PARADISE
By NotTasha

PART 20: HUNKY-DORY

"Hey," Sheppard said, smiling to see McKay awake. "How ya doing?"

McKay's response was sarcastic, "Oh, just dandy." Rodney still looked terrible, pale with bags under his eyes, fighting the fever even though they'd figured out how to reduce it. It would take time to get the infection under control and get the physicist back on his feet. He was bandaged, receiving oxygen and hooked to a couple of IVs. All in all, he looked rather pitiful. "Yeah, I'm hunky-dory."

There was no chair in the room – undoubtedly Beckett meant no one to stay long – the room was isolated for a reason. Still, it rankled Sheppard that Rodney was kept apart from the others, for as much as the physicist might have denied it, Sheppard knew that he liked being with people – and often felt lonely.

Feeling uncomfortable standing beside the bed, Sheppard folded his hands behind his back and leaned a shoulder against the wall.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" McKay asked. "I'm sure there's plenty more exciting things to do. I know I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be." His voice sounded soft, with no real force behind it.

Sheppard sighed. "Well, I figured I'd check up on you. Make sure you were all right."

"Didn't you see Beckett on the way in?" McKay responded. "He must have intercepted you at some point. He's rather prickly about people roaming at will through his infirmary. He would've filled you in."

"Yeah, he said you were on the mend."

"Mending… well yes." Shaking his head against the pillow, Rodney continued, "Still feeling rather foggy and can't seem to find any strength. I'm rather useless in this state."

"Useless is not a word I'd apply to you," Sheppard responded, and before McKay could counter him, he went on, "You told Weir about what happened?"

"As much as I could recall." McKay lifted one hand and rested it on his forehead. "As I said… my mind isn't responding quite as I'd like at the moment. I think I'm operating at your level right now. It's rather disconcerting."

Sheppard allowed himself a small smile at that comment. "Yeah, welcome to my world. You remember what you said to her ten minutes ago? Even I could manage that."

"I told her as much as I recall: the volcano, the earthquake, the issue with the DHD, the disassembly…" McKay lifted his hand and wafted it back and forth as he went on wearily. "My near-consumption by devil-dogs. Rather pathetic, don't you think?"

"Teyla disobeyed orders and separated from you," Sheppard clarified.

"Is that how you remember it?" McKay asked. "Is that why you've been giving her the cold shoulder? Really, Major, that's rather childish, don't you think?"

"McKay, she was supposed to stick with you."

"Because I can't take care of myself."

"Because Ford was sticking with me," Sheppard replied quickly. "Sticking together… staying in pairs… two people, McKay. There was a reason for that order, and we saw what happened when my direct order wasn't obeyed."

"Don't blame Teyla," McKay continued, softly. "I have an impressive mind, but it comes at the expense of other things. I was the one who couldn't keep up. She was doing exactly what I would have done, Major, if our situations were reversed."

"McKay…" Sheppard growled.

"Just forgive her, okay?" McKay continued. "I did. Stop being an ass about it. Let it go."

Sheppard turned and gazed at the wall, not wanting to give up on this so easily, but he knew there was no point to continuing his campaign. McKay was right. Teyla was trying to do the right thing at that moment. He recalled how worried she'd been since then, how guilt seem to fill her eyes – yeah, he'd been rather rough on the woman. "She's been worried about you," Sheppard stated. "Ford, too." Yeah, the young lieutenant hadn't escaped guilt either – ever since Aiden suggested getting McKay on his feet to fix the gate, the man had been rather quiet and distant.

"No need to worry," McKay responded. "I never have liked certain death, but … as Beckett says… I'm on the mend."

Neither said anything for a moment, and when Sheppard turned back to McKay, he had his eyes squinted shut and his hand at his forehead again.

"You all right?" Sheppard asked.

"Oh, peachy…" Rodney responded. "Yeah… ducky…I think Beckett put over 100 stitches in me."

"That's a lot," Sheppard said with a whistle.

"I'll probably have a scar or two."

"That should impress the girls."

The comment earned Sheppard a small smile

Sheppard continued, "How much longer you going to be here."

McKay made a facsimile of a shrug. "Weeks probably. Today is just another day in paradise."

"Yeah," Sheppard responded. "Not so bad. Could think of worse places."

"I get to start on a liquid diet soon: broth and Jell-O. Maybe they have cherry – that'd be the Jell-O, not the broth," Rodney clarified unnecessarily. "Can't wait until they have me on solid food," he said with a light tone. "There's something comforting about hospital food."

Damn, he still looks so sick, John thought. He probably wouldn't be so bad right now if he hadn't been pushed earlier. Smart of you, Sheppard, taking a man that's suffering and make him work until he almost dies. Yeah, that was a good move.

"McKay," John said quickly. "About that DHD… I was such a son of a bitch. Listen, I…"

McKay raised one hand, and said, "Major, I admit the situation was rather… unpleasant, but I needed some prodding to complete my project. You only did what had to be done."

"Yes, but…"

"I was the only one who could fix it."

"Well, that's probably true, but…"

"Major, who would've fixed the DHD if I were unable?"

Sheppard shrugged. "I could've tried."

