The five of them walked out into the hall single file. 'What a procession we must make,' Weir thought, imagining herself in the lead, followed by Beckett, McKay, another Rodney and John bringing up the rear.
They all managed to cram into the transporter and she pushed the dot nearest the infirmary. They spilled out, and Rodney and John rushed to the front of the party and into the room ahead of the others. Rodney was running when he finally reached them. He dashed over to Aiden, lying on one of the beds, and checked his pulse and the dressing covering his wound. Satisfied, he glanced over to John, who had just reached their Athosian friend. John looked her over and nodded.
Rodney turned to the nurse tending to Aiden and asked, somewhat abruptly, "How long until they're awake?"
She checked a pad by the bed and, for a moment, looked behind him to McKay. Rodney snapped his fingers almost right in the girl's face and she turned back to him. "Teyla should be coming around any time now, but Lieutenant Ford was more heavily injured. It will be at least another couple of hours."
Rodney glared back at McKay. He walked over to stand next to John, looking over Teyla. John put the back of his hand over her forehead, and she shifted. Her eyes opened and she stared at the two men for a moment. "We were successful?" she asked quietly, trying to sit.
John put a hand on her shoulder, gently keeping her in place. "Rest. We're where we need to be," he whispered.
"And the others?" Her voice was quiet, but with the weight of the emotion behind the question rather than any attempt at secrecy.
John gently shook his head. "None of that will matter if we can do what we were sent here to do." He raised his voice to be heard by the others. "Rest, and we can deal with this in the morning." He looked over at Elizabeth, the question in his eyes.
"The morning, of course," she picked up for him. "We can assign you guest quarters for the night."
"No," Rodney said harshly. After a moment, he started again. "No, we need to stay here. With them," he gestured between Aiden and Teyla as he spoke. He half turned, caught between looking at Weir and watching over Aiden, and it was then that Weir saw he wasn't wearing the Atlantis patch on his sleeve. None of them wore it, or the flags of their respective nations.
"Of course." She nodded to them, then turned to see herself and her McKay out of the room. Before she left, she turned back to them. "I'll schedule a meeting at 0800. Contact me if he isn't awake by then."
Rodney was already absorbed in his Aiden related duties, but John nodded to her before turning back to his friend, making sure she really was alright.
hi-jinks