"You what?"

He turned, though, and started pulling blankets off even as the other medics carefully gathered her up and put her on the gurney.

"Oh, God…"

Carson didn't wait for an explanation from any of them. He simply nodded to his gurney crew, and pulled his stethoscope out, sliding his hand under her shirt to check her heart as the gurney started rolling.

"Hey…"

Beckett scowled at Jack, effectively hushing him for a moment anyway, and counted beats while he felt her chest rise and fall for a couple of long moments. She was breathing shallowly, but her heartbeat was steady. That was a good sign. He moved the stethoscope, and touched her carefully on the cheek, looking for a place that wasn't battered, burned or bloody.

"Melony?"

She didn't make a sound.

"She was conscious for a little bit," Sheppard said, trailing behind the medics as well, along with all the rest of the people who had helped shoot her down.

"Did she say anything?"

"No."

Carson swore, and turned back to Mitchell as they turned a corner and headed into the infirmary. Realizing that everyone seemed to be planning on following them in, he stopped, and Jack stopped as well, everyone else crashing into his back.

"Wait out here; I'll let you know."

"Hey," Jack protested. "I'm-"

"Going to sit your ass down and wait until I tell you it's all right to come in."

Everyone looked shocked at that, including Weir who had just arrived in the hallway. Carson wasn't normally one to speak like that to anyone of rank, and Jack definitely qualified. Of course, he was also distracted and worried and more than a little annoyed that the injuries Melony had sustained had been the result of friendly fire – so to speak. All the time he'd been worrying about her facing off with the Wraith, and it had been her own friends who'd tried to kill her.

He turned, not waiting for a reaction from any of them, and before Jack could get over his own very considerable shock, Weir had turned to him.

"What happened, General?"

It was Sheppard who answered.

"She was in a dart…"

"Colonel Mitchell?"

He nodded.

"Apparently she's well on her way to gaining access to the technology she wants to study, because she had two darts sitting in the ravine and was flying another in when we got there…"

"So you decided she had too many and shot one down?" Weir asked, sarcastically.

O'Neill scowled.

"I didn't know she was in it."

"She flew right over us…" Rodney added. "It looked like a strafing run…" He turned towards the door to the infirmary. "Think she's going to be mad?"

He had fired several shots as well – although he was pretty sure none of his had actually hit the dart. It was very possible, though, that Mitchell would just do guilt by association and be furious with all of them.

"She's not going to be mad," Jack said, his own gaze going towards the door as well. He could hear Beckett calling orders to his staff, but couldn't hear what the orders were, just the worried sound of the doctor's voice in that almost unintelligible brogue he had – made more difficult to understand by his anxiety. "I don't think…"

Daniel wasn't so sure, but he didn't care. He hadn't fired on her – mainly because he'd accidentally left his P90 in the Jumper. He was just worried about her, and wished that Jack would distract everyone else enough that he could sneak in and se how she was doing. Since he was blocking the door, however, that wasn't going to happen.

"Tell me what happened," Weir requested as Kale and the other Light Ones came walking up as well. Once more, she was looking at O'Neill, although Sheppard understood things in this galaxy better than O'Neill did, and was the one who should really respond.

Jack apparently decided that, as well, because he gestured to the Major, who told the story. It wasn't like it was all that long. While Sheppard was talking, Jack turned to Sam, his face slightly curious.

"Did I hear Beckett call Melony, 'Melony'?"

Carter nodded. She hadn't missed that, either. Sam very rarely called Mitchell by her first name – something that was usually only reserved for those closest to her. Jack did it all the time, of course, as did Daniel. But to hear a stranger do it was just plain odd.

"I heard it too, Sir." She shrugged. "He must have been worried." Otherwise he'd never have called O'Neill to the carpet like he had. Not if he'd thought about it first, Sam was sure.

Jack scowled, and then blanched when he heard a sharp cry of pain from inside the infirmary. Melony's cry of pain.

OOOOOOOOO

The first thing she was aware of was a lot of pain. Pain that was coursing through her body in waves, like the world's worst toothache gone seriously wrong and attacking the rest of her as well. Confused and in considerable shock, she tried rolling away from that pain, only to have strong hands grab her, holding her firmly but carefully in place.

She let out a yelp as the hands caused even more pain, but the hands didn't release her.

"Easy, Melony…" The voice in her ear was so unique and familiar that there was no mistaking it, and she tried to focus on it, attempting to shake the shock and nausea she was drowning in. It didn't work, though.

"Carson…"

"I'm here… try to relax, love…"

He was trying to keep her calm while the medics started injecting her with painkillers, knowing that they'd knock her out soon enough and willing to say whatever it took to do it – even if it meant using a term of endearment he'd never used in public with her.

"I-"

Steady, Hot Shot…

Talon was regaining his own senses after the crash, and although he was injured, too, he was already starting to assess damages.

"Relax…"

She couldn't have denied him if she wanted to. Neither of them. Something else was taking over and she felt herself drifting off, and away from the pain.