Jessica was sure Lorne's team was almost as cursed as Sheppard's. As per usual the mission started out like any other. Explore and make friendly with the locals. Open talks about trade if possible. It had all gone perfectly. The natives had been welcoming, feeding them until they couldn't eat anymore and inviting them back for more trade talks. Jessica had even had a chance to visit the local doctor to see how they operated and what medicine they used. The doctor had been more than happy to give some samples for Jessica to take back and analyze.
But of course, it could never stay that simple or successful. Something had to go wrong. Perhaps the wraith would show up, or a wild beast would attack, maybe they'd find an underground nuclear bunker. Whatever it was, it would plunge the mission into chaos.
On the walk back to the gate the wind had picked up, blowing straight off the icy mountains that rose above the worn path. The locals had warned them that the weather was harsh at this time of year and changeable in an instant. Heading to the village the sun had been high in the sky, it wasn't warm by any standards, but mild enough to be comfortable with their jackets on. Now it was bitingly cold.
They trudged along, their hands tucked under their armpits, faces down to try avoid the wind. Not a word was said, if it was, the wind quickly snatched it away. As they made their way into the scattered trees the wind paled a little, enough to give them brief moments of respite.
The river they had crossed on the way in had started to form slivers of ice in the calmer edges, though the middle still raged threateningly. A thin rope monkey bridge passed above it, swaying slightly in the wind. Jessica stopped and stared at it, now nervous for the crossing as she watched a gust of air shake the bridge violently before it settled down again.
Reed took the lead, gingerly stepping on, he too had noticed the gust move it. Holding on tight to the sides he stepped on the middle rope and slowly started to make his way across. Jessica shortly followed, one foot after the other, her knuckles white as she gripped the sides.
After Reed and Jessica were safely off the other side, Coughlin stepped on with Lorne bringing up the rear. Carefully they made their way across. Just as they neared the middle the wind gusted again. Swinging the bridge violently. Lorne's foot was the first to slip. Biting in his shout he gripped onto the side, trying to get his feet back up on the slippery surface.
Coughlin moved back across the bridge to help. Reaching down to pull Lorne back up the bridge shook again. Already slightly off balance Coughlin fell, hitting Lorne square in the chest and taking them both down crashing into the river.
Shouting Jessica and Reed took off down the side of the river, trying to catch a glimpse of them. The river widened as it bent away from them. A head bobbed above the water as they raced downstream.
Reaching the bend, Reed pulled a long branch off the ground and held it over the water. Coughlin's head bobbed up again, his eyes wide he looked at the branch and tried to kick his way to the edge. With the help of the current throwing him to the outside of the bend he got a hand on it.
Quickly Reed pulled him out while Jessica searched for Lorne. Seeing the dark shape tumbling through the water she grabbed a handful of plants on the edge of the bank, hoping their roots would be strong enough to hold her. Leaning forward she thrust her arm into the frigid water as she saw Lorne go back under. Thanking whatever lucky star was watching over her that the current pushed him towards her. She managed to snag the shoulder of his tac vest.
With a shout the force pulled her forwards, sending her flying into the water. She felt Reed wrap his arm around her waist before she fully plunged in, pulling her away from the edge. Once she was no longer at risk of falling in he reached forward to grab Lorne and finish pulling him up.
"We need to get to the gate, now." Jessica commented, all too aware of how fast hypothermia could set in, as she quickly checked that Lorne was breathing.
Reed nodded before looking at Coughlin who was stumbling to his feet, shaking badly. Standing himself he reached down and hastily threw Lorne over his shoulder. Just as they were about to set off a faint whine flew overhead, then another, and another.
"Wraith." He hissed.
Jessica's mind raced, this day was just going from bad to worse. With the wraith here the gate would now be inaccessible. The only good part was they were soon overdue their check in, so Atlantis would, hopefully, know something was wrong when they try to dial in but wouldn't be able to establish a connection.
"There was a cave, just off the path, between here and the gate," Jessica commented, almost shouting at the end as the wind picked up again, "I saw it on the way in."
Hurriedly they set off, Jessica helping Coughlin as he started to stumble more often. It took longer than she would of liked to reach the cave, but at least they hadn't encountered any wraith. By the time they got there though, Coughlin had stopped shaking, his face pale. Lorne still hadn't woken up and they were starting to worry.
Reed carefully set Lorne down inside the cave as Jessica helped Coughlin sit beside him.
