Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis, the characters and universe are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions and the Sci-Fi Channel. The content of this story is solely for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: I am NOT in the medical, military, mathematics or science professions so what you read is just 'winging it'. Hope it all sounds plausible. Also in my stories there will always be Dr. Weir and Dr. Beckett.
This is the fifth and final story completing the story arc I've written dealing with Colonel Sheppard's disability. Preceding order: Three for the Price of Two, Conquering Adversities, Unexpected Surprises, Life Altering and now New Beginnings.
The story was beta read and any remaining errors are my own. Enjoy.
New Beginnings
Author: kwillads
"Carl would you mind holding the Colonel's head still please." It was an order not a question and Carl moved into position placing a hand on each side of the Colonel's head to keep it steady while Carson took the necessary readings and measurements.
"Try again Colonel. Remember Teer, Hedda, Arvid. Your team coming to get you. Okay looks like the lower middle of grid C-3 and upper middle of grid I-9 for the medial temporal lobe." Carson's nurse, Mary took a black marker, parting the Colonel's hair and marked the location he called out onto the Colonel's scalp just two inches into his hairline from his forehead. "Remember fighting the beast." When Mary completed that task Carson called out the next location. "K-11 lower left quadrant marks the hippocampus." Mary took the back marker and moved to the Colonel's left side, parting his hair again and placed another black 'X' two and a half inches up from his left ear.
"Okay Carl you can let go. Colonel we're going to have to cut and shave your hair away so you'll be sporting a new look for a few weeks until it grows back in."
"No. No shaving Carson." John took a deep breath and continued rolling his head back and forth. He would have rolled off the bed if he could have but settled for gripping the doctor's sleeve in his panicked state. "No shaving please. McKay will notice. Can't. Camouflage." McKay…his thoughts were of Rodney instead of what was about to happen to him. Rodney was the more important motivation behind his pleading requests.
"Lad I don't think…"
"Doctor…I can do that." Mary spoke up after hearing the agitation in the Colonel's voice. "We only need an inch and a half circumference. I can cut what we need out of the way and leave the rest. I'll tape it back so it won't be in the way. The Colonel's hair will cover up the spots and no one will know except for the Colonel and his barber." That remark earned Mary a somber chuckle from the Colonel as he began to relax releasing Carson's sleeve but his breathing was still awkward. "Now hold still for me won't you." Mary smiled down at the Colonel.
John nodded in compliance. "Carson…you need to give Mary a raise."
"Aye, but she already gets hazard pay whenever you're in the infirmary." Smiling at his patient and at his sudden sense of humor Carson gave a fatherly pat to his shoulder while Mary did her magic. Mary was just finishing up when he stated, "Colonel, we're almost ready so Carl and I are going to fasten the restraints now. You going to be okay with that?"
"Not really." His awkward breaths halted only to be replaced by fast panting. "Do it."
"Listen to me Lad, you need to calm down. You're going to hyperventilate, now breathe in deep for me. That's good now let it out slowly. Again."
Carl and Carson moved to the end of the bed and started putting his bare ankles into the soft padded black restraints and tightening them down. Carson kept up his breathe in, breathe out as they moved their way up to buckle a safety strap across his legs just above his knees, another safety strap buckled across his waist. Carson kept watch on the Colonel's breathing not wanting to bring on or deal with a panic attack. Carl was putting the Colonel's left wrist in the soft restraint when the Colonel jerked and his breath hitched. Instead of finishing Carl pulled up a stool gave Carson a silent nod to stop for a minute and sat down so he could talk to the Colonel hopefully taking his mind away from what was happening around him.
"Colonel I want you to listen to my voice. You're not in any harm—"
"Says you." Came a breathy sound and watery eyes looking in his direction.
"It's not like before. We want to help. I need you to slow your breathing its too fast. Listen to my voice and breathe in through your nose letting it out slowly through your mouth. Again, keep going. I've been cleaning up the two adjoining rooms I found. They are only two halls away from my rehab room. I'm making one into my new quarters and the other an office. Breathe in now let it out slowly. Good. I think the Marines will let me counsel them if I'm in their territory. What do you think?" Carl asked not expecting an answer, he continued. "This will leave you and Col. Lorne free to do more important tasks. Keep breathing Colonel, in and out, in and out. I should be ready to move my things in, in a couple of days. I'm going to need Lt. Gadient to take down my headboard and put it in my new quarters. It's a wonderful piece of artwork."
While Carl kept up his litany of soft mellow words, he nodded to Carson to begin again. Carson managed to tighten the right wrist restraint without further issues. Then Carson moved to the other side of the bed and managed to finish the left wrist restraint along with the safety buckle over his chest.
