Chapter 3- From Beneath the Surface
He was standing over the slumped-on-the-ground Major, shaking his hand in the air; he had forgotten how much punching someone hurt. He immediately knew it was a mistake, but it was a necessary one. He jogged down the hall towards the transporter, keeping his eyes out for anyone, but no one was around. The transporter doors opened and he stepped in, immediately closing the doors behind him and when they opened again, he was on the level of lab 13B.
---
Carson was sitting in his office when he heard the muffled shouts of Major Sheppard in the hallway, and then silence. He ran out through the infirmary, instantaneously noticing the absence of Dr. McKay, and once in the hallway he saw John lying on the ground.
"Oh bloody hell!"
As he ran up to John, he keyed his radio, "Sgt. Bates, it's Dr. Beckett, I need a security team to search for Dr. McKay." He bent over John and checked his pulse.
"Yes sir, right away, what's the situation?"
"McKay escaped the infirmary and incapacitated Major Sheppard. I need him back up here." Carson got John to his feet and slung his arm around him.
"We'll get him there immediately."
"Thank you son."
John was coming to slightly, "Rod…ney…"
"I know, let's get you on a bed shall we lad?"
John mumbled, "Have to go look…"
"I have Bates on it." He supported John as he walked him back into the infirmary.
-
McKay jogged down the hall and stopped outside lab 13B, hoping he would get done what he had to do before Carson discovered he was missing. He thought the door open, and stepped into the Ancient room, and closed the door. Without delay, he unlocked the refrigerated cabinet and took out the beaker and syringe.
He pulled the remaining third of the clear mixture into the new syringe, rolled up his left sleeve, and injected himself. He closed his eyes and felt the newly introduced liquid move throughout his body. After replacing the equipment and locking the cabinet, he opened the door and looked out. There was no one. He had to get out of that section of the city, and fast.
--
Carson sat Major Sheppard on one of the infirmary beds, and checked him over, feeling his face. Nothing was seriously wrong or broken, but he'd have one hell of a black eye in a few hours.
John shook his head to try and make himself more alert, and started to stand up. "I'm fine Doc, I just needed to rest a minute."
Carson held him back, "What you need is to lie down and get your bearings again."
He obeyed and laid down on the bed, "Just for a minute though."
--
McKay had quickly decided the best course of action was to go to his quarters, his laptop was there and that was as good a reason as any to say why he left the infirmary and went there. They all thought he was a workaholic. But punching John… dang was that one hell of a mistake. He exited the transporter at the end of the hall and was halfway to his quarters when he heard a voice.
"Dr. McKay, turn around and come with me."
He kept walking, "Hi Bates, just let me retrieve my laptop."
"I can't let you do that."
Rodney turned around, "Very well."
Xxx
McKay sighed as he sat down on the bed; he knew he would have a load of explaining to do in the morning. Bates had wanted to throw him in the brig, but Carson had convinced him this was a medical situation and compromised. He was in a small room at the back of the infirmary, separate from everyone, and a room Bates could have guarded. The far wall was all windows, and had long horizontal slats for blinds. It would get very bright in there when the sun was up and the slats were open. That was something.
Xxx xxx
It was morning when Carson walked up to the door to find Sgt. Bates standing guard, P90 in hand. "Sergeant."
"Doctor."
Carson thought the door open and stepped in, aware that Bates had turned to follow him in. "You can wait outside Sgt., I'll be fine."
"I don't believe that with his past behavior that would be advisable."
"I'll leave the door open." He couldn't blame Bates for being careful, Rodney did knock out his CO.
"Yes, sir." Bates turned and faced out into the infirmary.
He saw Rodney sitting on the bed, his face buried in his hands. The now rising sun shined in from the open window. Once he saw Carson was there he stood up, frantic. "What the hell is going on? Last thing I know I was laying in the infirmary and I wake up in here! And that bloodhound out there won't tell me anything!"
"You'd better sit back down Rodney." Carson said calmly.
"No I will not until you tell me why I'm locked in a room and have Bates guarding me!"
Carson sighed, "Last night you left the infirmary, punched out Major Sheppard, and Bates found you outside your quarters."
"What! You have got to be kidding me!" He sat back down on the bed, "I blacked out again. Do you have any idea why? Is the Major okay?"
"He's fine; you gave him a black eye though. As for why… you have a chemical in your system."
"How did I get a chemical in me?"
