When It Snows (part 2)
The bitter wind had picked up and now howled about the trio as they collapsed to the ground, away from the deceptively invisible pond. The men's faces were red and icicles clung to their eyelashes, their hair plastered to their heads from water and snow. Their every breath was visible as the warm moist air met sub zero temperatures. And the sky was rapidly growing darker, even though it was only late afternoon, with the strengthening storm.
Carson sat in the snow shivering so hard that it made his bones ache in places he didn't recall ever aching before. With his power of speech abandoned to a strange slurring sound, he did nothing as he silently watched Rodney kneel before him, fumbling with the clips to his shoulder straps while Teyla worked to unsnap and unzip his soaked parka. Before he knew it, the two had him shirtless, sitting exposed in a heavy snowfall while Rodney pulled a dry thick shirt over his head and Teyla rubbed another briskly over his wet hair. And then the blissfully warm coat was tugged snuggly about him and he let his eyes wearily slide shut, savoring the body heat stored within the down filled lining.
When small warm hands cupped his face and settled over his chilled ears, he peeled his snow laden lashes back open to find Teyla's concerned deep brown eyes staring back at him. Standing behind her, shifting continually from foot to foot in an attempt to stay warm was Rodney, now sporting the thick, hooded sweatshirt that Beckett had seen the scientist wearing the night before back in the village.
"Doctor," Teyla said slowly, turning his head back in her direction, "Rodney believes the storm is growing worse and we must find shelter before it becomes too dark. I know you must be cold in your wet clothing, but do you think you can walk?"
His gaze shifted back to Rodney and he noticed his friend's hands were tucked up inside the sleeves of the sweatshirt. Where were the scientist's gloves? His eyes fell down to his own lap and he spied the gloves encasing his hands which answered his question. Not only did he have on McKay's coat, but apparently the man had sacrificed the rest of his warm apparel. Not wanting Rodney's generosity to be in vain, the doctor's head nodded as he struggled to pull himself up to his feet with Teyla at his side.
Hearing Teyla softly encouraging Beckett, Rodney spun around from his study of their surroundings to face the pair. Seeing the doctor attempt to stand on legs half frozen, he quickly took over and slipped the physician's arm across his own shoulder. "I realize the villager's shower facilities left something to be desired, but honestly, Carson, couldn't you have waited to clean up until after we got back to Atlantis?" A hint of his usual snap colored the comment and he was pleased to see a trace of a smile back.
"C-c-c-old," Carson sputtered through his chattering teeth while leaning heavily against the scientist. His legs felt heavy and strangely warm which he knew was not a good sign. Even in his mind jumbled state, he recognized the symptoms of moderate hypothermia setting in. If he didn't get warm and in dry clothes soon, he was going to be in serious trouble.
Teyla reached over to snug his hood tight and then dusted the accumulating snow off Rodney's shoulders and back. She then gathered the remaining gear off the ground and slung the extra packs over her shoulders. "I believe we are not too far from the gate. Perhaps if we continue in that direction," she said, pointing out into the vast whiteness, "we could reach Atlantis within another two hours."
"No, we need to find shelter and get out of the storm." Rodney replied, his head shifting from side to side as he attempted to survey their surroundings and get his bearings. When they had passed this way originally, there had been a cluster of tall coniferous trees off to their east. Now, in a complete white out, he knew he'd have to make an estimated guess as to which direction that might be. Using the ice covered pond as his point of reference, he secured Carson's arm tighter across his shoulder and then started off with familiar sheer determination.
The scientist had been correct up to this point, so Teyla followed close behind.
SG: A
They had walked and stumbled through the encroaching darkness and deep drifts before they finally made their way to the small stand of ancient trees. The long white limbs were weighted heavily towards the ground and at first glance appeared to provide little, if any, shelter against the fierce gathering storm
When Rodney eventually stopped and carefully settled Carson to sit, he then removed his flashlight and shone it over their surroundings. He worked his way to the wind protected backside of one of the trees, to an area less encumbered with heavy drifting, and lifted one of the lower branches off the ground. Giving it a good hard shake, he caused a mini avalanche to crumble through the twigs before the bough popped back up. He then dropped down on to his hands and knees and worked his way underneath.
Teyla heard the sound of several branches being broken when the scientist disappeared from sight as she squatted beside Beckett, holding him upright and preventing him from collapsing. Moments later, Rodney reemerged and made his way back to their side.
"Shelter," he whispered, his voice now raw from breathing frigid air during the day's exertion. Slipping his arm back under Carson, he practically carried his limp friend inside the protected enclosure.
He had stamped off all the dead, dry lower branches from the base of the tree, piling them off to one side, and then swept the exposed ground free of any drifting snow by using a broken bough. Pine needles littered the surface and created soft bedding beneath them as he carefully laid Carson down.
"What do you want me to do?" Teyla asked from beside him while tucking her flashlight in the branches over their head to create some light in the small space.
"I need to get him out of the rest of his wet clothing and get him warm. Check my pack and see what I've got left that's dry. Also, find our emergency blankets, bottled water, a lighter, and," he paused, trying to think what else he needed, "what we have to eat."
She frowned at the scientist's raspy voice but did as he instructed. Locating a couple more dry shirts and socks in their packs, she passed them over as he tried to unlace Carson's boots. He was struggling with his numb fingers that refused to cooperate and she quickly leaned over to help.
