The Long Silence [for losthunter]

[boldygoing]

Jim had been looking forward to getting drinks with Hunter after the end of the Nibiru mission.

Sure, it didn't exactly go according to plan, but when does it ever? And with the news of a five-year mission in the works, not yet assigned to a ship, he's pretty excited that the Enterprise might have a shot at the most prestigious and ambitious assignment Starfleet has ever offered. No crew is more prepared, he feels. And getting to explore uncharted territory every day for five years is a dream come true.

But that's before he gets called into Pike's office and busted back to fucking cadet.

Before the admiral tells him that the Enterprise is no longer Jim's.

Before Pike tracks him down in a dive bar, spiraling into the black hole of his own thoughts, consuming everything except the horrible, sinking feeling in his gut that somehow he's done everything horribly wrong, and the admiral tells him that he's not out of the running just yet.

He's not captain anymore. But Commander Kirk is the first officer of the Enterprise now, and as awful as it is that Spock has been reassigned, it's a rope thrown to a drowning man.

He's not okay. But maybe eventually he will be. And he barely has time to process any of this before the call comes in, that there's an emergency session called at Headquarters. Something like that is never, ever good news. And no matter what it's about, Jim has the distinct feeling that he's not going to be able to get around to having drinks with Hunter tonight.

He hurries to get into his gray dress uniform, and fires off a quick text message to the now-familiar number. Need raincheck. Emergency @ HQ.

Surely he'll have the time to reschedule later, once the crisis is over.

Comments

[losthunter]

"Hear that Jim. You got a whole crew of good-looking people aching to kiss you. And here you are... sleeping through it." Hunter squeezes Jim's hand.

He frowns in concern. "The warp core. That is where he got the radiation poisoning?"

[boldygoing]

"Yeah." McCoy chooses his words carefully. He still barely knows Hunter, and since the truth would be awfully difficult to explain without revealing classified information, he can't afford to drop any hints. Fortunately, half-truths make it a bit easier. "He's damn lucky to be alive. If we hadn't had access to an old cryo tube, he never would've made it long enough to treat the radiation poisoning. As it is, he's got a long recovery ahead of him."

Assuming that Jim wakes up, that is. McCoy doesn't want to jinx anything, so he hasn't voiced this particular worry aloud, not even to Spock. It hasn't been long enough to make any assumptions like that. But he still worries.

[losthunter]

Since Hunter doesn't know what a cryo tube is, the half-truth sounds true enough. And he can see an unvoiced worry on McCoy's face.

"Is it typical for coma patients to wake up?" In his dimension, it is nearly unheard of. Not impossible... but the odds are never in the patient's favor.

[boldygoing]

"Depends on what caused the coma," McCoy says, and this kind of talk is familiar for him, letting him go on medical autopilot for a bit, easing the stress that comes with being friends with Jim fucking Kirk. "With head trauma, it varies depending on the severity of the injury. Drug-induced comas are commonly and safely used in some surgical procedures. Jim's situation is... kinda unique. Patients exposed to that level of radiation have never survived before, and the treatment is experimental. But he is responding to treatment. We might be able to take him off oxygen in another day or two."

[losthunter]

"Well he is a very unique man..." Hunter has to smile a little. If all the hope they have is that Jim is responding to the treatment, then he will grasp onto it with all his might.

[boldygoing]

"Yeah, trust Jim to refuse to get himself in ordinary kinds of trouble." This, it seems, is something they can agree upon.

[losthunter]

Hunter has to shake his head a little. If Jim gets himself into unique trouble in his own dimension, he sort of wonders what sort of Nexus trouble will be awaiting him. Once he is awake. And back to himself, again.

But at least he can do something now. He can work on those portraits. And he plans to visit Jim every day, if possible. There are a few books that he can bring, that he can read to him.

And that will have to be enough.

[boldygoing]

Hunter's vigil is never a solitary one.

Over the next several days, whenever he visits, there is almost always another member of the Enterprise crew visiting their captain. Spock doesn't tend to say much, preferring to stand along one wall and monitor Jim's vital signs, not out of mistrust of the doctors but out of an oddly emotional need to reassure himself that the captain is alive and improving. McCoy is often in and out, tending to Jim's medical needs, and three days after Hunter's first visit, Jim is strong enough to withstand the spinal repair surgery, allowing for the removal of the stabilization field, and another day passes before the oxygen field is removed also.

Others visit too, but Lieutenant Nyota Uhura visits more than anyone else. She, too, enjoys reading to Jim, although her choices of literature are very rarely in English, and the language varies from day to day. And she takes the time to get to know a little of Hunter too, enough to ensure that his preferred non-alcoholic beverage is made available during his visits. It's often she who is responsible for escorting him up to Jim's room, still under more strict security protocols.

Ten days after Spock first contacted Hunter, Uhura greets him in the lobby of the hospital with a somewhat relieved smile. "He woke up this morning."

