Chapter 43: Treatment isn't always enough

John could feel sleep pulling at him but resisted as Keller bustled into the room. "It's good to see you awake Colonel, even if it looks like that's not going to be the case for long. I'll be quick I just need to check a couple of things."

John nodded as he watched her head for his feet.

"I know this isn't going to be very comfortable but I need you to wiggle your toes, one foot at a time."

John did as she asked suppressing a grimaced when he started moving the toes on the leg that had been surgically repaired, but they moved and Keller seemed very happy at this "Ok Colonel I just need to know if you can feel a few things."

After nodding the affirmative several times as she touched his feet and legs Keller beamed "That's fantastic Colonel!"

John was confused but before he had the chance to ask her why that was so fantastic Keller continued; "We were able to remove the surface portions of the devices in your back, unless they are glowing they are not visible and the glow is only a dull one at that so they wont be hugely obvious even when they are visible."

Sheppard felt some of the tension from the past few months leech out of him and he smiled gratefully "Thanks Doc, you have no idea how much that means to me."

The draining of the tension also seemed to have drained his last reserves of energy and he felt sleep tug at him once more.

Keller smiled once more and said; "You are welcome Colonel, now try and get some rest."

John nodded and began to drift but just before his eyes closed completely he saw his team, along with his brother and the O'Neils enter the room. He had time to briefly wonder on how odd his brother looked in the BDU's before sleep overcame him.


Keller approached the group as they entered the room, "Everything seems to have gone smoothly; he's awake and lucid and he has feeling and movement in his legs. He's very tired still so try not to wake him."

They nodded and the team moved to their normal vigil positions before altering their positions slightly to accommodate David and Jack. O'Neil excused himself muttering about going to help Sam and Mitchel, who had gone to help Sam as soon as he had been cleared and heard Sheppard's surgery had gone well.

Just before she left the room Keller turned saying; "Remember not to touch his skin; we don't need any more complications."

They sat quietly for quite some time; Dave had had non-stop questions for days now and they had tried to answer them as best they could around preparing for the rescue but now he sat silently, whether he had exhausted all of his questions or not they didn't yet know.

Jack was silent too; he had been produced prior to the discovery of Atlantis and as such didn't know about it. However, he had had a fair amount of experience of Ancient technology and although awestruck by the extent of the city, hadn't felt the need to ask any questions.

Eventually Dave was the one to break the silence, "Will he be sent home to recover?" Not giving anyone the chance to answer he continued "I want him to come stay with me if he is; there are some fantastic rehabilitation facilities where I live."

Before anyone in the group could respond a voice came from the doorway "Normally after an injury such as John's we would send someone home but John's is a unique situation and we will do everything we can to keep him here during his recovery." Samantha Carter told them, walking into the room carefully followed by Mitchel. Mitchel was dressed in full tactical gear and it was obvious he was either about to leave the city or had just come back.

"What's unique about John's situation?" Dave asked slightly mystified.

Sam paused for a second looking at the members of Sheppard's team, not entirely sure how to continue. Eventually she said; "Beyond the fact that it would be quite difficult to explain to anyone why they can't touch John, his ability to heal has caused a fair amount of interest among certain groups back on earth. I have been fending off numerous requests for John to be sent back to earth for months now but I don't think it would be in his best interests."

At this Jack snorted "You're telling me, you should have seen the number of tests and procedures I had to go through" He added on seeing the enquiring looks he was getting. "And the only thing special about me is that I'm a clone."

"How do you plan to get around protocol?" Mitchel asked curious about what his former teammate was planning.

"Well with all the people who need to be returned home as well as the refugees and the thousands of people who were living on the ship I have a ton of paperwork. I wouldn't be surprised if a few medical reports were misplaced until I have a chance to organise what we are doing with everyone and I can sit down and sort out all the paperwork, it could take a couple of months." This last part was directed at the bed and everyone turned to see that John was now awake.

"Thanks Sam." John said gratefully

"You are more than welcome John." She said, "How are you feeling?"

