oOo
John burst through the doors of the infirmary and made a beeline for Carson. "How is she?" he demanded.
"Major Sheppard! We've had nearly the entire bloody city looking for you! Where have you been?"
"Busy," came John's curt reply.
Carson glanced at Sheppard's poorly bandaged hand, and guessed that there was a wall somewhere in a lot of pain. "Aye, I can see that."
"How is Elizabeth?"
"She's fine. A minor concussion and a bit of a fainting spell, but nothing to worry about."
"Then why was I called? They said it was urgent!"
Carson looked down as he spoke, as if he couldn't meet Sheppard's eyes. "She's been asking for you…It seems she's…"
When he didn't finish his thought, John lost what little patience he had left. "Carson, what's going on?" he growled.
"She says Rodney's not dead!" Their gazes locked after his outburst, each contemplating the possible implications of such a statement. As if sensing John's questions, Carson continued, "She says she can see him, and hear him, but nobody else can. She's talking with him right now." John followed Carson's gaze to where Elizabeth sat near Rodney's body. She had a blanket around her shoulders and a cup of coffee in her hands, and she was having a rather animated conversation with the empty chair beside her. "I can't explain it," the doctor continued. "It may be related to the bump on her head, or possibly some sort of post-traumatic distress. The truth is, I'm at a loss. This is more Dr. Heightmeyer's area of expertise."
"Or she could be telling the truth," John countered, starting hard at the empty chair.
Carson cast him a sideways glance. "Whatever the case may be, the poor dear's had quite a shock."
"I'll talk to her," John said, his expression still unreadable.
oOo
"I'll miss coffee," Rodney said, staring longingly at Elizabeth's half-empty cup. "The dead don't need coffee, I suppose."
She sighed. "Don't start missing it yet, Rodney. We'll figure out a way to fix this."
"How?" he asked, despondent.
"I don't know, but I'm not ready to give up on you just yet," she answered with firm resolve.
Their eyes met and lingered on each other for a moment, before Rodney's mouth quirked into an odd half-grin. "You know, I always felt like you were the only person who ever really saw me, but this is just too literal. Still, I guess if I had to get stuck as a ghost with only one person for company, I'm glad it was—"
"Major Sheppard!" Elizabeth called out as she saw him approach.
"Elizabeth, how are you feeling?"
"Oh, I'm fine, just a little tired. I actually wanted to—"
Elizabeth cut herself off abruptly as she saw John sink into the chair Rodney already occupied, passing right through him. Rodney shot out of the chair like a rocket. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, wide-eyed. "That was…"
"Interesting?" Elizabeth offered, one eyebrow raised.
"I was going to say creepy," Rodney responded, still staring at Sheppard.
"What?" John asked.
"Elizabeth smiled. She couldn't keep herself from feeling like a little girl with an imaginary friend as she uttered her next words. "You just sat on Rodney."
This time it was John's turn to shoot out of his chair. "Don't worry, Major. He's not there anymore."
"Well, where is he then?"
Elizabeth pointed to the space right next to Sheppard. John raised his eyebrows questioningly, then tentatively stretched a hand out and started waving at the air. Rodney panicked as John's arm started passing through his midsection, and attempted to bat him away with his hands frantically. Elizabeth had to stifle a giggle at the sight.
"Elizabeth!" Rodney whined. "Make him stop!"
"John, come sit down," she said, a twinkle in her eye. "You're making Rodney a little freaked out."
"Hey!" Rodney objected instantly.
At the same time, John raised an eyebrow and mumbled, "He's freaked out." The major lowered himself into the empty chair with only a moment's hesitation. "Elizabeth, surely you can see how this whole thing sounds a little…nuts." He cast her an apologetic look. "I mean, you have to admit this whole thing seems like a bad rip-off of The Sixth Sense."
"Huh?" Rodney asked.
"Major," Elizabeth began in a warning tone.
John continued on, oblivious. "Well, you know, with the whole 'I see dead people' thing."
"John," Elizabeth continued to try to stop him.
"Although," Sheppard continued, now appearing to be musing to himself, "that would mean McKay is Bruce Willis, and that's a bit of a stretch."
Elizabeth watched Rodney, then closed her eyes when she saw the information click. "He was dead? He was dead the entire time?" Rodney's shock gave way to anger. "You couldn't have waited until I was out of earshot to reveal that little gem of an analogy?"
"Rodney, he didn't mean to."
"What?" Sheppard glanced between Elizabeth and the empty space where she was looking. "What'd I do?"
"Rodney's never seen the end of The Sixth Sense."
John gave a chuckle, then sobered when he realized she was being serious. "Really? What rock was he living under?"
"It was my understanding, Major," he spat, "that we've all been living in another galaxy for the past year. The nearest Blockbuster is 8 million light years away!"
"That's enough, Rodney. He can't even hear you, anyway." Rodney rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, but otherwise remained silent.
John cleared his throat. "Yeah, um, about that…"
"I'm not crazy, John. And I can prove it." He seemed to consider this for a moment, then nodded. "Rodney, tell me something about yourself that only John would know."
Rodney glared at her. "Absolutely not. Elizabeth, most of what I could tell you would be embarrassing, hence the reason only Sheppard knows it, most likely against my wishes, and I'm certainly not about to go sharing those things with the general population. Whatever happened to a little dignity for the dead?"
Elizabeth refrained from rolling her eyes, settling instead for a frustrated huff. "Rodney, I've seen you in your underwear. What could be more embarrassing than that?" Realizing what she had admitted in front of Sheppard, she turned to see him staring at her with raised eyebrows. Suddenly defensive, Elizabeth explained, "It's not what you think. I accidentally walked in on him and Carson."
John's eyebrows reached valiantly for his hairline. "I was getting dressed after a medical exam!" Rodney squeaked. "Elizabeth, tell him!"
She opened her mouth to speak, but John cut her off with a wave of his hand. "I really don't wanna know."
"It's not important right now, anyway." She ignored Rodney's very vocal objections. "What does matter is that you believe me, so that we can start fixing this." She gave John a hopeful look.
He took one of her hands in his, and it was a long time before he met her eyes. "Elizabeth, I want to believe you, but I think you need to prepare yourself for the possibility that—"
"I'm not giving up on him, John." Elizabeth met him with an iron gaze, the one she usually reserved for particularly tough negotiations. "You told Colonel Everett that I'd earned your trust. Now I'm asking you to prove it."
There was a silent battle of wills as their eyes locked. Finally, Rodney's voice broke the tension. "Well, if I am dead, it's only because that device sucked the life out of me. As if we don't have enough life-sucking going on in this galaxy from the glorified space-vampires, now we have to deal with the Ancients trying—" Rodney froze. Elizabeth recognized his expression as the one he wore when having a particularly insightful revelation, what his staff referred to as his "Eureka Moment." She waited impatiently for him to share his thoughts, but instead he just held up one finger and took off down the hall.
Without a second thought, Elizabeth was running after him, her blanket and coffee forgotten. John brought up the rear.
Only Rodney knew where they were going.
oOo