On the shorter side! Getting close to the end!
Her eyes fluttered open and the bright light from the windows filtered in, making her squint. She looked around and from what she could see, realized she was in the infirmary. Everything was blurry. Someone must have taken her contacts out. She looked down at the IV in her hand and opened her eyes wider. "Excuse me," she called weakly.
A nurse came running to her side. "Dr. Keller!" she shouted, "She's awake again!"
Dr. Keller came quickly. "Emma, you're awake," she stated, "You're coherent," she observed, sounding a bit surprised.
Emma nodded, dry swallowing.
"You were in a coma for nearly a week," she told her, "You've been in and out of consciousness for the past day or so."
She didn't say anything for a minute. Vague, disjointed memories flashed in bits and pieces as she tried to make sense of them. Her stomach plummeted, thinking of Ronon stiff and unmoving on the floor of the control room. "Where's Ronon?" she asked feebly.
Dr. Keller smiled. "He left for his first mission since the attack this morning. He should be back in five or six days," she assured her.
She nodded, relief washing over her. "What happened?" she asked, closing her eyes.
"You were a total badass is what happened," a familiar British accent said from a few feet away.
"Dr. Peters, you should really be in bed still," the nurse chastised.
"Oh I'm fine," she insisted, brushing her words away with her hand, "You and Ronon went to the control room and sent an emergency message to the Daedalus. It reached them and they beamed in reinforcements, taking back the city," she smiled, a hand on her hip.
"Why was I in a coma? I – I was fed on, wasn't I?" she recalled, "Why am I not dead?" she questioned.
"You, missy, have helped the lovely med team here discover a way to temporarily block Wraith feedage," Lacey explained.
"How?" she winced.
"Your asthma medication has something in it that prevents the Wraith from successfully feeding."
"It's still a conjecture," Dr. Keller interjected, "We can't be sure until we complete thorough tests and trials. We've never seen this before because most of the SGA teams that…come in contact with the Wraith," she euphemized, "are military; the armed forces generally weed out people with asthma with their physical fitness requirements."
"So the Wraith did try to feed on me?" Emma clarified.
"Yes, we found traces of your blood and your medication in that particular Wraith's bloodstream, but the process didn't work. Your medicine blocks the transference of several Wraith enzymes apparently necessary for the feeding process. The Wraith still tried to kill you anyway and Ronon shot. Unfortunately, you were very weak as it was and caught a blast from his gun. You slipped into a coma even though it was set to stun."
She nodded slowly. "Casualties?" she asked cautiously.
"We lost a few marines," Keller said somberly, "And a few serious injuries. Speaking of which, I have a few people to attend to," she remembered, bowing her head. There was silence as Dr. Keller left to tend to another patient.
"Are my glasses here?" Emma squinted.
Lacey handed her the pair on the table next to her. "Ronon hoped you might need them. He trusted you wouldn't mind that he went into your room," she said, biting the inside of her cheek.
"No, that's fine," she said quietly, slipping her glasses on. "Wait, why are you here?" she asked suddenly.
"Oh, you know…a Wraith was threatening to feed on Evan so I stepped in," she said nonchalantly, "Apparently Mr. Wraith thought I looked too peaky and wanted Evan instead, so he pushed me out of the way. Two broken ribs," she blinked.
"Not a fan of English cuisine, huh?" she joked with a small grin. "Major Lorne is all right though, isn't he?" she verified.
Lacey nodded, smiling.
"Are – are those from him?" Emma asked, glancing at a vase full of wildflowers and ferns next to what must have been Lacey's empty bed.
Lacey shrugged, pretending to not love being doted on this way. "Write it into my Lifetime movie," she smirked.
"Incoming wormhole," the late night technician narrated, "Receiving Teyla's IDC."
"Lower the shield," Colonel Carter nodded, arms crossed over her chest.
SGA teams one and two returned through the gate looking haggard and worn but composed. The mission must have been a success. She made her way down to them.
"How'd it go?" she asked keenly.
Sheppard sighed. "Wasn't easy, but we did it," he answered, "Took out the hive ship from within," he explained. "We saw one dart make a run for it, but we shot it down."
"We think," Major Lorned shrugged.
"We're pretty sure," Sheppard winced.
"All right … good work," she commended them, "Get some sleep," she added, "You all look like you're about ready to fall over."
"Yes ma'am," Sheppard said gratefully.
"We'll debrief tomorrow at 13:00 hours," she said. "Ronon, can I talk to you?" she requested as he walked away.
"What is it?" he asked, turning back around.
"Dr. Rogers woke up about six days ago, just a few hours after you left," she told him quietly.
"What?" he asked urgently, "Is she—is she ok?"
"She's having a few memory issues," she revealed hesitantly, "She's remembered most of the attack, but it takes a few tries for her to remember new information, although she's been getting better as the week goes on." She paused. "She's in her quarters now," she informed him.
He turned away without another word and ran at breakneck pace to her room.
Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing!