Part Two

"Get back into that bloody bed!"

Lorne grimaced at Carson's loud order, smiling sheepishly from his position next to Teyla's bed. He withdrew his hand from hers quickly and turned to Carson, wincing as he pulled at the stitches in his abdomen.

"I thought you said I could get out of bed within a couple of days?"

Carson towered over him, hands on hips, face glowering and Lorne did actually feel a little bad.

"Aye, a couple – not one and a half. And by out of bed, I meant in a wheel chair, accompanied by myself or one of the nurses."

Lorne grinned innocently up at Carson who seemed to not be very interested, nor bought over by the grin. He sighed and dropped his head.

"Help me back to bed then, doc," he said as he offered Carson his arm.

Carson simply glared back at him and crossed his arms.

"You got out of it by yourself, so you can get into it by yourself." Lorne laughed a little at that, wincing as it tugged at his stitches. He grimaced as he stood, leaning heavily on the side of Teyla's bed to balance himself. He heard Carson sigh behind him before the doctor's deceptively strong hands touched his back, helping him back to his bed. Lorne appreciated the gesture. "You should listen to what the doctors tell you." Lorne smirked through the pain – he hadn't realised how stiff he'd get sitting down. "You military are all the same."

Lorne smiled up at Carson, his eyes sliding past him to the corner where Teyla lay unconscious.

"Why hasn't she woken up yet?" He asked quietly, ducking his head to look at the cuts along his fingers.

He heard Carson sigh, felt the bed shift as Carson leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest as he too glanced down to Teyla's bed.

"We're keeping her sedated to give her body a chance to heal." He looked back to Carson and frowned. "You were both altered when you came in; your fever broke the first night but Teyla's lasted for a few days," he trailed off as he cast a glance back down to her before shaking his head. Lorne did the same. "She was asking for Kanaan and Charin."

Lorne winced and frowned. He knew Charin was dead, wondered where Kanaan was.

Then he felt the guilt that had been nagging at him since he woke up and saw her unconscious body lying in the back of the Jumper, her head cradled in Sheppard's lap as Rodney flew them home.

"She seemed fine," he said to Carson quietly, the guilt evident in his tone. He fiddled with the edge of the sheet, shifting uncomfortably in the bed. He felt Carson's hand lightly on his shoulder and he turned to the Scot, shaking his head. "She seemed fine," he repeated for lack of anything else to say. He heaved a sigh and leaned back against the soft pillows, nestling his head into their warm comfort.

"You're both very lucky," Carson said quietly a few moments later and Lorne peeled his eyes open again and peered at him. "If Colonel Sheppard hadn't found you..." He trailed off but didn't say anything else.

Lorne smiled and grunted slightly.

"I'm tired of him saving the day."

Carson grinned and let out an airy laugh, patting Lorne's leg as he made to move away.

"Aye but if he didn't, you'd still be stuck out there doing a shoddy job of patching yourself up."

Lorne smiled sarcastically as Carson smirked, winked and walked away. He settled back into the pillows again, pulling the covers up around his chest. He cracked an eye open and looked back towards Teyla, smiling slightly as he watched her chest rise and fall with her steady breathing.

As he felt sleep creep over him, he was glad he'd left the radio on.

--

When Lorne was discharged from the infirmary, he found that instead of going back to his quarters and resting up, catching up on his TV programs or reading his book like he'd promised himself he would do, he stayed in the infirmary at Teyla's bedside, waiting for her to wake up. Around him, her team waited with him, Sheppard shifting back and forth on his feet, picking up various instruments around the room before setting them back and continuing to rock back and forth on the balls of his feet. He was making Lorne nervous.

"Would you stop?"

Lorne smirked as Sheppard glared at Rodney who had very articulately voiced Lorne's thoughts.

