Less Than A Minute (Part 5)
Rodney lay curled up on the floor, half listening to the endless chatter over the radio from Weir and the rest of the individuals in the control room. It was comforting to hear their voices, even if he couldn't make out what they were saying to him. The fog surrounding his mind left him able to do little more than breathe, and even that was almost too much to ask.
When something cold began to trickle across his cheek he chose to ignore it, letting the sensation run down his face and spill onto the floor. Eventually, though, it triggered a dormant thought in the back of his mind, and he shifted his aching head slightly to get away from whatever it was that was now spattering across his face. Swiping his good hand languidly in the air above him, he felt the drops hit his fingers before sliding down his palm. It was cold and wet like water.
Opening his mouth, he let the liquid hit his parched tongue and relished the drops that made contact. Something about the situation was not a good thing but for the life of him he couldn't think why. The sound of Elizabeth calling to him urgently from far away dragged him back from his confusion. She kept saying something about rain. It didn't rain in the jumper bay…did it?
Reaching blindly for the forgotten radio, he fumbled with the button. "Rain?" he mumbled.
"Rodney, listen to me!" Weir shouted over the radio, the urgency in her voice demanding to be heard. "A rescue team is coming to help you from the overhead bay entrance. Can you move?"
He lay there thinking about her question. Move? Revived slightly by the water hitting him in the face, he licked his lips and painfully cleared his throat. "Why?"
"It's storming out and Sheppard's team is coming in from above you."
The spatter from earlier was growing in intensity against his body, now feeling like a steady stream. Her words finally sinking into his weary brain, his unseeing eyes shot open in panic. "Oh, crap," he hissed. Curling up into as tight a ball as he could stand, he tried to hold his breath against the deluge he knew was about to hit him.
Seconds later it slammed against him like a rampaging torrent from the worst waterpark ride he could ever imagine.
SG: A
By the time Sheppard and Lorne reached the bottom of the jumper passageway, the remaining team members had gathered around Giles in an attempt to shield him from the rain as he cut the seal open on the interior doors. The engineer was bent over on his knees, a heavy face guard protecting him from burning sparks that jumped and bit irritably back at him. Swiping his hand over the safety glass, he tried to clear the condensation building up and blocking his view, only to realize it was on the inside of the hood so he tore it off and tossed it to whomever was standing behind him.
That someone happened to be a certain Scottish physician, and he wasn't pleased. "I don't think that's such a good idea to take off, son," Carson commented dryly, watching with new concern as sparks once more began to fly. Giles merely grunted and then continued to ignore them all. Carson looked over to Sheppard for support and received a half hearted shrug in reply.
"We're standing in the rain, in the middle of the night, on a rescue operation, doc. If it helps him go faster, leave him be."
Not the answer the physician was looking for; Carson opened his mouth to reply, only to find himself drowned out by a deafening roll of thunder and blinding flash of lightning from overhead. The rain began to pound down on them all with more urgency, and to their dismay, slowly joined puddle to puddle, soon leaving them standing in several centimeters of water. Tipping his head back to view the storm above them, he was startled to feel someone nudge his shoulder, almost knocking him off balance.
"Doc, you're worse than McKay," Sheppard gibed loudly in an attempt at easing the tension.
"Why's that?"
"You're standing there with your mouth hanging open like a little kid caught in his first downpour. Usually, if he's not bitching about being wet, I'll catch Rodney doing the same thing when we're off world."
Carson smiled briefly at the thought before he caught the colonel's worried gaze, which was once again fixed back on the engineer's progress. Giles had reached the half way point on the doors and was twisting his back in an attempt at relieving a kink before hunkering back down in the water to continue.
As he watched the soaked man work silently, something niggled in the back of Carson's mind. He shone his light towards his own feet, stomping hesitantly in the deepening water. Something wasn't right. Looking to the others, he found Dex watching him curiously. "With this much rain, you'd think it would be getting deeper much faster than what it is," the Scot remarked loud enough to be heard over all the noise from above.
The tall man pointed to the floor where Giles was working, "It's draining through where he's already cut the seal."
Carson blinked in realization at what he'd been told. "You mean to say it's pouring down on them inside?" Receiving a slight nod, he shook his own head in disbelief, "Oh bloody hell. When we get the doors open…"
"It will go down the bay drains," Giles finished the doctor's statement from his position without looking up. "It won't be much longer." Moments later he stood up, stripped off his sodden leather gloves, and let them drop to the floor with a splash. "Knock yourselves out, fellas."
Sheppard and Dex grabbed the long handled pry bars they'd brought with them and began to work the heavy duty iron between the doors. Another burst of lightning overhead had everyone stop and look up.
"Not exactly the smartest thing to be holding onto at the moment," Sheppard remarked as they continued to work the doors apart.
Major Lorne joined his superior and helped to pull the bar back while Ronon worked his on the opposite side. Little by little the doors parted and the swirling dark water around their feet began to rush through the opening. Once they got a gap open large enough to put a foot down through, they all sat down and placed their feet against one door while their hind ends rested on the other. Gripping the cold metal, they all pushed at the same time and forced the doors to open enough to give them access to the bay below.