[losthunter]

Hunter has gotten into a routine, as strange as it sounds. Despite the sombre circumstances, it has been nice to spend time with Jim's crew members. Especially Uhura. He liked listening to her read to Jim. And is very impressed by her linguistic skills (especially when he learns that some of them are from other Alien cultures).

He smiles too, hearing the news she has for him. "He did! That's awesome."

It takes a lot of willpower not to celebrate a little louder.

[boldygoing]

Uhura can understand his enthusiasm. Though Jim is still nowhere near healthy, he's been slowly improving, and this is a big step towards recovery.

Fortunately it does not take long to walk far enough into the hospital that they don't need to worry about being overheard. "He's been in and out ever since then. Doctor McCoy says he'll probably still sleep a lot, but it's real sleep now."

[losthunter]

"Has someone had the opportunity to 'debrief' him on the last couple of weeks?" There is so much classified information they can't talk about with Hunter around. He doesn't want his presence to prevent Jim from learning information that is important to his own welfare.

[boldygoing]

Uhura nods slightly. "The parts that Doctor McCoy feels are important, anyway. Too much stress is bad for his recovery, so he doesn't know what happened in the city yet. We're not allowed to tell him, even if he asks. But he's still on some fairly heavy-duty painkillers, so he probably won't think about it." She smiles slightly as they arrive at the door to the captain's room, and activates the decontamination beam. "Just do what you've been doing. He'll be glad for the company."

[losthunter]

"Avoid any stress-related news. Gotcha." Hunter feels a little nervous about seeing Jim today. "No big line-up of crew members clamoring to check in, yet?"

[boldygoing]

"No, but Pavel's trying to put together a Get Well Soon holocard signed by the whole crew," she says, smiling fondly. "Doctor McCoy didn't want him overwhelmed by well wishers. Just senior staff, family, and friends."

She nods towards the door, now that they're cleared for entry. "Do you want to see him alone?"

[losthunter]

"Could I?" Hunter has understood their concerns for their captain, and has not minded the fact that he had not been alone with Jim yet. It would have been hard to be alone in the room with him, when he was just sleeping.

[boldygoing]

Uhura nods. "He's going to be here for a while. We'll all have a chance to talk to him privately, and I know you've had to come from out of town." She'd noticed on a previous visit that his accent isn't native to San Francisco, and assumes he's from this Earth's New York. There's really been no reason not to dissuade her from believing that.

"Besides," she says with a teasing look in her eyes, "I think we're all pretty sure by now that you're not about to throw him out the window the moment you've got him alone."

[losthunter]

Hunter is fine with Uhura assuming that he is from this Earth's New York. He can handle pretending to be from the 'Big Apple', even with all the changes to the city since his own timeline.

"He might have broken our date, but he had good reason." Hunter teases back. It feels good to tease again. To feel comfortable enough in Jim's recovery that it doesn't feel forced.

[boldygoing]

Uhura smiles and pats his arm. "Go say hi. I can wait my turn." There's a set of chairs along one wall, a short ways down the hallway, and she heads in that direction, perfectly at ease with allowing Hunter into the CCU room alone.

[losthunter]

Hunter enters the CCU room, flashing Uhura a grateful smile as she heads torwards the chairs along the wall. He heads towards the bed, and moves a chair to Jim's side, as he has done several times before.

"So you are awake, and without needing that one magical kiss." He smiles at the man laying there in the bed.

[boldygoing]

Jim's eyes were closed when Hunter first entered the room, but he blinks up at him now, his reflexes blunted by the painkillers. It takes him a moment to focus and realize who exactly is talking to him, but he manages a smile. "Hey," he says, his voice rough from not being used in a couple weeks. "Magical kiss?"

[losthunter]

"Because you were Sleeping Beauty." Hunter gently takes Jim's hand in his. "I was told that if I tried, that it might encourage the rest of your crew to try it too."

[boldygoing]

"Oh." His laugh is more a soundless huff of air, but he gives Hunter a dopey sort of smile. He squeezes the other man's hand a little, nowhere near as strong as he is when he's healthy, but at least he's responding now. "Probably right."

His smile falters a little and he blinks again, frowning slightly at Hunter. "You're really here." He sounds confused, which should be understandable, considering he's still pretty drugged.

[losthunter]

"Spock sent me a message, using your communicator." He explains. "And I have been here every day since then."

He is not sure how aware Jim is right now, but feels he should let him know about the assumption everyone else has. "They all think I am from your New York City. That I have just come in, from out of town."

[boldygoing]

"Thought I dreamed hearing you." Jim doesn't remember much of the coma, and what he does remember is pretty scattered and fragmented, but that's one thing that sort of makes sense now.

It takes him a moment to process what Hunter says, and he doesn't have the energy to raise his eyebrows, but he does huff out another nearly silent laugh. "Almost right. Just the wrong New York."

[losthunter]

"You could hear me?" Hunter is glad that some things had made their way through to him, even while he was healing in a comatose state.

"Or do you just dream of me regularly?" He chuckled lightly.

"And McCoy wanted to know how we met, since he recognized I wasn't a Starfleet individual. I told him a trade market." Another 'almost right'.