Title: Exhaustion
Author: Tazmy
Rating: PG
Type: H/C
Description: Achieving the impossible always has its toll, thankfully friendship is a two-way street.

Warnings: Not beta'd. Language

Disclaimer: I don't own Atlantis nor its characters. Written only for fun.

Exhaustion

"Infatuated, half through conceit, half through love of my art, I achieve the impossible working as no one else ever works."

-Alexandre Dumas

Rodney McKay didn't mind all-nighters, not really. There was just something exciting about early morning discoveries after 24-hours of work fueled by a pure adrenaline rush. Well, when the ideas worked at least. He did mind, however, the subsequent aches and pains associated with lack of sleep. On one particular day, his body was bellowing complaints so loudly that one would think he was dying. Couldn't it just leave him be and let him think?

At about the 48-hour mark, the screen was so horribly out of focus that any hope of accomplishing further work was further shut out the window. He circled his shoulder around to relieve the soreness, but the burning feeling made him want to cry. Not that he would, just that he wanted to. His stomach grumbled having been force fed a rushed diet of powerbars for an extended period of time. Just seeing the foil wrapper was sure to make him nauseated at this point. The room was fuzzy and he could neither confirm nor deny whether or not it was spinning around. He needed sleep, or some of Beckett's stimulants, and some coffee. A moan passed from his abdomen to a burp in his throat, apparently coffee wasn't a good idea either.

At hour fifty, he had had enough. Who cared if his teammates were stuck on a planet, relying on him to save the day once again. He hadn't signed on for this. A man had a right to sleep, damn it! His head hit something cold and hard before images flooded into his mind. Teyla was screaming about the room shrinking and the loss of air, Sheppard and Ronon were desperately pushing on the walls screaming for the only team member not in that mess to hurry his ass up and rescue them already. Why did it always have to be left up to him?

A hand fell against his sore shoulder. His head swung into the air, frantically searching for the source. The lush green grass of a numerically named planet--why couldn't they just give them real titles?--spread out before him. And then he saw the concerned face of Radek Zelenka glancing down at him, his glasses falling from the rim of his nose.

"Just few minutes more, Rodney, then you may sleep all week."

As it turned out, the Czeck was right. His brilliant team of scientists had once again overcome all obstacles, under his guidance of course, and Teyla, Sheppard and Ronon finally emerged from the alien trap without so much as a bruise or a scratch. The joy he felt at seeing them alive and well almost made the grueling few days worth it. Almost.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but his next memory was of opening his eyes only to see the forest scenery slowly pass him by. He was hanging from a pair of bulky arms, nudged next to a torso that could only belong to Ronon Dex. The runner had apparently swept up the scientist and carried him to the gate. McKay didn't have a chance to decide if this was humiliating or not before his eyes closed again. He was so exhausted and his head was a clouded jumble of pain.

His eyes opened once more to the sight of white everywhere. The awful aroma of antiseptic made his stomach churn, and an attempt to swallow was met with a horrible gasp of pain. Although he lay on bright sheets, he was still in his uniform. That at least was a plus. He hated to think about those times when he was unconscious and woke up wearing scrubs because that meant that some of the nurses here had actually seen his body, which was, well, embarrassing.

"Ah, you're awake finally." Dr. Carson Beckett always wore the most welcoming smile when he greeted a slowly awakening patient. Sometimes McKay appreciated it. Other times, like when his head pounded and his throat burned, he wanted to tell Beckett to take his smile and shove it up his ass. Sometimes, he even said so.

"What am I doing here?"

"You were a mite bit tired after rescuing the others and so ya collapsed. Ronon carried ya here and knowing it was just exhaustion, I decided to let ya just sleep it off. How are ya feeling?"

A twitch was forming below his right eye and his back was throwing a torturous temper tantrum. "Awful." He found his voice was rough and talking took a great deal of effort, though not as much as swallowing did. This wasn't exhaustion, this was downright being sick. This was like dying.

Carson must have noticed the wince because the next thing McKay knew, he had a wooden stick stuck inside his mouth. "Aye, I can see why this is bothering you. What else ya feeling?"

"Stomach ache, headache, muscle aches. You name it, I got it." He rolled back onto the bed, cuddling against the light blanket.

Carson's brow furrowed as he took a closer look at his friend. McKay didn't move or make any sarcastic remarks as the doctor first put his hand to his forehead and then stuck a thermometer in his ear. "Looks like you got yourself a fever. Guess you'll be our guest a bit longer than expected. I'll have a nurse grab you some scrubs. You think you can hold any food down?"

That was a definite no. The war going on his abdomen was in full force and the powerbars from earlier were definitely losing. Not wanting to swallow again, McKay just shook his head. He would have loved to see Carson's reaction to him not wanting to eat, but Rodney's eyelids were firmly closed and he had no want to open them.

The next few days went by in a bit of a haze. Occasionally he would wake up and look at the foot of his bed, frown, and then fall back asleep. Ronon had been there keeping watch on him during one of these times, though Rodney was far to incoherent to notice. But when his eyes did flutter open long enough for a short conversation, the runner asked him about it.

"Oh, I was just looking for something." He didn't have enough energy to hide the sorrow in his voice as he pushed away the cup of juice Ronon had been offering.

"Beckett says you need to drink this."

"Beckett's a quack. Leave me alone."

