Thanks again for all the nice words. I'd love to do more...like maybe have a big party with cake and chips and all kinds of food and games to give you guys a proper thank you. So just picture yourself eating cake as you read this next chapter. Since it's imaginary cake, it can be any flavor you want. And it won't make you fat!

Extra special thanks to Emrys1 and rogue1503 for the world's longest, most flattering, and entertaining reviews. I think I may print them out and frame them. Or just carry them with me to look at when I'm having a bad day and cheer myself right up. THANKS!

Chapter 7

Rodney McKay paced nervously back and forth beside Sheppard's bed, periodically placing a hand on the man's shoulder or arm to establish contact. He was carrying on a fast-paced commentary about recent theories in nuclear physics and his opinions of the theories and their inventors. They were now well into the third day of Sheppard's relapse and he had talked about everything under the sun and a few things above it. Although he had a few times sat in the chair beside the bed and confessed his feelings of concern and sorrow over the major's condition, he found he needed to move on to other, less traumatic things to talk about. Hence, the physics lesson.

McKay paused a moment at the unusual sound coming from the anguished form on the bed, his train of thought having totally vanished. He realized the steady moaning that had been emanating from Sheppard had become more of a whimper, and his movements were sluggish and jerky. He might have hoped the change indicated an improvement, but Carson had reported an hour ago that his blood levels of the mystery compound (as they had come to refer to it) were still very high. His body was not metabolizing or flushing or whatever it did to get rid of the compound as fast this go around. Even with the oxygen mask on, Sheppard seemed to be struggling to breathe.

"Carson! Get in here!" he yelled as he moved to Sheppard's side. Sheppard's movements had slowed somewhat, except for the shaking. His eyes opened to slits. "John, can you here me? It's Rodney. Hang in there buddy, Carson's on his way."

Sheppard moved his lipe slightly, as if trying to say something. Rodney leaned forward, close to Sheppard's mouth. "Can't...Can't...do...it..." Sheppard's eyes closed tightly against the next wave of pain, but there was little other movement. He was too exhausted.

McKay looked up to find Beckett beside him. He hadn't realized the doctor had walked up. "What's happenin' Rodney?"

McKay straightened up and turned his fearful eyes toward Beckett. "I think he's given up. Look at him. Listen."

They watched the major shake and twitch as his breathing seemed to become more ragged. The beeping on the heart monitor seemed to be uneven and erratic. Beckett motioned toward a nurse at the other end of the room. "Is Dr. Strauhan here yet?"

"Yes, I think I saw him come in a minute ago."

"Get him please," Beckett said quietly. He turned back to Sheppard and found Rodney looking at him.

"What?"

Beckett rubbed his eyes tiredly. "If his breathin' gets any worse, we'll probably have to put him on a ventilator."

"Carson...he's not going to...die...is he?"

Beckett sighed. "I can't make any guarantees, Rodney. His condition's gettin' worse. I just don't know."

Fear clutched at McKay's heart. Up until now, it had been extremely difficult to deal with Sheppard's condition because of the relentless pain that shook his body. The one positive thing was that he hadn't had to worry about the major surviving the ordeal. But things had changed now...and not for the better. He wasn't cut out for all this emotional turmoil. This was one reason why he didn't make friends. If he hadn't started caring for these people...this surrogate family thrown together millions of miles from home...he could be happily working in his lab, oblivious to the battle going on in the infirmary. Of course, that would make him a Kavanagh clone and he really did not want to go there.

CRASH! The sudden, loud clanging jerked him out of his introspection and into the present. He looked up to see that Sheppard had inexplicably sat bolt upright in bed and was now frantically trying to crawl out over the railing. He was halfway out of bed before McKay and Beckett recovered from their shock and tried to stop him. He was moaning loudly and pulling out IV lines and monitor leads as he struggled with the two men. How could anyone that exhausted and sick fight so hard? He was obviously disoriented and had no idea what he was doing.

"Major! John, you can't get out of bed. You have to lay down, lad. Let us help you." Beckett pleaded with Sheppard as he tried to push him back into the bed. McKay looked up to find Nick Strauhan helping them. It took several minutes, but they finally got Sheppard settled back in the bed. Beckett replaced the oxygen mask on Sheppard's face and then he and Nick went about reattaching IV lines and monitor leads.

