Chapter 4

"What do you mean, he's in a coma?" John demanded.

"He's showing limited brain activity except for that quadrant." She said and turned the screen so they could see it. "See? The green and blue is healthy brain activity."

"There's hardly any." Teyla said.

"Except in the areas that are necessary to keep him alive." Keller said, "And this," She circled an area with her finger. "Is the quadrant I was telling you about."

"Why is it red?" John asked.

"Red is heavy function, it's like his brain shut down all the unimportant areas to…reroute the power to that area." She said.

"Will he come out of this?" Samantha asked.

"I honestly don't know." Keller said. "I guess it's up the Wraith."

"You think the Wraith did this?" Teyla asked.

"What else could have caused this?" Keller asked and they were silent. "I just wish we could see what was going on in there." She said, looking at Ronon.

"We still have that machine, don't we?" John asked. "The one that allows us to go into peoples dreams."

"REM sleep and a comatose state are two different things, I doubt it'll work." Keller said.

"It's worth a shot though, right?" he asked.

"That's just it, I don't know. I hate not knowing, but I don't know. Maybe if he comes out of this…"

"If?" John said. "If he comes out of this? How about when he comes out of it!"

"John." Teyla said and he looked at her and then down.

"Sorry, doc, I just…"

"No, its okay, I understand. I shouldn't have said 'if'." She said. "When he comes out of this, maybe then, but for right now…it's not worth the risk, it might damage him further." She said and he nodded. "He's breathing on his own, and his heart rate is healthy. Whatever this Wraith is doing, it certainly doesn't want him dead, I just think it wants his undivided attention."

"Yeah, sounds like the Wraith." John said.

The Wraith soldiers dragged him to a lab this time, similar to the one he had been in when they made him a Runner. Implements lined the nearest table top and he growled, something feral and wild rising up inside him. There was the flash of a stunner and electricity coursed through his system. Instead of becoming unconscious, however, he remained aware but unable to move or speak as he was put on an exam table face up.

"We have studied your anatomy closely for some time now, yes?" A Wraith scientist asked, picking up a scalpel. "But we are still unable to figure out how your…dietary needs sustain you. Your blood is singular, or course, but that rewarded us with no answers, only more questions." He approached the table looming over him, light glinting off the scalpel. "Perhaps the answer is in your digestive tract." He said.

Ronon was awake and feeling as the Wraith began to slice into him, eventually setting the knife aside to dig his hands into the soft organs, feeling around for something.

"The lining of your stomach is quite extraordinary, thicker than a humans and more porous. Perhaps you absorb the nutrients you need from your food directly into your system like a human does, but the absorption seems to stop here." His hands moved down, examining the intestine. "The intestine is thick and old, as if you have no need of it anymore. Since we want you alive, I shall not be removing it to examine it further, just in case." He took his hands from him, his skin colored red. After the Wraith placed everything back where it belonged, Ronon felt his skin and muscle start to knit together. "Ah yes, the regenerative properties, they seem advanced even if you don't feed." He said, moving his hand over the now smooth and unbroken skin. "I wonder if they cost you strength, to heal that rapidly." The Wraith said and then smiled at him. "Something for another time." He said. "Take the creature back to its cell."

The fog cleared and Ronon found himself back in the observation room dressed in the white patient scrubs. The lights above stung his eyes and he had to blink rapidly to clear them. Sitting up, he took the neuro-halo off his head and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Seeing his clothes lying on a counter neatly folded, he focused on them. The room shifted and he was standing in front of them. After getting dressed and leaving the scrubs on the bed, the room shifted again and he was suddenly standing in Colonel Carter's office, his arms crossed over his chest.

Sam jumped up from her chair when she saw him, her eyes wide.

"Ronon." She said.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"How're you…"

"How…long."

"Three days." That didn't seem to faze him in the least bit.

"Sounds about right." He said. "Did I miss anything important?"

"No, it's been slow and uneventful." She said. "Has Doctor Keller checked you out yet?"

"No." Ronon said, thinking it over. He vanished from her office and she touched her radio.

"Jennifer, it's Sam, Ronon is awake and on his way to see you."

"I know." Jennifer responded. "He just got here, scared the living daylights out of me."

"I'm on my way down."

"See you in a bit, Keller out."

"John, it's Carter."

"Go ahead Colonel."

"Ronon woke up a little while ago, get Teyla and meet me down in the infirmary."

"We're on our way. Sheppard out."

John and Teyla were in the infirmary when Sam got down there. Ronon was sitting on an exam table as Jennifer took his blood pressure.

"We have to find her." Ronon said when she was finished.

"Find who?" Jennifer asked.

"The woman who'd been trying to contact me."

"The one that put you in a coma?" John asked. "Why the hell should we find her?"

"They're torturing her, John." He said and told them of the dream he had while he was under. "She was awake and aware while that Wraith was cutting into her, playing with her insides."

"Oh my god." Jennifer said, looking a little pale. "I know the Wraith are evil, but this…this is just sadistic."

"And you're sure it's a woman?" Samantha asked and he nodded.

"I'm sure of it, I can feel it." He said, "She needs our help. They're being careful not to damage her too much, but she's still refusing to feed and there's only so much a body can take before it gives up."

"Explain the feeding." Teyla said.

"I can't, that's where you guys come in. Do we still have that machine from Stargate Command? The one that lets people go into other peoples dreams?" Ronon asked.

"Buddy, you read my mind." John said.

"Doc, you'll sedate me and hook me and John up to it, hopefully, if I'm right, he'll be able to communicate with her and maybe find out where she is and what she is."

"You mean you don't know?" Sam asked but he shook his head.

"I thought she was a Wraith, but the scientist working on her was trying to figure out how her food source sustained her."

"And since the Wraith know how they live…"

"Exactly. Apparently whatever she gets from people is absorbed through the lining of her stomach." Ronon said and looked at Sam. "My idea sound like a good plan?"

"I'll get things in motion." She said.

"You okay with taking a trip through my mind?" Ronon asked John.

"Just as long as there's no scary monsters." He said and Ronon smiled.

"Well I can't promise that."

"Great."