Chapter 4: Terror in His Sleep
They were doing unspeakable things to him. It started out simple enough. Name, rank, serial number. That sort of thing. He could hear screams coming from the chamber next to his. That was more torturous than the thrashing he was receiving from the Xenatite but there was nothing he could do to help Teyla at this point.
It was a long time before he finally cried out. Long past the bruises and open, bleeding wounds. Calculating math problems in his mind kept him occupied and distracted long enough to ignore the pain. He started with something simple like the tewlve timetables and progressed up to the hundreds. It was getting harder to do as the torture methods got harsher.
"Where is this Atlantis you came from?" a harsh, gravely voice questioned.
"The hypotenuse to the square..." He had progressed to geometry.
Crunch. Another broken rib. A stifled cry. He'd sure like to see Rodney hold out this long. He'd be squealing like a pig by now.
He did finally reach his breaking point when fists were replaced with gadgets. Electrified devices not unlike cattle prods back on earth.
'I'm in for it now,' Major Sheppard thought to himself. He became aware of hearing no more screams from the next room. They must have decided to concentrate all of their efforts on him since there now seemed to be more people in the room making it feel crowded. He was getting slightly claustrophobic.
He was stripped of what few clothes still remained on his body barely leaving him left with what little dignity he still had. The manacles holding up his arms were severely cutting into wrists as he was now having a hard time holding his own weight as he weakened from his injuries.
"You should have never come here. You will pay for releasing the Wraith on my people."
At this point, the Major didn't feel like arguing with the man since he was being prodded with the electrical device and it burned like hell, especially over the already open wounds.
"Alright. It was all our fault. Now please stop doing that."
This angered the leader even more. Things got intense really quickly. The Major surprised himself with the painful screams he was emitting.
After what seemed an eternity, the beating suddenly stopped. The silence was deafening. There was quiet debilitating on what to do next. An order was given. Two men stepped forward and proceeded to remove the shackles. He would have felt relief had he been able to feel his arms.
He was strong-armed face first onto the floor. 'Oh, this was so not going to be good.' The little bit of dignity that remained on his body was stripped off. His legs were roughly spread apart and the last thing he remembered before hearing his own voice scream in sheer terror and agony was the cracking of the electronic prod.
Doctor Beckett was aroused from his paperwork and morning coffee by shouting. Loud, guttural, mournful, and the most agonizing he had ever heard in his life. He knew who it was coming from and he winced with every mournful wail. It was becoming considerably harder to treat the people he had come to know as his friends. The closer he got to the people on Atlantis, the harder it was to keep his professional distance.
He was by Major Sheppard's side in a matter of seconds along with the recovery nurse. The nurse had actually gotten there right before the Doctor and was trying to hold the Major down by the shoulders who was wild-eyed and fighting with no one in particular.
Dr. Beckett quickly took in the situation. "Nurse, please prepare a sedative. I'll take over holding him down." He pressed the lever on the IV attached to the pain medication figuring that the Major was probably in a great deal of pain. He could at least do that much to alleviate his suffering.
There was no calming Major Sheppard. The Doctor tried soothing words and reason to no avail. The Major just kept repeating 'no' and 'please stop' over and over again in a pleading voice. The nurse returned with the sedative and the Doctor held down one of the Major's arms tightly as she administered the inoculation. The Major started to calm down and relax to the relief of Dr. Beckett and the nurse.
Major Sheppard's outburst was reduced down to mere shaking uncontrollably and panting in short, raspy breaths. The Doctor intuitively placed a hand on the Major's head. Just as he suspected, he was hot with a fever. "I was afraid of that," he said out loud. "You have a fever, John," he said not really expecting John to respond.
Dr. Beckett asked the nurse to take the Major's temperature. The Doctor continued to try getting through to the Major. "You were just having a bad dream, John."
"No...no dream," the Major retorted weakly.
"Did you dream about what happened to you?" the Doctor probed.
John swallowed hard and contemplated for a moment whether or not he should share this revelation with his friend. He finally looked at the Doctor and nodded "yes" then turned his head away in shame.
His feelings of shame were not lost on the Doctor. "Its okay, John. You can talk about it when you're ready. For now, we have to worry about getting that fever down."
The nurse reported the Major's temperature to be 102.6. Dr. Beckett had a lot of work ahead of him but he was in for the long haul. This was his friend and it was all he could do to help him. The first and most difficult step would be giving Elizabeth the news.