Chapter 20: The plan.
Two weeks later Joe, Rodney, Carson, Rohan, Julian and Shalite were in the conference room in the presidential palace. They needed to discuss what to do about John. He had been in a coma for two weeks now and showed no signs of waking. Two days after slipping into a coma his fever had broken and the last trace of Tincara leaf had left his system. At that point there was a sense of hope that he would awaken, but after two weeks still nothing. Shalite, Joe, Carson or Rodney had sat with him at all times talking constantly, encouraging him, and urging him to wake up. But there was still no sign that he would ever awaken, not even a twitch.
It was with a heavy heart that Julian had called this meeting.
"Dr Jarvis, what is the situation?" Julian asked, and Rodney could see the concern in his eyes.
"We can't look after him here any longer. The presidential palace just doesn't have the facilities to look after a comatose patient long term." Joe explained with a look of sorrow in his eyes.
Rodney was incredulous, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What do you mean we can't look after him here?!"
"We don't have the staff; he needs constant turning, so that he doesn't develop bed sores. His muscles need to be massaged every day, so that they don't lose tone and his IV and catheter need to be changed regularly. Not to mention he has a feeding tube." Joe explained looking flustered.
But Rodney hadn't finished his rant, so he decided to continue before anyone else had a chance to comment, "feeding tubes, Iv's, Catheters, what are we living in the dark ages. I'm sure I've made this point before and you've giving me no answers!" He then turned to Carson and continued, "and as for you, you're the best doctor I've ever met, the king of voodoo medicine, can't you do anything to help him?!
"I'm sorry Rodney, but Joe is right, if he doesn't wake up soon, we'll have to move him for his own good and despite the fact that we're 50,00 years in the future there is nothing I can do about it." Carson agreed.
"But his friends are here and if he moves someone may try to kill him again." Shalite said, and Rodney could see the anguish in her eyes.
"I know, but if he doesn't wake up in the next two days, there's nothing more we can do for him here." Joe said looking away from Rodney.
"I will arrange for a security detail at the hospital, so that he is guarded at all times" Rohan informed them.
"Do we know why he's in a coma?" Julian asked Joe.
Joe scratched his head and Rodney had to wonder why he did that all of the time. "His body has been through two extreme physical events in a short period of time; it's possible that the pain was too much for his mind and body to process, so it just started shutting down."
Julian stood up and looked at Rohan, "How is the investigation going?"
"Well we have several suspects, but we can't come up with enough evidence to make an arrest."
"Make sure you keep him well guarded until you can make an arrest?"
Rohan nodded, before Julian spoke. "Okay, if no-one has anything else to say we move forward as planned."
They all walked out with a heavy heart. McKay left and headed for the infirmary, as it was his turn to sit with Sheppard.
Rodney was starting to despair by the time he entered the infirmary, He stood by John's bed and started to shout at him.
"How dare you lay there sleeping, you don't need any more beauty sleep you're beautiful enough, just ask all of the woman back on Atlantis in the past. They all had a thing for you, as if you didn't know!" Rodney was fuming by this time and continued his rant. "They're sending you away in two days' time unless you wake up. Just think what that will do to the rest of us, don't you think you're being completely and utterly selfish and don't forget that Teyla needs you to go back in time and rescue her."
Just at that moment Joe rushed in with Shalite. "Please don't shout at him? That's not going to accomplish anything." Shalite spoke to him in a calming manner and Joe nodded in agreement checking John's IV line.
Shalite took John's hand and at the moment she looked down at his face, she saw the most beautiful sight, a set of hazel eyes looking up at her. Then his eyelids closed, and he fell asleep.
"Does that mean that he's no longer in a coma?" Rodney asked.
"It is a good sign." Joe replied.
Shalite and Rodney then took up chairs one on each side of the bed, as Joe left the room.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John Sheppard struggled to find awareness in a sea of blackness; he had no idea why everything was dark. A glimmer of memory crossed his mind, he had been very sick, and he couldn't remember why, Shalite had been with him and so had Carson and Joe, but his addled brain couldn't comprehend what had happened to him. Up ahead he saw a patch of grey and he heard voices. Focusing on the voices he started moving towards them. The darkness turned to grey and struggling he managed to open his eyes. His eyelids were heavy as he looked around to find Shalite, McKay and Joe looking down at him. His eyelids started to droop as the darkness was creeping in to surround him, so he closed his eyes and let the darkness take him again.
