Disclaimer: I do not own any characters below or any right concerning SGA, if I had the show would still be running.
Short note: This is my first so be gentle. Though we speak American English at home. I went to a German school, they teach British English and boy that's confusing.
I know there are already very good Tag's out there, still this wanted out.
All I know about meds, is from faithfully watching ER for over a decade, so no I have no clue.
Have fun!
Phantoms Tag
John closed his eyes. He felt Teyla's warm hand in his. He squeezed her hand slightly to show her he appreciated the contact, before he tried to relax further, glad that Rodney had stopped his ranting.
John felt bone tired suddenly. He opened his eyes again taking a look at his friends.
God, he almost had killed Rodney. Not that he had been aware of him then.
He took another breath, shaky albeit.
He felt Teyla move closer and settle in his side. He finally relaxed into the warmth of the contact.
He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he was aware of was Carson sitting next to him and his hand on his forehead.
He jumped slightly in surprise. The motion pulling at his abdomen, suddenly he hurt like hell.
"Sorry Colonel" Carson said.
"You look a little pale, do you mind if I take your vitals."
John shook his head to ward the doc off, he was fine. To proof that he attempted to sit a little straighter, the movement sending his insides even more on fire, he clenched his teeth to keep from yelling out loud, the world swam before his eyes.
He moved again trying to ease the pain, the new movement putting him over the edge, he couldn't held the grunt back and felt himself tilt sending more hot white pain over him.
The last thing he was aware of was Carson calling at him, before he was thrown into darkness.
Carson watched his friends settle, grateful that Rodney had finally stopped whining and tormenting John further, he was sure the Colonel made a far too good job on berating himself as it was.
After taking a short break himself, Carson checked over Rodney once more and then moved on to Ronon who sat still at the cave entrance watching over them.
"You okay doc" he asked quietly.
Carson shook his head "but I will be."
He quickly checked the Satedan's wound before moving on to Kagan, it took him quite some time to check the young marine, but he was relived to see the man was further improving.
His gaze fell on Teyla and John, both asleep, watching them a cold settled in his stomach, something was off. He tried to figure out what was wrong with the sight before him.
Teyla opened her eyes when Carson got closer to the two and Carson checked her over first, making sure the infection was at bay.
"How do you feel love?" he asked in a low voice, the Colonel was still asleep.
Suddenly a warning bell went off in Carson's head.
The Colonel should have woken when Carson moved over to them; he usually was a light sleeper.
He saw Teyla's gaze wander to John and a frown appear.
Carson moved over to John's side, he still hadn't move. He noticed John's pale parlor and sweat was glistening on his forehead.
Carson was very aware of the change of the atmosphere which was suddenly tense as Ronon too had picked up that something was off too.
"He shot me" Rodney suddenly exclaimed and Carson glared at him.
"Shut up McKay" Ronon groused and the other man finally picked up on the tension.
He looked over to where Carson crouched next to John. It took him a few moments to realize what was wrong with the picture.
"What wrong with him" he asked annoyed.
"Sheppard" he yelled. "Wake up."
They waited a moment but nothing happened. Carson moved closer to John who seemed to be slightly trembling too, despite the fine sheen of sweat covering his face.
God, had he gone into shock?
"Ronon please bring me my bag" he stated and for the first time the Colonel stirred.
"Stop being a drama queen" Rodney said loudly, but now with a hint of worry in his voice.
Carson put his hand on the Colonel's head and found it cold instead of warm.
When he pull away however the Colonel startled awake.
He apologized for startling the man and asked the Colonel if it was okay to check him over, but like always the man declined by shaking his head and straightened his sagged position.
But before the Colonel could give his usual "I'm fine" comment, the man paled even more and his face tensed with pain.
Carson watched the Colonel shifting as if trying to get comfortable and with each movement his face grew more tense and colorless.
"Colonel, are you hurt?" Carson asked concerned, but he didn't get an answer.
Instead the Colonel sagged again, before tilting forward with a grunt.
