Title: The Long, Cold Night
Author: Ster Julie
Codes: AOS; S/U, Mc, Sa
Rating: PG
Part 1 of 1
Summary: McCoy needs Spock's help to treat Sarek, but it is Uhura who answers
the door.
Disclaimer: I own nothing remotely related to Trek, well, except for one tribble from
Archive: Yes, but only where I posted this.
A/N: Thank you to my wonderful beta, J. Rosemary Ross. All remaining errors are
mine.
Vulcan words from the Vulcan Language Dictionary at
http://www.starbase-10.de/vld/
--ooOoo--
There was the briefest tone of the door signal. Uhura eased her way off Spock's
bed, placing a spare pillow into his empty arms before tiptoeing to the door. It
was Doctor McCoy.
"Spock, I
" he began before Uhura's hand covered his mouth. She stepped out into the
corridor with McCoy, allowing the doors to close behind them.
"Spock just fell asleep, Doctor," she explained. "Can it
wait?"
McCoy took in the large damp spot on the shoulder of Uhura's
uniform. "He cried himself to sleep?" McCoy whispered. Uhura looked
up and down the corridor, then nodded. The doctor
shook his head. "Poor kid," he murmured. "Look, I hate to wake him,
but something is wrong with his dad and I could use some help."
Uhura closed her eyes. She had already heard of over one hundred suicides amongst
the remaining Vulcans. Surely Sarek
Without a word, Uhura re-entered Spock's quarters. She wet a washcloth in the
tiny lav and moved to his side. She caressed his head
and cheek and called softly, "Spock? Spock? I'm sorry, my love, but I need
you to wake up."
Spock raised grainy, puffy eyes to his Nyota's face.
"Sarek needs you, Spock," she continued gently. "You have to
wake up and help Doctor McCoy."
Spock opened his eyes wide and sat up quickly. Uhura began wiping his face gently,
but he soon took the cloth from her and scrubbed more vigorously, as if chasing
away the cobwebs from his mind as well as any remaining trace of his earlier
weakness.
Uhura gave his hair a quick brush as Spock smoothed his uniform. He grabbed her
hand and the two followed McCoy out of the room.
-
"We were conducting a wellness check on our Vulcan guests," McCoy
began without preamble. "Your father seemed unresponsive, almost
catatonic. I wasn't sure if he was in trouble or in some meditative trance. I
thought it best to call you. I just want to be sure that he wasn't planning to
become the latest casualty."
That last statement caused Spock to quicken his pace. In his experience, such
bluntness was uncharacteristic of humans, but he could not fault the doctor for
coming straight to the point. McCoy used
his medical override to open the door to Sarek's quarters.
Spock moved to his father's side and knelt
by the bed, noting his open, unseeing eyes.
"Father?" he said tentatively. There was no response. He
placed his hands on Sarek's face. "Sa-mekh?"
he called.
Still no response. Spock slipped his mind into the
lightest of melds with Sarek. Spock gasped at the depth of the darkness he felt
there, at the ever-deepening spiral that was pulling them into the abyss. Spock
had to pull his father back before they both fell into the pit. "Father!" he called frantically. "Sa-mekh! No! Don't go,
please don't go. Our people need you. I
need you. Father! Sa-mekh! SA-SA!"
Sarek felt as if he was moving through gelatin. The
warm darkness called to him, but now another voice beckoned. No, more than
beckoned. The voice cajoled, pleaded, begged for him to return the cold world
of emptiness and pain. No! That place held nothing for him but death and
excruciating loneliness.
Sarek felt hands clutching his shoulders. He opened his eyes to see his beloved's
dark eyes looming above him. His soul moved and he smiled gently. He raised his
hand to caress a beloved cheek. "Qual se tu?"
Sarek whispered.
Tears pooled in Spock's eyes. "Ha, Sa-mehk,"
he said with relief. "It is I. It
is Spohkh, you son who cherishes you."
"Spohkh, Sa-fu?" Sarek
breathed. He sat up and looked around in confusion. "Your mother
She was
here."
Spock shook his head sadly. "No, Sa-mekh. She is
gone."
Sarek took his son's face in his hands. "She is here," Sarek
insisted. "She is. I see her every time I look into your eyes."
Spock ducked his head." "Sa-mehkh
"
"Rai, Sa-fu," Sarek chided gently. "Do
not hide your grief from me. We mourn together." The elder Vulcan moved over and pulled his
son to his side. Spock embraced his father gently.
"I nearly lost you," Spock accused. "Please don't leave me, Sa-mehkh. I have already lost so much."
Sarek returned his son's embrace. "It was not my intention, Sa-fu,"
he admitted, "but this cold, lonely night was too much for me. How did you
bear it?"
Spock turned to find McCoy and Uhura slipping quietly from the room. "Nyota,"
he called, beckoning her forward. "Nyota helped
me through the night," he declared.
Sarek raised both eyebrows in response.
McCoy caught himself from snickering at that scene, remembering just how Spock
had spent that "long, cold, empty night. Uhura's
damp uniform bore witness to Spock's mourning.
"Indeed," Sarek said noncommittally. He would have to stop thinking
of his son as an adolescent. Spock was now an adult obviously doing adult
things. Sarek turned to Uhura. "Thank you for
assisting Spock, ko-fu."
Spock raised a surprised brow at his father`s choice
of word. By calling Uhura "daughter," Sarek was telling Spock that he
acknowledged the intimate relationship his son obviously shared with the woman,
and, in case Spock planned to take the relationship further, that he tacitly
approved of her and even gave his blessing.
Uhura didn't miss the exchange between father and son, just as she understood
the meaning of ko-fu and why Sarek used it. Her cheeks
were red when she bowed her head and said, "It was the least I could
do."
McCoy broke the mood with a clap of his hands and a bounce on his toes.
"So, how are you feeling now, Mr. Sarek?" the doctor asked.
The older man sighed. "My health is adequate," he replied. "I am
merely fatigued."
McCoy nodded. "Well, then, my prescription for you is sleep." The
doctor gave Spock a quick diagnostic glance and added, "For both of
you." He took Uhura's arm and ushered her from
the room. "Call if you need anything," he said as they left.
Sarek reclined on the bed once more, tucking his son against his side. Spock remembered
back to his childhood when Sarek would allow him to sleep curled against him
like this, usually when he was sick or had suffered a nightmare.
This whole experience had been a nightmare for them both. For once, Spock banished
all regrets, all thoughts of "if only" or "should have." He
would live in this moment and encourage his father to live through this one to
the next, then the next and so on. They
would see each other through these long, cold, lonely nights and days to come,
together.
END