Chapter 3: Poor John.
Elizabeth stood with her mouth open when she finally comprehended what John had just told her. Watching in horror her second in command lost consciousness again. If what he'd told her was true, he was in big trouble and they needed to do something quickly.
She turned to look at Carson and found that he was staring at her, "Elizabeth, what is going on?" He asked not taking his eyes off her.
"Dr Fletcher was the Doctor in the psychiatric hospital that I was being held in when the nanites were taking over my system." She took a deep breath before continuing, "And if he is blind in the real world, he may be blind in the world that the nanites have created and if that is the case, he doesn't stand a chance. You really need to test him for nanites again."
"Temporary blindness is not uncommon for any brain injury as is confusion. I have tested him for nanites five times, and it has come up negative every time." Carson told her and she could certainly sense the frustration that he may be feeling.
"Well test him again and if it comes up negative try something else." She pleaded with him.
"Okay, Luv, I'll test him again, but in the meantime perhaps you can contact Dr McKay and get him to look through the ancient database to see if he can find any occurrences of this happening?"
Elizabeth sighed, at least if she had something to do, she wouldn't feel as worried about John, "I think I need to go for a walk. Perhaps I'll go and talk to Rodney now."
Carson rubbed his hands across his face before he spoke again and she could sense he was tired and needed a rest, "I'll test John again for nanites. I have a few other things I can try to detect the nanites as well, but somehow I don't think any of them are going to work."
She took one last look at John, who seemed to be peaceful for the moment and then she turned and left the room and headed for Rodney's lab. She had a strong suspicion that's where Rodney would be at this time of the morning, but she decided to check anyway.
"Weir to McKay, come in please?"
She didn't have to wait long for Rodney's impatient reply, "I'm a little busy right now Elizabeth so this had better be important."
"It's possible that Colonel Sheppard has been infected by nanites and whatever tests Carson has performed are detecting nothing. So, I'm wondering if you can search through the database to see if there is any record of this happening before."
Rodney didn't reply, so she thought that he'd cut the connection, "Rodney are you still there?"
"Yes, I'm still here, I'm just trying to contemplate what you just said. Did he wake up and say something? Perhaps he hit his head harder than Carson originally thought."
Again, there was silence on the other end, and she was about to speak when Rodney finished his rant," typical when Carson's voodoo medicine doesn't work you turn to science!"
He was about to go into a full-blown rant, so she knew that he was worried about his friend, but she also knew that now was no time for him to insult the medical profession, "Rodney can you please look through the database for me? I can come and help you if you'd like." She said in a soothing tone, hoping that it would placate him.
"Alright I'll have a look and I might even ask Radek to come and help, seeing as he can be helpful on occasion."
"Do you still want me to help as well?"
"Go back and sit with Sheppard, for now, I'll let you know if I need you, McKay out."
Well, that went well, she thought and looked up at her surroundings. She had no idea how she'd gotten there, but she was outside the mess hall. Perhaps my subconscious is trying to tell me something.
She walked into the mess hall and looked around hoping to find someone to share a meal with, but the place was relatively empty. In the end, she chose a piece of toast and a cup of coffee from the serving table and went and sat by herself at a table overlooking the ocean. Although she knew that she had a lot of work waiting for her in her office, she decided that John needed her right now, so when she had finished eating, she would head back to the infirmary to sit with him.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John was sitting in a chair in a small dingy office, and he had no idea how he'd gotten there. At least he thought it was small and dingy since he could only see blurry images. Plus, it smelt pretty bad, so he was going to go with that assumption.
His head was still pounding, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been since he was positive that there was pain medication in his system. But unfortunately, that made his head fuzzy, so he was finding it hard to focus. On the plus side, he wasn't blind any longer and his vision was definitely getting better.
He wasn't even aware that there was anyone in the room with him until a man beside him spoke, "Major Sheppard, I think it is about time you spoke to someone about these hallucinations you've been having."
He turned his head to the left and immediately regretted it when a stabbing pain shot through his temple. Sitting next to him was a blurry image that looked like General O'Neill and it certainly sounded like him.
John gritted his teeth and hissed at the pain, "and what hallucinations might they be sir?"
There was no way he was going to call this man Dr O'Neill since this was a hallucination, and it was all caused by the nanites in his system. He wondered why Carson hadn't been able to detect them as yet. What were his friends doing right now, had they discovered a way to help him? He sure hoped so since he had no idea what these nanites were after with him.
"This place Atlantis you keep talking about. You have also described some of the people that live there in great detail."
"I don't recall that sir," he answered, suddenly feeling a little agitated.
"Colonel Sheppard, please don't try and deny it, we can't help you unless you admit what is happening to you?"
"Did you just call me Colonel? I thought that Atlantis didn't exist therefore I never went there and was never promoted. So technically I'm still only a Major."
