SAMARITANS part 5…Storm clouds brewing
The first rays of early morning light glimmered through the mouth of the cave, John Sheppard had never been so glad to see the dawn. The previous night was not one he would like to go through ever again and the knowledge that there was at least one more night to come filled him with gloom. He turned to check on Carson; the doctor had had a disturbed night but at least now he was sleeping peacefully. John had remembered to keep waking the man, knowing people with head injuries shouldn't sleep too long. Constantly checking on the doctor had meant the Major hadn't had any sleep either. Briefly touching Beckett to check his temperature, John was relieved to feel the doctor was cooler. Their supply of Tylenol was dwindling and he wanted to use it only when necessary. The medication wasn't all that was dwindling; the water bottles were nearly empty too.
Sheppard sighed and hauled himself to his feet, surprised when he felt momentarily dizzy. The feeling soon passed so the Major put it down to lack of food. Limping to the cave mouth, he collected the canteens and took a quick look back at Carson. Still sleeping, flushed and breathing heavily, but still asleep. Quietly he crept out, relishing the freshness of the morning sea air in his lungs.
John was quicker down the path, the numerous trips he'd made yesterday with firewood and water had made it familiar enough so that he no longer felt the need to watch his every step. He paused to watch the sun rise, smiling as it rose between banks of pink and gold coloured clouds. Mornings always made Sheppard feel more hopeful, today was no exception. His mind began to wander, planning the best place to put their beacon when he stumbled suddenly. Catching himself quickly, John felt dizzy again. Maybe he should eat, he thought to himself and was again surprised that he didn't feel hungry; in fact the thought of eating made the Major feel slightly nauseated.
Still, once he reached the beach, John sat feeling more tired than he should after such a short trip. He broke one of the two remaining power bars in half, carefully wrapping the remainder in its foil to take back to Carson. Sheppard chewed slowly, the only way to eat a power bar, and forced it down. God, those things tasted bad. He took the opportunity to check his leg again. It was a little sore and had throbbed and ached during the night. When he looked at it, all the good feelings the sunrise had engendered vanished. The area around the spines was red and inflamed, hot to the touch, but curiously numb. The skin was stretched and shiny and didn't look good at all. Ah well, John thought; be grateful for small mercies, it wasn't causing him as much discomfort as it looked like it should.
Deciding there was pitifully little he could do about it anyway, he decided to move on, wanting to get back in case Beckett woke and worried when he wasn't there. Sheppard entered the forest, keeping a wary eye out for more of the koala creatures or anything else that might take a fancy to him for their breakfast. The trip to the spring was uneventful but he realised he was going to have to find something else to carry water in. The canteens were too small and now his leg was throbbing again he didn't want to have to make this trip too often.
The Major made it back to the beach quickly enough and headed back up to the cave to check on Carson, limping more noticeably now. It still didn't hurt much, just felt heavy. Beckett was awake when he arrived back and greeted him warmly.
"Morning Major," he said. "Looks like a nice day out there."
"Yep, another lovely day in Paradise," Sheppard replied. "How are you this morning?"
Beckett's face lost some of its cheerfulness. "Do you want the polite answer, or the honest one?"
"Honest does it for me anytime."
"Honestly? Ma' leg's killing me, ma head feels like it's about to explode, I don't think there's a part of me that does'ni hurt, and if ya don't give me a hand to stand up, I won't be responsible for the consequences."
Sheppard grinned good-naturedly then leaned down to help the man up, closing his eyes when the dizziness struck again. With much huffing, panting and the occasional groan, John finally managed to get Carson standing. Then with Sheppard taking nearly all the weight, the pair moved to the cave mouth and balanced on the edge of the cliff while Beckett took care of business.
"You know," said the doctor, "Under any other circumstances, I'd book ma'sel'in here for a week's holiday." He surveyed the view for a few minutes, then grew tired and allowed John to help him back inside.
"Hungry?" asked the Major once Beckett was comfortable again.
"No, not really," was the reply, "Especially not for power bars. Now, if it were a nice bowl of Brose…" his reply trailed off.
"All I can offer is this," Sheppard replied, proffering the half power bar.
Carson looked at it and repressed a shudder. "No thanks".
"I think you should eat something."
"Oh, I think there's enough stored energy here to keep me going," for emphasisBeckett patted a stomach that had grown much firmer since they'd arrived at Atlantis. "I'd probably only lose it again shortly anyway. All I really need is fluids for now."
"Well now, that I can do," smiled Sheppard passing over a full canteen.
Beckett smiled his thanks and drank deeply. Once done, he tried to settle a bit and winced in discomfort.