Mary had finished removing the hair on his scalp and had moved over to two tanks sitting off to the side of the room checking the valves, hoses and controls. Carson chose to use nitrous oxide instead of the other sedatives he could choose from. Nitrous oxide is colorless and has a sweet-smell in its gas form. Carson chose it because it's the weakest form of sedation. It is absorbed by the body and has a quick acting calming effect on the patient.
"I'll get Ronon and Evan and some of the other guys to help you out. Maybe we can make a party out of it." The Colonel responded.
"I'd like that Colonel."
Carson moved into the Colonel's line of sight sidling up next to Carl who was still sitting on the stool. "Colonel, Mary is going to place a mask over your mouth and nose not unlike an oxygen mask you're used to and I want you to just breathe normally. I'm using a gas form of sedation instead of an IV drip. It will allow you to interact with us vocally but your entire body will feel relaxed. When your body goes into paroxysmal convulsions this conscious sedation or muscle relaxant gas will lessen the dangers. Do you understand what I just explained Colonel?"
"It won't hurt as much as last time."
"Aye." Carson nodded but gave a quizzical look to Carl. Mary opened the two valves regulating the precise combination of the two gases from the two tanks: nitrous oxide and oxygen, placing the plastic mask over the Colonel's nose and mouth the gases flowed. "Breathe normally and count backwards from ten."
"In what language?" The Colonel asked in a muffled response from underneath the mask.
Carson looked puzzled as did Mary. Carl stepped back into the Colonel's line of sight to answer that question. "English is fine Colonel. Count backwards from ten."
John's muffled voice started counting. "Ten…nine…eight…" His body seemed to have turned to lead, a sudden and strange feeling from just moments ago. "seven…six…five… four …four…" John was finding it hard to concentrate now. "…four…" What came after four? "um…four…did I already say three?" John didn't know it but he was fighting the nitrous oxide. Not wanting to lose control. He was the military commander and as commander you stayed in control. Always. Most people given nitrous oxide only made it to seven.
"How are you feeling Colonel?" Asked a concerned physician.
"Heavy. What comes after three?"
No one answered his question but he could make out voices around him. Carson was giving instructions to Carl and Mary. He tried to lift up his shoulders to look around but couldn't move. Mary still had the mask on his face then it was gone.
Carson turned on the ECT machine and turned the amperage dial until the digital readout displayed 1425 milliamps. He pushed another button to start the flow of specialized graph paper which would record the brain wave patterns and electrical activity over the course of the treatment. Radek informed him he would need to hold the wands in place for no less than seventeen seconds. A second digital readout display on the front of the machine would count the actual seconds the current raced through the brain. Carl positioned himself by the ECT machine to press the activate button when Carson had the wands in place. Carson stood over the Colonel's head and Mary sat off to the side.
Radek had calibrated, rechecked and checked a third time to be sure his information was correct. He would hate to have the Colonel undergo this type of treatment a second time. He wanted to get it correct the first time out. It took him two days almost three going over the diagnostic information Dr. McKay obtained along with the information Dr. Beckett and Dr. Heightmeyer supplied him on electroshock therapy treatments. There was a ton of information to sort through and internalize before he began his calculations as to how to restore the damage already done.
There was a slight tug on his chin and Mary was leaning over him holding a blue rubber mouthpiece. "Open please Colonel." Mary's voice was soft and her kind, caring eyes portrayed that everything will be okay soon. He could read that on her face as well as in her kindhearted eyes. He opened his mouth as Mary placed the blue rubber mouthpiece inside. Then he clamped down on it as if it was his only lifeline.
Carson rested the two wands on the newly shaven scalp and watched as the graph paper recorded the brain's electrical impulses. "Lord forgive me."
Carson gave a nod and Carl pressed the activation button on the electroconvulsive therapy machine which would deliver the electrical charge into his friend's brain. The machine whined like a Wraith dart screeching across the sky. A second later the Colonel arched his head back in pain. His eyes squeezed shut and his body wanted to convulse but was too securely fastened to the table. Tears flowed from the pain out of the corners of his tightly shut eyes to run down his temples into his hair. His hands were clinched in fists pulling against the soft restraints at his side with his remaining strength.
Carson looked at the ECT machine and only eight seconds had passed. It had already felt like a lifetime. Masterfully he held the wands in place and took stock of his patient waiting to hear Carl count down the last five seconds. Then it would be over.
"Five…four…three…two…one…Stop!" Carl shouted. As soon as Carson released the wands from the scalp he turned the machine off.
Carson threw the wands down on the table to begin barking out orders. "Mary get one hundred percent oxygen flowing stat. Carl I need a set of vitals and lets get these restraints off!"
As soon as the electricity stopped coursing through the Colonel's brain he collapsed back onto the table. His head lolled to one side unconscious. Mary removed the blue rubber mouthpiece and placed the oxygen mask on his face using the strap to hold it in place. Carson was taking a carotid pulse and Carl was working on getting a complete set of vitals. Between Mary and Carson they quickly dispatched all the safety straps on his body, wrists and ankles. The Colonel was free again.
