Tegan's Point of View:
My body felt numb. Not the bad kind of numb but rather the good kind - I felt no pain like this. It was a perfect day here as usual, with the sun beating down hard and warming my skin. I could hear nothing really with my head in the water like and while floating in the crystal blue water I felt at peace. My body was finally allowed to relax and my brief respite from the pain was welcome, no matter how long it lasted. My eyes snapped open and I jumped slightly when two arms slithered underneath me, my shock quickly fading into laughter as I stared up at a snickering John. He cradled me to his chest like I was a baby and I threaded my arms around his neck, dropping my head against his shoulder. John and I were allowed to be anything we wanted here; another good thing. There were no rules or regulations and we were allowed to just be together, whether it was being stupid together or more intimate things we could be whatever we wanted, and I was enjoying every minute of it. John smiled down at me, his warm lips lingering on my forehead as he held me in the water. Twisting around I wrapped my legs around his waist so I could face him, smiling at the sexy smirk that he was wearing.
"Well good morning to you to." I laughed.
John's hands slid to the backs of my thighs, holding me in place as he kissed my nose, then my lips. It was a soft, lingering kiss that held so much love in it, and I relished in the taste of the salt water on his lips warm lips. Paradise, this was paradise. John hummed contenedly before he spoke,
"Breakfast is ready." he informed me, "Your favourite of course." he pressed his forehead against mine and I sighed happily,
"You spoil me John Sheppard." I scolded half heartedly. John just snorted,
"No more than you deserve." he countered, walking backwards towards the shore. The white sand was glistening in the sunlight and beyond that was our villa, isolated and quaint. "Besides, if I cook breakfast this morning you make me dessert tonight, right?" he waggled his eyebrows at me and I rolled my eyes, slapping his chest.
"John!" I exclaimed, narrowing my eyes on his innocent expression, "Maybe." I caved, hopping down from him and walking back the rest of the way with my fingers intertwined with his. The sand was warm and soft beneath my feet, and the villa was just the perfect temperature inside, despite having all the windows and doors thrown open. A soft breeze blew in and caressed my cheeks and I closed my eyes to relish in the serenity of it all.
The villa was like a large two pronged fork. Facing outwards to the beach was the white wooden decking, tucked inbetween the two prongs with a outside dining table and two sun loungers. There was a large sliding glass door leading inside where you could choose to go in one of three directions. The hallway was painted a calming light blue with white skirting boards and shelves built into the walls to hold pictures of memories I held dear. If you chose to go left, you would end up in the living room where there was a large floor to ceiling window looking out over the beach in line with the decking, and a large flatscreen TV was mounted on the left wall above a low lieing oak cabinet filled with my favourite DVD's. The rest of the furniture was made of beechwood with bright red cushions that you sank into and cradled your body. The right wall was lined with bookshelves full of books I loved and ornaments I treasured, such as the frame holding our dog tags that Rodney had given us as a gift. If you chose to go right, you would end up in the kitchen. There was another floor to ceiling window in line with the decking but it was also a breakfast bar, with four polished silver stools that spun around and were quite fun to play about on. The furniture in here was all beechwood too, with a kitchen island in the middle surrounded by six high chairs to sit on that acted as a dining table. The cabinets were that lined the left wall held all of the food and had glass fronts so we could see what cabinet held watch, and the cupboards surrounding the stainless steel oven on the right wall had the pots and pans and cooking utensils.
Going straight ahead from the sliding glass door would bring you down a hallway with four doors leading off of it. This was the handle of the fork and it was quite a wide segment of building to hold three bedrooms and a bathroom. Two bedrooms were of course guest bedrooms, painted in cream with various landscape paintings and scenic beach pictures John had taken decorating the walls. The bathroom was slightly smaller but still had a clawfoot bathtub and a seperate shower unit in the corner. It was decorated in biscuit coloured tiles and the bathtub, sink and toilet were all made of black porcelain to compliment the colour nicely. All throughout the house there was terracotta tile flooring to keep it cool in the endless sunny weather. The temperature was always perfect though. When I was a little girl my farther had asked me what my dream house would be like if I could design it myself; this was the exact home I had envisioned and described to him in the exact location I had thought of. On one of his many business trips my farther had brought us all to Spain. He'd taken a day off for us to go to the beach together and found one of the most secluded beaches in the country. El Palmer Beach in Cádiz was far away from any form of civilisation so we wouldn't be hounded by the press, and it was nothing but white sand as far as the eye could see with the occasional bar serving wine and snacks. There was the town of Conil de la Frontera about half an hour to 45 minutes drive away through the beautiful Spanish countryside - the market there was where most of our food came from.
