DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.
Note: There are places in this chapter that have numerous uses of Dr. Weir, rather than using her given name. This is because to Sora she is known as that, and as the leader of Atlantis… the same as earlier when Kolya would only use her title until he thought he broke her, and she became less. If this bothers you –sorry—but I'm doing it for a reason :)
Dr. Dredd-- thanks for the help on the medical questions-- and by looking at this chapter.
johliz4ever--thanks for boucning ideas back and forth so that I realize that our stories will not be too similar
Weathering the Storm Part 8
Elizabeth's rest and ruminations were short-lived as she heard Rodney ask if anyone had a candy bar, before she heard the sound of cloth rustle against the chair followed by the sound of an object impacting the floor. She turned around toward the sound, and saw Teyla and John rush over to help their fallen teammate. "I have some candy in my office," Elizabeth said before she could think about the fact that she did not want to set foot in there.
"Are you holding out on us and hogging all the candy?" John asked with a slight smile as he started checking Rodney's vitals.
"Many times what is in my desk becomes breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner, so I don't feel too guilty about 'hogging' the candy as you put it." Elizabeth teased back, while mentally going over how she could put off going into her office. She thought of telling Teyla were the treats were, but as the members of SA1 were trained to deal with Rodney's medical problem, she knew that Teyla was needed here more than she was. She quickly thought about the rations that would be stored in the jumpers in case of an emergency flight, but realized that it would be quicker for her to get what was in her office. Time was of the essence with Rodney's hypoglycemic shock, and so she knew that she would have to face her fears, and her office, before she believed she was ready.
As Elizabeth squared her shoulders to face her office and her memories, she heard John chuckle and say, "It's a good thing that Carson can't hear you or he would be lecturing you about proper diet. Granted I might just tell him later, it will give him an excuse to stay awake and talking."
Elizabeth was grateful for the humor as she stepped into her office. Her eyes riveted to the red spot on the floor beside her desk. The images started attacking her, just as Kolya had attacked her earlier in the day. She saw the silver glint from the knife as in impacted her shoulder. If anyone was looking in at Elizabeth, they would have seen her backup until she backed into the wall on the right of the door. When she collided with the wall, Elizabeth felt the air leave her lungs as she was pushed to the floor by Kolya. Her breath started to come in gasps, as much from the pain in her shoulder as from the hands that were wrapped around her throat. The pain in her shoulder grew in intensity, and pulled her back to the present.
Elizabeth let her right arm hang limp to relieve the muscles that tried to work even though they were injured, and she pushed off the wall with her left hand. She followed the contours of the wall around to the back of the desk as she tried to avoid the main part of the floor. She opened up the bottom desk drawer and grabbed two chocolate bars before she quickly bolted out of the room, not bothering to look back in fear of being dragged back into her memories.
Once she hurried over to threesome near the computer station, her leader's mask was back in place; the only thing visibly out of place was the fact that she would not move her right arm. Dr. Weir handed the chocolate over to Teyla, as she was closest to Rodney. Teyla took the offered candy, and started to tear into the wrapper. Dr. Weir noticed that Rodney was still conscious, however he was very uncoordinated. Teyla did not even try to get Rodney to take the chocolate, but broke off small pieces and placed them in his mouth. Elizabeth watched the process and wondered how many time on a mission Teyla and the others had needed to put their knowledge of hypoglycemic shock procedures into practice.
Elizabeth was staring so intently, that she did not realize that Major Sheppard was watching her. He noticed that she handed Teyla the candy bar with her left hand. As he continued to observe her, he noticed that once her left hand was free of the chocolate, that she used that hand to cradle her right arm against her chest. As the military leader for the city and he hoped as Elizabeth's friend, John felt that it was his duty to fix the mess that was caused by the Genii incursion. "Are you okay Elizabeth?" he asked hoping that she might give a straight answer.
Elizabeth saw Teyla glance up briefly at her, before she went back to feeding Rodney to get his sugar levels back up to normal. "I'm fine. Just a few ache and pains. Nothing a nice hot shower can't cure," as Dr. Weir spoke she also moved her arm slightly to try to show the Major that it was nothing to be concurred with. The streaks of red hot pain that flared through her arm let her know that the move was a stupid one to make. However outwardly she was able to let the Major she only a slight grimace, rather then the shout of pain that she would have desired at the moment.
Sora spoke up from nearby, and Elizabeth jumped as she did not know the girl was near. "What about…," Sora started to ask about the blood that she had seen earlier soaking through the makeshift bandage that Kolya had constructed.
