Chapter 10

A clean smell of antiseptic filled his nose. Gone was the musty, dank, mildly putrid smell that had accompanied his senses the last time he could recall anything.

Daring to crack his eyelids open, John turned his head towards an annoying tapping sound and found McKay sitting upright in a bed near his. With his laptop precariously balanced on his knees, the scientist was completely engrossed in whatever the computer was telling him.

John tried to cough to alert his friend, but the sound came out all throaty. The pitiful croak may have failed to catch Rodney's attention but a nearby nurse was quick to react. She called for Dr. Keller.

Teyla had just entered the infirmary when she heard the nurse calling. Without hesitation, she moved over to John's bed and smiled down at him. "It is good to see you awake."

The sound of Teyla's voice finally caught Rodney's attention. "Oh, you're awake, Sheppard."

"I…I." However, the timely arrival of Jennifer Keller with a stethoscope and eye pen in hand interrupted John's attempt to speak.

The young doctor raised his bed slightly. "It's good to see you finally awake, Colonel," she said, looking into his eyes with the annoying pen light.

"So…we…got…away." John managed to say but it ended in a coughing fit. Quick to react, Teyla picked up a glass of water with a straw from the bedside table and held it to his lips. John took several sips and nodded his thanks.

Rodney waited until John had settled before looking at him as if he had a screw or two lose. "Of course we got away or we wouldn't be here, would we?"

"Rodney! That is no way to address the Colonel after all he has been through." Teyla scolded.

"After all he's been through! What about the rest of us?"

John gave a weary smile. "It's alright, Teyla, now I know Rodney's fine."

"Yes, and thank you for asking."

Keller sighed and turning away from the heart monitor that she had been checking, she scolded. "Dr. McKay, the Colonel has hardly had chance to ask you, has he?"

"No, no, not really."

Keller relented and smiled before moving over to his bed. "You're doing fine, so I'm releasing you to your room. You can leave as soon you like but I don't want you going to your lab or doing any form of work over the next day or so. Is that understood?"

Rodney nodded, but he actually looked reluctant as he placed his hand on his brow. "Are you sure I'm fit enough?"

"Yes, you're fit enough. The graze is healing well and there's no sign of an infection or…a fever." Keller emphasised before turning her attention back to Sheppard. "As for you, Colonel, I'm afraid to say but you will be our guest for some days to come yet."

To John the way she had said it had made it sound like an extremely personal thing. Maybe she'd heard far too many bad rumours about his reluctance to stay put, and he had to admit that the thought of an extended stay in the infirmary was far from appealing. It made John scowl in a gesture of defiance just for the heck of it. However, Keller needn't worry because the way he was feeling right now, the infirmary was definitely the best place to be. A vague memory surfaced of intense pain. Had he really allow them to remove the bullet without knocking him out first? He shuddered at the thought and the next thing he knew, the doctor had stuck a thermometer in his ear.

"Just checking for fever," she reassured. "How are you feeling anyway?"

"Like I could use some more sleep." John answered, followed by a huge yawn.

Keller removed the thermometer, looked at it and gave a reassuring smile. "That's fine. You can go back to sleep in a minute but are you in any pain?"

John thought about it for a moment. "No, it's manageable."

Keller looked at him as if she didn't believe him. "Okay then, go back to sleep because it's the best cure for you right now."

"Oh, she doesn't know you very well." Rodney muttered once the doctor was out of hear shot.

"Rodney." Teyla scolded.

"What?" he asked turning to her with a questioning look.

Teyla didn't say anything as she pointed to John's bed where he lay fast asleep already.

"Oh right, well, I'd better get out of here then, I suppose."

Teyla looked at him oddly. Only Rodney could be reluctant to leave the infirmary. "Yes, you had."

oOo

The next time John woke, he felt considerably better. In the background, he could hear a soft murmur of voices, so he forced his eyes open to see what was going on. He was greeted by the sight of his team.

"Hi," he murmured, sleepily.

They all turned to him but predictably, Rodney got in the first words. "Oh, you're finally awake again and about time too."

Teyla glared at him. "Rodney, Dr. Keller said that sleep was the best healer."

"I know that but twenty hours is a bit much even for Sheppard."

Feeling shocked, John digested the information. "I've been asleep that long?"

Ronon nodded. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. Like the doc said, you needed it."

"Yeah, must have. Alright then, just give me a minute or two to come around and then you can raise the bed, pass me some water, and tell me how the hell we got away from Boba Fett and company."

At first, the two Pegasus natives looked a little confused while Rodney rolled his eyes. He said two words to them, "Star Wars." A few seconds later, both Ronon and Teyla nodded and smiled in understanding.

When John seemed more alert, there was a bit of confusion as all three team members tried to raise the bed together but ultimately, Teyla pushed the men away as she took over her caring for Sheppard duties. John smiled his appreciation as he took a glass of water from her hand.