Jessica turned to Reed, "They need the wet clothes off. There's a spare under layer in the bag, that needs to go on. Then an emergency blanket each. In the front pocket of my bag there's heat packs, crack them in half and put it in their armpits. Got it?"
Reed nodded and quickly got to work starting on the Major as Jessica moved to Coughlin, her basic kit already in her hand she asked him to count backwards from 100. He looked at her blankly. Swearing quietly she started peeling his clothes off. Taking the heat packs and blanket from Reed she set Coughlin up.
"Doc!" The urgency in the lieutenant's voice caused her to whip her head around, "I don't think he's breathing!"
Swearing quietly she jumped over, "Keep talking to Coughlin and time a minute." She didn't wait for a response as she rested a hand on Lorne's chest and the other against his neck. Trying to calm her breathing she waited, waited for a sign that he was still going. Slowly she managed to feel his neck pulse under her finger. Not often, but it was there, but there was still no breath
"Come on, Evan." She murmured before asking Reed how long it'd been.
"Twenty seconds."
Jessica closed her eyes concentrating. She'd only counted seven pulses so far, and no breaths. Suddenly Lorne's chest slowly rose and fell. Her head dropped in relief as she calmed her own breathing.
"Is he..." Reed didn't want to finish the sentence as he looked over. The Doc sitting there with her hand still on his chest and her head down worried him.
"He's breathing. Slowly but surely. Reed when Coughlin breathes in I want you to do rescue breathing. Your breath is a whole lot warmer than this air so make sure you cover his mouth and breathe out as he breathes in."
Before Reed could respond his radio crackled to life, "Major Lorne, this is Colonel Caldwell. Do you copy?"
The relief was obvious on Reed's face as he responded, "Sir, this is Lieutenant Reed. Major Lorne and Lieutenant Coughlin are both hypothermic. Request immediate beam to the infirmary."
"Understood. Stand by for transport."
Suddenly they were in a bright room, blinking as people hurried around them. Jessica came to her senses first, habitually barking orders at the medical staff, though they were already moving in to take care of Lorne and Coughlin, before she turned to Reed. She had been so focused on the other two she didn't notice his shivering had escalated. He hadn't moved from where they'd been beamed in and he looked around slowly as he tried to orientate himself.
Walking over to him Jessica led him to a bed. Ordering him to take his wet clothes off she gave him some privacy, running off to get blankets for him, not noticing she had started to shake just as bad.
A hand on her arm stopped her and she turned to face an older blonde woman, staring at her with concerned brown eyes.
"Michelle," Jessica breathed with relief, "I've got to get blankets for Reed, a-and hot drinks. He's-"
"Stop," Michelle said forcefully, "This is my med bay and there are plenty enough staff to handle it. You however, have hypothermia yourself and are in no state to be running around after anyone." Gripping her arm firmly, Michelle led Jessica to an empty bed, clothes sitting folded on the end "Now you will change into dry clothes and I will be getting the blankets and hot drinks. No arguments."
Sighing Jessica did as she was told, realizing quite quickly that Michelle was indeed correct. She had just been too wrapped up helping the others she hadn't noticed how bad she was getting.
Michelle came back with the blankets, wrapping Jessica up as a nurse handed her a hot drink. Nodding her thanks Jessica quickly took a drink, relishing the heat running down her throat.
"Michelle, how are they?"
"They're alive, Jess."
Jessica looked down at her drink for a moment before meeting Michelle's eyes, "Lorne, he was unconscious by the time we got him out of the water..."
Nodding Michelle gently replied, "For now, he's alive. They're working on him and I'll let you know as soon as we know more."
Pulling the blanket a little tighter around her, she nodded, slightly aware her shivering had lessened. Worry crept up inside her. Lorne and Coughlin had both been in bad shape, and she had started to succumb as well. What if she hadn't been thinking straight, what if she'd made an error in judgement. She didn't want to lose either of them.
A while later Reed appeared at the end of her bed, looking decidedly better, his face had regained its colour and he was no longer shaking.
"We're almost at Atlantis," He commented sitting at the end of her bed.
She nodded, "How are you?"
Laughing he replied, "I'm fine, I only got a little wet from carrying the Major. Unlike you however, who got wet from half diving in to save him."
A smile flashed across her face as his attitude helped relax her, "Have you seen the others?"
Reed shook his head, "No. I've actually only just gotten up."
Michelle walked to the bed, quickly looking Jessica over as they felt the jump of dropping out of hyperspace, "We'll beam you directly to the infirmary. I'm sure Dr. Beckett will want to look you over."
