In the Mind's Eye
AN: Can't say it enough guys, thanks for the reviews, and to also to my beta, ESCotLoE.
Part 12
The battle with the Precyn swarm seemed never ending. Teyla and Ronon and the rest of the Gernosian party were soon tiring. Lighted energy whips slashed, sliced and sizzled against the continuous wave of buzzing, raging, stinging bees. Yet despite their perseverance, the dark mass of the Precyn swarm continued to attack the hunting patrol with angry buzzing and painful stings. The forest filled with the sounds of booms from the cracking of the energy whips, and the popping and sizzling of dead bees dropping to the ground. The rest of the forest was still and silent, as if watching and waiting for the outcome of the ferocious battle.
Time seemed to have lost all reference for Ronon as he cracked his whip and shot his blaster again and again killing hundreds of bees. When the swarm finally ceased in their attack, he had been unprepared, and it took a moment for him to recover from his battle rage. This left him breathing harshly and wondering why there were no more bees to destroy. Then the red haze of battle cleared from his vision and his gaze took in the huge pile of dead bees littered on the ground at his feet. The few remaining bees left alive were buzzing swiftly back into the forest, heading north now, away from the scene that had killed so many of their counterparts. Further ahead, he saw the Gernosian hunting patrol deactivating their personal zappers and switching off their energy whips. Two hunters, the ones called Zander and Dalter, took out their triangle computers and attached a circular unit to each of them. They then aimed the small units at the pile of dead bees. A wide beam projected from the device as they gathered all the swarm to be stored temporary as energy molecules to be rematerialized once they returned to the City. It reminded Ronon of Wraith dart beams, which was a little disconcerting.
Nevertheless, Ronon found that he had enjoyed the hunt tremendously; it had been exhilarating, even stimulating. It felt good to be able to fight something; it enabled him to let go of some of his pent-up frustration since Sheppard and McKay's capture. Killing alien bees were good an excuse as any for Ronon Dex. His hand went up to the hood pushing it down; the forest air and cool breeze felt refreshing upon his over heated head and perspiration filled dreadlocks. Looking down, he noticed that there were a couple of bee stings on his hands and probably a few across his face from the painful, burning sensation that he felt.
He turned to look at Teyla, noting that the Athosian had also turned off her Gernosian weapon. The coil of the energy whip had transformed back into a normal looking whip at her side. She looked tired, which was not surprising, considering the hunt that they had just been in. As Telya approached closer, Ronon frowned as he observed that the Athosian too had sustained stings from the bees; the only difference was that she looked as if she had been stung more. The sting marks on her face and hands were already starting to inflame on her smooth darker skin. Yet, as her gaze caught his eye, he grinned at her, glad to see that she was all right; Teyla returned his grin with one of her own.
There was a sound behind him, turning back, Ronon saw Dohan, the Gernosian patrol leader approaching. The Gernosian's dark gaze took in the high pile of dead Precyn bees that now lay at the former Runner's feet. The bearded man's eyebrows lifted slightly as if he was surprised to discover the level of Ronon's kill. He then looked further ahead, towards Teyla's pile of dead bees. Although it wasn't as high as Ronon's, it was impressive nonetheless.
"You hunt well, my friend, and so does your woman." The hunter finally exclaimed, a grin forming on his face as he caught Ronon's eye. Ronon saw the Gernosian take in the sting marks on his face and hands, and a small frown formed on the other man's features.
"She is not my woman," Ronon growled. He did not think Teyla would appreciate being referred to in such a manner.
Dohan lifted an eyebrow. "My apologies then, as the two of you traveled together, I naturally assumed..."
"Then you assumed wrong, Dohan Talonter," Teyla interjected, having heard part of the conversation as she approached them. "Ronon and I are friends, nothing more." She gave the tall Satedan a brief nod of gratitude for clearing up the matter.
Ronon returned a curt nod back. In the distance, he saw a couple of Gernosian hunters bending down and picking up a dead bee or two from the large pile at their feet. Taking out sharp hunting knives, they expertly loped off the tails of the stingers and popped the bees into their mouth. Even from where they were, Ronon could hear the crunching noises from their chewing. When Dohan noticed his gaze, the Gernosian patrol leader stooped down and picked up three dead, blackened and sizzled bees. He did the same procedure to the bees as his hunters behind him, then offered one to Ronon, one to Teyla and saved one for himself.
