#winterblueschallenge

At the end of your shift you still hadn't figured out what was wrong with the baby.  

"Hey, Y/N, I'm here to take over." Your fellow nurse called from outside the room. 

You were confounded.  You had run all the tests you could, cleaned up the infant, and soothed her to sleep in your arms.  And still you couldn't figure out the cause for her cough.  

"Umm... You know what, I think I'm going to stay a few extra hours, try to figure out what's going on with this little one.  I think they have their hands full down the hall with one of the inhabitants that came in with a leg amputation and suddenly his appendix burst.  Widespread infection." You explained, your eyes not leaving the little pink bundle on the bed. 

"Sure, whatever." The nurse said and disappeared down the hall without a second glance.  

You leaned your elbows onto the bed, drawing close to the infant, examining her chubby cheeks and pouty lips.  

"I'm going to figure this out, little one, I promise." You whispered. 

The baby stayed sound asleep. 

A soft shake on your shoulder roused you from your fitful dream.  You lifted your head, a drip of drool sliding down your chin as you squinted up to see who woke you.  A dark-haired, blue-shirted form hovered over you, who you quickly recognized as Dr. McCoy.  

"Mornin', sunshine." His deep voice made you smile.  

"Morning?" Surprise rushed through you and you glanced at your watch.  

You had no idea how long you worked before you fell asleep, but now it was only 2 hours away from your next shift.  A small cough honed your focus and you turned instantly to the infant in the bed.  You stood abruptly, pushing past Leonard and moving to the screen on the biobed, eyes quickly scanning the readings.  

"Hmmm..." You hummed in discontent, her vitals not as good as you expected considering the medication that you had given yesterday. 

"Not to stop you from doing your job or anything, Y/N, but it is almost time for shift change, and you need to go get some sleep." Leonard's voice sounded from beside you, and you jumped, almost having forgotten he was there. 

"Oh, Dr. McCoy, I'm fine!" You rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. 

He chuckled lowly, "The bags under your eyes beg to differ, darlin', and I can't allow you to work 3 shifts in a row.  I'll watch her until the next nurse comes in, you go get some sleep."

You sighed, looking towards the small bundle that was still sound asleep on the bed before bringing your eyes to Leonard's kind hazel ones. 

"Alright." You conceded, tapping a few more things on the screen before getting ready to leave, "Make sure you tell the next nurse that her oxygen has been hovering around 94-95% and to call me if it gets any lower.  Her fever is stable now, but has been spiking all night." 

You stepped out the door before you remembered another point and you stuck your head back in the room, "Oh and she likes it when you cradle her and sing ‘twinkle-twinkle little star’."

Leonard turned to give you an amused look, "I think I can handle it.  Now go."

You frowned at the dismissal but scurried off back to your quarters, throwing yourself onto your bed and finding sleep quickly. 

You worked two shifts in a row again, and the baby's cough still didn't subside. 

"Damnit!" You cried in frustration, another test coming back negative. 

Leonard's head instantly appeared in the door, as if he had been waiting there. 

"Y'alright, Y/N?" His voice was full of amusement at your disheveled appearance. 

"No.  I am not." You stormed, turning the screen for him to see, "Everything's coming back negative.  Cultures, scans, examinations, EVERYTHING." 

You pulled at your hair in frustration before sinking your head into your hands. Suddenly warm hands came to rest on your shoulders, strong thumbs massaging the tight muscles in your neck.  

"You need to relax, Y/N." Leonard's voice was comforting, reassuring. 

The contact made you unintentionally groan and you pulled away, suddenly self conscious.  

"W-would you mind looking at the data for a minute, Dr. McCoy, maybe a second opinion would help." You stuttered, hopeful that your down-turned face as you looked at the baby hid your reddening cheeks. 

"Of course." 

The baby began to cough while Leonard was surveying the data, so you scooped her up to soothe her, humming softly down at the small infant.  You felt Leonard's gaze on you for a moment before he turned back to the screen. 

"Walk me through the symptoms again." He asked.

"Productive cough, lethargy, lack of appetite, and fever." You recited, having run them over in your head a million times. 

"Chest x-ray?"

"Crackles due to widespread infiltrates, but no consolidation." You were rocking the child now, stroking her soft skin with your finger. 

"Hmmm..." Leonard considered the data for another moment before turned to watch you curiously, his eyes flicking back and forth as he considered the information. 

He asked you about the results of the cultures, and you responded that everything came back negative.  You set the now-sleeping child back on the bed and turned back to the screen. 