"…You. I don't know what to do with you yet, we should go talk." Dr. Weir interrupted to keep Sora from asking about her injuries in front of the others. Knowing that the jumper bay was safe from the lightening strikes around the city and that it would have medical supplies and rations, Elizabeth determined that she could get to talk privately while also getting a feel for how the newcomer would act. "Currently you can come help me get some supplies out of the jumper bay, and we'll talk about the future." Elizabeth wanted to get Sora away from her people so that she could swear her to secrecy about the situation at hand.
Dr. Weir started to walk away. She tried to swing her arms a little as she knew the others were watching her retreat; however the pain was too intense to keep the movement up. She assumed that Sora would follow her without being asked again, and the sound of following footsteps let her know that she was correct.
Major Sheppard watched his leader walk away, followed closely behind by Sora. John did not like watching Elizabeth go off along with a known enemy. He turned around from his seated position beside Rodney, and grasped the remaining chocolate away from Teyla's hands. "Follow them, and keep her safe," he instructed as he started to break off a bit of the candy. "If they notice you, mention you were retrieving the hunters."
Teyla nodded and efficiently moved to her feet before she hurriedly and quietly followed in Dr. Weir's footsteps.
Dr. Weir walked into the jumper bay and heard the echo of two sets of footsteps. She walked until she was about twenty feet within the room before she turned to face Sora and the conversation that she had been mentally running through her head. She spoke quietly but firmly, "You do not repeat what happened in my office to anyone. Do you understand?"
Sora was close behind Elizabeth and almost ran into her before she could get her feet to stop her forward momentum. She looked in Dr. Weir's eyes, and knew that there was no room for argument, even if Sora thought she might need added medical attention. "I will keep silent as long as I think it's advantageous."
Sora was talking about her silence being advantageous to Elizabeth's health; however Dr. Weir did not hear it as such. "Oh it will be advantageous to you to stay silent, I promise you that," Dr. Weir did not make promises that she did not think she could keep, but she knew that she would keep that one. Before Sora could talk up and correct Dr. Weir's understanding of her words, Elizabeth changed the subject as she knew that all was said on the previous subject that needed to be. "So what should we do with you? Should we contact the Genii to release you back to them?" Dr. Weir noticed the panicked look on Sora's face when the change of subject became clear in her mind.
With wide eyes, Sora started to plead her case to the leader of Atlantis, "If you send me back I will be killed for my insubordination to my Commander. I would not follow his orders when he commanded that I leave Teyla and return to the control room."
Dr. Weir did not know of the situation that Sora was talking about, but she was appalled at the thought that they would kill their people over something that was so benign. "Okay, then I guess you'll stay here, but you have to promise me that you will not harm anyone here, especially Teyla. Is that clear?" Sora nodded her head that she understood, and once Dr. Weir saw her affirmation, she started walking toward the nearest jumper. Hearing Sora start walking again, she continued her train of thought, "I'm not sure what to do with you? I don't know if it would be safer for you and my people to confine you to a set of quarters, or if you might be able to be some use for the city. What do you think?" Elizabeth would have continued with more suggestions, but her mind started to get cloudy, and she had to concentrate to put one foot in front of the other to continue walking in a straight line to the jumper.
Elizabeth paused in her communication with the person that was following her, as the pain in her shoulder intensified to the point that she could not ignore it anymore. She felt the heat the seemed to eat at the wound, and felt the perspiration as it beaded on her forehead and started to drip down her face. She thought that her blurred vision came from the liquid falling down her face, and the tears that she knew were building up because of the pain. She closed her eyes, and reached up with her left hand in order to wipe away the hindrance to her vision. As she was moving her hand back to her side, she shook her head as if to further get her bearings as she continued to walk forward. As Dr. Weir opened her eyes, she realized that the quick movement of her head did not help the fuzzy feelings that she was starting to have. She did not have much time to berate herself for the movement however, as her vision started to tunnel in, and the blackness took her toward oblivion. She felt the relief from the pain, and did not even start to feel the pit of her stomach fall as she started to drop toward the hard jumper bay floor.
