A/N:- Remember how I told you there was only going to be 4 more chapters a couple of chapters back...well...um I didn't lie as such I just got a teensy bit carried away. Now I promise there will only be 4 more chapters after this one...honest!

Now, isn't about time dear Shep went home?

Chapter 15

Pactum Serva

Rodney could only watch in alarm as the medics swarmed around his stricken friend. Streams of incomprehensible medical jargon were called out as Sheppard's ragged clothes were cut from his body, revealing the true extent of his injuries. Rodney felt the colour drain from his own face as he saw the savage bruising on the Colonel's torso. Looking at the fragile body at the centre of the chaotic medical bay, Rodney found himself incredulous that Sheppard had managed to stay on his feet so long but then again, he thought, the pilot had always been a stubborn son of a bitch.

A sudden thought brought Rodney back to himself and he moved forward, panicked. "They drugged him!" He reached out a hand, pointing at Sheppard. "Lots of drugs!" A nurse broke away from the bed and headed toward him, taking his raised arm and gently leading him to one side.

"Do you know what they gave him?" she asked.

"Of course I don't know what they gave him!" His tone of voice made clear his disbelief that she would ask such a stupid question. "Do you really think I stopped to ask?" He glanced over her shoulder at the team working on Sheppard. "What are they doing? Should they be doing that?"

"We have everything under control, Doctor McKay."

"Under control? Is that woman a qualified doctor?" He pointed an accusing finger at the petite young woman who appeared to be issuing the orders.

"Yes, of course."

"Only she really doesn't look old enough to be fully qualified."

"Well I assure you she is. Doctor Jacobs is one of the best. Now if you'd just…"

"She can barely be out of high school, for God's sake!" he interrupted. He felt a gentle tug on his hand as he watched the nurse turn away and head back to Sheppard. He snapped his head around to see Teyla, a worried expression etched on her normally serene features; her dark eyes flitted between Rodney and Sheppard.

"Let them look after John and let a nurse look at you. Some of your bruising looks painful."

"Painful?" He looked at her like she was insane. "Look at him!" He pointed at Sheppard. "That's painful! This is nothing. Where the hell is Carson when you need him? He should be here."

"Rodney, calm down, you are making your lip bleed." He could feel the warm bubble of blood building on his swollen bottom lip and wiped it away with the back of his hand. As he looked down at the blood streaked across his hand, he noticed he was shaking. Once he'd noticed the tremor it seemed to grow until his whole body shook uncontrollably and his heart thumped wildly in his chest as he gasped for breath in short shallow gasps. Looking at Teyla, panic overtaking him, he opened his eyes wide, silently begging for help. Wrapping an arm around him, she gently led him toward a bed, all the while talking in her soothing voice but all the words jumbled into each other and it became just an indistinct murmur. The room started spinning wildly and the last thing he saw was Ronon moving forward to catch him as he fell.

ooOoo

Carson had made her promise to get some rest. She'd made him promise the same; the care worn into his face had aged him in a matter of hours, his normally gentle blue eyes grown tired and hard. He'd seen too much death, they all had. Five soldiers had died in the initial explosion, they'd lost one more on the operating table. Austin was still critical, as was another marine, and a third was stable but had lost a leg. Then there were assorted minor injuries, most of which had been returned to their own quarters to save space in the already packed infirmary.

She felt guilty at taking the time to return to her own quarters but she felt the need to be clean. She stood in the shower and scrubbed away the dirt that still covered her from the explosion in the gate room. She found marks on her arms where she had been hit by tiny pieces of shrapnel and, stepping out of the shower, she wiped the condensation from the mirror to see the same tiredness she had seen in Carson on her own face.

It hadn't been her intention to fall asleep, she had only lain down for a moment, but somewhere along the line exhaustion had got the better of her and she had drifted off to sleep. She awoke with a start as her earpiece activated and she heard Carson's quiet voice in her ear.

"Elizabeth, did I wake you love?"

"Um…that's okay." Glancing over at her alarm clock, she was horrified to see four hours had passed. "Carson, has the Daedalus made contact yet?"

"Yes, actually that's why I'm contacting you." She got to her feet, trying to shake off the groggy feeling of sleep. She was still pulling on her boots as she made her way to the door, a delicate balancing act that almost landed her in a heap in the corridor.