The next time he became aware consciousness returned to him a lot quicker and he found it easy to open his eyes and when he did he was surprised by what he saw, Shalite was sitting next him and she seemed a lot bigger than she had the last time he had seen her.
"How long have I been out?" He croaked out, with his throat feeling drier than the Sahara Desert.
"John!" Shalite exclaimed, "it is good to see you awake, I'll just go and get Carson, since he wanted me to tell him when you were awake."
He watched her walk out of the room and thought, I must have been here for a lot longer than I think, I hope she doesn't have her baby now, because I'm not feeling up to helping her.
Carson interrupted his thoughts when he entered a minute later, "how are you doing laddie?"
"Why does my throat feel so dry Doc?"
"Would you like a drink of water?" Shalite offered putting a glass of water and a bendy straw in front of his lips. He drank greedily and was relieved that it wasn't taken away from him halfway through.
"Doc, tell me the truth, how long have I been out and what happened?" He whispered, as his throat still felt dry.
Carson looked at his feet and John knew that he was uncomfortable about something," "spit it out doc!"
"Well, you've been in a coma for two weeks and we were about to send you off to a hospital where they are able to look after a comatose patient."
"Okay…" John took a deep breath before continuing, "that answers how long have I been out, but still can't remember what happened to me?"
"John what is the last thing you remember?" Shalite asked in a soothing tone.
"I remember the burial ceremony and I remember feeling sick the morning after the celebration to send Tuart and Roget off to the afterlife, but after leaving the dining room at breakfast time I remember nothing."
"You were poisoned son." Carson told him and there was a look of compassion in his eyes.
"How?"
"Someone slipped an herb named tincara leaf into your food on the night of the celebration for Tuart and Roget. Unfortunately, if it is consumed and large amounts of alcohol are drunk, it can kill you."
John didn't like the sound of that and somewhere in the corner of his mind, he vaguely remembered having this conversation before, "So considering that there are two guards outside of my door, I take it you haven't found out who did this to me and why?"
Shalite brushed a lock of hair off his forehead and he actually felt comforted by it, she had very quickly become his closest friend in this time period and he was really going to miss her when he went back home, "Rohan has a few suspects, but there is no evidence to convict any of them."
Carson patted him on the shoulder, "I'm about to go off duty now, but Joe is in the office if you need anything."
John watched as Carson left and then he turned to Shalite, "how much longer until the baby is born?"
"Joe says that it could happen at any time, but my due date isn't for another three weeks."
"Well I'm hanging around until the kid is born not matter what."
"Thank you, John, but what about your trip to earth? Weren't you supposed to be going there to ask about a time-ship?"
John took her hand and started to stroke the back of it, suddenly feeling embarrassed things were about to get emotional again and perhaps that was one thing he hated about this time period, everyone seemed to want to have emotional conversations, "Look Shalite, I promised that I would be there with you when your child is born and I have every intention of keeping that promise. If I don't get to visit earth, I am sure that I can still ask them if they have a time-ship I could use."
"Thank you, John." She said and John was horrified when tears came to her eyes. He was really beginning to feel exhausted and the last thing he needed right now was to try and comfort a heavily pregnant, emotional woman.
Although he felt he needed a good sleep he decided that he would change the subject. Maybe he could get her to talk about something that she may be passionate about right now, "how is your research on the Coalition of planets going?"
He didn't miss the flash of anger in her eyes as she answered him, "I do not understand why they have lied to us all these years. What I can ascertain from research is that they have been lying to us for thousands of years." Suddenly she stopped talking and John wondered whether she had anything else to say on the matter or not. Finally, she took a deep breath and continued. "What I can't figure out is why and have the leaders throughout those thousands of years known of the deception, or have they been just as deceived as the rest of us?" I guess once we've been to earth, I will have to do some more research."
He squeezed her hand to try and get her attention, "Shalite look at me?" He waited until she was looking at him, "I don't want you coming to earth with me. I promise that I will not go home without saying goodbye to you, but I want you to have your baby here on New Sateda and there is no way I want you travelling with a small baby."
Watching her closely he waited for her to argue with him but was relieved when she nodded her head and kept her mouth firmly closed.
"Now if you don't mind, Shalite I'm feeling incredibly tired and I need to go back to sleep for a while."
"Sure, go ahead John. I will sit with you for a while longer, but then I have some research to do."