John had been awake for a while now but hadn't had the energy to open his eyes and interact with anyone but instead had been content to lie and listen to the sounds of his family around him. Thinking about it now he had to admit he was exhausted, it was probably going to take quite a while for him to get over the cumulative effects of the tank but he had no doubt that a few good meals and a decent amount of sleep would have him well on his way to feeling himself again. "Tired I guess, a little hungry."

Dave snorted; "I'm not surprised, you barely ate anything while we were on that ship, only what Jack managed to shove in your mouth when you were awake. You are starting to resemble a bag of bones little brother.

"Well we are going to work on that shortly," Keller announced coming into the busy room "We have some yummy broth for you to start on, we don't want to give you anything solid until we are sure that your stomach isn't going to rebel. How's your pain?"

The sudden change in topic caught Sheppard off guard but he thought briefly before replying "I'm f…"

"Fine, yes we know you're fine" Keller interrupted "How do you really feel?"

"I'm really good doc, you guys must have me on the good stuff at the moment."

Keller still didn't look convinced but she let it slide for the time being. "Ok well after the last few days I'm sure everyone could do with a good meal and some sleep so doctors' orders, everyone off to the mess and then bed. I don't want to see any of you for at least six hours." Upon the multiple protests she said; "I'm sure Colonel Sheppard will be asleep for much of that time as well."

She looked at John and he got the distinct impression he wasn't going to get a say and so instead he said, "She's right, I'm beat, go and get some rest."

They all headed out, John was pretty sure he heard a little grumbling but he didn't have long to contemplate this as he turned to see Keller was still stood beside his bed. She was studying the monitors he was hooked up to, frowning slightly. He tried to suppress a cough whilst he waited to see what she had to say.

"You are running a slight temperature at the moment; I think I'm going to up the dose of antibiotics you are taking." She turned away from him briefly before turning back to inject something into his IV port. "Now, this is really important, I know you don't like to admit to being in pain but I do need to know about any pain in your right leg in particular. Because of the extent of the damage done by the bone we have to monitor your leg very closely for signs of ischemia."

Seeing that he didn't know what this meant she elaborated; "If the swelling in your leg progresses to a certain point it can cut off the circulation, if that happens then you risk cell and muscle death." She saw that he understood and he added "I promise I will let you know if anything changes."

She was happy with this and moved forward to listen to his breathing, careful to avoid touching his skin or the incision sites. She wasn't surprised to hear crackling in his lungs but she couldn't be sure if this was a result of multiple submersions in the tank or whether it was something more sinister, linked to the slight fever he was running. For the time being all she could do was treat him with more antibiotics and hope that his lungs cleared up on their own.

"Ok, that's all for now, I'll send Kelly in in a little while with some food. Don't worry about falling asleep; I'll get her to wake you up if you do. You need all your strength to get back on your feet as soon as possible."

John nodded in agreement before shuffling slightly to try and find a more comfortable position to lie in and sighed slightly, not trying to suppress the slightly wet cough that bubbled up as he started to drift again.


Sheppard slept until Kelly arrived with food, he had to suppress a groan as he woke as the sensation of someone touching his arm to wake him had him jerking away from the touch. The O'Neils had left him to sleep most of the time meaning that the only people that had woken him over the past few weeks had been guards taking him to the chamber. Kelly had apologised but Sheppard had to admit it was the first time in ages that he had been woken from sleep with enough energy to react.

He had chocked down as much of the broth as he could bear but eventually his stomach had rebelled against the sensation of being full and he had been forced to stop or risk throwing up what he had managed to eat.

He fell asleep shortly after that and spent the next couple of days sleeping; only really waking when someone bought food for him or a fit of coughing overcame him. The coughing was becoming more regular, every time he woke up he always saw his brother, along with one of his team, sitting round his bed. Each time he had seen Keller she had been happy with how the swelling in his leg was reducing however, the last couple of times he had woken he had been able to tell that something was concerning her.

Coughing pulled him from a restless sleep again but this time something was different. Catching his breath as the coughing subsided he felt the cool rush of oxygen from a nasal cannula and tried to take deeper breaths, welcoming the feeling of the extra oxygen reaching his lungs. It concerned him that he hadn't even noticed someone putting in on him and he could feel the flush of fever across his face.

