Disclaimer Not Mine
I am sooooooo sorry about the delay in not posting anything. I cannot confirm or deny that my muse has returned, only that this filler chapter came to me, so I thought I'd post it, just to try and get back into the feel for the story. I have a vague idea of what's going to happen, but I thought that you deserve to get another chapter. Just some cuteness from John and Liz (this is isn't a "ship" story as such, after all they are only kids. I just love the John/Liz dynamic thing and truthfully I just find it easier to write for John, Liz and Carson than any other characters). Anyways, apologies once again for the delay, and hopefully I'll provide something a little more substantial soon!
Just a Little Problem – Staying Amused
John looked at the young girl across from him. She was really quite pretty. For a girl. She smiled softly back at him. She had dark hair and big green-brown eyes, just like him. John continued to watch her. She carefully brushed her hair. She must be smart if she can brush her hair by herself already he idly ran his fingers through his black shock of hair. His mother usually brushed his hair for him. John's mind started veering off onto another track.
The nice man with the funny voice had been in to see them earlier, and said that they were allowed to play quietly. Two of the kids that were with him – he couldn't remember their names – had disappeared very quickly, while the small, bossy boy was busy with a Rubik's cube.
John wasn't sure what he had done or what had happened, but he must be sick. He wouldn't be in hospital if something wasn't wrong. He didn't feel sick. He just didn't remember how he got there. He glanced at the girl in the bed next to him. She didn't look sick either. Thinking hard, he remembered the funny-voiced man calling her Elizabeth. That was a hard name to pronounce. She looked sad.
'Are you okay Lizbeth?' The name didn't sound quite right but John did the best he could. She looked slightly startled as he said her name, before nodding. 'I'm John.' Her face broke into a smile.
'I know that silly. I didn't think you wanted to talk to me.' She placed the hairbrush carefully beside her and then turned completely to face him, picking up what appeared to be a very strange looking teddy bear. John watched her, enthralled. She was so careful with everything. Smiling again she paused before speaking. 'Did you want to play?'
John was about to say that six year old boys don't play with girls but decided against it. She looked sad and ever so slightly scared. Maybe he could make her feel better. He nodded and grinned. She smiled back. John decided that she had a nice smile.
'Got any ideas Lizbeth?'
'We could play house.' John crinkled his nose up and turned to watch the adults buzzing around them. The room wasn't busy, but up the far end he saw a lady in white put a curtain around a person who was lying in bed. His eyes then travelled to a trolley that was close-by, its contents ignored by the adults. John had an idea.
'What about Doctors and Nurses? My uncle taught me how to put a bandage on. He's a doctor.' John grinned proudly.
'Okay.' Elizabeth said warily. 'But where are the patients?'
'We'll use your teddy bear. He looks like he has a bump on his head.' Smiling John wandered carelessly over to the trolley and removed as many bandages as he could hold. As he walked back he couldn't stop glancing back up at the end of the room where the person lay hidden by curtains.
'John and Elizabeth have both started to regress as well. From what I can tell as their ages jump about they also lose memories.' Carson glanced around his medical team that had assembled in the briefing room. 'I don't know how severe this is going to get but we need answers. And soon. For the moment, at least, the Athosians have been very kind and leant us some things to keep them amused. Teddy bears and such. If you'd call them teddy bears.'
Carson was about to go on with some more serious matters concerning the change in their flagship team when a call came over the radio.
'Dr Beckett, please return to the infirmary ASAP.'
Every doctor stood up and followed the MD out of the briefing room.
Doctor Beckett did not know whether to yell or laugh. Opening his mouth at this point seemed like a bad idea anyway.
It seemed that half an hour ago Dr Kavanaugh had settled down in the infirmary after receiving a serious, but not too severe burn to a small section of his right hand. Putting his lapse in judgment and subsequent injury down to fatigue the doctor had bullied the on-duty nurse into letting him stay in the infirmary, and to tell the rest of his team that he was unavailable for the rest of the day. However it seemed that when Dr Kavanaugh awoke ten minutes later he found himself, in his words "trussed up like a Christmas turkey." His ranting had alerted the poor nurse who had then called Doctor Beckett in order to calm the man down.
And so here the poor Scottish doctor stood, at the end of a bed watching a grown man wrapped completely from head to toe in bandages yell at two petrified looking children. Carson really didn't want to yell. That would only scare the poor kids more. And so, squaring his shoulders and telling himself not to laugh at the irate scientist he spoke up, in a very calm, almost surreal voice.
'Doctor Kavanaugh if you don't calm down this moment I will not only throw you out of this infirmary I will escort you, wearing only bandages to the jumper bay and dump you on the mainland with only some very well placed needle marks for company.'
'You wouldn't.' Carson considered.
'I'd make sure you were far enough away from the Athosians of course. I would feel guilty pushing you onto them.' Kavanaugh looked for the humour in Carson's eyes. The good nature in the usually sparkling eyes of the CMO was very clearly absent. The man calmed down almost immediately. 'Thank you. Now if you'll go with Joy she'll remove those bandages.'
Kavanaugh looked slightly worried as the head nurse grinned toothily at him. It was well known in Atlantis that Joy didn't live up to her name if you messed with her nurses. It was also well known that she enjoyed bungee jumping, Greco-Roman wrestling and flower arranging and wasn't afraid to utilise any of the talents that these hobbies bestowed upon her.
With the scientist now successfully sedated (without the use of needles – which was always a good thing) Doctor Beckett turned to look towards the two children that still looked slightly scared (John had just remembered that he didn't actually like hospitals, and his uncle had always scared him), Elizabeth in particular looked petrified.
'I'm sorry.' Carson's heart nearly broke as he saw the young girl's lip tremble as she fought not to cry. 'We were just playing.' Carson smiled softly and without thinking that the girl in front of him was actually his boss, he gathered her in his arms in a bear hug.
'Doctor Kavanaugh is always cranky.' Elizabeth snuffled into Carson's lab coat. He moved so he could look into her eyes. 'But whatever possessed you to bandage him up?' John finally spoke up to answer that question (he was not going to tell anyone that he didn't like hospitals, especially not Lizbeth).
'We were playing Doctors and Nurses. My uncle is a doctor and showed me how to bandage my teddy bear. We'd already helped Lizbeth's bear.' Carson finally noticed an Athosian 'teddy bear' in the same state of bandaged-ness that Doctor Kavanaugh had been in.
'We just wanted to help.' Elizabeth's voice was no longer teary as she got courage from John's words. 'Are you angry at us?' Carson smiled warmly.
'No. Just in future play Doctors and Nurses with teddy bears. Leave the real patients to me.' Carson was taken by surprise as Elizabeth hugged him, her small arms around his neck. She then stepped back and stood next to John again. 'Would you like something to eat?' John grinned.
'Yes please.'
'Okay, go back to bed and I'll get you something.' John grabbed Elizabeth's hand and they wandered back to the other end of the room. It was really quite sweet. Carson smiled.
The scene was broken as an uncompleted Rubik's cube was thrown across the room, connecting soundly with a heart rate monitor.
