Thanks for the reviews and the alerts, and for all those of you still sticking with the story. Well the boy's are finally home, so what now?

SINS OF THE FATHER

CHAPTER 10

A jumble of familiar sights and sounds greeted their arrival on the other side. Voices were speaking to him, buzzing in his ear, but he couldn't make sense of what they were saying. Gentle hands were trying to guide him forward, but he brushed them off, no one was taking him away from Sheppard now, no one. It was his job to save him, get him to safety…didn't they know that?

Through a fog he heard a familiar Scottish voice, the man he was searching for, the only one who could fix his friend, save Sheppard's life.

"Damn. I can't get a bloody pulse. The colonels coding, get me the defibrillator…now!"

Rodney was shaking as he heard the all too familiar zap, the tension palpable as the electrical current rent the air. This couldn't be happening not now, not after everything.

Beckett shouted "Again, clear…" There was silence, except for a bang, then a long solitary beep. "Okay, one more time, people."

McKay watched helplessly as Sheppard's chest bucked against the current spiking through him, then heard Carson speak in a relived but rushed tone. "Right, we've got him back, but he's not going to stay stable for long so get him to the infirmary stat, and prep him for surgery."

"Rodney…Can you hear me, son?" McKay was barely aware that Carson had turned to speak to him.

"You've done well, Rodney, you got him home and I'm going to do everything I can to save him. Now I need you to go with Teyla, she'll take you to the Infirmary to get checked out. Will you do that for me?"

Rodney wondered why they were all giving him such concerned looks. It was Sheppard who needed help not him, he was fine. In fact he was just about to tell them that, when his vision blurred and it all went black.

ooooOoooo

Under the Ancient scanner the full extent of Sheppard's injuries soon became known. Carson drew in a sharp breath, shocked to the core when faced with the horrendous damage someone, no something had inflicted upon his friend.

The most serious injury a punctured lung, although grave, was common enough. As for the rest, Beckett lost count of the number of torn muscles in his friend's torso along with not one, but two dislocated shoulders. His legs hadn't got off unscathed either, with a barely healed bullet wound in the right thigh and yet more pulled and torn muscles in both limbs. Thanks to gene therapy most of the tears could be treated without the need for surgery, but he was doubtful about the area around the shoulders. Just looking at the mangled mess of his friend's wrists told the story he didn't want to believe, but there was really no other explanation. Some sadistic sod had tortured Sheppard by tying him to a device and cruelly cranking it until it had nearly ripped him apart. Carson was a peaceful man who disliked violence of any kind, but right now he would love to get his hands on the bastard who'd inflicted such horrific damage on this good man, and give them a few turns on the rack himself.

Even as the fleeting thought passed, Beckett knew despite his anger, he could never ever be that ruthless. Besides, he had a bigger priority, saving the critically wounded man lying in front of him. First he needed to get the colonel stable, repair the damage to the lung and then, but only then, would be able to see what was necessary to repair the rest of the damage.

Carson moved his head from side to side and rolled his shoulders. He was tired, and the surgery hadn't even started yet. As he walked away to scrub up, a sudden thought made him stop by the office and snatch up the rest of his sandwich and a fresh cup of coffee. His stomach was growling and he needed something to keep hunger at bay, because the way things were looking, lunch and maybe even dinner might not be an option as this promised to be a very long day.

ooooOoooo

The pounding in his head was making him cranky. Rodney knew it, but he still couldn't help lashing out at Marie, watching her retreating figure as she marched off with a thinly disguised look of irritation on her face. Teyla slapped his hand as he picked at his brand new IV, but didn't even flinch at his best angry glare so he thumped his head back against the pillow, folded his arms, and huffed.

"Rodney, we are all worried about John, but you too have been through a terrible ordeal. Dr Biro says your blood sugar was dangerously low and you are also badly dehydrated. If you rest and let the medical staff help you, I'm sure they will release you to your quarters as soon as you are able." Teyla touched his shoulder but he drew back, only to feel guilty at the wounded expression on her face.

As she went to move away, he made to grab her hand and winced at the pull of the IV. "I'm sorry, Teyla…really. It's just that, well I need to be doing something, anything but lying here, waiting for news."

"Would this thing help?" Ronon appeared holding out his laptop.

Rodney's eyes flew open, practically grabbing it off him. "About time." He heard a familiar grunt and saw Ronon glower. "Sorry. What I meant to say was 'Thanks'. Now this is more like it."

He rubbed his hands together, flexed his fingers, and was about to type when he remembered Sheppard, still in surgery after three hours with no news, and suddenly the laptop lost its interest. Rodney slowly closed the lid and turned to his team mates. "I thought Elizabeth would have been down by now. You know…to ask me what happened."

Teyla spoke softly, a mixture of regret and guilt etched in her face. "Dr Weir is meeting with the leaders of Tynos as we speak, but…" Teyla edged closer. "Where were you held, Rodney? After you missed your check in we carried out a thorough search of the area, but couldn't find any trace of your transponder signals. For a while we thought you had been taken off world. Had you?"

Rodney shook his head." No, we were taken to a facility deep underground."