"John" Teyla yelled and Carson grabbed for the man lowering him to the floor.
"Colonel" Carson said shaking the man, but nothing happened.
He tried two more times, before rubbing over John's sternum, this at least got a small reaction, but not enough to reassure Carson.
"Come on John wake up." Carson rubbed his sternum again.
"Teyla did he got hurt?"
Teyla shook her head.
"Teyla you need to think did anything happen, where he could have gotten hurt?"
Teyla closed her eyes a moment.
"He needed to dive to the ground several times and was hurtled a little when Major Lerner blew himself up, but he seemed unharmed."
Carson eyes widened in shock, no one had told that little detail till now.
"You should have said something" Carson stated angry to the unconscious man.
Though he wasn't really angry with the Colonel, the man had probably not even realized that he needed help.
Now Carson just needed to find out what was wrong with him.
Was he in shock from what he had seen today or was it a physical matter, he had clearly seen the signs for great pain in the Colonel face.
"Colonel Sheppard, this is Colonel Caldwell" the comm burst into life.
"Colonel this is Dr Beckett, Colonel Sheppard just collapsed, we need you to beam us to the infirmary immediately."
There was no response, but the group was engulfed in white light.
A group of medical personal from the Daedalus and Atlantis alike was swarming around the group.
Carson saw Dr Cole making a beeline for him.
"I'm fine" he stated. "We need to find out what's wrong with the Colonel."
"Carson please" Cole said calmly "Let us care for him."
Carson was torn, but nodded after a moment and stepped aside. Teyla had already been lifted to a waiting gurney watching anxiously.
She was vaguely aware of Rodney complaining and Ronon grunting angry, her eyes however were glued on John's unmoving form.
"What happened" Dr Cole asked and Carson gave a quick review of what he knew.
"Okay" Dr Cole said kneeling next to John.
She too rubbed his sternum, but to Carson's dismay John didn't react at all this time. A nurse got down next to him starting to take his vitals.
"BP 60 over 90, heart rate 120, breathing 6 and shallow."
Carson blanched, what the hell was wrong with him. Internal bleeding was the first thing that jumped into Carson's mind. What had he missed?
"Dr Beckett" Carson head whipped around, Dr Sing a Daedalus doc stood next to him he started pulling him away.
"What"
"No" Carson said wanting to stay close in case John needed him.
"Dr Cole calls if she needs anything" Carson knew he was right still.
"Okay. IV ringer lactate and plasma. We need to get his volume and BP up and figure out what is wrong."
"You want to put him on a gurney?" A medic asked.
"No, lets keep him as still as possible"
"Cut away his clothes." Dr Cole ordered.
She started to examine his head and checking his pupils.
She was just about to check his right eye when a gasped from the medic made her look to him, she followed his gaze to Colonel Sheppard's now blank torso.
"Oh crap" she muttered quickly checking his pupil just to be on the save side. She needed to be as thorough as she could to not let the very obvious injury overshadow possible smaller once.
"I need Marie" Dr Cole told the medic she knew he was probably just as qualified, but she wanted to make sure Colonel Sheppard got the people he knew best.
Satisfied she hadn't overlooked any other injuries; she finally took a look at the very obvious bruise.
She swore when she started to put feel and probe the side, the Colonel's stomach was hard and tender.
"BP is dropping 50 over 75, ox stat 92 dropping" Marie announced already starting measures to counteract.
"We need to stabilize him before we can do anything" Cole said, starting to order the meds and treatments they needed.
"Okay let's get him on a gurney now" Dr Cole said.
As soon as they had him situated Cole checked the side again. She took a moment and let Marie give her the latest vitals.
She rubbed over Sheppard's sternum once more still nothing.
Dr Cole turned to the second nurse standing at the side.
"We need a ventilator, heart monitor and ox measure" she said and the other nurse vanished, disappearing behind the curtain that had been drawn to keep his team out.
Dr Sing came into the closed off space.
"Dr Cole do you need the OR? We would like to finish Dr McKay and Miss Emmagen."
