McCoy looked at him sharply when Jim blurted out that out, almost the very moment he'd thought it. Then again, with everything they'd gone through and how close he was to the Captain, coming to a similar conclusion was bound to happen. Glad one of them thought there was anything funny about this. Maybe in that sense that if anyone was going to root out the strangest damned things to happen to a person, it was going to be the Enterprise.

The doctor led the way, keeping half an eye on him as he headed for the closest elevator. With any luck, Spock would be found and they'd come at the problem from two sides, while he silently went on hoping there wasn't a life-threatening deadline to Jim's "condition".

What McCoy couldn't explain was the growing sense of unease going down his back, less anxiety and an expectation he'd find a knife in his ribs like when they'd been on that other Enterprise and more like he'd walked into somewhere that should seem familiar but wasn't. McCoy tried to cover it up by leading Jim towards the elevator at a brisk pace. He pushed the button, then turned to him. Lord, he was never going to get used to looking him in the face and seeing him like this.

"So what's the last thing you remember?"