[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.and.He shook his head sharply to clear it.He couldn't let himself falter, not now.He turned to reach for his tools again, only to find himself face to face with Doctor Paduga.He was relieved that she was finally there, because he could sure use another set of hands, but she was in his way."I need my regen tools," he said, then called over her shoulder, "Nurse Patel, hand me the laser guide and -""Belay that, Patel," Doctor Paduga interrupted him, then put a firm hand on his arm."You need to stop.""No! He's my patient, and I'm not quitting on him! We're short-handed as it is.Now let me get back to work." He tried to step around her again, but she held him fast."Leonard," she said, in a tone of voice he'd not heard her use before, forceful but oddly sympathetic, "we've got him.We're not quitting on him.But you're his friend, and you shouldn't be treating him."Shaking his head defiantly, he reached past her to grab the regen tool, only to drop it immediately.He stared at his empty hand and finally noticed how badly his hands were shaking, and that he could barely grip anything."I.I'm not -"Paduga shook her head and glanced over her shoulder."Nurse Aldrich, we've got enough backup now.Take McCoy to the doctors' lounge and sit with him." She looked back at Leonard."And as for you.you're shaking, and your face is gray.We don't need another patient.Now go.""But.""We'll take care of him, Leonard.I promise."Feeling oddly numb, he could only nod in reply as Nurse Aldrich led him from the trauma ward and the chaos and the beeping monitors and Jim.One last glance backwards gave him a glimpse of Paduga leaning in close and getting right to work.Jim was in good hands.He really was.But.it was just."Come on, Doctor McCoy," came Nurse Aldrich's voice, as if from far away."Let's get you cleaned up."Leonard was in a fog as she led him to the scrub room.Gloves, coat, shoe covers.all soaked in blood, all dropped into the biohazard bin.Jim's blood in the biohazard bin.It was still on his scrub top, his pants, his arms where the blood had actually seeped between his sleeves and his gloves.Aldrich had to lead him to the scrub basin.While sonic cleaning was good for sanitizing, hot water was still the standard for helping a doctor to feel human again after dealing with any surgery, especially a massive trauma case.It wasn't helping so much this time.As he watched Jim's blood slowly rinse off his wrists and mix with the water flowing down the metal basin and into the drain, he felt something just as hot and just as unnerving welling up in his eyes."He'll be okay," the nurse said suddenly."You got him through the worst of it.He was starting to stabilize when you left."Leonard shook his head."We were only handling the most vital functions.Haven't assessed the burns, spinal damage, peripheral nerve function.anything could happen.He could still flatline," he said, feeling numb and stupid."Do you believe he will?" For a moment, however brief, Nurse Aldrich reminded Leonard of his own mother, putting things into perspective with indisputable arguments and a firm gaze.A painful smile twisted Leonard's face."Jim always beats the odds." Then his face fell again."Then what is it?"Looking back down at his hands, which were mostly free of Jim's blood now, Leonard said, "He stopped by my room last night and asked me to watch his shuttle training exercise this morning.Flight recorder data feed."She nodded slowly."That's why you said you saw it happen."He started to nod, then shook his head."Yes, but that's not it.I told him what would happen."She frowned in confusion."What do you mean?""I.don't like space flight." It felt like a horrible confession."Shuttlecrafts.Atmospheric crafts.Any flight, really.I met the kid on a shuttlecraft.Told him then and there all the horrible things that could happen to a human body if space flight went wrong." He swallowed."It became a running joke for us." Then he coughed, choking on his words.The room was too hot and too cold at once.Was he shaking or shivering?Somehow, she managed to look both sympathetic and mortified."You didn't, did you?""Yeah.That.And last night, when he woke me up at stupid o'clock, I told him that when he crashes today in his training flight -" The room was really much too hot now, the air too thick."- not to come crying to me.""Oh dear."Leonard nodded, a halting, jerky movement that shook through him."He remembered.When he started to come out of sedation in there.he was lucid.Good God, he was actually lucid.and he said that." Leonard felt himself falter, and Aldrich caught him by the elbow."Let's get you to a seat.Okay?""Okay."She led him quickly through the sonic shower before guiding him out of the emergency ward and down the hall.His whole body was shaking by the time they got to the doctor's lounge.His hands itched for something to do, something to hold, and insanely, he thought of the small flask he'd carried onto the shuttle where he'd met Jim.However, he couldn't drown himself in the familiar burn of bourbon here, not around his colleagues at Starfleet Medical, so he automatically moved towards the coffee pot.Nurse Aldrich's firm grip on his arm steered him clear away."Sorry, Doctor McCoy, but the last thing you need right now is coffee," she said as she led him straight to the couch."You want me to sit here with nothing to do while my friend is in the trauma ward with his body practically turned inside out, and I can't even have a cup of coffee?"She glared at him."You're shaking like a chihuahua and you want to drink a stimulant? Sorry, doctor, but that's not going to happen.""I've got to have some something to do." He wrenched his arm out of her grasp, spinning away from her.He began to pace, ready to launch into a pointless rant that wouldn't even help him feel better.when he saw his PADD on the floor where he'd dropped it.He forgot all about the coffee.Still shaking, possibly more than he'd been before, he reached down and picked it up.On unsteady legs, he shuffled to the couch, sat down stiffly, and activated the screen.The flight recorder feed was still there.Nurse Aldrich stood next to Leonard, looking down at the PADD."What's that?"Leonard barely spared her a glance."Answers.I hope."Mouth dry, heart beating just a bit too fast, he brought the flight recorder datastream to the beginning of the training run and let it run.From the moment they left Earth's orbit to the last anguished seconds of the shuttle's descent to the Mars surface, Leonard watched every second of Jim's flight with rapt attention [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

zanotowane.pl

doc.pisz.pl

pdf.pisz.pl

listy-do-eda.opx.pl