They came upon him unexpectedly. The ground had been sloping up steadily for a half-mile or so and as they crested the hill, he was there, untidily sprawled, the broken boughs of a small tree testimony to his forceful arrival.

Sheppard and Teyla rushed to him and carefully turned him over. It was a shock to see the normally pugnacious face so still and white. Feeling gently through the short hair, Sheppard all too easily found the reason for his current silence and swore at the bloody bump on the back of Rodney's head, staring at the blood on his fingers now on his own fingers.

"Major, I believe this is more serious." Teyla gently pulled at the front of Rodney's flak vest, the Velcro giving way grudgingly, even with the blood saturating it. There were two separate puncture wounds where the raptor's claws had slipped through the flak vest. One in Rodney's shoulder was not so serious but still it would be badly bruised and painful. The other was something else entirely. Where the predator's talons had gripped him, his shoulder was…, not right. Not only was the wound deep, the shoulder itself was sitting oddly.

With a sinking feeling Sheppard realized it had been dislocated. This was so not good. They had none of their supplies; Sheppard could picture, without even closing his eyes, the location of each of their packs neatly piled outside the ruin. At least Teyla had had the presence of mind to grab a first aid kit before they began their cross-country jog. She was already applying a pressure bandage attempting to slow the bleeding. Rodney didn't regain consciousness but his moan made it clear how much pain he was in. Sheppard looked around fruitlessly for something else to use as a bandage but there was nothing.

Teyla glanced up, rising fluidly to her feet. Stepping over to a plant standing about waist high, huge tapered leaves falling away from a central stalk, she peered down inside of it. Her face lit up and she turned back to Sheppard.

"Major, could you spare the sleeves of your shirt?"

"Teyla, I'm flattered but now?" started John on pure reflex even as he reached for and tore off the short sleeves of his tee. Teyla made a frustrated sound.

"There is water collected here." Her words registered and he tossed the small pieces of black jersey to her as he continued putting pressure on Rodney's wound, trying to ignore the growing moisture under his fingertips.

Swiftly Teyla dipped the fabric into the hollow between the leaves and the stalk where rainwater had collected. Careful not to waste a drop, Teyla moved swiftly back to kneel at Rodney's side and dribbled a few drops of liquid into his mouth. She gently laved his face and neck clean of the dried blood streaking it. His eyelids flickered and finally managed to open. Focusing took a little longer but eventually his eyes locked onto Teyla's face.

"Dr. McKay, we are here with you and you will be fine."

His eyes blinked slowly. "M'jor."

"You're just never happy unless you're causing me trouble, are you, McKay."

"Purpose, …of, m'life," came the slow answer and Sheppard grinned with relief but before he could verbally respond, Ford's voice was again coming over the radio.

#Major, we're cut off from the gate.#