Chap. 37:

The alarm goes off at 0620 and opening her eyes, Lexi is aware of two things. First that John is still asleep next to her and second that he is lying on his stomach, his left arm draped over hers. Smiling to herself, she lifts his hand up and turning over she shuts off the alarm.

Turning over onto her left side, she nearly jumps out of her skin as he is staring back at her, "you really have to stop doing that to me." she says, smiling at him.

Returning the smile, "sorry." he says, and closing his eyes, "you got any Tylenol?"

Frowning and running her fingers through his hair, feeling a little heat meeting her fingers, "yeah I'd imagine you'd have a pretty bad headache, after last night. Anything else?"

Rolling over onto his right side facing her and curling his legs up to his chest, "nauseous, sore and I could sleep for another ten hours."

A couple of minutes later, he opens his eyes again to see her climbing onto the bed, okay, what the hell is going on? and blinking his eyes to get them to focus, "what time is it?"

Crossing her legs in front of her, handing him a bottle of water and a couple of Tylenol, "0630." and watching him take the pills, "drink as much as you can."

Swallowing, "and this is why I don't get drunk." he says, a frown creasing his forehead as he takes another sip and seeing her staring at him, squirming a little under her gaze, "ah, Lexi. About what I told you last night."

"John, don't worry. I'm not going to say anything or make you talk about it anymore. Unless you want to."

Closing his eyes and handing her the water bottle, "there really isn't anything else to talk about. She died, my dad was a complete ass hole, he died and it's over."

Accepting the water bottle from him and seeing the color draining from his face, as he closes his eyes, she quietly gets out of the bed, while he is talking and picking up her radio, she heads for the bathroom.

Opening up the channel as soon as she enters the bathroom, "Dr. Carter to the infirmary."

"Go ahead Lexi."

Smiling as she hears Keller's voice come over the radio, "ah, Jen. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Well, I'm much better off than most. It was quite the party. How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm glad you had a good time last night."

"Lexi, what's wrong?"

Sighing, "it's John."

"Let me guess. He's got a major hangover?"

"Yeah."

"Can you get him down here?"

"I'll try."

"Good. If not let me know and I'll come to you."

"Okay, thanks. I'll bring him by as soon as I can. Carter out." and signing off, she heads out of the bathroom to find John's eyes locking on her as she walks towards him. Climbing onto the bed and scanning her eyes over him, "you think you can make it down to the infirmary?"

Slowly propping himself up against the pillows, closing his eyes tight as the room spins a little, "do I have to?"

Smiling to herself, as right now he sounds more like a little kid, than an adult, "well, I guess I could have Jen bring the IV down here. She did say that she would."

Opening his eyes to slits, "really?"

"Yeah, really. I know how much you hate it down there and being that she has her hands full. I know that she'll be okay with it."

Closing his eyes again, as the little light that is in the room is making his head pound even more, "you mean, I'm not the only one who feels like crap?"

Chuckling, as she takes his hand in hers, discreetly resting her fingers over his pulse point and looking down at her watch, "yeah. You weren't alone in drinking your body weight in alcohol last night. I think half the population is down in the infirmary with hangovers."

Not getting a response, she looks up at him from her watch and smiles as she can tell that he has fallen asleep. Letting go of his wrist, she stands up and throwing on a hoody, a pair of socks and her sneakers, she swipes her way out of the room and heads for the infirmary, running over the previous night in her head.

Walking into the infirmary she is brought out of her thoughts by Keller coming up to her.

"Lexi, you didn't have to come down. I would have come to you."

Smiling slightly as she looks around and catches sight of Lorne, Ronon, McKay, Beckett and Zelenka all sleeping on gurneys, with IVs hooked into them, "wow."

Following her gaze, smiling and turning to face her, "yeah, tell me about it. They're the last of the group that I've treated for hangovers this morning. So I take it that the Colonel is..."

"Can we chat in your office?"

Nodding and leading the way, "sure." and sitting down behind her desk, "so, what's up?"

Running a hand through her hair and grimacing, "I was wondering if anything had shown up on John's after mission check from yesterday or the day before?"

Leaning forward, with her hands clasped in front of her on the desk, "no. Dr. Cole cleared him both times. Why?"

