Chapter Two

Rodney opened his eyes to blurriness. His vision cleared a moment later and he found himself in the infirmary. He sighed in relief and allowed himself to relax.

I'm glad that nightmare is over.

His gaze fell on Dr. Keller heading toward him. She smiled at him and the world fell away.

"How are you feeling?" She placed her fingers on his wrist and looked at her watch.

"Have you found what was in that serum?" Rodney asked not really wanting to answer her question. He wouldn't feel better until they found an antidote.

Jennifer sighed. "I'm still running tests on it. I'm also running tests on your blood in hopes of getting some answers there. We'll beat this, Rodney. Don't worry."

"All I'm worried about is when the next attack will be."

She squeezed his shoulder and he closed his eyes, reveling in her presence.

"If it happens again at least you don't have far to go."

His lips twitched and he looked up at her. "Very funny."

"You'll get through this. You're too stubborn not to."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

She smiled and left to check on her other patients.

Rodney sighed and stared up at the ceiling. He hoped they'd be able to find an antidote. He doubted he'd be able to take much more of this.

Jennifer strolled back to her computers and microscopes on the other side of the infirmary. She chanced a glance at Rodney, who stared up at the ceiling. She smiled, wishing there was something she could do for him. He had no idea when the pain would strike or how long it would last. It terrified her he might die from this.

I need to find a cure. I have to stop it before it's too late.

The whoosh of the doors opening brought her out of her thoughts. Sheppard strode toward her.

"How's your constant patient?"

She smiled. "He's fine. He's awake and growing bored."

"What about the serum?"

She glanced at the microscope and sighed. "I'm running it through some tests to try to narrow down what it's made out of. Hopefully, I'll get something from that."

"You'll find something. Our last resort is going back there and beating an answer out of them."

"As much as I know it'd make us all feel better, let's hope it doesn't come to that."

A cry of pain echoed through the infirmary. Her heart in her throat, Jennifer raced into the next room.

Rodney arched his back as if something had shocked him. He flopped back on the bed hard. She ran to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"It hurts!" He turned over on his side and curled up into a ball. Her heart ached for him. There wasn't anything she could do, expect stand by and watch.

He groaned, his breathing ragged. She checked his pulse and vitals.

"I want to run some more test," she said. "I need to make sure this serum isn't damaging his organs."

"You think that's what its doing?" Sheppard asked.

"I'm not ruling anything out."

Rodney had slipped into unconsciousness. She didn't know when he'd come back out of it. She sighed and decided to prep him for another scan.

"Let me know if you find anything."

She nodded and Sheppard left the room. Her gaze fell on Rodney. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"I hope I find a cure for you soon."

Sheppard told her the longest a subject lasted had been a month.

That's how much time I have to find a cure.

She only hoped he lasted that long.

~*~

Rodney opened his eyes and his head began to throb. He groaned, placing his head in his hand. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for it to pass.

Warm hands wrapped around his wrist. He opened his eyes and found Jennifer standing at his bed, checking his pulse.

"You have anything for a headache?"

She smiled. "Of course, but I like him too much."

He rolled his eyes then regretted it. He winced and gritted his teeth against the pain.

"I'll get you something." She squeezed his shoulder and he heard her footsteps hurry away.

He stared at the ceiling, willing the throbbing to stop. He believed this was more a form of torture instead of science. How can anyone force this upon someone like this?

I seriously have doubts they were even scientists.

And why did they pick him? Was it because he didn't look the most vigorous? Or was it because they wanted to torture a scientist?

"Here," Jennifer's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

Rodney opened his eyes and she placed two pills into his palm. He popped them into his mouth and she handed him a glass of water. He drank it down.

"Thanks." He handed the empty glass back to her. "Hopefully, that'll help."

"Let me take a look at you."

He gazed up at her and she shone a light into his eyes. The light shifted from eye to eye before she turned it off.

"You think its affecting my head?"

"I'm going to have to get you under the scanner to be sure, but I think so."

"Damn it." He closed his eyes and rested his head against the pillows. It was just his luck things would get worse. He sighed and looked at Jennifer.

"Don't worry, Rodney. I'm sure its nothing."

Rodney snorted and cast his gaze to the ceiling. He wasn't one for optimism. He gave up on it a long time ago. Something always went wrong when everything was going good.

"I'll hold off on that if you don't mind."

"Suit yourself."

He listened to Jennifer's footsteps walk away. The doors whooshed open and he sighed. He turned his head to the side to see who the visitor was. He wasn't surprised to see Sheppard standing over him.

"I can't help you with any disasters today. I might drop something in a fit of agonizing pain."

The man had the gall to smile. "I see you're doing better."

"Oh, much. All I have is a headache. Jennifer's going to release me in time for lunch."

Sheppard's face fell and a wave of unease washed over him. He sat up straighter.

"What is it?"

"It's passed lunch, Rodney. You've been unconscious for five days. Keller ran some scans on you the other day and found some damage to your internal organs."

Rodney's heart skipped a beat and his stomach coiled into a knot. He didn't like the sound of that.

"What kind of damage? How bad?"

"Keller was able to narrow down what the serum is made out of. I thought maybe she should tell you."

He narrowed his eyes at Sheppard. "She hasn't told me anything."

"Maybe she doesn't want to worry you. The good news is, she might have an idea for a cure."

Hope filled him. He hadn't expected the treatment to be found so fast. He could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Great. What is it?"

"Insulin."

Rodney stared at Jennifer, his mouth falling open. He blinked. Did he hear her right?

He blinked and shook his head. "What?"

Jennifer stepped close to him and he saw the worry in her eyes. His heart skipped a beat, then picked up its pace. The coil in his stomach tightened to the point of nausea.

"I was able to break down the serum and discover that's it's a disease similar to diabetes."

"You're kidding me? They gave me a disease? I thought they were studding pain?"

Jennifer placed her hand on his shoulder, but he didn't want to be comforted. He was pissed. He could handle being the subject of a cruel study, but this was too much.

"Insulin is to control diabetes not cure it."

"I know, but this thing is like diabetes on steroids, so what could it hurt."

He gave her a look, but she brushed her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes and sighed. What could it hurt? At least she was trying.

"All right. It's something at least."

Jennifer nodded and left his beside. He closed his eyes, wanting to wallow in his misery. This is not what he needed right now. What more could go wrong?

Oh, don't think that.

"You're taking that better than most."

Rodney cracked an eye open and glared at Sheppard. "It's only because I'm fighting a headache. Believe me, I'm wallowing on the inside."

Sheppard smirked and patted his shoulder. He so wanted to rip the offending appendage off and beat Sheppard with it, but he didn't have the energy. He wanted to be left alone.

"Get well. I think Zelenka broke a device in the lab the other day."

He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. He knew the man only joked, but it made his blood boil to think his lab was in disarray. It was enough to make him jump out of bed and head down there to put everything back in order.

"You're just saying that."

"Yeah, is it working?"

"If only I had the energy to get out of this bed."

"Maybe this will help."

His gaze slid to Jennifer and the syringe in her hand. He cringed at the sight, but allowed her to smear some chilly alcohol on his arm. He turned away and squeezed his eyes shut when she pushed the needle into his arm. He inhaled a deep breath until she was done.

"Hopefully that'll do it. Give it some time to take affect and I'll check on you."

Rodney watched her leave and he hoped it was enough for him to finally leave this bed.

"I'm starving."

Sheppard laughed and strolled out of the infirmary.