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When Carson reached John's bed he noticed the all too familiar scene in front of him, Elizabeth sat in a chair next to his patient fast asleep. It was 5 a.m., so the doctor thought she deserved some more rest before talking to her about disobeying his orders. He covered Elizabeth with a blanket and went to John's side to check on him.

By the time he ended his check he wasn't too happy, Sheppard hadn't improved but at least he survived the night. Carson turned around just in time to see Elizabeth stirring.

"Hello, love" Carson said when she looked at him.

"Hi…Sorry, I just wanted to be with him" She whispered looking at John.

"I know, Elizabeth. But I do give orders for a reason; for starters you look you haven't eaten or slept for a while…" Carson was even more frustrated with her looking like that. "How can I eat or sleep when all I can think of is him dying!" She told Carson, a little anger rising in her voice.

"You have to, lass. John needs you right now, but he needs you healthy…" Carson tried to evoke some logic to the matter in mind, taking the chances that in doing so he could bring more guilt to their leader's heart. And by looking at the way she almost cried at his words, he knew he did.

"You're right…I should-" She was cut short by the beeping of a machine attached to John. Carson moved to his patient's side in an instant.

"What's wrong!" She asked Carson and several nurses who joined the doctor.

"Damn it, not now!" Carson whispered, but Elizabeth heard it, and was even more worried now if possible.

"CARSON!"

"HE'S CODING!" Thad was all Elizabeth heard before her knees buckled and darkness rounded her.

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The doctor was working hard at John's side; he didn't even notice when Elizabeth fell to the floor, unconscious. Thankfully, a nurse did and with the help of another nurse they placed Elizabeth on a bed.

Carson, oblivious to Dr. Weir's situation, placed the paddles of the defibrillator on John's chest.

"Clear!" The jolt did nothing to revive Sheppard, so they did it again. And again, and again.

"He's been over 7 minutes without oxygen, doctor." A nurse claimed. But Carson didn't listen to her; he tried again to save his friend.

"Come on, John! Don't do this!" He jolted his friend again, but nothing happened until several minutes later.

"We have a rhythm!" Cried Carson, relieved his friend was back with them.

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The last she remembered when Elizabeth opened her eyes was Carson's voice: HE'S CODING!

"Oh God!" She stumbled off the bed she was on, and went looking for somebody to tell her what happened. She spotted Carson seated on his desk reading something.

Carson looked up from John's chart and saw Elizabeth coming his way. The nurse had told him about her condition, and after he left John's bed he checked on her. She passed out basically for her lack of sleep, mixed with the intense stress she had in the last few days.

Carson reached her and motioned her to another infirmary bed.

"Lass, you should rest some more" The doctor implored. Not knowing her anxiousness to learn what happened to John.

"Carson! How's John?" She feared his answer would break her heart.

"He's OK for the moment. We stabilized him, but…" He didn't know how to tell her.

"But what, Carson!" She was in full panic mode by now. Sighing, Carson continued.

"He was dead for a little over 12 minutes, love"

"Oh my God! But he is OK now, right?"

"Lass, when your brain doesn't receive the oxygen it needs there can be some… limitations" Elizabeth eyes widened at the statement, she understood what Carson was saying now.

"He's in a coma, love. Although he might wake up it is very likely he will have some brain damage" At his words Elizabeth broke. Carson consoled her and she wept till her eyes were dry.

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The days passed and John didn't show any sign of improvement. He received a constant flow of visitors who included Elizabeth, John's team and a big amount of technicians, scientists and soldiers who appreciated their Ranking Military Officer. Although there was a big percentage of the base visiting the Colonel it was Elizabeth who was with him the most; talking to him, taking his hand in hers and waiting for him to finally answer one of her questions.

It was painful for all of them, seeing his friend resting lifelessly and unmoving for more than a week.

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Rodney approached the doctor as he entered the infirmary.

"Any change?"

"No…I just paged you because…Well, have you seen Elizabeth lately?"

"Not really, why?" Rodney asked concerned.

"This, obviously, has affected her…She's not sleeping nor eating well. For Christ sake, I had to drag her to the mess hall last night because she hadn't eaten anything!" Carson stated, frustrated.

Rodney looked down at the floor, how could you let this happen, Rodney? You know John would want you to take care of Elizabeth! McKay thought.

Noticing of Rodney's internal turmoil, Carson reached for him.

"Rodney, it's not your fault…We just need to be a little more alert. And watch for Elizabeth while he's not here" Carson said as he watched Colonel Sheppard.

"It's been 10 days, Carson" Rodney commented.

"I know that, Rodney. But it's up to him right now, there's nothing else I can do" Explained Carson. Again.

"There's got to be something…Maybe in the Ancients database-" Carson cut him off.

"We already looked there…This is not a machine you can fix we're talking about, it's a human life, lad" He massaged the bridge of his nose as he said it.

"I know" Rodney felt lost not knowing what to do.