PARADISE
By NotTasha

PART 19: INFIRMARY

Sheppard awoke in his own room, feeling worn out and hungry. He sighed, and sat up in bed as he checked the time – he'd slept for 12 hours. Wearily he rubbed at his eyes, forcing himself to fully awaken.

There'd been a commotion in the GateRoom upon their return. Weir had stormed down the stairs, her face taut when she spied McKay and saw the shape he was in. Grodin was up in arms: what happened to the PX9-778 gate – why had the 'problem' only cleared minutes ago – what was going on. Weir and Grodin shot questions at them, but Sheppard, Teyla and Ford didn't stop moving. They followed Beckett to the infirmary. A small army came along. The good doctor sent Weir and the others away, stating that the team needed attention at that moment, not an interrogation – she'd be able to debrief them once their immediate needs were seen to. McKay was whisked away and Beckett's team saw to the other three.

Sheppard ran a hand through his hair as he shaved. "I really have to figure out that one guy's name," Sheppard said out loud in his room, remembering how patient the dark-skinned doctor had been with him, treating his scratches and scrapes, and not giving in to the bullying, and keeping them informed with the news from Beckett. Keeping them away from McKay.

He remembered how McKay had been taken into one of the smaller rooms in the infirmary – and Sheppard had wondered at that moment if he'd ever see the man again. They'd put McKay into isolation. He had a virulent infection that was wrecking havoc with his system, and would need to remain in a private room until Becket had some idea of how to treat it, to knock it down… to save the arrogant son-of-a-bitch. Beckett stayed with him.

"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do here," the black doctor had told them sympathetically. "Doctor McKay's in the best hands now. You won't be able to see him until tomorrow at least, so you should get some rest. I'll talk to Dr. Beckett and see if he can't keep Dr. Weir and the others away until tomorrow." They'd been sent away – to shower, to get something to eat, to sleep.

Sheppard had stood for a moment in the waiting room, with Ford and Teyla. His remaining team members looked as if they'd rather stay, to wait for news about Rodney – but they were dirty, tired and hungry, and Dr. No-Name was right. "Go on," Sheppard had told them. "Do like he says. We'll come back tomorrow."

The shower had revived him long enough for dinner, but after that, nothing could have kept Sheppard awake. He'd fallen asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

Now, half a day was gone – and he'd heard nothing about McKay. After hurriedly dressing, Sheppard trotted out of his room and jogged to the infirmary. He wasn't surprised when he opened the waiting room door and found Ford and Teyla.

"Well?" he asked, leadingly.

"Doctor Weir is speaking with Doctor Beckett concerning Doctor McKay," Teyla informed in a businesslike fashion. But her expression fell as she admitted, "They have told us nothing."

"Yeah," Ford continued. "I tried to find out, but no one's talking." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair.

"I'll find out what's going on," Sheppard declared, and lay one hand against the door that separated them from the infirmary, but had to take a quick step back as the door swung toward him.

"Ah, there ya be," Beckett stated as he strolled through the doorway with Weir. "I was wonderin' when you'd be up and around. Feelin' better now, Major? You looked about ready to drop the last time I laid eyes on you."

"How is he?" Sheppard cut through Carson's cheery brogue, noting that Beckett was now the one who looked tired. Weir looked unsettled, which did nothing to calm the major.

"Well," Beckett paused, and then stated, " It's a good thing that you kept that creature for an examination."

"You did a… a necropsy, right?" Sheppard commented. "Did it have rabies?" he asked, feeling a certain dread. Ford and Teyla were beside him, ready to hear the worst. Sheppard heard Ford suck in a breath when the disease was mentioned.

"Ach, heavens no," Beckett responded. "I don't think they'd have that in the Pegasus Galaxy. Rabies is from Earth. But we were able to examine the beastie's little paws. Dreadful things under its nails. It's no wonder Rodney was runnin' such a fever."

"You figured out what caused it?" Sheppard continued.

Beckett nodded. "Ah, I believe we did indeed. A fierce little buggar it was, too, but we were able to examine the samples from the specimen, and this morning, Dr. Gutterman found something that should knock the stuffing out of it. Oh, I'll want to each of you on the medication as well – seems that all of you had a scrape or two."

John brushed at his arm, where a scratch had been bothering him. Yeah, probably not a bad idea. "Is it working for him."

Happily, Beckett nodded. "Rodney seems to be responding to treatment. He woke a little while ago, not really himself yet, but I believe he's on the mend."

