Deadly Intent

Chapter 4

When John hobbled into the infirmary the next morning, it seemed awfully quiet for a change. There appeared to be only one patient resting in bed. John acknowledged him with a nod, noting that the tough marine sergeant looked somewhat pale and sickly with a slightly greyish, green-tinged complexion. An I.V line fed what looked like saline solution into his heavily tattooed arm. Obviously, the man was being rehydrated.

"What happened to you, Sergeant Flynn?" John called over to him.

"Must have eaten something bad off-world. Can't seem to keep anything down at the moment." The tough guy answered glumly.

John cringed in sympathy. He hated vomiting more than anything, well almost. "Not good. Hope it stops soon for your sake, Sarge. Any idea where Doctor Beckett is?"

Before Flynn could answer, Carson's Scottish accent sounded directly behind John making him jump slightly. "I thought I heard your voice, Colonel."

John managed to swivel around on his crutches to face his friend. "Ah…just the man I wanted to see. I need to talk to you in private."

Carson had a good idea what John wanted to discuss with him. "Aye, well, we'd best be going into my office then. Sergeant Flynn's symptoms could indicate a stomach bug, so don't go getting too close to him as I'm sure you don't want that right now."

Chewing on his lip, John shook his head. "I certainly don't. Hope you get better soon, Sarge!" he remarked before hobbling behind Carson.

Flynn nodded and watched him go. That's what he loved about his C.O. The Colonel genuinely cared about his men. Now if only he could stop puking up every single thing he put in his stomach, he could get back to his duties.

Although Carson's assignment to Atlantis was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement, he'd been working out of the base now for about two and a half months to help relieve Jennifer Keller. Technically, she was still on maternity leave. Predictably though, Rodney's young wife just couldn't stay away from her work. Although having Carson around took the pressure off and enabled her to look after baby Peter while at the same time being able to help out in the infirmary when needed. Like the time when Sheppard had broken his leg. Although Carson loved working on Atlantis, he did kind of miss being out among the citizens of Pegasus. So as soon as the I.O.A got off their backsides and agreed to an additional doctor, he intended to go back out into the field again.

Carson purposely moved a little slower in order to allow John to follow him at a leisurely pace. He didn't want the Colonel putting unnecessary strain on his healing leg. They eventually reached his office, if you could call it that as it was extremely poky. A small desk and two chairs nearly filled the entire space. Carson indicated that John should sit down and take the weight off his legs.

"Now what can I do for ya?" Carson asked before taking a seat of his own.

John rested the crutches against Carson's wooden desk and came straight to the point. "I need to get rid of these damn things as quickly as possible. Is there anything you can to speed-up the healing process?"

Carson sighed. "We've been over this before and the short answer is still…no. You're doing remarkably well, but if you put your full weight on the fracture too early it could set you back for weeks."

John clenched his jaw. "It's just…," He stopped to rub his forehead, a gesture that showed how frustrated he was.

"John, I know what you want to say. Look whatever this doctor has to report, it won't change the fact that you will have full use of your leg soon enough. You are in excellent health for a man in his early forties. Your heart and lungs are sound and you keep yourself slim, which is more than I can say for others in the same age group, myself included."

"Your weight is fine, Carson."

"Aye well, I certainly have to watch the pounds, and I could do with a little more exercise if I were honest." He paused for a moment. "John, you know we'll stand by you, whatever happens."

John nodded gratefully and relaxed a little. "Thanks, I know you will. So what's the estimate?"

"When did we last do a scan?"

John had kept a good record in his mind and had no problem answering his doctor friend. "Jennifer did one seven days ago."

"Aye that she did. I remember that now and she was pleased with the results. But seeing as the Ancient scanner uses no harmful x-rays, we can do another one right now. It will tell me all the details I need to give you a truthful answer."

"Yeah, that scanner has been one of our best finds. Pity the Ancients never invented, a…bone healing machine."

Carson looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, they might have. Even after all these years we still haven't fully catalogued and tested all the equipment we've found to date."

