By the time she was finished eating – even the pecan pie – she felt fairly good. A bit tired and weak, maybe, but Talon assured her that that was just from being in bed and motionless for so long and once she started moving around a bit she'd feel better. Since it had to do with her health, she passed this message on to Carson, who nodded his agreement.

"Prolonged bed rest is definitely not something I recommend if it can be avoided," he told her. "It always ends up making the patient need more therapy than the reason they're in bed in the first place."

Since Talon was agreeing with him – even though she had a definite advantage there and wouldn't need to have any formal therapy thanks to Talon – Melony simply nodded. She had other concerns besides herself just then. She was, after all, feeling fine – more or less – and he still looked tired.

"Speaking of bed rest," she said, reaching out and resting her hand lightly on his to make sure she had his attention. "You should get some yourself."

He looked down at her hand, and smiled, which made him look even more tired.

"I should stay here and make sure you're-"

"Carson, I'm fine." She squeezed his hand, reassuringly, touched by the concern she could see in his eyes, but also unwilling to let him stay and coddle her. Talon could coddle her for a while. "Go to bed."

"You're sure?"

She nodded, and then looked down at all the machines and monitors she was attached to.

"Unhook these, first, though."

Especially the IVs. She didn't need them, now, and the needles were uncomfortable.

Baby

Hush, you're supposed to be coddling me.

He didn't reply, but she felt his amusement, which was a reply of its own.

Beckett carefully removed the needles from her hand and her forearm, wrapped both extremities to make sure she didn't bleed before Talon could take care of the minor wounds caused by the needles.

"I'll be back in a little while," he told her, checking the pillows that were stacked behind her to make sure they weren't bunching and might cause an irritation while he was gone. "Do you want me to bring you some more coffee before I go?"

Oh, that was tempting. She wanted another cup of coffee more than she wanted anything else, but she also knew it was completely unfair of her to turn him into her official gofer. She could wait.

She shook her head, reaching out and catching his hand once more.

"Thank you for staying with me."

He flushed, and she wondered if she'd embarrassed him. Before she could apologize and let go of him, though, he squeezed her hand.

"You're welcome." He hesitated, and she sensed he wanted to say something else, but he didn't. Instead, he let go of her hand and smoothed the blankets that were covering her. "If you need me, just shout out. One of the medics will get me."

"I will."

She wouldn't, though. She'd let him sleep as long as he could, and if she needed something, she'd do without.

He left, then, and she sighed and closed her eyes. She wasn't planning on sleeping, but she didn't need her eyes open to talk to Talon, and he was the only one in the room with her, now.

I like him

She was so surprised by that that she actually opened her eyes again. Where had that come from?

What? I can like him, can't I?

Sure.

You like him

He's a nice guy.

That's it?

You know better.

Yeah, he did. She very rarely bothered to even try to hide her feelings from him, and when she was hurt or indisposed like she was just then, it was impossible.

So there's hope there?

She shook her head, closing her eyes once more.

I don't know, Talon. I... I'm not ready for-

No, you're not. Yet. She felt him give her the symbiote equivalent of a hug. But you will be some day, and I wanted to make sure you knew that

You'll remind me if I forget

Every day

OOOOOOOOO

Beckett's quarters were a small suite of rooms that were right across the hallway from the infirmary. There were three rooms – a living room type area, a bedroom and a bathroom – but the luxury was only because everyone had conceded that as chief medical officer his quarters should be close to the infirmary, and the quarters near the infirmary were just plain nicer than those elsewhere in Atlantis. When he closed the door quietly as he left Melony's little isolation room, he was debating whether he wanted to take a long hot shower before or after he fell into his bed. Now that he wasn't with Mitchell and hiding how tired he was, he was feeling just how tired he was.

He didn't get to wonder long, though. A small crowd was waiting outside the main entrance of the infirmary and he almost ran into them before he realized they were there.

"How is she doing?" Sheppard asked.

The Major was wearing what he'd been wearing when Weir had woken him – lounge pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt that was well-worn and had obviously seen better days.

Beckett gave them a surprised look – if they'd been waiting since he'd woken Weir up then they'd been waiting at least an hour – and then he smiled.

"She's going to be fine, as near as I can tell."

"Can we see her?" McKay asked. The Astrophysicist had taken the time to dress, but looked no less anxious to check on Mitchell.

"No. Not yet."

"But you said she's going to be okay," Ford protested.

"She is, but you can't see her until she gets out of bed – probably sometime tomorrow morning – so you all might as well go back to bed."

They didn't like that, he could tell, but even though they all grumbled and threw him reproachful looks, he knew they'd do what he told them. He gave them a look of his own, making sure they all understood he was serious, and then headed through the small crowd and to his rooms. He'd shower when he woke up; he was tired.

"Well..."

Weir looked over at McKay, who was wearing a slightly sullen and rebellious expression.

"Rodney. No."

The look changed to innocent immediately.

"What?"

"He just said you can't see her, so don't even think about sneaking in there."

"I wasn't thinking about sneaking in there..."

A hand came down on his shoulder and he looked over and saw it belonged to Sheppard. The Major didn't believe that for a moment.

"Good. Come on, I'll walk you back to your quarters."

"I know where they are."

"I know. Let's go."

The hand tightened on his shoulder, and McKay was steered away form the door and towards the hall.

"But-"

Weir smiled, and shooed the others away as well.

"I guess we'll see her in the morning, people. All of you back to bed."