The team then settled around Sheppard's bed and Ronon began to relate their rescue with plenty of interruptions from Rodney.

John took it all in and eventually asked. "So you reckon that the storm actually helped in our rescue because at one stage the bounty hunters were unable to keep on dialling out?"

"Yes, so it appears," answered Rodney, "which is lucky for us because it would have taken Zelenka and Sam a lot longer to work out their dialling sequence."

"And you could have done it faster?"

"No, that's not what I'm trying say. The computations were…."

"Astronomical." John finished for him. "And if my brain wasn't feeling like cotton wood right now, I could work it out but it really isn't that important."

Rodney muttered something under his breath about cotton wool not being Sheppard's problem but the rest of the team didn't react. In fact, Teyla and Ronon both looked very solemn, as they thought about the possible consequences had rescue not come when it did. Especially for John.

John looked at their gloomy faces and decided it was time to bring them out of their despondency. "Hey, we're still alive aren't we?"

"Just about." Rodney muttered.

"We could have held them off for a few more days." Ronon assured him.

"Oh, yes, and what about my fever?"

"You would have been fine. It wasn't much of a fever anyway and if it had become worse, I could have slapped some of that leaf stuff onto your scratch."

That got John's curiosity. "What leaf stuff?"

Ronon gave him a smug look. "The leaf stuff that saved your life, Sheppard."

"Huh?"

Teyla smiled as she explained Ronon's daring outing into the storm to gather the healing plant. At the end of her telling, John felt slightly overwhelmed by Ronon's dedication, but all he could manage to say was. "Thanks buddy. Oh, and thanks for the other thing, too."

Ronon knew what he meant. "You're welcome," he answered, with a surprising hitch in his voice.

"Yes, well," Rodney piped-up, "that leaf stuff certainly has Katie interested. It definitely appears to have some antibacterial healing properties, so I wouldn't have minded one bit if you had of slapped some onto my…horrible wound."

Ronon and Teyla sighed and exchanged a smile, while John steered the conversation away from their injuries for a moment. "So we have no idea why the bounty hunters were after us and why they didn't care about killing us."

"Nope, but I know we killed their leader because the stupid fool refused to move away after the warning shot." Ronon told him with a worried grimace.

Sheppard didn't seem to notice his grimace. "Well that's one thing but it's not very reassuring to know that out there could be other bounty hunters just waiting to pick us off. The reward must be pretty high if the leader could have afforded to keep such a large group of men working for him."

"True." Ronon murmured. "When I first encountered him, he only had a few men working for him but I guess bounty hunting wasn't his only occupation."

Teyla looked pensive before saying. "You think they could have been scavengers?"

"More than likely."

"Scavengers?" Rodney asked in a voice that was slightly higher than normal.

Teyla didn't want to upset John as she knew that he still carried some burden for waking the Wraith, but the reality needed to be voiced. "Yes, Rodney. Unfortunately, there are groups of people who make a living off the misfortune of others. They listen out for rumours and when they hear of a Wraith culling, they go to the planet and scavenge for whatever they can find among the dead."

Rodney went pale. "What if there are survivors?"

Ronon and Sheppard exchanged a sombre look. They both knew what Teyla would say even before she said it. "They do not care. If the people try to stop them, then they are killed."

"So we're dealing with a practically ruthless and callous bunch of people."

"Yeah, but when has that ever stopped us, Sheppard?"

John gave Ronon a pained look. "It won't stop us, buddy, we'll just have to be extra careful."

Ronon's worried frown was back. "Yeah, especially you and McKay."

Rodney spluttered at the mention of his name. 'What? Why's that?"

"Because during my first venture out, I searched one of the dead bounty hunter's pockets and came up with this." Ronon answered, pulling out two sheets of slightly frayed paper.

Rodney snatched them off him. "But these are those old wanted posters from the whole Genii debacle a couple of years ago."

Teyla took them off him to study the writing including some the reverse side. "You are quite right, Rodney. However, someone has changed the wording on this one to say, reward on proof of death and over on the back it is written in several common languages."

Rodney swallowed hard and squeaked. "Someone wants me dead?"

"Wants us dead." John reminded him.

"Yes, I know but Teyla was looking at my poster."

"So I was, but I can confirm that the Colonel's says exactly the same."

McKay and Sheppard looked at each other before John spoke up. "Come on, Rodney, it's nothing new."

"Maybe not but they nearly got us this time."

Sheppard looked at his team and suddenly with an unusual show of emotion, he whispered. "Yes, they did but we're still here, aren't we. Although, I'm telling you one thing, I never want to go through a bullet removal without an anaesthetic, ever again. And I mean that, but thanks. Thanks for everything."

Teyla squeezed his hand. "You are most welcome, John, and I hope you never have to experience that again."

"And I hope I never have to watch it again." Rodney muttered.

"You had your eyes closed most of the time." Ronon reminded him.

"Yes, yes, just a technicality, but my ears were still working fine."

