CHAPTER SEVEN
"Lad? How are you feeling?" Carson gently repeated Keller's earlier question.
John locked a bewildered gaze onto the other man's. "Confused?" The word came out as more of a croak than actual language. He tried to clear his parched throat.
"Aye. That's understandable," Carson acknowledged as he poured, then extended, a cup of water. "What do you remember?"
As John took the cup, things started to come back to him – like the fact that his last conscious thought was laying in that very bed with a chest tube stuck in his side. Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla had been there, too. They had been talking about the mission that was the cause of the chest tube situation.
"John?" Carson's voice sounded, and John blinked. He had paused with the cup half to his mouth.
John took a quick sip of the water trying to cover the lapse, not minding that it was mostly lukewarm. "Thanks, Carson," he said softly, glad to hear his voice was better. More memories continued to flood in. "I remember that you weren't here before," he gestured at Carson.
"Och, that's because I wasn't here," Carson replied. "I only arrived a couple hours ago. Jennifer here asked for a consult on your case."
John glanced around at the machines, he had hazy recollections of them from the last time he'd been awake. They appeared to all be in their previous spots, doing their previous jobs. The chest tube was gone; a thick white bandage was taped to the area.
"A consult?" Carson's words caught up to John and stopped him in his mental tracks. That sounded like something that required more than just run-of-the-mill medical care. Consult translated into serious infirmary time, and just the thought stirred something deep within him. It niggled at the edges of his subconscious.
"Do you know why you're here? In the infirmary?" Keller asked.
John eyed her as his memory continued to catch up to the rest of him. What came back returned in vivid Technicolor, reminding him of what a rough couple of days he must have had. "Uh . . . jumper crash, couple busted ribs. There might have been something about a lake." And a bird, who seemed to have gotten into his head. But he wasn't sure it was in his best interest to say that part of it out loud. "I feel fine now, though," he added, surprised at the realization. He was feeling better by the minute. "When can I leave?"
Carson and Keller simultaneously donned individual annoyed doctor expressions. Carson pursed his lips and Keller pierced him with a look. "Do I need to remind you that less than twenty four hours ago, you were wheeled into the infirmary with a hemothorax, three fractured ribs, blunt force trauma to your chest with extensive bruising, a concussion and let's not forget having your lungs filled with lake water? I had to resuscitate you twice."
John looked between the two of them, decided they both needed to lighten up. "I might be a little bit hazy on a few details, but I do remember that it was breathable lake water," he said.
Keller didn't look impressed. "Some of which was still in your lungs when you arrived; complicating your case."
"But, I feel fine," John insisted. "As long as you're not about to tell me that I've got re-activated Iratus DNA floating around in my blood, I think I'll be okay."
"There's no sign of Iratus DNA – I double checked," Carson assured him. "But the point Jennifer is trying to make is that by all rights, you should still have a chest tube in you." He gestured toward the white bandage taped to John's side. "As it is, the puncture site itself is practically healed after less than an hour. Miraculous recoveries don't fill us with confidence."
John glared at the two of them for a long moment. This was ridiculous. He felt perfectly fine, and not in the hopped up, I've-got-Iratus-DNA-running-through-my-veins way he had felt after Elia had tried to feed on him. Aside from growing hunger and thirst, he felt as if he'd just awakened from the best sleep he'd had in his life.
"Look. I'm good. I don't know why, but I am." Maybe a demonstration would get his point across. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, and moved to pull back the blankets that covered his lower body.
"Whoa! Colonel, no!" Both doctors objected immediately.
Under normal circumstances, John might have took the time to argue further, but that feeling in the back of his mind was continuing to grow. He really needed to get out of here.
"Are we interrupting something?" A smug voice sounded above the fray.
John looked past the two angry doctors at McKay and Ronon standing between the parted curtains. They looked entirely too amused. He allowed himself to be settled back against the pillows.
