AN: Thanks to everyone that's read, reviewed, alerted, favorited, or has done any combination of the before mentioned things! It's greatly appreciated! Also, it helps me know that there's actually people reading this! So, here's chapter four, lemme know whatcha think!
~~~~Chapter Four~~~~
Lorne awoke slowly. Unconsciousness fading, beginning to let the outside light come in. Because of that, he was able to open his eyes and actually see things instead of going blind because of the harsh infirmary lights shining right in his face.
He looked around carefully; He was hooked up to several monitors, half of which he had no idea what they did.
Listening for anyone nearby, he managed to overhear Doc Keller talking to someone. He was going to get her attention, when he realized she was talking about him. Figuring he might get a blunter version while listening in, he remained quiet.
"He's got a tumor." Keller said.
"Say what?" Sheppard asked, sounding truly befuddled.
"A few years ago, Jonas Quinn was a member of SG1. While there, he began have pre-cognitive abilities. As it turns out; these abilities were caused by a tumor in his brain. Once it was removed, the abilities stopped. I believe that this is what's happening to Major Lorne."
"Why do you think this is like that?"
"I compared the MRI of Jonas to the MRI of Major Lorne, and the tumor's are in almost the exact same location and the size and shape of both are identical."
"Would that cause him to be hallucinating?" Woolsey's voice broke in.
"I don't think so. I looked to see if there might be anything else wrong, but I didn't see anything. I was going to look again, just to be sure."
"Let us know if you come up with anything." Sheppard instructed.
"Will do." Keller agreed and from the sounds of it, the small group disbanded.
Lorne remained silent, trying to comprehend what he'd just heard. He had a tumor? How? Why? When? All these questions went through his mind quickly, making room for the main one. "How long will I be unable to work?" He asked himself.
He needed some water for his dry throat, and a few answers, but he didn't feel like he could talk. So he did the next best thing, he began taking the heart monitor wires off. He knew the machines would scream loudly, and that would get Keller, or at least a nurse, over to his bed.
Sure enough, within seconds of the machines screaming, a nurse was at his side and Keller wasn't far behind.
"Major! You're awake!" Keller's voice was chipper, but to Lorne it sounded strained.
"Water." He said quietly.
"Of course." Keller said, grabbing a cup of ice chips from somewhere and slipping a few in between his lips. They were cold, but they melted quickly, wetting Lorne's dry mouth.
He felt able to talk a few minutes later and thankfully, Keller was still by his side.
"How's that, Major?" She asked.
"Better, thanks." He responded truthfully before deciding to get straight to the point, "How long have I been here and do you really think the tumor's causing me to hallucinate?"
She stared at him, slack-jawed. "You overheard us talking?"
Lorne just nodded in reply.
Keller composed herself as best she could before responding, "Well, I don't know about the visions, but with what happened with Jonas, I wouldn't be surprised. And you've been here about a day."
"Is there any reason why you can't remove the tumor ASAP?"
"Not as far as I know, but I'd like to finish going over the MRI's again before operating. Just in case."
Lorne nodded, "Alright. When can I get out of here?"
She sighed, "Well, now that you're awake and not showing any signs of anything, I suppose you can change and go. I've taken all the samples I need."
"Great! Thanks, Doc!" Lorne said happily. He had been pretty sure the Doc was gonna keep him longer, but he wasn't about to argue when she said he could go.
()_()_()_()_()_()
Two Hours Later
"And that is why you should never put a platypus in the bathtub." Coughlin finished.
His teammates just stared at him. "Please tell me you don't know this from personal experience?" Reed asked.
"Unfortunately, no." Coughlin said with a smile. "But a friend of mine does. Don't ask where he got the platypus, he never would tell us."
"Okay then. Let that be a lesson to us all- never feed Coughlin this weird blue chicken stuff ever again." Lorne announced to the table. He, Coughlin, Reed and Zelenka were sitting around a table in the mess hall eating lunch before the other three had to get back to work. Coughlin and Reed had a pre-mission briefing to get to and Zelenka had to get back to his lab before one of McKay's minions blew it up.
