Elizabeth lay on the bed, asleep. Her face was bruised, her hair was a mess, one arm was in a sling.
John sat in a chair next to her, and listened to Dr Becket.
"The arm was a clean break, and the bruising on her face will go down within a few days. Her back isn't that simple though. The shot hit her spinal column, and caused nerve damage." John kept staring at Elizabeth, one hand on her arm, the other constantly running through his hair.
"Major, are you listening to me? Major?"
He finally turned away from Elizabeth
"Yeah Carson, I heard you. How bad was the damage?"
He knew it was bad, but when he saw that even Carson had to sit down, he knew this wasn't just going to be bad. This was going to kill him
"We managed to remove the bullet but the damage was already done. The spinal nerves are extremely delicate, and in tearing just a few of them it may have interrupted the command pathways that"
"Just, just bottom line it for me. Please."
Carson sighed, and rubbed his face
"She may never walk again Major. Its possible the nerves will heal, and we can use ancient technology to encourage them, but right now, there's a 80 chance that she will be paralysed from the waist down for the rest of her life" John jerked, then almost seemed to shrink in front of Carson's eyes. His hands started to shake, and he tried to conceal it by clenching them together.
"Paralysed? But, with all this technology, with all your knowledge"
Carson shook his head
"I'm sorry Major, but there are some things we just can't do, not yet anyway. She's currently sedated, and will be out for at least 24 hours. I suggest you go and get some rest son, there's nothing you can do now."
John stood, a bitter smile twisting on his face
"Yeah, nothing I can do, just like back on the planet."
"Major, I'm sure you did everything humanly possible"
"Yeah? Well obviously it wasn't enough, was it!" John snapped back, his face red. Carson stood, and grabbed his arm
"Alright, now you calm down right now or I'll have you sedated! From what I've heard her injuries happened when you weren't near her, and let's face it Major, its not like you can stop bullets!"
John shook his head.
"Carson, if I had been there, I would have stopped the bullet. I would've taken it myself if I had to. It's my fault she got injured. Its my fault she was in that situation in the first place."
"Maybe so Major, but no one on Atlantis is going to think you did anything wrong."
John took one last look at Elizabeth, his hand going out almost automatically to smooth down her hair. He turned, and walked out of the infirmary.
"Just, let me know when she wakes up, ok?"
"Aye, I'll do that." Carson said to John's back as he walked out.
John walked slowly through the halls of Atlantis, ignoring everyone, barely aware of where he was going. He finally arrived at his quarters, and stripped off his gear, stained with mud, and blood. Her blood. He fell onto his bed, and waited for sleep. Maybe he would wake up tomorrow and this would all be a dream.
Maybe.
To be continued (if I get lots of nice reviews)...