"I take it the two of you noticed that the curtains were closed before you stepped through them," Carson said in their general direction, his annoyance showing.
"We did," Rodney confirmed, his grin growing. "We didn't care. Carry on."
"Don't you have someplace else to be, Rodney?" Carson asked tiredly.
"Nope. No place else. When one team member is down, it's up to the rest of the team to . . . pick him back up." Rodney looked proud of himself for coming up with that one.
"Thanks," John said, if only to change the subject. Then, "Where's Teyla?"
"Oh, she's … uh …." Rodney trailed off, shot a glance toward Ronon, then looked anywhere but at John. "She's busy."
John wasn't buying that. He locked his gaze on Ronon. "Where's Teyla?"
Ronon didn't hesitate. "She's with Woolsey trying to get Kremer and Bowen back."
John was confused. "From where?" He had a hazy, yet distinct recollection of he and the rest of the team accompanying the scientists out of the Omari mountain. It had to be some kind of record for the both of them to be lost again so soon.
"From the Omari home world," Ronon said.
"Granted I've been in the infirmary for the last little while, but didn't we already find them?"
"We did, but we left them on the side of the mountain so that they could meet up with Lorne's team. Unfortunately, they met up with Omari warriors instead. They were taken into custody for trespassing into Guardian territory."
"We went there to find them," John said. "Why would you leave them behind?"
Rodney shared an uncomfortable look with Ronon. Then, "Because there were only four birds and six people. Kremer and Bowen insisted that we go. We knew Lorne was near by."
John still didn't understand.
"Look, we thought you were dying, okay?" Rodney exclaimed. "We … none of us wanted to stay behind if …."
John got it. "Well … why didn't anyone tell me what was going on last night?" he asked, shifting gears. He was military commander; he shouldn't be out of the loop of something like this. He was the one who was responsible for bringing Bowen and Kremer home. It was ultimately his responsibility that they had not made it back.
"In case you don't recall, you hadn't done your miraculous healing thing yet," Rodney told him. "And you could barely keep your eyes open. Besides, Teyla and Woolsey are all over it." He dismissed the situation like it was a done deal.
John pierced him with a look. "Something could go wrong," he insisted. Rodney had been in the Pegasus Galaxy just as long as he had. Murphy's Law ruled. Anything that could go wrong, would go hellishly wrong, in spades, wielding a chainsaw. Hadn't the last mission alone proved that?
"Well, yeah," Rodney conceded the point. "But what would you do about it? Show up with a wheel chair and a P-90?"
"If I had to, yes," John said.
Keller cleared her throat. "Not this time, Colonel."
John shot her a look. Why was everyone ganging up on him? The need to do something was so strong that it was beginning to set his nerves on edge. "I'm just saying that –
"It's done, son. Let it go," Carson urged him. "Getting your pressure up might de-rail your healing process."
"I thought you said I was healed except for the pesky hole that's well on its way." John looked at him suspiciously.
Carson opened his mouth to speak, but Rodney cut him off. "If you'd just shut up for a second, Ronon and I will explain what we think has all you medical types scratching your heads."
John fought the urge to continue arguing. He really wanted out of the infirmary. He hated feeling helpless. Worse, he hated feeling fine but being forced to sit on the sidelines. If Rodney had something that could get him out of here with less of a fight, he was all for it. "Okay. What do you have?"
Rodney grinned and placed his laptop on the bed and spun it so that everyone could see it. "We got the results back from Geology a little while ago. I think there is much more to the Omari world than mineral T-9. The water that you were dunked in has healing properties, and not just for the birds, but for humans, too. Take a look."
He tapped several keys and a diagram showed on the screen. "These appear to be self-directed organic particles. They act very much like nanites. They were still active in the fluid in our sample containers yesterday, but they appear to loose effectiveness over time. By this morning, most of the observable new particles were inactive."
"How can you be sure it works for humans, too?" Carson asked. "Never mind that I'd love to get a closer look at these birds."
