THE WILL OF JENNIFER KELLER CHAPTER 21
Activity whirled through the medlab. Defibrillator paddles in hand, Dr. Pedersen's voice gave the warning.
"Charging."
Jennifer called out for assistance. "Major!"
Abatello was immediately behind her. His hands on her hips, he counted down.
"3 – 2 - 1 – GO!"
Jennifer pushed off her position on the gurney as Abatello lifted her out of the way. The minute her body was out of contact with the patient she yelled "Clear!"
Her eyes were glued to the monitor as the defibrillator jolted the engineer on the stretcher and his heart picked up its own rhythm.
Ronon watched the exchange from the hallway. He almost entered the room when the new Major put his hands on Jennifer, but stopped himself. There was something familiar between them. Jen had only called him by rank, but she knew him. She trusted him to know what she needed and to be there to do it.
Ronon's eyes narrowed on the stranger. Ronon replayed him lifting Jennifer off the gurney. As soon as her feet had hit the floor Abatello's hands were gone – no looking to her for approval, no lingering touch – he went back to his assignment. That spoke of repetition. Of training.
Not needing to see Sheppard, Teyla and Lorne behind him to know they were there, Ronon spoke over his shoulder, "Tell me about him."
Sheppard had seen the interaction between Abatello and Keller, too. He shook his head, but kept his commentary to himself. It had taken Ronon a whole five minutes to get his first twinge of jealousy. But Sheppard knew Jennifer's time away had been hard on Ronon, so instead of joking, Sheppard just answered the inquiry.
"Major Anthony Abatello. Former helo pilot. Now leads a force recon unit. Letters of Commendation. No discipline issues. A regular boyscout."
"Boyscout?" Ronon asked.
"Nevermind." Sheppard didn't bother to explain. "And pretty observant, too. Looks like he felt four sets of eyes on him and decided to come say hello."
Abatello stepped into the hallway and came to attention in front of Sheppard. "Sir, Major Anthony Abatello, reporting."
Sheppard waved off the ceremony. "Stand easy, Major. We aren't usually that formal standing around the infirmary. Exciting arrival, huh?"
Abatello relaxed. "Yes, Sir. Six minutes of excitement after six days of total boredom on the transport." Abatello laughed, and Lorne and Teyla both smiled. But not Ronon. His expression never changed.
Abatello reached out a hand to Evan. "You must be Major Lorne." Then to Teyla. "And Teyla." And finally to the Satedan. "And Ronon."
Ronon shook the hand in front of him without enthusiasm.
"So how is it you know Dr. Keller?" Teyla asked tactfully.
"She was at SGC and joined us for the last few weeks of our training," Abatello answered casually.
Teyla face asked a question, but before she could get the words out it was Sheppard who posed the question that had entered all of their minds. "What kind of training would you and the Doc do together."
"Couldn't say." Abatello tried to look innocent in his avoidance of the question, but to no avail.
Sheppard pressed. "When I said we weren't that formal I think you may have taken it too far. We still answer questions posed by superior officers."
"Sir," Abatello shoulders stiffened. "Dr. Keller was at SGC, and we were asked to incorporate her into our training rotation. The time was training for me and my men, but was technically considered medical leave for her. That makes it privileged information."
"Privileged?" Sheppard questioned.
"Protected."
"I knew what it means, Major."
"Yes, Sir." Abatello's tone softened. "Colonel, if you want answers to those questions you need to ask her. General O'Neill made it very clear that they weren't mine to give. Not even to you."
Sheppard understood as soon as Abatello dropped General O'Neill's name. This was the up-and-coming Major that had been asked to keep an eye on Jen while she was at SGC. John looked him over, deciding from his gut that it had been a good choice. It didn't hurt that Jen was also standing thirty feet away safe-and-sound – she provided actual evidence of success.
The Colonel softened his tone slightly as he aimed to break the tension. "So, Major Anthony Abatello, you have a nickname, 'cause that's a mouthful."
"Yes, Sir. Tony. Tello. I have four brothers and an ex-wife – I'm trained to answer to almost anything."
Sheppard laughed. "Well, you know how it works. You'll do something stupid here and you'll get a brand new nickname. For now, Tello will do. Lorne, take him back to the transport to grab his gear and get him and our new arrivals settled."
"Yes, Sir."
Evan gestured down the hall and Tello took the cue.
Ronon refocused his attention on Jennifer. She seemed comfortable with the condition of the patient she had come in with, and was turning over his care to Pedersen and Beckett. As the second patient was being wheeled towards the surgical area, Jennifer took a second to regroup. She rolled her head to the right and back to the left, stretching her neck to release the tension.
It was a move he had seen her do a hundred times after surgery or during a sparing session. It lightened his heart to see her do something so very … her; just Jen being Jen.
At the same moment, Jennifer turned towards the glass separating the medlab from the hallway and saw that despite the chaos of the emergency having passed, she still had an audience. Her movement stopped as she caught her first good look at Ronon.
Looking back through the glass, Ronon found her expression too complicated to decipher. It was a mix of relief, and hope, and strength; maybe some trepidation - and something he hoped was a mirror of his feelings for her.
She stood motionless, until the bellow of her name came from a nurse in the infirmary. She gestured at the operating room with her head. He nodded once, and she turned to follow the sound of her name being called.
"She will likely be in surgery for some time, Ronon. Perhaps we should come back," Teyla said, offering some subtle advice to give Jennifer a little space.
"I'll wait," Ronon replied as he watched Jen walk away.
Teyla leaned closer to her friend, one hand on his back as she tried to offer him some perspective.
"She made the difficult choice, Ronon. She came back to this world after all she has been through. Do not overwhelm her."
Ronon wanted to be angry, but he couldn't bring himself to be. Jennifer was back, and Teyla was right.
He followed Teyla down the hall.