"Rodney?"

"And Colonel Sheppard." The breath was knocked out of her at his words and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What? Alive?"

"It would appear so." She was back running, heading for the transporter. "They're still three hours out but Doctor Galloway is sending me details of their medical conditions now."

"I'm on my way." Diving into the transporter, she hit the button, stepping out and breaking in to a jog. Entering the crowded infirmary, she spotted the Scot bending over a laptop as information scrolled down the screen.

"Carson?"

"Good news is Rodney doesn't appear to have any serious injuries. "

"And John?" Despite her best efforts, she couldn't hide the mixture of hope and panic in her voice.

"Not so good." Carson rubbed his face wearily as he studied the screen. "Bloody hell! It'd be easier to list what injuries he doesn't have."

"But he's going to be okay?" Carson stood up straight. When he looked at Elizabeth it was with his patented Doctor's expression.

"The medical crew on the Daedalus are excellent and are doing everything they can."

"That's not answering my question, Carson."

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, I can't give you an answer. I'll have a better idea when they get here."

ooOoo

Elizabeth spent the next two and a half hours wandering the halls of Atlantis. Now that the Irithians were out of the city, a shocked quietness had settled. She visited the injured, talked to the distressed and welcomed back the civilians from the mainland. A group of Athosians had come with them, offering assistance in anyway they could. Before Elizabeth could decline the offer, they were already setting about cleaning up the debris in the gate room.

With half an hour to go before the Daedalus was due home, she took up residence in Carson's office and watched as he oversaw the preparation of two beds, one in the ward for Rodney and another in the already crowded ICU. Through the glass she could see nurses setting up an array of equipment and monitors around the bed.

The medical staff were exhausted; Carson claimed to have had a couple of hours sleep but still looked fit to drop. She had caught her own reflection in the glass walls around the infirmary and knew she looked equally as bad. Her four hours of sleep had only served to highlight her need for rest; she sat nursing a cup of the strongest coffee she could find, gulping it down as if it were medicine, never really tasting it.

She felt her heart lurch as Colonel Caldwell's voice came over her earpiece announcing their arrival. The increase in tension in the medical staff in the infirmary was visible. Carson lifted his hand to his ear as he spoke to the doctor aboard the Daedalus and then, turning briefly to look at Elizabeth, he let them know he was ready.

A quick flash of white light and Rodney was there, laying on the bed in front of her, looking dazed and exhausted, his face ashen. A nurse and doctor were quickly at his side. Another flash through the glass in the ICU and a second figure appeared on the empty bed. Carson wasted no time in moving to the bedside; the doctor from the ship had beamed down with Sheppard and was already filling the Scotsman in. Elizabeth stepped forward, craning her neck to see through the glass dividing wall, wanting to see; she furrowed her brow, part of her unable to believe that the fragile body lying in the bed was John. She caught another flash of light out of the corner of her eye and felt a hand wrap around her own and squeeze gently. She knew it was Teyla. She turned to the Athosian.

"The doctor says he is stable."

"Was he conscious when you found him?"

"Barely. But he recognised us and was worried about Atlantis." Elizabeth let out a small, breathy sigh.

"That sounds like John. Always worrying about everyone else." He'd been coherent enough to worry about them; that gave her some hope. "And Rodney?"

"He had us worried; he lost consciousness and appeared to be having trouble breathing. His blood sugar levels were dangerously low and he is suffering from exhaustion and shock. But he is more concerned for the Colonel than himself." And if Rodney was more concerned for John than himself then it had to be bad, Elizabeth thought.

She watched as one of the nurses pulled the screen around John's bed. Ronon had seated himself behind them and in the reflection in the glass she could see him, his head resting in his hands, the closest she'd ever seen him come to displaying any emotion beyond anger, though she suspected he was also feeling a great deal of that right now; she knew she was.

Once the chaos of the infirmary had settled down, she broke away from Teyla, offering her a grateful smile, and found her way to Rodney's bedside. The bruises around his neck were developing into deep purple handprints, the left side of his face was also bruised and there was a single black stitch in his cut lip. She didn't think she'd ever seen him look so exhausted or so pale. He sat up on the bed, his eyes fixed firmly on the screens on the other side of the glass, almost as if he could see through them to his friend lying behind. The nurse was attaching a heart monitor to him but he barely seemed to notice.

