FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT: HOME, HOME, HOME
————————————————————————
When Sheppard woke again, it was to voices. Soft ones, one of which had a very distinctive Scottish brogue and another had the clipped tones of a woman with a chip on her shoulder.
Beckett and Biro.
They were arguing about something. He heard the terms "blood loss" and "no pedal pulse."
Sheppard gamely tried to open his eyes, but couldn't. All he heard was, "take the risk," from Beckett's mouth, and "you're one of the best." And Biro replying with something like, "hope he'll be all right, for your sake, Carson."
He fought against the lethargy holding him down, trying to get his eyes to open. It wasn't working. Damn it! Stay awake! What are they talking about!
But the darkness was too heavy…and he fell back asleep.
————————————————————————
The next time he woke, it was because someone was bustling around him, and he felt them hit the side of his bed a couple of times. Cracking open a lid, he found himself looking up at a white clad torso as someone who was most definitely female reached up over his head for something.
The lecherous part of him couldn't move for a second, enjoying the view too much.
Then she backed off and he was able to see her face. The nurse, Maria, gave him a broad smile—damn she was pretty—and then turned to call for Beckett.
In moment, a smiling Carson was jogging over.
"Colonel!" he greeted happily, "There you are! Feeling better?"
Sheppard was about to reply, when he felt something wet touch his lips. Maria smiled as she slipped the ice chip between them, then backed away, leaving him alone with Carson. He sucked on the chip for a moment, and it gave him a moment to think. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide, and he looked down at himself—two legs, two arms, hands and feet…all accounted for.
Maybe he had imagined it.
He looked up at Carson again, saw the unhappy look the doctor was giving him.
"What's the matter?" Beckett asked.
"No," Sheppard swallowed the water still on his tongue, "No amputation?"
Beckett's eyes blinked, and he shook his head, unable to stop a small smile from touching his lips. "Amputation? Good lord, man, no! Where in the world did you get that idea?"
Sheppard frowned, "But I...I heard..." his eyes narrowed, trying to find the memory, "pedal pulse," he said finally. The last time he'd heard someone talk about lack of a pedal pulse had been in a hospital in Afghanistan, when one of his men had a leg amputated...
Beckett's mouth formed a small "oh," and he shook his head quickly. "No, son, no. We weren't talking about you. I didn't mean to worry you with that. No, no, you're fine. We cleaned up the wound on your left shoulder—nasty little wound, by the way—and reduced the swelling in your right knee. The knot on the back of your head will go away pretty quickly as well." He smiled, "As far as I can tell, you'll be up and about soon enough."
Sheppard frowned, then looked around. He saw Ronon asleep on another bed, but no one else.
"Ah," Carson said, understanding the motion, "Ronon will be fine. His ability to heal is almost unnatural. He sustained two solid hits to the head that rendered him unconscious, and yet, I swear, you'd think someone just knocked him about a bit. He's been awake more than you. Teyla and Elizabeth, meanwhile, are both already gone. Teyla's tougher than old shoe leather—she's probably already down in the gymnasium working out the kinks with the physical therapist. Elizabeth broke her arm, pulled some muscles, scratched up her leg something nasty and was exhausted, but other than that, she's pretty much fine. She's sleeping in her own bed at the moment. You…you cracked your head, got a bullet wound in your shoulder, and destroyed your knee. Needless to say, you stayed with us a little longer." The smile was back.
But it really wasn't working.
And Carson knew that it wasn't working. He knew what Sheppard really wanted to know.
The doctor looked down, then up again.
"Yes, I was arguing with Dr. Biro about Rodney," he said, to the real question in John's eyes. Sheppard opened his mouth to comment, but Carson forestalled him with a raised hand. "He's alive, Colonel. The argument you heard was about his leg. When we finally got him back here, I couldn't find a pedal pulse, and we didn't know then if it was because the blood had been cut off to the limb, or just hidden because of the swelling...Biro was afraid, for all the trauma, that it was the former, and wanted to approach the surgery on that assumption. I argued it was the latter, based on hope mostly. Turned out I was right, thanks be to all." He gave a small sigh, then smiled at Sheppard again. "Yes, the blood loss was severe. Besides losing consciousness, a number of his lower organs had stopped functioning. We were lucky to find him when we did...we were able to get his kidneys and the rest going again, and I don't think there will be any permanent damage..." He pursed his lips, eyes taking in a faraway quality. "Aye," he muttered almost to himself, "lucky..."
"So," Sheppard blinked a little, not sure he really followed all that, "he's going to be okay?"
Beckett looked up again, focusing on Sheppard again, and he nodded slowly. "Yes. Now. Fact is...he should have been dead, Colonel, with the wound he had and the blood he lost. All I can tell you is that, whatever you put on it to clean it, worked. It slowed the bleeding down and stimulated healing. Still, he had to have been running on fumes for most of the time he was awake. I spoke to that trader of yours briefly, and he told me Rodney was awake for most of the night, working to get that truck running…."
That caused a moment's confusion. "Truck? What truck?"
"Connam's, of course." Carson looked at him, then shrugged, "Or, at least, that's what he called it. Looked like a traveller's wagon to me when I went to the Alpha Site to meet him."
"The wagon…" Sheppard looked down, absorbing that information dumbly, "was a truck?"
Beckett chuckled, "Didn't know that, eh?"
"No," Sheppard breathed. "Would've been nice to know though."
Beckett shrugged a little at that. "Yes, well, anyway," he shook his head, "Rodney near wore himself to death, just as he's done on so many occasions. I need to talk to him about that…." Carson looked away, in a different direction, and Sheppard followed his line of sight. There was a curtained area on the far side of the infirmary. "I think he survives on pure anger alone, sometimes." He gave a small smile at that. "Though, to be fair, can't really fault him for it here. After all, his actions got us to the rest of you in time..." Beckett's eyes softened as he continued his study of the curtained area.
"He's back there?" the colonel asked quietly, glancing at Beckett.
Beckett nodded, "He's resting. Biro fixed his leg, and though it was awfully dodgy there for a bit..." He frowned a little, then, slowly, his face muscles relaxed and he looked back again at Sheppard with a smile. "Anyway, he's stable now. Probably wake up soon. Been sleeping for near on a day now, like you."
Sheppard just nodded, turning his head to fix once more on the area where he knew Rodney was.
Carson placed a hand on his shoulder, "Just rest, Colonel. I promise, you'll be the first to see him when he's truly awake."
Sheppard's eyes squinted at that.
Because he wasn't sure Rodney would want him to be there.
————————————————————————
To Be Concluded tomorrow... (I know, hard to believe eh?) Thank you all for sticking with me! And to Heather, thank you for the advice!