Another voice joined the conversation; he turned from O'Neill and saw a blurry image sitting behind the desk in front of him. He had no idea who this man might be, but he had a strong suspicion that it was Dr Fletcher.
"I believe that you are imagining things again Major Sheppard." The strange blurry man answered.
He was beginning to feel incredibly tired, and he decided that it would be a good time to go back to his room and collect his thoughts. He knew that there had to be a way out of this situation, and he couldn't rely on his friends to help him. His friends would be doing everything they could, but he only hoped that it wouldn't be too late for him.
There was one last thing he needed to ask them though, "I would like to see my Mother and Father now please?"
"Major Sheppard, I'm sorry but your mother died over twenty years ago, and your father hasn't been in to visit you for weeks," O'Neill answered him and John was beginning to sense malevolence in his voice.
For a moment he felt sorrow that his mother wasn't there, but it was true she had died nearly twenty-five years ago and although he still missed her every day, he had grieved for her a long time ago. He suspected that there was something wrong since these hallucinations weren't acting anything like the ones that Elizabeth had described, and he wondered whether there was anything he could do about it, but right now he needed to go to his room and focus on coming up with a plan.
He nodded before answering them, "I would like to go to my room now please?"
The blurry O'Neill stood up and approached him and suddenly he felt the white-hot pain shoot through his skull again, the pain was intense, and he groaned as he fell to the floor. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Fletcher coming towards him with a loaded syringe.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Teyla had been sitting with John ever since Elizabeth had told her that John was possibly infected by nanites. Apparently, Rodney was searching the ancient database for clues as to what was going on. Carson had also explained that he had temporary blindness most likely caused by his head injury. He was extremely pale, and his hair seemed to be stuck to his forehead. A nasal Cannula was under his nose and he had two IV lines, giving him much needed fluids.
In the last twenty minutes, he had started to become restless, and she wondered if she should call Carson. John moaned rather loudly from the bed and then his muscles started to twitch. She was afraid that he was about to have a seizure, so she pressed the call button and called for Carson.
Suddenly he opened his eyes and grabbed for her hand, "Teyla please help me?"
As suddenly as he'd opened his eyes they were closed again, and he was completely still.
"What's going on Lassie?" Carson asked as he rushed into the room.
"John was beginning to thrash about, and I thought that he might be headed for a seizure, but then he opened his and begged me to help him and then he lost consciousness again. What is going on Carson? Has Rodney discovered anything yet?"
"No lassie, I haven't heard from him and I'm reluctant to check on his progress. You know Rodney when he's working, he doesn't like to be interrupted."
"I do not like to see him like this, so how can we help him, Carson?"
"All we can do now is treat his injuries and be there for him and speaking of injuries the bleed on his brain has almost stopped, so that is a good sign."
A soft whimper from the bed caught her attention, looking down a John she was happy to see that he'd opened his eyes again.
"Mom is that you?" John asked and Teyla could see that he was clearly confused.
"No John, it is Teyla. How are you feeling?"
"Head hurts and everything is blurry."
"I'll give you something in a minute for the pain laddie, but first I need to check your vitals and your wound site," Carson said in a soft gentle tone.
"Okay, doc. Do what you have to do."
She watched as John struggled to keep his eyes open and it wasn't long before they closed, and he was unconscious again.
"Why did he think I was his mother Carson?"
"I have no idea lassie, but perhaps whatever reality the nanites are creating for him his mother is involved somehow. That's if we are dealing with nanites.
"I cannot begin to understand what is happening to him, but I think I will sit with him for a while longer."
"Okay lassie, for now his vitals look good and by the sounds of it his eyesight is improving so I'll leave you to it. I will be in my office if you need me."
Once Carson had left, she took John's hand and started to sing an Athosian lullaby to him, hoping that it would offer him some comfort.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When John woke again, he was alone, and that fact really disturbed him. His vision was still blurry, so he couldn't see his surroundings that well, he assumed that he was awake and in the real world, so he fumbled around for the call button.
He still had a headache, but it was manageable for the moment, and he was relieved that his eyesight seemed to be improving. But right now, he needed some reassurances from his friends that they were doing everything they could to help him.
Finally, he managed to find the call button and press it. Assuming that help was on the way, he tried to take stock of his situation. Nasal Cannula, two IV's and under the sheet much to his chagrin was the dreaded catheter and to top it all off he felt incredibly dirty so he really hoped that Carson would let him take a shower.
It wasn't long before Dr Keller came into the room and although he respected her as a doctor and she was a lovely person, he really wanted Carson with him right now.
"How are you feeling Colonel?" She asked him in a cheerful voice and that was the one thing he hated about her.
"I'm good," he replied looking around the room, "where's Carson?"