He opened his mouth wide, about to continue but Teyla interrupted. "At the time, Elizabeth spoke to the chief scientist you arranged to meet that day. Dr Timouran told her she suspected your abduction could be connected to the disappearance of one of her assistants who'd stole an ancient artefact some weeks ago. Except, if that was the case, what we couldn't understand was why the colonel was also taken. I'm so sorry we didn't manage to rescue you, Rodney, and I can't help but think if only Ronon and I had been there, none of this would have happened."

He went to reply, but then Dr Biro appeared. "Visiting time is over I'm afraid, people. Dr McKay needs his rest." She smiled indulgently at the two friends, while lowering the head of the bed.

Rodney started to protest, but the doctor deftly removed the laptop before taking a syringe from a nearby tray and pushing it into the IV. "Now, I know you are anxious about colonel Sheppard, but hopefully by the time this sedative wears off he will be out of surgery, and you will be feeling much better."

McKay started to rage at his enforced nap, but he was already feeling woozy. "I need to speak to Elizabeth. I'm…fine…I…don.t…ne…d…to…sl…p."

ooooOoooo

Ronon and Teyla exchanged a conspiratorial smile with the infirmary doctor, as they watched their team-mate and friend's eyes close, and soon heard his loud snores fill the ward.

Teyla started to gently tuck the covers around his neck only to stop as she caught a glimpse of the smooth metallic bracelet around Rodney's wrist. She gazed up at the doctor puzzled. "What is this, Dr Biro? I've never seen Rodney wear jewellery before and besides, I thought it was forbidden to wear any kind of adornment in here."

The doctor nodded. "That's correct Teyla. It is. However when doctor McKay first came in, we tried everything we could to remove it, but it wouldn't budge. Later, after he regained consciousness I tried to speak to him about it, but he was too agitated about the colonel to be coherent. I suppose I should have asked him again before I gave him the shot, but he really is exhausted and I knew he wouldn't rest, not while the colonel is still in surgery. To be honest, I didn't think it was that important but if neither of you have never seen it before, where did it come from? "

ooooOoooo

Dusk was falling as Carson stumbled out onto the nearest balcony. He was still wearing his bloodstained scrubs, but after nearly ten hours in theatre, he desperately needed a little fresh air before speaking to Sheppard's team.

Truth was, the surgery hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped. Repairing the lung had been more or less straightforward, but Sheppard crashed while on the table, and although he'd brought him back…again, the cause, an elusive bleeder, took valuable time to repair.

On the plus side, he discovered most of the tears could be treated non surgically, but the shoulders had been another matter altogether. The right clavicle was relocated easily enough, but the muscles surrounding it had been badly torn so some reconstruction was required. Unfortunately though he found the left shoulder fractured, and five hours into the surgery he'd had to call for an orthopaedic consult, resulting in Sheppard now having four pins keeping the bone in situ.

Beckett knew the next seventy-two hours were critical. If Sheppard was still alive after that, and provided there were no further complications, then it was likely he would live to fight another day. When that day would be however, was problematic. John would require intensive physical therapy for several months, with no guarantee he would ever get full mobility back in his left arm. Still, Beckett knew the Colonel had beaten the odds many time before, and there was no reason to assume this time would be any different…as least he hoped not.

Pushing himself off the rail, he yawned. A hot meal and a strong cup of coffee beckoned, but both would have to wait until after he delivered the news. Then, of course there would be a further delay as he wanted to check on his patient before finally heading off for bed. Carson shook his head sadly and allowed himself a wry smile. Who was he kiddng? The best he could hope for was a tray of cold meatloaf while he sat by John's bed. There was no way he could leave Sheppard, not yet, and despite having a great team he didn't want to pass the responsibility onto anyone else. Why? Now there was a question. The answer, well it might not be logical, but he just wanted to make sure his friend survived until the morning, the first hurdle in his recovery. Only then would he rest, but not for long. Not until he knew for sure John Sheppard was going to be okay.

ooooOoooo

The cold metal bracelet seemed to mock him as he stared at it, stuck fast around his wrist, but for now Rodney was more concerned about the man lying in intensive care. Through the observation window he could barely recognise Sheppard behind the livid purple bruises. His friend intubated, the rise and fall of his chest not of his own volition, his broken body almost completely obscured by all the monitors beeping softy around his bed. Everything being done for him just to keep him alive.

Marie had left him alone for a moment, so he rose from the wheelchair, braced his still weak arms on the sill of the observation room, then rested his forehead against the glass. It felt cold against his aching head, but he still couldn't think straight. This was supposed to have been a routine mission and none of this should have happened, none of it. Even so, once he'd gotten Sheppard home everything was supposed to turn out okay, except this was as far from okay as you could get. John's life still hung in the balance, and as for him, if he couldn't get this damn bracelet off…well he didn't even want to think about that. All of his effort couldn't be for nothing, could it? It just wouldn't be fair if they were both still likely to die.

Rodney slumped back into his wheelchair, and distractedly picked at his IV with no one to tell him off this time. It was late, past midnight and everyone was in bed. Teyla and Ronon had wanted to keep vigil by John's side, but were told to get some sleep and return in the morning. Besides, Beckett was there with him, looking beat, snoring his head off. Deep down he knew Sheppard would pull through. He always did. As for him, with his intellect of course he would get this stupid bracelet off. He wasn't a genius for nothing. Everything was going to be alright…it had to be. Though right now, as he watching his friend fighting to survive, he knew tonight was destined to be one of the longest in his entire life.

ooooOoooo

TBC

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