One person didn't get shooed away. He hadn't waited any longer than was necessary to hear that Colonel Mitchell was awake and going to be all right before he'd edged past the others – who were all paying far more attention to the doctor than they were to him – and through the door of the infirmary.

He looked at the row of beds, but they were all empty. Which left only one place.

OOOOOOOO

Mitchell opened her eyes when she heard the door opening, assuming that Carson had forgotten something, or had a last minute instruction to give her. She was wrong, though, it wasn't Carson; it was someone much smaller.

Jinto

Melony smiled.

I know his name

Unaware that she was smiling at Talon, Jinto returned her smile, taking that as permission to draw a bit closer to the bed.

"Are you supposed to be in here?" She asked him.

"Probably not." He admitted. He was nothing if not honest. "Are you really okay?"

She nodded.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup."

"Positive?"

"Does your dad know where you are?"

He smiled; realizing that he had pestered her and she'd found a nice way to tell him so.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

Jinto came over and stood next to her bed, staring at her for a long moment.

"Do you really have a creature living inside you?"

Melony nodded.

"He's called a symbiote."

"Does it hurt?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"He's my friend, Jinto. He wouldn't hurt me any more than Teyla would hurt you."

"But he wasn't always there, right?"

She shook her head again; glad she was feeling fairly good, because she'd never have been able to handle this conversation if he'd come in right after she'd woken up.

"No."

You might as well tell him the full story. He's going to ask you a million questions if you don't

He'll probably ask me a million questions, anyways.

She felt his amusement, and grinned.

"Here, Jinto," she said, patting the bed next to her. "You get comfortable, and I'll tell you all about how Talon and I met."

"Really?"

He'd actually expected to be shooed away as well, but she was making him welcomed as if she'd known him forever. Jinto clambered up on the bed next to her – careful not to touch her, since he didn't want to hurt her, but close enough to feel the warmth from her blanket covered body.

"Comfortable?" She asked him, amused to find herself in storyteller mode. "It's a long story."

He nodded, grinning with anticipation. Everyone liked a good story, after all – and he was going to know stuff about her that none of the others did!

If you begin with once upon a time...

Melony snickered, and covered the noise with a slight fake cough. She leaned back against her pillows, getting comfortable, too.

"Okay, about three years ago, I was with the other members of my team on this planet..."

She told him the story of the ill-fated trip to the planet with the pyramids beginning with the ambush by the Jaffa – although she didn't even try to describe them to the boy. That would have raised a billion questions before the story had even begun, and she didn't feel like answering that many. Right now, she'd tell the story. Later, if he had questions, he could ask them.

He didn't have a chance to ask any questions.

To her surprise and Talon's amusement, the boy didn't even make it past the first trip back to the gate after the ambush. It had been a long day for him and it was now the middle of the night. He'd been woken up from his sleep when Teyla had come to tell his father that Mitchell was awake and he'd asked to be allowed to join them. He was warm and comfortable, and her soft voice was soothing without her even realizing it. She put him to sleep in less than half an hour.

Well, it's a boring story anyways, she told Talon.

That's because I'm not in it yet

Melony smiled and took the blankets that were covering her and draped them across the sleeping boy, then slid out of her bed – and almost fell on her face when her legs decided that they weren't up to holding her up. She grabbed at the post of the bed, leaning heavily against it for a long time before she staggered to the door and left Jinto to his rest.

A medic met her almost immediately.

"You shouldn't be out of be out of bed," she said, reaching out and taking her arm to support her.

"Oh, I know."

She sat down on the closest bed and told the medic about her nocturnal visitor.

"I figured his father would come looking for him eventually, but he fell asleep... so he can have my bed, and I'll go sleep in my room." Where she would also be able to make herself a cup – or a pot – of coffee.

The medic wasn't so sure about letting her go, but Mitchell was pretty much an enigma to them all and she was ready to concede that she couldn't really keep the Colonel in bed if she didn't want to stay there. But she wouldn't send her off on her own, either. Not as unsteady as she was.

"I'll send an orderly with you to make sure you make it to your room," she decided.

Mitchell nodded. She'd appreciate the help.

OOOOOOOOO

Ten minutes later she was in her quarters, and feeling about as shaky as she'd ever felt. For someone who'd felt so great only an hour or so before, she couldn't believe how quickly it'd changed.

You're far from healthy

Obviously.

She sighed, and sprawled on her bed. She was too tired to even make a cup of coffee, and that had never happened before. Before she could even consider covering up or getting a pillow to cuddle up to, she was asleep.