Carson couldn't believe the state of this prison. The men they saw in the cells they passed looked as though they hadn't had a bath or a good meal in years, and the stench... he'd been around dead bodies that didn't smell as bad.
It seemed like they'd been walking down these corridors forever, and with every step they took, he was growing more and more anxious over what condition they might find Rodney in. He had a very bad feeling about this.
"His cell is that way," the guard told them, pointing down a narrow hallway leading off from the one they were currently walking down. "It is the section of the prison where we keep those who are in solitary confinement. The doors are open, so that means he is either with Kolya already, or his guards are just fetching him now."
As they approached the open doorway, Carson could hear muffled sounds coming from somewhere nearby. He glanced over at Major Sheppard, and the look on his face told him the major had heard it, too.
"Come on," Major Sheppard said, taking off down the hallway without hesitation.
Lt. Ford, Teyla, and Carson followed him, the sounds growing ever louder as they ran. It was the sound of voices... and laughter.
"Get the hell away from him!" Major Sheppard shouted as he burst into an open cell door at the end of the hallway.
Carson ran in just in time to see the major and Lt. Ford dragging two big, nasty looking guards across the dark, smelly room, knocking them both about the head with their pistols when they kicked up a fuss. However, his attention was soon focused on the body lying facedown on the floor at his feet.
There was no doubt that it was Rodney. The only doubt in Carson's mind was if he was still alive.
He quickly knelt down beside him and felt his neck for a pulse. Feeling nothing, he looked up to see Teyla kneeling down on Rodney's other side, a frightened look on her face. "Help me turn him over," he said, gently taking hold of Rodney's shoulder and the side of his head. He gestured for her to lay her hands on his back and side, and together they turned him over onto his back.
Teyla gasped when she saw Rodney's face, and Carson couldn't blame her. He was about ready to lose his lunch himself at the state his friend was in.
Once again, Carson felt frantically for a pulse, but again found nothing. Without saying a word or wasting a moment, he started CPR, making sure he pumped Rodney's chest as gently as possible when he felt broken ribs under his hands. He was more or less running on autopilot as he lost himself in the counting and breathing and willing Rodney to breathe, just breathe, dammit, breathe!
Finally, Rodney took a breath on his own, and Carson was vaguely aware that everyone around him relaxed and clapped each other on the back in relief that he was alright.
Only he wasn't alright.
Just from a very brief examination, Carson could tell that Rodney had been bleeding internally for some time, not to mention the knocks he'd obviously taken on the head. He was in bad shape, and if they didn't get him back to Atlantis as fast as that puddle jumper could go...
"We need to get him out of here," he said, looking gravely up at Major Sheppard. "We'll need to find something we can use as a stretcher."
"I will find something for you," said the man who had led them there. He disappeared a second later as he scurried off.
"How bad is it?" Major Sheppard asked.
Carson shook his head. "It's bad," he said, rising slowly to his feet. "To be honest with you... I think we're too late." His voice caught on the last word and he felt tears sting his eyes as the truth of the matter started to sink in. Rodney was his closest friend, and he was dying right there in front of him. The worst part was, at the moment there was nothing he could do. Not a damned thing.
"Is this what you need?" the guard said as he rushed back into the room carrying what looked like a long board.
"Yes, that'll do," Carson said as he took it from him. "Thank you. Major, I'll need your help here."
Major Sheppard assisted him in getting Rodney situated on the makeshift stretcher and fastened down, and then the major and Lt. Ford lifted it up and carried Rodney out of the cell as quickly as they could.
It was only then that Carson realized the two guards who had been beating on Rodney were no longer in sight. He hoped they'd been taken somewhere and given a taste of their own medicine, but he really didn't have time to think about it for long. His one and only concern now was Rodney, and keeping him alive until they could get back to Atlantis.
John did not like the look on Dr. Beckett's face.
It was a look that shouted, "I'm helpless to do anything," and that was a bad thing for a doctor to feel regarding a patient. Beckett hadn't spoken since they'd taken Rodney out of the prison and started on their way back to Atlantis, but he didn't really have to. Everyone knew that Rodney was in bad shape.
Very bad shape. The sound he made every time he drew in a ragged breath was making John nauseous. He was afraid to ask what was causing it, but his guess was a punctured lung. Hopefully it sounded worse than it really was.
"Please tell me we're nearly there, Major," Beckett anxiously called over to him.
"I can see the gate now," John said as they approached the gate's island. "Just tell him to hang in there a minute longer."
"I'm doing the best I can."
John tried not to think about the fact that Beckett had started to pump oxygen into Rodney's lungs for him. As soon as they got him back to Atlantis, Beckett would be able to fix him up just as good as new. None of them could afford to doubt that now.
"Lieutenant, dial it up," he said, not even taking his eyes off of his target as they flew straight towards the Stargate.
Ford punched in the address for Atlantis, and the gate sprang to life.