"Rodney?" She tilted her head in an attempt to make eye contact. "You don't know how relieved I am to see you in one piece."

"I found him. I found him and I brought him home and now the son of a bitch is gonna die on us." She took his hand gently in her own.

"Carson will take good care of him…and he's a fighter." If Elizabeth had to describe John Sheppard, that was one word that would always come to mind. "What happened?"

"Kolya! Kolya did that to him." He spat the name out as though it was a curse. As far as Elizabeth was concerned, it was; that one man had caused so much misery and death.

"And Sergeant McCormack?" A shiver seemed to run through him.

"They shot him, blew his brains out; Sheppard saw it, they made him watch." He wrenched his eyes away from the ICU and turned to look at Elizabeth and she could see the anguish in his eyes, tears barely held back. "He was there alone all this time being tortured and God knows what…" He trailed off for a moment. "He's got to get better, he's the hero. That's how it works right?"

"Yeah, that's how it works."

She tried to smile but, seeing his face so openly scared and vulnerable, Elizabeth failed in her attempt to hold back her own tears. Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around the scientist, pulling him into a tight hug, and she let the tears fall. Now the dam that had been holding back the emotions had been breached, she found all the pain of recent times coming to the surface; so she cried. Cried for Rodney and for John and for all the people they'd lost.

ooOoo

Despite his exhaustion, Rodney had fought sleep to the last but eventually his body won the fight and he drifted off. Elizabeth sat with him, watching as the lines of stress on his face slowly dissolved away. He looked so peaceful. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of him; she knew it would be a long time before she'd find peace in sleep again. The infirmary was calm now, just the low sound of breathing and the quiet beeps of the monitors, so when Carson spoke she almost jumped out of her chair.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I didn't mean to startle you,." he said. "I just thought you might like to see him now."

"Is he awake?" she asked, standing up.

"No, love. It's going to be a good few hours before he wakes up. To tell the truth, I'd be happier to see him awake, the head wounds are worrying me a wee bit, but his other injuries and his condition generally complicate matters." Elizabeth followed Carson through to the intensive care unit. The screens were still pulled across and when she stepped behind them she felt her breath catch in her throat; it really was John, just not the same John she had last seen on a sunny day what seemed like a lifetime ago.

As she had been when he had first been transported down from the Daedalus, she was struck again by how fragile he looked. His face was gaunt, a fact only exaggerated by the close-cropped hair. An ugly scar ran from his hairline back toward his crown. On the same side his eye had swollen completely shut and bruising mottled seemingly every inch of exposed skin. His wrists were bandaged and one hand was arranged in a complicated splint. As well as the array of monitors, two chest drains ran out from under his gown.

"He suffered severe pulmonary contusions, bleeding both into the lung itself and into the chest cavity."

"But he's breathing on his own?" she asked, surprised.

"Aye. Which is a good sign. Chest injuries will normally heal themselves, we'll just use pain management to keep him comfortable and let nature take its course."

"And he will recover?"

"Normally, I'd not hesitate to say yes. But normally the Colonel is in excellent physical condition. As it is, he's malnourished and has a whole host of other injuries." Carson sighed heavily. "But even so, I'd like to think the odds are in his favour. The next few hours are the important ones." Elizabeth reached out and laid her fingers on the sheet beside John's arm, scared to touch him.

"What happened to his hand?"

"The bastards broke his fingers. Not the most original torture method but a damned effective one, I'd wager." She could see Carson's mouth twist in disgust and it suddenly brought it home to her, the fact that John had been held prisoner by these animals for so long, and she felt sick at the thought. She remembered back to Rodney's words, what he had said about McCormack's death, and looked at the man lying sleeping on the bed, his skin so pale it almost matched the white sheets, and realised that healing John Sheppard's body was only half the battle.

"You should get some more rest."

She forced a smile. "Look who's talking."

"Aye and you're right. I'll get some sleep if you do." They both looked at the sleeping figure. "He'll be well taken care of. And he'll get through this, I know he will. We've just got to have a little faith."