AN: Ooooh, reviews for me? Thank you! You make my muse very very happy. And the plot bunnies who are turning rabid at my insistance not to have too many stories going at once. Anyway heres the next chapter. If you like it, please reveiw, because that's what keeps me posting more!
"Nothing. I see nothing" John started to panic.
"John, calm down. We'll fix it, don't worry. I'm gonna get Zhaan in here to take a look at you." She hit her comms, and called "Zhaan? Zhaan, I need you in the Den right now! Something's wrong with Pilot, and John's been hurt." A tear slipped down Aeryn's cheek, and splashed down onto John's face.
"Hey, hey, are you crying?" Asked John, concerned. Aeryn quickly blinked back the tears.
"You aren't supposed to be worrying about me, John. You're the one who's hurt." She stroked his forehead gently, cradling his head in her lap.
"Aeryn? Aeryn, I can't get the door open. The controls are not responding" called Zhaan over the comms.
"Oops. Sorry, Zhaan, I forgot. You'll have to come through the access shaft to get to us."
"On my way, Aeryn. How's Crichton doing?" Asked Zhaan, sounding compassionate even over the comm.
"He can't see anything, Zhaan. He hit the back of his head, really hard. He's bleeding a lot, and…well, you get the picture. Pilot…he's not unconscious, he seems more…catatonic, completely unresponsive." John groped with his hand, and Aeryn took it in her own, clasping it reassuringly. They waited in tense silence, hearing Zhaan's footfalls in the access shaft above their heads. She dropped lightly to the floor, and made her way over to them.
"Aeryn, if we can't get that door open, we're going to have trouble getting him out of here" she commented, as she went down on her knees and started examining Crichton's injuries.
"I know. I was just thinking about that; I think I know how to unlock the door controls from the control panel. The only problem will be if it's actually Moya's doing, if she thinks she's protecting Pilot." Aeryn shrugged.
"John, what do you see?" Asked Zhaan, turning her attention back to him for the moment.
"Nothing, Zhaan. Its just…black."
"Aeryn, we need to get him to the med lab. You try to get the door, I'll get D'Argo to bring the gurney." Aeryn lifted John's head gently out of her lap, but he still cried out in pain at the movement.
"Sorry John. Can't be helped" Aeryn said, as she made her way across the Den to Pilot. She vaulted over the control panel and quickly pressed a few buttons. The door to the Den swung open, and the others ran in.
"Here, John. I will take your pain" said Zhaan, putting one hand on his forehead, the other on his chest. John relaxed as Zhaan's gift took the pain from his body, when suddenly he went completely ridged. His back arched and his body convulsed violently.
"JOHN?" screamed Aeryn from across the chamber.
"D'Argo, hold him down. Keep him from biting his tongue" cried Zhaan, placing her palms on Crichton's temples. Aeryn threw herself down on her knees beside him and grabbed his arms to stop them hitting the floor.
"What's wrong, Zhaan? What is it?" Demanded Aeryn hysterically.
"There is pressure building inside his skull; it is pushing against his brain and causing the seizure. There!" She exclaimed suddenly, and Crichton's body fell lax on the floor. "Let's get him down to the lab" ordered Zhaan quickly, and D'Argo picked him up and laid him on the floating stretcher. "Aeryn, I think you had better stay with Pilot" she added. Aeryn was torn; her heart wanted to be in one place, her head knew she was needed in another.
"Please don't ask me to do that, Zhaan. He needs me. If I'm not there when he wakes up, he's going to panic!" She insisted, taking Crichton's hand.
"Aeryn, Pilot needs you too" Replied Zhaan, who could be just as insistent when the need arose. Aeryn sighed deeply but nodded in acquiescence.
"Keep your comms open at all times. I'll see what I can learn here" she leant
down and caressed John's cheek gently, then turned away, leaving him to Zhaan's care. She quickly crossed back to Pilot, screaming inside at the circumstances. She scanned Pilot's data screens, but could find nothing wrong with Moya, except, of course, that she was hanging motionless in space. She turned her attention back to Pilot, who still slumped catatonic at his post. "Pilot, can you hear me? Blink if you can hear me." Pilot didn't respond. Aeryn reached around behind his head and checked his pulse. It was strong, but slow. It suddenly sped up under her fingers. Pilot jerked and seemed to come to himself.
"Officer Sun? What happened?"
"Pilot! You can hear me?"
"Yes, of course. I am fine" Aeryn took his face in her hands and found his skin to be quite cool to the touch.
"You were completely catatonic, Pilot. Your temperature was way up, your pulse incredibly slow. Any idea what could have caused that?" Pilot was silent for a moment, then replied sadly
"Moya wishes me to convey her apologies to you. Because our connection is still forming, I do not have all of the protection of her vast immune system. It took her time to eradicate the infection in me, and she could only do it after she had eradicated it in herself. Did anything happen while I was unconscious?" Pilot asked solicitously.
"Nothing that you could have prevented, Pilot, but I suggest you get us moving now. I'm needed down in the medlab, I'll talk to you later." She ran out of the Den and down, into the bowels of the ship.
Meanwhile, in the medlab, Zhaan was running a scan on Crichton's still unconscious body. "His physiology is remarkably similar, yet dissimilar, to a Sebacian's" she commented. "Here's our problem" she added, indicated the back of his skull, were there was a single crack, and under it, inflamed-looking brain tissue.
"How does it look, Zhaan?" Demanded Aeryn, running in through the door.
"I thought you were taking care of Pilot" Zhaan said, concerned.
"He's fine; he just had an infection that it took some time for Moya to take care of, because their connection isn't complete yet." She walked up beside the bed that John was lying on, and took his hand in her own. "So, how does it look, Zhaan?" She demanded impatiently.
