Suzotchka1 – Thanks for the review, Elizabeth's fate will be revealed in the next few chapters. I hope you enjoy this one.

Whirlwind-2005 – Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Steph7085 – Thank you so much for your review, glad you like the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 7

Teyla sat down in her seat next to Elizabeth and for the first time since the accident she didn't speak to her friend. She just sat there in silence so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the time passing by or Carson coming to check on Elizabeth or even when John arrived.

It wasn't until she heard him say her name that she registered his presence or how long she had been sitting there. She looked up to where he was standing in the door way regarding her with a concerned expression. She looked at the clock and noticed the time.

"You're early," she stated.

"I could come up with some excuse but I think we both know I'm early on purpose," he told her and she looked down at the floor. He walked into the room and sat in the chair at the opposite side of the bed without saying a word.

"What's going on?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she lied, he had enough to deal with and didn't need her dumping her problems on him besides she still had no intention of letting them find out about her past.

"Liar," he stated bluntly.

"It's just… everything is finally sinking in and it's kind of overwhelming. Things are really messed up at the moment."

"Yeah, they are," he replied sadly.

"I'm going to go and let you have some time with Elizabeth," Teyla informed him and stood up to leave the room.

John watched her go and waited until she was out of sight before he turned to Elizabeth. "Why do you suppose she's lying?"

He took Elizabeth's hand in his own and used his free hand to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "You'd get the truth out of her. What do you think I should do, leave her to figure out whatever it is on her own or find out and try to help?"

"Maybe I should talk to Ronon," he said quietly and looked at her for a moment "You're right that would be a bad idea and she would probably kill me for it."

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Ronon walked into the apartment that had become his home over the last few months. It still didn't feel like home, just a bunch of rooms he happened to live in. Teyla had stayed in the house when they had split up, he'd insisted on being the one to move out wanting her to have a safe home to live in. She had argued at first but eventually she had relented probably more out of a desire to end the arguments it caused.

He sat down wishing that somehow he could make everything go back to the way it had been. He and Teyla still happily married along with Elizabeth and John, no car crash, no divorce, just the four of them, happy.

Part of him knew that wasn't going to happen but a bigger part him wanted to keep the hope alive, a hope that was very quickly dieing. He needed that hope, he needed to keep believing that somehow everything was going to work out in the end. He knew that without that hope, he wouldn't survive, he wouldn't be able to make it from one day to the next.

- - -

"Okay a little to the left," Teyla instructed and the two men moved the sculpture as they had been told. "That's prefect, thank you."

The two men nodded and left the room leaving Teyla to stare at the new display. It had taken them all day but the new western display was finally done. She looked at her watch and realised her shift had ended over an hour ago.

"Looks good," she heard her boss say from behind her and she turned and smiled gratefully at him. He moved to stand beside her admiring the new display.

"For the amount of time we just spent putting this together it should look fabulous," Teyla informed him and he smiled.

"It does, come on I'll walk you to your car," he stated and Teyla raised an eyebrow at him but allowed him to escort her out of the building anyway. He had taken to hovering around her whenever she was at work, he always escorted her out of the building both at lunch and at the end of the day. They had barely made it into the parking lot when they heard a familiar and unwelcome voice behind them.

"Well doesn't this look cosy," Michael said.

"What do you want?" Teyla asked him angrily.

"You."

"Well you're not going to get me so why don't you just go," she told him.

"You know me, I'm very persistent," Michael stated taking a step toward Teyla and she unconsciously took a step back. Adam stepped forward though cutting Michael off from her.

"I think you should just leave," Adam informed him and Michael glared at him for a moment before backing off. Adam and Michael were about the same build and a fight between them could go either way.

"I'll see you later Teyla," Michael told her before he turned and left.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked her.

"I'm fine," she lied which she seemed to be doing a lot of lately. She mentally cursed herself for stepping back knowing it had showed him that she was still afraid of him. She offered Adam a forced smile and got in her car driving away and praying that Michael would just go away. He was right though, he was very persistent and always had been. It had taken a lot for her to get him out of her life the first time round and she wasn't sure she had the strength to do it again, especially not with everything else that was going on in her life right now.

She drove to the hospital and froze when she saw Ronon sitting in Elizabeth's room. Of all the people who could have been sitting there why did it have to be him? She took a deep breath and put on the best façade she could manage. Ronon was probably the one person in the world who could tell if she was lying no matter how hard she tried to hide it. John and Elizabeth could usually tell but if she hid it well enough she could get away with it, Ronon however could always tell.

"Hi," she said entering the room and sitting in the chair at the opposite side of the bed.

"Hey," he replied quietly.

"How are you?" she asked hoping if she kept up the conversation he wouldn't get the chance to notice something was wrong.

"As well as can be under the circumstances, what wrong?" he questioned looking a little concerned and she found herself cursing silently for the second time that day. Why did he have to be able to read her so damn easily?

"Nothing," she shrugged off to try and give herself time to formulate her lie.

"Teyla?"

"I'm just having a hard time dealing with everything, it's too much all at once," she explained glad that it wasn't a complete lie.

"Everything's changed hasn't it?" he questioned sadly and she nodded.

"I was thinking about that day on the beach, when you and John threw me and Elizabeth in the water."

A small smile graced Ronon's lips as he remembered the day she was talking about, one of many the four had shared.

"You got into a water fight with those kids, where did you get those water pistols from anyway?" she asked curiously.

"Borrowed them from a couple of other kids," he told her and she smiled "It was a good day."

"It was," she agreed and caught his gaze as he stared at her with a wistful expression on his face she was sure was mirrored on her own. Teyla looked away from him realising that staring wistfully at her soon to be ex-husband probably wasn't a good idea. She turned her attention to Elizabeth as did Ronon but it was only a few seconds before she felt his gaze on her once again and she tried to ignore the feeling of him watching her.

TBC