What they saw in the dim emergency lighting caused them to shake their heads in stunned disbelief. Below them, the bay looked like a war zone. Anyone surviving the explosion would have had to be one lucky son of a bitch. But to survive that and the thundering water would go beyond luck, it would border on a miracle.
SG: A
Sheppard was the first to zip down the line to the floor. Sweeping the beam of his flashlight across the damage, he stepped hesitantly over the debris to the jumper, while keeping an eye out for any other possible explosive devices. Wedged tightly against the back of the ship and pinned beneath pieces of machinery that had actually enabled a shallow pool of water to form around him, was the missing scientist…face down.
Without thinking, he kicked several large pieces out of the way, letting the water slide free out across the floor. Then, throwing caution to the wind, he dropped his flashlight and began tearing away the debris to uncover his friend. Careful of the exposed injuries, he slowly rolled Rodney over and touched his neck, searching for a pulse, only to find there wasn't one.
"Beckett!" he shouted in panic before laying his head on Rodney's still chest, trying to hear or feel any breathing.
"Let me," the Scottish doctor demanded gruffly, pushing Sheppard out of the way. He quickly examined Rodney before turning the scientist's head to the side and then straddled the man's hips. Hands locked together, Beckett used the heel of his bottom hand to press into Rodney's abdomen with a quick upward thrust, forcing water out of the Canadian's lungs. When no more liquid bubbled out, he began CPR.
"Dr. Beckett!" Teyla called out urgently from behind him, "We have found Dr. Zelenka!"
Pausing for just a second, he looked over his shoulder to where he could just make out where she was standing. "Is he breathing?"
She glanced down to Major Lorne and the marine nodded. "Yes."
"Good. Take his vitals for me and I'll be there as soon as I can." Turning his attention back to Rodney, he gave the man another breath, all the while feeling Sheppard's intense gaze boring into his back. Time seemed to stand still as he continued breathing for Rodney until he felt the familiar hitch underneath his palms. The scientist began to cough and gasp for air, his hands fluttering against the floor at his sides as he spit up more water.
"Come on, son, that's it. Nice and slow," Carson encouraged. "Colonel, get me the oxygen unit from the jumper," he demanded, his focus never leaving the Canadian. When Sheppard quickly reappeared carrying the needed equipment, the doctor settled the non-rebreather mask over his friend's face and then adjusted the flow. Color slowly returned to Rodney's gray features and Carson relaxed minutely.
"Doc?" Sheppard spoke quietly for the first time since Carson took over.
"All I can tell you is that he's breathing on his own again. Let's get his leg bandaged up and then you can sit with him for me while I go over and help Radek." Ripping open the first aid kit that the colonel had brought over from the jumper when he'd retrieved the oxygen, Carson pulled out several items, one being a pair of scissors. "Cut his pant leg away for me," he directed, handing the tool to Sheppard before turning his attention back to the IV he was establishing.
"Dr. Beckett," Teyla called again, her voice having a hint of urgency to it. "Dr. Zelenka appears to be having trouble breathing."
"Bloody hell," Carson mumbled, slapping a piece of tape over the line in the back of Rodney's hand. "Ronon," he called over his shoulder to the silent man watching the proceedings around him, "would you hold this IV for me and help the colonel?"
Dex instantly stepped over and took the object from the Scot's hand, gently holding the bag of clear fluids in the air.
Carson handed over several pressure pads to Sheppard, "Clean his leg very gently and then cover it, but not too tightly. If you can cut him out of those wet clothes and wrap him in an a few blankets, that should help start to warm him back up."
Standing up, the doctor hurried over to the other scientist's side and got his first good look at the Czech. Teyla and Lorne had opened his shirt, exposing his chest, and Carson could see ribs lined against the skin as Radek struggled for each breath. Slipping his stethoscope back on, he closed his eyes and listened, hearing a distinct wheeze and rattle in the lungs but not the sound of water.
He tipped Radek's head back and opened his mouth, shining his flashlight inside the Czech's mouth in an attempt to see down his throat. Finding the passageway red and swollen, he grabbed for his med bag and searched through the contents, pulling out an artificial airway. "I need some more oxygen," he said urgently, his face scrunched in concentration as he attempted to slide the apparatus in place.
Radek never moved and for that Carson was extremely grateful, but also worried. Now that his airway was reopened, the Czech should have been able to draw air in easier, but instead he continued to have difficulty. Reaching back into his bag, he withdrew a vial of diphenhydramine and syringe. Loading the needle, he plunged it into the exposed bicep.
"What is wrong?" Teyla dared to ask, her eyes wide watching Beckett at work.
"Exposure to something. He's having an allergic reaction and I need to get the swelling down before his lungs close off for good." Running his hands over Radek's lower chest, the Scot frowned when he felt the grinding shift of broken bone beneath the surface. "Just not your day, is it, son?" he said to the still figure. Quickly setting up another IV, he taped the needle into place.
Setting back on his heels, it dawned on Carson how quiet the room was around him except for the rain continuing to pour in through the open ceiling above them. With a quick glance around, he found the others watching him, waiting for his next order. "What!" he barked. "Do I have to tell you what to do? Open the bloody door!"
Giles and Lorne both jumped and grabbed the equipment, making their way to the sealed door. Within minutes, the cutting torch was back in use.
TBC
