Chapter 2

"Time heals all wounds."

As they entered the jumper bay, the medical team were on standby with a gurney at their side. Carson's cryptic message over the radio earlier indicated that there didn't appear to be any serious injuries to their patient, but he didn't want to take any chances. Recalling the events of previous missions and the pen chance for the colonel and his team getting into difficulty off world, the medical technicians were fully aware that anything was possibility. As the jumper landed smoothly, they waited to transport their usually uncooperative patient to the infirmary. On hearing the heated exchange coming from the back of the jumper, they realised they were going to have a battle on their hands getting their patient on a gurney.

Sheppard waved his arms dismissively towards Beckett in an effort to stave off the persistent doctor, and failing miserably. "I don't care what you say, Doc. I'm not getting on that thing. I'm perfectly capable of walking to the infirmary."

"Just get on the damn trolley will you," Rodney said a little too harshly for his own ears.

"No, I won't," Sheppard retorted matching his tone as they walked down the ramp. "I'm fine. I have not been shot or stunned. My appendages are all there, I am not bleeding…"

Clearing his throat McKay pointed to the feeding mark that was still on his chest. In response, Sheppard zipped up his sweater. One thing was for sure; he didn't want everyone gawping at the bloodied feeding mark unless it was absolutely necessary. He didn't know why it affected him so much, it just did. As he turned to walk out of the jumper bay, he came face to face with Doctor Weir.

Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat. Carson had told her that Colonel Sheppard appeared okay, but to see him back to normal, so to speak, caught her completely off guard. "Colonel. Glad to see you back." Doctor Weir said more calmly than she felt. "You look…"

"Fine, I know."

"I was going to say different," Elizabeth elaborated with a hint of uncertainty, her thoughts tumbling to the forefront of her mind at the unexpected end result of his capture. "The last time I saw you…" she finished, unable to continue her sentence. Her eyes suddenly found the ground extremely interesting, while John remained silent. Finding her voice again, she focused this time on Carson, "How is he?"

At this point, Sheppard was becoming incensed, "Isn't anyone listening? I said I'm fine. Look can we just get this over and done with, please? It's been a long day, and believe it or not I'm tired." As Carson was about to interrupt, John finished, "And no, it hasn't got to do with what happened. You'd be tired to if you had been running round the forest all night. So, I'll tell you what, you finish off having your 'little chat' about my apparent state of ill health and I'll meet you in the infirmary. Okay? Good." John finished abruptly without letting anyone else get a word in edgeways.

Ultimately, Carson didn't have much choice but to allow him to walk to the infirmary, even if it was against his better judgement. It was either that, sedate him or strap him down on the gurney. From what they had witnessed earlier and now in the jumper bay, he doubted that putting the colonel under sedation would help matters; in all likelihood it was more likely to compound the situation. Given the stress that his patient had endured over the last few days, the last thing he wanted to do was cause more problems for him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. If there was anything seriously wrong I'd tell you." Sheppard told Carson, a hint of frustration resounding in his normally relaxed demeanour. Slumping his head back against the pillow he brushed his hands through his hair. "What do I have to do or say to convince you that there's nothing wrong with me?"

Carson planted his hands on his hips, as if daring the young pilot to win this argument. "You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it? I've seen you come in here with cracked ribs, concussion and a bruised spleen after a Wraith attack, and you've told me you were fine."

"I was fine."

Shaking his head, he knew it was futile arguing with him. At the end of the day, he wasn't letting him go until he was satisfied that everything was, as it should be. "That's precisely why I'm not letting you out of the infirmary. You can go when I've done all the checks I need to and not before, do I make myself clear?"

"Fine, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." A fleeting thought went through his mind, and he wondered if McKay was up to breaking him out.

"I'm serious, colonel."

Damn! The doc was getting too good at reading him, "I know." He looked up to see Carson giving him 'the look' that told him there was no chance of leaving here without his authorisation. He felt like a kid who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Knowing he was in a no win situation he sighed in frustration, it was going to be a long 24 hours.

