I forgot to mention this earlier: I don't own any of the Atlantis characters. Not a one. Too bad, though. Michelle Donohue is mine, however
Again, thanks to all for the reviews. Keep 'em coming!
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The mess hall was almost empty when he arrived. Carson was surprised to realize how late it was. Fortunately, the kitchen was always open for late-working personnel. He poked around the storage areas until he had assembled a meal that looked mostly edible.
Carson sat down at one of the tables, returning scattered greetings from some of the scientists. He closed his eyes, thinking back to the last meal he'd shared with his parents. Fried eggs, bangers, freshly squeezed orange juice. Cholesterol galore, but worth it!
He laughed to himself as he thought about the fuss Rodney would make, particularly over the last item. Although the annoying little bugger often drove him crazy, Carson considered Rodney a friend and would truly enjoy showing him his home. That is, as long as he didn't have to put up with Rodney on a reciprocal trans-Canadian trip.
"Doc, you all right?" Carson jumped, realizing he'd almost dozed off into his soup. Major Sheppard was standing there, watching him with his usual grin but with concern in his eyes.
"Aye. But 'eat versus sleep' has become a moral dilemma."
"Well, don't think too hard. Looks like 'eat' won." Then the major wandered off to grab his own snack. True enough, Carson saw as he looked down. He'd eaten everything else besides the soup without even realizing it. Must have been hungrier than he thought.
He stood, stretched, and went back to his quarters next to the infirmary. He was asleep almost instantly.
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Carson could hear Ford complaining even before entering the infirmary the next morning. The lad was learning way too many lessons from Sheppard, who had pulled some Houdini-like stunts to avoid Carson's hospitality.
He was in a much better mood today. Smiling, Carson walked in. "Morning, Michelle! Anything interesting happening around here?"
She rolled her eyes tiredly. "Not unless you count his whining." she said, jerking her thumb at Ford who put on his best innocent expression.
Carson shook his head and turned to examine Ford's injury. The sutures were holding and there was no evidence of infection. He checked Ford's pupils and found them fully reactive. "All right, get out of here. Now yer just taking up space. Come back with any headache or dizziness!" he added quickly as Ford jumped up. Then he got a good look at Michelle. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."
"I'm fine, thanks. Just a little worn out."
"Well, go get some sleep. I can manage here -- it's not that busy."
She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."
Ford returned, and the two of them walked out at the same time. As they passed out of earshot, Carson heard. "Seriously, Donohue, you should come to the movie night. It's fun." Ah well, it was an ill wind that didn't blow at least some good, his grandma always used to say.
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Arriving barely in time for the weekly department head meeting, Carson slipped into the empty seat between Teyla and Bates. He suspected that if all the seats had been taken, either of them would have preferred to remain standing rather than sit next to the other. There was almost certainly going to be trouble between those two at some point.
Elizabeth arrived just then, and the meeting began with Bates's terse recitation of findings from his security patrols. McKay was next. "With the enthusiastic but occasionally clumsy assistance of Drs. Zelenka and Kusanagi, I think we've figured out another one of the Ancient devices. Unfortunately, it seems to be their version of a garage door opener. And Carson, with his excellent chairside manner that we've all come to love, has graciously helped begin the study of some small, gray cubes we found."
Carson made a mental note to move up Rodney's next scheduled checkup.
Elizabeth turned to him. "Found out anything?"
"Not really." he glared at McKay. "I've been too busy putting all the king's horses and men back together again."
"Mixed metaphors, Carson!" McKay smirked. "Humpty Dumpty was the one who got patched up. Only in his case, not so much."
Sheppard broke in. "Jeez, McKay, give it a rest already! We know you're brilliant, no one else can even come close, so just chill."
Carson fixed an icy blue-eyed gaze on McKay. "Thank you, Major Sheppard. As I was going to say, the members of yesterday's expedition are fine. But we are getting a little low on some of the medical supplies. We're almost out of topical antibiotics and anesthetics. I've been trying to hold off using systemic antibiotics, but they won't last that long either."
Elizabeth looked concerned. "Have you found anything in the city that you can use?"
"I don't know. We're testing some of the plants we found on M1-wherever-it-was, but it'll take awhile before we get any results."
Teyla spoke up. "Some of my people on the mainland are well-versed in what you call herbal medicine. As their liaison, I'm sure I could arrange for one of them to assist Dr. Beckett."
"Good." said Elizabeth. "Major, how are we on food supplies?"
"We definitely could use more grains and fresh vegetables. And I don't know about anyone else, but I'd really love a burger."
McKay looked disgusted. "You just had to say that, didn't you. Now I'm hungry again."
The meeting lasted half an hour longer. Finally, Elizabeth wrapped up. "All right. Sounds like we need a trip to the mainland. Teyla, you and Carson can talk to the Athosian elders. Major, I'd like you and Lieutenant Ford to arrange for food deliveries and find out from the Athosians what they might need from the city. Rodney... just behave yourself." She stood. "Unless anyone has anything else to add, I think we can call it a day."
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The puddlejumper flew over the ocean on its way back to Atlantis. Sheppard and Ford were in the front, discussing something about the uncivilized sport of football. Carson and Teyla sat in front of several boxes of fresh and dried herbs. As they catalogued them, Carson idly fingered one of the cubes he'd brought with him.
"I think we can use all of these except the purple ones in the fourth box." Teyla said. "None of my people recognized that one, so we don't know what effects it might have on people from your world."
"Sure. And I've not seen the like on Earth, either Wonder what 'tis."
This time Carson saw a brief flash behind his eyelids. As he yelped, he suddenly knew that the purple herb was like aloe and would soothe minor burns or rashes. He opened his eyes again to find Teyla staring at the cube. "It was glowing!" she said.
This was like the last time he fiddled with a cube, Carson realized. He could accept that he'd made an intuitive diagnosis of Jinto's problem, but there was no way he could have known the function of the purple herb. The knowledge had to come from the cube in some way. And like the last time, he suddenly felt tired and hungry.
"What the bloody hell was that!" he whispered as Ford and Sheppard turned to look at them curiously. He definitely needed to talk to McKay or Zalenka about where they'd found the things.
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Carson headed back to the infirmary when they landed. He'd left Dr. Kusanagi in charge, and although he knew that she was a capable physician and surgeon, he wanted to personally make sure that everything was under control. One of the other nurses was on duty when he entered. The man looked relieved to see him. "Dr. Beckett, someone just came in to see you. She's in Exam Room 1. It's Michelle, sir."
That was all Carson needed to hear. He was in the room before the nurse had time to say anything else. "Hello, Michelle." he said, schooling his voice to be confident but gentle. "I did nae think you seemed well this morning. What's wrong?"
She looked scared. "Carson, I found a lump."
TBC
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Yeah, yeah. I'm evil. What can I say:-)