Disclaimer - I do not own SGA or its Characters. I do own Dr. Orla Grant.
Rated T for violence & threat.
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Ronon wasn't exactly sure he'd ever really felt panic before. As Sateda fell, he'd relied on his instinct fuelled by adrenalin and honed by the training he and his unit had received. As a Runner, trying to survive was all instinct and training too, panic never set in, there was no time or use for it. Now however, for the first time since he was a small child, he didn't know what to. Panic was threatening to take over, Orla was having his baby. It was almost as though in a split second the true reality of what he'd known for months was going to happen, crashed head long into him.
He set aside the uncertainty and instead allowed his instincts to take over. He strode towards the gear stashed under the canopy of the trees and reached for the incubator still wrapped in tarpaulin. He turned, walked over to Sheppard and silently pushed the incubator into his arms. He returned to the trees and grabbed at the back packs on the ground. He walked over to Rodney and shoved one into his arms. He turned to face Cadman and tossed her the two small back packs recovered from the Puddle Jumper by Sheppard. Ronon grabbed at the dis-guarded rope, not knowing if they needed it, he coiled the muddy wet rope as best as he could before offered it to a stunned Dr. Biro.
"Ronon? Wanna fill me in on your plan?" Sheppard asked curiously.
"Getting you moving, you all take too long. I won't wait longer than I need to," Ronon replied with a steely determination which brook no arguing.
"We need to move, Lorne. Will he wake if he's moved?" Ronon looked directly at Dr. Biro as he asked.
Biro fiddled with the muddy wet rope in her hands, "I don't think so, as long as we're not going a great distance. He should be okay. We don't have a stretcher though," she answered anxiously turning to face Sheppard as though he'd produce one at the mention of such a thing.
"Don't need one," Ronon replied flatly as he strode over to Lorne's prone body. He crouched, grabbed at the Lorne's TAC vest and heaved him up and over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Grunting at the strain of carrying a dead weight, he slowly raised himself up and adjusted Lorne's weight. Turning to face his team.
"Oh, my, no, no, you can't carry him like that, he'll bleed out," Biro yelled.
"He's got tourniquet's on so he won't. The longer we stay here arguing the more chance of him coming round, right, Doc?" Ronon argued.
"Cadman, take point and get us out of the damn storm!" Sheppard ordered knowing he'd get nowhere once Ronon had decided on a course of action.
"We need to move you further into the cave," Jennifer stated as she began to search through the medical bag beside Orla.
"Why?"
"The others will be here soon, if you want privacy, might be best facing away from everyone else."
"Okay, but I can't even get comfortable never mind move!" Orla panted as she tensed herself for the next contraction beginning to take hold.
"Another one, that's quick. Do you have an urge to push?" Jennifer asked as she fiddled with the small gas cannister.
"Not… yet… I want drugs, a lot of them, not this natural stuff," Orla groaned loudly as the contraction got stronger.
"Don't forget to breathe," Jennifer urged.
"Am I dead? Then I'm breathing!" Orla scowled at the young doctor.
"Pant, if you pant during the contraction it helps with the pain."
"Drugs help too!"
"Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to give birth inside a small cave, wearing only foil blankets and a very ill-fitting t-shirt during a storm with no drugs!" Jennifer snapped back, smiling as she did.
"Where's your bedside manner?"
"Depends on the patient," Keller chuckled.
"Ladies, sorry to crash the party but found us some late comers!" Cadman yelled out as she appeared at the caves entrance. "Might need to scoot your butt down the cave a bit."
"Alright, Orla, pant, remember what I said, it will help with the pain. Pant, don't push not yet," Jennifer held onto Orla's hand as the contraction finally showed signs of receding.
Cadman moved past the two women beside the entrance and further into the cave placing the ruck sacks to one side.
The light inside the cave dimmed as the large frame of Ronon carrying Lorne blocked out the light.
"Might want to duck, big guy. Not a Satedan friendly sized cave," Cadman teased.
Ronon snorted and bent over and stepped inside the cave, he set Lorne down as carefully as he could towards the back of the cave, away from the entrance.
"Ronon, help me move Orla to the back of the cave while the contractions have eased," Jennifer ordered standing to grab at the medical bag beside Orla.
"Getting pretty wet outside, can you move up a bit?" Rodney snarked, the fear and danger now abated somewhat allowing his sarcasm to take over.
"Give us a moment, we need to move Orla, then there will be room for everyone else," Jennifer reasoned.
Ronon shrugged off his coat and dropped it beside Lorne, "Don't want to get mud all over Orla," he explained to a confused Cadman. He moved to Orla's side, knelt beside her and whispered, "Hey you," before he carefully lifted her turning as he did to avoid too many eyes seeing her in only foil blankets.
Sheppard moved inside the cave, set down the incubator and hollered, "Ronon, wait up. I got an idea," he removed the tarpaulin from the incubator and shook the excess water off it. "It's dry for the most part on one side, could use it under Orla. Might not be something soft but better than lying on the ground."
"Good idea," Jennifer replied as she moved to help Sheppard unfold the material.
Ronon looked down to the woman in his arms, "Hey," was all he could say.
"He…y," Orla's voice trembled with emotion. She turned her head and buried it into Ronon's shoulder, a small sob escaped as the relief of finally seeing Ronon on top of everything else became too much. She felt him kiss the top of her head as he whispered, "everything will be okay, Little One."
Ronon moved to lay Orla on the tarpaulin spread out by Sheppard and Keller. Settling her down he made sure she was covered with the foil blankets. "Pass my coat, please," he asked Sheppard nodding at the dis-guarded coat.
