Sorry this took awhile, but here's the update. As for my little competition, congratulations to johnliz4ever for being the first to guess correctly.Well done also to the others who guessed correctly.Yes folks, the next dream is about poor Liz. So next chapter, though it will be short, is highly important. Especially if my pointless idea for a sequel comes about. So, johnliz4ever, may I kindly ask for your name and nationality and we shall say hello in a few chapters. In the meantime, read, review/insult and enjoy!
Chapter 18:Dealing with it
The infirmary was filled with people, but was strangely quiet. On one side was Rodney, sat in silence. Ford stood leaning against one of the walls. The young Athosians were all huddled in a group quietly talking. Finally, sat on one of the empty beds were John and Elizabeth. John was sat staring glumly at the floor while Elizabeth sat staring blankly into space. Behind a door in a private room, Carson was checking Teyla over. They'd all been there about 30 minutes when he came out at last. Everyone instantly jumped up and crowded round, clamouring to be heard.
"Wait, wait, wait…Shut up!"
The group fell silent at once and stood back from the Doctor.
"Thank you. Well, Teyla is going to be fine." The relief was clear on everyone's faces. "However, she does have a broken leg and arm, some bruised ribs and she is still unconscious. We have done a CT scan and there seems to be no permanent damage. I would ask though, that we don't all crowd in to see her at once. A few at a time."
"Let the Athosians go first, she is their leader."
Everyone turned to look at John, who had returned to sitting on the bed. He looked troubled, but spoke clearly and without hesitation. Carson turned to Elizabeth for a response. She nodded her head, so Carson allowed the Athosians to come through. Aiden and Rodney sat down on some of the chairs talking quietly. Every so often, one would glance at John. It was beginning to make him nervous.
"John?" He felt a hand touch his arm gently. Turning, he found Elizabeth smiling at him.
"Sorry. Things are weighing a bit heavy on my mind."
"It's ok, I understand. Maybe, you should go for a walk or something, you know? Clear your head."
John nodded slowly and left without another word. Elizabeth watched him go with a worried look on her face. For a moment, she considered going to catch up with him, but changed her mind. Slumping into one of the chairs next to Rodney, she suddenly found herself feeling exhausted. After listening to Rodney's voice for a few minutes, she suddenly found herself fast asleep resting her head on the wall.
John walked for a few hours around Atlantis not really knowing what to do. He walked from one end to the other, visited nearly every balcony and even headed up towards the top of the city. All the time he thought about what had happened and what could happen. His whole team had now been injured through these dreams, except him. Where would it go next? He remembered the conversation with Doctor Heightmeyer about the dreams. He'd said Teyla, and now she was lying in the infirmary. The only other two he'd mentioned were Carson and Elizabeth. Atlantis needed both of them. He really didn't want to dream about either of them. He hadn't really wanted to dream about any of them, not if they were going to get hurt. First Rodney, then Ford and now Teyla.
Thinking about Teyla reminded him of something. The soldier who'd pushed her down the stairs. He was in the brig. Taking a deep breath, John walked quickly to the nearest transporter and headed for the cells. He got there to find the soldier, a Sergeant Mathews, alone in a cell being guarded by two marines. With a smile and a polite order, the pair had left and Major Sheppard entered the cell.
Mathews jumped up at once and saluted, "Sir."
Sheppard smiled. "It's ok Sergeant, you can relax."
"Thanks for that sir. Erm, how's Teyla?"
"Unconscious, but likely to wake up. Few broken bones. Nothing serious."
"That's good." He sighed; John could see the relief on his face. John wanted to hit him.
"So, being treated well."
"As well as can be expected for an innocent man believed to be guilty." He was appealing to Sheppard.
"I mean, you saw it. It was an accident. She fell."
"You were still fighting with her." John's statement hung in the air for a few moments.
"She started it, she provoked me."
"Because you insulted her people. And her. She didn't hit you first. In fact, you tried to attack her first." John's voice remained calm, though inside he was seething with anger.
Mathews stared at Sheppard, not quite believing him. He was standing up for an alien woman, instead of one of his own.
"Yeah, but, come on. She was fighting with me too. She insulted me as well, you can't blame it all on me you know!"
Mathews looked desperately at John. He merely turned and began to walk around the cell.
"You know, I think this was the cell we kept Steve in. You know who Steve is don't you? No? Well, he was that Wraith we captured. Yeah. And you see, at the moment, you are the second person on Atlantis I'd like to feed to him. If he wasn't dead of course. Anyway, don't think Weir would let me."
This earned him a little snort and a mutter.
"What? Come on Mathews, you can tell me what's on your mind."
Mathews looked directly at him, "You really wanna know?"
"Sure."
"Well. I'm in the brig for doing nothing but defending myself, and you're supporting her. She is some alien woman we've barely known five minutes who is suddenly a member of your team. There are many other better trained soldiers who deserve to be part of the 'flagship team', as it's always put. In fact, I don't think there should be any women on any teams, or even on this expedition. It is a highly dangerous mission, and women are useless in combat situations. Leaving them here on the cities no good, as we've got to leave people to protect their sorry asses. There should be no women on this expedition. Most of all, they should never have put a woman, let alone a civilian in charge. That's why she nearly got herself killed by the Genii. Weir shouldn't be here at all. She is a liability, and you know it."
