The Flu
The Athosians have never encountered such a disease as the flu.
John, Teyla, Aidan and Rodney sat in the 'briefing room' talking to Dr Weir; it was cold at the moment, the assumed winter in Atlantis. They had just come back from a mission and Rodney was going on about how fascinating the soil was with some mineral he had never seen before. John yawned as he let Rodney's words wash over him; his speeches about planets were always boring. Just then Aidan sneezed, very loudly, Rodney faltered and Dr Weir looked over to him.
"Lieutenant Ford, Are you all right?"
"Uh, Yes Ma'am"
"You sound like you have a cold"
"What is a cold?" Asked Teyla
"Tell ya later" Said John
"You should report to Carson in the infirmary" Said Weir "And no trips to the mainland till you get rid of it, we don't know what effect it could have on the Athosians. Teyla, you should stay away from anyone with a cold or the flu, we don't want to introduce this to your people" Teyla nodded and the group dispersed going their different ways. Teyla followed John and he began to explain what happened and what this mysterious cold was.
"A cold is something that we used to get back on Earth like a disease where you would cough and sneeze and sometimes if you got the flu you got really sick and would get a headache and watery eyes and sometimes a fever and you could ache. It is horrible, often on earth you would get it in the colder months and I guess Ford caught it from the cold weather we are having at the moment"
"What are these terms you speak of?"
"Well a sneeze is what Ford did in the briefing room, a fever is when you get really hot and a cough sounds a little like this" cough John demonstrated to the best of his ability
"We don't have a disease such as this flu, at least I have never heard of anyone suffering from it"
"Well it is contagious so if anyone seems to have any of these symptoms stay away from them or you will get it too and we don't want to give you guys a new disease"
"Do you not have a cure for this disease you speak of?"
"We do but it alters itself every year slightly so the vaccine doesn't always work, a vaccine is something that prevents you from getting a disease"
"Ah, I believe it wise that Dr Weir has decided we do not venture to the mainland until we are rid of this disease" They saw Ford passing in the other direction and John asked what was wrong
"I have the beginnings of the Flu, I have to rest and take tablets and Vitamin C"
"Well keep away from Teyla, she said that the Athosians have never had the Flu in their people and rest up"
"Yes sir" achoo!
"Bless you lieutenant"
"Thank you sir"
"No problem" John and Teyla left to there quarters and went into John's room and sat on the bed to talk
Carson sighed, he knew there was going to be a flu epidemic so he set of to Dr weir's office to try and get her to make sure most of the base was immunised, although he knew that probably wouldn't matter seeing as the flu changed subtly each year. He told Ford to stay in seclusion till he was better and he was going to get anyone to come straight to him at the first sign of symptoms.
The next day Carson had heaps of people turning up in need of Vitamin C and bed rest so he put them in seclusion in their rooms. He sniffled and sighed, now he was getting the flu, he radioed Dr Weir and told her to tell anyone who was sick to get vitamin C and stay in bed for as long as possible so as not to pass it round the city not that it would do much good.
Rodney was working in his lab although he knew that he was getting the flu too he refused to stop work unless he absolutely had to. John walked into his lab, no doubt to pester him about something and he was in no mood right now, he sniffed and said angrily
"What?"
"Hey" said John distractedly "you have the Flu"
"No I don't"
"Yes you do and it's people like you who refuse to go into solitary when they are sick who are gonna get the rest of us sick and even worse Teyla, introducing it to the Athosians"
"You're just trying to protect your precious Teyla"
"I don't deny it but they have never had the Flu, any of the Athosians meaning it could make them terribly sick, especially Teyla seeing as no one is to go to the mainland till everyone is better so stop playing with your soil and go to bed otherwise I'll tell Weir" Rodney grumbled and left his lab unwillingly, John locked it and put a code on the door so only he could open it again when Rodney is well enough to continue work. (A/N: I don't know if u can do that but for the sake of this story u can) Rodney saw this a scowled at John then before he could stop himself sneezed all over him.