Sora was about to reply to Dr. Weir when she realized that the person in front of her was struggling to remain walking and upright. She knew that Dr. Weir had been injured, and came to the realization that the events of the day were starting to catch up to her. She watched as the leader of Atlantis closed her eyes and shook her head as if to clear her thought and the hazy vision that Sora knew came with blood lose. Sora walked to the left side of Dr. Weir so that she could help her if the need arose. Out of the corner of her eye, Sora saw the dazed look that was in Dr. Weir's eyes once they opened again. She saw as Atlantis's leader blindly reached out in front of her to try and protect her self from the emanate fall. Sora grabbed for her and helped maneuver her to the floor so that she would not get injured farther. Knowing Major Sheppard from the events of the day, she knew that he would not hesitate to harm her if Dr. Weir came back injured from a fall.
Sora quickly assessed the injuries of the unconscious form in front of her. She knew about the shoulder wound as she had seen the blood on the makeshift bandage earlier; however, Sora knew that she needed determine if the other wounds delivered by her Commander needed medical attention. Sora touched the inside of Dr. Weir's upper tight, and was realized that she did not feel the heat that would signify that she was bleeding. As that just determined that Dr. Weir was not bleeding currently, Sora raised her hand to her nose and sniffed for the tell-tale copper scent that came with blood. Once she determined that the prone figure was not bleeding from that injury, Sora moved her attention to the shoulder wound.
The jacket was carefully pulled away from the shoulder, and Sora maneuvered the left corner of the shirt away from the shoulder, so that she could she the bandage underneath. As she moved the corner down, she felt the warm stickiness on her fingers, and realized that Dr. Weir had either reopened the wound or had not stopped bleeding, Sora hoped for the former as the less blood loss the better. The shirt needed to be moved permanently away from the shoulder, and so Sora was about to try to remove Dr. Weir's jacket when she heard a hurried set of footprints come toward her. She looked up to watch as Teyla approach the downed pair. Sora could tell from the look on her old friend's face, that Teyla was worried about her fallen leader rather than angry at Sora thinking that she might have hurt the doctor. Sora realized with dread that Major Sheppard was not bound to be as lenient once he found out that Dr. Weir collapsed when talking with her.
Teyla watched the two from a shadow near the jumper bay entrance. The cavernous jumper bay helped amplify and sent any sound in all directions. Therefore she was able to hear the conversation between her old friend and the leader of Atlantis. Her brow wrinkled in confusion as she wandered what it was that Dr. Weir commanded Sora to keep quiet about. Her ponderings were silenced as she heard the sound of footsteps retreating away from her, and she glanced out to find the next closest shadow from which to watch the two. As she was hurrying stealthily to her next hiding place she saw Elizabeth start to collapse, Sora reach out for her, and the subsequent fall from the added weight.
Teyla started to rush over to help, and watched as Sora started her initial assessment of Dr. Weir's injuries. She watched as Sora checked for blood from Dr. Weir. She wondered what wound could be that high on the inside of Elizabeth's thigh, and the horrible conclusion of the situation slammed into Teyla. The communication that had played out between Sora and Dr. Weir now made sense. Teyla paused in her rush to the two and thought about how this might affect Elizabeth in the future. To her people, rape was a worse crime than murder, as it murdered the soul in even the strongest of people. Teyla watched as Sora seemed satisfied that Elizabeth was not bleeding, and therefore did not require medical condition for the brutal treatment she received from Kolya. In Teyla's community, this type of condition was treated by the family members. The thought that Elizabeth did not have any family on which to rely, made Teyla vow to herself that she would help Dr. Weir get thought this and all the outcomes that it might bring.
The past came barreling into Teyla's mind, and she remembered a time when her dear friend Ariena was raped by a member of the village. The man was made mad from the death of his wife and children at the hands of the Wraith during the previous culling. Ariena's family and friends tried to help her through the ordeal, and the subsequent pregnancy in brought about. She watched her friend start to hide within herself as the awareness that she was carrying this unwanted child started to show. Tears started burning at Teyla's eyes, as she thought about the loss of her friend and the innocent child as a pregnant Ariena had wandered away from the village during the next Wraith attack. The family later found a note that mentioned she did not fear her life being sucked away at the hands of the Wraith, as her soul had already been taken from her. Teyla closed her eyes in memory of her friend, and when she opened them, she was back in the present to help her new friend and leader.
Teyla noticed that Sora was trying to get to a wound on the arm that Major Sheppard noticed Elizabeth cradling earlier. She hurried over to the two, not bothering to keep silent any longer, and noticed the bandage soaked with blood that was on Dr. Weir's shoulder. She got to work helping Sora remove the clothes that hindered them in treating the wound.
