Chapter 11

It had taken Jennifer and her team several hours to put Ronon back together again, working as quickly as they could to stop any more loss of blood. One team stitched up the deep gash in his left arm, a second team tackled his badly mangled foot. From now on he would set off any alarm at Earth airports. It took quite a bit of metal to get the foot in the right angle again. And Jennifer wanted it to heal perfectly. She could not imagine Ronon with a limp.

She spent hours closing the hole in his chest. In the end she had to remove part of his lung and painstakingly reattach severed arteries, all the time making sure she cleaned out the wound thoroughly to avoid any infections taking hold of his much weakened body.

Exhausted she flopped down in a chair next to his bed and waited. But with the inactivity came the overwhelming worry for Rodney again. She had been able to hold it off while concentrating on Ronon. But now her mind wondered off again. Why hadn't Sheppard reported in again? What took them so long to get Rodney out of there?

Ronon briefly woke up from the anaesthetics. Just to be on the save side, she made a full body scan to be sure she hadn't forgotten anything. But all seemed clear. The bone was properly set and his lung was working as it should.

She looked down at his sleeping face. He had never looked so fragile. Ronon was always so strong. Even when he got hurt, she couldn't keep him in bed for long. But now he was wrapped in bandages nearly all the way from head to toe. She checked once more to make sure the painkillers were slowly getting into his bloodstream, his heartbeat was strong and steady and he wasn't getting a fever.

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Sam startled as Jennifer suddenly stood in her office.

'Any news?' she asked hesitantly.

'Teyla reported back. Rodney is to undergo a test in the morning. They are allowed to stay planet side but not in the village. I wouldn't be surprised if John is working on a plan to get him out as we speak.' Sam tried to be as positive as possible. But she feared what a relative primitive people could do. Too often she had seen their savagery and brutality. But she was not going to tell Jennifer.

'How is Ronon?' Sam changed the subject.

'Incredibly strong. He's sleeping. Anyone else would have died from the amount of blood he lost. Not to speak of the pain he must have been in. But he's hanging in.'

She fidgeted with the hem of her jacket and finally looked up at Sam again.

'I better get back to him.' She apologized.

'Jennifer,' Sam ran after her, 'I'm sure Rodney will be back with us in the morning.'

Jennifer nodded.

'Thank you. But will he be alive.' And with that she walked slowly back to the medical centre.

Sam sighed. She could not give her that guarantee. She could only hope.

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'Aahrg' Jennifer startled awake from her sleep. She jumped up from the chair she had been sitting in next to Ronon's bed. Her patient had just tried to turn on his side finding himself limited in movement with all the bandages and cables attached to him.

Ronon looked at her, confused.

'Hey, there.' She said gently.

'How are you feeling?'

Ronon shook his head.

'Sheppard?' Where was his team? Why were they not sitting with him? It was an unspoken rule: when one of them got hurt, the others sat around until they were sure the hurt one was going to be ok again. So why weren't they here?

'They've gone to rescue Rodney.' Jennifer tried to calm him.

'Speak up, doctor. No need to be this quiet.' Ronon grumbled.

Jennifer looked surprised. She said something but again Ronon did not hear her. Ronon closed his eyes. He had hoped that part had been a dream, that he would be ok again after some rest.

'I can't hear you.' He said quietly to the stunned Jennifer. She picked up a light and looked in his ears. But again she found nothing wrong.

Ronon looked even more lost and fragile. His eyes wet with unshed tears, he turned his face away from her, trying to lift his arms to hide his pain. But he couldn't, the bandages and pain from the operations stopping him.

Jennifer gave him a moment alone, going in search of a pad. She didn't leave him too long. While walking back, she typed a quick message: SINCE WHEN?

She showed it to Ronon.

'I didn't hear the men come, after the fall from the jumper.' He explained briefly.

'Where is Sheppard?' He still had had no answer to that question.

RESCUE RODNEY

Ronon looked confused at her.

R CAPTURED WHILE FREEING YOU

'How long have they been gone?'

TOO LONG

She tried to hide her own worry but Ronon gently squeezed her hand in understanding.

'Sheppard will bring him home.'

He sounded so sure, Jennifer smiled.

HOW ARE YOU FEELING NOW?

'You tell me, doc.'

STITCHES IN LEFT ARM, OPEN FRACTURE LEFT FOOT, BIG HOLE IN CHEST

'So nothing new?' he tried to lift her spirits.

ARE YOU IN PAIN?

What a question to ask? Would Ronon ever admit being in pain? She was surprised when he slowly nodded.

I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO HELP YOU SLEEP.

'Thanks'

He hated feeling so helpless but figured a good sleep would get him in shape sooner. Then realisation hit him again. Get in shape for what? What could a deaf man ever mean for this team, this base, and these people?

He was glad the medication took him into a deep dreamless sleep.

TBC