3. WHOM CAN I TRUST?
Jennifer opened her eyes to look at the time. With a start she noticed it was late in the evening. She must have fallen asleep sometime while she was lying on her couch, thinking.
She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs that always formed in her brain when she fell asleep in an unusual place. The stress of the past day must have tired her out even more than she had realized. Well, the stress and the sparring session that morning with Ronon. Jennifer smiled. Oh, Ronon. He really thought he could turn her into a fighter. And, maybe he could, in skill at least, but she knew in her heart she never would be. She was a healer; even the Wraith drew her pity when they had to be killed.
Jennifer wondered if anyone would still be up, and more importantly, if there would be any food left in the cafeteria. She was starving. Pulling on her yellow-shouldered jacket that marked her as a doctor, she made her way to the nearest transporter and touched the light corresponding to the cafeteria.
When she got to the large room, she was surprised to see it still fairly busy. She could see Colonel Sheppard and his team had found a table out on the balcony. She found a suitable snack: a banana and a granola bar, and made her way through the cafeteria to the balcony. She passed several tables of people on the way, a couple of people just by themselves, several in pairs talking quietly, and three or four larger groups. Jennifer noticed that Major Lorne was in one of the larger groups; it looked like he was with his team. They were chuckling quietly about something. Always so quiet and polite, that team. Jennifer was glad to see they had all recovered sufficiently from the minor injuries they'd sustained early that day.
Jennifer weaved between the tables to get to Colonel Sheppard and his team were sitting. They saw her coming and smiled invitingly.
"Hi guys."
Rodney pulled out a chair for her, and she thanked him. She was surprised to see Ronon was with them.
"Ronon. I thought you were pretty badly hurt fighting Michael. Should you be up and around yet?"
"I can't stay in bed that long. I was bored," he informed her in his often intimidatingly gravelly voice.
Colonel Sheppard smirked and leaned his head closer to her, saying, "Jennifer, Ronon is ALWAYS fine."
Jennifer laughed softly. Truer words were never spoken. The tall, burly man just couldn't admit there was even the slightest chance he might not be indestructible.
"Well, so long as you don't push yourself too hard. No sparring for at least another day," she warned, teasingly.
"Yeah, okay." He agreed. He and Rodney both smiled at her.
"And where's Teyla?"
"After all that happened today, she and baby Torren decided to turn in early tonight," Colonel Sheppard explained.
"Oh, good idea. I'm sure she's exhausted. Is it true Torren slept through the whole thing?"
"Didn't make a sound," Ronon gruffed.
He and Rodney smiled at her again.
Jennifer squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. She knew Rodney and Ronon both wanted to date her, and, truth be told, she didn't really like either of them all that much. Not in that way. They were both adorably sweet, true, but they were each difficult in their own ways. Come to think of it, basically everyone on Atlantis, herself included, was difficult in some way. There was probably a certain amount of inherent stubbornness that was necessary for an assignment like this.
o~0~o
Jennifer's first week in Atlantis had been nothing short of exhausting. There was always plenty to do and the work certainly wasn't easy. When the lives of a galaxy hang in the balance, everything is a bit more stressful than it would be otherwise. Fortunately, the kind-hearted Dr. Carson Beckett had taken her under his wing from the moment she set foot in the infirmary.
"Ah, good day, lass. You must be Dr. Jennifer Keller? I'm Carson Beckett, head of medicine here on Atlantis."
She adored the Scottish man immediately. Listening to that accent every day would be quite enjoyable.
Shaking his hand, she returned the pleasantries, "Hi. Yes, I'm Jennifer. It's nice to meet you, Dr. Beckett."
"Please, call me Carson."
"Okay."
He became a mentor for her, teaching her all the intricacies of the medicines and equipment they used on Atlantis that were different from those she'd learned in medical school. Jennifer was astounded by the progress that had been made by the Atlantis team over their three year occupation of the city. Gradually her fear and dread lessened as she began to feel more at home. Home. That thought pained her a little less now than it had at the beginning, but it still hurt. The first week in Atlantis was dreadful. Jennifer was more homesick than she could even imagine being. But somehow, she made it. The sadness started to lessen by the end of the first week, and she and Noriko were fitting into the medical staff almost seamlessly.