"Sure," Sheppard nodded quickly retrieving the coat and handed it over.
He covered Orla in his coat, she and the baby would need the warmth more than he anyway.
"Ronon? Why don't you sit with your back against the wall then Orla can sit between your legs and have a little more comfort?" Jennifer suggested.
"Okay," Ronon did as Jennifer suggested and reached for Orla, pulling her backwards into his chest. "Better?"
"Yes," Orla answered wearily. "Ronon, I'm sorry…"
"No, not the time. Later. Save your strength, Little One."
"I need to help Alice with Lorne, I'll be back," Jennifer promised.
"How is he?" Jennifer asked Dr. Biro.
"Not great but better than he would've been left in that… place. He should have been stretchered but well, Ronon improvised."
"Sometimes, improvising is all you can do, Alice. Please keep an eye on Lorne, I'll see to the rest of the group," Jennifer ordered as she got to her feet. She stumbled a little but was quickly caught and helped back onto her feet by Sheppard.
"Colonel Sheppard? I need to do a quick check over everyone else. We've limited medical supplies so I need everyone to be honest and realistic."
"I think we need Dr. Biro to take a look at you, Doc. You look… weary," he smiled.
"Nice catch, Colonel," she chuckled, she knew if she looked how she felt then she'd look awful. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, seriously, Doc. I got a bit wet same as everyone but no injuries. Could do with a shower, clean clothes and coffee but otherwise, I'm fine," Sheppard answered honestly.
Jennifer nodded, she looked at Cadman, "Laura?"
"Same, tired, cold but for the most part okay."
"Let me see your hands. I need to check your hands for rope burns."
Laura held up her hands, the small rope burns evident on them.
"Let me check what I have to we could use on those," Jennifer smiled and turned to face Rodney. "Rodney?"
"As you finally asked," Rodney began.
"Rodney," Sheppard warned.
"I'm sorry, I'm not a Military autobot. I'm wet, cold, I have a fever, I have burns from the rope and I need to eat!" Rodney pursed his lips together as he tried to fold his arms, hurting his blistered hands as he did.
"Show me your hands, Rodney," Jennifer patiently asked.
Rodney jutted his chin forward and showed his hands. The burns evident.
"Let me try to find something, Rodney. Sit down. Colonel Sheppard, any chance you have any medical supplies. What I had are lost in the water in the trap. All I have is a few items for Orla," Jennifer stated.
Sheppard searched for the two small ruck sacks he's taken from the Puddle Jumpers. Finding them he opened the bags and began to search. "I got some foil blankets, Advil, basic bandages and fire kits which is what I brought these for."
"Fire kits?" Cadman queried as she came to stand alongside Sheppard.
"Emergency fire starter kits with some grease, tinder, char cloth and flint. At a push both bags have enough to keep a couple of small fires going for maybe four hours. We need to get one going by Orla and Lorne and one down by the rest of us. Doc, if I can leave you and Biro to see to whatever injuries you can then I'll get these fires, going. Then I'll try Atlantis again…"
Sheppard was interrupted by a cry from Orla as the next contraction took hold.
Jennifer quickly moved to Orla's side, "Let me take a look, okay?"
Orla nodded and squirmed in Ronon's lap.
"What can I do?" Ronon asked fearfully.
"Remember this when you get mad at me later…. arrggghh," Orla panted.
"How you doing, Prof?" Cadman sat alongside her best friend looking bedraggled beyond words.
"She's a bagel," Jennifer declared grinning broadly.
"A bagel?" Ronon asked more confused than ever.
"Rodney what are you doing?" Sheppard hissed as he watched the man stand as near to the entrance of the cave as possible.
"Gathering water for the incubator. Sounds like Orla's about to deliver any moment," he hissed at Sheppard.
"I think she has a way to go yet, McKay but get the water." Sheppard moved one of the ruck sacks to sit near Lorne. "Try to ignore me folks, just trying to get some heat going," he really didn't want to intrude but he knew they needed the warmth of a fire urgently.
"That would be great, Sir," Cadman grinned looking slightly crazy covered in mud and soaked through.
"Lorne's vitals could be better," announced Dr. Biro as she turned to look across at Jennifer.
"All I have is an epidural, gas and air and Advil. The Advil won't touch anything but the epidural might help when we move him. As for the gas and air he'd need to be conscious to use it so…"
"Wait? Where's my bag?" Biro looked at Sheppard.
Sheppard spun around on his feet searching the cave as he did, "Doc," he spotted the ruck sack at the entrance to the cave. He quickly moved towards it, grabbed it and brought it over to Biro.
Dr. Biro searched the contents of the emergency med kit she'd brought. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I didn't mention the bag before," she apologized as she pulled out fresh haemostatic bandages. "We'll need these, those dressings need changing," she absently said aloud. As she continued to search the bag, she pulled out a small metal case. She opened it and inside was a phial and a syringe. "Ha, I have a shot of Morphine. If we're frugal, we could make it last eight hours by dividing it in half. It won't be as effective as the shots you gave Lorne previously but it will keep the edge off and he will probably remain unconscious."
"Do it, thanks, Alice," Jennifer smiled, her relief evident.
"Colonel Sheppard, once you finished with your fire, I need your assistance," Dr. Biro declared.
Sheppard went back to his fire starter kit and continued to strike at the flint, a spark hit the char cloth and ignited. "Okay people, we got the start of a small fire. Be careful, don't cause too much disturbance around it and it will keep going for a while."
TBC ...