AN: So, for some reason Document Manager isn't letting me upload new chapters, so I'm just modifying old chapters and saving them as new ones. We'll see if this works...

I know this chapter doesn't really have much to do with Torren, but I felt like Rodney needed a little more, so...yeah. Also, we get to find out whether Shep's gonna get better! YAY! As always, please R&R!


LEGOs and Love

By scarlet79

Chapter 11


John's leg felt like it was on fire, but the rest of his body was freezing cold. He tried to open his eyes, but could only crack them halfway before they sagged back shut, too exhausted to open all the way. He gave up on that, and instead used the rest of his senses to try and figure out where he was. There was an annoying beep near his head, and his nose picked up the astringent smell of disinfectant – okay, so he was in the infirmary. At least, that was his best guess, as the bed underneath him felt familiarly stiff and the pillow extra lumpy.

He tried hard to remember why he was here, but his memory decided not to cooperate, though he figured it had something to do with why his leg hurt like hell. Shivering, he blindly reached down for a sheet, something to cover himself up with, but stopped when warm fingers brushed the back of his hand.

"John?" A voice asked then, its edges raw with exhaustion. "Can you hear me?"

Teyla.

He tried again to open his eyes, rejoicing when they finally fluttered open and he could look upon her beautiful face. He nodded as vigorously as he could, though it came out to little more than a slight downward motion. Even that small move brought a brief spell of vertigo that almost made him nauseous, but he hid it as she broke out in a beaming grin.

"I see you," he whispered to her, and her heart soared as she realized that he was as much reminding her of their first meeting on Athos, and their recent conversation about it, as he was being literal. Though his color was still a bit paler than she liked, after the past few harrowing days when she thought he would surely slip away, she felt that he was finally on his way back to her.

"I will go and get Jennifer," she said as she stood up and swiftly exited his curtained-off area. He listened to the soft sounds of her footsteps as she made her way toward Keller's office, and even picked up the murmur of her voice as she informed the doctor that he had awakened. A few moments later, both women returned. Teyla stood beside his bed, his hand held in hers and pressed to her cheek while Jennifer looked him over.

"Nice to see you awake, Colonel," the young doctor smiled as she quickly examined his pupils with her penlight. "Do you know your name?"

John sighed. This part was all too familiar to him, and he hated it.

"Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard," he rasped, thanking Teyla with his eyes when she handed him a cup of water. He took a small sip to ease the tightness in his throat and then handed it back. "And this is the infirmary, in the city of Atlantis. Pegasus galaxy."

"Good," Jennifer affirmed with a nod. "Do you remember what happened to you? Why you're here?"

He thought about that for the second time, and only now did the memory of his injury come back, and in full force. He sighed again, then replied, "Took a Wraith dagger...to my thigh, during close-quarters combat. Damned thing...nearly split my artery wide open."

"Right again." Keller cast a quick glance at Teyla. "Sounds like John Sheppard to me."

Teyla gave her a wry smile. "Yes, it does."

"How does your leg feel?" Keller asked him as she began to peel back the bandage to check his stitches, and he grimaced.

"Like a bull...gored it all to hell."

"That's not too far off from the truth," she told him. Gently probing the flesh around the sutures, she felt for any rise in temperature as well as tenderness – both of which would indicate infection – and for any abnormal scar tissue, but felt none. When she was satisfied, she quickly switched her gloves for a new pair and put a clean bandage on him.

As she worked, he swung his head toward Teyla and found himself fighting another bout of nausea. His vision swam dangerously, and he decided to shut his eyes and see if that helped. Breathing slowly, he asked, "Everyone...okay? Rodney, Ronon, Lorne..."

"They are all fine. But I am afraid that Lieutenant Morris did not make it."

John nodded at the mention of Lorne's cheerful second officer, the sound of his agonized scream echoing in his mind. He swallowed thickly against the wave of guilt that threatened to drown him, then softly replied, "Yeah. I remember that, too."

