Carson kept a close eye on the monitor beside him and on the pulse/ox meter he held in his hand. Everything looked good and Rodney was doing just fine breathing on his own without the ventilator. They had just extubated him and that seemed to help matters. He had just sent Teyla to get some rest and something to eat when Rodney had started fighting the ventilator. That had been their first indication he was starting to wake up. Carson allowed himself a small sigh of relief, just as he heard footsteps behind him. He glanced back at three very concerned faces. Sheppard and Weir he expected, but Zelenka was a bit of a surprise. He hadn't expected the word of Rodney waking up would have traveled all the way to the science department yet. Weir and Sheppard had left strict orders with him to notify them the moment Rodney was out of danger and when he started to regain consciousness.

"How is he?" Elizabeth asked in a hushed voice.

"His vitals are picking up nicely and he's sleeping naturally now."

"You said he was awake," John said, sounding disappointed.

"I said he was waking up," Carson corrected. "This isn't like the movies, John. With someone with the severity of a head injure as Rodney's had, you don't just wake up and start talking as if nothing's happened. Waking up is a process that may take a day or so before he's coherent enough for conversation."

"But he's going to be okay?" he asked.

"I think so," Carson said with as much certainty as he could. "We really won't know until he's awake."

Elizabeth nodded and patted his arm. "Thank you for letting us know, Carson."

He nodded. "I'll keep you apprised of his condition."

"If you're going to talk, take it in the hall," a very tired, very cranky voice mumbled.

Carson whipped around. "Rodney?" He hurried around the bed to find a pair of blood shot, pale blue eyes watching him sleepily.

"How are you feeling there, Rodney?" Carson asked, pulling out his penlight to check his pupilary response. He first checked Rodney's right eye and then carefully checked his swollen left eye. The pupils reacted quickly and evenly indicating the swelling in his brain due to the concussion was responding well to the treatment.

Rodney groaned, "Better until you blinded me."

Carson heard Sheppard give a snort of laughter from behind him. "That sounds like the McKay we all know and love. I thought you said he wasn't going to wake up for a while."

Carson quirked a smile. "You're right. I should have known better given how much Rodney loves to prove everyone wrong."

He looked back and the injured man's eyes had slipped back closed, his breathing evening out in sleep again. He smiled. "Well, at least we know his personality is still intact," he said wryly.

"And you say that like it's a good thing," Sheppard quipped and then his face sobered. "He is going to be okay, isn't he? I mean he sounds like Rodney."

"We're at the wait and see point now," Carson told him, wishing he could be more reassuring.

Sheppard nodded and then turned to Zelenka. "Let's get you geared up, Doc, so you can get back to your research."

The Czech scientist got a lot only face that could only be described as "deer in the headlights" and then nodded. "Yes, of course."

Sheppard just smiled and slung his good arm around the physicist shoulders and led him off explaining something about how showing him how to fire a pistol.

Carson arched his eyebrows and shot Elizabeth a look.

"Doctor Zelenka is going to take Rodney's place on the team back to the planet to get their defensive grid back online," she told him.

He nodded, grimacing a little. "Good."

"It will be alright," Elizabeth told him and he looked at her smiling a little.

"I think I'm the one who's supposed to be telling you that," he said, nodding to the sleeping physicist.

She just smiled and patted his arm.

Zelenka checked over his gear one last time. He had everything he thought he might need. His tool kit, McKay's scanner device, his extra tool kit, laptop with translation software, he shifted the last few things into his backpack and frowned at the uncomfortable weight of the side arm strapped to his leg. Sheppard had shown him how to use the pistol and it really wasn't much different from the Yarygin pistol he had been trained on back home.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He wasn't ready for this. He was an engineer, not a space cowboy!

Sheppard stuck his head into the Zelenka's lab. "Ready Doc?"

Zelenka nodded. "Sure."

The American Major clapped him on his shoulder. "You'll do fine."

Zelenka sighed. "Sure."