"Here, try it. It's delicious, a rare delicacy that is very pleasing to the palate." The Gernosian patrol leader said with a genuine smile on his face. "The stingers are poisonous, that is why we removed them, but the rest of the bee is very nutritious."
Teyla made a face as she looked at the dead Precyn bee that was offered to her. "No, thank you," she said delicately. "Perhaps another time."
Dohan nodded. "Of course, but you do not know what you're missing. And how about you, Ronon? Do you want to taste what you helped so hard to hunt?" he said the words with a challenge in his tone.
Ronon looked at the dead and blackened bee: it was totally fried by the whip of the energy weapon. He took a quick glance at Teyla who was waiting to see what he would do, then shrugging his shoulders and with a slight crooked smile, he accepted the offer, popping it into his mouth. He was not one to resist a challenge. Besides, he had eaten worst before when he was a starving Runner; crisp fried bee would be nothing to him. As he chewed on it, with loud crunching sounds, he noticed that the bee had a strange texture and unique favor that he had never tasted before. It was sweet, sour, bitter and a little hot all at the same time. The outer part that was burnt was quite crunchy, but the middle bit was soft and squashy. He wasn't sure whether he liked it.
Dohan smiled at the Satedan warrior, impressed, as he popped the remaining two dead bees into his mouth and began chewing too. "If you wish to join us in any future hunt, Ronon, and you too Teyla, you both are most welcome " he said. "But now, the both of you will have to return with us to our City."
The tall Satedan frowned, he did not like what he was hearing. They had already said that they had no wish to visit the City. "And if we refuse?" he asked, his right hand inching back towards his blaster. Teyla, who was now standing beside him, made a noise that didn't sound right. He turned to look at the Athosian, she didn't appear well he suddenly realized, her skin had an unhealthy pallor to it. Suddenly she swayed, and Ronon moved to catch her as she toppled over.
"Teyla?" Ronon queried quizzically. She appeared dazed, disorientated, sick. As he held her, he felt himself grow dizzy, suddenly he was hot and itchy all over, the stings on his hand and face burned, his stomach started to have painful cramps. He shot a questioning gaze at Dohan. "What's wrong with us?" he grunted, then the world tilted and he felt himself falling towards the ground. Unable to hold on to Teyla any longer, he let her go. Fortunately the Gernosian hunter caught Teyla's limp but still conscious body before he fell.
oOo
Despite checking with the technician to find out about the status of the off-world teams over an hour ago, the nagging feeling of unease refused to leave Dr Elizabeth Weir alone. Frustrated and unable to concentrate on the reports in front of her, she closed the screen of her laptop, deciding to take a break and head down towards the mess hall instead. Although she had a pot of coffee brewing in her office, she thought a change in scenery might do her good.
At the mess hall, she caught sight of Dr Carson Beckett. The chief medical doctor was currently making his way towards some muffins still available at the counter.
"Carson," she greeted him cordially, as she walked up towards him.
"Elizabeth, fancy meeting you here. Come for a cup of coffee, have ya? How are you, lass?" Carson turned to look at the leader of Atlantis with a gentle smile on his face. A hand stretched out and he selected a blueberry muffin from the counter, taking a quick sniff at it before putting it on his empty plate.
"Fine, Carson," she said, her tray held an apple and a hot mug of coffee as she looked for somewhere to sit. "May I join you?" she asked the doctor as they both headed for an empty table near by.
"Of course, I could do with a wee bit of company after the kind of day I've been having," the Scottish doctor replied.
Elizabeth lifted an enquiringly eyebrow. "Oh, anything that you want to talk about?" she asked curiously, preferring anything to distract her from the persistent unease that she was feeling lately.
Carson looked at her and smiled. "Nay, love, it's not something that I can't handle." Then he took a closer look at Elizabeth and noted the worried expression on her face.
"Is something the matter, lass?" he asked in his thick Scottish brogue.
Weir looked a little uncomfortable as she cradled her mug of hot coffee with both hands before lifting it to take a small sip. She gently placed the mug down onto the table and turned worried green eyes towards Carson.
