A/N This is my first attempt at fan fiction for any series. Let me know what you think. Unbetaed so any mistakes are my own.

Disclamer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis. I make no money doing this.

I try to follow Carson's orders, I really do. He has told me that I need to remember to eat, and to get at least 5 hours of sleep every night. By now, I'm sure he thinks that I do it just to keep him on his toes, but things just happen. Take today. I woke up at 5 am, and I tried to sleep more, I really did, but I started to think about all the things I had to do today, and I just couldn't. I got up and headed to my office to get a head start on the reports that had been piling up on my desk.

I had managed to get through several long winded scientific reports before my stomach growled. I checked the time. 8 am. Perfect. I started down the halls to the commissary to get breakfast. See, I do try to follow orders. Breakfast didn't go exactly as planned. I had just sat down to eat when I heard the argument start. I took a bite of my toast, hoping whoever it was would be able to solve it on their own. No such luck. Sheppard isn't the only one on Atlantis who would prefer if things went right more often than they did. I settled the squabble between the two scientists, one of the type that reminds me of young children arguing over who got the swing first. I went back to my toast to find that it had gotten cold, and the butter had made it soggy. I was about to go get more when I realised that I had a briefing with AR-1 in 5 minutes. Oh well. So much for breakfast. I vowed to come for a midmorning snack and went to the briefing.

It was pretty standard. Rodney was excited, John was cautious, Teyla was serene, and Ford looked like he wanted to shut Rodney up. Perhaps permanently. It looked like a perfectly normal over night mission. Interesting ruins, no unfriendly natives and a pleasant climate. Hopefully this time nothing would go wrong. Johns' team seems to be a magnet for trouble. I watched as they went through the gate, and it shut down.

Well, back to the reports.

I had made a respectable dent in my paper work and settled a few more arguments, when I decided that it was a good time for a break. Just because I am good at paperwork doesn't mean I enjoy it. I started out on the balcony, letting the sound and smell of the ocean wash over me and relax me. I then went to the science labs to see how things were progressing. I heard the usual litany of discovery, complaints about how abrasive Rodney could be, and Dr. Zelenka just had to show off his latest Ancient device. I swear the Ancients do it on purpose. Just because they were at war with the Wraith doesn't mean that every time we activate one of their devices something has to go wrong. After we had picked ourselves up off the floor, Zelenka and I helped one of his assistants to the infirmary. He wasn't badly hurt, just some minor burns from sparks, and a broken ankle from landing wrong. Carson gave us a long suffering look, and after setting the assistants ankle insisted on making Zelenka and I were fine as well. Determine that we had only bumps, he let us go on our ways. , After apologising many times to me, Zelenka couldn't wait to figure out what had gone wrong, and went back to the labs. I called to him to be careful, and got a reply in Czech.

I grabbed some fruit, and went to ladies poker night. It was a great night, Katie, Kate, and Laura were good friends. I swear that I didn't drink much. I only had two drinks. I should have remembered that I don't deal with alcohol well at the best of times, and having eaten only a few pieces of fruit in the day, I would handle it even less well. It was a late night, and I can only hope I didn't say anything too incriminating.

I woke up with a splitting headache. I looked at the time and groaned. I had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep. I groaned again, and rolled out of bed. A shower and some Advil helped with the head, but I wasn't hungry. Carson was not going to be happy with me. I was feeling strange, but put it down to the lack of sleep and the hangover. AR-1 was supposed to get back today, and I still had other briefings and debriefings before they arrived. I put on my best diplomats face and stepped out of my room to face the people of Atlantis.

Several hours later, my head felt fine, but my stomach was still not happy with me. At this point, I couldn't tell if I was nauseous or hungry, but since the thought of food was not making me feel better, I decided not to chance it. Just then the gate activated. Grodin received Johns code, and lowered the shield. AR-1 stepped into the gate room all in one piece and together. It looked like for once things had gone right for them. 10 minutes later we were in the briefing room, and they were telling me that they had found some promising pieces of Ancient technology. Thinking about yesterday, I warned Rodney to be careful when examining them. The briefing over, I stood to go, and the whole room spun, tilted, and then went black.

I woke up in the infirmary with Teyla, John and Rodney all gathered around me. Carson bustled in and told them all I would be fine and could they leave the two of us alone for a bit. I got an earful from him about taking care of myself and remembering to eat and sleep. I also got a whine about how the one time AR-1 comes back in one piece they all wind up in the infirmary anyway and how he needed a holiday.

I promise to take better care of myself in the future, but Carson and I both know that it will only last for so long, and then I will be right back where we are today. I do try, but Atlantis seems determined to have me see just as much of Carson as anyone, even though I rarely go off planet.