the faux red leather. He had many wounds scattered across him, although thankfully, none of them were that serious. The only other person McCoy knew to get this messed up on such a simple mission was Jim. Even Jim usually turned up better than this, though.
“God damn it, Spock. It's like you have no common sense when you’re on missions with Kirk. How does someone even manage to get this many injuries when collecting mineral samples?” Bones said with a huff as he got a wet rag to clean the various cuts, a wide frown across his face.
“If you must know, doctor, I was-”
“Oh whatever, you idiot. It was a rhetorical question,” Bones interrupted, following his statement with a soft sigh. Spock decided to ignore Bones insult, as he was sure that it wasn’t meaningful either.
Bones walked over with the rag, careful not to drip any water on the floor. “Im just going to use this to get rid of all this excess blood. I'll disinfect it after that.”
“The materials you're using seem ‘prehistoric’ by your standards, Leonard. I can’t recall a time when you aimed to use them before,” Spock mused as a tease to McCoys frustration.
“Yeah well we don't have much else. We've been short on supply since the casualties from that one mission a week ago. That's why we were assigned such a simple mission this week. Evidently, it was too much for you to handle, though, wasn’t it Spock?” Bones teased back, feeding into Spock's amusement for now. Don’t get him wrong. He was still extremely frustrated with the Vulcan, but he could use that small amount of joy he gains for a moment after Spock's reactions. He got an eyebrow raise in return, evidence of his success.
The doctor returned his focus to cleaning Spock's wounds, taking the rag pinched between his fingers and gently pressing it to every cut. He was extremely precise with his work. It came with being a surgeon and doctor. Him and Spock both watched the blue and green mix of dry and fresh blood swipe away with each wipe. It was Leonards care that Spock took note of the most. Every touch came with the light tenderness you'd use when massaging a lover. It made Spock feel fluttery in a way he couldn't quite describe. Bones' expression hardly made it any better. The subtle shine in his eyes mixed with an oddly adorable frown lit something up in Spock's chest. He quickly looked back down to the cuts Bones was cleaning. His head felt slightly fuzzy, although that could just be the blood that he was losing.
“Do your wounds hurt?” Bones asked in a quiet whisper. It took Spock a minute to respond. He got too lost in his thoughts.
“No, and your extreme care is surely helping with any pain I might have, doctor,” Spock said in a similar voice to the man next to him, returning his gaze to meet his eyes. His eyes still held the same light that he saw in them earlier. It gave Spock a strange, comforting feeling to add with the sparking one.
“I hope you know I don’t take fondly to flattery.” Another comment Bones made specifically to play into Spock's amusement. This time, he got a slight upturn of his lips along with another eyebrow raise. From what Bones could tell in a quick glance over to him, at least. He thoroughly enjoyed messing with him, and he just couldn't help but do it even in a time like this. “Y’know, Spock, your blood is just about as stubborn as you.” Leonards grip on Spock's shoulder tightened, if only for a moment, having to give up some of his gentleness due to his struggle with dried blood.
“You have a colorful way with words, doctor.” Leonard shook his head lightly with a short exhale of breath. Spock was satisfied with himself. Bones decided to now ignore the Vulcans' antics and pretend not to notice his constant gaze and banter. He was getting too lost in conversation. He needed to focus on healing Spock's wounds.
The gashes in his skin were all almost an inch deep. He was clueless on how a man with such tough skin could get hurt in such a simple way. Across his whole body, there were around nineteen injuries, including two dark bruises. On his arms, there were four cuts to his left and two to his right. Bones had cleaned them until all exposed flesh was cleared of blood. It was Spock's chest that Bones was really eluded to. He had somehow tore up half of his uniform, and all the cuts were long and thorough. Bones couldn't help but scoff when he first saw the seven cuts across his chest and abdomen. He was almost done cleaning those up. Most of the cuts around there were dried up. All the blood had turned a deep dark blue in color, although some of the less dry blood was a blueish green and was almost aquamarine in color. The last group of cuts were on Spock's legs along with one last cut on his right hand. Bones would clean those next.
It made him a bit sad seeing Spock like this, but he wasn’t sure why. Spock would be fine in a couple of days if he made good use of the small amount of materials they had left. The slight aching feeling really sunk in as he kneeled down to work on Spock's legs and saw his skin that used to be pale green in color completely covered in the dark green hue of his blood mixing with the black dirt of the planet he was on. Bones gently rested his foot on his knee for support as he started to clean them. The frown he held on his face dropped lower, if possible. His head was clouded with disturbing imagery of what possibly could’ve happened on that god forsaken planet. After he was done with all of this he’d surely give Spock a well needed and lengthy lecture on safety. Perhaps yelling at the Vulcan would make him feel better about the whole thing.
He must’ve zoned out while cleaning his legs because he was still scrubbing the cuts once they were already as clean as they would get with just some water and a rag. He was rubbing Spock's skin raw.
