By the end of the second hour Jessica had checked Edison's vitals multiple times, Wright had retrieved blankets for everyone and Lucas had complained almost every five minutes. Jessica was ready to sedate him and had told him as much to get him to be quiet. Emily had stayed curled up in the corner, huddling into Jessica's side when she wasn't checking on Edison.
All of a sudden a rumble filled the jumper again. Everyone grabbed onto something, Brown and Wright automatically held onto the Lieutenant, as they waited for the falling to begin again. But the jumper remained still. Cautiously glancing around Jessica caught a glimpse of blue light out of the window. She nudged Emily and Wright beside her and motioned up. Their eyes followed where she pointed.
What was just a glimpse of blue had evolved into multiple tendrils of glowing colours, blue, green, and purple, snaking past the window.
Wright stood up and held a hand down to Emily, "Want a closer look?"
Nervously Emily uncurled herself and let him pull her up. Motioning for her to go first Wright guided her to the cockpit. They awkwardly sat on the front chairs gazing out the window. The whole cavern had come alive with pulsing tendrils of light. The ice itself almost seemed to be glowing.
"It's the plants." Emily breathed as the scientist in her overrode the fear, "The plants are bioluminescent. Look! Those must be their roots. They're huge! That's how they're surviving the ice. Their roots grow out then down to find the warmth and nutrition. They probably made this cavern! This is amazing!"
There was another rumble as tendrils moved in front of the window again. Now up close they could see the root, almost two feet wide with multiple shoots of light braiding around it as it slid over the window. Emily stared in disbelief, caught up in the plants around her.
"When we get out of here, we're going to have to come back and study all this much more closely." She exclaimed.
Down below Jessica grumbled, "You can do it without me. I'm only going to tropical planets. I've had enough of cold ones."
"Wasn't asking you." Emily quickly shot back.
Gradually the occasional rumbles stopped and the light faded away as the tendrils stilled. Wright helped Emily back down to the bottom of the jumper. Everyone wrapped up in extra blankets as they continued to wait.
A groan came from Lieutenant Edison and Jessica scrambled beside him. As he tried to sit up she put a gentle hand on his shoulder, telling him to stay lying down. Watching his eyes flicker around she took his vitals again, happy to see they were still steady.
"Brown." Edison croaked, "Report."
Jessica indicated for someone to pass her water while Brown filled the Lieutenant in on what happened. Carefully keeping his back straight so as to not bend his ribs, she helped him sit up a little so he could drink. Mentally making a note to keep straws in her med kit.
Once Edison had a grasp of the situation he turned to Jessica, "Allen, how is everyone?"
"Minor cuts and bruises, Lieutenant, except for you and Dr. Martin. He had a dislocated shoulder and broken or torn elbow. You've got a broken tibia, most likely concussion, and broken ribs that have punctured the skin. So on doctors orders you're to stay lying down."
Edison groaned again, this time in displeasure, "The Major warned me you're a handful, swore he never had bad luck till you joined him. But, thank god you're here right now."
Jessica raised an eyebrow at him as she helped lower him back down, "Well Lieutenant, I can tell you that he's full of shit. He's had plenty of bad luck before I came along."
Corporal Wright decide to add his input then, "Our missions have all been pretty routine until now. Maybe you are the bad luck Doc."
Jessica glared at him, "Not helpful."
He raised his hands, feigning innocence despite the grin on his face. Jessica just shook her head in response before sitting back and pulling a blanket tightly around herself.
"How's everyone's temperatures?" She asked, feeling like the cold had seeped into her bones.
"I'm gonna be hypothermic soon!" Lucas complained dramatically.
Jessica looked over at him. He was wrapped up in more than one blanket, slightly shivering as he leaned into the corner.
"Can you make your shivering stop?" Jessica asked.
Lucas looked confused but for a moment his body stilled before the trembling resumed.
Jessica sighed, it was a good sign that he could stop the shivers but after her last experience with the cold she didn't want things to go downhill.