"The Colonel is not stable enough, if we operate on him now he most likely would die. I need a scan to be sure what was hurt."
Dr Sing nodded
"The team and Carson as well as Colonel Caldwell want to know what going on."
"Tell them we working on it"
"We have modified scanners I get you one, so you can see what the damage is"
"Thanks".
It was fairly quiet outside the curtains.
Everyone intent on hearing what was going on, inside but barely a sound made it to them, no reassuring heart monitor nothing.
Rodney was on edge, beside hurting as hell, he was wondering if John really was hurt or like some had speculated, had just gone into shock over the happenings.
The thought of John having a mental problem was even worse, than him being hurt.
Dr Sing came back.
"Dr Cole said they are still working on the problem and will tell you what's going on as soon as they know" he said before ordering the nurse to prep Rodney and Teyla for surgery.
Rodney got angry, he knew that the Daedalus only had two OR's and if John didn't need to be operated on, he was most likely really just shocked.
He swallowed his anger but decided to rib Colonel Kitten later.
He felt the anesthetic work and drifted off to sleep.
Unaware of the sudden bustle around the curtain and the various types' equipment being brought in.
"What are the machines for" Ronon asked worried.
Teyla too looked up and into the direction.
"What is going on?" Teyla asked.
"Okay Teyla you ready" Dr Sing asked.
"I am sorry, but I want to know what is going on before you make me go to sleep." Teyla said always the diplomat.
The next 20 minutes the two remaining team mates discussed with the medical personal.
Carson chose the moment Ronon took a stance to keep a medic from sedating Teyla, to reappear after being taken away to get checked out himself.
He and Kagan had been brought to a different room to be treated, he sported an IV now too and pulled the stand with him.
"What's going on?" he asked irritated at their behavior.
"They don't tell us what's with Sheppard" Ronon defended.
"Colonel Sheppard has a pretty nasty bruise on his left side covering a large area from his lower left back over his hip to his ribcage" Dr Cole voice's came from the side as she appeared from the curtain.
The announcement was met by stunned silence and finally they could hear the too fast rhythm of a heartbeat and a soft whoosh.
"What's that other sound and why is his heart beating so fast?" Ronon broke the silence.
Dr Cole mentioned for everyone to settle down. She took a deep breath.
"I don't know exactly how it happened" she stated.
"So I can only guess. He must have been hit by something pretty hard. He has severe internal damage. We found several bleeds in his left kidney and liver."
Carson sat down heavily, listening to the extent of the injuries John had acquired.
"Our first priority is to get him stable enough to repair the damage." Dr Cole turned on Teyla.
"That's why I told Dr Sing to finish you up, so that if we have him stable enough we can work simultaneously."
"I am sorry Dr Cole for the inconveniences" Teyla answered, Dr Cole shook her head.
"I can understand" she said then added. "We do what we can to save the Colonel"
She said that more to Carson then to the others.
"How bad is it" Carson finally asked needing to know the truth.
"You didn't answer my question" Ronon added.
Dr Cole looked stricken, but something in her superiors face must have shown her it was better to fess up.
"Colonel Sheppard is in a coma, we had to put him on a ventilator to help his breathing and ox stats and as you can hear his heart is beating to fast, due to the stress on his body, his last BP was 40 over 60"
Carson took in the words and knowing he needed to dumb them down for the team, but first he needed one more thing.
"Is he breathing on his own?"
Dr Cole looked sad and that was all the answer Carson needed.
"He is not" Carson stated.
"I'm sorry, Carson. He stopped breathing shortly before we put him on the ventilator." Dr Cole said and Carson nodded.
"What does that mean?" Ronon asked irritated.
"It means that the Colonel is momentarily more death that alive, but we do what we can to get him back. Now listen to the docs" Carson ordered, before taking his IV stand and move in the direction of John's part of the infirmary.
"Where do you think you are going" Dr Cole asked.
"I'm going to see my patient" Carson said making it clear that this wasn't open for discussion.
Dr Cole nodded and followed him to John's side.
John was pale and looked almost fragile.
