AN: Episode tag for The Eye, based off a comment made (by Sheppard to Beckett). I promise, I am working on Paradigm, but these are just short, one-shots, that I've been asked to write. It's a lot of fun and it's an exercise with character voice. I hope you enjoy this one, also!
Raincheck
Carson Beckett had a mother of all headaches. He had suffered a mild concussion from a hard hit at the hands of the Genii Sora, and though it'd been a day of healing, he was showing up to work at the infirmary with a headache so big that he thought his head just might explode.
He sighed as he took stock of the paperwork piled up on his desk. The past few days had been chaos. Forms took a back seat to imminent death and destruction. The problem was, when you survived the aforementioned death and destruction, those forms were waiting. He wound his way to the medicine chest and found a Tylenol with codeine. It'd take the edge off, and leave him able to function.
"Doctor? Should you be here?"
Beckett turned, guiltily. It was Teyla. "Why shouldn't I be?" he asked, his accent thick with his attempt at pretending he was fine.
Teyla eyed him knowingly. "Doctor McKay said you suffered a…concussion," she said, uncertain with the terminology.
"Aye," Beckett agreed, taking care not to shake his head. "But I can manage." Carson headed back towards his desk…and his chair. Teyla followed. He eased himself down, and stared at the pile again. Maybe he should've taken the day off, he thought, and picked up the nearest paper.
He realized Teyla was still there, waiting. "Did you need something, lass?"
Teyla shifted uncomfortably.
"Out with it, then," he urged her. "I've got a lot to do, were you hurt somewhere else?"
"No," Teyla replied hurriedly. "It is just…maybe I should not say anything."
Carson set the paper in his hand down, and gave Teyla his full attention. "If it brought you down here, then yes, you should tell me," he said with a thin layer of stern patient-doctor manner.
"It is not for me," she said forcefully. "It is the Major."
That caused Beckett to straighten. "Major Sheppard?"
Teyla looked uncomfortable again. Beckett stood up, and cleared folders from the chair in front of his desk. "Sit," he ordered.
"I've noticed him holding his arm," she searched for the right word, "funny."
Beckett narrowed his eyes at her. "Funny?"
"Do you remember when we rescued him from the Genii, and he said his shoulder was sore? I believe it is causing him more pain today than it did yesterday. When I asked him if he had seen you, he told me it was not important, yet, I handed him a weapon, and he dropped it." Teyla explained, and it was clear to Beckett that she was worried for the Major.
"He couldn't grip with the hand?" he probed, trying to get more information.
She shook her head gently. "No, I think it was the pain that caused him to drop the gun. After that, he made an excuse, and would not discuss it with me further."
Beckett leaned back in his chair, frowning. "Teyla, Major Sheppard isn't careless. If he needs help, he'll show up."
She eyed the doctor with disappointment, and stood. "Ordinarily, perhaps that is so, but I believe Major Sheppard considers his injury to be irrelevant in light of others, and the work to be done. I fear he will continue to suffer needlessly." With that, she walked away, leaving Beckett to consider the validity of her words.
Later, somewhere in the South Pier…"Have you seen Major Sheppard?" Beckett asked.
Doctor Zelenka shook his head no. "I think he may be here somewhere, with Rodney." Radek looked at him oddly. "Why don't you call them on the radio?"
Beckett just sighed. This was getting to be more than he bargained for. He hadn't wanted to make a fuss, and he knew Sheppard would blow him off if he tried to get him on the comm. He figured the easiest way to accomplish his mission was to search for Sheppard himself, and confront him if necessary over his shoulder injury.
"Thanks," he said to Zelenka, and continued his way through the damaged areas. Water had flooded throughout this area, and it smelled terrible. It didn't help his headache either.
Just when he was about to give up, and head back to the infirmary, he overheard the very man he was looking for.
"You told me to activate that!" Sheppard stated angrily.
Beckett heard McKay mumble something in return. He followed the rising voices, and walked into some kind of lab. Sheppard was standing beside a console, and McKay was across the room, and he was covered in…what was that? "Rodney?"
McKay turned, and saw it was Beckett. He glowered. "Good. You can tell me if this is something poisonous." Rodney continued to stare at Carson, who stood rooted to the spot. "Today would help," McKay snapped impatiently.
"It's not poisonous," Sheppard spoke in that scathing way he reserved for McKay, before addressing Beckett. "It's the Ancients version of Mr. Clean."
"You don't know that," Rodney refuted, swiping some of the thick gel off his shoulders disgustedly.
Beckett couldn't help the smile. He'd actually seen the stuff before, and Sheppard was right, it was some kind of cleaning gel. "You'll be fine, Rodney." He moved towards Sheppard, and leaned in to avoid being overhead. "Can I see you for a minute?"
Sheppard gave another pithy look at McKay, and followed Beckett into the corridor. "What can I do for you, Doc?"
"I'm ready for the raincheck, Major," Beckett explained.
Sheppard stared at him, confused.
"Your shoulder," Beckett prompted. "You never came to see me."
The light went on. "Oh," Sheppard said. "That."
"Teyla told me you were favoring it a bit."
Sheppard's eyes narrowed. "She did, did she?"
"Major, she's only worried about you," Beckett said. "Now, let me take a look at it, if you don't mind." And it wasn't a question.
Sheppard grimaced. "Can it wait?"
Unexpectedly, Beckett tossed a packet of gauze at Sheppard, who reached out on instinct, trying to catch it, but the sudden movement caused him to swear as the movement of the injured shoulder sent a sharp pain through his arm.
"No," Beckett stated calmly.
John knew he'd been had. He sighed. "Fine, but make it quick."
Infirmary…"Is this necessary?" Sheppard asked, clearly frustrated. His arm had been put in a sling that immobilized his entire arm, and it went all the way to his shoulder. He fidgeted at the strap with his good arm.
Beckett slapped his fingers away. "Yes, it is. Major, you tore up the ligaments. They need to heal. You should've come to me before," he scolded. "The longer you go without treatment, the more damage it causes."
John had the grace to appear embarrassed. "Everyone was injured, Doc," he said quietly. "In one way, or the other," and Sheppard had a haunted look.
Beckett stared for a minute. "Ignoring your own hurts won't change anyone else's," he finally said. "Remember that, Major."
Sheppard got to his feet. The sling would be an awkward reminder of the trauma everyone had survived, something he wasn't looking forward to, and he knew the last thing he wanted was to remind one person in particular. "Have you talked to McKay about seeing Dr. Heightmeyer?"
"Not yet," Carson put away the other size sling he hadn't needed. "He's avoiding me."
"That seems to be happening to you a lot," Sheppard chuckled. "I'll talk to him," he offered.
"I don't think he'll want to listen if you keep dumping gel on him," Beckett remonstrated, but the edges of his lips were twisted in a smile at the memory of Rodney standing with a head full of the goop.
"It was an accident," Sheppard retorted, heading for the exit. "That's my story, and I'm sticking to it…"
THE END