"Thank you." He pulled off the frozen boots and socks, grimacing at how cold the exposed feet were. Next he worked off Carson's wet pants and tossed them in a pile off to the side. Looking over to Teyla, he saw her holding out his spare pair of thermal underwear. When Sheppard had originally informed them that their simple overnight trip required walking through snow, he'd made sure to pack extra…just in case. There was nothing worse than being cold, he'd thought before they'd left. If he'd only known just how cold he was going to end up, he would have surely passed on this little excursion.
Ditching the soaked boxers next, he worked the warm cotton up over the exposed flesh and then briskly rubbed his friend's chilled legs in an attempt to get circulation pumping once more. Dry socks were next and then the emergency blankets. Once Carson was temporarily cocooned, Rodney dropped to sit on his butt and rested his tired face in his hands.
Teyla didn't give him a chance to take a break. Tugging his arms out of the wet sweatshirt, she pulled it up over his head and used one of her own dry t-shirts to rub his head and arms before placing her warm parka over his shoulders. Next she worked the frozen laces on his boots free and tugged the sodden footwear and socks off. Dry socks quickly covered his feet. "You must get out of your wet pants," she said. "Unfortunately, you do not have any more dry pairs in your pack."
He only nodded. "We need to build a fire." Reaching for some of the dry branches, he clumsily broke them in to manageable sized pieces. "Clear a spot near the opening."
She scraped the dry needles away to reveal bare ground. Glancing above and checking for snow that might fall on the fire, she was relieved to discover the boughs had created a natural roof over their heads. With some needles and kindling in place, she soon had the snap and spit of a small fire glowing about them.
Meanwhile, Rodney had dumped the contents of his and Beckett's packs, searching for any useful items. He rifled through the various items the villagers had packed and was pleased to find a quantity of small hard candies, some hand-crafted pottery that could hold water, and several square cakes that looked suspiciously like fruitcake. Passing the items to Teyla, he then removed Carson's waterproof medical kit, stacked the few MRE's and power bars they had carried into a pile, and then tried to hang a few of the remaining wet articles of clothing over some of the lower branches. Hopefully the heat of the fire would help them to dry.
Teyla had also gone through her pack and added the few items she had to the piles he had created. Between the three of them, they still had half a dozen bottles of water, a dozen meals, and just as many of the dreaded power bars. Rodney's stash of chocolate and the villager's sweets would add the necessary sugar to their diet.
Sitting back on his heels, Rodney stuck his hands in his armpits in an attempt to thaw his aching, stiff fingers. "We need to warm up a few of the bottles of water and place them under the blanket with Carson."
"Would not body heat also help the doctor?"
He shook his head 'no'. "Right now, I'm almost as cold as he is and you probably aren't much farther behind. For one of us to climb under the blanket with him would actually be useless. It would be like trying to get warm inside a cooler. We haven't any heat to share." Passing her the pieces of pottery, he gestured towards the fire. "Fill these half full with snow and get them heated. Once they are hot, set water bottles in them to heat. Kind of like heating a baby bottle."
Teyla raised a surprised brow but remained silent. That McKay knew how to heat a child's bottle was somewhat unexpected given his supposed antipathy towards children.
He fumbled through Carson's kit and removed a blister pack of acetometaphin. Popping several tablets free, he dry swallowed them before removing two more and taking one of the unopened bottles over to the silent physician. He rested his hand against the still man's face, checking for fever and only feeling cold flesh.
"Carson," he called. Not getting any response, he tapped Beckett's cheeks and called again. "Carson, wake up. You need to take something."
"R'ney?" the physician slurred, tipping his head to the side and struggling to open his eyes. He'd never been so cold in his entire life, and shivered hard beneath the lightweight blankets.
"I'm right here," the scientist whispered, his voice growing weaker.
Carson frowned and finally succeeded in blinking his eyes open. "You…sick," he mumbled. He tried to push himself up on his elbows but Teyla pressed lightly on his chest and stopped him from moving.
She then took the pills and water from Rodney. "I will help," she said. "You rest a moment and warm yourself by the fire." When the scientist actually did what she said without comment, she blew out a small breath before lifting Carson's head slightly. Placing the tablets on his tongue, she tipped the bottle for him to wash down the pills.
"He's sick," Carson slurred, his hand trying to push the blanket back so he could get up.
"Shhh," she crooned, pushing his now damp hair back from his brow, "you need to stay still. I will assist Rodney while you rest and regain your strength."
He mumbled something incoherently before his eyes rebelled and slid shut against his will.
Teyla sat with him a moment longer, tucking the blanket more securely about him before sitting beside Rodney. Watching him test the warmth of the bottles of water, she saw him nod to himself before slipping two of the bottles inside a pair of dry socks. When he passed them to her and nodded over to Carson, she knew what to do and placed them strategically beneath the blanket next to the physician.
She picked up two more bottles and placed them in the water to get warm.
"He needs to drink something warm," Rodney rasped, watching her fix the fire. "Add a piece of the hard candy to some hot water and melt it down."
"Should you not also drink some?" Teyla asked, taking in the growing shivers in the scientist.
"Carson first."
"I will make certain the doctor will take something to drink." When he nodded but remained quiet, she leaned over and removed her coat from his shoulders. Drawing the remaining blanket around him and them placing her parka on the ground she easily pushed him over and his exhaustion finally caught up, sleep pulling him down into darkness.
"Rest," she whispered, her hand hovering above his forehead. She could feel heat rising from his face and knew there was something wrong with the scientist. Glancing back to Beckett, she found him still asleep.
With little to do but wait, she stirred the melting candy slowly in the water as it warmed.
TBC