"Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment

Spoilers for 'Infection' and a tag for that episode as we got cheated out of all the whump and infirmary scenes!

A/N – I tried to write this in the manner of ER or just about any 'busy' medical TV series. One character is tracked for a while, they pause with another person and then we start tracking that other person and so on and so forth.

Crash Landing - The Crash

The front half of the Hive Ship ploughed across the water as it impacted, churning up a tsunami and a cloud of steam and smoke in its wake. The enormous wall of water generated by the splash down rippled out in all directions.

The occupants unfortunate to have still been onboard were not taken by surprise, but the loss of the inertial dampeners jolted them all more forcefully than they could have anticipated. Debris and bulkheads detached and fell.

The doomed Hive Ship eventually came to a juddering halt, but not before the sounds of its twisting and protesting hull rang out both inside and into the air of the planet around it.

Everyone was violently thrown upward and then fell back down to land on the deck as gravity reasserted itself. The power then cut out and plunged the whole scene into darkness.

For a moment there was complete stillness and silence, until it was broken by a wet coughing sound and a groan. There was a shuffle and a click, before the thin beam of a P90 light pierced the black.

Teyla called out into the room, "Is everyone alright?" She got up onto shaky legs and winced as she reached up to hold her head for a moment. Satisfied that she was not too seriously injured, she shone the light around looking for signs of life.

She found Todd first. He appeared to be uninjured and Teyla crouched down next to him as she shone her light into his face. He nodded at her so she moved on.

Teyla found Dr Keller next. She was lying sprawled out of the floor on her front. Teyla knelt down and felt for a pulse. It was strong and Jennifer blinked her eyes open at the touch on her neck. She mumbled, "I thought we were all a goner for sure after that. How come I'm still alive?"

Teyla pursed her lips and helped Keller as she rolled over and sat up, "Are you injured?"

Jennifer looked down at herself, "Well I'm pretty sure I've got a lot of bruises, but it doesn't feel like anything fatal."

"I am very glad to hear that, but I require help with the others."

There was loud grunt from the other side of the room and Ronon suddenly loomed at them out of the darkness, which made both women jump. His arm was across his chest and blood was dripping down from his elbow.

He blinked at them and then focused on Keller. "The marines are all alive, Lorne's helping them patch each other up. Have you seen Sheppard and McKay yet?"

Teyla shook her head and grimaced as her headache came back ferociously. Keller peered at her in concern for a moment, but she did not say anything as she allowed Ronon to help her up.

Teyla handed her a torch and they moved around the room. Teyla found Sheppard unconscious and called Keller over to check on him. Teyla then continued her search for Rodney.

Ronon called out to her from the corner, "Hey, over here."

Teyla rushed over as fast as her sore head would let her. Ronon had tied off a piece of cloth around his arm, but it was still bleeding. She looked at the floor where Ronon was indicating and opened her mouth in shock.

There was only a foot visible underneath a large amount of debris which had fallen from the ceiling. Ronon was working at shifting it off and with Teyla's help they soon uncovered McKay. They had had to shift a particularly heavy piece of rubble from his leg.

Rodney was curled up on his side facing the wall. Teyla reached down and touched his back with her hand. "Rodney? Can you hear me?"

There was no response. She shared a look with Ronon and then took her hand away. Her fingers felt sticky so she shone the light into her palm. She was startled to find bright red blood all over her hand. Ronon frowned, "It's not yours is it?"

"No it is not." Teyla put her hand against Rodney's chest and felt a steady rise and fall. "He is still alive, but we will need Dr Keller's assistance before we move him."

She shone the light at Rodney's back to try and find the source of the blood. She peeled back Rodney's jacket and shirt and found a large and leaking cut on his back. It looked like a particularly sharp piece of debris had gouged a deep and bloody gash across the scientist's back. She could also see darkening bruises mottled across the back of his ribcage and all around the cut. She pulled out a bandage and pressed it gently against the injury.

Ronon carefully checked the rest of the scientist for damage. A pained moan escaped Rodney's lips when Ronon touched his right leg. Ronon frowned and slowly pulled up the clothing covering McKay's lower leg. He narrowed his eyes at the purple skin and the slightly incorrect angle of Rodney's leg. He called out across the room, "Keller! We need you."