“Leonard… It starts to hurt when you do it like that,” Spock said politely, still watching him from above. Bones perked up with Spock’s voice, his face growing red with embarrassment when he realized he had let himself slip. He was doing exactly what he took so much care into avoiding in the beginning. He simply mumbled a small ‘sorry’ before gently putting down Spock's legs and moving to hold his hand to clean up his palm.
Spock's throat began to tighten when McCoy grabbed his hand. He pushed back the thoughts surfacing in his head, although he didn’t put enough effort into shielding the emotion from his eyes. His gaze stayed fixated on his palm. He quickly memorized the feeling of Bones hand resting against the back of his own. He analyzed the slow methodical way Bones slid the rag along the cut, careful not to irritate his skin anymore like he did when cleaning the cuts on his leg. Bones' hands were soft and cold to touch, vastly different from the firm, warm feeling of his own hands. Spock's face grew hotter. The feeling in his throat began to rise and become more uncontrollable. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from cracking.
Bones didn’t notice Spock's shift in behavior until his hand started to twitch. At first, he assumed that it was because he was in pain. Vulcans' palms were more sensitive than most other places on their body, after all. It was that exact thought that made Bones realize what was actually going on. His face grew warm exactly like Spock's did, although his cheeks were red instead of green. He wrapped the rag around Spock's hand and let go of it, yet Spock still couldn't bring himself to look away from his palm. Bones couldn’t believe how naive he had been.
While both of them had been officially in a romantic relationship for a while now, neither of them had gotten quite used to things of that nature. Bones had made a million mental notes to set aside time to learn more about Spock's culture, but he had been too wrapped up in his work to learn anything past their anatomy. He had always been the type to avoid physical contact, anyway. He was never too fond of it, even when he was with his ex-wife. That was part of why he wasn’t married anymore. Those reasons on top of the not quite fully developed relationship just made touch more special, and for Bones at least, more nerve wracking.
“Stay there. I'm getting the disinfectant,” Bones said with a firm tone, as if he was angry at Spock for something he had no control over. Ignoring Spock, he walked away into the other room to search the drawers for some old disinfectant they had lying around. He moved to the floor to reach a low drawer, although his emotions got the best of him, and he collapsed there for a minute. His breath shook. He murmured a small ‘fuck this’ to himself and used middle finger and thumb to squeeze his temples in an attempt to cool himself down. After a minute of collecting himself he forced himself back up to a stand. While he needed to do without his pitiful emotions, he knew Spock needed him more.
Spock still sat there patiently waiting. He somehow managed to look away from his hand, which Bones was a bit shocked about to be honest. He took one last calming breath before walking back over to Spock to treat him once more.
“Warning, it'll probably sting like hell. My grandma used to use this crap on my scrapes all the time.”
“I'm sure it won’t be that-” Bones interrupted him by pouring some of the disinfectant down his arm to flow into the cuts. While Spock did a better job at composing himself than most humans do, Leonard took a mental note of how his hands held a tight grip on the edge of the bed. He had to bite back a smile, although he did feel a little bad.
Spock took in a sharp inhale as Bones wiped away excess liquid from his arm and placed a cotton pad over the wounds. “How does that feel, Spock?” Bones mused, grabbing some bandages from the side table.
“I will say, it hurt more than I expected it to.” Spock watched as Bones slowly unwrapped the gauze bandages. Bones hadn’t had to unwrap this kind of bandage in a while, and it felt odd.
“Well thats what you get. It’ll only feel worse when I do the cuts on your ribs. You couldn’t have picked a worse time to bang yourself up.”
“Do I need to attempt to give you my explanation again, doctor?”
“Ah, enough of that doctor crap. We’re alone. You’re off duty, or at least you will be when I force you on medical leave. And… and were dating. You don’t need to be so formal all the time.”
Bones felt the red return to his face, exactly like it had been before. He got a bit choked up when saying the word dating out loud. He hadn’t explicitly said it before. Spock always said it for him. Sure, he heavily implied it, and everyone and their damn mother knew about it but, it was different to actually say it. It was different to be actually official. Spock evidently didn’t feel as strongly about it as Bones did. If Bones had to guess, he’d say he was amused when hearing Bones finally fully say it outloud. Damn Vulcan.
“Alright, Leonard,” Spock said quietly, causing Bones to sigh. He loved this man way too much. He was so frustrating.
Bones wrapped the bandages around his arm tightly to keep as much as the blood down as he could. Still, as he was wrapping it, he could see the shiny green blood slowly seeping through the cotton. ‘All for some mineral samples,’ Bones thought to himself.
Once he was finished with Spock's arms he continued to treat the rest of the injuries the same way, although he had to take off Spock's shirt to treat his torso. As expected, Spock flinched a bit more when Bones disinfected the cuts along his ribs. Bones started to snicker under his breath watching him struggle not to squirm. That made Spock feel a bit better. He finished wrapping Spock up after several minutes or so, and took a step back to look at him.