"Drink." The Satedan looked positively intimidating as he moved the cup forward once more and Rodney had no choice but to clamp down on the straw and suck it up.

It hurt so much to swallow and his mouth positively refused to cooperate. Instead of strolling gently down his throat, half of the liquid came out in a number of harsh coughs. "And that is why you should listen to me and not Dr. Voodoo," the scientists muttered, his sweat-drenched face falling back against the pillow.

Ronon actually look taken aback by the reaction, and was that a guilty tinge in his eyes? Whatever the case, he took the cup back and placed it on the nearest cabinet. "I'll get Carson."

"No, wait. Just give me a second to relax." Talking was coming easier. That was at least a plus. Now if someone would put out the fire in his throat, that would really help.

Ronon made no move to get up, acquiescing to the request but not looking happy about it. After a few minutes of silence in which McKay wasn't sure if he actually fell back asleep or not, the runner spoke once more. "So what are you looking for?"

Hazed and filled with some uncountable number of hurts, it took McKay a second to remember what Ronon was asking about. Oh yes, the whole looking down at the edge of his bed thing. It wasn't often that the Satedan showed interest in facts about his teammates. The man thrived on keeping to himself, so the scientist was confused by the question. A sorrowful sigh passed through his lips as he pictured a ball of gray and white fur snuggling up to him. "My cat," he answered in a distant, longing voice.

"Cat?"

"It's a small animal that we keep as pets. Whenever I was sick or I had a long day at work, my cat would always be there with its soft purring sound to watch over me. I miss him."

Ronon went on to ask questions about the foreign creatures, and McKay obliged in short explanations. When they got to the part on why cats were superior to dogs, Rodney got excited and flailed his arms about while talking fast. This didn't last long as his throat avidly complained and his limbs took far too much effort to lift. Pain soaring through his body, he fell back asleep.

At some point he awoke again, his body shivering. Someone placed a new blanket over him which caused him to open his eyes and seek out his caretaker. Teyla had replaced Ronon on the side chair. She smiled gracefully at him and he weakly returned the expression.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

McKay shook his head once more, not daring to talk. His swollen tonsils were making it difficult to breathe much less mutter more than a syllable or two. It was hard to keep his eyelids open.

"You should go back to sleep."

He lifted his head just enough to take in the rest of his surroundings. Sheppard was softly snoring on the bed next to his and Ronon was busy playing with the Nintendo DS that Radek had lent him.

"Hi." McKay managed to mutter before breaking into a series of coughs.

All at once there was movement as everyone gathered around his bed. But it was to no avail as McKay felt himself slip once more into dreamland.

He had strange dreams. Ronon, Sheppard, and Teyla were all chastising him for not finding the right solutions and for always getting sick. A large rainbow was about to crash into the city and he couldn't stop nature from destroying everything they had built. And then there was the strange clawing at his leg, his cat begging for attention and meowing softly. It took a moment for him to realize that the clawing was real, a soft purring rumbled against his sore thigh.

Confused, he glanced down at the bed only to find a furry gray creature cuddling against him. It was definitely not a cat, more like a chipmunk that purred, but whatever it was, it was on his bed and he sure didn't remember putting it there. He recoiled slightly. It could be carrying any number of diseases. What if it clawed him to death? He scurried away from the animal, succeeding only in kicking away the white sheets.

The creature looked up at him with the cutest face. It seemed hurt by his sudden movement, but made no attempt to run away.

"Easy, Rodney. It won't hurt you."

Sheppard laid a steadying hand on McKay's shoulder, and the scientist used his breathing exercises to once again gain his faculties. His throat was only mildly complaining now, and with great relief he found he could actually gulp. He lifted his hand to the pet, taken in by its utter adorableness and the fact that John didn't seem worried about it. There was a slight tug holding him back and with a bit of annoyance McKay glanced at his wrist where an IV was taped down.

"What is it?" he finally asked. "I mean, Dr. Beckett did clear it, right? It doesn't have any diseases and its not rabid or anything?"

"Relax. It's called a gati. Apparently Teyla's people keep them as pets. It's not a cat, but it's the closest thing we could find in the Pegasus Galaxy."

McKay had a distant memory of his conversation with Ronon. Strange, he didn't see random acts of kindness as the Satedan's thing, really. But here was actual physical proof that not only did the runner listen, but he cared. Sheppard was still talking, filling the silence that normally it was McKay's job to fill.

"Ronon mentioned that you might appreciate it so we took a trip to the mainland. It took a while to convince someone to give us one, and even longer for Carson and Elizabeth to clear it, so you better well appreciate it."

The little tyke was now curled on McKay's lap as the physicist gently caressed its soft fur. It purred gently, reaching out its arms and milk treading lightly against his legs. He laughed silently when he realized how mad his own cat would be at another creature taking up his attention, and once again felt sorrow at having to leave his closest thing to family before Atlantis behind in another galaxy. Stroking behind the cats ears he whispered a soft "thank you".

He didn't mind working through the night, not when his surrogate family needed rescuing, and that happened often enough. Sure, he groaned and complained , but inside he was just happy to have friends that relied on him as much as he relied on them. As he worked frantically away at the computer, trying to avert yet one more disaster, the gati slept peacefully on his lap, offering silent comfort.

THE END

I am sick today, so I wrote this to cheer me up. It made me smile.