"There was an accident in one of the labs, so he's with another patient at the moment."
"Is McKay alright?" He asked in a panicked voice.
He really hoped that he was because if anyone could find out what was happening to him it would be Rodney.
"Yes, Dr McKay is fine, and he is still in his lab researching the Database to try and find out what has happened to you. But you still haven't told me how you're feeling and 'I'm fine' or 'I'm good' is not an acceptable answer."
He decided to tell her the truth and then hopefully she would let him have a shower, "My eyesight is still a little blurry and my head still aches, but the thing that is bothering me the most is every time I go to sleep or lose consciousness, I end up in a fake world created by the nanites."
She smiled at him and he could tell that it was an attempt to make him feel better. "Well, you'll be happy to know that the bleed on your brain has stopped, so you should begin to make a full recovery now," she said with the same bright voice that she'd used when she'd walked in the room.
"Okay Doc, that's great, so can I have a shower?" He asked using his best puppy dog eyes.
"Doctor Beckett would like to make sure that you can stand and walk around the room first as you may still suffer from dizzy spells for a while yet. Not to mention your vision is still not 100 percent."
He sighed, he knew that she was right, but he also knew that he was going to get bored very soon and then he'd be driving the infirmary staff up the wall.
He suddenly wondered where his team was," where is everyone doc?"
"Ronon and Teyla are in a meeting with Elizabeth and well, I already told you where Carson and Rodney are."
"Right."
The doctor started to check his vitals while she spoke to him, "Elizabeth said she'd be down to see you once she's finished and Ronon will come to sit with you after dinner."
"How long have I been here doc?" He asked suddenly realising that he had no idea what day or time it was.
"You were brought in almost three days ago."
"Thanks, Doc, can I have some time to myself now?"
"I'll just give you your pain meds and then I'll leave you to rest."
It wasn't long before he felt a cool soothing liquid flowing through his veins giving him instant relief from his headache. He heard Jennifer leave and decided that it was probably a good time for another nap. Perhaps he would try not to sleep properly because the last place he wanted to end up was, the fake world.
A short while later he was startled out of his sleep when someone walked into the room. It didn't take him long to realise that it was Elizabeth when he smelt her perfume.
"How are you feeling John?" She asked coming up beside him.
He turned his head to the side to look at her and suddenly he felt a tingly feeling come over him and come to think of it, he'd felt it every time he was near her lately. His eyesight was still blurry, but it seemed to be getting better all of the time.
"I've been better," he muttered as a shiver ran down his spine.
"How's the head?" She asked and he wondered why she wasn't saying much.
"It's not too bad at the moment and you'll be happy to know that my vision is getting better."
"That's great John," she said getting closer to him.
As she got closer, his skin started to crawl, then she took his hand and the pain in his head intensified. He screamed as the white-hot needles started drilling into his brain again and it wasn't long before he felt himself falling into the dark swirling darkness.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Carson sighed as he sank back into his chair, perhaps it was time that he contacted Rodney since his latest round of tests on Colonel Sheppard had shown him nothing. Maybe he should test everyone who had been in contact with Sheppard for nanites as well.
He was just about to contact Rodney when he heard an ear-splitting scream from the ICU, and he didn't need to guess as to who it was from.
Rushing into the ICU he was disturbed to find that John was thrashing about in the bed, holding his head. Elizabeth was beside him and trying to hold him still, but the more she held him down the more he fought against her.
"What happened?!" He asked her in a panicked tone.
"I don't know I just held his hand and he started to scream before he lost consciousness again."
Carson really had no idea what was going on, but he was beginning to develop a theory, "Elizabeth, step away from John?"
"Why?" She asked letting go of him.
He watched as John suddenly became still before turning to Elizabeth, "have you been near or touching Colonel Sheppard every time he's lost consciousness?"
"I think so…Why?"
"I think that you may still be infected by nanites and when you touch him or are near they are reacting with the nanites which are inside of him. I just need to find out how to detect the little buggers before I can eliminate them."
"I'm going to have to test you for nanites again and I want to test everyone who has come in contact with Colonel Sheppard or yourself recently."
This was the last thing that they needed on Atlantis right now, but Carson knew that if he didn't act fast things could get worse very quickly, "I will call one of the nurses to sit with Colonel Sheppard for now, while I start conducting the tests. I don't want anyone else to touch you or Colonel Sheppard until I know what is going on."
He was relieved when she nodded and followed him out of the room.
The first thing he needed to do was test Elizabeth, but then if they were hiding in Colonel Sheppard could they also be hiding in Elizabeth. Perhaps he needed to contact Rodney before he did anything else.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When John awoke again, he was annoyed to find that he was back in the fake world and what was worse was he appeared to be restrained to the bed. His vision was getting better every time he awoke, so it didn't take him long to realise that he was in a small white room with not much furniture, no windows and only one door.