Drifting off to sleep another thought struck him, so he struggled to open his eyes and was relieved to see that Shalite was still there, "does anyone know where Atlantis is yet?"
"Not that we know of, we have kept it hidden form the Coalition of planets and the archaeological academy until we can work out what needs to be done about it."
"Has anyone been back there since you left?" John asked stifling a yawn.
"Rohan took Rodney and Joe back there last week and nothing appears to have been disturbed. Mind you it was pretty difficult for Rodney to leave here knowing that you were in a coma, but Carson felt that it would be good for him to get away from this place for a while."
"And what about you Shalite, have you left the palace in the last two weeks?"
"Do not worry John, I have been out on numerous occasions and not just to go to the library. Julian has shown me many sites in this wonderful city and in case you're wondering we are in the city of Ardara in country of Bendine and we are actually on New Sateda."
He opened his mouth wide, yawned and he thought that his head was about to split in two. "Well I knew that we were on New Sateda, but I had no idea what city or country we were in."
Shalite squeezed his hand again, "anyway, I think that I should leave you to get some sleep. I think that I will go and get some dinner and then I will come and see you again later."
He watched as she left the room and thought about what she had told him. It was a lot to take in, someone had tried to kill him, and it didn't take a genius to work out why. Someone was still against him going back in time and trying to change the timeline, which was ridiculous, because no matter what he did this timeline would still exist in some form. As he was drifting off to sleep a plan began to form in his mind, a plan to catch the person who had tried to kill him. He made up his mind he needed to talk to Rohan as soon as he awoke, which caused a smile to cross his lips as he drifted off to sleep.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"You want to do what!?" Rodney exclaimed in anger, "that has to be the stupidest thing that I have ever heard and believe me when I say that I have heard some pretty stupid ideas from you John Sheppard!"
"Technically, that's not true, it was the original McKay." John replied with his trademark crooked grin.
Rodney took a deep breath before answering, he knew that John was only trying to bait him. Five minutes ago, he had walked into the infirmary to visit John and had been told of his ludicrous plan and he wasn't happy by what he had heard, "don't be a smart ass. Now tell me the plan again, before I summon Rohan."
"I think you should take the guards away from the door and let it be known around the palace that the perpetrator has been caught and perhaps he or she will feel as if they can come in and finish the job, Rohan can be waiting to catch them in the act."
"Again, I think that is the stupidest idea that I have ever heard!"
Rodney glared at him and it was clear that he was losing his temper, "well Rodney I'm not asking you. I'm telling you what is going to happen and I'm asking you to get Rohan in here, so that I can tell him my plan!"
Before he had a chance to reply, John held his fist up to indicate that he should shut up, "so if you could kindly contact Rohan, I will be waiting!"
"Idiot," Rodney muttered under his breath, as he left the room. On his way out of the infirmary he saw Carson sitting in the office, which he now shared with Joe, "if you don't want your head bitten off, do go into visit Colonel Cranky pants."
"What seems to be the problem now."
"The mans and idiot," Rodney replied and continued walking. He was on a mission to find Rohan and when he found him, he would tell him what a stupid plan Sheppard's plan was as well.
It wasn't long before he arrived at the door to Rohan's office, he was happy to see that it was open and Rohan was alone, so he just walked straight in and stared his rant, "Rohan you need to tell Sheppard that his plan is stupid and he is and idiot!"
Rohan looked up at him with a blank look on his face, "what?"
He sighed, it wasn't his place to tell Rohan what Sheppard's plan was, since Sheppard had only asked him to find him, "Sheppard has a plan to try and help you catch whoever attempted to poison him and he wants to see you right away."
"I will be there in five minutes then," Rohan replied looking interested and all Rodney could do was roll his eyes, because in his eyes all these military types were the same.
"I'll catch you later then," Rodney told him leaving the room.
He had no idea what he wanted to do now, but he was sure that he didn't want to listen to John telling Rohan his plan, because he was still convinced that Sheppard was an idiot and was intent on getting himself killed.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John was relieved when Rodney had left the room, as he was really beginning to feel tired again. He'd awoken from his coma less than twenty-four hours ago and he'd spent about twenty of those hours sleeping, but he suspected that it was more out of boredom than anything else. He'd lost all of the tubes and wires connected to his body earlier this morning and he had even managed to eat some soup and toast for lunch. Carson and Joe had assured him that if all went well, they would release him to his room in the morning. They had also asked him if Shalite could stay in his room, so that he could keep an eye on her, as she could go into labour at any moment and he had reluctantly agreed. So, if his plan were to work the perpetrator of the crime had to strike again tonight. Closing his eyes, he thought that although he hadn't been awake long he could sure use another nap.