John moved the plates to the island for us and I greedily eyed the steaming pile of scrambled eggs and the crispy streaks of bacon beside it, hurrying to sit down at my place and dig in. John was an incredibly good cook, I'd give him that.
"What did you want to do today?" he asked me, cocking an eyebrow as he grabbed a slice of toast from the rack between us and piled some bacon and eggs on it. Humming thoughtfully I chewed on my bacon, knowing the possibillities were endless. "Bare in mind that Rodney and Jeannie are coming over later." he reminded me. Nodding in acknowledgement I swallowed my food and smiled,
"I think I want to go to the market." I decided, wondering if perhaps we could get a nice piece of fish to cook up for dinner. John nodded slightly,
"You're safe now." he said suddenly. My eyebrows furrowed and I slowly lowered my fork,
"What?" I questioned.
"I'm right here Tegan." he insisted, voice firm and resolute.
"I can see you John, I know you are." I said slowly. He shook his head slightly, blinking as though he were in a daze before he shot me a cheeky grin,
"The market huh? Trying to replace me with one of those Spanish hunks?" he questioned playfully, as if nothing had just happened. "You alright?" he asked, seeing my confused expression. Inhaling deeply I brushed it off and nodded once, forcing a smile and scooping some scrambed eggs into my mouth,
"Perfect." I promised him, glancing out at the scenic view and sighing in relief. Everything was perfect.
John's Point of View:
We were taking it in turns now, or rather my team were taking it in turns to sit with me and Rodney. We'd both refused to move from her side since they'd pulled her out of surgery. We were currently in the SGC infirmary after having Tegan go through extensive surgery in one of the best hospitals Colorado had to offer before she was released into our care. Her body was healing now, getting the nutrients and fluids it was lacking through the IV line connected to her left elbow. It would have been in her hand but it had had to be bandaged after the skin grafting they'd done - layers of skin on her hands had had to be replaced but they promised minimal scarring would occur. I held her right one, my eyes never leaving her face for a moment as she slept peacefully. They'd used some sort of mild sedative to keep her under, insisting that for now at least it was safer at the moment so it was easier to deal with her physical injuries when she woke up. It was her mental ones I was worried about. Every now and then I tried speaking to her, letting her now about things that had happened during the day and who was visiting her, hell even the boring stuff like what we'd had for lunch was up for discussion. Rodney remained silent for the most part, tapping at his laptop and seeming blissfully unaware of my concerns over her mental health. There were times when I could swear that she was hearing me because her eyes would move under their eyelids, as if they were trying to seek out my voice.
What was going on in her head? When were they going to let her wake up? Was she in pain wherever she was right now? Would she feel the same as she had before Murdale had gotten his hands on her? Perhaps it was selfish of me to wonder that but now I had her back, and regardless of the rules I was determined not to let her go. Nancy had been the only other person I'd shared my life with but even so, the chemistry I felt with Tegan superseded anything I had ever had with Nancy. I would wait forever as long as there was something worth waiting for, as long as I really could get the girl in the end. Screw the rules, screw the chain of command - I deserved some happiness and so did Tegan. I watched as one of the nurses came to swap the bags around on her IV line, pumping a third bag of fluids into her body to combat the dehydration she was suffering from. Giving her hand a squeeze I stared at her, eyes tracing over her pale figure that was as white as the pillow behind her head,
"There goes another one. That's your third bag so far in the past day, you must be thirsty." I chuckled mirthlessly and watched for any sign of life from her, feeling disheartened when I found none. Teyla had gone on a short break for dinner but came strolling back in with some food for us. Now Tegan was safely back in our care it was easier to eat, and sleep (though uncomfortable in the infirmary bed) came easier knowing I could wake up and find her beside me.