John looked at Rodney and smiled as Ronon grunted. "But it was a good job we got the bullet out, right Sheppard?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but I wasn't so sure at time. I mean, I could just hear the doctors moaning blue murder about removing bullets or knives from a wound. It was a definite, no, no. I think if it hadn't been for that weird dream, I would have told you to leave it well alone, but Carson's spirit…err…ghost or whatever was so adamant."

Rodney went to open his mouth but Ronon beat him to it, for once. "That's one wise ghost because…."

However, Rodney interrupted him. "Well, the ghost was a doctor but why was removing the bullet such a good thing?"

Ronon glared at him. "If you'd just let me finish, I'll tell you why. Jennifer told me…"

Surprised, Rodney lifted an eyebrow and smirked at him. "Jennifer?"

Ronon growled. "Alright Dr. Keller told me."

"So you're on first name terms already?"

John wasn't in the mood for this. "McKay, let him finish."

Ronon glared down at the scientist making Rodney mutter. "Yes, right."

Feeling confident that McKay would finally keep his mouth shut, Ronon continued. "A gut feeling or whatever made me take the bullet with us and when we got back, I gave to Dr. Keller. She said she'd have it analysed. Well it turns out…." He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and smiled when the person in question approached John's bed.

"It's good to see you awake again, Colonel. How are you feeling?"

"Better for the long nap."

"That's good to hear." Keller moved over and checked the monitors. "I would have been by earlier but I wanted to give you a little time alone with your team."

Ronon's eyes tracked her as she worked. "I was just telling him about the bullet."

The young doctor turned away from the monitor and gave Ronon a shy smile. "Well, since I'm here, I might as well take over." She turned and looked at Sheppard seriously. "Under normal circumstances I would have been very angry that you allowed them to remove the bullet, Colonel. I'm sure you know that it's not a wise thing to do." John nodded awkwardly and seeing his genuine remorse, Jennifer relented. "However, this seems to be one of those times when it was necessary for your survival."

John looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, that's just what…." He was about to say Carson but changed his mind at the last second. Keller already thought he had a screw or two loose, so there was no need to add to her illusion. "I thought," he finished.

She looked at him strangely. "You've had this experience before?"

"No," he lied, "Just call it intuition." He turned and glared at Rodney hoping that he'd keep his mouth shut about Carson. Surprisingly, he did.

Keller noticed the exchange but decided to let it rest. "Okay, the bullet tore you up pretty badly but luckily it didn't go very deep."

John nodded in agreement. "Yep, I reckon it was a ricochet that somehow managed to get between my TAC vest and belt."

Keller shook her head slightly. "It could have been, although, I doubt it. I'm no weapons expert but that bullet must have hit you at quite a speed. It went through your clothing with ease, but because it was made from a very soft metal, it flattened as it tore into you. That's what Dr. Denison from the metallurgy lab told me. He also said that the strange metal was highly toxic, which meant that if it had stayed in you any longer the toxic build-up would probably have killed you within a day or so. It's rare that our lead bullets cause such a problem but the metal in the strange bullet was already breaking down into your bloodstream. You showed some signs of contamination when you were brought in, so we treated you as we would for lead poisoning. I'm pleased to say that your blood work is now getting back to normal levels."

Absorbing the information, John looked at everyone. "I was very fortunate then."

Keller answered in all seriousness. "Yes, you were. I think that by removing the bullet and causing the wound to bleed heavily probably washed out some of the toxin and then the plant that Ronon applied seems to have helped too."

"I thought it was only good for the fever?" questioned Ronon.

Keller looked up and caught his eye. "It seems to be good for several reasons. Thank you again for bringing it to our attention."

Ronon actually appeared to blush. "You're welcome."

Sheppard started to grin but it turned into a yawn. "I believe the Colonel still needs more sleep." Teyla observed.

"No, I don't but something to eat would be nice. I'm feeling kind of hungry."

Rodney's stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly in agreement. They all laughed. "Hey, I'm still trying to play catch up after eating only power bars for two days."

"Yes, I am sure you are, Rodney." Teyla smiled. "But the Colonel has gone far longer without food then you have. So with your permission, Dr. Keller, we could go and get him..."

"Good idea," Rodney interrupted, "then I can grab something to eat."

"Hey, me too." Ronon growled.

Rodney waved his hand. "Yes, you too."

Teyla ignored them as Jennifer Keller gave her permission before leaving them alone. Taking John's hand, Teyla lightly squeezed it. "I will bring you back something soon."

John nodded his thanks and watched them go, thinking. They may never be out of danger, but no matter what, together they made one hell of a team. The thought left him smiling. Deciding to take a little nap while he waited for Teyla, John snuggled comfortably into his pillow only to do a double take, when out of the corner of his eye he thought he perceived Carson smiling down at him. The image only lasted a heartbeat, leaving John shaken but somehow greatly comforted. Another huge smile spread across his face, as he quietly whispered. "Thank you."

The End