Chapter Eleven
As Carson rushed over and tended to Elizabeth, John flopped into the seat next to her and put in his hands without taking in anything that was going on. He had messed up. And Elizabeth was probably never going to forgive him. Not for stepping in and defending her, but for letting his personal feelings affect his position on Atlantis. Maybe she had been right when she'd insisted that they couldn't be together; his feelings for her had compromised him. But, now he had had a glimpse of what being with her could be, he wasn't so willing to turn his back on that.
'She's fainted. Might I ask what was going on here?' Carson said.
'Just a difference of opinion between me and Caldwell – Elizabeth stepped in.' John lied.
'The last thing she needs right now is any undue stress. I'm going to have to ban you from the infirmary if it happens again.' Carson said with a smile.
Expertly, Carson took bloods and checked her heart rate, looking disturbed in the process. After taking a few notes about her condition he reached for his radio and asked for a team to move her to a side-ward.
'Hey – is everything okay?' John asked.
'I'm not going to lie to you John, I'm worried. Elizabeth's very weak at the moment; she was already exhausted and she missed dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I'm putting her under stricter monitoring for the time being.' Carson said gravely.
'Is there anything I can do?' John said, standing up.
'Unfortunately not, son. Just get some rest – you're looking tired.' Carson said kindly.
John stayed by Elizabeth's side until she was wheeled away. A lump formed in his chest as he realised how small and frail she looked and the door closed behind her. Get a grip; other people need you, John told himself. But, he didn't feel directly responsible for the floundering condition of the others – he cared, of course he cared, but there was nothing more he could do for them other than encourage the people who knew how to help them. With Elizabeth though, he had consciously weakened her through his own selfish actions. Firstly, lust and secondly, jealousy. And he couldn't do anything to help her – he'd been persuaded by her into believing he was helping last night, but having sex was an easy way to avoid talking about the fact that they could be torn apart before ever really having a chance. This mindset was confused by the knowledge that Elizabeth wouldn't have allowed them to have last night if she hadn't been terrified about the fate she was facing.
Once he was in Elizabeth's office he closed the door and picked up one of the reports that had been left on the desk. Paperwork. He hated it. Elizabeth was constantly chasing him down for mission reports and they were generally always late when they did get completed, not that she ever reprimanded him too harshly for it. The least he could do though was take off some of Elizabeth's load in preparation for if she got back. When she got back. Carson would find a cure, there was no other choice. Not one that he was willing to let himself think about anyway.
John spent the afternoon meticulously working through reports and order-forms for Earth, trying to immerse himself in something that didn't leave him feeling numb inside. He missed lunch and continued typing, despite Carson's observation that he needed rest. Anything that he could do for Elizabeth was going to be done. He looked up at the clock. Five to four. Rodney and Carson were due to give him an update in five minutes. Something which he wasn't looking forward to; if there had been a breakthrough he would have been radioed immediately, suggesting that he was going to be facing even more bad news.
Carson was the first to arrive and almost collapsed into the chair in front of the desk with a weak smile to John. As soon as the meeting was over, he was going to sanction Carson for a break which involved a meal and a sleep. Once Rodney arrived, their meeting began.
'We've been continuing our research and we're still some time away from getting anything that can help us develop a vaccination.' Carson said wearily.
'That suggests that you're making progress though.' John said hopefully.
'We are – but not nearly quickly enough.' Rodney said.
'And the infected?' John asked.
'They're all getting steadily worse. We're scanning every patient twice a day and the results are showing what we feared – the more the illness progresses the faster the synaptic activity decreases.' Carson said.
'I happened to have an ingenious idea to slow down this process though.' Rodney said smugly.
'Aye, I have to say it's the first time I've ever prescribed Sudoku books. Rodney came upon the idea that we should try and keep the brains as active as possible and it seems to be having some success in slowing down the deterioration.'
'Great. And Elizabeth?' John asked.
'She's better. She came round quite soon after you left and although she's still very weak, she's eaten and seems a bit perkier.' Carson said.
'That's good. Did you make any progress with establishing which part of the Ancient gene causes the immunity?' John said.
'We did some simulations this afternoon and it's almost like the gene neutralises the effect of the illness which provides the immunity, which is the problem we face because we're trying to develop an immunisation which has these properties, but is accepted, unlike...'
Rodney suddenly stood up and began clicking his fingers urgently. 'I think I've got it. We need to get to the infirmary. I'll explain as we walk.'
John and Carson immediately stood up to follow a marching Rodney who proceeded to explain his idea through great breaths of air.
'The problem we have is that the people who have the illness don't have the Ancient gene and haven't been successful in receiving the ATA gene, but the answer has been under our noses all along! The ATA neutralises the effects of the illness; not being a carrier of the gene. Therefore, if we inject the people who have got this illness – we really should think of a name for it, it's getting tiresome calling it -'
'Rodney!' John said.
'Sorry – anyway, if we inject people with the ATA gene, that in itself should work to neutralise the illness and everybody would be cured.'
'That might actually work.' Carson said, excitedly.
Once in the infirmary, Carson organised his staff to distribute the gene among the sick whilst Rodney explained what was happening in a way that implied that the breakthrough had been all down to him and him alone causing John to roll his eyes behind him.
The first treatment was to be given to Ronon as he had been the first diagnosis. Carson injected him with the gene before taking him to the scanner. Carson's body was hiding the screen, so nobody could decipher whether or not the gene had been successful in combating the illness. Collectively, the whole infirmary waited in silence as Carson monitored the synaptic activity. Each and every pair of eyes were focused on Carson's back.
'It's worked! It's bloody worked!' Carson said.
Ronon immediately jumped off the table and enveloped Rodney in a bear hug which Rodney accepted awkwardly. Partly from relief, John laughed. It was all going to be all right.
