Title: The Sound of His Voice
Author: barefootchick
Disclaimer: Stargate: Atlantis and the characters of Rodney McKay, Elizabeth Weir, and Dr. Keller belong to MGM.
Summary: Happiness isn't a guarantee.
Warning: Character Deaths
Author's Note: This fanfiction was inspired by Nebulan's art piece.
Thank you so much to rollson for beta-ing this fanfiction.
Rodney had only spent little snatches of time with Elizabeth in the infirmary between repairs on Atlantis. He held her hand in those times, but felt useless otherwise. He had stared at her unmoving form and felt absolutely fucking useless. All the science in the world couldn't help her now. Dr. Keller had said that there was nothing she could do; it was up to Elizabeth to wake from the coma she had rested in since the last assault on Atlantis had taken place. He wished Carson was here; not that the late doctor could do anymore to save Elizabeth that what had already been tried. Rodney would just feel a little bit better if one of his best friends was beside him, trying to offer a few words of comfort.
It was only when Atlantis was back where it should be, resting on the ocean's waves, that Rodney started spending all his time next to Elizabeth's bedside. Dr. Keller found him one afternoon next to Elizabeth's bed, his head in his hands and his laptop untouched.
"You should talk to her," she said softly, not wanting to intrude on a quiet moment.
Rodney didn't even look up at the young doctor. "What's the use? She can't hear me."
Keller didn't know the exact nature of the relationship between Dr. McKay and Dr. Weir, but McKay looked devastated over his friend's condition. She wanted to say something to help the distraught man sitting in front of her.
"There's been evidence that coma patients can hear people talking to them. It might help her to know that someone's here with her."
She shrugged at Rodney's skeptical expression. "It can't hurt, Dr. McKay." She walked away from him into her office, leaving him to ponder her suggestion. Somewhere buried beneath all his cynicism, he knew Keller had a point.
So he talked to Elizabeth. He talked about the repairs on Atlantis; how he and Zelenka were restoring full power to all the areas. He told about the important matters and how he and others on Atlantis had fought for her to remain the leader of Atlantis. He even told her about the food in the commissary. For a time, there was hope in his voice. He had to have the hope that she would wake up. Hope was all he had left.
One day, he ran out of words and all the hope in his heart was shattered. That was the day that the doctors figured out that Elizabeth wasn't waking up. It was the day that Rodney had to make the hardest decision of his life and let Elizabeth go.
Soon after they had arrived on Atlantis, she had asked Rodney to assume power of attorney for her in case she couldn't speak for herself. She had left a living will, stating that should the doctors determine that she wouldn't come out of a coma that life support sustaining her body be removed.
Rodney had no wish to get tangled up in ethics and morality. He simply followed her wishes and asked Dr. Keller to remove Elizabeth's body from life support. The machines that had kept her alive were quieted and the mourning for Dr. Elizabeth Weir began. Her mind and soul, her very essence; nobody knew what happened to them. But members of the expedition for years to come would swear they could hear her voice on a certain balcony late at night. Rodney could see her smile in his dreams at night.
His words came back to him after a time. He continued to talk to Elizabeth over the years. He still told her about his experiments, what he had for dinner, how the people on Atlantis lived on in her absence; anything that came to his mind. He even laughed when he related how John Sheppard had proposed marriage to his girlfriend. John had accidentally started a fire while trying to light some candles and the sprinkler system had gone off, drenching him and his new fiancé. Somehow Rodney knew that Elizabeth would get a laugh out of that incident.
Over time, people came to Atlantis and others left. Couples were married and babies were born. Life went on for Rodney as well. The pain of losing Elizabeth never lessened; it just cooled down to a dull ache in his heart. He felt that ache when someone would relate a memory about her. The ache even came unexpectedly on a warm summer night when he thought Elizabeth would love to see the moonlight playing on the water.
When Rodney died, it was much in the same manner as when Elizabeth had died. They both lost their lives trying to save their home. If fate was a kind mistress, she would have let Rodney live a long life of discovery and wonder in the Pegasus. As it was, fate took no heed of fairness and snatched the scientist's life away six years after Elizabeth died. As he hit the ground from the blast of the Wraith weapons, he closed his eyes for the last time and could have sworn he heard Elizabeth's voice calling to him.