"Can we please eat now?" Rodney said while tapping his fingertips on the table. The scientist was annoyed and had been longingly looking at the pizza on the counter for the last few minutes.
"Rodney, John said he wanted to eat with us and he is only 10 minutes late. We can wait a little longer."
"Well, maybe you can, but I already feel how I get hypoglycaemic. Look my hands are already shaking."
He held his hands out in front of him. Teyla raised a brow and gave him a stern look.
"Oh come on, I'm hungry. And maybe he just overslept, so we will be waiting here for nothing until sleeping beauty wakes up."
"Ronon, what do you think about this?" Teyla turned to the warrior, who was leaned back in his chair. He simply shrugged. "I'm hungry too."
"Ok well, you two go ahead and eat, while I go check on the Colonel."
"Yes, finally." Rodney was already on his way to the counter.
Ronon got up. "Should I get you something?"
"No, thank you." She shortly touched his shoulder, than left the cafeteria. Hopefully Rodney was right, and John had simply overslept.
"Colonel, are you awake?" Teyla knocked on the door. There was no response from inside the room. Teyla frowned. It was unusual for the Colonel to sleep so deeply to overhear a knock on the door.
"John? May I come inside?"
When there was still no answer, she opened the door. It was dark except for some light from the bathroom. The door was half-open.
"John?" She turned on the light and stepped to the bathroom door. "Are you in there?"
Reluctantly she opened the door. The Colonel lay in a motionless heap on the floor.
"John!"
Hurriedly she knelt next to him. Carefully she turned him around to face her. With two fingers on his neck, Teyla checked for a pulse. It was strong but faster than usual. As she leaned forward she could feel his shallow breathing. "John, wake up!"
Lightly she tapped him on the cheek. As he didn`t respond, she tapped her comm. "Doctor Beckett please come in."
A moment later Carson answered. "Teyla, what can I do for ya?"
"I`m in the Colonel's Quarters. He is unconscious and not responding."
"Aye, hold on I´ll be there in a minute."
At this moment John stirred. His eyelids fluttered. Carefully Teyla slid a hand under his head.
"John, can you hear me?"
He moaned and tried to shield his eyes from the far too bright light.
"Teyla?" He squinted at her. "What happened?"
"I hoped you could tell me. I came to look after you, because you did not meet us at dinner and found you here. How do you feel?"
He had to withstand the urge to rub his temples. The dull headache from earlier, had become a constant pressure, which seemed to try crushing his brain. He swallowed. "I feel fine, just a bit aching here and there."
Slowly he leaned on his arm in order to get up. Teyla laid a hand on his chest to stop him. "You are obviously not well, John. You should lay still until Dr. Beckett arrives."
John froze. "You called Beckett?"
"Of course. You were unconscious, so I called for medical support."
Half-sitting, half-leaning on the wall he let his head fall back. He closed his eyes and wished for a soothing iceberg to lean his forehead on. But how the hell would he fit an iceberg into the bathroom?
A hand was touching his shoulder. As he opened his eyes, Teyla was crouched in front of him.
"John, are you listening to me?"
"Sorry, I must have zoned out there for a moment", he murmured.
"Is your head bothering you?"
He tried to read her expression. He must have been more obvious than he thought for her to notice.
"Yeah, a little, but I'm sure it's nothing a good night's sleep can't cure." With that he pushed away her hand and got up.
Suddenly the room started spinning. All noises faded until the only thing he heard was a high-pitched note in his ears.
At this moment Carson, medical bag in one hand, stormed the room. He saw his patient, ready to pass out again, and quickly grabbed him by the shoulder. Teyla had also gripped the Colonel in an attempt to steady him.
"Quick, let's get him to his bed."
They gently lowered him on the blanket.
"Colonel Sheppard? Can you hear me?" The doctor shone a light into the half-opened eyes of his patient. He seemed paler now and Teyla recognized a sheer layer of sweat on his forehead.
"What happened, lad?"
"I found the Colonel unconscious in the bathroom. He woke up and seemed mostly fine, except his head did seem to bother him. When he tried to get up he passed out again. What is wrong with him?"
"Aye, he seems to have a wee bit of fever. Maybe that cold of his wasn't quite over yet. I will have him transferred to medbay for observation." He signaled some med staff. A stretcher was brought in and two men carefully lifted Sheppard from the bed.