AN: I am so incredibly sorry that this took so long to get out. I haven't had a chance to write anything this week because I had to catch up on homework and then my compy broke and it took forever to get it fixed. Anyway, I have it back now, and I am busily writing the last few chapters.
In this chapter, you should note that I am not good at medispeech or any kind of doctory things, so just go with the flow and try to ignore any errors I may have made. Once again, Nick Strauhan is not mine. He is the property of Titan5, but I like him so much I just have to use him. Read her stories to find out more.
Thank you for all of the reviews. I am always overjoyed when I see more waiting for me!
The Return, Part 1 was amazing and I don't think I can wait that long to see what happens. I am seriously losing sleep over this!
Anyway, enough of my rambling. On with the story! Don't forget to review! I still need ideas for the ending. There's the possibility of a sequel, but I don't really like writing sequels, so I need a better way to end this so I can avoid that.
o0o
Dr. Nick Strauhan wasn't sure what to expect as the puddle jumper carrying his latest patients ascended into the bay. He had brought four nurses and the mountain of equipment that Carson had asked for. He knew things were bad, but he didn't know how bad until the jumper hatch opened and he saw Carson working frantically on Jill.
"Nick, I need you to take care of John. Jill's vitals are all over the place, and she's already crashed once on the way here. Is Dr. Aron prepping the OR?"
Nick grabbed hold of John's stretcher, pulling him out of the jumper and beginning a preliminary assessment of his injuries. As he looked over the notes the med team had made, he tried to think of a good way to answer Carson's question. He shrugged. Honesty is the best policy.
"Dr. Aron has been confined to quarters, per my order."
Carson gave him a questioning look. They were running through the halls of Atlantis with their respective patients, but Nick still felt the hardness in his superior's glare, and he explained.
"Dr. Biro is prepping OR. Dr. Aron said he refused to treat spies."
Nick couldn't keep the anger from his voice, but it was nothing compared to the look that Carson now wore. I wouldn't be surprised of Dr. Aron turns up dangling off a pier in the next few days, he thought.
Then they entered the infirmary, and he pushed all other thoughts away and focused on what he did best – keeping people alive.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Elizabeth and the other people on the jumpers had been largely ignored upon their arrival in Atlantis. A nurse had told them to report to the infirmary much later for post-mission check-ups, and then had hurried away to help the doctors.
Lorne had dismissed his men and then gone to the Control Room to wait for the third jumper with Ronon and Teyla in it to return. That left Elizabeth, who immediately radioed Rodney and told him the situation. She then headed for the infirmary, knowing the others would meet her there.
This ritual had become all-too-familiar to the members of John's team. They settled in the waiting room after asking one of the nurses to keep them informed. Ronon and Teyla joined them after a short time, and then they waited.
After two hours, a nurse came in, and they asked her how things were going, but she just shook her head and took Elizabeth, Ronon and Teyla for their post-mission check. Elizabeth could see the flurry of activity in the operating theatres before they were taken back to the waiting room.
They had been there for six hours before Dr. Strauhan came out to see them. He looked extremely tired, but his smile wasn't forced, and they breathed a small sigh of relief.
Lorne, who had been in and out of the waiting room, stood and directed Nick to his chair. "Sit, doc. You look like shit."
Nick chuckled. "Thanks, Marcus. That's…nice."
"Yeah, yeah, enough already. How's the Colonel?" Rodney didn't look up from his laptop, but he wasn't typing anything, and they knew how important the answer was to him.
"He's been through hell," Nick said bluntly. He knew they wanted to know exactly what had happened. "He has two broken ribs, along with several deep cuts all over his upper torso. Some have become infected, so we're pumping him full of antibiotics to fight that. He's had some major trauma to his esophagus and vocal chords, and his lung function has been compromised somewhat."
"What does that mean?" Ronon crossed his arms, very obviously not liking what he was hearing.
"It appears that he was strangled several times in succession."
Teyla and Elizabeth gasped, Rodney turned green and Ronon and Lorne fingered their sidearms with dark looks on their faces.