"Shut up," Sheppard replied half heartedly, throwing himself into the seat next to Lorne. The two service men shared a tight smile before Sheppard's eyes slid back to the monitors around Teyla's bed. "How are you doing?" Sheppard asked after a moment, his eyes sliding back to Lorne. Lorne shrugged and shifted, stretching his stiff back.

"Good," he said as though the gaping wound in his abdomen was nothing but a mere scratch. Sheppard nodded once and folded his arms over his chest, sliding further down in his chair, legs wide apart. Lorne shifted again.

Suddenly, it was awkward.

"I can't believe the villagers were going to leave you out there," McKay said indignantly, as though it was him who had experienced it. Lorne shrugged again but smiled, feeling some of the tension between him and Sheppard slipping away. "You're lucky you survived."

Lorne snorted and rolled his eyes.

"So the doc tells me." He shifted, grimacing again at the ache in his back. He'd been still for too long; his body wasn't used to this much immobility. "Besides – they knew she was hallucinating, so it stood to reason that they thought she was hallucinating me as well."

"I wouldn't be so forgiving," McKay huffed and the three others rolled their eyes.

"Kanaan's comin' over," Ronon said gruffly from the opposite side of the bed, his head not rising when he spoke. Lorne felt the tension seeping from Sheppard; he knew the two men didn't get on – hadn't since Kanaan had knocked Sheppard on his ass at sparring. "Insists that there was a reason she was hallucinating him."

"Yeah because the fact she hallucinated him and a dead woman is very symbolic," Rodney voiced and from the jerk of Sheppard's head as he let out an inaudible laugh, Lorne imagined Sheppard agreed.

Lorne couldn't help but feel that her team didn't like Kanaan.

He had no doubts as to the reason why.

The chatter continued for another half hour before Teyla finally began to waken. Sheppard and Ronon were the first to her side, while Lorne rose slowly from his chair holding back. Ronon touched her arm and she turned her head to him, frowning before she closed her eyes and smiled.

"Ronon," she said quietly, swallowing thickly before turning her head to her right hand side where Sheppard stood, his hand hovering over hers, his smile almost evanescent on his lips. "John," she said with a smile before her eyes slid shut again.

"How are you feeling?" Sheppard asked as he signalled Rodney to fetch Carson.

She paused for a moment as though considering and Lorne took the opportunity to step closer to her bed. He didn't want to intrude but he also wanted to make his presence known.

"Sore." She opened her eyes again and stared at Lorne, her face impassive for a moment before a relieved smile broke across her lips. "I am glad to see you alive."

Lorne quirked a grin in her direction and took another step closer. He let his hand rest near her thigh and smiled down at her.

"It's good to be alive." She smiled and met his eyes and for a moment they simply stared. He moved back when Carson slid in beside him and Teyla's eyes slid to the Scot. He looked down, feeling ridiculously disheartened. He heaved a sigh and shifted back away from the bed. "I should go."

Carson, Teyla and Ronon turned to him startled while Sheppard simply nodded.

"In fact," Carson said sternly, looking around the bed to the men, "you all should go – I'll need some time to run some tests." Sheppard grumbled but Carson interrupted him before he managed to say anything. "Bring me a coffee when you come back."

"And some Jell-O for me," Teyla said lightly, smiling around her obvious fatigue.

Lorne could see the resignation on Sheppard's face, the deflation of his shoulders and internally he smiled. It was bad but the more he observed, the more interested he became. Because he was interested.

"Evan?" Teyla called out to him as they made their way out of the infirmary and he stopped, glancing to Ronon's upturned eyebrow before turning back to her. When she beckoned him, he hobbled over to her, leaning against her bed. "I do not know all of what was real and what was not but... I am sorry."

"For what?" He asked incredulously, but kept his voice low, his head dipping down slightly.

"You could have died."

He waved his hand dismissively.

"From what the doc tells me," he said as he cast a glance to Carson, who was reading conspicuously from a chart, "it wasn't me that could have died."

Teyla watched him for a moment before nodding, and Lorne smiled down at her matching her nod with one of his own.