Great, I'm now in a psychiatric hospital and tied to a bed, how the hell am I going to get out of this one?
There was a rattle at the door, so he assumed that someone was coming in to see him, so he remained still and stopped fighting against the restraints.
The door opened and Fletcher walked in along with a big burly guard and he knew that he didn't stand a chance of fighting back right now.
"Major Sheppard, how are you feeling today? "Fletcher asked with a sneer.
"Can you stop playing games with me and tell me what you really want?" Sheppard asked feeling a lot stronger than he had the last few times he'd woken up in this world.
"What we want is to take over Atlantis and to do that all we need to do is to make you into one of us. Dr Weir is already well on the way and she doesn't even know it."
"I won't let you harm Elizabeth!" He shouted at the hallucination.
Fletcher laughed an evil maniacal laugh, "the damage is already done, my dear Colonel and soon you will be ours as well."
He was really angry when he replied in a cold calculated voice, "over my dead body!"
"Now I think it's time for your pain medication and then you can go back to sleep until you are needed again. And I warn you if you make this more difficult than it needs to be, I will have to come up with more painful ways to make you comply with our wishes."
John began to struggle as Fletcher came towards him with a large syringe, he knew that there was no use, but he had to try something. The pain was intense as the needle pierced his neck and in an instant, his head felt as if it was going to split in two. Just when he thought he couldn't take it any longer, the swirling darkness claimed him again.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Carson sat at his desk going over Elizabeth's latest test results and sure enough the nanites in her system had been activated again. The only question was how. It was a foregone conclusion now that John had been infected, but since he had no idea where they were hiding in John's body or how to detect them, they had no idea how to treat him.
Elizabeth was now in isolation and they had no idea how to eliminate the nanites because as far as he could tell she still had the Wraith DNA in her system, and they were completely ignoring it. An EM pulse was completely out of the question as well because it would most likely kill her at this point.
He'd tested most of his staff and John's team in the last few hours and for some reason, none of them had been infected and he had no idea why because if they could jump from Elizabeth to John, why not John to everyone else? Things were certainly strange, and he didn't like it. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.
He was just about to go and visit Elizabeth again when his com activated, "Beckett here," he said after tapping his earpiece and finding Rodney on the other end.
"I know how the nanites are hiding in Sheppard's body."
"Well do you know how to eliminate them because Elizabeth is now infected, and they are overrunning her system again? Apparently, they no longer have a desire to go after the wraith DNA which we injected into her bloodstream."
"Well, no not yet. All I can tell you is they are clinging to Sheppard's ancient gene and that is what is making them invisible to our scans."
Well, you'd better find a way to eliminate them quick smart, or we may lose Elizabeth. As far as I can tell John appears to be stable for the moment, but I have no idea how long that will last."
"Have you tried the artificial gene therapy on Elizabeth?"
"What difference will that make Rodney? Even if it did work it would only give them a place to hide."
"Sorry, I guess I'd better get back to work then, McKay out."
Carson turned back to the stack of paperwork on his desk, he'd been so busy lately that he hadn't really had a chance to get on top of it. Dr Keller had been helping him, but at the moment she was busy helping him helping out with the nanite crisis.
He was about to take a file from the pile when he heard Sheppard yelling for him.
Rushing into Sheppard's room he found that the Colonel was trying to get out of bed. It surprised him how much strength Sheppard had considering that he was still recovering from a head injury.
"Colonel Sheppard, what are you doing?" He asked trying to help the man back into bed.
"I need to get to Elizabeth. I think she's been infected again."
"I know lad, we have her in isolation, but we're not really sure how to help her right now. You'll also be happy to know that no one else has been infected."
Carson didn't miss the pain lines around his eyes as John spoke, "At this point, they have no intention of infecting anyone else because they have told me what they're after."
"What is it they want?" Carson asked although he had a fairly good idea.
"They want to take Elizabeth's and my bodies so that they can take over Atlantis. Although for some reason I seem to be making it difficult for them."
"I think it probably has something to do with your ancient gene lad."
All of a sudden John grabbed his head and started to scream. Carson watched as his muscles began to tremble and his back arched off the bed and then he started to thrash about.
The alarms started blaring as he tried to hold John's head still. Jennifer arrived a split second later and he started yelling orders, "he's seizing, give me 20mls of Lorazepam."
Moments later he injected the syringe into his patient's IV, and he watched as the convulsion's ceased.
"What was that all about?" Keller asked him with a shocked expression on her face.
"I have no idea Luv I don't know whether the seizure was due to the head injury or the nanites in his body. I know one thing though, Rodney better come up with a solution to get rid of these nanites fast. They're overrunning Elizabeth's body again and they're probably doing the same to John.
TBC…