"I don't like to say I told you so, Doc, but…." Sheppard smiled at him triumphantly, taking off the blood pressure cuff for the last time…he hoped. After what seemed like an eternity, when in reality it had only been a few days, Sheppard had reached his upper limit of being prodded, poked and jabbed.

"Well, physically I can't find any sign of trauma, apart from the feeding mark, which I'm sure will clear in a week or so, I hope. That and a slight elevation in your blood pressure seem to be the only medical problems I can find, but…" He stroked the stubble on his chin, his lower lip tightening at the feeling that he was missing something. But he'd run all the scans that he could, and then some; each test result had come back normal. It was a mystery. And the one thing Carson hated the most, was a mystery. Not only that, there was still the question over whether this had affected him psychologically. To go through that kind of torture and still function with his daily duties was not something in his area of expertise.

"Doc, trust me, there is nothing left for you to probe." Knowing full well that the most intimate parts of his anatomy had been on display to the whole of the medical team at one time or another, he wasn't in a hurry to have that repeated.

"I know. Like I said, medically you seem reasonably healthy, considering the trauma that your body's sustained over the last few days, and all your blood tests seem relatively normal. I just want to make sure given your previous encounter with Ellia and now…"

"You know, for someone who agreed not to mention that again, there's sure been a whole lot of 'mentioning'." Frowning at the thought, he tried to think positively, but as the hours had turned into days, his patience was wearing thin. His brief stay in the infirmary had not been as brief as he anticipated once Carson had gotten a hold of him. He knew the Doc was just being thorough, but he just wanted to get back to normality, something he'd experienced little of recently. "So, can I get back to duty now?" John asked impatiently. Over the last few days, everyone had come to see him, Elizabeth, Ronon, Teyla, even Rodney who still seemed a bit distant. But after the first day, other people on the base began arriving, partly to see if the old rumour mill was true, but mostly he thought they came out of morbid curiosity. He was beginning to feel as if he was taking part in a freak show, and he was the freak.

Doctor Beckett exhaled slowly, stalling for time before he broached the subject to his continually uncooperative patient. Closing the curtains around his bed, he pondered briefly on what to say. "Not just yet. There's someone I want you to talk to first."

He had a feeling the Doc would bring this up. It was to be expected, especially given the circumstances, but it didn't mean he had to like it. He really didn't feel as if he had that many issues to work out. And the only issue he did have, was with Kolya, and that was something he planned to correct just as soon as he got out of there. "Doc, I don't need to see her."

"That may well be, but I can't release you until you have. I just want you to have a few sessions..." Leaning on the dresser table next to the bed, he waited for him to argue over the fact, or for some kind of reaction; none was forthcoming. Instead he found himself surprised at the sudden cooperation.

"A few?" Initially he thought about protesting, but then realised that if he was ever going to get back to his duties, he had to play it by the book. Looking up at Carson, he knew the Doc was concerned for him, the Doc's expressive eyes clearly reflecting that he wanted to do more for him, but couldn't. So, he relented, " Okay Doc, you win. If that's what it will take to show you I'm okay, I'll make an appointment immediately." At this moment he'd agree to anything to get out of the infirmary.

Okay, well that was different, and certainly not the response Carson was expecting. Outwardly his friend appeared fine, but inwardly he knew that something was brewing under the surface, he just couldn't put his finger on it. "One more thing."

So close, he sighed, rolling his eyes in frustration. "What?"

"If you have any delayed symptoms, and I do mean any, colonel. You must come and see me immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal."

"And…"

"That's two things, Doc." The first he could live with, but he wasn't so sure about the second.

"You're not to go off world for at least a week."

