Rodney pulled up short on the bank of the river, the travois banging the back of his legs, as he stared at the water for a moment. From where he stood, the river looked to be about thirty meters wide, but he had no idea how deep it was and the water seemed to be moving at a good clip; white water churned in a few places.
He looked downstream and thought the water flattened out and slowed the farther away it got from the mountains rising to steep peaks off to his right. He followed the edge of the river, slipping and sliding on the muddy bank, looking for the easiest place to cross, finally finding a spot that looked both free of rapids and shallow enough he could hopefully wade across and not drown.
He slipped out of the vines and wrapped them securely around his left arm, put the scanner on John's chest, and stepped into the river. He shuddered as the cold water hit his legs, the water was frigid and his legs soon went a bit numb. He used the walking stick to test the depth in front of him, changing direction if he found the water getting too deep.
"You were the one complaining about being hot," he berated himself, shivering as he stepped further into the cold water. "River must be coming right off a glacier or something." He clenched his teeth and held his breath as the water rose above his knees.
He checked his grip on the vines as the chunk of bark holding Sheppard started to float away from him slightly. "Okay, you can do this," he told himself. "It doesn't look that deep. See the stick says it's not that deep. You'll be fine."
He waded further out into the water and felt the current start to pull at him. He had to fight not just the pull of the river on him, but the travois as it tugged on his arm and tried to float downstream.
The water quickly rose above his knees, then his waist as he struggled across. By the time he reached the middle of the river, the water was up to his chest and he was having a difficult time keeping both his footing and his hold on the travois.
"Don't stop, don't stop," Rodney chanted to himself as he fought against the pull of the current. He wasn't a strong enough swimmer to try and swim the rest of the way across, towing the travois. He took another shuffling step. "Halfway there, keep going."
He glanced over at John and saw water lapping over the lip of the bark as the travois fought to free itself from his grip and float away. He held on tighter and kept moving, but only managed a few steps before he felt something under the water shift and he slipped and fell.
He came up gasping and sputtering as he flailed with one arm trying to find his balance again while being carried downstream by the pull of the travois. He caught sight of his walking stick floating past the travois and was a bit surprised at how fast it drifted away. While the river may have been slower than it was further upstream, it was still fast enough that the stick quickly disappeared.
It took several long seconds of fighting sudden panic, the current, and the travois before he managed to get his feet planted and start wading again. He shuffled forward, finally escaping the pull of the water as he struggled the rest of the way across. He fell to his knees at the edge of the river and crawled the rest of the way out of the water and up the muddy bank. He used his last bit of strength to pull the travois up next to him, then collapsed on his back, coughing and shivering.
It was several long minutes before he had his breath back and could tiredly sit up and check John. The bandage around John's side was soaked with river water and the wound looked just as bad as it did before, but Rodney heard a faint groan and looked up to see John's eyes open for the first time in hours.
"John?" Rodney said hoarsely and crawled to the head of the travois so he was easier for John to see. "How're you feeling?" he asked then winced. "Dumb question. Sorry."
"Rd'y?" John whispered.
"I'm here," Rodney replied.
"Whr?"
"Still on the way back to the 'gate," he wheezed as he tried to suppress another cough. "Should be there soon." He tried to smile for John's benefit, but he couldn't quite manage it as he shivered again.
He picked up the scanner and checked how far they were from the stargate. "I'm sure we're almost there," he said to John. "Just a little bit longer, and I'll have you in Carson's far more capable hands."
He finally found the energy signature for the 'gate and almost threw the scanner back in the river. They were still at least three kilometers from the 'gate. Hours of walking and then falling in a cold river and he'd gained little to no ground. John was getting worse and needed help.
"Told you I wasn't good at this wilderness stuff," he mumbled and dropped his head in his hands. "Teyla or Ford would have had you home by now, I know."