Jennifer got to perform her first major procedure the sixth day she was in Atlantis. She was assisting Carson in an appendectomy. One of the astrobiologists had taken ill the night before, and when it didn't improve he stopped in the infirmary the next morning. Jennifer watched in admiration as Carson took one look at the man and made an immediate diagnosis.
"Wash up, love. You're my assistant for this one," he said gently but firmly in his Scottish brogue as he started following his own orders.
"Um, me? Um, okay." She didn't bother explaining this was her first real surgery outside of med school. To say Jennifer was nervous was like saying an atom is small.
Jennifer began washing up mechanically, though, as muscle memory took over. Carson was giving orders to Jennifer and one other young lady who was helping. Carson performed the operation quickly and cleanly and had the patient sutured and recovering almost before Jennifer could blink. For the first time in her life, Jennifer knew she was working with someone who was a much better doctor and probably a lot smarter than she was. She just looked at him with awe.
"First time?" He asked as he took off his gloves and mask.
Jennifer nodded. "Yeah, how'd you guess?"
"You were shaking like a leaf, Jennifer. I know you record well enough to know you're not like that normally."
"…oh." Jennifer couldn't help feeling a tad embarrassed.
"But don't worry. You'll get used to it, and you're a right fine doctor from what I can tell. You'll do very well."
Jennifer beamed at the compliment and mumbled, "Thanks," trying not to be too embarrassed.
"Now, would you help me with the paperwork?"
"Uh, paperwork?" She groaned. "Yes, of course. I'll help you with the paperwork."
"Lovely. Thank you."
Carson made Jennifer feel so welcome at Atlantis that she even started enjoying herself. She hadn't made any friends outside the medical staff, but she at least knew who a lot of people were.
Elizabeth Weir, the lady who had first met them, she knew was the leader, and a good one too. She worked too hard, though, and Jennifer had to give her sleeping pills sometimes.
Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard was the head of the military operations. He was an interesting fellow. He acted aloof and full of himself, but Jennifer could tell he was one of the more insecure people in the expedition. Jennifer suspected he struggled with depression, but she'd never dare ask him. He also ended up in the infirmary a lot. He was always getting tangled up in some dire off-world situation. Fortunately, Carson usually accompanied his team to assist as soon as possible when things happened.
Doctor Rodney McKay was a physicist. And very annoying. He came to the infirmary every time he got a splinter, every time he sneezed, practically for everything. He also had an ego the size of a small moon. But he also happened to be a genius, which is why he also was assigned to Colonel Sheppard's team.
Ronon was also kind of annoying, but in a cute, likable way. He was an alien, but a human, fortunately. He hurt himself a lot sparring, but he came to the infirmary only when forced. Jennifer was convinced the man actually believed himself to be indestructible.
Doctor Radek Zelenka. Oh dear. Radek Zelenka. Jennifer usually made Carson take over when Radek came in. He was a sweet man, also a scientist, with a fun Czech accent, but he worried Jennifer a little. His social skills were somewhat underdeveloped. He didn't come into the infirmary often, but whenever he did he smiled an absentminded smile at Jennifer and said something like, "Your hair smells nice today." It was weird.
Teyla, Jennifer really liked. She never got hurt though and was never in the infirmary. She was also a human alien. Teyla was one of the nicest women Jennifer had ever met, and so self-controlled. Jennifer admired her more than anyone else on Atlantis.
The list went on, but Jennifer had a hard enough time with names that anyone who didn't make regular trips to the infirmary or stand out in some particular way didn't stick in Jennifer's head well.
The weirdest things happened out in the Pegasus galaxy. There was always some alien parasite or rare radiation or some such thing sending people to the infirmary. Once Jennifer got her feet under her, though, she realized she was actually feeling like she belonged.
Jennifer was very glad she had chosen to come to Atlantis.
A/N: I have several more already-completed chapters that I will upload, but they all require quite a bit of revision so it might take a bit of time. I promise the actual story will begin before too much longer. :) If you've gotten this far in the story, thanks for your patience!
