Rating: T
Spoilers: Season 5
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or Stargate: Atlantis
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Chapter 9- Not the Best First Day Back
John pulled the blanket closer to his body, but it was having no effect in warming him up. He turned his head toward the sounds of the medical team working feverishly trying to resuscitate Rodney. "This isn't happening." He shook his head and pointed to Ronon's hand covered in blood. "You're bleeding."
Ronon looked over his arm. "It's not mine. McKay must have hit his head." He was feeling chilled as well. He had not expected the ocean to be as cold as it was.
Even though both men claimed to be fine, Carson insisted that both men get checked out. She wanted to make sure neither man had any injuries from their thirty foot jump into the water. "You are bloody lucky I don't return to the SGC for another couple of days," The doctor scolded them.
The two men were heavily protesting getting checked out. "It's not like we are going anywhere. Just want to make sure Rodney's going to be okay." John tried to get up, but was stopped by one the nurses. Though John could not see what was going on it sounded like they were still trying to get McKay breathing again.
"Don't even think of it." The nurse pointed at Ronan who also ready to breakout.
"We aren't going anywhere." Ronon snapped.
The nurse threw her hands up and left the two men to themselves. The stubbornness of Sheppard's teams was well known to the medical staff.
Jennifer was a little nervous about her first shift at the infirmary. She wanted to try to return to some semblance of normalcy and with it almost three weeks since the funeral she was ready to take this first step.
As she stepped into the infirmary she could tell it was going to be a crazy day. "Emergency already?" she could see members of her staff running back and forth. That is when Jennifer noticed John and Ronon sitting in a pair of beds, drenched and not looking happy. John was trying peak behind the curtain where the most activity was going on. "Sparring accident?" she asked, noting Ronan's bloody hand. Falling into the water was new for them. Jennifer had lost count how many times she had stitch the two of them from their matches.
"Not exactly…" John trailed off. "There was a little accident." He looked over at Ronan for some help.
"What kind of accident?" She was curious why the two had become silent. Jennifer then heard Carson through the curtain:
"We've got a heartbeat. Let's get this water out of his lungs."
"John?" Jennifer looked at him questioningly. She had a feeling she was not going to like what he was going to say. She did not wait for him to answer and moved to see what was going on. He stomach dropped to the floor when she saw Rodney's limp body on the bed. He was soaking wet and they were suctioning water out of his lungs.. "What happened?" Panic was setting in. There was no way she could go through this again. She felt John's hands on her shoulders, pulling her away. "No. Let me go," she fought to get out of his grasp.
"Let them do their work."
"How long was he under?" Jennifer knew the longer he had been under the water the more likely hood there would be brain damage.
"A couple of minutes. No more than five." John replied.
"We jumped in as soon as he fell." Ronon added.
"Fell?" The terrified woman asked. Part of her wondered if Rodney had jumped with his behavior of late.
John nodded and closed his eyes. "We were sitting talking and Rodney went to stand up. He took a step and looked like he was going to be sick. I don't know he must have lost his balance because next thing we know he was falling. I tried to grab for him, but I couldn't move fast enough." He felt bad that he had not moved quick enough.
"Think he hit his head." Ronon held up his hand that was covered in Rodney's blood.
Jennifer's hands were shaking no. "How far did he fall?"
"Thirty feet." The men said together.
She shook her head. None of this was fair and this was almost too much for her to handle. First Elizabeth and now it looked like Rodney could be next. "How is he?" she turned attention to the doctor treating her fiancé.
Carson gave a sympathetic smile. He knew this was the last thing she needed on her first day back. "He's breathing on his own, but still unconscious. I was about to put him under the scanner to check for any internal injuries. The wound on the back of his head is going need a couple of stitches. But I would say he got mighty lucky." He was worried for his friend.
Jennifer nodded. She felt a little more relaxed that he was stable for the moment. As Rodney was moved to the scanner she touched his arm and was taken aback at how cold he felt. "Carson, did you check his glucose?" The doctor wondered if Rodney's loss of balance was due to his lack of eating and also she wanted to rule out that he jumped. "I'll stitch his head when you are done with the scanner." She felt the need to do something or she might lose it.
Beckett returned a few moments later. "The scan revealed no internal injuries. A moderate concussion. It looks like Rodney hit his head on the section of the pier he fell from and not one of the lower sections otherwise it would have been a lot worse." A beep from the glucose monitor told her the results were back. "42mg/dl. "I start him on some IV Dextrose. Aye, he should know better than to let his blood sugar get that low"
The young doctor shook her head and was relieved to hear that Rodney had in all most likely lost his balance due to low blood sugar. Carson left Jennifer to be alone with her fiancé. They needed the time together even if Rodney was unconscious, besides he needed to yell at the other men for being in such a dangerous part of the city.
Jennifer took a deep breath to steady herself before stitched the wound on the back of Rodney's head. Luckily it only took four stitches to close the wound. "Good thing you have a hard head." she teased the unconscious man. Her hands started to shake, "Please don't ever scare me like that again. You aren't going to get away from me that easily." She tightly held the man's hand and wiped a few tears from her eyes. "I don't want to lose you too."