Title: What Doesn’t Kill You
Fandom: Star Trek AOS
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1,948
Content Notes hurt/comfort, mild language, schmoop

Summary: Who takes care of the doctor when it's the doctor who's caught the cold?


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Chapel commed him halfway through Alpha.

Worry unfurled in Jim's belly, slow and delicate as she spoke, and the link to Medical had barely disconnected before he was on his feet and heading towards the turbolift, Sulu sliding into his vacated chair with practiced ease.

Leonard was sick.

Jim shook his head, fingers curling anxiously at his sides. Leonard didn’t get sick.

At least he never had, not once in all the time Jim had known him. Not even a case of the sniffles in the winter or allergies in the spring. It was amazing how tolerant his body was of the weird diseases he came across, how easily he could surround himself with sick people and sick creatures (and that one sick plant from Beta IV) and still walk away at the end of the day, bristly and grumpy and healthy as ever.

Except for now.

Jim blinked when he realized he was standing outside Leonard's door. He licked his lips and wondered if he should ring the bell or just go in. Ringing would be politer, but Jim would hate to wake the guy if he was passed out on the couch or something.

He typed in the entry code. The door considered the code for a second before beeping back a denial, citing medical override.

Jim frowned. He cleared the screen and typed in his personal rank authorization.

The door chirped a friendly reminder that CMO override trumped that of even the Captain.

Jim pursed his lips and ran a hand through his hair. An image sprang to mind of Leonard collapsed on the floor, eyes rolled back in his head and body convulsing. Jim's gut clenched and he typed in his code once more, fingers quick and frantic on the pad. The door buzzed back an insistent denial.

Jim shook his head, leaning forward until his forehead bumped the door. "Damnit, Bones," he murmured.

"Go away," came a disembodied voice from somewhere within Leonard's quarters.

Jim startled, eyes wide as he jerked his head back. "Bones?" he asked.

"No, wrong room," Leonard said, words slow and strained, and Jim's shoulders slumped with an mix of relief and frustration, heart thumping uncomfortably behind his ribs.

"Asshole," Jim growled, typing in his authorization once more, just for the hell of it. It was denied as swiftly as the last three. "I was worried."

"Aren't you sweet," Leonard muttered tiredly, closer this time. A distant sneeze sounded, followed a second later by the thick snorting whoosh of him blowing his nose. He groaned and Jim wondered if it was over his current state or because of what was probably smeared all across his hand now.

Jim stepped closer to the closed door, listening hard. "You okay in there?" he asked.

Leonard grumbling, words muffled, and Jim couldn't help but imagine the bemused look he must be giving his side of the door. "Peachy," came the hoarse reply. "Can't breathe, head's killing me, and I got someone who wants to play twenty questions loitering outside my room."

"Don't tell me it's true," Jim said, small smile tugging at his lips. "I thought the ole 'doctors make terrible patients' was just an ugly stereotype."

There was a thump on the other side of the door, as if something had fallen against it, and Leonard's voice was a little clearer now. "I ain't exactly as skilled at being a patient as certain others," he grumped. "Now go away."

Jim sighed and tapped his fingers against the door, trying to imagine whereabouts Leonard's head was resting, no doubt relishing the cool touch of metal against his hot skin. "Come on," he wheedled. "You know I'm not going anywhere."

Leonard coughed, a wet, hacking sound, and Jim winced a little in sympathy. "Don't you have-" Another cough. "A ship that needs captaining?"

"Nah, I've got people for that," Jim said, turning to lean his shoulder on the door. "I mean, I could probably find something else to do with my time if I really put my mind to it, but-"

"Going back to bed now," Leonard interrupted.

"Come on," Jim said again, rapping his knuckles along the doorframe. "Don't make me call Scotty up here."

Leonard paused. "You wouldn't," he said.

"Are you kidding?" Jim asked. "Have you met me? I'll-"

The door slid open and Jim toppled into Leonard's room. He yelped when he felt the telltale prick of a hypo against the side of his throat.

"The hell, Bones?" Jim asked, slapping a hand to his neck as he jerked away. Sick or not, Leonard's reflexes were scary sharp.

"Vaccine," Leonard muttered, words quieter now that he didn't have to speak through the door. "Don't want you catching this crap too."

Jim's mouth opened but the words caught in his throat when he spotted Leonard, head and shoulders shrouded in the blanket off his bed and face as pale as the wall he was slouched against. His breaths were coming in ragged gasps and his forehead was dotted with sweat, bangs hanging limp over his eyes. His lips were cracked and his nose was red and wads of tissue littered the floor. Something sticky and yellow spotted the front of Leonard's medical tunic and a suspicious smell was coming from the waste basket Leonard held clutched to his chest.

"Jeez, Bones," Jim breathed, eyes wandering up and down Leonard's form. "You look like shit."

"Ha," Leonard said as he slid himself towards the couch. Jim jumped forward and caught him, easily redirecting him towards the bedroom. Leonard let the used hypo fall from his trembling fingers as Jim looped his arm across his shoulders, hands closing tight around Leonard's wrist and waist. "You sure know how to make a girl feel pretty."