"I'm not sure. I can hasten the healing of the bones, but the brain tissue will have to sort itself out. It may never heal completely."
"You're sure he won't have another seizure?" Aeryn asked, clinging to John's hand.
"No, I'm not. I was able to relieve the pressure, but if it builds up again, he could have another one." Zhaan was compounding some herbs as she spoke. "This will speed the healing of the bone and hopefully help to reduce the intracranial pressure. Beyond that we will just have to wait and see." She took one of her vials and added several drops to her mixture. "See if you can wake him up; it will be easier if he can swallow this himself." Aeryn turned her attention to John while Zhaan continued working on her mixture.
"John? Can you hear me?" She sat on a stool next to his head and picked his hand up off his chest. "John?" She caressed his cheek gently with her other hand. He jerked suddenly under her hand.
"Ae…Aeryn? What happened?" He groaned.
"You had a seizure, John. You're in the medlab. How are you feeling?" She raised his hand to her mouth and kissed it.
"My head hurts" he replied, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.
"I know, John. I know. You have a skull fracture, and you've done some damage to the underlying brain tissue, we don't know how much. Zhaan is making something that will help the bone to heal. Do you think you can swallow it?"
"I'll try" he replied, not sounding at all certain.
"How's it coming, Zhaan?" Called Aeryn, causing John to wince in pain at her volume. "Sorry" she whispered contritely.
"Finished" declared Zhaan triumphantly. She approached the couch, holding a small bowl in her hand, which contained several small medicinal balls. Aeryn took it from her, indicating that she would give them to him.
"Here, John. Chew on this" she pressed one of the balls to his lips. He parted his lips, and she released the ball. He chewed carefully, painfully, then swallowed. Aeryn sighed with relief, when John suddenly choked, and vomited. He struggled to raise himself and clear the mess out of his mouth. Aeryn helped him to roll onto his side, stroking his hair gently as he retched, then retched again. He finally lay back, exhausted. A DRD rolled over and began cleaning up the mess. Zhaan went to his head and spread her hands over it without touching him, then rested them gently on the skin. Her eyes clouded over, turning a dark blue, and John sighed as his pain eased. Aeryn grabbed a cloth and carefully wiped his face, cleaning around his mouth, then threw it into the waste receptacle.
"Try again now, Aeryn. He may be able to handle it" said Zhaan. Aeryn gave John another ball, which he carefully chewed and swallowed.
"One more, John" said Aeryn, picking up the last of them. She gave it to him and he quickly swallowed it. "How long will that take to repair the bone, Zhaan?" Asked Aeryn.
"It should already be done, Aeryn. I'll just check" and she took the scan and ran it quickly over Crichton's head. The crack in his skull had vanished, however, the underlying brain tissue still had the same unwholesome appearance. "The bone is completely healed" she declared. "The rest…we will have to wait and see" Aeryn kissed Crichton's fingers gently. He brushed his hand against her cheek, then tried to sit up.
"Hey, hey, where do you think you're going?" demanded Aeryn, attempting to hold him down.
"To the head" replied Crichton, forcefully. He shrugged off her hands, and struggled upright. Aeryn stopped trying to restrain him, instead raising him gently to a sitting position.
"Are you sure you can stand, John?" She asked, concerned.
"No, Aeryn, I'm not, but…I have to try" he swung his legs off the couch, and, grasping Aeryn's forearms, stood upright. He staggered, and she shifted, slinging an arm around his waist.
"Can you?" She asked, sceptical.
"Let me try and find out" he said, attempting to detach her arm from his waist.
"All right, but this is not a good idea" she said, releasing him but standing ready to catch him if he fell. He swayed, but locked his knees, determined to stay upright. He took a step forward, and promptly collapsed. Aeryn caught him before he hit the floor. "Why does nobody ever listen to me?" She demanded rhetorically. She lifted him back onto the bed. "Obviously, that is not going to work, John. I'll get you something" she glanced around the chamber, and grabbed an empty bucket. "Here, use this" she said. "We're not watching" she added, and turned her back as Zhaan did the same. John quickly relieved himself, then attempted to set the bucket down on the floor. It settled fine, but the tipping motion was too much for his body to handle, and he tumbled forwards.
"Frell!" Cried Aeryn, trying to catch him, but missing. She dropped to her knees next to him. "Are you all right, Crichton?" She demanded, trying not to laugh at this rather hilarious chain of events.
"Frelling fine" he replied through his teeth. "I feel as though someone shoved a chip in my head, then a malfunctioning Leviathan tried to crack it open like watermelon. Get me up" he demanded, grimacing. He grabbed for her, but missed. Aeryn winced in sympathy and, grabbing his hands, pulled him upright, and set him down on the bed again.
"I suggest you lie down before you fall again," she said, pushing against the side of his neck, forcing him down onto the pillow, then lifted his legs up onto the other end of the couch. She pulled up the covers and tucked them around his shoulders. "You should try to get some sleep" she said, pulling up a stool and sitting beside him. "I'll stay here" she said, taking his hand and stroking the back of it with her thumb.
"Okay" he replied, his eyes drifting closed. She watched him as his body relaxed and his breathing slowed into a sleeping rhythm. Zhaan rested a hand on Aeryn's shoulder, and she tilted her head to lean her cheek against Zhaan's fingers. A tear slipped from her eye and down her cheek, followed by another, then another. Zhaan brushed them away, and, leaning down, kissed her cheek lightly before exiting the medlab. Aeryn sat quietly watching John, not wanting to disturb him and therefore not moving. After a while she laid her head on her forearms and dozed lightly.