She placed one tray in Rodney's lap and handed the other to me, giving me a gentle smile before taking her place in a chair at the end of the bed to observe us both. I grabbed the cutlery and dug in, savouring the taste of the roast beef that had come in fresh this morning with the new supply chain. There was nothing like a good sunday dinner but it still didn't beat the ones I could remember my mom making for us before she died. The gravy wasn't exactly the best but it was warm at least and did add some moisture to the roast beef. Sipping on the coffee she had bought me I thanked her with a smile, seeing the relief in her eyes and the affectionate glance she threw Rodney's way. He was shovelling in food by the forkful again, looking disappointed when he found he had come to the end of his pile of sugar snap peas. Chuckling to myself I shrugged, seeing Teyla smothering a smile with her hand,
"It is good to see you both eating once more." she confessed. Rolling my eyes a bit I shrugged, unwrapping the cellophane wrapping from the top of my jello cup,
"Anxiety makes you lose your appetite." I said dismissively. She pinned me with her infamous motherly stare and I pointedly ignored her and dug into my jello instead.
"And why were you so anxious John?" she challenged me and I lifted my gaze to hers, warning her with my eyes not to go there. Teyla stubbornly refused to let me let this go however, "You cannot keep ignoring this John for it will not go away." she reminded me for the nth time.
Trying not to groan, I shook my head and swallowed the last gulp of jello down, pushing aside the tray and keeping my eyes firmly fixed on Tegan's pale form,
"We're not going through this again." I said firmly, "One step at a time, and step one is her waking up." I almost flinched when Teyla huffed frustratedly, knowing an angry Teyla was never all that easy to deal with, not since she'd had Torren anyway. But she thankfully let it drop once more - I wasn't too sure how much longer I could dodge that bullet for if I was honest. Taking up Tegan's hand again I gave it a squeeze, my own way of saying I was back I suppose before informing her of what I'd had for dinner and how Rodney's appetite was back to normal. Her eyelids twitched again, and I smiled slightly at the thought that maybe she could hear me. There was a familiar electricity tingling from her skin to mine, letting me know that though she may be unresponsive she was still alive. It was that (coupled with the steady beat from the heart monitor that lulled me to sleep every night) that comforted me more than anything Teyla or the doctors could tell me. Even looking pale as death and rather sickly when you compared her stark white face to the green bed sheets, she was still easily one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen, and I took the time to marvel in it, my eyes tracing over her bruised faced and imagining her stormy grey eyes demanding to know if Murdale was gone for good.
But she didn't open her eyes and I knew she wouldn't for another few days, however it didn't bother me because I knew she was receiving the best care available and eventually she would, I firmly believed it infact. Of course, there was a long road ahead for her to recover fully, something she might never do, but we would all be there. My hand squeezed hers gently as I looked back at Teyla, who was speaking quietly to Rodney about whatever he was currently working on. He was much more animated since we had brought Tegan back, more involved in his science and eating properly but he still looked just as exhausted as before. Though he didn't think I could hear it I knew he had nightmares, heard him whimpering in the night when he woke up and watched him through half lidded eyes as he paced the room before settling himself back down. Tegan was an integeral part of his life, his best friend, his sister - losing her was a reality he couldn't bear to think about living in.
"You have no idea how important you are to us...to me. I promise you right now, that we'll be here should you need us, we're not going anywhere." I vowed quietly. Teyla and Rodney chuckled softly at something and I looked up, unable to fight my smile when (with childlike glee) Rodney waved me over to watch a simulation for an app he was making to install on the handhelds in the jumpers to decipher ancient text faster. Ronon walked in at some point, silently standing beside us and glancing between Tegan and the programme Rodney was explaining. A small smile tugged at my lips, this was what life should be, all of us together as one family. Nobody was going to hurt any of us again.