"You're kidding me"

"No, I'm not. What with one thing and another there just hasn't been enough time. One of the main problems is a lack of trained personnel. Firstly, you need people like Rodney and Radek to look at the machine and then someone to decide if it has a medical application or not. They're usually too busy with other more important things."

"Yeah, always seems to be one crisis after another." John was thoughtful for a moment. "Yet you found the scanner quite early on?" he pointed out.

"Aye, that we did. That particular machine was quite easy to recognise, and it was well catalogued in the Ancient database. That and the other Ancient equipment we use, so maybe I'm wrong about a machine that helps to heal fractures and the like. Sorry, we'll have to do it the old fashion way and wait for Mother Nature to do her job."

John looked a little downcast. "I guess so. How about that scan then?"

"That we can do."

The scan didn't take long. Carson gave his friend some reassuring news, telling John he could soon put weight on his leg as the break was nearly healed. Just another week or so, and then he would be able to use a walking stick instead of the awkward crutches.

To John another week was one week too many.

oOo

Sometimes sleep eluded a person no matter how tired they were. Nearly everyone suffered occasionally, especially during stressful and worrying times. Any problem always seemed far worse than it actually was during the restless hours of darkness.

John normally didn't suffer from insomnia as his laid back attitude had served him well over the years. Usually, he was so worn out, what with running the military and juggling away missions that he could always fall asleep without any trouble. As long as there wasn't any danger to watch out for. However, what with one thing and another of late, his mind was often far too active to get a good night's rest. If he'd admit it, he was also worried sick about his superior's visit in a few days time. Another reason could be a lack of any strenuous activity. His physiotherapy session or the occasional hobble to his favourite balcony just weren't cutting it.

Another quiet sigh left his lips. Being extra careful so as not to disturb Teyla, John turned over yet again in an effort to find a more comfortable position. It didn't work as his bad leg decided to ache in the new position. He carefully moved again, letting out another sigh when he ended up in exactly the same place as he had been.

Teyla suddenly moved making John think he'd disturbed her. Thankfully, she didn't move again or say anything, meaning she still slept on soundly. Deciding he really must keep still for her sake he lay as still as possible. Teyla needed her rest as tomorrow she was off on a diplomatic trading mission on behalf of the Coalition and Atlantis. Although it was a fairly straightforward negotiation that should only last a couple of days, she still needed to be on guard for any slippery deeds from traders or politicians with delusions of grandeur. It worried him that she was undertaking the mission when she was already nearly four months into her pregnancy. Of course, he'd never mentioned that to her as she would probably kick his ass all the way to Earth. Nevertheless, it added to his uncertainties. Lying on his back, he agonized about that for a while. Turning it over and over in his head, which really was a pure waste of energy as he had assigned extra protection to go with her. Meaning there really wasn't anything to worry about. He had to trust her to stay safe.

Trying to concentrate on less worrying things, he attempted to switch his mind away from that particular concern. Inevitably his mind turned to work. Technically, he was still on sick leave but allowed limited light duty such as mission reports, planning and the like. Never before had his paperwork been so up to date. Not that he had always done the paperwork when on full duty. What with time restraints, he often dumped that on Major Lorne. Apart from his own mission reports, annual evaluations and promotion recommendations. That was his duty, his alone. With all the spare time, he had completed this year's evaluations and recommendations in record time about a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully, high command will take note with regards to Major Lorne's long overdue promotion to a Lieutenant Colonel. For a couple of years now they had always rejected his recommendation. They insisted that the Major was still too young and inexperienced, which was absolute nonsense as John had been younger at the time of his promotion. However, he'd had Elizabeth on his side, and John knew for sure she had been the only reason for his sudden promotion. It still saddened him to think of Elizabeth gone the way she was. Another thing that plagued his mind.

Switch off John - for god's sake - switch off! He ordered firmly. He needed some sleep as he had a full day ahead of him. What with looking after the kids before their morning lesson with Angie Clarkson and his daily physiotherapy session, scheduled for the time they were with her. Then lunch with the kids before Amiera came to look after them, so he could attend what was probably going to be a long and boring staff meeting with Woolsey.

