Disclaimer: - I own very little, and certainly none of the characters of Stargate Atlantis – ah, if only I did I'd certainly have some fun with the character development!

Author's Note: - I have no idea how to write a Scottish accent so I'm afraid I haven't attempted one for Carson, but as most of what he says is "doctor speak" he'd have to be clear and concise anyway – well that's my story for being a chicken about it LOL. Oh, and I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has given me feedback for the previous chapter, it's much appreciated!

Perspectives Chapter 4.

John hated waiting. Waiting, and having to keep still for too long – he hated them both. After getting a grip on himself earlier he'd left his quarters and gone straight to the infirmary. There he'd found Ford, Teyla and Weir all waiting in the small room, which was just off from the infirmary proper, that Doctor Beckett had designated as a waiting room. A chair had been saved for him between his two unharmed team mates, and before he sat down he nodded his thanks, and understanding, at the gesture of solidarity, to them.

"Has Beckett said anything…told you how he's doing?" He asked.

It was Doctor Weir, who answered,

"No, I'm sorry Major, they just took Rodney inside and told us to wait here. But I'm sure…well Carson will do everything he can."

John let out a sharp breath of air, and then nodded,

"Yeah I know. It's just…not knowing."

"I understand." Weir said sympathetically, before asking the question John had been dreading. "How did this happen Major? Lieutenant Ford and Teyla have filled me in on the unfriendly reception you got, but how did Rodney get hurt?"

Turning to look at her John tried, and failed, to keep the anger from his voice as he snapped,

"McKay took a stupid risk and got himself shot, that's what happened!"

Weir's face registered her surprise at his tone, and Teyla's voice sounded disapproving as she said,

"I believe that is unfair Major. Doctor McKay acted as he did to save your life."

Turning towards her John winced inwardly at the confusion he'd just seen on Ford's face, and the slight challenge on Teyla's. Chiding himself for not keeping his emotions in check, he stood up and stalked to the other side of the room, leaning back against the wall.

"Yeah I know Teyla, I know your right, but…"

Teyla's face softened,

"I understand Major. When the responsibility of leadership is on your shoulders it is hard when one of your people is hurt. But Doctor McKay only did what he thought was right…what you would've done in his place."

Nodding John looked down at the floor, then back at Weir, who was still waiting to hear what had happened back on the planet.

"We dug in, waiting for you to open the Stargate, and try to contact us when we failed to meet our check-in deadline. The planet's inhabitants had taken up position at the edge of the tree line, and were going to wait us out. I was trying to watch for muzzle flashes, pin-point their positions, but I also knew they could try to out-flank us." At Weir's look of confusion John clarified. "They might get behind us, try to pick us off that way. I thought I had it all covered, but…obviously I was wrong. One of the gunmen had crept up on my right; I had no idea he was there. Rodney must have seen him though, cause next thing I know this guy's dropping, shot in the chest. I thought Ford had made the kill. I turned and saw…I saw Rodney standing up. He had no cover, and he's just standing there looking over to where the dead guy was. The look on his face…I should've known, should've realised he was in shock. I mean he'd just killed this guy, but…I should've done something. Shouted, tried to get to him, to get him down, but I just…I did nothing. Then there's a shot from the trees and Rodney's hit."

John closed his eyes and leant his head back against the wall, letting Weir digest his report, his failure, waiting for her response. However, it was Ford, who spoke first,

"It was so fast Sir, only a couple of seconds."

"Lieutenant Ford is correct Major. It was very fast, you could not have reached Doctor McKay in time." Teyla confirmed.

John opened his eyes and scrutinized his team mates, trying to gauge if they were merely attempting to make him feel better. To him those moments when Rodney had stood there exposed to enemy fire, pale, shaking, his face bearing an anguished expression, had passed so slowly, that he'd felt sure afterwards that he'd had time to act, but hadn't. He felt he'd failed Rodney during that time. However, both Ford and Teyla looked sincere in their belief that he couldn't have gotten to Rodney in time to prevent him from getting hurt.

"Yeah, well, whatever…it doesn't change anything. Rodney's still hurt…He still got hurt protecting my ass." John was unwilling to let go of his guilt that easily.

Standing there feeling useless, frustration welling up within him, he kicked away from the wall, and stalked towards the closed infirmary doors,

"What the Hell's taking so long? Can't somebody tell us something!"

Elizabeth stood up too. She went to put a comforting hand on John's shoulder, but when she saw the tension in every line of his body she reconsidered, and dropped her hand back down by her side.

"They're busy Major." She said softly. "Doctor Beckett will come to speak to us when he can. He knows we're here. Why don't you sit down and I'll get us all some coffee"

Reluctantly John agreed.

