Humming woke Melony up. It took her a moment of silent listening for her to realize that it wasn't come from outside, but from inside.

Hey. Stop that.

Stop what?

The purely innocent question didn't fool her a moment, because she could feel his amusement.

You know what.

I'm not doing anything

You're humming.

No, I'm not

You were.

You hum

I don't hum in your head.

I can't hum anywhere else, Hot Shot

Well, yeah… that was true. But still…

Talon didn't give her a chance to say anything. Amusement aside, he focused his attention on his host.

How are you feeling?

You tell me.

The rest did you good – and me, too. Have Beckett check to make sure the stitches are holding, and as long as you don't make any sudden moves and tear them, you should be more or less ready to go

Speaking of Carson... Mitchell opened her eyes, intending to figure out where she was so she could get someone to find Carson and maybe see if he had some time to come and see her.

When she opened her eyes, though, she found that it wasn't necessary. Carson was sitting at her bedside – actually sitting on her bed propped up with a pillow and watching her. He smiled when he saw her eyes opening – he'd been aware of the early signs of her waking up and had simply waited for her open her eyes and return to him.

She returned the smile; thanks to Talon, she wasn't feeling any pain from her injuries and didn't even have to pretend that it didn't hurt to keep him from worrying.

"Hey…"

He reached out and touched her cheek lightly.

"Hi. How do you feel?"

"Fine."

"Are you just saying that to keep me from worrying?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"I don't hurt, Carson, and Talon says as long as I don't make any sudden moves, I'm fine to get up."

Unless he says otherwise, Talon interjected.

"Unless you say otherwise," Mitchell repeated dutifully.

Beckett smiled, knowing her well enough to know that that qualifier had come directly from Talon.

"No pain?" he asked, looking down at her as if expecting to see blood gushing through her bandages.

She shook her head.

"None."

He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips, surprising her. But only for a moment. Then she smiled and returned the kiss, her hand resting lightly on his chest as the two of them enjoyed a rare quiet moment. One that didn't last as long as either of them would have liked.

"Hey…"

They broke the kiss at the sound of the new voice and looked over at the other bed in the room. Ronon Dex was awake, sitting up just a little and looking over at them. There was an odd expression on his face, a mixture between confusion and amusement, and Melony flushed just a little at having been caught making out with Carson.

Beckett reddened a little as well, but he was quick to react, squeezing Melony's hand lightly before getting off her bed and going over to the other one.

"Mr. Dex, it's good to see you're awake."

Dex looked up at him, and then over at Mitchell.

"Where am I?"

Melony answered.

"Atlantis. This is Doctor Carson Beckett."

"Doctor?"

Carson nodded.

"Aye. They brought you here so I could close your wounds and remove the transmitter from your-"

"The transmitter?" Dex interrupted, his hand moving as if to reach back and check – even though he couldn't reach it. "It's gone?"

Beckett nodded again.

"Aye."

"Where is it?" Melony asked, before Dex could say anything. "Did they tell you that I wanted to-"

"It's still working," Carson assured her. "Colonel Sheppard put it in the container that Rodney put his rocks from the lava base in."

"Good idea." She hadn't even considered that – although that didn't mean that she wouldn't have if she'd been feeling a little better when she arrived.

Beckett smiled, but his attention was still on Dex.

"We removed the transmitter, Mr. Dex, and stitched you up. A couple of days in bed, and you'll be good as new."

"Better, even," Melony added.

"You're sure it's gone?" Ronan asked, looking as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing – or was too afraid to hope that it was true.

Carson nodded.

"It's gone."

Dex looked like he didn't know what to say, and Melony understood completely. Luckily, Carson did as well, and he patted Dex's shoulder.

"I'll give you a few minutes…"

Without waiting for an answer, he turned and walked over to Melony's bed, leaned over and kissed her lightly once more.

"I'll be right back."

Mitchell nodded. She'd have left, too, but she really didn't feel like getting out of bed just yet. Carson glanced over at Dex, who had his eyes closed, and then left the room.