Another chapter! I'm on a roll!!! And it'll probably end soon but hey, while I'm in the mood I'll try and write some more chapters!

Anyway, this chapter is actually rather technical (I even had to do research for it!) but it's not too technical... I think...

Anyway, please try to enjoy and REVIEW!!! I really, really, really like reviews!

Problems

"She'll be fine John," said Elizabeth with a frown as she watched John stare at Alex.

"And how do you know that?" demanded John, "she's practically dead!"

"But she's not dead yet,"

"She could die at any minute Elizabeth! How can you stay so calm!?"

"She is an ancient John; there is no way that the Ancients will just let her die!"

"How do you know that? They don't interfere in our business!"

"But Alex is one of them; they won't simply let her die,"

"How do you know that? Tell me! How do you know that!?"

"I just do, help her John, don't think so negatively,"

"But she's going to die," whispered John, successfully keeping back the tears that threatened to roll down his cheeks, "she's going to die,"

"She won't John," replied Elizabeth, walking out of the infirmary, "she won't,"

oOo

Rodney frowned as he watched the clock in the lab. It was 9pm, meaning that in one hour Alex would be in surgery.

"How's it coming McKay?" asked Sam as she walked into the lab.

"Fine," grumbled Rodney, before looking up at Sam, "hey, when did you get here?"

"An hour ago,"

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I was asked to see if you needed any help,"

"Any help with what?"

"Destroying the technology that Steven has and hopefully capturing him... isn't that what you're doing?"

"Oh, right, yeah,"

"So you're worried again,"

"Worried about what!"

"Alex, is it true that she's in an extremely unstable condition?"

"Yeah... it is..." said Rodney, his head dropping back to his laptop.

"And you're not with her... why?" asked Sam, sitting down on the chair next to Rodney.

"Because I have work to do!"

"Can't you take a break?"

"No, I can't!"

"Why not?"

"If I take a break, then my security on the... place could be hacked and taken down so Steven and the others could escape!"

"Its a few minutes Rodney,"

"I'm not taking that chance!"

"Come on, its a few minutes!"

"NO! I can't! I won't let them escape!"

"Alright, fine! Have it your way,"

"Thank you... now could you give me some space, I need to work,"

"Alright, good luck McKay,"

"I don't need luck, I'm a genius, remember?"

"Just find a way to destroy the technology and capture Steven,"

"Yeah, yeah,"

Sam sighed as she left the lab and headed towards the infirmary, she needed to check up on Alex.

oOo

"How is she?" asked Sam as she walked into the infirmary.

"Bad," was John's blunt reply.

"How bad?"

"Extremely... she can't breathe on her own and she's got internal injuries amongst a whole lot of other things,"

"Sounds bad,"

"It is,"

"Well, I hope she heals quickly," said Sam, as she started to walk away.

"So do I," replied John, shaking his head as a wave of pain engulfed it, "I really do,"

oOo

John frowned as he watched the clock. It was 3am, they had taken Alex into surgery five hours ago but he still hadn't heard anything.

He clenched his head and flinched as a jolt of pain waved over him, but he quickly dismissed it and shot to his feet as the doctor walked through the door.

"She's stable for now," she said with a sigh, "but we have to closely monitor her,"

"Why do you have to closely monitor her if she's stable?" asked John, who was obviously agitated.

"Her vitals are still extremely erratic, her heart rate is slow, her blood pressure is through the roof and she's not breathing correctly,"

"Will she be alright?"

"It's hard to say,"

"Can I see her?"

"Of course, they're about to bring her in,"

John sighed in relief as she turned away and left the infirmary. He collapsed into the chair and shut his eyes, cringing as another wave of pain came over him.

oOo

"Here she is," said the doctor, finally coming back with Alex, "you can come and stroke her head or something, but be extremely gentle,"

The doctor stopped as she didn't hear John reply or come over to Alex. In concern, she quickly spun around and gasped as she saw John, unconscious, on the floor.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, "help me life him onto the bed!"

She and several other doctors ran over to John and lifted him onto the bed.

"What's wrong with him Doctor Arching?" asked one of the nurses, putting an oxygen mask over John's mouth.

"I believe his brain troubles might only just be starting," replied Doctor Arching, connecting the EEG to him.

oOo

"Is he alright?" asked Elizabeth as she ran into the infirmary, "what happened?"

"His head injury was a lot worse than he said it was," replied Doctor Arching grimly, "much worse,"

"As in?"

"He's got traumatic brain injuries and we believe that one of he is bleeding onto his brain,"

"That doesn't sound good,"

"It definitely isn't,"

"Will he wake up?" asked Elizabeth as she looked over at John, who was lying in the bed next to Alex, unconscious.

"I don't think so," replied Doctor Arching, "with injuries that severe to the brain the likelihood of him surviving is incredibly low.

"But can't you stop the blood?"

"Yes, but the trauma to his brain will most likely kill him or leave him disabled, there are no recorded cases of a person surviving severe traumatic brain injuries and recovering with no consequences!"

"Will he live though?"

"As I said previously, the likelihood of that happening is extremely low,"

"Why?"

"Because on the Glasgow Coma Scale, his reading was two!"

"And that means it severe,"

"Yes, extremely severe!"

"What about Alex?" asked Elizabeth after several minutes of silence.

"She's healing incredibly well," replied Doctor Arching, "she should be fine,"

"That's a bit of good news,"

"Yeah... it is,"

"Well, contact me if anything happens with either of them,"

"I will,"

"Thank you,"

Elizabeth sighed as she looked from John to Alex and slowly exited the infirmary. "These past few days have seriously been a living hell," she said as she walked down the corridor, "just a terrifying living hell!"

Aww, poor John and Alex! I wonder what's going to happen! (I seriously do wonder what's gonna happen cause I don't know yet...)

Anyway, for those who don't understand some of the technical terms, here are the definaitions (In my format *everyone runs*... okay, in the dictonarys format *everyone comes back*)

Traumatic brain injury is defined as damage to the brain resulting from external mechanical force, such as rapid acceleration or deceleration, impact, blast waves, or penetration by a projectile. Brain function is temporarily or permanently impaired and structural damage may or may not be detectable with current technology.

An EEG (electroencephalogram) is a test that records the electrical impulses in the brain. The details are obtained by attaching flat metal disks (electrodes) to the scalp.

Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), is a universal system for classifying TBI severity, grades a person's level of consciousness on a scale of 3–15 based on verbal, motor, and eye-opening reactions to stimuli. It is generally agreed that a TBI with a GCS of 13 or above is mild, 9–12 is moderate, and 8 or below is severe.

... I can't believe I actually know that stuff at my age... it's cool!!!