McKay, somewhat in shock, just stood and watched. "What was that? How did he do that?"

Beckett shook his head. "Darned if I know. This is the strangest stuff I've ever seen. Almost like he was hallucinating."

They had almost finshed when Sheppard's whole body began to tremble more violently. The struggling from before was gone and he lay stilll except for the intense shaking. All three men paused what they were doing, afraid of what was coming next. And then Sheppard began having convulsions, his arms and legs thrashing about, threatening to rip out the IV lines yet again. Carson and Nick each grabbed an arm, trying to keep the attached lines attached. McKay stood rooted to the floor, unable to breathe, much less to move. It seemed to go on forever before John's body finally lay still on the bed.

"Carson?" McKay inquired weakly.

"Bloody seizure," Beckett replied. "I think things just got worse. I better go contact Elizabeth." He looked over at Nick. "Guess I'll be hanging around a while tonight. This may take both of us."

Nick just nodded. "I'm afraid tonight could get kind of rough. I'd appreciate the help."

Beckett headed for his office to contact Elizabeth and Nick went back to reattaching lines and checking the ones that had somehow remained connected. "Are you okay, Dr. McKay?" He had noticed the ashen expression on the man's face.

"Oh yeah! Just peachy. Nothing like watching your best friend seize for entertainment. Wonder what he'll do for an encore?" he said sarcastically, trying not to let the gravity of the situation sink in.

Nick was not fooled by the act. "Well, he almost walked across the bedrail - maybe next time we can get him to skateboard it. I understand he's quite good."

McKay let himself smile a little. "Well, that what he likes to tell people."

"Sounds like a bit of a challenge...for when he's better." McKay smiled a little bigger at the doctor, appreciating the change in mood.

"Yeah...a challenge. Thanks doc."

Elizabeth, trapped in a never-ending meeting that the participants thought was critical, arrived at the infirmary about ninety minutes later, just after Sheppard's third seizure of the night. McKay was quickly becoming a basket case. Carson and Nick, desperately trying to figure out what was causing the episodes while keeping the major from pulling all his lines out, were about ready to send him packing. Carson immediately latched onto Elizabeth's arrival as a chance to distract Rodney, asking him to carch her up on everything that had happened.

When Rodney was finished, the two just stood and watched as the doctors seemed to go over Sheppard with a fine toothed comb, examining him thoroughly. Beckett listened to Sheppard's chest and sides with his stethoscope, frowning as he moved the instrument around. He looked up at Nick, who was watching him. "How's his oxygen level?"

"Not good. You want me to roll him?"

Beckett nodded. Nick gently ran his hands under the major's side and rolled him up towad the other side, exposing his back for Beckett to probe with his stethoscope. Beckett listened and moved it a couple of times before abruptly standing upright. "What the...he's stopped breathing. We'll have to intubate."

Rodney and Elizabeth stood frozen in place, unable to comprehend that things had gotten worse, yet again. They were both wondering how much more he could take.

Beckett moved to the major's head and made sure the bed was flat, removing the pillow from under Sheppard's head. Nick handed him the laryngoscope as he tilted Sheppard's head back and inserted the instrument in the major's mouth. McKay turned away for a second, telling himself that he absoltutely could not be sick right now. By the time he turned back, Beckett had inserted the endotracheal tube in the major's throat and was connecting it to the respirator. Nick taped the tube securely to Sheppard's face. The swoosh of the machine seemed all too loud as they turned it on and it began breathing for Major Sheppard. Beckett continued to monitor the machine's actions and listen with the stethoscope for several minutes. Satisfied, at last that Sheppard was getting enough oxygen, Beckett moved back to the side of the bed.

Carson and Nick watched Sheppard and the beeping heart monitor for several quiet minutes. "His rhythm is still a little off," commented Nick.

"Aye," said Carson, nodding. "I think that's the best we can do at the moment, though."

"Carson," Elizabeth began. "Is he...asleep?"

"I hope so, lass. I sure do hope so."

TBC