He knew that wasn't happen when Carson spoke to him, "what's this I hear about some stupid plan of yours?"
John was incredulous what the hell had Rodney been telling him, "that's really none of your business Carson, if you want to stick around and hear it when I tell Rohan you're welcome to do so, but I will not be discussing it before then?!"
"Alright laddie, calm down and remember I'm not your enemy."
He could hear the hurt in his friend's voice, so he very quickly found the need to apologise, "sorry Doc."
"Apology accepted. Now, how are you feeling, are you in any pain?" Carson asked and then immediately went into mother hen mode.
"I'm fine Doc, just tired and incredibly bored."
Neither of them had a chance to say much more, because at that moment Rohan entered the room, with Rodney not far behind.
Rohan immediately came up and stood beside his bed, "so John tell me more about this plan?"
"Well I was thinking that we could probably draw out whoever tried to poison me by taking away the guards and suggesting that the person responsible has been caught. Hopefully then they will try to kill me again, and you can lie in wait to catch them."
Rohan's eyes lit up and John could see the military strategist at work within him," I think that could work and fortunately President Tinkle, who is still my main suspect is back on New Sateda at the moment."
"You've got to be kidding me," Carson interjected, "John you've been out of a coma for less that twenty-four hours and you can barely move about by yourself. I don't think you are capable of defending yourself if anyone attacks you, and more to point I won't allow it."
"Well I'm sorry, but this is the only way I can think of the catch the person who did this to me, so it's going to happen!" John said indignantly.
John was relieved when Rohan added his support, "I'm sorry Carson, but I'd have to agree with John that this is the only way."
Carson sighed and John could see that he had no choice, but to agree, "aye laddie, whatever you say, but I won't be here to put you back together if you're injured. Joe will be on duty tonight."
"Thanks Carson and please don't tell Shalite what's going on, because I don't want her to worry."
"I'll leave you and Rohan alone to work out the details, and I promise I won't tell Shalite anything. She should actually be in her room resting, so I think I'll go and check on her now."
Once he was sure that Carson had left the Room, he turned to Rohan and they began discussing the details of the plan. After half an hour they had come up with a plan of attack and he was grateful, because his eyelids were beginning to droop and he could feel the gentle pull of sleep tugging at him and once he was sure that Rohan had left the room, he was happy to let it claim him once more.
He awoke with a start some time later and found that the infirmary was quiet and dark. A light was shining somewhere in the infirmary, but it was very faint and not enough to disturb him. He knew that he was the only patient in the small infirmary at the moment, so he suspected that it was probably a light from Carson and Joe's office. Joe and Carson had very quickly taken over the role of doctors in the presidential palace, once Julian had been given a chance to get to know them. There were still a few other doctors in the palace, but given the fact that he seemed to be the only patient for the last few weeks, Julian had turned the infirmary over to the two of them so that they could care for their friend.
The plan was supposed to be enacted during the night-time hours in the infirmary, so he assumed that the guards were already gone, and Rohan was lying in wait in case someone tried to kill him again. Rohan was supposed to be spreading the news that the person who had tried to poison him had been caught, but he had no idea whether anyone was coming to try and finish him off or not.
He wondered if he should try and go back to sleep, but then he was just to wired to do so. Something could happen at any moment, or then whoever had poisoned him could have decided that it wasn't worth the effort trying to finish him off.
Closing his eyes, he decided that maybe he could at least try and get back to sleep, the time would certainly pass much quicker for him then. Five minutes later he drifted into a restless sleep.
Suddenly he was torn from his sleep when he heard a sound outside his room, he lay as still as he could and closed his eyes, straining to hear what was going on, was it someone coming to attack him?
Things went quiet for a second or two and he almost sighed with relief, until the door slowly opened. This was it he was sure of it, someone was about to attack him. The thing that surprised him the most though was that there appeared to be two people in the room.
He listened intently, as he heard gentle whispers trying to figure out who they were, so when a pillow was placed over his face a few minutes later he wasn't expecting it. Whoever was pushing the pillow into his face was incredibly strong, or maybe he was just weak from spending two weeks in a coma, but although he fought with all of his strength he just couldn't seem to get the pillow off of his face. Someone was also scuffling about alongside of his bed and he had no idea what they were doing.
