Part 12 Will This Ever End?
Over the next days, John's world was a constant yo-yo from feeling like hell to halfway believing that things were finally getting better. However, for every improvement something seemed to turn up to set him back. The list of problems could have filled a medical journal back on Earth.
During the periods when he had been able to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time, Rodney and Carson had filled him in on everything that had occurred. John had been devastated to learn the events concerning his duplicates death, the fact that Aldrich was still at large and that the gate crystals were missing, meaning that they where stuck here for the time being.
This news had done nothing to help the nightmarish dreams that had plagued his mind during the periods of much needed sleep. It became such a problem that in the end, Carson had forced him to take some medication. Surprisingly, it had helped and the healing process had finally begun.
-SGA-
On the seventh morning of his hospital confinement, John had just finished a surprisingly good breakfast when Carson breezed in to check on him. "How's our patient doing this morning?" he asked, grabbing an old-fashioned chart from the bottom of John's bed.
"We are doing fine." John smiled, looking at the other patient in the room. An unfortunate man who had got in the way of crossfire and ended up with a bullet in his leg.
Without a word, Carson crossed over and took the other man's chart. "Aye, I can see that. Kidney function normal, temperature normal, BP's fine, no sign of infection, so you should be out of here by tomorrow if Dr. Ricaud agrees, Mr. Manson."
Manson looked relieved. "Oh, that's good to hear, I'm anxious to get back to the family."
"Aye, I'm sure ya are."
John looked downcast. "And me?" he called out like a little boy missing out on some birthday cake.
Carson moved back to stand over John's bed and consulting his chart, he related. "Kidney function getting there but still a less than satisfactory urine output, temperature no hotter than normal, BP no higher than normal for you, oh sorry, I was thinking of Rodney. Actually, your BP is a little elevated, was it the pretty blond nurse who measured it?"
Before John could answer, Mr. Manson piped up. "It most certainly was and she can certainly make the Colonel blush."
Carson smiled. "Can she indeed?" John went slightly red and Carson couldn't decide if it was from embarrassment or annoyance. "Well, I'd better recheck your BP to make sure its back to normal." With that, he fished out his own instrument and proceeded to check it. "Well, that seems to be better now, so it must have been the nurse."
John used this positive note and turning sorrowful puppy dog eyes towards his doctor friend, he pleaded. "So when can I get out, Carson?"
Carson looked at him for a moment, lost in thought as he met John's eyes. Then it occurred to him, something that he should have noticed immediately when faced with the rather poor copy of his friend. The soul that made John what he was, his very inner being had been sourly missing in the duplicate and he suddenly felt like giving John a hug just for being there and being himself. It also made him want to give John something positive, so against his own better judgment, Carson stated. "Well, you're not well enough yet to go wondering the halls by yourself but I'll see if they've got some form of wheelchair to take ya out for a ride."
That was the best that John could hope for under the circumstances, so he relented. "I guess that's better than nothing."
An hour later, the pretty nurse who had measured John's BP earlier came bustling in to get him ready for his first outing outside his hospital room. When the nurse finished helping him to dress in some kind of bathrobe made of a material not unlike silk, she called for someone to bring in what John thought would be a conventional wheelchair.
Instead, Ronon and Teyla came carefully in with a hoverchair, which they glided towards the bed. "Your transport awaits you, sir." Teyla said with a beaming smile.
Looking on in amazement, John allowed Ronon help him over to the chair and get comfortable. After studying the controls for a few minutes, John eyes lit up with joy as he commented, "Wow, this is cool." Taking control of the chair, he carefully glided it out of the room.
It didn't take long for the pilot to get the hang of things, forcing Ronon and Teyla to trot behind him in order to keep up.
They soon found their way to a balcony overlooking the large entryway. John stopped and looked towards the outside world for the first time in what felt like weeks, apart from the couple of hours before he'd been shot. "How long has it been since we first arrived on Capella?"
"Three of your standard weeks, Colonel," Teyla answered him.
John felt a suddenly wave of dizziness. "It feels longer. You know, at one stage I never thought I'd see you guys again."
"Believe me, Col…err…John, we thought the same." Teyla replied as she squeezed his hand.
"Glad we got ya back, Sheppard." Ronon growled as close to emotion as the big Satedan could come. "I kind of missed having you around."
John turned and looked at them. "Thanks. And now all we have to do is find those blasted crystals and then we can all go home."
Ronon nodded. "We'll find them or they'll have to switch the damn power off so we can beam back up to the Daedalus."
"I think they're afraid the Wraith will come if they power down a second time." John commented. He hated to admit it but he was beginning to tire already and he felt somewhat lightheaded. "It's been great but I think I'll go back to my room now."
Teyla looked at him with concern. "Can you drive or do you want us to control the chair?"
"No, its ok, thanks. I ain't tired enough to let you two drive with a remote control." Saying no more, John lightly touched the controls and turned back towards the hospital.
