Disclaimer: SGA - not mine, don't sue! For fan enjoyment, not profit….
AN: Emergencyfan has already written an excellent GUP Tag called 'Decompression', and I highly recommend that you read it immediately if you haven't yet. (And leave feedback). Still, I guess this is proof that 'great minds think alike' - I had this in the works before I read hers, and my first thought was "Aw, gee, somebody wrote it first!" But hers didn't go quite where I wanted mine to go, so I please don't be offended if I post this anyway….
Decompression - Take 2
By Kerr Avon
"How much time?" demanded Sheppard, hands flying over the start-up sequence before the hatch had even finished closing.
Zelenka, after casting a quick concerned glance at the still-standing figure of McKay, scooted into the seat he had vacated only minutes previously. He grimaced as a trickle of cold water ran down his back from where the other scientist's arm had been draped across his shoulders, and his fingers scurried across the laptop's keyboard, pulling up the requested figures. "Ten minutes, tops. We need to get above 1,000 feet as soon as possible, before the shield fails."
The statement caught the attention of their injured passenger, who turned glazed eyes in the direction of the cockpit. "Fails?" he squeaked in alarm, then gazed at some horror only he could see and muttered, "No, no, no…been there, done that…..no, no, no…" He staggered towards his rescuers, running a trembling hand through his dripping hair. "Not again…I can't…"
Leaving Sheppard to the business of getting them moving, Zelenka shot to the injured scientist's side. Forcing himself to ignore the chilling damp, he slid an arm around the taller man, levering him onto one of the side couches. "Don't worry, Rodney. LTC Sheppard's taking care of it." Even as he spoke, he could feel the Jumper lift off the ocean floor and begin its hasty ascent.
"Tha's good." Glassy eyes sought the Czech's. "Sumthin' else…" He started silently snapping his fingers as he stared into the distance. "Had it a minute ago…" He folded his arms and unconsciously began scratching them, an action interrupted by a violent shiver.
Radek's brows creased, but his tone was reassuring. "Don't worry about it, Rodney. We'll be back to Atlantis in no time." Reaching for a nearby pack, he began pulling out blankets. "You're soaking wet and hypothermic; we need to get you out of those clothes and into something dry."
McKay didn't move, still staring off distractedly, so Zelenka hesitantly reached up and started to tug at his jacket. When the expected explosion wasn't forthcoming, he began to wrangle the unresisting man out of his jacket, then his shirt, finally holding the dripping garments up in disgust before letting them fall heavily to the floor.
Rodney's eyes blankly followed the soggy descent, then lit up in alarm. He fixed Radek with a stare, "There was water coming in! I had to slow the leak or I'd drown."
"Yes, Rodney, but you didn't drown. You're fine." Zelenka began briskly rubbing his torso down with a dry blanket.
"No, no, I'm not." He began breathing in short, rapid gasps. "I had to slow the leak," he reiterated, then started rubbing his arms. "Owww…"
"Yes, we know." Radek concentrated on getting the water off the too-cold man, and answered by rote. "You did fi…" The engineer's head jerked up as a sudden thought occurred, and he stared intensely into McKay's befuddled, pain-ridden face. "Wait a minute. You said something about needing decompression as we hauled you out of Jumper 6."
"Carter had me increase the pressure to slow the leak. There were micro-fissures all along the bulkhead…" His arms moved to wrap around his abdomen as he tried to curl into himself. "I don't feel so good…"
Dismissing the reference to Carter as a result of his obvious concussion, Zelenka grabbed McKay by both shoulders to stop his rambling. "Rodney, this is important. How high did you raise the pressure in that compartment?"
Something in the desperation of his tone caught their pilot's attention, because Sheppard called over his shoulder, "Hey, is everything all right back there?" as he navigated upwards.
"I am trying to determine that, Colonel," replied Zelenka. When McKay didn't answer, he shook his shoulders, "Come on, Rodney, stay with me. How high?"
McKay blinked and gulped nervously. "As high as the shuttle would let me before the failsafe kicked in. A couple of atmospheres, maybe?" His voice terminated in an anxious squeak as he began to hyperventilate.
Radek cursed under his breath in Czech as Rodney tried to slow his breathing. "Stay here." Zelenka wrapped a blanket firmly around the shivering McKay, then bolted to the forward section. Diving for his laptop, he cursorily explained, "We need to increase the pressure in here, now." Fingers skittered across the controls at the panel next to his chair.
"I thought you said the shield would hold for ten minutes!" Sheppard shot him an incredulous glance, misunderstanding the problem.
"Of course it will, that is not the issue. In fact, we are nearly at a depth that we can turn it off." A hiss of air in the compartment was followed by the scientist holding his nose and forcibly popping his ears. Sheppard opened his mouth in a pseudo-yawn to achieve the same result. "McKay had to increase the cabin pressure in Jumper 6 to slow a leak; he was probably at that increased pressure for at least thirty, perhaps sixty minutes…"
John's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "You mean he's got the bends?"
Zelenka nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose as he stared at the computer screen. "Yes, yes. He needs decompression chamber. Right now, this will be decompression chamber." He gestured expansively with his right arm to encompass the jumper.
"Is it safe to surface, or will we be in danger of exploding from the pressure gradient?"
Zelenka stared at the pilot dumbfounded.
"What? I know a few technical terms," John spat defensively. "Helicopter pilot licenses don't come in Cracker Jack boxes."
