Patients 7

It didn't take long for Winona to track down Leonard and effusively express her undying gratitude for his role in saving Jim's life. The doctor was very flustered and stuttered a lot over her praise, explaining he'd taken a crazy risk and he still couldn't believe it had worked.

"But you did it because you cared about Jim," Winona reminded him. "You could have blown your entire career doing this."

"Yeah. The kid drives me crazy but I couldn't imagine life without him," Len admitted. "He and Boyce were the only real friends I had at the academy. The thought of history repeatin' itself didn't sit well with me."

"You thought they'd do to Jim what they did to George?" Winona guessed.

"Exactly," Leonard said grimly. "They do it enough as is."

"I've lived with that frustration all my life," she said resignedly. "It used to drive me crazy, knowing that all of George's life was reduced to the last twelve minutes and no one really knew him for the sweet, nerdy, lovable goofball he was. I finally realized it was a waste of time to try to get them interested in his real story. People who are genuinely interested, like Chris was, I'm happy to share my memories of George, but otherwise, I just do a lot of eye rolling. I'm glad he has you for a friend, Len."

"Someone's gotta keep the kid alive," Len mumbled.

Jim's wish of seeing Pike in person came true two days later. He had just finished his lunch and was feeling pleased about keeping it down when Phil gave him the news Bones was bringing Chris over to see him.

"It's about time!" He exclaimed, unable to hide the smile on his face.

"Now, kid, I'm trusting that you're going to behave. No getting your blood pressure up or trying to get up, period. Len would have both our hides."

Jim rolled his eyes. "Of course he would," he muttered, but agreed to the conditions.

Presently, Chris was rolled in, looking far better than Jim expected, despite the gingerly way he moved.

"How are you feeling, kid?" Pike asked.

"Better than two days ago, but that's not saying much," Jim sighed. "How about you, Sir?"

"Better than I should be," the admiral admitted. "I didn't know just what a narrow shave I had until McCoy informed me recently. Stopped my bitching cold."

Jim nodded knowingly. Bones had likely poured on the detail to shock Chris into silence. He knew how the CMO could be when dealing with antsy patients, having been on the receiving end of graphic descriptions of what his injuries had done to him many times before.

"He let you up yet?" Chris Inquired.

"Only once," Jim said. "I'm stupidly weak yet and couldn't let go of him the entire trip to the bathroom and back."

The Admiral grimaced in sympathy. He himself hated having to rely on assistance for the most basic tasks and knew that frustration and embarrassment all too well.

"You'll get there, son. It's a lot of work, but I suspect you'll surprise them all with how quickly you get your legs back. You always did like beating the estimations. "Four years? I'll do it in three."" Chris quoted, with a grin.

Jim turned a touch pink, the color making him look much less ashy than he currently was.

"You don't know how many times I regretted making that statement after I pulled multiple all nighters in a row studying for all those tests," he admitted, with a rueful half-smile.

"I guessed it when you came to class looking like something the cat dragged in," Chris told him. "Thought the challenge was good for you, though. You were too darned smart for your own good."

"Funny How Bones says it just the opposite. "Infuriating martyr dumbass" is his favorite insult right now," Jim reflected amusedly, thinking about the many recent lectures his best friend had given him on his frequent visits. Not being Jim's current primary doctor didn't keep Leonard from checking up on the Captain whenever he could.

Chris chuckled. "McCoy never grew out of his mouthiness, that's for sure. He's lucky his captain is so understanding." He winked at Jim.

"Yeah. He somehow knows where the line is and never crosses it," Jim mused. "If I we're a different captain, I'd probably have written him up a few times, but usually a warning look gets him to back down when he's pushing it."

"Now you know just a little how it feels to deal with you," Chris said with a smirk. "You're the master of pushing the line to the breaking point."

Jim had nothing to say to this, only gave a sheepish shrug and smirk. He'd gladly let Chris lecture him all day just so long as the man stayed alive to do it. Hearing the Admiral call him "son" again had brought tears to his eyes. The last time he'd heard it had been in that bar the night he'd been demoted.

"Not to make you uncomfortable or anything," he ventured, "but I want you to know despite all the crap I gave you, I really am grateful for what you've done for me. I kinda started to think of you almost like the dad I didn't have."

He clamped his mouth shut and felt himself blushing, afraid he'd said too much and made things awkward, but Chris, after looking stunned for a few seconds, slowly smiled at him.

"Jim," he said slowly. "I'm honored that you'd say that, especially after the things I said to you."

"They needed to be said," Jim admitted. "I was arrogant and I did lie. I think we both agree I've learned from this, big time. From what I've heard, dads should call you out when you've done something wrong. Means they care about you and want you to do better. Frank sure didn't. Besides, the very same evening, you told me you still believed in me," he pointed out. "Another thing I've heard Dads say."

"Not that I'm an expert on it," Chris said, remembering his many failings trying to figure out how to get through to the kid.

"You were there, though," Jim pointed out.

"That meant the world to me."

About an hour later, Phil and Leonard came to check on their charges and heard Jim and Chris going back and forth in a spirited banter about the weirdest away missions they'd been on.

Leonard noticed that Jim's face was relaxed and carefree, and had good color in it. His hands gesticulated wildly as he talked, a sure sign he was feeling better.

Phil noticed that Chris was engaged and smiling, far more relaxed than he'd been in months as he teased Jim.

"Is my hearing going out, or did Jim just call the Admiral "Dad?"" Leonard whispered, eyes going round as Jim returned the jibe with a playful joke about the Admiral's age.

"If it is, then mine's going too," Phil answered, grinning even wider. "Our patients have finally hashed things out it would appear."

"It's about time," Leonard snorted, feeling pleased for his friend. They all had a lot of difficult stuff to deal with in the midst of the tragedy, but clearly morale was improving in these two individuals, for which both doctors were very grateful.

A/N: I think I'm gonna end this one here! Thanks for reading and commenting! Most of the other fics I've been writing lately aren't allowed to be posted here, but hopefully I'll be putting up some more ship fics soon!