"Brown. Go sit under that blanket with him."
Brown raised his eyebrows as Lucas started to protest that he didn't need some Sergeant to pander him.
"Shut it." Jessica snapped, "Body heat will keep you warmer and at this stage, stop things from getting worse. I had enough bloody cold on P3M-912, I will not be repeating it. So when I say sit under the blanket together you will sit under the bloody blanket together. Thank you very much."
"Snappy." Wright murmured, just for Jessica to glare at him again.
Meekly Lucas unwrapped the blanket and let Brown sit beside him and pull the blanket back around. Jessica pointed at Wright and Emily, ordering them to huddle under a blanket as well. With a mocking, "Yes ma'am." Wright complied, gently pulling Emily closer and wrapping the blanket around them. Taking a deep breath and attempting to ignore the awkward silence that had descended over the jumper she turned back to Edison, noting his watchful eyes.
"How's your temperature Lieutenant?" She asked quietly.
"A little chilly." He admitted.
Nodding she grabbed the last blanket and wrapped it over him before resettling her blanket. She hadn't meant to snap, but Lucas's constant complaints grated on her nerves. It wasn't fun for any of them to be stuck there but there wasn't much they could do about it. They just had to deal with it until Atlantis got in contact. She checked her watch, less than half an hour until check in. Not much longer to sit and wait.
But check in time came and went without a word. Everyone stayed huddled in their blankets watching their breath form in front of them. Jessica had got the heat packs out, placed them around Edison before adding an emergency blanket and wrapping his blanket back over the top. He'd nodded his thanks to her.
"Don't we all get heat packs?" Lucas grumbled, "We're freezing over here."
"No, they don't last forever so any more I have are reserved for him." Jessica jerked her thumb towards Edison, "He doesn't have a warm body next to him and you don't have ribs sticking out your chest."
She didn't hear what Lucas mumbled next, wasn't sure she wanted to hear it, if she had she may have lost it at him. Thankfully the jumper fell quiet again.
Startlingly their radio's crackled, causing everyone to jump, "Lieutenant Edison, this is Major Lorne. Do you copy?"
Edison grinned as he replied, his voice slight hoarse, "Major, it sure is good to hear your voice."
"I bet it is. I'm guessing you're through that hole in the ice?"
"Yes sir. The jumper fell in, and well, won't start."
"Hold tight. We're coming down."
Suddenly the jumper filled with light shining through the window from the rescue jumper. Jessica jumped to her feet as the others shrugged off their blankets doing the same, excited about the prospect if getting out. The light dimmed as Lorne's jumper circled to survey the crash.
Lorne's voice came back over the radio, "You've got yourself in a right pickle there Lieutenant. I can see two options. We can tip you over so you're up the right way and can use the rear hatch now, or I go back to Atlantis to get gear to lift you up and right you properly."
Jessica cut into the conversation there, "Anything you do has to be gentle Major. We've got injuries here."
She could almost see him wince as he replied, "How bad?"
"Nothing life threatening but a couple of the Lieutenant's ribs decided to pop out and say hello. I'd rather we avoided any rough movement, we don't need a punctured lung too."
"Understood. I'll head back to Atlantis and get some equipment to get you back upright slowly."
"Copy that, sir." Edison responded.
"We'll see you in half an hour. Don't get into more trouble while we're away. Lorne out."
With that, the communication ended and the jumper fell back into silence. Another half an hour seemed like a long time but they'd already been there almost four. Jessica leaned back, time would fly she told herself before quietly asking the Lieutenant how his pain was. He brushed her off, claiming he was fine but the tightness in his jaw and his pale colouring told her otherwise.
"Lieutenant, I gave you morphine almost four hours ago. That's likely to have mostly worn off by now."
He grimaced, knowing full well that she was right, "I'd like a clear head for when the Major returns." He admitted.
