UNSPOKEN
Title: Unspoken
Word count: 1.100
Rating: PG
Characters: Rodney McKay (H/C), Ronon Dex (H/C), John Sheppard, Carson Beckett
Genre: H/C
Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit, and just for the whump fun.
Summary: Rodney recovers after an off-world trip.
This fic is a challenge response to the SGA H/C Challenges comm on LJ. The prompt was to write a Confort fic following this whump:
"I missed.
That was the last thing Ronon thought before the huge quickening beast knocked him against the hard stone. As he swiveled in the air, the image of the unconscious scientist, bruised and bloodied, crossed his eyes. With Sheppard and Teyla still on their way, it would be only a matter of time before the creature took its prey. His vision darkened and he was unaware of what happened next."
…
I wake up hearing soft sounds around me. It takes a second for me to realize I'm in the Atlantis' infirmary. I feel the cotton softness beneath and above my body, the haziness of the good drugs, the stinging sensation of the IV line in my arm and a canula in my face.
Slowly, I open my eyes bracing for the brightness I know will overwhelm my senses. I blink a few times until the blur goes away. I'm surprised to see blue eyes staring back at me accompanied by a warm Scot smile. I imagine my surprise must show in my face because Carson rests a hand on my shoulder and begins to speak softly.
"It's all right, Rodney. You are in Atlantis now."
I smile pleased and go back to cotton sleep.
…
The next time I wake up the haze is gone. I feel a faint pain throughout the right portion of my torso and I moan without opening my eyes. I am about to voice my unhappiness when a warm hand rests on my shoulder.
I open my eyes. A pretty nurse stands beside me with a bedside smile in her face messing with the IV line. She checks the tube, adjusts the dose and writes something down on my chart. She goes to the other side of the bed, inflates the cuff around my arm and writes down my blood pressure. She proceeds to grabbing my wrist and checking my pulse then removes the thermometer in my armpit. She finishes her notes, gives one last plastered smile and leaves.
I notice I have a smile plastered in my face too as I see her exiting the room but I don't bother to erase it. Carson immediately enters and approaches my bed. I stare at him making a face to figure out what happened to me to be here like this.
"Carson," I start. "What happened? Why am I here in the infirmary?" I am confused because I can't remember getting injured.
"You were wounded off-world and suffered a concussion that is causing your confusion."
"Really?" I find the lack of memory of it happening as being a very bad sign and start assessing my memory. I find everything there and no formulas missing. Apparently I'm still a genius. "How come I can't remember?"
"It wasn't a light concussion. It's not uncommon for patients loosing the memories that led to it. It may not even return, but every test show no permanent damage. You'll be back in one piece in no time." He gave a heart felt smile.
I'd better be, this city needs me and I'm no use locked up in the infirmary concussed. "How long?"
"How long what?"
"How long I will be here, how long I have been here, how long since the accident, you pick, Carson." I raise my voice to express my frustration at Carson's denseness.
"Right. It happened yesterday morning and you may be here for a couple of days. The cuts and bruises you sustained are not bad. Ronon however…" Carson looks beside me and I follow, "will be here a little longer."
I see the big man in the bed next to mine and I'm taken aback by the sight. He's a mess. Dark bruises cover his swelled face, one arm is in a sling above the sheets and a tube runs down his mouth connected to a ventilator. Only now I notice the faint constant beep of a heart monitor. My eyes are wide in shock and linger in the image for a moment before moving on and finding Sheppard slumped in a chair sleeping awkwardly on his bedside. The Colonel has shadows under his eyes almost as big as the bruises on Ronon's face. He must have stayed here the whole day and night I imagine.
"What happened?" I ask.
"You two were attacked by an alien beast. Colonel Sheppard and Teyla arrived just in time to save Ronon from being killed." Carson sighs. "Things are never easy in the Pegasus Galaxy." Carson turns and goes to the runner's bed to check on his vitals.
I turn and face the ceiling, unable to keep watching the artificial rising of Ronon's chest. I start replaying the off-world mission in my mind to see if anything else comes.
We were traveling through a mountain side, surrounded by trees and underbrush. On my left there was a high rocky cliff and on my right, deep jungle. There was only a small path to follow and led to a cave a couple of hours away from the 'gate. We went inside and found nothing but broken artifacts of an old civilization that once occupied the planet, nothing of interest to us. I was angry and frustrated for loosing the better part of the morning on a wild planet being eaten alive by huge mosquitoes only to find some broken pottery as souvenir. Sheppard went to check the surroundings of the cave with Teyla and I stayed with Ronon checking the useless old trinkets.
That's as far as my memory would go. The next thing I know I'm back in Atlantis staring at Carson above me.
I look back at the bed next to mine and notice the stir in Sheppard's form. The pilot opens his eyes releasing a soft moan as he shifts to a more comfortable position, rubbing the back of his collar. That's one heck of stiff neck he must have. He looks at Ronon and then at me, releasing a faint smile. He stands up and comes close to my bed.
"How are you feeling, Rodney?"
"Like I was attacked by an alien beast." I say sarcastically. "At least that's what Carson told me."
"Glad you're okay." Sheppard smirks and tilts his head.
"Yeah. What about Ronon? He'll be okay, right?"
"He will be. He just won't be so happy when he wakes up." Sheppard purses his lips and looks back at the Satedan.
"He probably saved my life." I say looking at Ronon too.
Sheppard turns to me again and smiles. He pats my shoulder. "Yep, he did." Then he turns and goes back to his chair.
I stay staring Ronon for several minutes after that. There he was, broken after his life hanged by a thread in an infirmary bed after saving me again. There is so much I own them. And they own me. I saved their lives so many times, and they always saved mine back. I proudly feel the unspoken sentiments and close my eyes, going back to sleep.
Fin