"A week! You're kidding, right? I thought you said my tests were normal. I've even promised to go and see Doctor Heightmeyer. Come on Doc, I know you like to take precautions, but don't you think that's a bit excessive?" A week, there's no way he wanted to be stuck in Atlantis for that length of time, and definitely not with Kolya on the loose. During the course of a week, he could be anywhere, doing who knows what. And it was going to drive him nuts.

Seeing the protesting expression in his face, Carson tried reasoning instead, "It's not like it's going to kill you." Frowning at his own choice of words, he continued, "Sorry. Look, if everything appears normal, and Doctor Heightmeyer agrees that you're okay, you'll be allowed to leave the base, but only then. I'm sorry colonel, I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but put yourself in my place. You were captured, tortured slowly, your body has been aged significantly, almost up to the point of death I might add. And if that wasn't significant enough, your life has been magically restored, so you're damn right I'm being cautious."

With his rational thinking kicking in, he finally agreed. He knew damned well that if it were anyone else this had happened to, he would have said the same thing. It was just the thought of Kolya having that time again to set up another base of operations, and doing whatever else he needed to attain his goal. And although he had heard Ladon was still scouting the planet after they'd left, he had no doubts believing that Kolya was well and truly gone, and there was nothing he could do about it…at least not yet. In the mean time, he had to make sure that he was cleared for active duty; otherwise he wouldn't be going anywhere.

Sitting alone in the commissary, John stared into his unfinished plate; the food that he'd been moving from one side to the other lay cold and untouched around the edges. He'd subsequently been released from the med bay, and had up until now that is, finished only one of a handful of sessions with Doctor Heightmeyer; and he wished it were going better. The Doc knew he was holding back, so did his team. The more he tried to convince himself that everything was okay, the more he realised it wasn't. It wasn't as if there was anything specific that he could put his finger on, and he wished he could explain what he was feeling, but…it just wasn't his way.

"Feel like some company?" The soft voice asked behind him.

As he turned to face the familiar voice, he wasn't sure if he wanted any company or not. Rodney had tried it earlier, and he'd dismissed him almost immediately. Maybe he really did need to speak to someone. "Hey Teyla."

"Is it okay?" She asked motioning to the seat across from him. Watching him tentatively, in an effort to gauge his mood, she was unsure of how he'd react to her presence. She'd already been pre-warned by Rodney, who'd told her in no uncertain terms that the colonel was obviously in a melancholy mood, and that she had better get down to the commissary ASAP, and snap him out of it. She smiled at the memory. Tactfulness was never one of Rodney's strong points, but she also knew that it was part of his charm.

"Did McKay send you?" he asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

"He is…concerned." Teyla put it to him, a lot more diplomatically than she was sure Doctor McKay would have liked, "We all are."

It was time for a bit of honesty. "I know I'm being a pain in the ass. Sorry. It's just…" Just what? The nightmares that had plagued him since he got back home, or waking up in a cold sweat at the thought of Kolya trying his experiments out on his team, his family? And while he had promised the doc that he would come back if he had trouble sleeping, he just couldn't face the amount of questions that followed. So, he played it down, and acted like he was fine, when he knew damn well he wasn't. Something gnawed at him from the pit of his stomach, but he honestly believed that it had more to do with the time on his hands than anything else. He hated sitting around not doing anything. It had gotten to the stage where even Elizabeth was kicking him out of her office. "I hate this," he finished simplistically.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Teyla broached carefully, leaning her body forward to show she was interested. John remained silent. She waited patiently, and it reminded her of that night on the Daedulus when they'd gone to find Ronon. It showed her just how much he was willing to sacrifice for his friends, and it only seemed fair that she reciprocate the gesture, even if it was something as simple as just being there.

After giving it some serious thought, he decided against it, he didn't want to burden her with his feelings of…of what? Hell, he didn't even know what he was feeling these days. In the end he just shook his head and said, "I'm fine, don't worry, " before getting up and leaving a bewildered looking Teyla wondering if it was something she'd said.

End of Part II