"I probably should not tell you this," she began, and he was too curious to leave his eyes shut. Teyla was leaning toward him conspiratorially and lifting one of her perfect eyebrows, and he couldn't help but smile at that. It was rare for her to engage in any kind of gossip, so he knew this should be good. "But Rodney stayed here with you until just a short while ago. He would not leave that chair for an entire day. Zelenka had to come and bring his laptop down to him," she added, pointing to the seat she had been sitting in when he had awakened.

"Really?" He asked, at once touched that a man who so hated the infirmary – and medicine in general – would willingly sit beside him, and yet disappointed that he was no longer there.

She nodded. "Jennifer threatened to sedate him if he did not retire to his quarters for a few hours."

"Indeed I did," Keller said as she dumped the used bandages into a nearby waste bin. "And speaking of sleep, you should get some more if you want that leg to heal anytime soon."

"Not tired," he argued. "Dizzy, though."

"That would be mostly from the antibiotics and pain meds, with a side of blood loss." Keller gave him a saintly look and added, "You're one lucky guy, you know. Another few minutes of you lying out there bleeding, and you wouldn't be sitting here right now."

He glanced up at Teyla and said, "I've just got a reason to live, that's all." Then, he winked roguishly. "And it helps that I'm stubborn as an ass."

"I think it has more to do with the fact that Rodney got you to the Gate quickly," Teyla told him as Dr. McKay himself strolled through the swinging doors. "He insisted on trying to carry you, despite the heavy fire-fight going on all around him."

"You carried me?" John asked Rodney, who sank down on the edge of John's bed and shrugged.

"More like dragged you. You're heavier than you look."

They shared a quiet chuckle, and then John leaned his head back against the pillow, once more fighting against overwhelming fatigue. "Well, thanks, Rodney. I appreciate it."

The physicist waved him off. "Don't mention it." He stood and moved over toward John's head. "I should let you rest. You look terrible."

John chuckled again. "You always tell me just what I wanna hear." As Rodney turned to leave, John's hand suddenly snaked out and grabbed him by the wrist. At the startled look in his friend's eyes, John released his grip and instead scrubbed his hand over his face. He didn't want to seem weak, or afraid, and...well, weren't those two things really the same?

"I, uh, could use some company." He cleared his throat and paused as Teyla helped him take another sip of water. "If you wanna stay, I mean."

Rodney immediately looked to Jennifer, who seemed to be taking her time making up her mind. Finally, she nodded, though she held up a finger in warning.

"Only if you both follow the rules," she agreed. "Colonel, you will get plenty of sleep, and promise to stay in that bed no matter what happens. You will also take all your medicine without putting up a fight."

"I can live with that," John replied with a nod.

"And Rodney, you will let him sleep as much as he wants, without interruption. Also, no more rude comments about medicine being 'voodoo'."

Rodney huffed. "That's easy. No problem."

She rolled her eyes and then shared a longsuffering glance with Teyla.

Which reminded her...

"Oh, and Torren can come and visit for a little while, but no lifting him. Teyla can hold him on her lap."

At this, John literally pouted. "That's not fair! I can hold him just fine..."

But Keller remained firm. "No, Colonel. Those stitches are pretty strong, but even a two-year-old can get rough enough to tear them." She crossed her arms. "Those are my rules, and if you don't like them..."

"We will take them, Jennifer," Teyla replied quickly, laying her hand on John's arm to silence him. "Thank you."

Jennifer nodded and stepped away to deal with another patient, and John made a show of tossing his head back against his pillow and sighing dejectedly. Teyla suppressed the urge to roll her eyes toward the ceiling, instead lightly settling on the edge of his bed and brushing his dark hair away from his forehead.

"I know how much staying in here bothers you, John. But if you ever wish to leave, you must take the time to heal properly."

He blinked slowly, pushing his frustration down deep inside. "I know. I just wanna see our new home, sleep in my new bed."

"And you will," she promised. "But for now, you should rest. I need to relieve Laura from watching Torren, anyway. I will return with him in a few hours, if you'd like."

"Sounds great, Teyla. Thanks," he said.