Radek blinked rapidly, then shook his head. "I have already considered that. The vessel won't allow the pressure to rise that high."
"Will it allow the pressure to rise high enough for him, or do we need to descend again?" He jerked a thumb back at their passenger, who was now laying sideways on the couch and moaning incoherently.
Radek pursed his lips grimly. "It will have to do. We don't have the power to descend a second time."
"I'll get Beckett on the line, shall I?" Sheppard reached for the communications console.
"And I will see to McKay." So saying, Zelenka headed back to their companion.
Rodney's eyes had closed and his face had taken on an unhealthy ashen color, as his body was wracked with tremors. His arms were still tightly clutched around his abdomen, and the blanket had partially fallen off, exposing a bare shoulder. Radek pursed his lips and picked up the loose corner, tucking it firmly around the upper half of the semiconscious form. Next, Zelenka proceeded to wrestle him out of the rest of his sodden clothing. The pants and underwear soon joined the shirt and jacket on the floor, as a second blanket was used to first dry off, then cocoon the injured astrophysicist.
"Atlantis, this is Jumper One, do you read?"
"Jumper One, this is Atlantis. What is your status?" Weir's static-filled voice was anxious, but professional.
"We've got McKay, but Griffin…didn't make it."
John could hear the regret in his commander's voice as she replied simply, "I see."
"Uh, could you put Beckett on for a minute? Rodney's somewhat worse for the wear, and we could use a little medical advice." Sheppard kept his tone intentionally level.
"Beckett here. What's his status, Colonel?" With the speed of reply, Sheppard figured that the man must have been standing right at Weir's side, waiting.
"There's a couple of things. First, he's got a head injury; it's not bleeding badly, but he seems sorta confused." Sheppard kept an eye on the monitors, continuing to ascend.
"We already knew that he was unconscious for an hour, so it's a good bet that he has a concussion. I can deal with that when you get here. What else?"
"Well, there was apparently a water leak after the jumper hit bottom, so he was partially immersed in cold seawater for some time."
"Hypothermia, then. What else?" John could visualize the physician mentally cataloging the equipment he was going to need when he met the Jumper.
"To slow the leak, he increased the pressure in the cabin to as high as the system would allow. He was probably at that pressure for thirty minutes to an hour."
"Damn!" Beckett compressed a world of frustration into the single word. "Dive tables don't even go up that high." He took a deep breath as his mind whirled through alternative treatments and discarded them. "First you need to pressurize Jumper One as much as possible."
"Already done. Next?"
"Well, do you have any auxiliary oxygen?"
Sheppard's backwards glance was met with a nod from Zelenka, who was already moving towards the tank they had loaded onboard prior to takeoff. "Yes."
"Put him on a non-rebreathing mask if possible; the higher the partial pressure of oxygen, the better."
The ambient light outside the ship began to increase, indicating that they were finally nearing the surface. Sheppard kept one eye on his monitors as he watched Zelenka comply with Beckett's orders. McKay's face began to regain some color, but he was still only partially conscious, and tried to push the mask off several times. Despite the seriousness of the situation, John smiled at Radek's firm, "Rodney, leave it alone."
"OK, Doc, what's next?"
There was a pause and a sigh, before the Scottish burr resumed, "That's about all we can do for the decompression illness. Get some water into him if you can manage it. May I assume you've gotten him as dry and warm as possible?"
"We've got him dry and wrapped in blankets…" Sheppard began, when he was suddenly interrupted by the engineer cursing aloud and jumping back to the environmental control console.
"I can increase the heat in the Jumper as well," Radek spat in disgusted explanation as he made the appropriate adjustments. He all but slapped himself in the forehead for missing something so obvious.
"Good lad!" confirmed Beckett. "How long until you can get him here?"
"We're just about to break the surface," replied the pilot, "So maybe another 20 minutes at full speed?"
"I'll meet you in the Jumper Bay, after I get some supplies together."
"How are you going to get on board, with us at increased pressure?"
The Scotsman was wry. "I dinna know, yet, but I'll think o' something. Beckett out."
"Out here." Sheppard's mind was already at work on the logistics of getting the doctor and patient into the same room.
"Gonna….sick…" groaned McKay, rousing slightly and pulling off his oxygen mask.
Zelenka looked frantically around, snatching up McKay's wet jacket and making it into an impromptu bucket just in time to catch the meager contents of Rodney's stomach. Holding his head as he vomited, Radek made soothing noises while being certain that everything went into the jacket. When the scientist finally finished, Zelenka carefully folded up the impromptu airsick bag so it wouldn't leak and moved it to the far side of the chamber. Returning to their patient, he opened his canteen and poured half a cup for Rodney.
"Here, drink this. You'll feel better."
McKay squinted open his left eye and stared at the smaller man, apparently disappointed about something. Then, levering himself tentatively onto his elbow, he took the cup with trembling hands and sipped from it gratefully. Zelenka kept one hand carefully on the vessel's bottom as Rodney's grip was none-too-steady, and took it back from him when he finished. McKay sighed and allowed himself to lie down again on his side.
"Here, you need this," said the engineer as he replaced the oxygen mask. Rodney, once more barely conscious, made no attempt to remove it this time.
Zelenka cast an anxious glance at Sheppard, who answered the unspoken question, "Almost there."
TBC……
AN: Again, despite the similarities, NOT a copy of Emergencyfan's story. Besides, she's got the snark down right! (Grin) Wish I could write like that…