"Well, ask Ronon here," McKay gestured at their tall Satedan friend.
"I hurt my shoulder yesterday," Ronon said. "When I saw how fast it healed the bird, I thought I'd try it. I poured some on it. Nothing happened so I forgot about it. Then last night, my arm felt kind of weird and hurt a lot. But when I woke up this morning, everything was fine. It felt better than it did before we left on the mission."
"And I," McKay jumped back in, pointing at the colorful scratches still visible on his face and arms, "didn't use it. Still scarred." John had never seen McKay so happy to have visible injuries.
"Perhaps that is what happened with you, Colonel," Carson said.
"So no more need to triple check the Iratus thing?" John asked. "I can leave now? The bird seemed fine and was flying around after crashing into the jumper."
"I'm certain that your physiology is entirely different from that of the bird. Besides, I'm sure we've not done more than cursory tests. It's even more necessary that we keep you for observation. We need to know –"
"I'm not going to be a guinea pig, Carson," John insisted. Seriously, this was ridiculous. It was a conspiracy to keep him here.
"No one's asking you to be a test subject, son. But the fact of the matter is, your injuries were significantly different than Ronon's and …."
John looked up as Lorne stepped into his curtained area and came to an abrupt stop. There was an air of urgency about him that put John on high alert.
"Major?" He asked, cutting off whatever Carson was trying to say. Carson's words trailed off and he turned, following John's intent gaze.
"I thought you were with Teyla and Woolsey," Rodney blurted.
Lorne gave McKay a hard look, and then took in all the other eyes that were watching him before settling on John. "Teyla and Woolsey are still on the Omari world. Teyla has been taken captive."
"What?!" McKay demanded. "What happened?"
John didn't take his eyes off Lorne, but waited stonily quiet to hear the rest.
"Both Teyla and I were taken out with blow darts when we went through. When I woke up, Woolsey told me that the Omari learned that the four of you went into their mountain. Woolsey told them that you had injuries that didn't allow you to come. But they are insisting that Ronon and McKay come back for the hearing.
"Woolsey told me to come back, let you know what's going on and get a team together for an extraction, if need be."
"Have you already picked your team?" John asked as he tossed back the covers and went to work disconnecting himself from the various bits of medical equipment that were attached to him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Keller demanded, working her way toward the bed.
John looked past her and waited for Lorne's response.
"Yes, sir. They're getting kitted up now."
"What's your plan?" John asked, and then listened intently as his second in command gave him the reader's digest version.
"Good. I'd like to make one small modification. When the team is gathered, have them meet me in the jumper bay."
"Yes, sir." Lorne turned and left.
He shot a glance toward Ronon and McKay. They understood without words and set off to get ready to go get Teyla. When they'd gone, he turned to face Keller.
"You're not in any condition to leave, Colonel."
"I'm going to get my people," he said. It really was as simple as that. There was absolutely no way he could just lay around here while the rest of his team turned themselves in to the natives because of a mission that he had authorized.
"You're still under observation in this infirmary. We don't know what type of consequences that water could have on your system."
"Doc, I'm not asking for permission." He had given up arguing that he felt fine because obviously neither she nor Carson was willing to listen to that.
"You really should listen to her, John," Carson said, gently. "We don't just say these things to make your life difficult or to interfere with military action. We genuinely are trying to look out for your well being to the best of our ability."
John looked at the two of them. "Well then, come with me," he said. "That way you can keep an eye on me. Besides, you said you wanted to see those birds. Well, maybe you'll get your chance."
Carson opened his mouth to argue, and then looked toward Keller. Some kind of silent communication went on between the two of them, and then Keller's shoulders sagged as she gave up.
"Fine," she said, and then started in on a list of do's and don'ts. John nodded in all the right places, and within two minutes, he was on his way to a uniform and the weapons locker. There was work to be done.