He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs and hid his head in his arms. He needed a minute, he told himself. Just a minute to warm up, get his emotions under control, and gather his flagging strength. He felt a slight tug at his trouser leg and turned his head so he could see John.
"D'ng best," John mumbled.
If anything, John's statement made Rodney feel even worse. "Apparently, that's not worth much," he snapped and felt instantly guilty when he saw the look on John's face. "Sorry," he said and tried to take a deep breath but only ended up coughing again.
He got his breathing back under control and dug John's canteen from the pile of meager supplies at the bottom of the travois. He gave John's shoulder a slight shake and held up the water bottle when John opened his eyes again.
"You need to try and drink something," Rodney said, and scooted close enough to the travois to help John swallow a few sips of the water. He recapped the bottle and slowly climbed to his feet. He told himself he'd warm up as he walked, shouldered the vines again, and started walking.
"All right, Major, here we go," he said and stumbled forward again. Three kilometers, a little under two miles. He could do this, he told himself. He had to.
He wasn't sure if his leg was still numb from the cold water or if the cut was just as bad as John's side, but the weird dead feeling made walking difficult and he found himself bracing himself on trees to keep his balance.
They were too close to the village, he knew, and he didn't want to take any chances of running into someone now when they were so close to getting home. To that end, he checked the life signs on the scanner more and more often, changing their path in order to avoid any blips he saw on the screen. He didn't know if the little dots represented villagers, help from Atlantis, or just wild animals, but he wasn't going to take any chances.
The coughing was getting worse, Rodney had to stop more than once as a fit took hold and he bent double trying to get his breathing back under control. He didn't waste his breath talking anymore. His world was reduced to putting one foot in front of the other and making sure they were heading in the right direction while avoiding everything around them.
It was dark when Rodney reached the edge of the clearing with the stargate. He took one last look at the scanner checking for life signs, then stumbled over to the DHD. He struggled out of the vines long enough to drop the scanner on the travois and find his tac-vest by John's feet, fumbling through the pockets until he found his GDO. The device in hand, he dragged the vines back over his shoulders and punched in the address for Atlantis on the DHD. As soon as the wormhole formed he sent his IDC and started for the 'gate. He didn't wait for confirmation of the code. If he stopped moving now, Rodney wasn't sure he'd be able to start again.
He wasn't even aware he was through the 'gate until one of the Marines stepped in his path. Rodney looked up at the face of the man staring down at him, he could see the man's mouth moving, but couldn't hear any words. He thought he should know who it was standing there, looking worried, but his brain and body had had enough. He'd done what he promised he'd do, he got John back to Atlantis. With a small sigh, he closed his eyes and let everything go.
~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~
Elizabeth sat at her desk trying to look like she was working and not worrying when the stargate lit up and Grodin announced an unscheduled activation.
"Raise the shield," Elizabeth ordered as she left her office.
"We're receiving an IDC," Grodin said and paused. "It's Lieutenant Ford."
"Lower the shield."
She watched as Ford and Teyla came through the 'gate and glanced back at the event horizon hoping to see two more people with them. The wormhole shut down, however, without her two missing people reappearing.
"Lieutenant?" she called down to Ford.
He glanced up at her and shook his head. He started to say something but she cut him off.
"Get cleaned up and checked out," she said and tried to hide her disappointment. "We'll meet in my office in an hour."
"Yes, ma'am," Ford said as he left the gateroom, Teyla in tow.
An hour later Ford and Teyla walked into her office with determined looks on their faces.
"We need to go back with search teams," Ford said without preamble as he stood at her desk.
Elizabeth understood how he felt, but she wasn't going to send more people back to the planet without more information.
"Tell me what happened with Rowland and Terris first, Lieutenant," she said making sure her tone remained calm as she motioned them to the chairs in front of her desk.
Ford sat in one of the chairs with bad grace but made his report as succinctly as possible. "How is Davis?" he asked once he'd told her about the attack at the warehouses and Terris' confession.