"There's more. We think the aliens performed some type of surgery on him. We won't know for sure until he's awake, but there is a surgical scar on his abdomen. We'll keep an eye on it, but I'm more worried about another problem. He's having micro-seizures in every muscle of his body. He's undergone some kind of electro-shock treatment with high-voltage electricity. This is causing some problems with his heart, and we've had to put in a pacemaker to be sure his heart beats regularly."
Elizabeth put her head in her hands.
Rodney, with his usual bluntness, asked, "Is he going to live?"
Nick bit his lip. "Yes, if we can keep up with the infection and stabilize the seizures. He's breathing on his own, though we've given him an oxygen mask to make it a little easier. We've also given him some muscle relaxant and mild pain relief. We don't want to give too much right now and mask other problems, but it's taking the edge off."
"Can we see him, Dr. Strauhan?" Teyla asked.
"Very briefly. He's asleep, and quite frankly it would be better if he remained that way for awhile. Follow me." He led them through the infirmary to the back corner, John's unofficially permanent spot.
They clustered around him, Elizabeth and Teyla holding his hands, Rodney pacing nervously around the bed, Ronon and Lorne standing at the foot with their arms crossed, looking uncomfortable.
They each whispered their words of encouragement or command to get better, and then followed Nick back to the waiting room. Teyla and Ronon left to work off some energy after getting Nick's promise to keep them informed. Rodney gathered up his laptop and went to find food. Lorne had stayed in the infirmary to get his post-mission check, radioing the rest of the marines and airmen to join him. Elizabeth stayed behind.
"Nick, I need to ask you some other questions. Can we sit?"
He nodded, knowing what she was going to ask.
"How's Jill?"
He hesitated for a moment. He had spoken with one of the nurses who were helping in the OR, and he knew that Jill's injuries were severe. He just wasn't sure how much to tell Elizabeth.
"She's not doing well. She's been in surgery since you got back. She has a subdural hematoma, which under normal circumstances is bad enough. But this one went untreated for four days, and the bleeding has expanded considerably. Carson's had to drill a hole in her skull, and it's relieved some of the pressure, but there are complications."
Elizabeth knew the seriousness of the situation. "What kind of complications?"
"It appears Jill underwent some of the same electro-shock treatments as John. Seizures are common with hematomas, and with the combination of the electricity, she's been having some pretty bad ones. Carson and Dr. Biro are trying to stop them, but it's a touch-and-go process with the surgery. To add to all of that, she has a broken foot and a dislocated shoulder, but those are relatively minor compared with everything else."
"How's Carson holding up?"
"He's pulling out all the stops on this one, Dr. Weir. If Jill lives through this, it'll only be because of him."
Elizabeth nodded. She knew Carson would do everything in his power to keep Jill alive. "What's the situation with Dr. Aron?"
Nick frowned. "If he's not killed before the Daedalus gets back, then he'll be taking a trip back to Earth. And if we have anything to say about it, he'll be brought before a medical review board and will have his license revoked."
"I don't understand."
"Dr. Weir, every doctor here took an oath to never do any harm. When Dr. Aron refused to help Jill for personal reasons, he crossed a line. I mean, I'll be the first to admit that I wanted to fire him before. But for this, I'd let someone put him against a wall and shoot him."
Elizabeth looked slightly taken aback. "I do hope you're joking, Nick."
He sighed. "Mostly. I don't tolerate doctors who think they can play God with other people's lives. I can't in good conscience refuse to treat anyone, even if he had been trying to kill me five minutes earlier. I ran into a lot of this type of thing in Afghanistan. I hated it then, and I hate it now."
Elizabeth could see now why people always said Nick and John were so much alike. They had the same looks, yes, but they also had the same mentality about honor.
He stood, stretching. "I should get back and check on John." He held up a hand when she started to speak. "And I'll be sure to keep you informed about both of them."
Elizabeth nodded her thanks, and headed back to her office, sure that no work would be done until she knew they were both safe.