Carson lifted the sheet covering him, he was shocked for a moment, seeing the extensive bruise.
He felt around the bruise and then at the side.
"Vitals"
"BP 50 over 75, oxy 97, rate 95" Marie answered in their well attuned practice.
Carson finished his exam.
"We operate on him, as soon as the OR is available. We need plasma and if possible 0 negative blood."
Dr Cole nodded and went to organize for everything.
Rodney woke with a start, panting.
The remnants of his nightmare vanishing into thin air.
Rodney took a deep breath calming his nerves. He looked around, Teyla lay in the bed on his right side deep asleep and Ronon on the left.
He lifted himself a little, before falling back down with a grunt. The movement pulling at his side.
"Thanks a lot Sheppard" he groused under his breath and when he was at it. Where the hell was the man?
He should be with his team and not resting in his quarters or wherever. They kept vigil at his bed often enough to return the courtesy.
His anger intensified when he thought about what he had heard before falling asleep.
Colonel Softy collapsed over the shock of shooting his friends and now Sheppard had woken him from his sleep staring in his nightmare.
Rodney was just about to fall asleep when he heard voices.
"How is he doc?"
Colonel Caldwell.
He heard a sigh.
"We were able to repair the damage, but he lost a lot of blood"
Carson.
"He coded twice and at the moment the only thing keeping him alive are the machines."
Dr Cole.
Poor Kagan Rodney thought.
"How is the rest?"
That caught his attention again.
"Ronon, Teyla and Rodney are on the mend, they will be as good as new in a week or two."
He waited for them talking about John.
"Kagan is out of the woods too, Dr Sing did a fine job closing his wounds."
Rodney was startled didn't they cover Kagan first thing and when that wasn't Kagan who had they been talking about.
Rodney felt suddenly tired again, even though he wanted to figure out what was going on. His eyes closed on their own accord and he was fast asleep again.
The next time Rodney woke it was much softer and not as abrupt. He floated into awareness. First it was quite, so he kept his eyes closed, he felt well rested and much less in pain.
"Hi Teyla" Ronon's rough voice interrupted the peace.
"How is it going?"
"I and Rodney are getting better. Thank you. How are you doing?"
There was no answer and Rodney could firmly hear the Satedan smirk and shrug.
The silence that followed was uncomfortable and Rodney felt a certain tension.
"How is John?" Teyla's voice was soft and almost scared.
Rodney's head snapped around.
"Why? What's wrong with him?" Rodney croaked and he wondered if his friend had understood him at all.
Teyla's head snapped to him.
"Rodney it is good to see you awake" she said.
"How are you feeling?"
Nice try he thought they want to change the topic.
"Sheppard shot me" he answered acerbically.
"Where the hell is he anyway, is he still sulking?"
Suddenly Rodney was angry again.
"Rodney" Carson yelled from the other side of the infirmary. He quickly came over.
"What?" the scientist asked irritated.
"Can I sit with Sheppard?" Ronon asked abruptly.
Carson turned to him.
"Not yet" he stated.
The Satedan grumbled angrily.
"Would you people give me a break?" Carson asked irritated.
"You can sit with the Colonel as soon as he is out of recovery"
"How is he?" Teyla asked again.
Rodney felt utterly overwhelmed and confused.
"Can someone tell me what is going on?" Rodney realized how tired Carson looked
"What do you remember?"
"I remember that John collapsed on the planet and someone telling us he is in shock or something."
Carson nodded.
"Yes he collapsed, but not from shock" he made a short pause.
"So what's wrong with him?" the scientist asked.
"The Colonel was caught in an explosion."
Rodney's eyes widened.
"He didn't even have a scratch." he exclaimed.
"No he hadn't, but the force of the explosion must have knocked him into something, he has an impressive bruise on his left side."
"A bruise?" Rodney asked incredulous.
"That's it?" he asked, but from Carson face there was more too it.
"No, the bruise was just an indicator for the internal damage."
Rodney swallowed.
"Internal damage" he parroted.