-SGA-
The next day, he felt somewhat fitter for a longer trip out and accompanied once again by Teyla and Ronon, he decided to pay Rodney a visit, wherever he was. However, this time he'd persuaded the nurse to let him dress in something a little less like an invalid, so she had found him a new tunic top and pants in a light blue. The nurse had smiled at him and had commented that blue was definitely his color.
In a surprisingly cheerful mood, John eventually found McKay with his elbows deep in the innards of some machinery. "Wow, Rodney that looks even more complicated than anything we have at home."
Rodney jumped when he first heard John speak and came out of his awkward position rubbing his arm with an exaggerate movement as he cursed, "My god, Sheppard, what are you trying to do, give me a heart attack or something?"
John looked a little sheepish but heck, it was so good to feel a whole bit better and have his friends around. "Sorry, I got a little over enthusiastic. We're good, right?"
Rodney relented seeing his friend's happy mood. "Yes, we're...great and it's good to see you looking more like your old self."
"Yeah, for the first time in days I feel fine. Yep, real good but I'll be even better once we can go home."
"I think that goes for us all, Colonel." Teyla spoke up. "I for one will be happy to see my people and friends again but for you it will be even more of a joy."
John's mood faded a little when he thought about the other John Sheppard probably still lying in the morgue. Deep in his retrospect, he didn't notice that Major Lorne had entered the room and had everyone's attention. Suddenly, his mood darkened even more as he caught the words Wraith and Hive ship. "What's going on, Major?" he asked, coming up to the others.
Everyone turned to look at him as Lorne reported. "Apparently, the Daedalus has just pickup a Hive ship entering the system. It's still far out but on its present course it will be here in two days time. The Daedalus will continue to monitor the situation."
John exchanged a look with Rodney and nodded as Officer Tamar, Dr. Ricaud and a senior engineer by the name of Baltar walked in. "Ah…Colonel it's good to see you looking better!" Tamar called. "We have just heard about your ship picking up a Wraith hive…"
Baltar rudely interrupted him before he could say more. "I can assure everyone, the defense system is up and operational, but I suggest you contact your ship and warn them away. I would hate them to get caught up and destroyed by error."
"Are you absolutely sure the system will defend this planet against a Hive ship?" Rodney asked. "I mean it's been a while since it was last tested."
Tamar and Baltar looked at him as if he'd gone completely mad. "Have faith, Dr. McKay." Baltar reassured.
Rodney went to open his mouth but John spoke up before he could. "All the same, I think we'd better be prepared just in case." Not that we could do much against a Hive, he thought
"If you think it's necessary, Colonel." Tamar answered. "We'll seal Sanjava again and increase the shielding, and as before, nothing can get in or out."
Nobody was too thrilled with the idea of that, as they didn't want to be stuck here forever if the Wraith did get through and took up residence in the city. John looked at everyone in turn. "Okay, I guess we have no choice. I'd like to get in touch with Colonel Caldwell so where's the transmission room?"
Baltar and Rodney spoke at once. "I'll take you there." "I'll show you."
John smiled at the two men realizing that although he didn't know Baltar, he did seem the Rodney type. That's all he needed to be stuck in a dome with two McKays. "Alright why don't you both show me?"
It didn't take long to get to the transmission area and as John settled his hoverchair in front of the console, Rodney contacted the Daedalus for him and John heard the controller saying. "It's good to hear that Colonel Sheppard is feeling better."
John took over the mike. "Thanks for that, Captain. Can I speak to Colonel Caldwell, please?"
"Yes, of course, sir, patching you through."
Caldwell's no nonsense voice soon came over the comm.. "I'm glad to hear you're still in one piece, Colonel, what can we do for you?"
John wasn't too sure Caldwell was really glad that he was in one piece or not but he let it pass. The others had told him it was Caldwell's idea to come for him in the Daedalus, so he decided to be polite and on his best behavior, for once. "Thank you, Colonel. What's the status of the Hive ship? Is still the same?"
"Yes, it is."
"Okay, our planetary friends here are concerned about the Daedalus and suggest that you evacuate the area until the Wraith ship is dealt with."
Caldwell hesitated. Surely, the defense system wasn't that powerful. However, destruction of the Daedalus and its crew would be a devastating thing for Atlantis and the whole Stargate program, so he relented. "All right, we'll retreat to the outer system and keep an eye on things with our long range sensors."
"That's good to hear," Sheppard replied. With nothing more to say, he signed off. Suddenly feeling rather weary, he stifled a yawn.
Teyla looked at him concerned by how pale and drawn he still appeared. "I think you should go and have a rest now, Colonel. Ronon, Major Lorne, and I can deal with the security forces and arrange for some defense strategies should the system fail."
It was really the last thing that John wanted. He liked to be the one keeping a breast of things and doing the organizing but this time around, he knew he wasn't fit enough. He had two days to get stronger just in case things went wrong and they had to defend Sanjava, so he reluctantly agreed to go back to the hospital unit.
The way from the transmission room back to the hospital took them through a quiet and more secluded section of engineering. Little did they know that a pair of eyes watched their progress. Eyes full of hatred and malicious intent in a mind beyond reason and totally, completely, mad.
tbc. (Don't forget to please review)