"Teyla, you got the code?" John asked.
He needn't have said a word - Teyla was already sending her IDC through the open wormhole. "Done," she said.
A second or two later, they slipped through the gate and were hurled across the galaxy.
As soon as they saw the Atlantis gateroom through the windshield, John keyed his radio. "Elizabeth, we have Rodney, but he's not doing so good. We need a medical team to meet us in the jumper bay."
"I already have them standing by, Major," Elizabeth's voice returned as the puddle jumper began its ascent. "Well done."
"Thank God," John heard Beckett say under his breath.
He turned around to look at what was going on behind him as the jumper came to rest in the bay and the hatch began to open. "He still with us?" he asked.
"Barely," Beckett answered. As soon as the medics appeared at the hatch, he began barking orders to them, using medical terminology that John couldn't quite follow. It didn't take Sherlock to figure out that Beckett was scared and trying not to waste even a nanosecond in getting Rodney the help he needed.
Suddenly, the hustle and bustle had ended, and John, Ford, and Teyla were left standing there staring at each other in grave acceptance of what might happen.
Bates and his team had quietly left the jumper even before Beckett had, and John was glad of that. He needed this moment alone with his team. He needed to make sure they knew how proud he was of them both. He didn't ever want to have such regret hanging over his head as he'd had through this whole ordeal. His last words to Rodney had been harsh, and if he never got to speak to him again, it would weigh on his conscience for the rest of his life. Somehow, he had to make sure that never happened again.
Unfortunately, his mind had gone completely blank.
"We got him back, Sir."
John couldn't help but smile at Ford's stating-the-obvious comment. It wasn't just stating the obvious, though - there was so much more behind those words that John couldn't even begin to explain. They'd spent the last two weeks doing everything they could to find Rodney. They hadn't failed, no matter what happened to him now.
"Yes, we did," he said with a slight nod. "You both did great. Really great."
He wanted to say more, but he found himself at a loss for words. After a few seconds passed, he forced himself to walk over to the hatch and said, "Let's go fill Dr. Weir in on what happened. I'm sure she'll be pleased to hear that Kolya's doing hard time."
Dr. Weir, however, seemed to be otherwise engaged. John found her in the infirmary, pacing restlessly back and forth as she waited for word on Rodney's condition. He felt it would be best for him to leave her alone for the time being, so he found himself a quiet corner of the infirmary to sit down and wait.
An hour passed with no word from Beckett, and then two. The entire city seemed to be holding its breath, waiting to hear whether or not Rodney was going to live. Ford, Teyla, Zelenka, Grodin, Bates, Stackhouse, and many others kept dropping by to ask how things were going, but John didn't have an answer for them. All he could say was that Dr. Beckett was working hard to save him. That much he knew was the truth.
Finally, three hours after Rodney had returned home, an exhausted Beckett emerged from the operating room. Elizabeth rushed straight over to him, so he was already giving her a report when John came up beside them.
"He's stable for now," he was saying. "I have to be honest, though, Dr. Weir. It doesn't look good. Whatever these people did to him... there's evidence of multiple beatings, and burn marks from some sort of electric shock device. I really can't tell at this point how much damage has been done overall, but my guess is he won't be completely out of the woods for a few days, at least."
John swallowed hard and glanced over at Elizabeth. She had a hand over her mouth and seemed to be struggling to keep herself together. She looked completely worn out and just about at the end of her rope.
He felt more or less the same himself.
"When can we see him?" Elizabeth asked, her voice sounding strained.
"I'd like you to wait a couple of hours, if that's alright," Beckett said apologetically. "I'll let you know when."
Elizabeth nodded. "Thank you."
Beckett gave her a sympathetic look, but Elizabeth had already turned and was walking over to the other side of the room to sit down. He looked over at John then, and shrugged his shoulders helplessly. Then he left the room again, presumably to take up vigil at Rodney's side.
John sighed and went over to join Elizabeth. She was leaning forward in her seat with her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. He didn't have a clue what to say to her, so he just sat down next to her and let silence reign for a minute or so.
Finally, he took a deep breath and asked, "Can I get you anything? Coffee...?"
Elizabeth lowered her hands and shook her head. "No, thank you, I'm fine." There was another moment of silence before she continued, "There's one thing you can do, though."
"What's that?"
"The Decarian prisoner," she said. "Now that we have Rodney back, there's no reason for us to still be holding him."
"So, you want me to send him back to Decaria?"
"No," she said, turning to look him in the eye. "I want you to take him back to Decaria. Take a team, take a puddle jumper, whatever you need for protection. Take him back to his own planet, offer our apologies... and make sure the townspeople find out what their leader allowed to happen to an innocent man."
John was a little surprised at the anger behind her words, but he completely understood her reasons behind this request. "Yes, ma'am," he said as he rose to his feet.
He had no intention of letting her down again.