"Well, because I don't think he just has a hangover."

Leaning back in her chair, focusing on her tablet and opening up his file, "according to this, his blood work came back clean after both checks, as did his scans." she says, and looking at Lexi, "what are his symptoms?"

"I'm not..."

"Lexi, what are they?"

Sighing, "he's nauseous, he's running a temp and he said that he was sore."

Frowning, standing up, grabbing an LSD from her desk and gesturing for Lexi to follow her, "okay, let's head down to your quarters and check him over. The symptoms are in line with a hangover, which you know and the soreness can be attributed to the beating he took on the mission two days ago, but let's cover all the bases."

Reaching out a hand to stop Keller as she walks past her, "Jen, can't we just get him on an IV and I'll bring him down to you this afternoon. I mean maybe he just needs to sleep."

Looking down at her, "I would say yes. But with his luck, I want to be sure it is just a hangover."

Standing up and following her out of the office, "okay, but let's bring the IV just to get him started on it."

"Good idea. Might as well kill two birds with one stone." she says, as she heads over to one of the cabinets where they keep the IV bags and needles. Grabbing what she needs, they head for Lexi's quarters. Reaching them, Lexi swipes them in and they quietly walk into the room, letting the doors slide shut behind them.

Whispering, "Lexi, can you raise the lights a little?"

Lexi thinks the lights up just enough so they can see John and they head over to the bed. Keller kneels down on his left, as Lexi climbs onto the bed on his right side.

Looking at Keller, "do you want me to turn him onto his back?" she asks, keeping her voice low, as he is sleeping on his right side facing her.

Scanning him with the LSD, "yeah." she whispers back, as she keeps her eyes on the readouts.

Nodding, Lexi places her right hand on his left shoulder and her left hand under his right shoulder and gently turns him over, a smile coming to her lips as his eyes start to flutter open at the movement.

Feeling a gentle touch on his shoulder, John starts to wake up, instantly regretting it as the pounding in his head intensifies. Trying to fall back to sleep, but having no luck, he inwardly sighs and lets his eyes flutter open, blinking them a couple of times to get the person who is sitting in his line of vison to solidify into one.

Groggily, "Lexi?"

Smiling down at him, "yeah John. Sorry to wake you, but Jen's here."

Frowning, but turning his head to look at Keller, "hey doc."

Looking up at him from the packaging she is taking the IV needle out of, "Colonel, I need you to think back to when you got back from the mission yesterday. Besides being sore, was anything else bothering you?"

Wincing as he feels her insert the IV into the back of his hand, "ah, no. I was tired, but other than that, I felt fine."

Shaking her head, "Jen, when I got back from having coffee with you, I found him out cold."

Scowling at her, "like I said. I was tired."

"John, you slept for three hours. During the day no less."

"It was a rough mission. I..."

Interrupting him before the disagreement can go any further, "okay, okay. That's enough. Colonel, I'm gonna call for a gurney to bring you down to the infirmary. I want to run some tests."

"I'm fine. Can't I just stay here?"

Standing up and raising an eyebrow at him, "no, you are not fine and no you can't just stay here. I don't like the readings I'm getting from the LSD and your temp is rising and it shouldn't be." and seeing the look he is giving her, "if it makes you feel any better, I'm grounding your whole team as well as Kennedy's until we know what you've got."

Looking from him to Keller, "what do you think could be causing this?"

"I don't know Lexi." she says, and turning on her radio, "Dr. Keller to the infirmary."

"Yes doctor. What do you need?"

As Keller is talking over her radio, Lexi rests her eyes on John, just as he sits up. She watches as he throws the blankets off of himself and as he swings his legs over the side of the bed, he closes his eyes. Seeing this, "ah Jen..."

Stopping mid sentence, "and bring me a...hold on a sec Marie." she says, and kneeling down next to John, "Colonel, where do you think you're going?"

Opening his eyes, staring at her and taking a deep breath to keep his stomach in check, "I can make it without a gurney."

Looking from him to Lexi and back, "are you crazy? You're in no condition to walk from here to the infirmary."

Before he can answer, Lexi is standing in front of him helping him to his feet and sliding his arm around her shoulders, "Jen, he's gonna do it with or without your help, so just give in and help me."

