Title: All I Want for Christmas
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Rodney/Jennifer
Words: 824
Summary: Rodney gives Jennifer a present. Too bad it's damaged.
Warnings/spoilers: at end
Rodney sucked in a shaky breath and exhaled with a whimper. Perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea, but now he was truly stuck and miserable with only the pain to keep him company.
"Have you seen Rodney?" Jennifer asked John where he stood over by the drinks table at the annual Christmas party.
"Lost him already?" John asked with a smirk. "He left a while ago."
Jennifer sighed in exasperation as she left the noisy room and tapped her radio. "Keller to McKay?"
There was no response.
"Probably got his head buried in a console somewhere," she muttered as she headed for the labs.
Radek hadn't seen him either and now Jennifer was starting to get worried. She decided to check his quarters first before calling for Sheppard's assistance. The room was dark when she entered and she passed her hand over the light sensor. No Rodney in here either, but there was a note on his bed.
She frowned as she approached and snagged it and read: 'Check your quarters.' A small smile curved her lips and her heart sped up a little.
Jennifer all but ran the short distance to her quarters and opened the door. The lights were already on and the first thing she saw was Rodney lying spreadeagled on her bed, shirtless with his arms pulled above his head. Her face fell as she approached and looked more closely. Rodney's face was pinched in pain and he didn't react to her entrance.
"Rodney?"
She gasped as she got near enough to see his arms covered in blood. It had run down from where the ropes... no, they looked more like smashed fairy lights, around his wrists were so tight the glass had cut him and they were imbedded in the flesh. Red stained the sheets beneath him from the wounds. She tugged at the bonds, but they were too tight to remove and Rodney flinched.
Her hand moved to her ear to call for help, but Rodney's watery eyes snapped open and he said, "No. Please." He closed his eyes again. "There's a switch under the bed. I thought them on, but I can't loosen them."
Jennifer touched his chest gently, leaving a streak of blood, then crouched down. She found the box and deactivated the device. Rodney drew in a sharp breath above her.
She stood up and carefully removed the lights from his wrists. Some of the wounds were deep and still bleeding profusely. How long had he been like this? What if she hadn't come to find him? She furrowed her brow at the thought of him suffering like this.
She grabbed her medical kit from beside the desk - ready just in case she was called to an emergency while off duty or for a housecall - and rushed back to his side. He was sitting up on the bed, hunched over sadly with his teeth gritted, while his injured wrists lay immobile in his lap, smearing blood all over his trousers.
Jennifer knelt down as she gently numbed and cleaned his arms, then sutured the deepest wounds before wrapping his wrists. He was able to move his fingers alright and she didn't think they were bad enough to have damaged the tendons.
He sniffed above her and mumbled, "I'm sorry. Was supposed to be a surprise."
"Oh, I was surprised alright."
Rodney snuffled a short laugh. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"
Jennifer tied off the last bandage and patted his leg before she got up and sat on his left side next to him on the bed. "Of course not." She rummaged around in her medical kit and brought out some painkillers and pressed them into his hands.
She moved her right arm across his bare back and drew him into a hug. "I'll need to sign you off for a few days and I want you in the infirmary for a check up tomorrow."
Rodney nodded with his mouth downturned. His face fell even further, if that was possible, and he turned to her with wide, frightened eyes, "Oh, no! What am I going to tell John and the others?"
Jennifer smiled, "That our kinky sex games got out of hand."
Rodney blushed scarlet from the very tips of his ears, all the way down his chest. Jennifer shoulder bumped him gently, "I can give you some gloves."
"Say I electrocuted myself?"
"If you like. It's up to you."
Rodney looked away. "Or the truth..."
Jennifer turned his face towards her with left hand and met his eyes. "You'll figure it out."
Rodney gave her a playful smile. "Now we have the rest of the night, and I'm as good as tied up with these stitches and bandages."
She leant in and kissed him and he broke away briefly to say, "I'm so glad I have a doctor for a girlfriend."
Jennifer grinned. "Me too."
Fin
Spoilers/warning: Bondage and accidental self harm to wrists