That had been two hours ago. The coffee Elizabeth had fetched had either been drunk, or was gone cold in the cups down by their feet. Now they were just waiting. No one spoke, each caught up in his or her own thoughts. The only sound was the occasional squeak of plastic as someone squirmed in their chair, and the tapping noise from John's right foot as he bounced his heel up and down in an unconscious effort to release some of the nervous tension that had built up in his system. A few times someone had stopped by to ask if there was any news, Grodin, Zelenka, a couple of the other scientists John was unfamiliar with. They'd all left disappointed when Elizabeth had shaken her head and told them "no".

When what John had been wishing for eventually happened, and the doors to the infirmary opened, and a tired looking Carson Beckett stepped out; John felt a cold coil of fear in his gut. He suddenly wished Beckett wasn't there, because he was afraid of what the doctor was about to tell them.

At once they all stood up and moved towards Beckett.

"How is he Carson?" Elizabeth asked.

"He's made it through the operation to repair the damage the bullet caused. Right now we're getting him settled in a bed, and setting up all the monitoring equipment we'll need."

Carson paused to let them absorb the news that Rodney was still alive, seeing the relief on their faces.

"How bad is it?" John asked, afraid of the answer. He'd seen the amount of blood that had soaked into the ground under Rodney when they'd moved him onto the stretcher, and had known then that it was life threatening.

"Let's sit." Carson said, indicating the chairs they'd vacated at his entrance, and he also pulled up a chair for himself. He sighed gratefully when he settled into it. "When we got Rodney to the infirmary he was in a bad way. He was hypothermic, tachycardic," seeing John's confusion he explained, "his heart was beating very fast, but his pulse was weak and thready, he also had very low blood pressure and oxygen saturation readings. In fact I don't think he'd have made it back through the gate alive if it weren't for Corporal Martinez. He managed to insert a couple of large bore IV's, and he aggressively pushed fluid resuscitation. It stopped Rodney from bleeding out in the Jumper."

John made a mental note at Beckett's words to have a chat with Martinez, and make sure the guy knew how much he appreciated everything he'd done for Rodney. However, he refocused his attention as the doctor continued,

"We rushed Rodney to surgery. There was a single bullet wound in the left lumbar region. When we operated we found massive intraperitoneal bleeding. We managed to visualize the damage the bullet had caused. There was an injury to the descending colon and the inferior mesenteric artery. We had to transfuse Rodney with eight units of type specific blood while we repaired the damage, and while it was a little…hairy for a while, he did really well." Carson paused.

"So he's going to be alright?" Weir interjected.

"He's still not out of the woods. He'll be unconscious for a few hours yet. We need to monitor his blood pressure very closely, and so he needs to wake up as gently and calmly as possible. Because of the damage to the colon we've given him a temporary colostomy, but once the colon's healed we'll remove it, that should be in a month or so. Because of the nature of the injuries we'll have to keep a close watch for infection too. I've got him on broad-spectrum anti-biotics, and he still requires quite aggressive fluid resuscitation to correct the acidosis. We've got him hooked up to pre-warmed fluids, high flow blood-warmers, and tucked in with some pre-warmed blankets. With such serious blood loss hypothermia is a real worry."

The longer Carson spoke the more John's heart sank, and he winced at the unsteady sound to his voice as he repeated Elizabeth's question, which Doctor Beckett had rather side-stepped,

"He's going to be alright?"

Carson turned to look at him, and John could see the pain in his eyes, and remembered that Rodney was one of Carson's closest friends, as he replied,

"He has a good chance of a full recovery. We just have to monitor him carefully, watch out for a secondary bled or infection." Standing up Carson told them, "You know Rodney, he's a stubborn cuss. He'll fight."

John got the impression Beckett was trying to reassure himself with those words as well as his audience. Everyone else stood too, and reaching out John squeezed Beckett's shoulder briefly,

"You're right…thanks for everything you did for him."

Beckett merely nodded in reply. Then anticipating John's next question he said,

"One visitor for five minutes."

John looked at Elizabeth and hoped she understood his need to see his team mate, his friend, the man who'd been so badly hurt saving his life. If she didn't he was prepared to argue the point as forcefully as it took until she did. He was relieved when she stepped back and inclined her head in unspoken acquiescence.

John looked at Teyla and Ford, and they both nodded. Ford adding in a quiet voice,

"We'll wait here for you."

"Thank you Lieutenant." John replied, glad to feel the support of his team at his back.

"Tell Doctor McKay we wish him well." Teyla added. Colouring slightly she continued, "I know Doctor Beckett says he is asleep, but maybe he will hear you."

"I will." John assured her.

Beckett had already moved towards the infirmary, eager to return to his patient, and friend, and had paused in the doorway only to hold it open for John. John was suddenly gripped by a fear of what he would find. Worried about how Rodney would look. He got the impression from Beckett's explanation that he was going to be hooked up to a lot of machines, and he tried to steel himself as best he could as he stepped over the threshold into the infirmary.