"What am I missing?" You sighed, staring at the data that you could probably have recited because you had stared for the last few days. 

"Her sodium’s low.  And her weight's been dropping." Leonard noted absently and it was like a switched flicked inside your brain. 

"Her weight." You quickly pulled up the data, enlarging it on the screen. 

"HER WEIGHT!" You yelled, nearly jumping up with excitement, "THAT'S IT!  I know what she has!  Oh, Dr. McCoy, thank you!" 

The doctor stood dumfounded behind you and you spun, swooping up to him and placing a firm kiss on his mouth before you could stop yourself.  You pulled away quickly, rushing to grab the supplies you needed, hoping to ignore the fact that you had just kissed your boss. 

"You gave me the last piece I needed." You were giddy, so ecstatic that you had finally figured it out. 

"And which piece was that?" His voice sounded strained, but he quickly appeared beside you. 

"Her weight loss." You stopped what you were doing and looked up at him, "Dr. McCoy, my patient has Tuberculosis."

His eye widened and he stepped back from you, his brow furrowed in disbelief, "How is that possible? That was eradicated years ago!"

"Try hundreds of years ago, thanks to the vaccine." You informed, finishing up your work in front of you. 

You saw Dr. McCoy fold his arms over his chest out of the corner of your eye. When you turned to him, he still had the same look of disbelief on his face. 

"Dr. McCoy, did you see the planet they came from when we rescued them?  It was small, desolate." You smiled up at him, "There is no way of knowing they had access to the vaccine, let alone any decent medical care."

Leonard dropped his hands to his sides, understanding crossing over his features, "You're absolutely right.  How could I have missed that?"

"I missed it too, doc, but I am the one who’s only had 10 hours of sleep in the past 4 days because of it." You joked, but he only raised an eyebrow.

"Nevermind." You waved his disapproval off, “Isn’t it highly contagious?  Should we be concerned?”

“Every single person on this ship has the vaccine, it was one of the requirement for the medical exam.  And I know everyone’s files, we’re safe.” He assured, and you gave him a sideways glance. 

“Wow, you know everyone’s files?  That’s impressive.” You nodded as you turned to face him, your arms crossed over your chest, “So what’s in my file?”

Leonard took a step towards you, not even missing a beat, “You had your appendix removed when you were 9, you broke your wrist falling out of a tree when you were 11, you were hospitalized for a nasty bout of bronchitis 5 years ago - if you ask me, it was most likely bacterial pneumonia - you are allergic to kiwi, and you think Jim Kirk is really dreamy.”

You gawked at him, the smug look on his face sending a shot of desire through your veins which almost made you gasp, and you tried to hide it by turning back to your work, but you somehow only ended up stepping closer to him. 

“Well the last point technically wasn’t in your file; I overheard you talking to another nurse.” He crossed his arms over his chest in victory, looking down at you with smiling eyes.  

You shook your head at him, a smirk tugging at your lips, “You are good.”

“Let’s get back to our case, shall we?” Leonard suggested, but you could still see the corners of his mouth turning up and his cheeks were a little more red than normal.

You turned to your supplies you had gathered, "The reason the cultures all came back negative was because the myobacterium tuberculosis species only stains with an acid-fast stain test, which our sensors and devices don't do, because the disease was eradicated."

Leonard blinked at you before you continued,"I bet you that once I run this through an acid-fast stain test, it will come back positive for tuberculosis." 

There was a moment of silence as you held out the sample you had just prepared in between you and him.  Then a grin crept over his mouth. 

"Go.  Run the test." He urged and you fled the room, quickly finding the machine.  

The test came back positive, of course it did, and you flew back to the baby and started her on treatment.  

A sense of calm flooded over your senses, like a burden was lifted off your chest from the last three days.  For some reason your mind drifted to Dr. McCoy, how his hazel eye had shone at you after you figured out the diagnosis.  How his hands had felt on the back of your neck.  How his cheeks had reddened after you kissed him.  Pushing those thoughts aside, you stroked the chubby cheek of the infant, watching her little eyes take in everything, and you smiled, knowing for once you did something right. 

"Is this seat taken?" A familiar voice sounded beside you, and the bar stool next to you was quickly filled with a broad form. 

You looked over to see Leonard and your eyes widened, this was the first time you had seen him not in his uniform, and the dark t-shirt that was layered under an unbuttoned grey collared shirt made him look different.  Handsomer, if that was even possible.  

You stared at him, mouth open to speak, but you couldn't figure out what to say. 

"Nice job today, kid." He didn't look at you while he said it, instead raised his hand to order a drink.  

