2- Under the weather (spoilers for 5.1 Search & Rescue)
The sound of a tray sliding onto his over bed table rouses him from strange sleep. He ungums sticky lids to blink open tired eyes, still half expecting to be pinned by fallen beams and stuck in the dark with Ronon.
He takes a slow deep breath. The smell of the toast with its melting butter makes his stomach roll uneasily and he gulps trying to control his gut.
"You're awake- again! Finally!" booms McKay from the other side of the bed.
John rolls his head on the pillow to frown at him blearily - again? When was he awake the first time, he wonders. He begins to hitch himself up in bed so he doesn't feel quite so horizontal and out of things. Multiple abdominal stitches stab in pained fury and he stops and leans forward gasping, one hand automatically going to the area as if to hold things in.
Rodney presses the remote to raise the bed angle. Pillows are suddenly stuffed and fluffed up behind his bowed back. McKay- fussing like only he can and daring Sheppard to say anything about it. He leans back slowly - he nods at McKay in thanks and closes his eyes, fighting the pain. Having a building fall on him also left many aching bruises and scrapes that he is just figuring out.
"No, no sleeping! Keller said you should eat and stay awake for more than two minutes at a time. Be a good little flyboy and I'll get your DS. That's assuming I can wrestle it out of Major Lorne's grubby little hands….."
"Huh, what does she know, she's not the one with the hole in her guts. Pass me the water? Lorne'd better not be messing with my Tetris…" John huffs tiredly. Much as he would like to up his score on the Nintendo, he can't muster the strength to focus on it right now. He aches everywhere. His left hand feels uncomfortable where the port has gone in and the clip on his finger feels huge and awkward.
"She has a doctorate in Voodoo- as if that counts." McKay sniffs dismissively, leaning forward to help support the plastic beaker of water with a straw in, when he sees John's hand shake. "Not too much!"
John rolls his eyes as he sucks water and slowly aims the beaker back onto the bed tray, then stares at the unappetising, cooling toast. He looks around the Infirmary; he's the only patient at the moment. He feels disconnected.
He wonders where everyone is and if Colonel Carter's still mad at him. Rodney had mentioned before his surgery that she'd been recalled by the IOA- and that never sounds good. His sense of time is all screwed up and he doesn't know if she's back yet. And he's too tired to get into it right now.
"You going to eat that or not?" McKay breaks into his thoughts.
John grimaces and shakes his head listlessly and feels even greener as he watches McKay chomp speedily through the toast. The ache in his gut is getting sharper with every minute.
"Are Teyla and the baby okay? How's Lorne? Ronon?" he asks desperate for answers.
Footsteps approach before McKay can clear his mouth to reply.
"Afternoon Colonel, Rodney," Keller greets them cheerfully. "Did I hear you asking about all my ex patients?" she enquires as she checks his med chart and glances at the IV bags and monitors.
He hasn't forgiven her for her light-hearted remark about playing with his insides, but that's mostly because his insides are throbbing and aching most insistently. What the hell did she do in there? Tap-dance, use safety pins? He has a sudden McKay like thought- they didn't leave anything in there did they…?
"Yeah, sit rep Doc." John gasps as his stomach flips, he swallows hastily. The water was a bad bad idea.
"Well, I'll say it again. Lorne's leg was a clean break, it's casted- he's fine. Resting and on restricted duty I hope. He'll be crutching about before you know it. Ronon's cuts and bruises didn't hold him here long. He's been in and out to see you, not sure where he is now. I still can't believe he pulled that bar out of your side…..Rodney, how could you! That toast was for the Colonel!"
"He didn't want it!"
"I can't stay in here Doc; I need to…..Lorne's outta commission! What about Teyla?" John rushes, gulping fast hoping he isn't going to barf, a sheen of sweat breaking out all over his body.
"Teyla and Torren are well; the baby's doing very nicely. You on the other hand…have had a rough couple of days," Keller frowns suspiciously at him, glancing sideways at the traitorous machines beeping faster.
"What? What about Sheppard?" McKay asks in alarm.
John looks over at him and the movement and sight and smell of the toast in McKay's hand sends a rush of saliva to his mouth, more sweat pops out on his forehead as he breathes fast and shallow. He's going to….oh God…..and he does… copiously and painfully everywhere.
There's organised chaos for a while as McKay squawks in the background, chair scraping on the floor as he moves out of the splash zone. Rodney's shooed out of the way, assistance is summoned, and there's the loud swish of metal rings as the privacy curtain is hastily pulled round.
Through the haze of the spasms tearing at his new stitches, embarrassment and generally feeling like crap, Keller's calm voice grounds him, a cool small hand on his tense arm, and the quiet efficiency of her staff as they support and clean him up. While nurses peel off the ruined outer blanket and sheet, Keller pushes him back down, snaps gloves on and slowly peels the dressing off his wound.
McKay wails in the background about too much information and really not wanting to see that, but John's drifting in pained fog and tunes him out, staring at Keller's face instead trying to read what she isn't saying. Frowning, she warns him and then presses around his side, making him swear loudly and grab for the side rail in fiery pain. She opens a sterile swab, swipes it across his sore belly, caps it and orders a different cocktail of antibiotics and an anti emetic for him- scribbling them on his chart as she does so, as well as his next round of painkiller.
A nurse takes the swab from Keller and almost runs off with it to the labs. A fresh dressing is taped over the wound and stitches. A different nurse appears, putting on new top sheets and blanket, tucking them in and gently pulls the clean blanket up to his waist. He gets face wash and a mouthful of minty water to clear his mouth and is allowed a small sip of water to encourage his body that it needs the fluids.
Keller watches him for a moment after injecting a new brew into his IV before leaving him to it. Rodney looks a bit rattled and mildly disgusted, but moves the chair back to the bedside and settles in anyway.
Rodney's a reassuring presence for now and he knows that Ronon will appear later. He hopes that Teyla will stop by with the baby. Something good out of the Michael mess that he still can't quite believe. He needs to check in with Lorne at some point too. Later though, maybe tomorrow, he thinks as the drugs start to blot out thought and his eyes drift shut and he relaxes into the sheets.
Until then there's nothing he can do but lie there all hot and bothered and aching. An infection he supposes, not surprised given how long he was buried and then went gallivanting round the galaxy to find Teyla. He licks dry lips and knows that Keller and her team will figure it out. He'll be fine in a day or so and maybe by then he'll feel like having some toast. But he isn't counting on it.