Carl spoke the vitals out loud as he took each one so that Mary and Dr. Beckett would register them. All three of them jumped into action as if they worked in the Chicago Hospital Emergency Room on a Saturday night.
"Mary we need to start an IV to get him re-hydrated. The Colonel hasn't eaten in almost seventy-two hours."
"Yes doctor." Mary went to the supplies they had stocked for all possible emergency outcomes, found what she needed and started the IV with practice ease.
The Colonel was in stable condition. Carson checked pupil reactions and found them good. Carl was working on his second set of vitals as well. Now they just had to wait.
oOo
The Basic School was done for the day and Elizabeth had a date for dinner with her fiancé. She excused herself and headed to the suite where she hoped John was waiting for her.
As Elizabeth entered the suite she called out to John thinking he was in the bedroom. When no reply was returned she followed up with a quick search. She checked the balcony. Empty. John hadn't been wearing his comm so she contacted Teyla to see if John was waiting for her in the mess hall. Teyla reported he wasn't. Elizabeth contacted Ronon next to see if the two men were sparring although John was advised not too but when had that ever stopped him from doing something he wanted. Ronon reported not seeing him all day. That was strange since John had said that Ronon and Evan came to get him for lunch.
Elizabeth's panic rose with each additional contact she made. Pacing in the living space while she gathered her wits she contacted Carl. John was probably helping Carl with his new quarters and the office space he had found. Carl said he would be right there and closed the communications link between them. Elizabeth sighed in relief that they would be here and John was alright and not lost somewhere in Atlantis.
While she waited she quickly changed her clothes into something more casual and comfortable. Elizabeth was just coming out of the bedroom when Carl entered…alone.
oOo
Carl finished with the vitals and Mary was making herself useful by making the Colonel as comfortable as possible. The unneeded supplies and equipment were quietly and quickly removed and Carson found himself standing off in the corner watching the meticulous care his nurse was giving his patient. What Carson was seeing only confirmed that he made a wise decision in selecting Mary as part of his staff for this expedition. Mary was highly recommended for this venture and Carson was watching for himself just why Mary had been recommended. Carl joined him in the corner which brought Carson from of his muse.
"Carl you did a marvelous job lad. Calming the Colonel down and distracting him. He responds well to you."
"Thank you Dr. Beckett."
"No lad, it is I who should be thanking you. I have my doubts whether I could have calmed the Colonel down enough to get those last three restraints done. I saw how he jerked. I noticed the increase in his breathing. And I noticed how you calmed him rightly down and took his mind away from what was about to happen to him. I don't know how the Colonel does it."
"Does what Doctor?"
"Face what this galaxy throws at him."
"The Colonel is quite the resilient man."
Silence fell between the two men and a serene sound of singing filled the room. Mary, in her hushed tones was singing; a lullaby.
"Carl when you brought the Colonel in here today he was close to passing out. You said he hadn't eaten. I don't think any of us would have allowed him to go without food. Especially Elizabeth. I think you know more about what happened. You told the Colonel 'it's not like before'. I suspect it has something to do with his life prior to coming here. Am I correct?"
"The Colonel has experienced something similar in the past." Carl stated.
"There's nothing in his medical file about it."
"It happened when he was held captive."
"That would explain hesitancy. There's something more." Carson made it a statement rather than a question.
"I honestly can't say. But I will say this. If this had been a normal ECT treatment, what would be a part of the procedure that all patients would have to endure before the therapy could be administered?" Carl queried.
Carson took a few minutes to run down the procedural list for an electroconvulsive therapy session in his mind trying to collate that with the symptoms the Colonel presented upon his arrival. Adding to that the state of the Colonel afterwards.
"He did this to himself!?" Carson exclaimed a bit more loudly than he had wished. Mary held up a finger in front of her mouth and 'shushed' the Scottish Doctor. Carson felt duly scolded by her simple action.
"His experience as a captive was less than pleasant."
"My Lord. He will never cease to amaze me. It's a wonder the lad hasn't had a mental breakdown after all that he's been through in his life and military career. Has he ever told you about the tiff he and his father had about him attending Stanford University rather than Harvard and of course joining the military."
"The Colonel has brought it up on occasion." Just then Carl's radio beeped in his ear. "I'll be right there Dr. Weir." Carl disconnected the connection before turning to Carson. "Doctor Weir has been unable to locate the Colonel and it sounds that she is on the verge of a panic attack herself. If you don't need me here…"
"Yes of course, go. And Carl…I don't want the Colonel to have any visitors tonight at all. Please explain to Elizabeth that there was no time to spare to inform her. I believe the Colonel would have wanted it this way. I will contact her when she can come to the infirmary and not a minute before. Make her understand lad."
"I'll do my best Doctor."
TBC 36/60