"Sorry" he said
"Yuck! Now you're gonna get me sick and what did I say about Teyla?"
"Sorry" Rodney said again. John cleaned up and sent a message with the other Athosian in Atlantis at the time that he may be infected and couldn't see her. John went to his room and waited for the symptoms, he had already reported to the infirmary and was now waiting alone to see if he had been infected or not. There was a knock at the door and Teyla walked into the room
"Teyla? I thought I sent a message for you to stay away from me?"
"I can't and if you are sick I have to look after you"
"But what if you get the flu and it makes you really sick?"
"I will be fine"
"No, I can't let you do this" Just as John was about to send her out an airman came to his room
"Major Shepherd?"
"Yes airman"
"I have a report from the infirmary that Olmon, one of the Athosians has contracted the Flu. Dr Carson has established that it has an adverse affect on the Athosian body and Teyla must stay alone so she does not contract the disease he thinks it may be fatal for the Athosians. Teyla is the only other Athosian in Atlantis at the moment, so far the mainland has not contracted this and there is no communication except for radio transmissions until the Flu is gone from Atlantis"
"Thank you Airman"
"Teyla" said the Airman
"I shall return straight to my room thank you"
"Yes ma'am" The airman left and John coughed
"Teyla, you must leave, I don't want to lose you if this proves to be fatal to your people"
"I will be fine John"
"As soon as I am better I'll come and visit you all right?"
"I'll be waiting"
"I love you"
"I love you too" and with that Teyla left John alone, he hadn't been alone in a room since they married a year earlier. John sighed knowing that the flu was going to claim him and praying that it would not harm Teyla.
The days passed and John got worse, he read and listened to the music that he had brought with him on his computer, he wished he could be with Teyla but then he coughed again and remembered that the flu could kill the Athosians, this morning an airman radioed him and reported the death of Olmon the only other Athosian on Atlantis aside from Teyla. He continued to pray for her safety and hoped that she would stay well, she radioed him every morning and he enjoyed their little chats and hoped he would get better. The next day Teyla didn't radio him at the usual time and when he radioed her he got no reply, he radioed the control room and asked an airman to check her room but Elizabeth who had just recovered from the flu herself and was now immune to it said that Teyla had contracted the flu herself.
"NO!" Yelled John when he had put down the radio, he still had one more appointment with a doctor this afternoon before anything could be confirmed, and he knew he was ok so he moved his appointment forward.
When the doctor arrived the usual tests seemed to go on forever, he knew Teyla was in the infirmary and had to see her. He got a shot and was told he shouldn't get the flu again, he thanked the doctor hurriedly and ran towards the Infirmary but before he came in he was sent back to his quarters to change and wash so he didn't infect those who hadn't yet got the flu. He changed and went back to the infirmary, he sat beside Teyla and looked at her asleep on the white sheets, the flu worked quickly in the Athosians and the doctors were doing all they could to save her but they weren't hopeful after the last death. He picked up her hand in his and felt how cold it was
"Teyla" he whispered "hold on, you can make it, they're close to a cure for you, please hang in there" he looked at her almost lifeless figure on the bed, she was as bad as he had been three days into the disease and she had only started showing symptoms that morning according to the nurse looking after her. She moaned and opened her eyes
"John"
"Teyla, hold on, please"
"I feel so sick'
"I know honey but they are working on a cure for you, they have been giving you some strong medication and hopefully will have developed a cure before…" John trailed off Teyla began to cough and John got her glass off the table beside her bed and put the straw in her mouth, sitting her up he tried to get her to drink but she kept coughing. A nurse came over and put an oxygen mask over her mouth and the coughing subsided a little
"I'm scared John"
"I know honey, so am I" he was still holding her up so he sat behind her and she relaxed into him as he held onto her "Just try and rest baby, you'll be better soon, I promise" soon enough Teyla fell asleep again and a nurse added some more medicine to her IV to try and bring down her fever. John went back to his seat and held onto her hand and prayed silently that she would recover.
