A/N - There is a Memorial Children's Hospital in Colorado Springs. Doctor Schuster was my granddaughter's first doctor. NiCU - Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Fortunately, Doctor Lam was involved in the local medical community and expedited the transfer and ambulance to Memorial Children's Hospital in the Springs.

The ambulance ride was ghastly. In the tiny incubator, Merika seemed to have a hard time catching her breath. McKay very nearly called the Hammond to have Sam authorize a direct transport. Only the technician monitoring her O2 sats and assuring McKay they were low, but in range, prevented him from using National resources for personal use.

The hospital was enormous. There were few societies in Pegasus that flourished enough to allow this kind of advancement. Ronon wondered again where his people might have been without the wraith. Luckily, Ronon had years of navigating Atlantis corridors with significantly fewer directions than were being offered here or he'd be lost.

They arrived at the NiCU on the third floor and were met by a woman at the door. "I'm Jenna. I'm a neonatal nurse, so if you have any questions or concerns, just ask."

"Ronon Dex," he greeted. "Rodney McKay. One of my teammates. My daughter was just transferred here."

Jenna eyed Ronon's height and build and reached into a cabinet for hospital gowns. "You both will need to scrub up and put on a gown before you go in." Jenna waited patiently as they complied.

She led the teammates through a myriad of rooms filled with bassinets. It seemed wrong to Ronon somehow that so many babies needed specialized care. She stopped in front of a bassinet. Merika's. It had so many monitors attached to it already.

For half a heartbeat, Ronon faltered. His daughter seemed so impossibly tiny in the backdrop of so many leads attached to her.

Rodney swallowed. He recognized the monitors and automatically memorized the stats. He hoped - well he knew - he'd get a chance to go online and look up how those stats compared to what was normal for newborns.

"I've got the results of the tests already done on her. Just direct me to the doctor and we can get down to business." Rodney went to follow Jenna when Ronon stopped him.

"Thanks, McKay." The statement was all the more heartfelt in it's stark simplicity.

Ronon settled down on the chair near the bassinet and lifted Merika out. It took a minute or so to figure out how to settle her and not unduly tug the leads. She fussed a bit and a nurse came over.

"How old is she?"

"She's almost four hours."

"It's been a busy life for her already then. I'd be willing to bet she's hungry by now."

Ronon looked around helplessly. "My wife is still in her hospital. So unless there's some milk in here. . ."

"No, we've got formula for her. Look in that drawer below her bed. You'll find a bottle."

Ronon smiled his thanks. Father and daughter settled in the chair and he hummed old Satedan ballads to her while she ate.

Jenn waited only long enough for Carson to go off duty when she flipped the blankets back from her bed. Gingerly, she swung her feet over the side. A deep pain assaulted her as she attempted to use muscles that had only recently been stitched back together. She steadied her breathing and prepared to half slide, half fall into a standing position.

Teyla entered the room intending to bring dinner from the mess. "I do not think it is wise to be rising so soon after your surgery."

Jenn flushed guiltily. "As a doctor, I always try to get patients ambulatory as soon as possible after surgery," she pontificated for all she was worth.

"I believe you waited until Carson was off duty and John and myself were gone because you know full well you are not fully capable of following Ronon and Merika to Earth. Did you hope to persuade Mr. Woolsey to allow you to go?

Jenn's face fell and tears welled in her eyes. Teyla set the tray down on the bedside table and moved to sit beside Jenn. "My baby needs me and I'm stuck a million light years away in bed," she sobbed. "I just want to hold her." Jenn buried her face in Teyla's shoulder as the flood of tears broke loose.

"The data you brought with you is remarkable complete, Doctor McKay. I'm curious. What instrumentation did you use?" Doctor Schuster asked.

"That's still classified. Expect it to be available in the next couple of years," McKay replied smoothly.

"It looks like your Doctor. . ." he paused to look for the name. "Beckett was on the right track. We'll need to run some tests to determine the extent of the problem."

"What is it we're dealing with?" McKay practically itched to get his tablet out and research what they were up against. Maybe see if the SGC or any Ancient tech at Area 51 could help them.

"It's called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. That means. . ."

"A thickened muscle in the heart is causing it to go bad." McKay interrupted. "I deal with a lot of Latin in my job."

The doctor typed some orders into his computer. "Very well, Doctor McKay, let's go have a look at the baby."

Ronon looked up to see McKay leading an older man to their nook in the NiCU.

"I'm Doctor Schuster, a pediatric cardiologist. Let's take a look at your baby."

"Ronon Dex," he offered a hand shake. The man had snowy white hair, a bit of a twinkle in his eye, and an air of confidence about him that encouraged people to trust him.

"Let's say we take a look." For ten minutes, he poked, looked, and listened to Merika. Ronon was both grateful for his thoroughness and set slightly on edge by it. How wrong could everything be? Merika looked perfect to him.

A tech came in rolling some sort of apparatus. "Here for the echo you ordered, Doc."

"Thanks, Manny. I'll check the results later this afternoon." Doctor Schuster stood. "Mr Dex. It was a pleasure to meet you and your daughter. After all the tests get done, we'll determine the best course of action for her," he said as he took his leave.

"Manuel Baca. I'm the here to take an echo cardiogram on the baby."

Ronon nodded in acknowledgment and threw a questioning glance at McKay.

"He's going to bounce sound waved off Merika's heart to get accurate measurements of various parts of it. Totally harmless. Totally painless," McKay explained.

Merika laid there in her bassinet fussing that she didn't feel her father near her. She let out a tiny wail when Manny put a blob of goop on her chest.

"It's cold," Manny apologized.

She continued to fuss and tried to squirm away from the cold sticky mess making it difficult for Manny to get the readings he needed. Ronon finally grabbed the pacifier the helpful nurse from earlier gave him and coaxed her to suckle on it to calm her down.

Merika looked up to Ronon with her unfocused hazel eyes as if she somehow knew he would make everything all right.

A/N - Reviews are greatly appreciated.