Sighing and talking into her radio, "Marie, cancel the gurney request, but keep it on standby. Keller out." she says, and reaching for the flow valve on the IV bag, she turns it off and as she reaches for his left hand, disconnecting him from the IV line, "all right, I'll let you walk. But if you so much as stumble once, we sit you down and I call for the gurney. Deal?"

Nodding his head, but grimacing as it sends the room tilting, "deal."

Muttering under her breath, "I don't know why I let you two talk me into these things." Keller drapes his other arm around her shoulders and looking up at him, "okay, nice and slow and if you need to stop, say so."

They walk slowly out of Lexi's quarters and head for the transporter. As they step out of it in the main corridor leading to the infirmary, Lexi feels him shudder. She had kept her mouth shut about him walking under his own power, but looking up at him she can tell that she should have backed Keller up "Jen, stop and call for that gurney now."

Keller had not missed the shudders running through him either, but not wanting to break the deal that she made with him, she too kept her mouth shut. Hearing Lexi, she immediately brings her free hand up to her ear, "Keller to infirmary, I need that gurney. Infirmary hallway one." she says, and as the radio link closes, they ease him down to a sitting position against the wall, where once he's down, he starts listing to the left.

Seeing this, they lunge to stop him from falling over. Lexi being just a little quicker than Keller gets her hands on his shoulders and sitting down on his left side, she guides his head down onto her lap.

Looking up at Keller with a grimace, "I'm sorry."

Kneeling down next to him and taking out the scanner, "why are you sorry?" she asks as she frowns at the readings.

Running her fingers through his hair, also frowning at the heat that meets her fingertips, "I should have backed you up on bringing him here on a gurney. It's just that..."

Looking at John and then at her, "I know that he hates having to let us take care of him. But, this is getting old. It's like he doesn't listen to anything we tell him."

Looking down at him and sighing, "he listens. He just doesn't like it when other people worry about him. Which is why he doesn't like to bother anyone if it's something he can handle on his own."

"Are you kidding me?" Keller asks, as Marie arrives with corpsman Hall and the gurney.

Lexi shrugs as she watches them gently load John onto the gurney and walking next to it, they wheel him the rest of the way to the infirmary. Once there, she takes up a seat and watches the controlled chaos that usually accompanies him when he comes into it.

xxxx

Two hours later, Lexi is sitting in John's room in the infirmary, the lights dimmed, when she hears a commotion taking place in the main part of it.

She smiles to herself, shaking her head as she hears McKay shouting at someone or a couple of some ones.

"What are you talking about, he's sick? I thought you said it was just a hangover."

Lexi gets up from her chair and as she reaches the door leading into the main part of the infirmary, she sees McKay, Keller, Beckett, Teyla, and Ronon all heading her way.

"Rodney, calm down." she says, as the group comes to a stop in front of her.

Eyebrows shooting up, "calm down. You want me to calm down. How would you like me to do that, when both of these voodoo people here don't even know what is making him sick."

"Rodney, that's not entirely true." Beckett says.

"That's right. We have some idea about how he got sick. We just don't know what he has and we won't know until his blood work comes back this afternoon." Keller adds on.

Glaring at them, "oh and that's supposed to make us feel better?"

Placing a hand on his arm, "Rodney, I am sure that Jennifer and Carson are doing all they can for him." Teyla says, trying to calm him.

Just as he is about to retort again, the sound of fast beeping brings all of their attention back to the person in question. Lexi steps aside to allow Keller and Beckett to get to John first and following them into the room, she comes to a stop at the end of his bed, frowning as she can tell that he is about to throw up.

The first sounds that greet John as he starts to wake up are the beeping of the EKG and McKay's shouting. The next thing his brain registers is Lexi's voice, then McKay's again, then Beckett, and drifting a little he misses the last bit of the conversation.

Floating back to consciousness again, okay who's playing with the thermostat? has him trying to open his eyes. Not having any luck at prying them open at this exact moment, he drifts again, until he feels his stomach churning and the panic that engulfs him at the thought of throwing up, forces him to snap his eyes open.

Scrounging up what feels like the last amount of strength that he has, "sick." he grits out, before he bolts upright. He quickly grabs the basin that is thrust into his hands before the dry heaving starts.