"Nevertheless..." Lorne winked at her and turned away. "Thank you."

He paused for a moment, pivoted on his heel and nudged her hand with his fingers.

"Despite what you may come to believe, not all of it was in your head."

He stared meaningfully at her as she stared at him in confusion. Then, to his relief, her vision cleared and a slight flush rose to her cheeks. He could feel Carson's confusion, though the doctor didn't look up from the chart. He waited for another moment before smiling, nudging her hand again and stepping back.

As he walked out of the infirmary, he could feel the weight of five stares follow him through the doors and up the corridor.

Maybe he'd get to paint her after all.

--

When he'd heard she was sparring in the gym, his first thought was that she was crazy. But as he approached the secondary gym, he heard the faint sound of bantos rods clacking and he knew that she was in there with Sheppard or Ronon –both men who would go easy on her, despite her protestations.

He hadn't seen her since she had been discharged from her two week stay in the infirmary a week and a half ago. He'd tried to give her space – half hoping that she would come to him. Then he'd been called back to Earth for a meeting with Sheppard, O'Neill and the Joint Chiefs about command in Atlantis and he'd obviously missed the chance to make sure she was okay.

He had also kind of missed her.

And it seemed he wasn't the only one.

He stopped just inside the doorway and watched them, the ease of their movements – though Teyla's were evidently stiffer than usual – and the way that Sheppard went easy on her. When his banto made contact with her skin she stepped back from him, flicking her hair over her shoulder before stubbornly taking her place in front of him again.

"Maybe we should take a break," Sheppard said to her but she shook her head, swiping at the beads of sweat on her forehead. The room was warm, the Sun having shone in it for the best part of the day and he could feel sweat prickle across his neck.

"I am fine."

"Teyla..."

"Evan!"

Lorne smiled sheepishly and stepped into the room when she smiled in his direction. He nodded to Sheppard who smiled and returned the nod. The two had kind of... bonded on Earth; come to an understanding without ever saying anything. It was weird but it was there.

"I came down here to drag you out but it seems you're in good hands."

She sighed exasperatedly and turned back to Sheppard, her eyes accusing.

"I can take care of myself," she said hotly and Sheppard and Lorne shared a knowing smirk, which seemed only to infuriate her more.

"I'm sure you can," Lorne said as he moved further into the sunlit room, glancing questioningly to Sheppard who simply smiled and turned away, swigging from a bottle of water. "We just want to make sure you don't overdo it, that's all." She turned to him and he took an involuntary step back at the fire he saw in her eyes. "You could have died, Teyla," he reiterated, his hand finding its way to her forearm. She looked down at it but didn't move away. "We just want you to survive the recover as well."

She looked back up to him then, the fire in her eyes dwindled – thought not diminished – and he smiled down at her.

"Thank you," she said quietly and stepped back from him, her gaze drifting past his shoulder, her eyes softening when she met whatever she was seeking. His shoulders sagged slightly but he smiled despite himself.

The whole team was close, he couldn't have hoped to breach those barriers.

"Anyway, I better go," he said as he glanced back to Sheppard who nodded slightly, his eyes flicking back to Teyla in a look that Lorne didn't care to distinguish.

He sighed and shook his head slightly, pursing his lips as he walked away.

"Lorne?" Sheppard called after him and he looked back at him over his shoulder, a shard of light piercing his eyes, momentarily blinding him.

He saw another indecipherable look between them and he frowned, turning his body back towards them.

"You can join us – if you wish," Teyla said, the look in her eyes heated.

As Lorne glanced between them – saw the way they were mirroring each other's stances with hands on hips, heads tilted in question – he got the feeling they didn't just mean in sparring. He glanced between them, saw Teyla's chest rise and fall, watched as the vein on Sheppard's neck pulsed quickly and he licked his lips.

Stepping back into the gym, he nodded and smiled.

"Okay."

He was glad he'd survived – even if only for this.