"Hold on a moment." She had just finished checking Sheppard, who was still unresponsive. He had groaned as she felt along his chest and found at least two broken ribs. She had then checked his eyes and finding them both reactive to the penlight she flashed into them, she was reassured that there was no head injury. His breathing was easy and pulse strong, so she moved over to Lorne and the marines.

Although shaken, cut and bruised, they were all conscious. She ran some checks and asked a few quick questions and then moved on.

Jennifer walked over to Ronon and Teyla and looked down at Rodney. She steeled her expression and engaged a professional detachment as she checked him. She spoke as she worked, "Deep bruising and a broken leg. This severe laceration on his back worries me. It may be deep enough to have damaged his lumbar spine. I can't find anything else without better equipment and conditions. Have you been able to contact Atlantis on the radio?"

Ronon shook his head, "No, they're dead."

Jennifer flinched at his poor choice of words as she took Rodney's pulse and Teyla kept the pressure up on the bandage.

Ronon looked down at them working for a moment and then his keen hearing picked up a slight sound of sloshing water. He frowned as he walked away and came across a large and rapidly growing pool of seawater leaking into the room. He quickly made his way over to Major Lorne and the marines.

"Hey, I think we need to get out of here."

Lorne was sitting on the floor helping another marine who appeared to have a broken arm. He blinked up at the tall Satedan and said, "How come?"

Ronon pointed to the lowest point of the room, "It's flooding."

The marine nodded at Lorne and he stood up next to Ronon. The Major swayed for a moment and held his side. He them coughed and winced.

Ronon frowned and held onto Lorne's shoulder to stop him from falling over. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I thought it was just a bruise, but I think it may be more serious." He coughed again and put his hand up to his mouth. It came away covered in blood and he stared at it.

Ronon carefully helped him to sit down, "Don't move. I'll send Keller over to have a look. I expect the rescue teams are already on the way."

Lorne nodded up at him and his face paled as he continued to look at his blood stained fingers.

Keller was talking to Teyla as they both still crouched down next to Rodney. "He seems to be stable for now. Keep an eye on him and don't even move him in the slightest."

Teyla nodded and flinched before she reached up to hold her head as she released her hands from the bandage on Rodney's back. She let out a heavy sigh and returned her hands to the reddening material.

Keller looked at her in concern and went over. She flashed a light to check Teyla's eyes. "They're both reactive, but you're going to need some time in the infirmary when we get back to make sure there's no more damage."

Teyla pursed her lips and looked back down at Rodney. Keller also looked at the injured man on the ground and a shadow of deep sorrow passed across her face before she could prevent it, almost like she was only just realising the seriousness of his injuries. She closed her eyes and forced herself to look away. She said to Teyla, "I need to go and monitor Sheppard. Call me over if his condition deteriorates."

Teyla spoke instead of nodding, "I will and thank you."

Keller walked away to the other side of the room and left Teyla. Ronon came over from where he had been with the marines. "Hey, how is he?"

Teyla closed her eyes before she spoke, "He is still alive but he is very badly hurt. Dr Keller has gone to help John. I do not believe Rodney will give up very easily." She rested a hand on McKay's forehead as she spoke and his face twitched slightly in response which made her smile.

Ronon glanced over to the flooded section of the room and noticed the level of the water had risen and would soon start to be a problem if they did not get out of there soon. He gently put a hand on Teyla's shoulder and walked over to Keller.

"Uh… Dr Keller? We've got a problem."

Jennifer was checking Sheppard's pupils again and glanced up at Ronon, but waited for him to continue.

"Major Lorne's been hurt worse than he told you. We also need to move everyone out of here or we'll drown."

Jennifer checked Sheppard's pulse and then sighed, "I'm sorry Ronon. I'm a little busy. I don't think we can move Rodney at all. There's too much of a risk his spine has been damaged and we could paralyse or kill him if we're not careful."

"So you'd rather he drowned?"

Jennifer stood up quickly and glared at Ronon. "Of course not! I just think we should give the rescue party a little more time before we resort to that."

Ronon nodded, "Okay. Well, I'm going to try and get that door open for when they get here."