He feels a hand rubbing circles on his back and when he is sure that his stomach is satisfied with the number it has just pulled on him, he collapses back against the pillow, closing his eyes.

The next thing that registers is the feeling of something being stuck in his ear. Opening his eyes, he sees that the only people left in the room are Lexi, who is sitting on the end of the bed, watching him. Keller, who is typing something on her tablet and is standing next to Lexi and turning his head, he sees Beckett standing next to him, holding what turns out to be the thermometer in his ear.

"Hey Carson." he croaks out, as his throat is really dry and scratchy from the earlier bout of dry heaving.

Smiling and taking the thermometer out of his ear, "how're you feeling, lad?" he asks, as he looks down at the screen and the smile falters a little.

Seeing everyone watching him, he squirms a little in the bed, "throat's sore."

Putting down the thermometer and grabbing a cup of ice chips off of the table next to the bed, "aye, I'd imagine it would be." and scooping an ice chip out of the cup, "this should help, though."

"Carson, what was the reading?"

Looking at Keller, "101.8."

Swallowing the liquid from the ice chip, "ah, what's going on?"

Turning his head in John's direction and patting him on the shoulder, "don't worry yourself about it." Beckett says, as he steps away to whisper something to Keller and Lexi.

John watches them whispering and curses the fact that his head is pounding, making it difficult to hear what they are saying. But years of training, allow him to read their lips. So when Beckett and Keller leave the room and Lexi comes to sit on the side of the bed next to him, taking his hand in hers, he asks, "they don't know why I'm sick yet, do they?"

Frowning, "no. They have some idea, but they're waiting on your blood work. How're you feeling?"

Sighing, "well, I'm not nauseous anymore. So I guess there's that." and seeing the emotions playing across her face, "Lexi, what is it?"

Looking away from him at the monitors, "it's nothing."

"Lexi look at me." he says, and waits for her to turn her head and as she does, he catches the tears streaking down her cheeks. Shifting in the bed, pulling her down into his arms and resting his chin on her head, "I'm not going anywhere."

Wiping the tears away from her eyes and sighing, "good I'm glad about that. But that's not it."

"Then what is it?"

Sitting up and looking him in the eyes, "it's not fair that you always seem to end up here. It's like the universe has a personal vendetta against you or something."

Chuckling, "it does seem like that doesn't it." and shrugging, he reaches a hand out to wipe a tear off her face, "but you know it could be worse."

Raising an eyebrow, "yeah, I guess it could." and smiling at him she leans over and brushes a piece of hair out of his eyes.

"So, what do they think I've got?"

Shrugging, "they think it's some sort of virus." and sitting up straight, "when everyone who was on the planet with you yesterday told them that you were the only one to eat the shellfish, they figured it was a good bet."

Scrunching his face up in disgust, "I've got food poisoning?"

Nodding her head, "no. It's a virus. Although the symptoms are similar to food poisoning, this is an actual bug."

Wincing, "I thought we said we would never use that word."

Wincing herself, "sorry. But it's the best way for me to describe it."

Pulling her down to him again, "it's okay. Just don't say it again. So if it's a virus, what does that mean in terms of how long I'm stuck here?"

"Well lad, we're gonna keep you here for the duration." Beckett says, as he walks into the room, having heard his question. He stops short however, at seeing Lexi lying in his arms, "oh, sorry Colonel, I didn't realize."

Pulling out of John's arms, sliding off the bed and sitting in the chair next to the bed, "it's okay Carson. So is it a virus?"

Coming up to the bed and reaching for John's wrist, "aye. But it's not any type of virus we're used to seeing." and taking his stethoscope from his neck, he hooks it into his ears, "it looks like this one is not contagious, which is a lucky break." and pulling down the blankets and John's top, "Colonel take a deep breath for me."

Watching Beckett checking him over, "you're leaving something out. What aren't you telling us?" she asks.

Settling the blankets back over John, sighing, "well, we don't know how long the symptoms last, let alone what all of them are." and sticking his hands in his lab coat pocket, "the one symptom we are positive about though is a high grade fever and if we don't watch it carefully, it will cause problems that your body can't handle right now."

Looking from him to John and back, "how high are we talking?"

"Dangerously high."

Closing his eyes and letting out a low groan, "great. Just great."

