As Melony had suspected, Halling had, indeed, gone looking for Jinto – only to find him sound asleep in the infirmary. When the medics told him that the boy would be fine there for the night, Halling had shrugged and headed for his own bed. Morning would be soon enough to chew Jinto out for worrying him.

Therefore, when Beckett had come to check on Melony bright and early the next morning, he'd been understandably confused when he found the boy sleeping where he'd left her. The medics told him where she was, though, and he went to her quarters to see if she was awake yet.

She was, but not completely, which really didn't surprise him all that much. No one – even someone with a symbiote apparently – could recover from that much time unconscious in only a few hours or even a day, and Beckett knew it. Now she did, too.

"Good morning."

She mumbled something he couldn't quite understand, and Beckett smiled and went over to her coffee pot and started a pot of coffee. That'd help wake her up – and if it didn't, well, he could use a cup of coffee.

Melony was sprawled right where she'd fallen asleep the night before – still dressed in those bright red scrubs that they'd put her in when she'd first returned from her Wraith hunt. When she sat up, though, she decided the first thing she needed was a change of clothes – right after a shower.

I don't know that a shower is such a good idea

I'm not hurt, right? No open wounds to sting me.

No. But I'm not all that sure you can stay upright for that long

Melony scowled.

It's been a week since I've had a shower, Talon. I feel gritty and dirty.

It's psychological, he assure her. You're not all that dirty

But-

It's up to you, Melony. You know how much trouble you had getting here last night, though.

"Is Talon talking to you, or are you still asleep?"

She turned her attention outward, realizing that Carson had come over and was standing by her bed.

"We're sort of arguing..."

"Oh? I thought the two of you never argued?"

Melony smiled.

"We get along well, but we have the occasional differences – this time it's about whether or not I can take a shower."

"You can't."

"What?"

Ha! Told you.

"From what I heard, you barely made it out of your room last night," Carson told her, smiling at the sudden scowl on her face. "You wouldn't be able to stand long enough to take a shower."

"I'd take a short one..."

"No."

"Carson..."

"Melony. No. You'd fall or worse, and as your doctor I'm telling you not to do it. As you're friend, I'm going to insist that you don't do it."

You can wait another day

She sighed, and flopped backwards on her bed.

Don't pout

I'm not pouting.

She looked cute when she pouted, Carson thought to himself, careful to keep his amusement to himself, and making damned certain he didn't share that last thought aloud.

"Just give it a day, Melony," he said. "You should be more steady-"

Don't sulk, either

I'm not sulking.

Yeah, you are, and you're going to make him feel guilty if you keep it up and it's not his fault

"No, I know it isn't."

"What isn't what?" Beckett asked.

She looked up at him, and smiled ruefully.

"I'm sorry, Carson."

"For what?"

"Being difficult, I suppose. I'm-"

"You're not being that difficult, Melony," he told her, sitting down on the corner of her bed. "I can understand that you're not feeling very well. Relax today, and if you're still not steady tomorrow, I'll have someone come and help you in the shower tomorrow."

Or he could help you himself

Beckett didn't understand why Melony suddenly turned beet red, or why she suddenly started laughing, but he had to assume Talon had said something to her. He smiled – she had a contagious laugh – and wished he had a clue what had been said to make her laugh like that. At least she didn't look so sullen any more.

"Do I dare ask?"

She shook her head, still grinning.

"Please don't..."

"That bad?"

"Oh, yeah..."

He started to say something, but her stomach growled suddenly – loudly. She flushed again, and Carson smiled.

"Think you can make it down to the commissary for some breakfast, or should I go get you something to eat?"

"I'd rather get up. Besides, I need to walk around a little and try to get some muscle tone back."

He was glad to hear her say that, since he agreed completely. He stood up, and went over to the stack of uniforms she had sitting on the boxes by her dresser and tossed one onto the bed next to her.

"You get dressed, and I'll wait outside for you."

She nodded, and he left the room, closing the door behind him.

OOOOOOOOOOO

It was a very unsteady Colonel Mitchell who walked into the commissary a half an hour later, leaning heavily on Beckett, who had an arm around her keeping her upright. He saw Weir sitting at a table with Sheppard and guided Mitchell over to their table. Both of them looked up as Mitchell and Beckett approached, and John took her arm when she came within reach. She looked about ready to fall over.

"You okay?"

She nodded, "Just tired as hell."

"She's been in bed too long," Carson explained as he and Sheppard helped her sit down on the bench seat. "It's almost like learning to walk all over again." He patted her shoulder. "I'll go get you something to eat."

"And coffee, please?"

Beckett nodded and left.

"How do you feel?" Weir asked her as soon as the doctor was out of hearing.

"Besides tired," Sheppard added.

"A lot better than I have any right to feel," she said, smiling. "Thanks for the assist, by the way."

Sheppard smiled. "You looked like you had it all under control right up until the end."

"I did. Then we decided to let the Wraith feed so Talon could try and figure out what makes them tick."

Weir looked shocked.

"You did it on purpose?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."