Long and boring. Long and boring…with that thought, he finally drifted off.

No sooner had he hit the pillow when it seemed the alarm went off. Teyla gave him a quick kiss before leaving the bed to go wash and get dressed for her mission.

John thought the lights high enough to see the alarm clock. It showed the unearthly hour of 04:50. Under normal circumstances that wouldn't be bad as he was an early riser anyway, but after the sleepless night, he'd just had. He sighed, rubbing his tired eyes before drifting towards sleep again.

Teyla entered the bedroom fifteen minutes later to find him fast asleep. She decided to leave him as she knew that he hadn't slept too well of late. Leaving their bedroom, she quietly entered the children's room taking note that they were also fast asleep and would probably remain so for at least another couple of hours. She scribbled a note for John and quietly left their quarters to have a quick breakfast before leaving for her mission in forty minutes time.

oOo

John woke with a start as a loud penetrating sound echoed around the thick fog that clouded his sleep-muddled mind. The sound didn't come again so maybe he'd dreamt it. He rolled over to see what time it was and realized he only been asleep for a couple of hours since he'd last checked. His alarm clock now showed 06:45. The other side of the bed was cold and empty as Teyla had already gone on her mission. John suddenly felt lonely as he had gotten so used to having Teyla by his side whenever he was home.

The sound came again. Realisation dawned. One of the children was crying. John quickly untangled his bad leg from the bedding that had somehow managed to wrap itself around his limb. Swinging it over the side, he grabbed his nearby crutches and pulled himself upright.

The crying appeared to be getting louder, so he hastily hobbled as best he could towards the second bedroom cursing his damn leg along the way. The sight that greeted him sent him into full panic mode. Both children were crying now and they looked like death warmed over. When it came to his own injuries and sickness, he took it all in his stride but seeing his kids so distressed left him feeling unnerved and anxious.

John moved over to Torren first as he was crying the loudest and appeared to be even more distressed than his sister. Placing a hand upon the boy's warm forehead, John noted that he looked quite green in the face. There was a thin sheen of perspiration covering his body and the boy smelled of vomit. John realised Torren had been sick on what little he'd had in his stomach. It covered his sleepwear and pillow.

"It's okay, Torren. I'll call for help and get you cleaned up in no time," John soothed. Torren continued to cry, although he had calmed down a little upon seeing his daddy.

John then turned to Beth and found the little girl in the same state. After comforting her, he murmured. "I'll be right back. I just have to go and call for help. Okay?" Beth nodded and wiped a hand across her tear-stained face.

John took a deep breath and stood on suddenly shaky legs. Gods, he hated it when the kids were sick. Normally Teyla would be here to deal with it and comfort them. She was fantastic at doing that and would often sing beautiful, soothing songs to them. Well, they didn't have their mom and they certainly wouldn't be comforted by his singing. However, it was still up to him to see them through this. He grabbed his crutches and went to retrieve his ear-bud, which was still next to his bed.

Adjusting them into his ear, he quickly contacted the infirmary. "This is Colonel Sheppard. I have two sick kids on my hands. Please send a doctor immediately."

It took longer than normal for someone to answer. When they did, they seemed stressed out. "Sorry, Colonel, but we've got a bit of a situation on our hands. We really can't spare anyone at the moment."

John blinked a couple of times, not believing what he was hearing. "What do you mean a situation? Look, my children have been sick. I need someone to check them over and help me clean them up."

Another voice came over the comm. "This is Doctor Cole, sir. I'm sorry about that. We're being overrun by people complaining of sickness. I would have asked you to bring the children to the infirmary, but I know you're not very mobile at the moment. I think the best thing is to keep them in their beds as I'm sure it's the same illness. I'll send a nurse along to assess the situation and clean them up for you."

"Do that, but I want them checked over by a doctor as soon as possible. I don't care how many other patients you have, the children are really sick!" John spoke a little louder than he normally would.

"I'm sure they appear so, sir, but let me reassure you that the virus seems to be fairly short-lived. Sergeant Flynn is already showing signs of improvement. I have to go now, sir. A nurse will be along in a minute. A doctor will come as soon as possible."