"Thanks, Dr. McCoy." You said, your voice small and your eyes focused on the drink in your hand. 

"Please, call me Leonard." 

You shot a sideways glance at him, still unsure of what to say. 

"Since you kissed me today, I think it's only fair." He noted, and you could hear the smile in his voice. 

Groaning at the memory, you stuffed your face into your hands in embarrassment, which elicited a chuckle from him. 

"I'm sorry." You wheezed from between your fingers. 

Suddenly warm hands were pulling at your wrists and you found yourself letting your hands float away from your face.  You swiveled yourself on the bar stool to face Leonard, your wrists still circled by his sturdy fingers, and your knees bumping together lazily. 

"Don't be, darlin'." He smiled down at you, "I understand the excitement of finally figuring out what's going on with a patient.  We've all been there."

You froze in his grip, your mouth becoming suddenly dry at the sensitivity and kindness the doctor was showing you.  You felt your cheeks redden as his fingers started to move in soft circles on your forearm, sending tingles through your body.  You had never considered him in this way before today, but you quickly found yourself warming up to the grumpy doctor.  

"I'm just glad the baby's going to be alright." You confessed, your words hoarse and strained. 

Leonard only hummed in response, continuing his tantalizing circles on your skin, making your stomach flip at the sensation.

"Well I'd better get going." You huffed and pulled your wrists out of his grip, sliding your hand along his for a moment. 

You met his eyes as you collected your bag, downed the rest of your drink, and slid off the bar stool.  A hand at your elbow stopped you before you could get too far.  

"Stay a while, darlin'.  Let me buy you a drink." His voice was low and rumbling, sending a shiver of desire down your spine. 

His hazel eyes were expectant and soft as you met them and you couldn't help but smile as you shook your head lightly. 

"I need to check on the baby before I go back to catch a few hours of sleep.  But maybe another time?" You suggested, hoping he wasn't aware of how fast your pulse was racing. 

"You betcha, darlin'." Leonard smirked, running his fingers down the sensitive skin on the underside of your forearm before circling your wrist again. 

"How about Friday?  After the Alpha shift?" You suggested. 

"Sounds like a plan." He gave your wrist a little squeeze, but didn't let go. 

You flashed a glance at him before gesturing with your finger for him to come closer, and he leaned in. 

"You know, you’re giving Kirk a run for his money in the dreamy department." You teased, a playful smile on your lips as his hand dropped from yours.  

Leonard's hazel eyes studied you for a moment more before he shook his head, as if amused, "You're really somethin', you know that?" 

"Goodnight, Leonard." You said, tilting your head and quickly pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

Turning on your heel, you stalked out of the bar, heading quickly down towards the medbay, highly conscious of your flushed cheeks and shaking hands.  

You couldn’t wait for Friday night. 

-Thanks for Reading!  I hope you liked it!-

Once again this is for the lovely @outside-the-government for her Winter Blues Challenge!  

Snow was now leaking into the neck of your coat as well as into your boots and mittens.  You whimpered at the frigid contact.  

"Help me out of here,  you asshole." You grunted, trying to find ground to push yourself up on.  

Leonard swooped over and grabbed you under your arms, setting you back to your feet.  

"That was mean." You pouted and looked up into his hazel eyes after brushing most of the snow off.  

"I know but I had to get you to shut up somehow." He teased with a smirk, his hands pulling at your coat so you moved closer to him. 

The playful, flirty look in his eyes set butterflies aflutter in your stomach, but you were not going to let him win this easy.  

You pushed him away as his face neared yours, "I thought you wanted to see the damn sunset." 

He turned his back to you and walked a couple steps forwards, his hands in his coat pockets and looked up to the sky and its ever-changing colours, giving you just enough time to stoop down and scoop up a handful of snow.  

"Yeah I do, now are you going to cooperate or..." He ranted and as soon as he turned back around to face you, you lobbed the snowball straight for his head, hitting his cheekbone with a thump.  

Now you were the one doubling up with laughter at the look on Leonard's face.  His jaw hung open in shock, his eyes squeezed closed, and he reached up with a gloved hand to wipe the snow off his face.  You straightened up and gave him a toothy grin when suddenly his face changed into a look of dangerous mischief.  Your smile abruptly faded as you realized that you were probably going to pay for what you did.  

Before he could make a move you turned back the way you came and started running, letting out a high-pitched scream and flailing your arms.  

You heard him let out a shout of laughter and yell, "Oh no you don't!"