Jim shrugged as he slowly guided Leonard across the room. "It's a skill," he said. He glanced into the waste basket and his stomach churned dangerously at the sight. Taking a tight breath through his mouth, he added. "Besides, normally you're the one who gets to say that."

Leonard sniffled, words stuffy and painful-sounding. "Payback's a bitch, huh?"

Jim nudged Leonard's head sympathetically. He could feel the unnatural heat radiating from his skin. "I kind of like it the other way better."

He wondered if the other man would agree, but Leonard only hummed as Jim half-walked, half-dragged Leonard into the bedroom, body heavy against Jim's side.

"So how is it you had a vaccine to give to me," Jim said as he sat Leonard on the edge of the mattress, kneeling between his knees to pull off his boots. "But didn't manage to vaccinate yourself before you picked up a mild case of the plague?"

Leonard coughed. "The plague would be kinder," he said, voice scratchy and dry. "Probably would have killed me already." Jim disappeared into the kitchenette and returned a moment later with a glass of water. Leonard nodded his thanks before drinking it down. Jim took the glass and Leonard waved in the vague direction of the main room and the hypo he'd left on the carpet. "I didn't have a chance to make that until after I'd been sneezed on a couple of times. Got it-" He gestured towards his face. "Got it in my mouth." Jim's nose scrunched as he pulled Leonard's tunic and undershirt over his head, hair fluffing in their wake. Leonard shivered as Jim gently eased him onto his back, hands quick and efficient as they opened his pants. "It was like the guy was aiming for me," Leonard continued, teeth chattering. "Therbians," he muttered darkly.

"You going to be alright?" Jim asked, worry settling, tight and cold, behind his ribs. He slipped Leonard's pants off his hips and over his knees. "I mean, do I need to take you back to Medbay?"

Leonard swallowed and shook his head, kicking his pants from his feet. "'m fine," he said thickly. "Already gave myself a shot." Jim lifted Leonard's legs and laid them on the bed, tucking them beneath the sheets. "Just need to sweat it out."

"That sounds like fun," Jim said, taking Leonard's empty glass and refilling it, setting it within reach on the nightstand. He placed a packet of tissues next to it. The waste basket he carried into the bathroom to deal with later.

Leonard coughed again and Jim followed the sound back into the bedroom. He found Leonard curled onto his side, sheets pushed down to his waist and arms making a futile effort to circle his torso, skin shining with sweat and covered in goosebumps.

"You alright there?" Jim asked, hovering in the doorway. Leonard was always an exuberant personality, passionate and full of life. Now he lay under his sheet, small and pitiful, dry lips parted as he took one halting breath after another.

It unnerved Jim more than he wanted to admit.

Leonard blinked drowsily at Jim. He licked his lips and attempted a small smile. "I'll be alright," he said, the reassuring tone of his words overshadowed by the sickly pallor of his skin. "You can go if you need to."

Jim frowned, watching as Leonard turned his face into the pillow and coughed, shoulders shaking.

There were three hours left of Alpha shift, according to the chronometer on Leonard's nightstand. Three hours to read the pile of articles sitting on his desk, to review the requisition forms that needed his signature. There were departments he needed to visit and data logs waiting to be filled. There was another 'surprise' weekly conference call with Starfleet and if he stood Spock up again he was pretty sure his First Officer was going to organize a mutiny.

There was also a sick doctor laying on his bed, looking about as pitiful as Jim had ever seen.

Ducking his head, Jim smiled and toed off his boots.

Leonard lifted a surprised eyebrow as Jim snuggled up behind him, arms wrapping around his body to pull him close. A knee pushed between Leonard's, ankles hooking one over the other, and Jim nosed at the damp hair along the nape of Leonard's neck. "Don't need to be anywhere," he said. "Mind if I stay?"

"Yes, I mind," Leonard mumbled, indignant even as his shivering began to subside and his body relaxed against Jim's chest. "Don't give me that bull. You've got things to do and I'm snotty and feverish and gross."

Jim pressed a kiss to the warm spot beneath Leonard's ear, dropped another along the curve of his jaw. "You're not gross," he crooned. "That trash can of yours, on the other hand," he said, smiling as he pecked another kiss to Leonard's cheek. "I don't know what the hell you were puking, but I'm air-locking that thing as soon as you fall asleep."

Leonard coughed and settled himself into Jim's embrace, eyes closing. "If it makes you feel better, I have no idea what I was puking either."

Jim hooked his chin over Leonard's shoulder. "In that case, remind me not to go anywhere near your mouth for a while." Leonard's lips curled a little, and Jim stole a quick kiss. "Except for that."

"You going to talk my ear off or are you going to let me get some sleep?" Leonard asked.

Jim smiled. "Sleep, Bones," he said, laying his head on Leonard's pillow.

Leonard mumbled irritably, but he didn't need to be told twice. A moment later he was breathing a little easier, a little steadier, face slack and body limp in Jim's arms.

Jim hid his face in the crook of Leonard's neck and laid a hand over Leonard's heart, counting the beats as the rest of his shift ticked away.

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End.