Looking to one side he saw Keller standing next to his brother looking at the monitors. Over the past day or so she had been around much more frequently when he had been awake. John coughed again as Dave tapped Keller's arm before indicating that John was awake. John was slightly breathless from the last bout of coughing and was thankful for the help of the extra oxygen.

"What's going on Doc?" he asked Keller wanting to know why he felt so rough when he had felt nothing but a little tired a few days before.

"We are giving you extra oxygen because your blood oxygen levels have dropped and now your fever is starting to climb." Keller admitted "I was hoping that your body would fight this on its own but the crackling I can hear in your lungs suggests that you are developing pneumonia. You might have developed it as a result of the multiple sessions in the tank or it could be the result of a post-surgical infection. It's impossible to tell really what I can tell you is its likely you are going to feel a lot worse before you get better."

She looked apologetic but John knew there wasn't much she could have done, he was sure she would have been doing everything in her power to prevent it reaching this point. He nodded, he had been ill before heck he had even had pneumonia when he was younger, and he knew the drill. He looked at his brother and said "I'll be fine Dave; we have the best medical team in two galaxies looking after me. You on the other hand look like you should sleep for a week." He paused briefly to catch his breath before continuing "Go get some rest; my team will be here, they can let you know if something changes."

Keller smiled at John and turned to Dave; "I told you he would want you to get some rest."

Dave still looked uncertain, it was obvious he was conducting an internal war; he was shattered but his brother had risked his own health to heal him and they had only really just started to get to know each other again after such a long time with no contact.

"Go on" John encouraged him, "I'm just going to sleep anyway. Do you need someone to show you the way back to your quarters?"

Dave just shook his head and John wasn't sure if he was refusing to leave or if it was an answer to his question but before he asked Dave stood up saying, "You are still one of the stubbornnest people I know." He said this with a smile, taking out any of the barb that could have been interpreted from the comment "I think I can find my own way back to my room."

Ronon piped up at this point "Don't forget Carter wants to see you at some point to get your signature on those non-disclosure documents."

"Right," Dave agreed "I should probably do that first." And he wondered out of the room and John was relieved to see him turn in the general direction of the control room.

John coughed again and once the cough subsided he didn't suppress the groan that escaped his mouth now that his brother had gone. The coughs were deep, wracking ones and they were pulling at the sutures that covered his torso. He didn't mind Ronon seeing the pain but hadn't wanted to let his brother see, it would only worry him more.

Keller sighed and John looked over to see her studying the monitors for what must have been the hundredth time today. "If your fever gets much higher we are going to have to take measures to lower it. You are probably going to going to get much worse before you feel any better Colonel." She admitted again.

"I know" Sheppard confessed, "I've had pneumonia before, when I was a kid."

"I should probably find out who else has recently been exposed to the tank and bring them in for a forty-eight hour observation period." Keller mused.

John snorted and instantly regretted it; once he had the coughing under control and had caught his breath he explained; "The O'Neils are going to love that"

Keller grimaced at the thought of telling the hyperactive two-star general that she was going to confine him to the infirmary for forty-eight hours. She had the authority but he could tell she didn't enjoy confining people. "Yes, well they will just have to cope. Do you need anything?"

John thought for all of about thirty seconds "I could use something to drink." He admitted, oxygen always made his throat dry but the coughing had also made it feel raw.

"I'll get you some water just now and if you are up to it in a little while I would like you to try and drink a protein shake, you need to put on some weight and your body needs all the energy it can to fight this infection, there's only so much we can give you through an IV."

John nodded, he wasn't really hungry but he knew better than to refuse the food.

Ronon handed him the water that he had gone to get while Keller was talking to him, he was embarrassed to see that his hands shook as he tried to steady the cup he was holding. He smiled tiredly at Ronon as a straw was plonked in his cup mitigating the need to keep the cup steady enough to lift all the way to his mouth. He was exhausted despite the fact that all he had really done lately was sleep.

Having drunk as much as he could for the time being he handed the hall full cup back to Ronon and was soon drifting in and out of consciousness. He was vaguely aware when Keller returned with the protein shake and he forced down as much as he could but he was pretty sure that was very little. After that the periods of wakefulness became less frequent.