"Can I see him?"

Weir, who'd been quiet up until then stated, "I spoke to him only a moment ago, Major. He's still very ill and doesn't need any excitement."

"He have anything to say about what happened?" Sheppard asked.

Weir pursed her lips and then responded, "He gave me a report on your mission. I'll expect the same from each of you once you've finished here."

"Yeah, soon as we're finished," Sheppard uttered. "And what did he have to say about the mission?"

Weir regarded the major for a moment, then continued, "He described how he managed to put the DHD out of commission and to lock up the StarGate so that we couldn't dial in."

Sheppard groaned, "That isn't what happened."

"He said that he took apart the DHD, more than once," Weir went on. "And was unable to fix it until you intervened."

"Intervened? McKay is the one who got it running. I was just the one yelling at him. I moved the pieces around," Sheppard's voice raised as he spoke. "Damn it…it was broken before we got there! We weren't the first ones trapped in that place. And, okay, he was trying to dial Atlantis when the thing jammed, but that had more to do with the earthquake than with McKay."

"Earthquake?" Weir repeated.

"The earthquake was caused by the volcano," Teyla supplied.

"There was a volcano?" Weir asked.

Teyla smiled. "The volcano and the earthquake proved to be the least of our problems. Perhaps that is why Doctor McKay failed to mention them."

"The devil dogs were a lot worse," Ford added.

"Those creatures that attacked you," Weir stated with a nod. "Rodney told me that he was injured because he wasn't able to join you when you were attacked." Weir looked unimpressed with this description and waited for Sheppard to tell his side of it.

"Oh that stupid son of a…" Sheppard cut himself off. "He tell you anything about HOW the DHD finally got fixed? He mention what went on?"

Elizabeth looked surprised at Sheppard's sharp tone. "He said that everyone did what had to be done."

"I'm going to go talk to him."

"He's very weak, Major," Weir said, her face soft and worried. "It would probably be best to let him rest."

"Hell no!" Sheppard shot back. "I didn't let him rest last time, did I?" He turned to Beckett to see if the doctor would deny him.

Beckett shrugged and said, "Only one of you can go in." He looked toward Teyla and Ford and stated, "I take it, that'll be Major Sheppard?"

Sheppard made a disgusted sound and shoved open the door to the infirmary – Beckett followed him directly. A team of doctors was working at one of the research stations, and Sheppard spotted the dark-skinned doctor was there. Gutterman… Beckett had mentioned that a Dr. Gutterman figured out how to help Rodney. Was that guy's name Gutterman?

Well, that choice was as good as any. "Gutterman," Sheppard called out as he drew closer, expecting Dr. No-name to face him.

Instead a petite blonde woman turned to him and smiled pertly. "Yes, Major?" she asked with a German accent.

Aw, damn. So close. "Good job, Dr. Gutterman," Sheppard responded, smiling. "For finding out what needed to be done for Dr. McKay."

"Oh, I did not do this alone. This fine man did much to help me," and she wrapped one arm around the black doctor's arm and turned him. "He is an inventive man. I believe he could cure people with little more than a poultice and a cup of tea. His theories are what lead to us finding what we believe is the correct antibiotic. I could not have done it without him."

The man beamed at the praise and smiled at Sheppard. "I'm certain our course of medication will help Dr. McKay fight off this infection, Major Sheppard," he said, his voice rich and warm. "He'll be fine in no time at all."

"Ah, good job," Sheppard said again. "Both of you."

Beckett had continued past him, so Sheppard turned quickly to follow him. Carson gave him a sidelong glance and a smile, but said nothing. They passed by several beds, some empty -- some of them occupied by Atlantis personnel. Kavenagh had his hands bandaged. He sat, red faced and scowling in his bed, looking particularly perturbed. Finn from maintenance was sitting back in his bed with a bandaged foot, reading a comic book. Corporal Dunne, his arm in a sling, was playing cards one-handedly with another guy that Sheppard didn't know. The man, casually sitting in a guest chair, was too well-dressed to be with either the military or the scientific unit. He definitely wasn't from maintenance. There was no telling where he came from.

Sheppard kept moving.

Carson led him through the main room, taking him to the far side of the infirmary, to one of the rooms closed off from the rest. "We thought it best to keep him here until he's out of the woods. No sense exposing him to other nasties while he's still recuperating."

After a quick rap at the door, Carson pressed it open and called within, "Rodney, you have another visitor."

TBC -
A/N: okay... one more section...