"He should be fine," Elizabeth said. "Carson didn't seem too worried when I checked in with him a few hours ago."
"That is good news," Teyla said with a smile.
"We need to go back and look for Major Sheppard," Ford said again. "We're pretty sure one of them was injured."
"It's night on the planet now, Lieutenant. You wouldn't be able to do much searching," Elizabeth told him. "You said Rowland was willing to assist with a search of the forest?"
"Yes," Teyla answered when Ford only frowned. "His people are woodcutters and are familiar with the forest near the village."
"All right," she said with a glance at Ford. "I will have teams ready to go in six hours when it's light on the planet again. Work with Rowland to coordinate a search of the forest; two of his people with each of our teams."
She thought Ford looked ready to start another argument when the stargate started to light up and Grodin called, "Unscheduled activation!"
Elizabeth tapped her radio, "Raise the shield," she said even as she rounded her desk and headed for the control room, Ford and Teyla right behind her.
"We're receiving a code," Grodin reported, then his face broke out in a wide smile. "It's Doctor McKay!"
"Lower the shield," Elizabeth ordered even as she followed Ford and Teyla down the stairs and stood to one side of the 'gate.
The shield lowered but it was several long seconds before anyone stepped through the event horizon.
The Marines were in position, weapons raised, when Rodney finally stumbled into the gateroom pulling something behind him. Elizabeth saw he was covered in mud and limping heavily, the bandage on his arm a bloody, muddy mess. He didn't react to the people around him and Elizabeth suspected he would have kept moving right out of the gateroom if one of the Marines hadn't stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop.
Thompson stepped up to Rodney and said, "Sir? Doctor McKay?"
Elizabeth was on her radio calling for Carson even as Rodney gave Thompson a glazed look and collapsed.
Thompson caught him easily and laid him gently on the floor and stepped back as Teyla and Ford closed on their teammate.
"My god," Ford muttered and Elizabeth looked at him, then at the wooden sled Rodney had dragged through the 'gate.
John lay on the sled, what looked like Rodney's damp uniform jacket spread over him, his head and arm bandaged. Ford moved the jacket and she had a glimpse of a bloody pressure bandage before Carson entered the gateroom.
"Màiri, Màthair Dhè," Beckett muttered before he dropped to his knees next to John, pushing Rodney's uniform jacket and the tac-vests out of his way.
Elizabeth stepped back as Beckett issued orders to the people with him. John was carefully lifted off the sled and onto a gurney, it took a bit longer to get Rodney out of the tangle of what looked like vines wrapped around his shoulders and tied to the piece of wood, but once they had him free, he was placed on a gurney as well. She watched the organised chaos as vitals were taken, IVs inserted, and injuries triaged, not bothering to hide the worry she felt. After surviving something like the storm and a Genii invasion force, she couldn't imagine losing either John or Rodney on what was supposed to be a simple mission to trade for seed.
"Carson?" Elizabeth asked as he passed her.
Beckett looked back as he followed the two gurneys. "I don't know, Elizabeth."
She nodded and watched him run after the medical teams, calling orders as he went. She turned back in time to see the Marines gathered around the sled whispering and looking slightly awed.
Ford looked equally stunned as he stood next to Teyla. "I never would have expected …" Ford's voice petered out.
Elizabeth and Teyla glanced at one another before Teyla said, "We should go to the infirmary. Doctor Beckett will hopefully have news regarding Major Sheppard and Doctor McKay soon."
Teyla and Ford left the gateroom leaving Elizabeth, the Marines, and the sled.
"What should we do with it, ma'am?" Sergeant Thompson asked, tugging the sled behind him.
She smiled up at him briefly. "I'm not sure yet, Sergeant. Put it in one of the unused rooms next to the armoury for now."
Thompson nodded and dragged the sled out of the gateroom.
"Peter," she called up to the control room. When Grodin looked over the balcony, she continued, "I'm going to the infirmary."
