Food Chain by Daryl Ann
Chapter 4: No Time To Lose
The haz-mat clad medical team whisked Teyla's unconscious form to the infirmary leaving Rodney stunned and swaying slightly. He stumbled under the weight of the stuffy and restrictive protective gear, adrenaline waning, eyes fixed in the direction taken of his stricken teammate.
"Rodney, are you alright? What happened out there?"
Elizabeth paled as concern for her chief scientist's well being soared. Several seconds had elapsed without movement or reply.
"Rodney?"
As Elizabeth stepped forward, Rodney motioned urgently for her not to come any closer to him.
"Elizabeth, STOP! I need to get rid of this suit. It's covered in poison! Don't touch me!"
Two more medics clad in orange arrived to escort the wavering scientist to the decontamination area and infirmary. Not getting a response to his name, one of them attempted to direct him with gentle yet purposeful pressure applied to his shoulder. Rodney startled momentarily, seemed to regain focus, and followed the first one wordlessly, the other close behind. Elizabeth fell in step with the procession determined to see her scientist and friend safely to the infirmary.
Keeping a cautionary distance, she once more attempted to break through Rodney's daze, her need to be informed as to the success of the mission doing battle with her need be assured of his health and safety.
"Rodney, I need you to tell me what happened out there."
The scientist's ashen face was barely visible behind the downturned headgear. Barely keeping pace with the medical escorts, he exhaled deeply in resignation. Shoulders slumped, he slowed noticably and turned to face Elizabeth mid-stride. His world seemed to tip slowly to one side as his equilibrium all but vanished and he listed to one side. Elizabeth rushed to close the gap betwen them as she reached out instinctively to prevent him from falling. Instead, a wall of bright orange intercepted her assist. Her good intentions were effectively body-blocked as Rodney's attempt to right himself failed miserably.
The lead escort's reaction was delayed by the need to turn around and process the events unfolding in the corridor behind him. The minor hesitation left the stressed and weakening Dr. McKay momentarily unassisted. It was in that moment that he tilted into the nearest wall and slid to the floor where he sat, slumped to one side panting heavily.
"Rodney, can you hear me?"
" 'lisbeth?"
"Yes, it's me Rodney. Can you tell me what's going on? " Elizabeth noted the sheen of sweat on his pallid face. " Is it your bood sugar?"
"Uh, I, uh...maybe. I ate something...I can't ...Not sure how long we were gone... I'm fine. Need to check on Teyla,...Ronon."
The brightly suited medics sprung into action. The protective gear worn by Dr. McKay would need to be decontaminated and removed before attending to his hypoglycemia. Any breach in the protection it provided could result in the venom making contact with the surface of his skin.
Rodney began to tug desperately at his protective visor. "Can't breathe...in...here!..."
Rodney!
"NO!, I need to get out! Need..."
"RODNEY! We think you're feeling like this because your blood sugar is getting dangerously low. Try not to panic."
"Eliz...what?... go 'way." The space between them was all that prevented contact as his arm lashed out weakly.
"What? Rodney, It's me, Elizabeth. We need to get you something to eat."
"NO!"
"Rodn.."
"We got him, Dr. Weir."
The interruption was followed by one medic grabbing each arm as they lifted Rodney to his staggering feet and pulled him along unsteadily to the nearby entrance of their destination leaving a puzzled and worried Dr. Weir in their wake.
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Rodney sat with his head in his hands. He had been cleared medically only minutes ago and urgently needed to check on Teyla and Ronon. The residual headache fading, he stood and turned to leave the infirmary when he collided with Elizabeth.
" Oh!.. Elizabeth. Sorry, sorry."
"No, it's okay Rodney. Are you alright? I was really getting worried when you didn't seem to understand we were trying to help you."
"I'm really sorry, Elizabeth...I, uh...did I... Did I say anything horrible to you... because you know I didn't mean it if I did. I don't understand it myself, but when my blood sugar gets so low that I can't think straight, I sometimes get, well...a little bit, um...cranky, and I don't remember it afterward. My mother used to say I would turn into 'Mr. opposite'. I mean... I know I need something with sugar in it, but I'd always get contrary ...told her 'no', pushed her away even. It's like my brain refuses to function properly. Even now... even though I know better...I can't even fathom why I would I say no to the very thing that I need the most."
"Rodney, don't worry about it. If you weren't trapped in that suit, you might've been able to help yourself before it got to that point. Or at least we would have been able to get you something to eat sooner. I guess I was a little taken back by it, but now that I know...well...I can be just as stubborn when it comes to helping a friend."
Rodney scrubbed his face with hands feeling slightly better but still embarrassed by the situation.
"Thanks Elizabeth. I guess with the kind of day we've had, I should've been more careful. It's acually very frustrating."
"I can't imagine what it must be like."
Rodney smiled crookedly."You know... I burn a lot of calories just thinking. So as you might expect, I need to eat... a lot. Not to mention the energy I expend with all the running for my life, fighting off the wraith, freezing into icicles on planet popsicle, and now this...
Rodney's voice trailed off and the smile faded as he replayed the day's events in his mind. Vivid images of first Ronon, then Teyla stricken down by the innocent looking dainty flowers filled his thoughts. Other images, even more disturbing, of the once powereful hyena creature-turned- compost-mound flooded his mind and refused to let go. The proven effects of the powerful plants on life forms lower on the food chain were sickeningly evident.
Saving Ronon and Teyla would take nothing short of a miracle, if miracles even existed in the Pegasus galaxy or anywhere else for that matter. If there was even one out there, let this be the one. Rodney hoped that the samples he and Teyla collected from the planet would help Carson to find it.