He turned to walk away but Jennifer caught his shoulder, "Not so fast. Let me have a look at that arm you're trying to hide from me."

Ronon grunted and stopped trying to flee. He turned to face her and she gently checked his forearm. She raised an eyebrow at him incredulously, "You've got a serious compound fracture that's broken through the skin!"

Ronon frowned and said, "Oh, I thought it was just a cut."

Jennifer shook her head in exasperation. "I want you to sit down with the others and don't even think about trying to move that door. We can wait."

Ronon looked defeated as Keller continued to glare at him. He relented and walked back over to sit with Teyla and Rodney where he could also monitor the level of the water more closely.

Keller rolled her eyes at the retreating back of the Satedan. She crouched down next to Sheppard but there was still no response and his condition was the same. She looked up and shone her small flashlight in the direction of Todd. He was still sitting there with his eyes open and he blinked slowly as she watched.

Jennifer stood up and went over to Lorne who was lying on his side and had his arms hugged around his midsection. She crouched down next to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"

"I think I must have taken a larger whack than I thought. Feels like some of my ribs may be broken and I just coughed up some blood."

Jennifer carefully ran her hands over his ribcage and he winced, "Yes, there's definitely something not quite right in there."

Lorne frowned up at her incredulously and she quickly said, "I mean, yes you've got at least one broken rib and it may have punctured your lung."

A sudden reverberating bang echoed around the room and made them all jump. Keller frowned and stood up to try and localise the source of the noise. She tried not to think about the fact that they may already be deep underwater and the sound was the noise the hull made just before it was about to buckle under the pressure. She closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose and out of her mouth to try and calm her nerves.

The bang came again, much closer this time. It sounded like it came from the door, which Jennifer reasoned, may very well have been the weakest section of the room they were in.

The third time the bang came was when the door was suddenly blasted inwards and Jennifer closed her eyes again and waited for the crushing water to flood in and sweep her away to oblivion. When she heard loud voices and the walking of many feet she cracked open her eyelids. She smiled when she saw a whole team of marines and a large number of her own medical staff swarming in.

She went over to them, "I'm so glad to see you! Any longer and I'd have thought you'd forgotten about us."

The lead marine stepped forward, "I'm Major Kersey, what's the situation Doctor?"

Keller addressed the medical team more than the marines and was glad to see they had brought backboards as well as lots of other gear.

She reeled off the observations she had made on each person and listed them in order of severity. "Dr McKay, Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne are the most seriously injured. Neither John nor Rodney have been conscious since we crashed."

She let the medical staff get on with their work and perched on the edge of one of the ruined consoles as she put her face in her hands.

Major Kersey came over and crouched down in front of her. He looked up at her face and said, "The Hive is rapidly sinking. We need to move you all to the Jumpers. You've done an excellent job here and should be proud. I can't imagine it was very easy."

Jennifer looked up at him and smiled grimly, "Thanks, but we still need to keep everyone alive."

Kersey put his hand on her shoulder and surveyed the room. The medical staff were efficient and calm despite the rising water and they quickly had the most seriously injured immobilised on backboards and in neck collars, while the walking wounded were supported and moved out to the waiting Jumpers.

Todd was the last to go and pushed away any assistance the marines tried to offer him. He turned in the doorway and sighed sadly as he took his last look around the room of his once glorious Hive Ship. He then turned and disappeared from view.

Kersey took Jennifer's hand and helped her up. They were the last to leave the room. The water had now half flooded the whole compartment and was visibly rising very quickly.

Jennifer walked along the corridor in a daze as Kersey guided her. Her heart was still beating too quickly due to the adrenaline and stress of what she had just had to do. She drew in some more deep breaths and tried to steady herself.

Before she knew what had happened, she was sitting on a bench in the rear compartment of a Jumper and on the way back to Atlantis. Rodney was on the floor in front of her and several medical personnel were knelt down around him. She suddenly felt the deepest pang of worry she had ever felt in her entire life as she saw him laying there with the oxygen mask over his mouth and nose and IV lines in his arms, along with the cervical collar supporting his head. She bent over and reached across to grasp his hand tightly and blinked away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

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TBC