"Let us know when you find out news," he replied, looking as worried as she felt.
Elizabeth came down the hallway to the infirmary and found Teyla and Ford standing near the infirmary doors.
"Doctor Weir," Teyla greeted her with a nod.
"I take it there's been no word?" she asked.
Teyla shook her head. "Nothing so far."
She nodded and leant against the wall near the door.
Carson came out two hours later looking tired but pleased. He stopped next to Teyla and Ford and smiled. "They'll be fine, I think," he told them "With time and plenty of rest."
"Can we see them?" Teyla asked.
Beckett looked like he wanted to say no, but changed his mind. "Aye, I suppose, for a wee moment only. Neither of them will be waking up any time soon."
Carson led Elizabeth, Teyla, and Ford through the infirmary and around a privacy screen to a pair of beds side-by-side against one wall. Both men were hooked up to various monitors as well as oxygen. Rodney had two different IVs running into his hands while John had an IV and a separate line for a blood transfusion. The cut over John's eye was steri-stripped, Rodney's right arm was rebandaged.
"Carson?" Elizabeth asked as she looked from one unconscious man to the other.
Beckett stood where he could watch the monitors for both men as he spoke. "Aye, well, both of them are dehydrated, Rodney's blood sugar was very low and he's on a glucose drip to get his levels back up. He also managed to undo all my hard work suturing his arm, so that needed to be re-stitched. They were both hit with shrapnel from some sort of explosion, and it looks like Major Sheppard was shot with the same sort of weapon as Corporal Davis."
"But they're going to be all right?" Ford asked softly. Elizabeth thought he still looked a little stunned from seeing Rodney stagger through the 'gate.
"Aye, son, given enough time and lots of rest, they should both be fine," Carson said with a tired smile. "Rodney is physically exhausted and he's going to be stiff from pulling Major Sheppard on that sled to get him home, but bed rest will set him right soon enough.
"We stitched the wound in the Major's side, it was longer than it was deep, so it looked pretty bad, but it could have been much worse. It is infected, however, as are the knife wounds Rodney sustained during the storm, but I have them on antibiotics and should have that under control in the next few days."
Teyla nodded as she reached out to touch John's arm, then murmured something in his ear. Ford stood behind her, looking worried and a little scared. Elizabeth watched as Teyla went to Rodney's side and whispered something to him as well, Elizabeth noticed she was careful not to touch him.
Teyla must have sensed Elizabeth's curiosity as she stepped to her side and said, "I merely told them they were home and safe and we would be here when they awoke."
Beckett gave them a few more minutes but when it looked like Teyla and Ford were planning to stay longer, he shooed them out. "You can come back tomorrow and sit with them if you like," he said.
~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~
The buzzing noise teased at his ears for some time before he realised what he was hearing was actually voices.
"If we have him on the correct antibiotic, the fever should break soon, lass," he heard a male voice say.
"How long before we know if this medication is the correct one?" a female voice asked.
"Unfortunately, it may be a few hours before we know for certain. You know Rodney, he can't do anything by halves."
John peeled an eye open and took a lazy look around. No forest. Instead, he saw patterned walls and the edges of a privacy screen. He opened his other eye and found he was in a bed but he had no memory of how he got back to Atlantis.
"I suspect he picked up something after spending so many hours outside during the storm," the male voice said and John slowly turned his head enough to see Beckett standing over the next bed.
"River," John croaked weakly.
"Major?" Beckett said as he turned to John. "Are you back with us, lad?"
"How are you feeling?" Teyla asked at the same time.
John closed his eyes for a moment until he felt a hand on his arm and a straw at his lips.
"Small sips now," Beckett said as John sucked at the straw.
He opened his eyes again and found Beckett and Teyla still watching him.
"John?" Teyla said and squeezed his arm again.
"He fell in a river," John repeated, his voice a hoarse whisper. " Was cold."