Dr. Beckett did want to look them over, before sentencing them to stay in the infirmary for the rest of the night at least. Reluctantly Jessica and Reed both agreed, before settling into restful sleeps.
There was a rhythmic beeping, steady and continuous. The lights were still dim, though the clock on the far wall said it was already mid morning. The infirmary was quiet and relatively empty.
Jessica slowly opened her eyes, blinking to refocus her vision. With a slight groan she sat herself up. About to get out of bed a voice stopped her.
"And where do ye think you're going?"
Smiling she turned, "Carson, the others? How are they?"
He moved to beside her bed, "Back into bed and I'll tell you."
Reluctantly she sat back again and followed his instructions as he gave her a quick check over.
"Reed's fine, sleeping it off, just like you were. Coughlin's got a lot of nasty bruising but no other ill effects. Major Lorne is a little worse for wear, broken ribs, nasty concussion, but he's recovered from the hypothermia quite well. We'll just be keeping an eye out for complications."
Jessica breathed a sigh of relief, everyone was going to be okay, "Have they woken?"
"The Major woke briefly about 5. Everyone else has been sleeping soundly. I'll get a nurse to bring you some food. After you've eaten a decent amount you can go."
"Thank you Carson." Jessica said with a smile before resting her head back to wait.
It wasn't long after Jessica escaped the infirmary and had managed a scalding hot shower that she headed back there again. She didn't think she'd stay away for long until she'd seen the rest of the team. Waiting in a seat opposite their beds was Colonel Sheppard, leaning back, a coffee in his hands. Jessica sat beside him, throwing a greeting his way.
He turned to look at her, "Doc, you managed to escape already. How you feeling?"
"I'm fine. They got the worst of it." She waved her hand towards the beds just as a groan came from the middle one.
Jumping to their feet, they both made their way over as the Majors eyes cracked open. He glanced around, eyes briefly resting on both their faces.
"What..?" He managed to croak out as he pulled the mask off his face and attempted to sit up, wincing.
Gently Jessica pushed him back down replacing the mask and called for Carson, "Keep that on. I'll go get you a drink." She said before walking off.
When she got back Carson was finishing telling Lorne the extent of his injuries and that he'd probably be spending at least a second night in the infirmary. Lorne's face screwed up in annoyance. It wasn't that he didn't like the infirmary, he just didn't enjoy being cooped up in a bed all day.
"You gave us quite a scare, Major," Sheppard commented pulling a chair over for himself and Jessica.
Lorne looked at the drink Jessica handed him, eyeing the steaming clear liquid suspiciously. Raising an eyebrow at her, he silently questioned what it was.
"Just hot water. You're not allowed caffeine so no coffee and I figured you're past the point of hot diluted jello."
Both men pulled disgusted faces at the thought before Lorne gingerly started sipping away, "What happened?" He asked again his voice quiet, "Last I remember, was that bridge."
"You fell in," Jessica said softly, "You and Coughlin. Reed and I managed to get you out -"
"She dragged you out sir," a voice interrupted from the other bed, "Almost fell in herself doing so."
Jessica looked over, surprised. She hadn't even realized Reed was awake. He sat up, about to get out of bed until Carson appeared, giving him the same instructions he gave Jessica earlier.
Looking back at Lorne, Jessica continued, "You were unconscious when we pulled you out. We started to head for the gate before we heard the darts so made a beeline for that cave instead. Coughlin was pretty out of it by then. You were both suffering badly from hypothermia. Gave Reed a massive scare when he thought you'd stopped breathing. That was when the Daedalus arrived," she paused, turning to Sheppard, "How did they know we were there?"
"You were late on check in. When we dialed the gate it wouldn't connect so Elizabeth contacted the Daedalus who were on their way here. They were pretty close to the planet you were on."
Jessica nodded, that made sense, "Thanks for that. So yeah, Daedalus arrived and we were beamed onboard. Now here we are."
Lorne looked at Jessica, meeting her eyes, holding her gaze, "Thank you."
She shrugged, looking away awkwardly, "Just doing my job."
Behind her she heard another voice, "God thing your job is saving people then, but, hell, could of done it before I hit the rocks."
Laughing they turned to Coughlin moaning in the other bed. It was good to see everyone awake and much better, Jessica thought. While she still may not enjoy all her time around the Major, and the way he still made her skin tingle, she did enjoy being part of his team, despite the cursed missions they seemed to have. Maybe one day, they'd rid the curse.