"Want me to take a look at that leg again?" asked Sheppard.
"No' much point, "replied Beckett, "There's no' a lot more we can do about it while we're here." He coughed and held his ribs. Sheppard pretended not to notice.
"Look," he said "If you'll be alright for a while, I'd like to build some kind of beacon or signal so anyone looking for us will see it and get here faster.
"I'll be fine. I'm going to try to sleep again, catch up on some of the stuff I lose every time you're a guest in ma infirmary." Carson smiled to take the sting out of the words.
John returned it then limped out of the cave and back down to the beach. He spent the next weary couple of hours dragging enough firewood up to make a large bonfire. Satisfied, the Major collected more wood to take up to the cave and stopped for a rest, wiping away the sweat that had accumulated.
The day seemed uncomfortably hot and humid. Sheppard looked up at the sky and saw that it had taken on a hard brassy hue, not the soft blue of yesterday. The wind had dropped to nothing and the humidity seemed to have increased. It felt as though if he took in too deep a breath, he'd drown. The sea looked oily and flat and the air preternaturally still, hushed almost. If John had been feeling more like himself, warning bells might have gone off in his head but he was feeling unutterably weary. The dizziness seemed to be a permanent feature now, as was a dull background headache and accompanying nausea.
The sea looked inviting and on a whim, Sheppard stripped down to his boxers and waded in. The water felt soothing and cool on his injured leg. John relished the feeling and decided to swim out a little to if he couldn't see any sign of their packs or supplies. He hadn't gone far when a cramp struck from nowhere and forced him to turn back towards the beach. He made it back relatively easily, no more cramps, but the numb feeling in his leg had spread upwards and it was getting harder to bear weight on it.
The Major realised it had been an idiotic thing to do, go swimming on a completely empty stomach with an injured leg and no-one within earshot should he get into trouble. Dressing quickly, drying almost as soon as he'd got out of the water; John gathered up the waiting firewood, and limped back up to the cave.
Carson was sleeping, but the temporary respite of the morning was over. The Scot's fever had climbed again. He was muttering in his sleep, disjointed half sentences, but obviously distressing. Sheppard watched him for a few minutes while he rebuilt the fire, then decided to have another look at the Beckett's leg while the man was sleeping. Peeling back some of the bandaging, John stared in dismay. The skin was dull and red over the damaged area and already oozing purulent material. The Major replaced the strips of his shirt, wondering just what the hell he was supposed to do now, when he became aware of a pair of blue eyes staring at him.
"Told you no' to bother," said Carson. "It's no' gonna get any better while we're here." He closed his eyes again. "Got more of tha' Tylenol?"
Wordlessly Sheppard handed him a couple of the pills, passing the canteen for Beckett to wash them down with.
"Thanks, feels better." The man was shaking with chills, so John wasn't ready to believe him. He added some wood to the fire and sat back, enjoying the sensation of doing nothing. It couldn't last long, he still had to build the beacon, find something larger to carry water in, maybe even find something they could eat.
After a while, Beckett seemed to be sleeping again, though restlessly. John decided time was wasting, he'd better get on. As the Major exited the cave, the heat hit him as if a furnace door had opened; making the headache he'd been tolerating much worse. He was glad for Beckett's sake that the cave's interior stayed cool. Sheppard limped down the path again, clutching the empty canteens. First job, fill them again and find something bigger to fetch water in.
Sheppard wandered along the beach, looking for a hollow bit of firewood, large shell, anything to use as a water carrier, but without much success until he got to where the sand gave way to rocks. There, clinging tenaciously to the sharp boulders were some of the largest limpet-type things he'd ever seen. At last, he thought, we caught a break. Using his knife, he managed to pry away about four of the large creatures, thinking that even if they weren't edible, their shells could be useful.
John limped back to the cave, as excited as a schoolboy to show Beckett what he had found, but Carson was past caring. His face was pale except for two spots of red on each cheekbone and he was burning up, muttering restlessly.
Sheppard prised the creatures out of their shells, then skewered them on sticks and placed them over the fire. Maybe, he thought, they'd taste better than power bars, and would be useful to eke out their food rations. While they cooked, he took the empty shells down to the shore, and scoured them clean with sand. The heat hadn't abated and now a hot, wet breeze had sprung up, blowing in from the sea and the wavelets were becoming bona-fide waves.
The Major raised his head to take a look and saw far out, a line of dark indigo stretching across the horizon where the sea met the sky. Sheppard's heart plummeted as he realised what it meant. A storm, a big one by the looks of it, was headed right for them.
TBC
