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oOo
The two men ran forward, past Carson, and into the body of the craft. John saw Teyla, wide-eyed and anxious, standing by one of Carson's nurses.
"Has he given ye any response?", Carson asked as Ronon set McKay down on the floor of the jumper, where a make-shift infirmary bed had been laid out, complete with pillow and IV stands.
"Well, he was laughing if you call that a response...", growled Ronon's voice.
After seeing Rodney safely into the care of Beckett, John strode quickly to the front, seeing the back of Lorne's head bobbing around as the pilot monitored the controls. John glanced behind him, anxious to be getting back there; he could see Teyla bending close to Rodney, her hand on his forehead, and her expression alarmed. She raised her head and John could see there were tears in her eyes.
"Rodney is no longer laughing", she said quietly and turned her eyes to meet John's. Oh, God, no... Sheppard's heart seemed to freeze; Carson was listening to Rodney's chest... a frown was on his face...
"Is he...?", gasped John, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. Rushing to the back of the jumper, he knelt swiftly beside Teyla, searching first her face, then Carson's, and finally looking down at Rodney.
If the sight of Rodney laughing had been disturbing, then seeing the normally stoic scientist crying was the last straw for John. That he had failed to keep Rodney from this terrible ordeal, was eating at his very soul.
Tears streaked the face of the sick man and John, swallowing, looked up, asking, "Carson? Do you...?", but he couldn't finish, his mouth dry and throat tightening, because this was McKay and seeing him like this was just unbearable.
But Carson, even with a stethoscope in his ears, knew what Sheppard was asking and quickly handed him a clean swab. John carefully cleaned Rodney's face revealing two cheeks highlighted in red, amid pale skin.
"It's okay, Rodney... everything's okay."
John thought he saw the tiniest glimmer of recognition, the faintest movement of the jaw, tilt of the head, as if Rodney had acually heard him. "Hold on, Buddy. We're almost there", he whispered.
Lorne's voice was heard from the front, answering a call from Atlantis, "Atlantis, this is jumper one... Yes, Ma'am, we have him..."
Carson was now checking for fractures and other injuries, his hands moving around the neck and shoulders, across the rib cage, down each limb...
"Colonel? Are we set to go, Sir?", Lorne's voice cut through the fog Sheppard felt wrapped in. He looked at Carson questioningly. Nodding at Sheppard, Carson called down to the front, "I need you to get us in the air now, Major. All possible speed."
John turned away from the body on the floor to address the pilot.
"Take her up, Major", he ordered in a clear voice, craning his neck towards Lorne.
"Sorry, Colonel, Ronon, but you're in the way... ", came the brisk voice of the doctor, fully in professional mode, and Sheppard realised that gathered around McKay, in the cramped floor space, there were no less than five people: Carson, a nurse and Ronon on one side, and he and Teyla on the other.
Ronon reached across and awkwardly patted at McKay's shoulder. Then he pulled himself up to perch for a moment on the bench behind him.
"Look after him, Doc."
"Ye can depend on it, laddie."
Then Ronon went forward, giving John a tight smile as he left them.
John got up and settled himself, also, on one of the narrow benches.
Carson and his efficient-looking nurse were already working to get McKay stabilised; they stripped him of his ragged shirt and jacket and as the last remnants were lifted away, John could not suppress his reaction to the sight of Rodney's chest and abdomen: it was a mass of bruises. Some recent and some a lot older.
Even worse was to see once more the scientist's hands; Carson's nurse, Hailey, was fitting splints to immobilise the fingers. The left was much more badly damaged than the right. Would he even have full use of that hand again? The fingers looked like they had been repeatedly abused, dislocated and twisted, and John felt suddenly sick, imagining what Rodney had endured. Drawing his eyes away, he realised that the jumper had gone quiet.
"My God... how can people...", Carson began angrily, and then sighed, shaking his head as if he had decided that this was not the time. The nurse draped a clean white sheet and then a blanket over the scientist, gently lifting each splinted hand clear, and then laying each on top of the covers.
In a warm tone the doctor spoke to his silent patient,
"Rodney... you're doing well... everything's fine..."
"We're just making you a wee bit more comfortable. Okay?"
John noticed that Carson didn't wait for a response, but narrowed his eyes as he watched the rise and fall of his patient's chest. Swiftly he felt for the carotid pulse.
"His pulse is steady, a little fast. Hm... something's going on in there..", he was still watching Rodney's chest, "..infection... pneumonia.." Carson muttered on, half to himself, although John noticed that the nurse was paying close attention to what was said.
"Give me two lines... I'm betting he's dehydrated and hypoglycaemic. We want to bring that under control right away."
Rodney's eyelids flickered; his eyelashes were still damp, although now the only sound he was making was an occasional hitched gasp as he breathed.
"Hailey, try the other arm..."
The nurse was having trouble raising a vein in the crook of McKay's left arm. She got up and walked around the body on the floor and knelt next to Teyla, on Rodney's other side. Carson turned his attention to the back of Rodney's left hand.
"I don't like doin' this ...", and Carson sighed as he gently pushed back the strapping on the hand splint. John remembered seeing McKay before with a line in his hand, Carson had said it was easier in Rodney's case.
The doctor did the job quickly and cleanly, hanging up a bag of fluid, and adjusting the flow. Hailey had managed to find a viable vein in the other arm, and she too attached a bag, returning to her place next to Carson.
Rodney suddenly murmured something and his whole body gave a shudder.
"No, don't speak, lad..."
Teyla immediately leaned forward, taking Rodney's right hand gently in hers.
"You are on your way home, Rodney", Teyla said, but Rodney continued to move his lips as if trying to communicate something.
"Stay... Don't go...", was all that he managed to get out, before he was fighting for air and coughing weakly. Teyla drew back slightly, looking to Carson, and laying the hand she had held, gently on the blanket.
Without a word, Carson reached behind his patient's head and pulled forward an oxygen mask, placing it carefully over Rodney's mouth and nose. All the while the scientist kept his eyes tightly closed and looked as though his every breath was exhausting.
As Carson lifted Rodney's head to properly secure the mask, McKay raised a hand suddenly to his face, and gave a groan of pain.
"Leave that there, son, you need it. Teyla? I think he means you, love."
Teyla looked at the doctor, puzzled by his words. But she saw now that the hand she had released was feebly reaching for hers, and that tears had sprung to Rodney's eyes again.
Grasping his right hand once more, and giving a slight squeeze, she said,
"I am here. I shall not leave"
John watched as Teyla held McKay's hand in both of hers, and as she bowed her head, brought it to rest lightly against her cheek. The scene held him spellbound for a moment, as Teyla's eyes met his and in her level gaze John saw everything that he himself was feeling: helplessness, anger, pity... guilt.
Sheppard suddenly found himself on his feet, turning on his heel and stumbling blindly towards the light of the forward section. In a few moments he was looking through the screen at rolling hills and a brilliant blue sky. It calmed him... looking at the sky, it always had. It was part of the reason why he loved to fly.
He saw that Lorne was making his approach to pass through the gate. The chevrons were lit. The pool shimmered and rippled. He took a deep breath.
They took Rodney home.
oOo
TBC and many thanks for reading!
You may be relieved to know that I have no medical knowledge, and therefore do not practice medicine.