“God, Spock, you look like a damn mummy like this.”
“It's awfully uncomfortable and stiff to be wrapped up like this. How do humans handle it? The material we use for this nature of injury on Vulcan is much softer.”
“Oh shut your mouth. It gets the job done and thats all that matters.” Bones started to clean up his supplies while he spoke. Spock simply raised an eyebrow as he watched.
Spock enjoyed watching Leonard work. He always had. Something about the way he moved was rather graceful. He always seemed to know what he was doing, even when they were dealing with something no one had ever encountered before; even when he was lost in his own head and was unable to escape from it. Although, if Spock were to say that aloud, he thinks Bones would say something like, “Well I sure as hell would hope so! What did I go through over eight years of schooling for if I didn’t know what I was doing!?”
Leonard started to hum a gentle tune as he packed away everything, getting some stuff to clean away the blood on the bed and floor after. What a mess.
“Whats that melody you’re humming, Leonard?”
“An old Earth song my dad used to like,” He responded absent mindedly as he forcefully moved Spock so he could clean the blood that was surrounding him.
“What is it called? It's pleasing to hear.”
“Uhm- I think it's called King Of The Road. Can’t recall the singer. There were a lot of different versions. It's pretty old, too. Way before our time. Made in the 19 early hundreds.”
“I’ve noticed that humans move on quickly when it comes to things like that. I don’t often hear them talking about music made before the past few decades.”
“While we may move on quickly from trends, Vulcans move on quicker when we're talking about situations and relationships, Spock.” Spock gave Bones a confused expression, curious about his point, no doubt.
“I’m saying don’t think you’re any better than us because you live longer. Humans are sentimental, even if we don’t seem like we are with things like music made a hundred something years ago.” Bones discarded the blood covered cloth he used to clean the bed and floor in the sink before returning to Spock's side, leaning his back against the beds edge and crossing his arms.
“Trust me, Leonard. I understand completely how sentimental you are.”
“Now you’re going to have me wondering all night if you meant me or humans in general,” Bones scoffed, pondering for a long moment after he spoke. “..I am a bit curious about how you got so hurt, though. Explain.”
“If you’ll listen this time,” Spock teased. “While Jim and I were collecting samples from a cave, part of it collapsed. I ended up having to find an alternative way out, and unfortunately, the only one I could find was a jagged seven inch wide tunnel filled with sharp crystals. Although I didn’t get out unharmed, it was quite beautiful.”
“Spock, I think that's the most optimistic thing you’ve said to me.”
“You did not see them to know just how truly beautiful they were.”
“Yeah, well, I'm not sure they were beautiful enough to justify the amount of wounds they gave you.”
“I had no other way out, and I think their discovery alone might be substantial to justify my injury. After all, I am feeling just fine despite the blood.”
“I’m tired of seeing that green blood. Im sure I would have found an alternative if I was there. You find yourself in these sorts of situations too often when I’m not there.”
“I can’t control that, Leonard.”
“I know.” Bones sighed, a solemn frown across his face. He looked down to Spock's injuries and, against his better judgment, let his mind wander. He let his mind wander to all the times he saw that awful green color splattered against Spock's skin before. No matter how logical and calculated Spock made himself out to be, the truth was he was reckless. He was reckless in a way that Bones couldn’t even blame him for. He was reckless because he cared for everyone on this ship a smidge too much to put himself before anyone else. In a way, that made him more human than most people were, but it didn’t make it any less infuriating.
“I’m okay,” Spock said gently after a while of silence, slowly putting his hand on Leonards shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. Bones looked up and met Spock's gaze. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything. As much as he wanted to, nothing would come from his mouth when he tried all to speak. He turned to face Spock. Both of their eyes were locked on each other, unshifting.
“Im okay,” Spock whispered again, his hand hesitantly moving down Leonards arm. Leonard finally broke, letting out a shaky exhale and gradually bringing his hand into Spock’s. Spock's hand was incredibly warm and felt almost like it was calloused from labor. Leonard knew better. He knew that it was just how Spock's hand was made to feel. It didn’t take any of the meaning away from it, though. It felt just as tender.
Spock lifted their hands to eye level so he could see their palms pressed together without looking away from his beloved. It couldn’t have had as much significance to Leonard as it did Spock, yet he knew Leonard was just as moved as he was. He knew he felt the love that came with the simple action.
Suddenly, Leonard moved his hand to hold Spocks firmly. His thumb pressed against Spock's palm, all of his other fingers holding tightly onto the other side of his hand. Spock was undeniably shocked. Both of his eyebrows raised on his forehead and his eyes slightly wide. He was vulnerable.
Leonard slowly leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Spock's index and middle fingers. The sweet, however suggestive, gesture turned his ears bright green with blush. Leonard then leaned in closer and whispered quietly in his ear.
“At least you’re safe with me.”
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