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John Sheppard paced frantically as the Medical Chief of Atlantis worked at fevered pitch over his microscope. He hadn't given any indication yet as to the progress of the anti-venom. It was still too early to be optimistic, but it was all Ronon and Teyla had. Sheppard was not about to give up on either one of them.
Both were the physically strongest members of his team. He was almost proud to admit that he'd had his ass kicked by Teyla on more than one occasion. She was as beautifull as she was stong, and in the prime of her life. And Ronon, well Ronon was one scary individual to those unfamiliar with the towering Satedan. Sometimes he was even a little scary to those closest to him. Once you got to know the guy, he was more of a 'gentle' giant, provided you weren't sparring with him...or on the receiving end of one of his massive bear hugs. To think that this could be the end for his two friends...comrades and teammates who would give their lives to protect him...It was more than John could take.
"NO!, They're not checkin' out yet, Doc!" John's fist connected with top of the supply cart nearest Carson's work station. The doctor had been so engrossed in his work, that he hadn't registered the increased tempo of Colonel Sheppard's pacing. The sudden explosion of sound and clatter of supplies hitting the floor brought Carson's head up in time to see the frustrated team leader exiting the lab area of the infirmary.
The doctor sadly understood the frustration that consumed their military leader. Sheppard hadn't made the run to the planet for the samples, nor was he able to utilize his leadership skills to combat the current situation. No military operation could be called upon for a resolution to the problem at hand leaving the man of action pinned down, helpless to assist two of his best friends in the battle for their lives. Acknowledging the medic's need to work uninterrupted, John looked over apologetically from where he sat at Ronon's bedside.
Carson nodded in understanding. He'd been field promoted, and he was waging war.
The battle raged on. The opponants, too small to be seen by the naked eye, proved to be tenacious adversaries.
Although Beckett had made progress on the serum, the final product was far from perfected. Thus far, each trial using tissue and poison samples from the planet failed to produce the desired effects. He had isolated the chemical reaction necessary, but it kept breaking down before it could bind with the chemicals in the poison and render them inert. Clenching and unclenching one fist as he stared through the microscope in disbelief at the most recently failed sample, Carson was gripped by his own level of frustration. Damn! He'd been so close.
There was a missing link, one last piece of the puzzle. If he could just ...
"DR. BECKETT!"
"Carson! Get in here. It's Teyla!" John's voice joined that of the nurse on duty as he rounded the end of Ronon's bed and hurried over to where Teyla lay attached to IV's and monitors.
She was trembling from head to toe. Whimpering sounds from her throat were all that escaped in her panicked attempt to speak.
As Carson began to check her pupil's responses to the stimulus of the pen light, she gasped, turning her head away from the bothersome tightly aimed beam.
"Oh my god, she's having a seizure!"
Rodney had joined John beside their fallen teammates after assurances that he felt much better. He promised both Elizabeth and Carson that he would get his blood sugar checked periodically and eat at more regular intervals.
"No, not a seizure, Rodney. She's waking."
"What's with all the shaking then? Are you sure it's not some kind of seizure Carson?"
Carson exhaled heavily. "I'm a medical doctor Rodney. Trust me. She's had a shock to her system, and I'm sure she's a little disoriented. Also, her body temperature is a little low, and she's slightly hypotensive. We're doing what we can with warming blankets and medications."
"Well, okay then. So, if you can help her, it looks good for Ronon then too...right?" Rodney phrased his question in a hopeful manner as he looked pensively in Ronon's direcion.
"To be honest, I thought we'd be in it for the long haul with Teyla as well. It's not the anti-venom, I haven't come up with anything viable yet. The meds we're giving her only manage the symptoms brought on by the poison. There must be something very different about ..."
Dr. Beckett's expression brightened as brown eyes met blue.
"There y'are lass... Welcome back."
Teyla blinked as she took in the worried faces of the three men surrounding her bed.
"Say something! Teyla, are you okay? Can you talk? I'm so sorry I didn't see that thing coming after you on the planet. I should've seen it coming... and well, maybe if I'd have shot it sooner, it wouldn't have.."
"Rodney, she can't talk if she can't get a word in edgewise. Give her a chance to say something!"
Sheppard grinned. He and Carson had seen the look on Teyla's slightly bewildered face as Rodney continued to speak.
"I...I am... alive." Teyla's voice, soft as a whisper and somewhat amazed, caused the infirmary to erupt in controlled elation.
The realization that Tela had pulled through without the miracle serum was enough to snap Carson's attention back to the reality at hand. .
Teyla's system seemed to be clearing itself of the poison whereas Ronon was worsening by the minute. The venom had absorbed through Teyla's skin instead of being injected by the thorns. Was that the difference between life or death? Or... Could it be that Teyla possessed some sort of natural immunity or resistance?
With no time to lose, and a spark of an idea, Carson obtained a fresh blood sample from Teyla to compare to the sample collected upon return from the planet. He'd need to work fast if he was going to save Ronon.
TBC...
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A/N: So sorry for the long wait folks! I never intended for it to take me this long to update. I think after this story and my other WIP are finished, I will complete a story FIRST and post complete, or in parts if it's long. Anyway...hope everyone is enjoying the new season as much as I am. My fave eppy so far was Tabula Rasa...for so many reasons: Radek(check), Lorne(check), Ronon(check), and "Aww.. factor" Rodney and Katie(check,check), and Shep bewildered and zapped by Ronon, wiped out by the illness (mmm hmm, yep, check)... Can't wait for Carson's return later this season! ... :o) DA