"Well, you now have three needle marks I don't believe you received from one of my staff." He didn't want to believe Rodney had resorted to drugs, but it certainly seemed that way.
Rodney rolled up his sleeve and saw what he was talking about. He looked up at Carson, "You don't think I'm doing this to myself do you?"
"What else am I supposed to believe lad? Unless you give me another explanation."
He thought a moment, "Maybe this is happening during the blackouts, I have had three blackouts and three injections, right?"
"Aye."
Rodney was agitated, "Well then someone gave me these during the blackouts."
"I don't know about that, it doesn't add up. You were alert during your blackouts, but then again, you were not acting like yourself. I've asked Dr. Heightmeyer to see you, she's outside in the infirmary now."
"Oh god, you think I'm nuts, well I'm not, okay? I'm just a little… off, that's all."
"Let's just see what she says. I'll get her." Carson left.
--
Kate Heightmeyer, the resident psychologist with curly blonde hair, walked in holding a clipboard and a tape recorder, followed by Bates who was carrying two chairs. "Hi Rodney." She turned to Bates, "Just set them down here, thank you."
"No problem Ma'am. I'll be right outside, shout if you need me." He shot a glance at Rodney, set the chairs down, facing each other, and went back to his self-appointed post.
He had stood up again when she walked in, "Kate, please tell me you know what's wrong with me."
"That's what I'm here to find out, please have a seat." She gave him a slight smile, sat down in the chair that was facing the window, turned the recorder on, and set it on the floor.
Rodney sat down, facing the door, "Good because I have a lot of work to do and I can't afford to be locked up in here wasting precious time because I can't remember a few hours of my life. Zelenka and Peter should be able to keep the lab running smoothly for awhile, but Kavanagh will probably try to assert some sort of power and screw something up permanently, causing me more stress than I already have."
Kate had let him rant, and now he stopped so she spoke, "You have been under a lot of stress haven't you, running the scientific side of this expedition?"
He leaned forward and folded his hands in front of him, "It's an incredible amount, but I think I've done alright, mostly anyway. I mean no one's perfect, not even geniuses."
"No one expects you to be perfect."
"Oh come on, that's not true. We've had this discussion before Kate."
Indeed they had, she had two previous sessions with him, one after Gall and Abrams, and the other after the nanovirus, so the barriers between psychologist and patient had already been broken down.
"Yes, and I can't seem to change your mind on that aspect. Let's move on to when the blackouts first began."
"The first one was two days ago, I was in the lab. Major Sheppard stormed in and informed me that I was late for the mission, but I thought it was only nine in the morning. Later Peter informed me he saw me going into lab 13B, but I don't remember. The next one was during the mission yesterday, for most of the day, and then the third was last night when I supposedly punched Major Sheppard." He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his head.
"Are you sure that's all of them?"
"Absolutely. Unless I was sleepwalking or something." Kate was jotting something down while Rodney had a sudden realization, "There was another one… the night after the first one. I went to sleep early and woke up completely worn out… I must have got up and done something, there's no other reason for me being so beat yesterday morning."
"Hmm. Carson has informed you of the marks he found on you?"
"Yes. I can't believe them," He showed her, "I have no memory of them whatsoever, there is no way in hell I would do this to myself, I didn't even want Carson to give me the gene therapy because he hadn't tested it on humans yet. I'm very careful about what I let in my body."
"How does this make you feel?"
"I'm scared out of my mind! Something is going on and I can't do anything about it."
"It's out of your control."
"Yes."
She wrote something else down and looked up to see Rodney shake his head, stand up rapidly, walk over to the window without saying a word, and fold his hands behind his back.
"Rodney? Are you alright?" She said concerned.
"Do not call me that." He kept looking out the window.
"Ok, Dr. McKay." Things had suddenly got very odd…
"Do not call me that!"
"Doctor… "
"Garin." He looked at her, "I am under guard."
"Yes. You became violent last night." Garin? She didn't show how her mind started putting pieces together; the sudden change of demeanor, the black outs, identifying himself by a different name…
"I know. It was a mistake. You are a doctor of the mind." He stated.
She nodded as her mind kept clicking, "That is correct."
"Interesting, very interesting. You believe you can heal us?" He took a step toward the still-seated Kate.
She followed his lead, "Yes I do. You should know it won't be easy Garin."
"I did not think so."