John awoke the next morning in the same position he had been in the night before, holding onto Teyla's hand, he condition had deteriorated overnight and was going downhill still. Elizabeth came and sat next to him,
"You should eat," she said
"I can't"
"You're not gonna be much good if you get sick again"
"I can't get sick again remember?"
"Yes but you should still eat, I'll send for you if anything happens"
"I don't know what I'm gonna do if she doesn't make it"
"She will, she's strong, and Carson told me this morning they are very close to finding a cure for her, she is lucky she got it after Olmon, although we lost him, we may not lose her. Now, go eat"
"Yes ma'am" John rose from his seat and to prove to him she wasn't moving Elizabeth took up his spot and held Teyla's hand
"I won't move till you return I promise" John smiled and moved off to the Commissary, he picked up some food from the servery and sat down at a table and Rodney came up to him,
"Can I have my Lab back now?"
"Sure" he said giving Rodney the code to get into his lab but as he left Rodney looked at John closer and saw that he was not sick but very upset
"What's up?"
"Teyla's got the flu"
"Oh no"
"Olmon died from it and now I'm scared Teyla will too"
"Don't worry, she's a fighter, she'll make it"
"Thanks Rodney" Rodney left and John resumed eating his lunch when Elizabeth came running into the commissary John stood up, abandoning his food
"What's wrong?"
"We're losing her" John ran with her back to the infirmary but they refused to let them back in until they got Teyla stable again
"What happened? I thought it took a week before we lost Olmon, Teyla's only had the flu for 2 days"
"I was just sitting there and her breathing slowed and she went into arrest, they're putting her on life support now and will let us back in when she is stable" John began pacing outside the Infirmary waiting anxiously for anyone to come out and tell him Teyla was all right. After what seemed like hours a nurse came out and said that he was able to go back in and see her Dr Carson came out to see how she was doing
"The cure is almost ready, we hope that we can test it on her while she is like this"
"Do whatever you have to, just help her get better, you have to" Carson looked down at John sadly
"I'm sorry you have to go through this laddie"
"Thanks" John grabbed onto Teyla's hand and prayed again that she would pull through, Carson returned to test the cure and hopefully he would return before her brain activity stopped which was completely unpredictable as the flu was acting faster on Teyla than it had on Olmon.
The next morning Carson returned with a syringe in his hand
"I believe I have it laddie" John stood up and Carson injected the syringe into Teyla's IV tube before replacing the antibiotics. After a few minutes her pulse slowed and her breathing became more laboured
"No" said John trying to get back to her side
"Stay back" said Carson, Teyla began to convulse and her pulse flat lined. John was sent outside yet again as Carson called for assistance. John began pacing outside again and Elizabeth looked up from the chair that she had been siting in before
"How is she?"
"Have you been sitting there all night?"
"No, I just came back and was about to come in when I saw you coming out so I sat down and waited. What happened?"
"Carson thought he had the cure so he put it in the IV and a few minutes later her pulse slowed and her breathing became laboured then she began convulsing and her pulse flat lined. They're trying to get her back" John sat down, defeated in his chair, he didn't think he would be able to go on without her
"They'll get her back," said Elizabeth trying to convince herself more than John
"I don't know if I will be able to go on without her" He put his head in his hands and sighed, trying to hold back the tears, he was a military man and there was no way he'd show emotion like this to his superior weather she was military or not
"She's strong and she loves you too much to leave you here" Just then Carson walked out and John stood up
"She's all right, the cure worked, she's fine" John grinned and almost ran into the infirmary where Teyla was lying on the bed wire free. He pulled her into his arms and held her close
"I thought I was going to lose you there"
"I do not particularly like this flu of yours" she said, he pulled back and grinned at her before kissing her passionately, knowing that they were both going to be fine.
The End
I wrote this while I had the flu and wondered what would happen if it went around Atlantis and what would it do to the Athosians so that is that. It's probably not the best cause as I said I have the flu myself at the moment.
CharmedAli