"All right, Major," Beckett said as he read the monitors next to John. "You just worry about taking care of yourself. I'll have Rodney right as rain before you know it." He glanced down at John. "Teyla asked you a question, how are you feeling?"
John closed his eyes and took stock. "Side aches," he replied after a few moments. "Tired."
"Both to be expected," Beckett told him. "You both have had a rough few days." He turned toward the privacy curtain. "I'll get you something for the pain."
John idly glanced around the room again and caught a glimpse of Rodney in the next bed, asleep or unconscious he couldn't tell.
"How long?" he asked Teyla, frustrated his voice was so weak.
"You and Doctor McKay have been in the infirmary for two days, Major," she replied.
"You found us?" he asked her.
She shook her head as she moved enough for John to get a clear look at the other bed. "Rodney brought you home."
Once he had a better view, John realised Rodney did not look well. He was pale, sweaty, and obviously very ill. John saw the bandage on his arm and wondered how much worse the injury was now.
"How bad?" John asked with a glance at McKay when Beckett returned.
"Bad enough," Beckett said as he injected something into John's IV port. "Right now, he has a high fever, we're trying to find the right antibiotic to get the pneumonia under control. I'll keep him on the oxygen for now to help him breathe."
"Fell in a river," John murmured again. "Coughing a lot." He closed his eyes and started to drift as the morphine took effect.
"Get some sleep, Major," Beckett told him softly. "You'll both be feeling better soon."
The next time he woke up, Teyla was gone, but Ford was there, sitting between the two beds reading a paperback book. Based on the level of the lights and the quiet, it must have been late, but he had no idea how long he'd been asleep. He was aware of the dull itch at the back of his skull, and his side still ached, but for the moment it was manageable.
He heard rustling in the bed next to him. He looked over at the next bad and saw Rodney twitching, rolling his head back and forth, and muttering unintelligibly. John grimaced. It was obvious McKay was fighting a nightmare.
Ford put the book down as he stood next to the other bed. "You're safe, Doc," he told Rodney softly as he tried to awkwardly pat McKay's shoulder. "You're gonna be fine."
John could see Ford's words were having no effect; Rodney continued to twitch and mutter, oblivious. His reaction was worse when Ford tried to touch him. Instead of calming him down, Rodney startled at the touch and banged his recently stitched arm on the edge of the IV pump. John felt the itch in his skull flare at the same time spots of blood appeared on the bandaging, and he groaned slightly.
Ford pushed the call button by the bed even as he continued to try to get through to Rodney. He hadn't noticed John was awake. "Hey, Doc, everything's okay now," he said again, this time careful not to touch him, but still with no effect.
Ford glanced up as Sharon stepped around the privacy screen and stopped at the end of Rodney's bed. "I thought this antibiotic was working," Ford said, and John could hear the worry in his voice as Sharon checked the monitors by Rodney's bed.
"It is," she told him reassuringly. "His fever is down several degrees from yesterday. This isn't from the fever, I think he's dreaming."
"Must be some dream," Ford said.
"Let me up," John said, startling Ford and Sharon, as he pushed at the covers.
Sharon turned to him with a shake of her head. "Doctor Beckett doesn't want you out of bed, Major. You need to rest."
John glared at her and continued to push at the covers. "I'm not going to just lay here when there's something I can do to help," he growled. "Either help me up, or push the beds together, I don't care which, but I need to talk to him."
Ford looked at Sharon for a moment.
"Doctor Beckett is on his way. He left orders to be alerted if anything happened," Sharon said.
Rodney's muttering was getting louder. "No, no, please. Stop, please stop. Not here, not here." He curled his right arm to his chest as he whimpered.
John was half out of his bed, fighting Ford who was trying to keep him from getting up, when Carson arrived.
"Where do you think you're going, then?" Carson asked John sternly as he stopped next to Rodney's bed. "Just stay where you are, Major." He turned back to McKay, reaching out to lay a hand gently on his shoulder. "You're all right, Rodney," he said softly. "Everything is fine. Just calm down now."