Sora looked up when Teyla reached her and saw the realization in her eyes of what had happened to Dr. Weir. "I know you were following us, and therefore you heard Dr. Weir's not-to-subtle request to keep her rape silent. Will you follow that request?" Sora asked before she let Teyla start to help her in checking Dr. Weir's shoulder wound.
Teyla nodded, knowing that she could try to get Elizabeth to open up to others in her own time, and knelt next to the pair to help out where she could. With Teyla's help, the jacket was easier to get off. Sora would lift Dr. Weir slightly off the ground, and Teyla would move the jacket out from under her. While they both hated moving the shoulder as they feared they might cause more bleeding, they knew it had to be done. Once the jacket was off, Teyla rushed over to the jumper that the twosome had been headed for, and grabbed out the first aid kit the resided there. She hurried back over to Elizabeth and handed Sora the scissors so that she could cut Dr. Weir's shirt away from the shoulder. Teyla radioed to John that Dr. Weir collapsed; while at the same time she watched as Sora left the remaining shirt in place to protect Elizabeth's modesty.
John finished giving Rodney the remaining candy bar that he had taken from Teyla, and hoped that Rodney's sugar level was back to a safe range as there was no glucose meter nearby. He was about to go over and check on the doctor's condition when he heard Rodney start to fight against an unseen enemy. John knew that hypoglycemic shock would often make Rodney confused, and so he tried to quite his teammate. "Rodney, it's okay. You're safe now." Rodney did not seem to hear, but clutched at his right forearm and muttered that he would talk. "You don't need to talk Rodney. You're okay." As he said this, he noticed the jagged cut in his sleeve, and the red stain around it. "What did they do to you Rodney?" he asked not expecting a reply from the semi-conscious man in front of him.
John rushed across the control room to get the first aid kit that was hanging on the far wall. As he did so he questioned Beckett and Aiden to make sure that they were okay. Beckett glared at him like that was a stupid question to ask. At least John thought it was a glare. He wasn't positive that Beckett might not have been seeing double from the conk he received to the back of his head.
Aiden replied, "We are doing just fine, sir. We're just relaxing and I'm lapping up the silence for once." When Beckett turned his glare on Aiden, John realized that it was the same look that he received moments ago, and so breathed a sigh of relief that Carson wasn't as dazed as he could have been. Beckett did not try to gripe back to the man, and so John knew that he was not fairing as well as normal either though. He left Aiden to make sure that the doctor did not fall asleep, just in case he might have a concussion. As John was walking away he heard Aiden gentle tell the doc, "I was just kidding. But if you don't stay awake for me, I will fill the silence and it will not be pretty." John shook his head at the antics of his lieutenant even in the face of a disastrous day.
When Major Sheppard got back to Rodney, he noticed that Rodney had stopped rambling and was closer to the verge of being unconscious. John was grateful, as he did not want to hurt Rodney. Even if they did bicker all the time, they were still teammates and friends. Rodney loved to have someone to talk with that could understand and even match his wry sense of humor. As John got the scissors out and went to cut off the jacket and shirt from Rodney's forearm, he heard Rodney start to whimper. Not knowing if it was from the pain, or from the fear of being injured again, John keep whispering to Rodney is a low soothing voice that everything was okay.
Once the shirt was removed from the wound, he noticed the puncture wound that the Genii had brutally delivered to his friend. From the way the mark was, John could tell that it was caused by a knife, and that it was twisted in his arm to cause as much pain as possible. No wonder Rodney told them the plans to save the city, John thought. While he was military, and so had been trained to withstand torture, he knew that Rodney had not. He got out the antiseptic wipes and cringed as he started to wipe away the blood from the wound. Rodney tried to jerk away from the pain, and tears started to prickle John's eyes as he realized that he did not prevent his friends from getting hurt while he was out in the city playing commando. Rodney stilled, and therefore John knew that he had passed out, whether from the pain or from shock he did not know, but he was grateful for the ability to finish cleansing the wound without causing farther pain. He grabbed out the bottle of alcohol and poured it liberally into the wound to cleanse out any foreign dirt and debris. He patted the area with a clean gauze pad in order to remove any excess fluid, and was finishing placing a pressure bandage on his arm when he heard his radio crackle to life.
Teyla's voice sounded slightly panicked, "Major, Dr. Weir has collapsed."