"He had tears in his kidney, liver and a small one in his spleen." Rodney paled.
"But he is okay?"
"It's too early to say"
"What?" Rodney exclaimed.
"He was bleeding for quite some time and we only found the tear in the spleen after we were back on Atlantis and could get a complete scan. So we had to operate a second time"
"How bad?"
"He is in a coma on full life support."
Rodney swallowed hard he had expected to tease John and then laugh it off, but now, what now?
"I wanna see him"
"Listen people for the last time you can not see him yet" Carson said exaggerated
"I know you are worried, we have him in recovery for at least another 8 hours, I allow you to sit with him later, but just one at the time and Rodney and Teyla you still are on bed rest so no more that one hour at a time and you will stay in a wheelchair."
The team nodded knowing better than to protest.
He felt heavy.
His abdomen hurt considerably less than before, but breathing seemed far more difficult, it took him a moment to realize why, he had a breathing tub stuck down his throat.
He became aware of an alarm sounding next to him.
He thought about opening his eyes and figure out what was going on, but he felt already too exhausted, his short venture into wakefulness taking its toll on him.
Carson jumped up the moment Colonel Sheppard's heart rate spiked.
He was not supposed to wake up; he had been recovery for less than three hours.
Just when Carson entered the room an alarm sounded, indicating that the Colonel fought the breathing tube.
Carson saw his hand twitch.
He bent over the man trying to rouse him further. He saw John's eyes move under his eyelids.
"Colonel, can you open your eyes for me?" he lightly tabbed John's cheeks, but the machine settled back down and Carson knew that John was out again.
He checked John's vitals and after that rubbed his sternum.
This time John reacted squirming away from the pain.
"Thank god" he said more to himself than to Marie who stood on the other side of the bed.
"Okay we need to adjust his meds, when his ox level stays like that we can start to wean him off life support."
Carson stayed rooted next to John's bed; even though he knew that his team probably had heard the ruckus he wanted to see if the Colonel was further improving before telling his team.
He checked John's vitals every ten minutes, he knew it was overkill, but after the first shock he wanted to be sure.
After another 30 minutes, John rested peacefully and Carson finally found it to face his team, by now Elisabeth and Colonel Caldwell had joined them.
"What happened?"
"What going on?"
"Is Sheppard okay?"
All floated simultaneously to him so he held up his hand to stop further comments.
"He is getting better" he announced.
"He briefly regained consciousness, though he didn't open his eyes and it was very brief he most definitely was awake, he is not in a coma anymore."
The relive was palpable.
"And we were able to take him off life support."
"Thank god" Rodney stated his head falling back on the pillow.
The first thing John became aware of was a constant clicking, next came the steady beep of a heart monitor.
The beeping sped up, announcing that he was back in the land of the living.
A hand settled on his shoulder.
"John can you open your eyes for me?"
John tried to oblige, wanting to know what was going on and how his team was doing.
Good why was he so tired?
"Come on John; show me that you want to wake up."
'Hell I'm trying' John thought starting to frown.
After what felt like an eternity his eyes snapped open, just to drop close again.
Great, what a show of confidence!
John tried again, but just this time he went for open a little. Carson swam into his view.
"Good to have you back Colonel" John frowned again.
"Been somewhere doc?" he mumbled at least that was what he had planed to asked, what came out was more a garbled whimper.
He felt an ice chip being placed in mouth.
"That's going to help. Your throat will be sore for some time."
John nodded but kept quiet otherwise, he closed his eyes again, revealing in the soothing feel of the ice.
After a while he opened them again and took in his surroundings.
Rodney lay in bed next to him watching him like a hawk.
Ronon sat in a chair and Teyla occupied the other bed.
They talked to him, even though he didn't say much he just enjoyed the fact, that everyone was fine.
"Rest John" Teyla suddenly said "We will be here for a little longer anyway."
"Yeah sleep and don't worry I'm fine." Rodney stated surprising John.
He smiled briefly and his eyes closed on their own accord.
It was good to be back home.
The end
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