Coughlin and Reed were going as extra military escort to P3X-287 for some reason or other. Lorne personally thought it was because they were getting bored, and when they got bored, bad things happened. Kinda like with the Marines, only worse.
Before anyone could respond to Lorne's comment, the PA system came online, "Attention, Major Lorne to the infirmary immediately! I repeat, Major Lorne to the infirmary immediately! If anyone sees Major Lorne not headed to the infirmary, please escort him there or call a security team to do so. Thank you."
Suddenly, every eye in the mess hall was on Lorne. "Way to end a great meal." He thought solemnly. "I guess I better get there. See you guys later." He said to his friends as he stood and walked out of the mess. He didn't worry about his tray; he knew Reed would grab it for him.
Walking to the infirmary was strange, to say the least. Everyone kept looking at him as if expecting him to grow a third ear or something. It was weird. And not in the weird as in 'This happens all the time around here' but as in the 'That isn't normal even for us' weird.
Walking into the infirmary however, was relatively normal. Nurses going about their business, everything spick and span, and Keller in her office.
Heading towards Keller, Lorne noticed she was looking at an MRI. He guessed it was his. He also noticed that Sheppard and Woolsey were already there.
Opening her office door, he walked in greeting them, "Colonel, Doc, Mister Woolsey."
"Major, so glad you could join us. Any hallucinations lately?" Sheppard asked, the first part sarcastically, the second part serious.
"No, Sir. Not since I woke up today."
"That's good. Cause I found something." Keller informed him.
"What?"
"It's a small device implanted in your brain. It's extremely small and very well hidden."
"What type of device?"
"It's electronic, I know that much. I also know that at the time of this MRI, it was off."
"Okay." Lorne responded slowly. "Why did you call me and not McKay? He's usually better with the scientific stuff than I am."
"I saw a report once that mentioned something similar to this." She explained. "In the third year of the Stargate Program, there was an incident where all the members of SG1 began thinking things tasted better. Then, after about a day of that, a strange man appeared to them. No one else could see him, just them. He was being projected to them through their visual cortexes."
Knowing that they weren't going to understand all the medical terms, Keller dumbed it down, "He was basically a vision. He was appearing to them through a device that had been implanted in their brains. It was tiny, about the size of the one you have, and electronic. His purpose was to study them and report back to his 'Master' of sorts."
"Was it dangerous?" Sheppard asked, having spent no time at the SGC, the only stories he'd heard were from Ford. And those were limited.
Keller shook her head, "Not as far as they could tell."
"So this device is what caused me to see that man in the briefing room?" Lorne asked.
"I believe so, yes."
"Wow. That was a lot simpler than I thought it was. Or a lot more complicated, depending on how you look at it."
"How's that, Major?" Sheppard asked.
"I thought I was going insane. Glad to know I'm not!"
"Yes, well, let me know immediately if you see anything else." Keller told him.
"Sure thing, Doc." Lorne said with a grin.
"Alright, let's let the Doc get back to her work. I have paperwork to do." Sheppard announced.
"Who are you and what have you done with Colonel Sheppard?" Lorne joked, completely straight-faced.
"My name is George and I kidnapped him." Sheppard replied with an evil grin.
"Oh, for a second there I thought something bad had happened. Carry on then." Lorne said, his face breaking into a smile. "Colonel, Mister Woolsey, Doctor." He said respectfully as he turned and headed for the door, Sheppard and Woolsey following.
()_()_()_()_()_()
()_()_()_()_()_()
AN: So? I know it was kinda short (or it seemed short to me), but I didn't want to get to detailed about it, cause that would just confuse me. Also, can you tell I know NOTHING about medical stuff? I watch House to learn new terms, so yeah… Anyway, this is where you get to click the link and review! Or favorite… Or alert… Or all three… ;-D jk, but really, review! It helps me understand what I need to work on. See you next time!