"How about some codeine and paracetamol then? I can't give you any ibuprofen unfortunately."
Grudgingly he relented and allowed her to help him have a drink and the tablets she offered. Muttering his thanks and resting back down. Jessica smiled knowingly, always the same with the military, always insisting they were fine. She had learnt long ago that you had to change the way you talked to them to ensure you could treat them efficiently.
It was only twenty minutes later that their radios activated again, with Lorne announcing his return. Brown and Edison exchanged looks, now it was time to coordinate so no one got hurt when they leveled off.
"Martin, Garcia, you two need to lie down on the rear hatch, feet on the seats." Brown instructed, "Wright, we'll hold onto the webbing but first we need to move the Lieutenant."
"Carefully," Jessica interjected, "We need to do it carefully so we don't put pressure on his ribs."
Brown nodded, "Where do you want him, Doc?"
Jessica thought about it, looking around, nothing was ideal. There were really only three options. Standing, leaning against what would become the floor. Lying on his side, with his back against the floor. She decided to go with the third option, the one which should have been most obvious but she actually thought of last.
"We need to turn him so his legs are on the floor and his back against the rear hatch. As long as someone is there to support him when he's sitting up it should be okay." She instructed before looking down at Edison, "Sorry Lieutenant, this will probably hurt."
Grimly he nodded, he'd already guessed that. Jessica gave Brown and Wright instructions and they listened carefully. Gently Brown lifted Edison's legs from the knee, wary of his broken tibia. Wright and Jessica slipped their hands under his back, trying to provide as much support as possible. Being slid along the floor Edison bit his lip at the pain that shot through his chest and felt the bandages start to grow damp again.
Once he was in place Jessica lay beside him while everyone else quickly got in position. Brown gave Lorne the signal and they heard the clunk as the grapple attached. There was a jerk as the cable pulled tight and they slowly started to tilt. Jessica held her breath and put her arms across the front of the Lieutenant's shoulders, stopping him from slumping forward as the jumper settled. Wright and Brown dropped down from the webbing to sit on the seats.
Gradually they started to rise and light began to fill the jumper as they rose to the surface. Lorne took it nice and slow, well aware with the jumper dead, they had no inertial dampeners. Flying to the stargate he smoothly lowered the jumper to the surface before releasing the grapple and landing beside them.
Wright and Jessica held Edison upright as Brown manually lowered the hatch. Lorne and Coughlin waited on the other side with a stretcher. Gently Edison was lowered back onto the stretcher as Lorne and Coughlin slid it under him. They carried the stretcher back to their jumper, Reed was already waiting with fresh bandages.
Once the stretcher was out of the way Emily practically ran outside into the fresh air, falling to her knees with a gasp. Wright hung by her side as the rest of the team made their way to the other jumper. Jessica smiled when she saw Reed redoing Edison's bandage.
"I'll make a first aider out of you yet." She commented.
Reed grinned up at her in response as Wright led Emily into the jumper and took a seat in the back. With everyone on board Lorne shut the rear hatch and dialed up the gate, quickly taking them home. Landing in the jumper bay Carson and his team immediately lifted Edison onto a gurney and took him to the infirmary with the rest of the team slowly trailing behind.
Before dropping his gear off Lorne caught up with Jessica, glancing out the corner of his eye at her, "You ok, Doc?"
Suprised she looked over at him, catching his eyes, "Yeah," She replied quietly, "Yeah I am."
He gave a short nod, "Good."
He turned down the next corner and Jessica stopped to watch him go. Briefly all she wanted to do was run after him and wrap her arms around him, wanted him to hold her tight. He could make any problem wash away like that. She sighed before noticing Reed looking at her, an eyebrow raised. She scowled at him, daring him to say anything, before she turned and jogged off down the hall to the infirmary.
A/N Woohoo! Half way there! And now the story is entirely finished instead of mostly so updates will happen pretty often and you want be left hanging! Like it, review it, don't like it, tell me that too!