Frowning at Lexi, Beckett leaves the room.

She watches him leave the room and settling her eyes on John, she smiles to herself, as he seems to have dozed off. Standing up, she sits down on the edge of the bed and runs her fingers through his hair, startling a little as she sees his eyes staring back at her.

"It could be worse, right?" she asks facetiously.

The edges of his lips curl into a small smile, "stay?"

Leaning forward, she kisses him on the lips and as she sits up, "I'm not going anywhere, just go back to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

As his eyes slide shut, she slides off the bed, only to startle again as his eyes snap open, searching for hers, "Lexi, please don't…go anywhere."

Breath catching at the pure fear she sees in his eyes, she frowns and sitting back down on the side of the bed, taking his hand in hers, "okay."

Letting his eyes close again as he can't keep them open anymore, "s'good." he mumbles out as he falls back to sleep.

Smiling sadly, she watches as he falls back to sleep again, his hand going lax in her grip. Keeping his hand in hers, she runs her eyes over the monitors and as the numbers go blurry, she squeezes her eyes shut, pushing her thumb and forefinger of her right hand into them.

"Lexi love, are you all right?"

Dropping her hand and opening her eyes, blinking them a couple of times to get them to focus, "yeah Carson." and watching as Beckett heads for the IV port on the bag, "Teyla."

"Lexi how is he? Carson tried to give me the medical explanation, but."

"Well, except for the fact that his temp is rising, he's okay."

Looking at the monitors, "we're doing all we can lass."

Smiling at him, "I don't doubt it. But I don't understand how he could have gotten sick from eating the fish on the planet." Teyla says, and bringing her right hand around from her back, she hands something to Lexi, "I thought you might want this to keep you busy."

Looking at the item, she realizes that it is John's Nintendo DS, "oh, thanks." and looking back up at her, "well most likely the natives of the planet have an immunity to it."

"Oh." Teyla says, and raising her hand to her radio, "yes Kanaan, I'll be right there. Teyla out." and seeing the questioning looks that Lexi and Beckett are giving her, "it seems that Torren is giving his father a hard time, if you will please excuse me. Carson, please let me know if there is any change."

Smiling, "of course love."

Returning the smile, "thank you. Lexi I will see you later."

Taking her eyes off John, "see you later Teyla." she says, and watching her leave, she feels Beckett's eyes on her and turning to face him, "what?"

Shaking his head, "when did you last have something to eat?"

Sighing, "Carson, I..."

"That's what I thought. You know, you're just as bad as he is." he says, pointing a finger at John. "go get something from the mess. He's gonna be out a while."

Frowning, "but what happens if he wakes up and I'm not here? I promised I wouldn't go anywhere."

"Well, I'll be here."

They look over at the door to see McKay strolling in, tablet in hand.

Coming to stand next to Beckett, "Lexi, go get something to eat and change. I'll stay until you get back."

"But..."

"Lexi love, go. We'll stay with him."

She is about to protest again, but a loud rumble sounds from her stomach. Blushing, "okay, I'm going. But, contact me if..."

"The moment anything changes love, I promise."

Nodding, she stands up and kisses John on his forehead, smiling as he turns his head in her direction, as she pulls away, but doesn't open his eyes. Straightening up, she walks out of his room and heads for her quarters.

xxxx

Forty minutes later, Lexi walks into the gym, heading for the stationary bike, which is facing the entrance. She would have gone to the mess to get something to eat, as Beckett suggested, but having little to no appetite, she decided to head for the gym instead. Swinging her towel over the handlebars, she climbs onto it and inserting her ear buds, she turns on her iPod and starts to cycle.

Ten minutes later, she smiles and waves at Lorne and Ronon, who are leading a group of marines into the gym. She watches as the group splits off into pairs and on Lorne's "begin," they start to spar, Ronon and Lorne walking around the pairs, giving instructions as they go.

As Lorne nears her, he comes to a stop and smiling down at her, "hey Lexibeth, you feel like showing these men that a civilian can fight just as well as they can?"

Dropping her legs to the ground and taking a gulp of her Gatorade, "will I be sparing with you or Ronon?"

Raising an eyebrow, "me. I figure Ronon will take it easy on you."