With that rant over, Mathews watched Major Sheppard. He nodded his head gently, then lunged forward and punched him. Mathews, stunned by the blow, fell heavily to the floor. Sheppard loomed over him.
"Don't you ever insult anyone on this expedition ever again, or I will personally see to it that you are dumped on a Wraith infested planet."
Mathews wiped his bleeding nose with the back of his hand and watched as Sheppard stormed out.
The infirmary was still quiet when he arrived. Aiden and Rodney had looked in on Teyla and left. Elizabeth was still sat in the chair fast asleep. The sound of John's heavy footstep in his standard issue boots woke her with a start.
"Sorry." The mumbled apology came as John sat down heavily next to her. She looked at him anxiously. He had a face like thunder and was constantly rubbing his hand.
"Let me see your hand."
"What?"
For a moment, he lost his concentration, so she grabbed his hand. The back of his hand was red and a little swollen.
"John."
She used the special tone of voice, normally reserved for the Athosians children when they'd been playing pranks on people. Like tying Rodney to a chair in his lab and leaving him.
"it's nothing."
"Who did you hit?"
"Who said I hit anyone?"
"I have been a diplomat long enough to know what it looks like when negotiations break down and there's a fist fight. That is the fist of someone who has hit someone else."
Silence greeted her. She squeezed his hand gently, but enough to make him wince a little.
"Tell me."
She squeezed a little harder.
"Mathews. The idiot who put Teyla in here. I hit him."
Elizabeth released his hand and watched him rub it again whilst glaring at her.
"Went visiting?"
"Yeah. He tried to say it was an accident. Then he said I couldn't blame it all on him. Then I told him he was in Steve's cell and how he was the second person I'd want to throw to the Wraith, but that you wouldn't let me. Then he said there should be no women on Atlantis, especially not you. Said you were a liability. I decided to show my support for you and the rest of the women on Atlantis."
"So, you punched him."
He grinned at her in the same way he had grinned at her after pushing Rodney off that balcony. She shook her head and leaned her head back against the wall.
"Who's the first?"
"What?"
John stared at Elizabeth.
"Who's the first person you'd throw to the Wraith if Mathews is second?"
"Kavaunagh." Elizabeth laughed out loud and shook her head.
'Typical John,' she thought to herself.
All of sudden, Carson yelled through the infirmary.
"Doctor Weir. Doctor Weir. Teyla's waking up."
John and Elizabeth jumped up and ran to the room. Inside, Teyla lay on the bed, her eyelids kept flickering. After a few moments her eyes opened fully. She smiled softly at the sight of her friends. Then she winced as a wave of pain hit her.
"It's alright lassie, you've just been in the wars a bit."
Carson moved round to check the monitors next to her. Teyla lay very still for a moment, then spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I have been in no war Doctor."
Everyone smiled.
"Well, Teyla's fine." John leaned across and said to Elizabeth, who merely nodded.
It took nearly a week for Teyla to be finally let out of the infirmary. It only took that long because it took a great deal of persuasion to get her to use a wheelchair. Until her arm healed, she couldn't use crutches. Carson also wanted to keep a close eye on her, so she couldn't go back to the mainland either. After seeing the wheelchair, she had refused point blank to use it. It took everyone from Carson to the rest of the team to Elizabeth to eventually persuade her. In the end a direct assault from the five of them, with backup in the form of Kate managed to get her in the chair. After a few laps round Atlantis with various people pushing her, Teyla began to warm to the idea. What she was actually enjoying was the fact that she just had to sit back while everyone else did the work. It didn't happen very often, and when it did, she never really got to appreciate it.
John had to smile as he walked around Atlantis. After a unanimous vote, Rodney was pushing Teyla. Aiden and Carson were sharing some joke. Kate had joined Elizabeth and the pair were discussing something. Elizabeth was smiling, so John didn't think it was anything too bad. He watched all the people in front of him with a growing sense of dismay. Three of the group had already been injured, to thanks to him. There were three left. Maybe there would be no more dreams. He knew that that had been his hope both to times, but to no avail. If there was another dream, someone else was going to get hurt. The dreams had also been getting progressively worse. What if this time, someone died? Someone close to him.
He stopped dead in the corridor close to panicking. His heart pounded and his breathing quickened. He was on the verge of a panic attack when he felt a hand on his arm.
"John?"
Calming himself down, he realised that everyone had stopped and was staring. Next to him Elizabeth stood looking at him. John could see the worry and fear in her eyes.
"I'm fine. Really."
He reached down and touched her hand softly. This small act calmed her quickly.
"Good. Well, shall we?"
With a nod, the pair caught up with the rest of the group and they continued their walk.
John slowly stopped thinking about having another dream after not having one for three more nights.
But the fates had other plans in mind for Major John Sheppard.