She bent down and gently pressed a kiss to his forehead, then another on his lips. "I am glad you are all right."

"Me too," he whispered before she stood up again.

She gave him one more smile, thanked Rodney silently with a hand on his shoulder, and then left the infirmary. When she had gone, Rodney sank into the chair beside John, running his hand nervously over his diminished head of hair.

"What's wrong with you?" John asked him, and rather than explain, Rodney simply reached into his pocket and pulled something out of it. He dropped the object into John's palm, and the colonel's heart sank as he recognized it.

"The ring," he breathed, and Rodney nodded. "Where was it?"

"On the floor in the Gate room." John's head snapped up, sending his vision blurry again, and Rodney quickly added, "Don't worry, she didn't see it."

"Guess that whole idea's gonna have to wait a while, huh?"

Rodney shrugged. "I guess. Infirmary proposals never quite have the same feeling to them as normal ones."

John tried to bark out a laugh, but only succeeded in letting out a hoarse cackle. "I'm gonna make my own rule, about that word."

"What? Which one?" Rodney asked with a frown.

"'Normal'. No such thing."

His friend thought about that for a while, and then nodded. "You've got a point, there. Normality all depends on what a person experiences in his or her life; so it does exist as a concept, but at the same time, because each person is so different from another, normality is subjective and arbitrary to the point that it's virtually meaningless. What's normal to you might not be normal to me, and vice versa."

John carefully sat up, wincing at the burning sensation in his thigh. "Right? Like your huge appetite. I think that's pretty abnormal."

Rodney nodded. "And I think your propensity for running into trouble where there was none five minutes before is abnormal."

"You're just jealous because I get all the attention when I go and get banged up."

The scientist chuckled and shook his head. "You wish, Sheppard."

They sat in amicable silence for a while, John listening to the beat of his heart being steadily beeped out by the monitor and Rodney just thinking about whatever myriad of ideas popped into his brilliant mind during any given day.

"Rodney," John's sleep-slurred voice called to him, and he turned to look at his friend.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

John grinned, and in that simple gesture Rodney could see Torren mirrored perfectly in his father's face. He wondered at not being able to see it before. "For saving me."

"It's okay. You don't have to thank me..."

The grin faded; John shook his head. "Yeah, I do. Was pretty brave of you to drag me to the Gate like you did. You coulda got killed."

"Never crossed my mind," Rodney replied. It was half-true, anyway. It had crossed his mind, right in the beginning, but when he'd realized that he was the only one who could help, he'd pushed the thought to the very bottom of his consciousness.

Though John shot him a look of doubt, he asked, "What did cross your mind, then?"

"Getting you back home to your family." Rodney shifted in his seat, slouching down a little. This particular conversation was growing awkward, but he knew that they needed to have it. "They need you, especially right now, and well...I saw it as my job to make sure they had you. No matter what."

For the second time in less than a week, John was speechless. He felt responsible for the well-being of his team, and knowing that Rodney had faced such real jeopardy for him was intolerable. He was the one who should be risking life and limb for his team, not the other way around. Seemingly embarrassed by his explanation, Rodney gazed down at the floor, his cheeks slightly ruddier than usual, and that made John feel even worse.

Finally, John found his voice again. "Rodney," he said, "I know I give you a hard time sometimes, but it's only 'cause you're like a brother to me, and that's just what brothers do. But I'm being completely serious when I say that I'm grateful for all you did. Really."

Stunned by John's words, Rodney could only nod. Here was the same man he had half-dragged off a planet with his leg ripped open and bleeding, who had lain unconscious in the infirmary for the better part of three days close to death, now staring at him with a combination of respect and gratitude in his eyes. To say Rodney was proud was a vast understatement.

Noticing the way John's eyelids were drooping closed, Rodney eased back in his chair and got comfortable, and John likewise cautiously shimmied back down under his covers, shifting his head slightly from right to left until he found a cool spot on the pillow. Before Rodney could ask him if he needed anything, John was quietly snoring, and so the physicist drew out his tablet computer and a stylus and went back to work.


TBC...