John stood up and started to run toward the jumper bay. He noticed Aiden perk up from his position beside Carson, hoping to determine what was going on; however John did not have the time or the inclination to belie Aiden's fears. Aiden knew better than to follow though, as he had to keep Dr. Beckett awake. John heard Teyla saying more through the radio, but as his first thought was to get to Elizabeth, he could not make sense of the words that were bombarding him.
John rushed next to Teyla and saw Sora leaning over Dr. Weir. "What did you do to her?" he bellowed out his frustration and anger on the figure that was knelling in front of him.
Before Sora could speak up to try and defend herself to angered Major, Teyla spoke in her defense, "She did nothing other than prevent her from injuring herself further as she collapsed." She went on to inform him of Elizabeth's visible injuries, "Dr. Weir has a knife wound on her shoulder that is bleeding. I believe she collapse from blood lose and from the stress of the day."
Before she could say more, John was crouched down beside Dr. Weir's left side, "Does she have any other injuries?" As he asked this question, he placed one arm under her neck and the other arm under her legs and started to pick her up off the cold floor.
"No, the shoulder wound is it," Sora spoke up quickly before Teyla could respond. As the jacket was already removed, and the shirt was cut, John did not realize that neither were slit from the knife. Therefore he could not wonder when or why she took the time to change.
Major Sheppard looked over at Teyla to confirm Sora's words as he did not know what to think about her yet. Teyla remembered the conversation that Elizabeth and Sora had, and how Dr. Weir did not want others to know about what happened. Teyla fought her conscious about lying to her friend, but she had to respect Elizabeth's wishes. As it was not medically needed to be known, Teyla nodded her head and confirmed Sora's words to John.
John started to walk out toward the control room with his precious bundle secure in his arms. Without looking back he commanded the two remaining women, "Teyla, bring in the younger hunters. They are probably worried and wondering what is going on. Sora, help Teyla bring in blankets, more medical supplies, and rations." He left them to their tasks, and did not bother to check if they started to follow his orders or not.
Aiden and Carson watched as John carried Elizabeth back into the control room. John noticed that Dr. Beckett tried to get up to come help with the patient, but a dizzy spell and Aiden pulled him back to the floor. "Don't worry Doc," John said loud enough for the other two men to hear him, "I'll fix her up well enough for now." He knew that she was probably going to need surgery later, just as Rodney was. But even if they could get to the infirmary, he would not trust Dr. Beckett with a scalpel in his current situation.
John laid Elizabeth near Rodney, and the scattered first aid supplies. He started to untie the makeshift bandage that was made with tatters from her shirt. Once the bandage was removed, he noticed the depth of the wound and cringed in sympathy at the pain that must have caused her. As he was about to open the bottle of alcohol for the second time in as many minute, he noticed the Athosian hunters trail into the control room. Each were carrying an arm load of supplies, and right behind them came Teyla and Sora. John poured the alcohol on Elizabeth's wound, and was startled when he got a reaction as he thought she was unconscious. He quickly recovered and tried to hold her from hurting herself farther. "It's okay. I'm finished now. I'll be gentler from here on in. I promise." He said near tears, thinking about the pain that he was causing her.
Teyla watched as John tried to hold Elizabeth down to keep her from injuring herself further. She had a feeling that Dr. Weir was not struggling because of the pain in her shoulder, but because of fear. Teyla had seen this type of reaction before from her friend; therefore she rushed over to Elizabeth and started soothing her forehead and whispering softly, "You're okay. He can't hurt you anymore."
John felt sad that Teyla had to let Elizabeth know that he wouldn't hurt her again, but also was grateful to her as he noticed that Elizabeth started to calm down.
Elizabeth felt the pain flare up in her shoulder and was pinned to the floor by Kolya as he got the upper hand. She struggled against the man holding her to the floor, but he was too strong. She felt the fear from what she knew he was going to do to her. However that added pain did not come. She felt a pressure on her forehead, and felt the soothing touch. She heard the quite voice that whispered comforting words. Kolya was not comforting, therefore it could not be Kolya holding her down, her mind reasoned even in the hazy state she was in.
The voice said that he wouldn't hurt her again, and she started to believe it. Her breathing started to get deeper as she felt herself fading into the void. I'm safe, her mind thought before she fell back into the blackness.
Elizabeth stopped struggling with John and started to breath deeply as if in sleep. He took a deep breath and as gently as possible placed the pressure bandage over the gapping hole. He sat back against the nearest wall and watched as two of his friends lay either unconscious or asleep nearby. While he still felt bad that he could not have prevented the injuries, he felt slightly absolved knowing that he had done all he could to help them in the healing process.