Now feeling a bit guilty for overreacting, John murmured. "Yeah, okay."

As he hobbled back to the children's bedroom, he thought about Sergeant Flynn and his sickness from yesterday. So it had been a stomach bug after all. He vaguely wondered why so many had fallen victim to it in such a short place of time. He just hoped to god he wasn't the next in line because he needed to stay well and care for his children. As best he could with his damn leg.

John re-entered the children's room. Torren appeared to be asleep now. At least he wasn't crying anymore. Beth was still whimpering, so John went and sat down by her side. He smoothed her brow. "A nurse will be here soon, sweetheart. Does it hurt anywhere?"

"No, feel sick, daddy."

"I know you do. It seems a lot of people feel the same. When the nurse arrives, she'll clean you up and look you over."

John continued to smooth her brow as Beth dozed. The door chime sounded five minutes later. John thought the door open and called for the nurse to enter, sincerely hoping that it really was a nurse. Normally he would never let anyone in without checking to see who it was first. Being less mobile certainly had its drawbacks. Thankfully it was Marie, the head nurse.

As she gathered her things, John asked. "So what's the situation? And do they know what caused it?"

"Let's get the children cleaned up first, then I'll fill you in." John nodded, although he didn't know what use he'd be.

It turned out that he was more useful than he thought as he helped strip the children's nightwear so Marie could wash them down. While Marie did that, he stripped the beds and got new bedding. Freshly washed and in new nightwear, the children both cuddled into their daddy while Marie made up their beds. John kept a bowl handy just in case they were sick again. Once Marie had finished, the children willingly took to their beds again.

Marie checked them over one last time. "Keep two bowls handy as they will probably be sick again even after the water they've just had. A doctor will be along shortly to make sure they aren't becoming dehydrated, which is the main problem with this kind of virus."

John nodded, pleased to hear that a doctor would be along soon. "So what are we dealing with?"

"Unfortunately, Doctor Beckett is also down with the virus."

"Oh, poor Carson."

Marie nodded. "Doctor Biro has said that it appears to be a virus not unlike the Norovirus back on Earth. You know, the one that affects cruise ships and the like. Only this one doesn't cause diarrhoea, just severe vomiting, and fever. Some unfortunate patients are suffering from bad stomach cramps. Thankfully, the children don't appear to have that symptom. However, they do have a low-grade fever, so I'd like you to keep an eye on that just in case it goes any higher."

John nodded. "Any idea where it comes from?"

"We've questioned the patients and it seems they all had the Ossian produced bottled Tamberry cream dessert yesterday. Sergeant Flynn and his team brought the product back from our Ossian trading partners the day before. Seems the Sergeant is particularly fond of Tamberries and thought the dessert would be a nice change for the base. As per protocol, a sample was tested by the labs. They found nothing at the time. However, another test was carried out earlier today on a different sample, it was found it to be contaminated by the virus. Now that's not saying that the virus is only spread by eating the dessert, but it seems so at the moment. I asked the children if they had any, and although their answer was a little vague, I believe they had some yesterday afternoon."

John nodded. "More than likely. Oh, sweet joy for those who like Tamberries. Personally, I find them too sweet." John pulled a face. "Must be even worse when combined into a creamy dessert."

"So you didn't have any?"

"Nope. Teyla didn't either. I don't know about Rodney, Jennifer or Ronon as they didn't join us for lunch yesterday. The children were still at their lessons, so had their lunch later with Amiera."

Marie started to pack away her things. "Right then you should be okay. I must go now. The McKay's have been advised to stay in their quarters for today at least, as it wouldn't be too good for a young baby to catch the virus. Doctor Cole will be along as soon as she can, but please advise us if there is any change in the children. Oh, and try to get some water into them, if at all possible."

"Yeah, I'll do that even if most of it comes right back. Anyway, I'll be here for them."

"I know you will be, Colonel." Marie smiled at him before heading for the door.

John sighed and watched her leave. It was going to be a very long day.

TBC