"Have you ever had one of those feelings that something was wrong, which refused to go away?" Elizabeth commented softly.
"Aye, sometimes," Carson replied, his gaze locked on the woman in front of him, wondering where this was heading.
"What do you do about it? I mean, if there is no evidence to the contrary to prove that you're right?" Elizabeth wondered aloud.
The Scottish doctor's face softened, and he blinked once before an understanding smile formed at the corner of his lips. "If I had such a feeling that I couldn't rub off? That'll be easy lass, I'll go with my gut feelings."
Elizabeth stared at Carson for a while before returning the smile. "Thank you Carson, I think I know what I have to do now. If you'll excuse me?"
Carson lifted his eyebrows, wondering what it was that Dr Weir needed to do. "Of course, love."
With a grateful and farewell nod to Dr Beckett, Dr Elizabeth Weir left the mess hall and headed back to the Control room.
oOo
The scream was abrupt and brief. As soon as it started, John had instantly stopped moving the scientist and in an urgent voice asked Rodney what was wrong. But the scientist had already passed out from the pain, his face looking frighteningly pale and ashen. With his heart thudding loudly in his chest, Sheppard gently laid the scientist back down again and did a more thorough examination on the unconscious man. It didn't take him long to discover that in addition to the compound fracture, the scientist also suffered from a dislocated shoulder. No wonder McKay had shrieked so loudly. The move must have been pure agony on his injured shoulder. John mentally berated himself for his oversight; he shouldn't have taken the scientist at his word; he should have examined Rodney more thoroughly himself before trying to move him. But the urgency of his focus had been to free Rodney in order treat the compound fracture before the scientist took a turn for the worst. This fact, however, didn't make John feel any less guilty for inflicting additional pain on the man.
In spite of this, Sheppard wasn't too concerned about the dislocated shoulder. It was relatively easy to fix. John had enough field experience with such injuries to know what to do. He would attend to it later, he knew it wasn't life threatening. The compound fracture however was another matter. That was the real worry, the one that took first priority in his assessment of the situation. On the bright side, with Rodney now unconscious, it made things a little easier, as the scientist wouldn't have to suffer through the pain of John's ministrations. Acting quickly and grimacing from the pain of his own wounds, Sheppard moved McKay to a more comfortable position, gently freeing the broken leg from under the ceiling panel at the same time. The effort made him perspire more, his heart thumping faster in his hurting chest.
Opening his backpack, and still breathing a little raggedly, Sheppard wiped perspiration from his forehead, his fingers accidentally touching the cut above his eyebrow awakening the sting, making him wince. Carefully, he laid out all the items that he needed to treat Rodney's leg: water, disinfectant, tape, field dressings and bandages (lots of them), and adding to the growing pile, the makeshift splints that he had gathered and prepared earlier. He even found three shots of morphine to which he was extremely thankful. However, he decided to save these for later, when the scientist awoke and really needed them to fight against the pain. For now, being unconscious was the best thing that could happen to Rodney.
Before starting, Sheppard made sure to wash his blood covered hands with water and disinfectant. It was a waste of water that they'll likely need in the future, but it couldn't be helped as John knew that he needed to get his hands as sterile as possible before treating Rodney's injury. When he was done, he took a pair of scissors out from the emergency first aid kit and cut away the bottom part of the Rodney's pants leg, allowing him access to properly treat the wound.
Because it was an open fracture and not the type of injury that he had dealt with commonly in the past, he had to some spend time trying to recall what he had been taught in the air force when he had received basic field medical training. As he wasn't a medic or doctor, his experience in treating such injuries was limited. While he initially thought that he could set it, he suddenly realized it was too complex a medical procedure for him to handle. In a nut shell, he wasn't qualified enough to set the bone back into place in the case of compound fractures. This made things a lot more complicated. It meant that the bone had to remain where it was. However, what he knew he could do, was keep the wound as clean as possible, stop the bleeding by bandaging and splinting it. He also observed with relief that currently, the leg didn't show signs of impaired circulation, such as cold, white or pale blue skin. This meant that there was less chance of Rodney losing the leg.