"Wait, wait, have to wait," Rodney mumbled, twisting out from under Beckett's hand. "Carson and Teyla. Have to wait. Can't wait, can't wait."
While the focus of the nightmare had changed, John could tell Beckett was having no better luck than Ford in getting Rodney to calm down.
"Carson, let me talk to him," John demanded in a low voice. "It's the storm and Kolya. He'll listen to me."
Beckett sighed and rubbed his eyes. Rodney still twitched and mumbled to himself.
"All right, Major, two minutes. I'll not have you risk your own recovery over this."
Carson sent Ford to get a wheelchair, then he and Sharon carefully maneuvered John into the chair while Ford kept the IV line from tangling.
John's side throbbed at the change in position, but he refused to let it show. The space between the beds wasn't that wide, all Ford needed to do was turn the wheelchair around and push it a couple of feet and John was next to Rodney's bed.
He laid a hand on Rodney's arm, thankfully the left, and started talking, "Hey, Rodney, you need to stop this, you're scaring Beckett and Ford," he said lightly as he rubbed Rodney's arm. "Kolya's gone, he left Atlantis, remember?"
"Don't talk, don't tell," Rodney muttered, his injured arm still held tight against his chest. John saw more spotting and tried to ignore the mental itch as he kept talking.
"Rodney, Kolya's gone. I shot him, he's not coming back. Can you hear me, buddy? He's gone, we beat him."
Rodney slowly stopped tossing, his right arm relaxing back down at his side. "That's it," John coaxed, still rubbing Rodney's other arm. "Kolya's gone, he can't hurt you. You need to calm down."
Rodney stopped mumbling, sighed softly, and lay still.
John rubbed Rodney's arm a few seconds more until he was sure McKay was out of the nightmare, then sat back in the wheelchair with a groan.
"Let's get you back into bed, Major," Beckett said softly.
John nodded and let Beckett turn the wheelchair back around.
As Beckett helped resettle him on the bed, John said low enough that Ford, still standing near Rodney's bed, couldn't hear him, "When you check Rodney's arm, get Ford to help."
"Major?" Beckett said with a frown.
"He needs to understand a few things," John tried to explain and winced as the itch at the back of his skull spiked.
"I knew letting you out of bed was a bad idea," Carson admonished. "Just how badly are you hurting?"
"It's not that bad," he said, letting Beckett believe the only thing that ached was his side. "Really," he added when he saw Carson's disbelieving look. "Once I stop moving, it hurts a lot less."
Carson studied his face for a moment, then let the matter drop. "Sharon, will you get the suture kit, please. It looks like Rodney is determined to undo all of my careful stitching." He said something else to her John didn't hear and she nodded.
"All right, Rodney," Carson said as he pushed a stool over to the other side of Rodney's bed, "let's see what you've done to yourself."
Ford started to step away, but with a fleeting glance at John, Carson stopped him. "Actually, lad, I could use an extra set of hands until Sharon comes back. Grab yourself a pair of those gloves and come over here."
John could tell Ford was completely unprepared, but gamely pulled on a pair of gloves and waited for Carson to tell him what to do.
"I need you to hold his arm just like that," Carson said as he positioned Ford's hands in such a way Rodney's arm was supported.
Rodney mumbled something and Beckett waited until he settled again before he started removing the gauze.
Once he had the sterile pads removed, John heard the involuntary hiss Ford made and saw the Lieutenant's eyes widen in shock. He watched Ford swallow hard and look away. To his credit, he never let go of Rodney's arm.
Sharon came back around the privacy screen carrying a tray of supplies and Ford willingly gave up his position as nurse, stripped off the gloves, and made a hurried escape.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Major," Beckett admonished softly as he checked Rodney's stitches.
While he wouldn't admit it out loud, John hoped so, too.
