The next two days passed in a blur for Carson. His two patients swelled to twelve as ten more men developed the same symptoms as Lorne and Sheppard. The progress of the virus seemed to vary from person to person. Lorne seemed to develop full-blown symptoms quicker than anyone else. Sheppard, while one of the first affected, seemed to be taking longer to develop them than many of the others affected.
"Carson," Teyla's voice broke into his weary thoughts.
"Hello, lass," Carson replied, trying to conjure up a smile.
"How is Major Sheppard and the others?" she asked, looking over towards the isolation ward they had established.
"At the moment they are all resting. The last crisis finished ten minutes ago, and goodness knows when the next one will start," Carson responded, running a weary hand over his eyes.
"And how are you?" Teyla asked gently, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I'll be much better once I can work out what's causing this damn thing and better yet, a cure for it," he replied, tiredness making his reply sharper than he intended.
"What do you know of it so far?" Teyla asked.
"Well," Carson said, turning to face her. "All those affected have been men who carry the ATA gene naturally. The virus isn't airborne or water-borne from what I can determine. It's most likely transmitted by contact, possibly sexual contact. It seems to act by causing massive temperature fluctuations which weaken the organs and cause the body to go into shock."
"Could it have anything to do with the people we brought back last week?" Teyla asked.
Carson looked at her keenly. He'd been half-aware of the young woman's coolness towards her new found people, and slightly surprised by it. He'd seen, first-hand, how much Teyla cared for her people and had thought she would welcome the newcomers with open arms.
"Why do you ask that, Teyla?" he answered her question with one of his own.
"I feel uncertain about these people," Teyla answered, after a moment's thought. "I sense something is wrong with them, something does not seem true about them."
"Have they done anything to make you feel this way?" Carson asked.
"Nothing in particular," Teyla responded, choosing her words carefully. "But I feel a sense of belonging with my people. I do not feel it with them. I do not feel that I share any sense of history with them. It is difficult to explain," she said, wrinkling her nose in concentration. "But I sense deceit from them, that they are not truly who or what they appear to be. And yet everytime I am with them, I find I like them and I want to be their friend."
Carson continued to listen to her intently, smiling slightly in encouragement. Neither of them noticed the doca that was sitting in the corner, listening just as intently.
"It is different from when I sense the Wraith," Teyla continued. "But at the same time akin to that feeling. It is as if I sense danger, but I cannot quite put my finger on what that danger is."
"Have you spoken to anyone else about this, lass?" Carson asked.
"Just Ronon," Teyla responded. "He has been having nightmares and is finding he cannot sleep."
Carson had a moment of flashback to his own nightmare. "That's good, lass," he replied. "Don't say anything to anyone else just at the moment, and let me have a wee think about it."
"I did not want to burden you further, Carson," Teyla said, with an apologetic smile. "But I was not sure if my feelings might be relevant."
"You did the right thing, love, so don't you worry about it."
Teyla leaned over and gave Carson a gentle kiss on the cheek. "And you are not to exhaust yourself so that you too become ill."
"I won't love," he responded, hoping that it was true.
Neither of them noticed the doca slinking away back to his people.
Teyla had barely stepped out the Infirmary door when the next crisis came. The machines monitoring Lorne suddenly burst into life.
Carson jumped up and ran over to the Major. Three of his nursing staff joined him. Lorne's eyes were open, but unfocused.
"Major," Carson called out to him, tapping his hand to try to get his attention. For a moment Lorne's eyes seemed to meet Carson's and he reached out as if he was trying to tell him something. Then the eyes closed, and for a moment the machines went silent. Before Carson could react and start resuscitation, the machines started to bleep again.
Carson quickly and efficiently checked the soldier over. Although Lorne was still breathing and his heart was beating, he was completely unresponsive. He had slipped into a deep coma.
oOoOo
The doca entered the room, and stood before Tollany before resuming its natural form.
"The woman, Teyla, senses something about us," the doca reported.
"Has she told anyone?" Tollany asked.
"The big man, Ronon, and Dr Beckett," the doca replied. "I think they were both suspicious anyway."
"Our mind control is encountering resistance," Sukara said from behind Tollany. "We are having to exert more influence than we would like. And there are side effects."
"Are they having nightmares?" Tollany asked.
"It is highly probable," Sukara responded. "And there are occasions where we are finding it hard to keep them under our control. We often need to resort to physical contact to ensure our influence is strong."
"We must take steps to protect ourselves," Tollany said. "At least until the breeding pods can be moved, and that will probably take another week."
"We could eliminate the threats," the doca said, a menacing snarl appearing on his lips.
"That would only arouse more suspicion," Sukara said quickly. "We have already caused these people harm by bringing the virus. We do not need to threaten their existence further."
"The breeding pods are more important than these people," Tollany contradicted. "They are our future and must be preserved at all costs."
"What do you want me to do?" the doca said, an eager grin now curling his lips.
"I believe we may have left something important back on the planet," Tollany said, returning the grin. "And I am sure that Teyla and Ronon would be very happy to take us back there to find it."
"Accidents tend to happen on that planet," the doca replied.
"Yes, they do, do they not?" Tollany responded.
oOoOo
Carson had just taken a sip of his tea when the alarms went off again; indicating one of his patients was in crisis. That had been the pattern of the day. He would get one of them out of danger when another crisis hit.
With a sigh, Carson got to his feet to see who was causing the problem now. His heart fell when he saw it was John. Elizabeth had been sitting with him, and her face reflected the way Carson was feeling. He could see the dread and fear he was feeling pooled in her eyes.
"Carson?" she said, almost as a question.
"It's okay, love," he said gently. "But it might be as well for you to go back to your office for a wee while. I'll let you know when the Colonel is stabilised again."
With a last squeeze of John's hand, Elizabeth left, and Carson moved swiftly to his side. His temperature was rising sharply, and his body was soaked with sweat. Carson started to take the measures necessary to reduce his temperature. He had done it so often already that day, that it seemed almost routine. Except for Carson, something that involved the life or possible death of a friend could never be routine.
For two hours he fought to lower John's temperature. He would get it down a couple of degrees only for it to shoot up even higher than before. No matter what Carson did, John's temperature kept rising, slowly but surely to a critical level.
Elizabeth returned, wondering why Carson hadn't let her know how John was. She stood and watched, wide-eyed as Carson worked constantly on John. After a while, she went to get Carson a cup of tea; he took hurried sips in between fighting for his patient.
Finally he sank into the chair beside John's bed, another crisis averted, and took long sip of his luke warm tea.
"How much longer can his body stand this?" Elizabeth asked, apprehensively.
"He passed that point about half an hour ago," Carson said, doing nothing to allay her fears. Then seeing the fear in her eyes, he continued. "But he's a fighter, is our Colonel Sheppard. He's proven that more times than I can remember. I won't give up on him, love. And you're not to either."
"I won't, Carson," Elizabeth said, leaning over and patting the doctor's arm. But even before she could settle back in her seat, the next crisis hit.
John started to convulse. Violent seizures seemed to wrack his body, making Elizabeth aware of how slightly built John was. Carson struggled to get his convulsions under control, fighting to lower his temperature, stacking him with cold blankets and ice.
Then suddenly the convulsions stopped. Elizabeth looked up at Carson with hope in her eyes. He returned her look with a steady gaze. As their eyes met, the steady beeping of the machines monitoring John stopped, replaced by an alarm, his heart had stopped beating.