Even though Rodney was unconscious, he must have still felt the pain from Sheppard's ministrations, for the scientist moaned slightly. Frowning at the sound, but focused on what he was doing, Sheppard whispered encouragingly, "It's okay, Rodney, it'll be over soon, just hang in there."
With the wound cleaned, he began applying the field dressing and immobilizing the fracture, making sure that he had the splints well padded, to prevent excessive pressure to the wounded area. As added measure, he had also used swatch bandages, which he placed above and below the fracture in order to further support and secure the splinted limb. McKay remained unconscious throughout the entire procedure to which Sheppard was externally grateful. He didn't think his raw nerves nor his senses could have handled another session of screaming scientist in a hell of a lot of pain, made more traumatic especially if he was the cause of that pain. The last couple of times were bad enough.
By the time he had completed the grueling task, Sheppard felt utterly and completely exhausted, both physically and mentally. His aching head was pounding so hard now that he could hardly to hear himself think, and he noticed that his hands were trembling slightly from pain and exhaustion. However, he knew that he couldn't give his aching and hurting body the rest that it desperately craved, not yet anyway. He still had Rodney's dislocated shoulder to tend to. It was best to do that while McKay was still out with the faeries.
So, grimacing against the tormenting, growing pain of his own injuries, Sheppard took hold a firm grip of Rodney's shoulder and expertly moved the dislocated joint back into place. As added precaution, he applied a sling to immobilize the injured limb so that the scientist would not undo the fix that he had set in place. When that was done, he began examining the scientist for other injuries that he might have missed. Except for some bruises and a couple of cuts, which John cleaned with antiseptic lotion and added some butterfly strips to the deeper cuts, there didn't appear to be any other major wounds to worry about. John even took a peek at the scratch that Drayx had given the scientist earlier. He saw that the upper arm didn't look any worse for wear and was content to leave the field dressing where it was.
By the time Sheppard was done with attending to all of McKay's injuries, he was dead tired and close to collapse. He looked at the still form now covered with the emergency blanket retrieved from his backpack. The injured limb he had elevated, making sure it rested comfortably on the broken panel nearby. He then removed McKay's Tablet from the backpack and gently placed it on the floor within arm's reach of the scientist. Then taking the now empty backpack, he placed it under the unconscious scientist's head, using it like a pillow. When he was done, he touched the back of his hand on Rodney's forehead to gage his friend's temperature. The scientist felt a little warm, making Sheppard frown a little. He hoped that McKay wasn't suffering from a fever, the last thing he needed was having to deal with an infection on top of everything else. Looking at the ground where the morphine was, he reached for it, and gave Rodney only a small dose, reserving most of it for later. It would hopefully fight against any fever, but he didn't want McKay going all loopy on him on too much happy juice. He knew that he could probably do with a shot himself, and for a heartbeat, he was sorely tempted at the thought of the relief that the drug would provide. But then he shook his head. No, Rodney probably needed it more than he did, for now, he would have to bear with the pain. Besides, he suspected that he might also be suffering from a slight concussion, which ultimately sucked, as it also meant no morphine.
Sheppard sat back, he knew that he couldn't do anything else, he was too tired, too exhausted, he needed rest himself. He had done all he could for Rodney, it was up to the scientist now to continue the fight for survival. With a sigh, he threw some more firewood onto the camp fire increasing the heat; he watched the fire leap and dance, shooting little sparks of amber into the air above them. With a painful groan, he leaned his back against the vessel's slanted hull wall, gripping his injured side tightly in his hand as he tried to make himself more comfortable. He felt hot, achy and thirsty, but he did not have the strength to reach for the water canteen that stood a few feet away. He hoped that he wasn't coming down with a fever himself.
He knew that his body was still showing some signs of shock as his skin was both sweaty and clammy at the same time. In addition, the pounding of his head and nausea had only abated slightly. The painful throb of his other injuries refused to leave him in peace. In spite of this, he wanted to stay awake to watch over McKay, just to make that the scientist was okay. However, even that feat now seemed impossible. He knew that he had reached the limit of his body's endurance, the adrenalin that had kept him going had drained away a long time ago. Against his will, his eyes fluttered close of their own accord; within minutes, his head nodded sideways and he was fast asleep.
oOo
TBC
AN: Stealth Dragon you guessed correctly. It was a dislocated shoulder (grin).
