John dashed down the corridor towards the cell where Carson was being held. Teyla was close behind him, and Stanton and another medic just steps behind her. Rodney had wanted to come too until Stanton had threatened to set Nurse Thomas on him. Nurse Thomas was an ex-marine and a man-mountain besides. Rodney had a sudden change of mind about joining the rush to Carson.

"Thomas is almost as effective as Ronon in persuading Rodney to 'sit and stay'," John commented to Stanton.

Stanton managed to squeeze a smile onto his anxious face in response.

"Yes," he replied. "He has a lot of uses, does Nurse Thomas."

Just at that moment, Elizabeth joined them, and Ronon was just behind her.

"It's busier than Dupont Circle in the rush hour," Stanton muttered under his breath as he pushed past the others to reach the cell in which Carson was being held.

John and Elizabeth exchanged an amused glance, although they hurried after him. When they reached the cell, one of the marines remained on watch at the door, the other was beside Carson's body, lying on the ground. One of them had had the presence of mind to put Carson into the recovery position.

"What happened?" John asked.

"I don't know, Sir," the marine answered. "He seemed fine, one minute, then we heard a thud and when we went into the room, he was lying on the floor, Sir."

Turning to Stanton, John sought the doctor's opinion. "So how's he doing, Doc?"

"He's unconscious," Stanton replied, rather sharply. His tone said more than his words about his anxiety over his friend's condition. Then, as if he realized how he sounded, and remembering his audience, he continued more gently. "He's breathing is shallow and his pulse erratic, but I can't say more until I get him back to the Infirmary."

"Is that wise?" Caldwell asked, as he arrived just in time to hear Stanton's last remark.

"Unless you want to be responsible for his possible death, Colonel," Stanton said, his sharp tone returning, "then, yes, it is necessary."

Before long, Carson, with a medical entourage, was being wheeled to the Infirmary. They took him to an isolated part of the area, as far away from Rodney as possible. And then the flurry of activity started, as they linked Carson's still unconscious figure up to various monitors and IVs and set up one of the Ancient scanners.

Turning to the following group, Stanton held up his hands to stop them from going any further.

"I'm sorry, but we need room here to do our work," he said firmly. "I'll let you know as soon as we find anything."

Elizabeth nodded in response, and herded the group away from the medical activity around Carson.

"Anxious friend, here," Rodney's voice carried across the Infirmary, reminding John of his duty to his other friend.

As they made their way over to the anxious scientist, the fear was there in Rodney's eyes.

"He's not been giving himself some voodoo medicine has he?" the Canadian asked, trying to mask his feelings as usual.

"They don't know what's wrong yet," Elizabeth said. "But Dr Stanton is good, and he'll do everything he can."

Not feeling particularly reassured by her words, Rodney shifted impatiently in his bed. When he was worried, he did things. But at the moment, he was confined to bed, both by medical orders, and his own weakness.

"He is going to be okay, isn't he?" he asked, pleading with them to give him a positive answer.

"We do not know for certain," Teyla responded, her voice reassuring. "But Carson is strong."

"And stubborn," Ronon rumbled, slumping down on the seat beside Rodney's bed. One by one, the others found a spot to settle as they waited for news about Carson.

The wait was a long one, as Stanton seemed to carry out test after test on the Scot. Every so often, one of the nurses would scurry off with a vial of blood or to get another piece of equipment.

Eventually, Stanton came over to join them. His face was serious as he surveyed their anxious looks. It seemed ironic to him that these were the people who had been responsible for locking Carson up, and now they were anxiously waiting for news about the state of his health. He felt encouraged at this – that they hadn't yet given up on the Scot, or his innocence.

He paused for a moment, trying to work out how to answer the unspoken question in each pair of eyes currently looking at him.

"I honestly don't know what is wrong with him," he finally admitted. "There are only two things that make any sense when I look at the results I've got from the tests, and I can't prove either of them."

"What do you mean, Jeff?" Elizabeth asked, a frown appearing between her eyes.

"Well, Carson's unconscious," Stanton started.

"And you needed a medical degree for that?" Rodney asked, his anxiety showing in his usual sarcasm.

Jeff ignored it. "But there is nothing physically wrong with him. His body is stressed both after being caught in the explosion and the emotional turmoil he has faced, but there is something more. There is some evidence of a residual stunner blast, but we still don't know how long the effects of a stunner linger, and as he's been stunned quite recently . . " Elizabeth looked rather embarrassed at that moment.

"And the other thing?" John asked.

"Well, remember that glass of whisky you found in his room?" Stanton responded. John nodded. "We found traces of GHB in the glass."

"The date-rape drug?" Elizabeth asked.

"Has Carson been raped?" Rodney asked, horrified.

"Yes, it is the date-rape drug, and no, Carson hasn't been raped," Jeff responded quickly.

"But what does that prove?" Elizabeth asked. "Did someone drug Carson?"

"It's possible," Stanton replied. "But GHB can also be taken as a recreational drug."

"So now not only is Carson a murderer, he's also a drug-addict," Rodney said.

"No, I'm not saying that," Stanton replied quickly. "I'm just saying it's a possibility."

"I thought GHB only had a short-term effect," Elizabeth said. "So why is he still unconscious?"

"That is what I don't know," Jeff admitted, wearily. "I can only assume his body has been overloaded, and has more or less shut down. He's in a very deep sleep, as if his body has had enough stress and has just given up."

"Is he in danger?" Ronon asked.

"At the moment, I really don't know," Jeff replied. "I'm afraid I don't really know very much and without the medical evidence, I've not much to work on."

He looked at the worried faces before him. He felt he was letting his boss down, letting his friend down, by not finding out what was wrong with him, and finding a way to cure him.

"Carson would find out what was wrong and how to cure it," Rodney said, his voice edged with resentment.

"And I wish he were awake so I could ask him," Jeff admitted. "But for the moment you're stuck with me. All I can suggest is speaking to Thomas, as he might be able to help."

"The nurse?" Rodney asked scornfully.

"The one who was a Marine?" John asked.

"Don't tell me," Rodney continued. "He's a research biologist as well."

"Actually," Stanton responded, a small grin curling the corner of his mouth for the first time in hours, "he is working towards his PhD at the moment."

Elizabeth nodded. "I remember discussing him with Carson before he came. He was doing research on GHB, wasn't he?"

"Yes," Jeff replied. "It's quite a sad story really. His sister was raped, after her drink was spiked with GHB. The guy who raped her got left off, and she couldn't live with it and killed herself. That's when Thomas left the Marines."

"To find an antidote to GHB?" John asked.

"No," Jeff replied. "To find those who raped his sister, who he considered her murderers."

Ronon nodded in approval.

"Once they were brought to justice, he then started working on finding something to counteract the effects of GHB and a test for discovering traces of it, even after it has ostensibly left the victim's system. That's why his sister's rapist got off; they couldn't prove Thomas's sister had been drugged."

"Then why is he a nurse?" Teyla asked.

"He had to pay his way through college to get the qualifications he needed, and the expertise," Jeff responded. "And he couldn't afford to train to be a doctor."

"So would it be worth having a chat with him?" John asked.

"He might be able to rule out GHB as the cause of the continued unconsciousness," Jeff responded. "Or confirm it. I'm not really sure what stage his research is at, but he's likely to know more about that I do. I've only encountered a few cases, and they were admitted to the hospital not long after ingesting it, and Carson took it several days ago."