Smiling, "Evan, if you really want to show them something, I should take on both of you."

"Yeah, but the last time you fought him, it was you and Teyla."

"Let's see what he thinks?" she says and standing up, "hey Ronon, come over here."

Finished instructing a couple of marines and walking towards them, "what's up?"

Winking at Lorne and turning to smile at him, "Evan wants me to fight him, to show these guys a thing or two. I think I should fight both of you, but he thinks you'll take it easy on me. What do you think?"

He thinks about it for a second and as his hand sub consciously rubs his back, a huge grin crosses his face, "I'd never take it easy on you. Let's do this."

Chuckling at the sight of him rubbing his back, "okay, Lexi. We'll do it your way." Lorne says, and coming to stand in the middle of the mat with Lexi and Ronon on either side of him, "okay, everyone stop."

As everyone stops fighting and stands at ease, Lexi looks around the room and recognizes some of the marines that are there. She nods her head at them, but most of them are new, having just recently arrived on the Daedalus.

Her attention is attracted to a young man of about her age who is raising his hand. She smiles as Lorne notices him.

"Yeah James, what's your question?"

Shifting uneasily, as everyone is now looking at him, "ah sir, I was just wondering who she is?"

Smiling, "you're a step ahead of me. Everyone let me introduce you to Dr. Alexa Carter. She is the head psychiatrist on base."

"But sir, I thought this was supposed to be a training session. No one said anything about having to talk to a shrink. No offense ma'am."

Smiling, "none taken Lieutenant." Lexi says, and looking at Lorne, "I think we should get this started. It's easier to show them, instead of telling them."

Nodding, "you're right. Okay men, clear the floor." he says, and as they are left alone on the mat, "okay you two, you ready?"

They nod in acknowledgement and bow to each other, after which they start circling each other. Lexi catches the flinch in Ronon, before he makes a move of swinging a fist in her direction. She blocks it and spinning, she glances Lorne coming at her. They fight for a good thirty minutes. Lexi blocking and returning each kick or punch thrown at her by the two men. She is completely in the zone and doesn't hear the whoops or astonished gasps coming from the new recruits, who are looking at the few marines who are veterans of the base, in shock. These men just shrug and smile, knowing all to well what type of fighter Lexi is, having seen her take Lorne, Ronon, John and Teyla down at one point or another.

Finally, she catches Lorne dropping his guard and swinging out a hand, she lands a punch to his stomach, which knocks him to the floor. As she does so, she hears Ronon coming up behind her and feeling his arm snaking around her neck, she grabs for it and quickly spins out of his grasp, elbowing him in the stomach, knocking the air out of him. Lorne and Ronon catch their breath and as they stand up and bow to each other and Lexi, who returns the bow with a huge grin on her face, the marines erupt into applause.

As she heads for her Gatorade bottle, Lorne turns and addresses the marines, "okay men. That was to show you that civilians can fight as well as we can. So be prepared for anything and everything out there. Dismissed."

Lexi watches as the marines leave the gym, the new recruits still shooting her looks of amazement. Gulping down the Gatorade, she takes a seat on the stationary bike, as the exertion of fighting on an empty stomach is starting to catch up with her.

Chatting about how the sparing went, Lorne and Ronon walk over to her, "well Lexibeth, I'd say you gave us a run for our money."

Scowling, "Evan, for the millionth time, stop calling me that."

Crossing his fingers behind his back, "okay, okay. I'll stop."

Seeing this and chuckling, "you know Lexi, if some of the marines fought like you, I'd end up on the floor more often."

Smiling, "thanks Ronon. But to tell you the truth, I'm not that great of a fighter. I just see openings that others don't." and standing up, she lists sideways, almost falling over into Lorne.

Catching her and guiding her back down onto the stationary bike, "whoa, Lexi you okay?"

Shaking her head, "yeah, I'm good. I just stood up to fast."

Rolling his eyes, "you've been spending way to much time with Sheppard."

Watching her with concern, "Ronon's right." and as he starts to reach up to activate his radio, "I'm calling Keller."

Sighing, "Evan, don't. I'm fine, really. I just over did it." she says, standing up to try and prove her point. But her body betrays her and the last thing she is aware of is feeling like she is free falling through the air, as she loses consciousness.