McKay snorted, stopping short as the nasal canella jerked against his nose. He grimaced. "Oh," he said, touching the device. "That wasn't pleasant."

"Then don't do it again."

McKay gave him an arch look. "Major," he continued. "An infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters might eventually come up with the Works of Shakespeare – and you might have eventually fixed the DHD without me -- but all of Atlantis would have suffered if I didn't make it back. What would they do without my genius? You see, it was imperative that you acted when you did, as you did. Like Teyla, you did what was right at that moment. What's the problem?"

"I didn't like it," Sheppard said with a sigh. "I wanted you to know that, I guess. I feel like a jackass."

"You should," McKay responded, closing his eyes and smiling. "Jackass, yes… that's what I was thinking at the time. Bastard: that one came to mind. Asshole: thought that a few times. Plenty other descriptions, too. I could rattle off more for you."

"No thanks," Sheppard replied, finding humor in McKay's wry comments.

And McKay gave him a sidelong glance, his blue eyes looking uncommonly tired, before closing them again.

"You didn't break the DHD, you know?" John went on. "The hunters who'd come before us – they weren't able to get out either. It must have been down while they were there."

"True…" McKay responded, his voice growing soft, his face smoothing out. "But I should've been faster at figuring out the correct process of repairing it."

"But you did fix it. That's all that matters."

"With your help… Remind me…" McKay said dreamily… "To get you a typewriter some day… you could practice."

"Yeah, thanks. Good luck finding one in the Pegasus Galaxy," Sheppard replied, and waited for McKay to say more, but the scientist had fallen asleep.

He waited a moment, to see if McKay would wake up again, but the conversation apparently had exhausted the injured man. Rodney was asleep.

With a sigh, Sheppard jammed his hands into his pocket. "Get better soon, okay?" Sheppard said quietly. "Don't want to keep the team down for too long. No sense finding a temporary replacement for you while you're recovering. It'd take too long to break him in."

McKay continued to sleep, still looking like crap. He was getting better, Beckett had insisted, but that didn't change the fact that Rodney had almost died.

"Yeah, no sense in switching around the team. We'll wait. Besides… I don't think I'd want to do this without you." He waited a moment, hoping McKay stayed asleep, not wanting to own up for anything he said. "Maybe that's the reason I made you get up and fix the DHD, huh? Yeah, if I fiddled around with it enough, maybe I could have fixed it eventually. Monkeys can get to the right solution if they try often enough. – but it wouldn't have been in time to save you. You know that?"

He waited, watching the monitors beep and the IVs drip – knowing that the medication was saving McKay's life – that he wouldn't have made it without Beckett and Gutterman and that other guy. Rodney would have died if they hadn't gotten him back to Atlantis in time.

John knew that he had done the right thing. It was just that the whole situation had gone wrong from the start – from the hunters who brought their half-tamed dogs and had gotten stuck, to the earthquake, to that moment of short-sightedness when Teyla left Rodney behind, to dragging Rodney to the DHD and forcing him to fix it even though he was so damn sick… the whole thing was a mess.

"Sorry, McKay," Sheppard said softly. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry about that."

Sheppard stood by Rodney's bedside, until Beckett came to retrieve him a minute or two later. "Time's up, Major," Carson stated, holding the door open. "Ah, he's asleep again, is he? Man needs his rest. You have a good chat?"

"Yeah, pretty good," John admitted, slipping through the door and letting Beckett shut it.

"Roll up your sleeve, now," Carson requested, uncapping a syringe.

Sheppard did as asked, letting the doctor inject him with the antibiotic.

"All better," Beckett sing-songed, as he withdrew the needle and tossed it into a nearby 'sharps' box. "That should take care of those nasty bugs."

Sheppard nodded, rubbing the sore spot on his arm. "You going to let Ford and Teyla go in? They'll want to see him."

Beckett sighed, and then admitted, "When he's awake again, I'll send for them."

"They probably won't leave the waiting room until you call, you know," Sheppard told him.

Beckett tried to look exasperated. "Ach, I know… I know." But instead he looked rather pleased.

"You take good care of him, okay?" John nodded to the closed door behind them.

"Ah, laddie, you know I'll do that. We wouldn't want to lose him. He's one of a kind," Beckett said with a smile.

"Ain't that the truth," Sheppard responded, smiling, too. He made his way out of the infirmary to meet up with Teyla and Ford whom he knew would be there, waiting still, eager for their chance to see their teammate. John had to make things up with the Athosian, let Ford know that he shouldn't feel guilty about his suggestion.

The major continued to grin, feeling better about things – knowing that Rodney was going to be okay.

Paradise was what you made of it, he decided. To some it might be swaying palm trees and a warm tropical breeze – to Major John Sheppard, it was to have his team whole, to bring everyone home, to be assured that everyone would be okay. To have a team, like this one, was all a man could ask for.

Only a matter of a few weeks, he told himself, and we'll be back out there.

Bring it on.

THE END
A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who left me reviews. I really appreciate your comments. And a big whopping thank you to Tipper for looking over this story for me and offering me advice and encouragement. I still blame her for everything.