You ran giggling down the snowy path, the sound of his heavy footsteps behind you.  You heard them pause for a moment before continuing, and before you could wonder what he was doing a snowball collided with the back of your head.  

You stumbled a few steps and let out a loud gasp of shock before continuing running.  But you knew he was faster than you and soon his long legs caught up.  You screeched as you heard him growl playfully right behind you and suddenly his strong arms wrapped around your stomach and you lurched sideways, landing in the snowbank again, along with Leonard this time.  

The icy air stung your lungs as you gasped in laughter and you heard Leonard laughing along with you, his arms still wrapped around you.  You squirmed around a bit in his grasp so you could spin around to face him, looking up into his beaming face.  His arms tightened around you and you snuggled into his embrace, the snow acting as a pillow around you.  

You brought your hands up to his face to run your fingers through his hair but forgot that you had mittens on, so you just ended up awkwardly patting his head instead.  You laughed and shrugged, giving Leonard a look of mock apology.  He rolled his eyes, his mouth still stretched into a toothy smile, and he leaned up and bit the top of your mitten, pulling it off with his teeth.  You then ran your fingers through his dark hair which contrasted substantially against the pure white snow.  

"You're gonna pay for this." You teased.

Leonard arched his eyebrows and made to respond when you tipped your head forward and captured his lips in yours.  He instantly returned the kiss, warming your mouth and your insides. 

As you kissed him deeper you peeked one eye open, making sure his eyes were closed so you could reach over and grab a handful of snow. You suddenly replaced your lips on his with the icy snow and threw your head back in laughter at the look of amused annoyance on his face.  

"Nice.  Real classy." Leonard drawled, the fluffy pieces of white sliding down his cheeks.  

Your eyes closed in laughter and suddenly his lips were on yours again, except this time the taste of his hot lips mingled with the frigid, wet taste of snow.  The sudden change in temperature stung your lips and you pulled back with a shout.  

But he had a good grasp on the back of your neck and was now using his face to smear the remnants of snow onto your face.  You squealed and tried to resist but it was no use.  Finally his lips met yours again and the snowy attack was soon forgotten.  

You kissed him until you ran out of breath, until your heart was full, and your fingertips were frozen.  You pulled back and tugged on your mitten again, pressing your forehead to Leonard's, the clouds of your breaths intermingling. When daylight began to fade, you took up watching the sky instead, tucked into each others warm embrace, the sky dripping into pinks and oranges. 

"What a beautiful sunset." Leonard stated absently, his eyes pointed upwards, as if speaking to the sky itself. 

"Damn." You said and heard Leonard's head turn abruptly to look at you in confusion. 

You met his eyes with a smirk and a shrug, "You're the one who called it a 'damn sunset'."

Leonard rolled his eyes, smiled, and bit his lip.  

"You can be such a damn idiot sometimes." He teased, his gloved hand playing absently with the ends of your snow-dampened hair. 

"But I'm your damn idiot." You pointed out, pressing a kiss to the tip of his red nose. 

"You're damn right about that." He smiled, pressing another kiss to your mouth, this one hot and heavy.   

Your lips felt warm and swollen as he pulled away, "Damn." You noted at the same time as Leonard said, "I love you." and began pressing kisses along your cheekbones as a feeble attempt to warm you up.

"Damn I love you, too." You raised an eyebrow at him teasingly. 

Leonard rolled his eyes again and groaned, pressing another sultry kiss to your mouth.

When you began to shiver, whether it was from Leonard's electric kisses or the cold you couldn't tell, Leonard got up, with some difficulty, and pulled you up beside him.

"Let's head home, darlin'." Leonard suggested.

"S-ss-sounds good to m-m-e." You shivered and he pulled you to his side tightly as you began to walk back.

"My coat got dam-p, thanks to you." You said. 

Leonard hummed in response and rubbed your arms, not catching your joke. 

"You were pretty a-dam-ant about seeing the sunset from the cliff-side, I'm sorry we missed it." You said, enunciating the word this time, hoping he would catch on. 

He chuckled, "I'm not."

"I'm glad that you didn't dam-age me, that would have put a real dam-per on our date."

"If you don't stop I am going to dump your fun-dam-ental ass back into the snow" He grumbled.

"That was weak." You gave a triumphant laugh and pulled him tighter, resting your head on his shoulder as you trudged back down the path.  

He pulled you closer and you felt your heart warm at his embrace, lavishing in the tingling feeling of the hot blood rushing through your body momentarily. 

And that's how you knew that you and Leonard were meant to be, that even when you were damn cold, he could warm you up.