"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"
"All you need to know is I did what he would never do."
"Rodney and the injections?" She was paying close attention to his behavior.
"Yes. It pained us and he wouldn't stop it."
"What pained you?"
"The deaths… the stress… everything."
"I could have helped you, you didn't have to resort to… self-medication."
"I realize that now." He sat down opposite her.
"Are you willing to cooperate with Rodney and me?"
"Yes."
She smiled her doctor's smile, "Good, can I speak to Rodney so I can inform him of the situation?"
"Yes."
Once again, his head shook.
"Rodney?"
"What?" He snipped.
"What is the last thing I said?"
"Other than my name, 'It's out of your control,' why?" He narrowed his eyes at her.
"I was just talking with you for a few minutes as you addressed yourself as 'Garin.' He said he was the one who injected you."
Rodney practically jumped off his chair, "You're saying I'm crazy, that I'm schizophrenic?"
"No, schizophrenia has nothing to do with split personalities. It's a split from reality that shows itself in disorganized and delusional thinking. It's a whole cluster of disorders unto itself. I believe you have a dissociative disorder, but I'll need more time to correctly diagnose it."
He calmed down, "You can cure this right?"
She nodded, "It's possible, in time."
"Don't give me 'possible,' I want a definite!"
She picked up the recorder and got ready to leave, "I'm afraid there are no guarantees in psychology. I will do my best." She stood up.
"You'd better."
"I'll be back, but I want you to lie down and rest some."
Rodney snipped, "Like that will be possible."
Xxx
Kate found Carson in his office, mumbling in Gaelic over a stack of paperwork. He stopped and stood when she walked in.
"Well? What did ye find?"
"I'm very hesitant to say what I'm leaning towards."
"Out with it anyway."
"DID or MPD."
"Oh that's just bloody fantastic!" He snipped, a tad angry.
"There was only one alternate personality that I talked to. This other Rodney calls himself Garin and is rather… short with his answers. He doesn't seem to like the sound of his voice like our Rodney. When Garin surfaces, Rodney experiences amnesia, but not the other way around. It's typical of DID though. Garin has admitted to injecting Rodney with a sort of drug to ease the mental pain and has agreed to work with Rodney and me."
"We'd better let the others know."
Xxx
"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"
"All you need to know is I did what he would never do."
"Rodney and the injections?"
"Yes. It pained us and he wouldn't stop it."
"What pained you?"
"The deaths… the stress… everything."
"I could have helped you, you didn't have to resort to… self-medication."
"I realize that now."
"Are you willing to cooperate with Rodney and me?"
"Yes."
"Good, can I speak to Rodney now so I can inform him of the situation?"
"Yes."
"Rodney?"
"What?"
"What is the last thing I said?"
"Other than my name, 'It's out of your control,' why?"
Kate shut off the tape recorder. She was sitting in the debriefing room with Carson, Elizabeth, and the black-eyed Major Sheppard, who given another punch would look like a panda. The doors were closed for privacy.
John broke the silence, "So what does DID stand for?"
Kate replied, "Dissociative Identity Disorder. It is also known as Multiple Personality Disorder, or MPD It's a condition characterized by the use of dissociation as a primary defense mechanism."
Carson added, "DID is highly controversial, some do not believe it is a real disorder."
"In any case, I am still very reluctant to make any sort of diagnosis here. He is showing the main characterizations, loss of time and this 'Garin,' but that's it. Also the fact that it came on so suddenly, I've seen no previous symptoms." She shook her head. "I need to have more sessions with him."
Elizabeth folded her arms, "Understood. What caused this?"
Kate rested her elbow on the table and lightly placed her hand on her neck, "Severe stress, trauma… events here could have easily triggered something in his subconscious from childhood."
"Is there a treatment you can give him, once you know what this is?" Elizabeth was getting increasingly worried about this.
"If it is DID, the only thing I can do is integration, attempt to get the personalities to combine into one through therapy and working through any trauma."
"And he'll go back to the old McKay?" John asked.
"More or less."
"So you could make sure he retains Garin's suppressed tongue?"
Elizabeth yelled, "Major!"
"I'm just as worried as all of you, I'm only saying it wouldn't be too bad if McKay wasn't so… vocal all the time."
Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something to John, but decided against it and started to stand, "Kate, please do what you can as soon as you can. We need Rodney back."
Kate nodded, "Of course."
TBC…