He continued gasp for breath and to thrash about until he saw grey dots dancing in front of his eyes, and he suspected that if someone didn't come to his rescue soon, he would suffocate. Where the hell was Rohan, or anyone else for that matter? His struggling started to slow as he felt the darkness encroaching upon him. Just before he lost consciousness, he heard the whir of an energy weapon being discharged, the pillow was removed from his face and sucking in precious oxygen, he finally let the darkness take him.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rohan awoke with a start and quickly chastised himself for falling asleep, he had no idea how long he'd been asleep, but he thought that he'd better check on Sheppard. He quickly headed down the hall to John's room and wasn't surprised at all to hear a commotion going on inside. Slowly he pulled out his weapon and made sure that it was on stun. He pulled back the door and immediately fired on the two figures in the room.
Quickly switching on the lights, he ran to John's bed and pulled the pillow off of his face, he then pressed the call button and immediately started to yell for Joe to come and help him.
Joe was by John's bedside in a matter of seconds and Rohan watched as an oxygen mask was placed over John's face while Joe checked his vitals.
"How is he Joe?" Rohan asked with apprehension.
"He should be alright, but I won't know until he wakes up." Joe told him and the worry in his eyes was palpable.
Rohan looked down at the two people on the floor and he wasn't surprised to see that it was Luchias and Jolie. They had been the two suspects at the top of his list, he tapped his communicator and called for a security detail to come and take the two of them to a holding cell and he would deal with them later. Right now, he would sit with John and he would sit with him until he woke up.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The next time John awoke there was bright light streaming through the infirmary windows and he wondered how long that he had been out. His head felt a little fuzzy, but the rest of him felt fine. It didn't take him long to realise that he had an IV in his hand and a nasal Canula under his nose and that frustrated the hell out of him. The last thing he actually remembered was that someone was trying to suffocate him and the last thing he heard before he passed out was an energy weapon being discharged.
Looking around the room he realised that he was alone, so he sank back into the pillow again and closed his eyes. He was supposed to be getting out of the infirmary today, but given the events of last night, he suspected that he would be in here for at least another twenty-four hours.
It wasn't long before he heard voices outside of the door and it didn't take a genius to figure out that one of them was Rodney complaining as usual.
Sighing he opened his eyes again and waited for someone to enter. The door opened and in walked Carson, Joe, Rohan, Rodney, Julian and Shalite, and for some reason they all wanted to talk at once.
"Well Colonel Calamity your plan worked!" Rodney said in his usual acerbic tone.
"John I'm so sorry I couldn't get to you sooner," Rohan apologised and John could see the guilt in his eyes.
"John I am so glad that your okay," Shalite said with tears brimming in her eyes.
"We really must try and get you home as soon as possible." Julian said patting him on the shoulder.
"Let me have a look at you son?" Carson stated and started checking his vitals.
Joe said nothing and just set about helping Carson with what he was doing.
John felt so overwhelmed by what was going on that he just stared at them all and wished they would all go away.
Opening his mouth to try and say something he was shocked when the only sound that came out of his mouth was, "umm…"
"Jeesh Carson he's brain damaged." Rodney whined.
Joe took that moment to speak up, "right you've all seen him and now I want everyone out, so that we can make sure he's alright."
John was relieved when they all very quickly left the room, "what happened Carson?" He whispered.
"Well your plan worked. Rohan came in to find that Luchias was trying to smother you with a pillow and Jolie was trying to inject a liquified version of the Tincara leaf into the IV which I took out of your arm yesterday."
"Why, how?" He was feeling exhausted again, so they were the only words that he could manage.
"When Rohan interrogated Jolie, she told him the whole story. Apparently Luchias didn't want you going back in time, which we knew already and Jolie wanted to get her hands on Atlantis, so she was willing to help Luchias get rid of you, hoping that you wouldn't interfere in her plans to wear everyone down, so that they would tell her where Atlantis was. As for how they did it, Luchias developed a good relationship with the staff down in the kitchen, so he was able to slip the Tincara leaf into your food in the first place."
John sighed, he knew that it was over for now, but he wondered how many other people would try to stop him in his ultimate quest to get home.
"How about you try and go back to sleep now John." Joe suggested tucking the blankets around him, just like a real mother hen.
Nodding, he watched them leave the room and he felt happy and content. If he had to stay here another day or two he didn't care, because at least for now he was safe.
TBC…