Chapter 8.
Sorry about the evil cliffie folks. Well, I'm not really. After all, how many times have I had to suffer them? (Looks accusingly at quite a few authors lurking around here.) Thanks for the great reviews; they really make the effort of writing worth the while. Thanks, as usual to my betas, Merlin and Kodiak; your support and wisdom know no bounds. As usual, all mistakes are my own...
McKay's heart pounded, the rushing of blood making his ears throb with every beat. It couldn't end like this. No, if Sheppard were going to die, it would be saving everybody from imminent death, not death by ladder. He snorted to himself. How ironic would that be? The big, macho military man, dying from a home improvement induced tragedy. It wouldn't be fitting; Sheppard deserved more. I deserve more. We all do, McKay corrected himself.
"Fight, Sheppard. You can't leave us like this. We still need you. You can't die. Not like this." The scientist said out loud what he was thinking.
A fluttering on the heart monitor, a steadying rhythm. Beckett had succeeded in re-starting Sheppard's heart, but McKay knew the fight for survival was just beginning.
He looked over to the frantic activity around Sheppard's bed, and watched as Beckett deftly intubated his patient, then moved on to inserting various IV lines.
"Right, let's get him in to surgery, the sooner this is out of his leg, the better. Shelly, have we got the blood on stand by? I have a feeling we're going to need it," Beckett matter-of-factly asked his nurse.
The nurse nodded, smiling grimly at the doctor. "Yes, Doctor Beckett. I had three units pulled."
"Good. Right, let's move him. I'm going to get scrubbed in." Beckett turned to leave, but noticed McKay wavering in the corner of the room. "Rodney, what are you still doing here, lad? I told you earlier to go and get some food." McKay went to open his mouth, but his legs buckled, Beckett lunged to catch him before his head hit the floor.
"Christ. Melissa!" the doctor called to one of his nurses. "Help me with Dr. McKay. Then get his blood sugar level and prepare to start his usual glucose IV." The nurse nodded, and helped Beckett get McKay on a bed. "Bloody hell, Rodney. As if I don't have enough to worry about…"
Melissa smiled at the doctor. "Don't worry, Doctor Beckett. I'll take care of him. You go and get ready. If there are any problems, Dr. Lambert can deal with them," she kindly interrupted. Beckett gave her a quick nod of thanks and headed out of the room, muttering to himself, as he steeled himself for the battle ahead.
oOo
Rodney McKay's eyes snapped open. Sheppard, where was Sheppard? What had happened? He looked blearily around the infirmary, and caught sight of Beckett, writing up notes, in a chair nearby.
"Carson. Where's Sheppard…is he…?" McKay couldn't bring himself to ask the question he had to know the answer to.
Beckett immediately jumped to attention. "Ah, sleeping beauty awakens. How are you feeling, Rodney?"
"Sheppard? Where is he? I mean, is he alright?" The scientist desperately tried to form a coherent sentence.
Beckett sighed, and looked McKay in the eye. "He's alive. He's not doing too well at the moment though."
McKay gulped, and shakily put a hand through his hair. "Why? What's wrong?"
The doctor stiffly flexed his arms, putting a hand to the back of his neck, which he rotated slowly, while sighing, "He lost a lot of blood during surgery. It was pretty hairy for a while. With the infection having taken hold as well…" Beckett looked at McKay, and the scientist suddenly noticed how heavy-eyed the doctor looked. "He's in multiple organ failure. We're doing all we can, but it's looking pretty grim at the moment."
McKay blanched. "Is he going to die?" He had to know, even though that meant asking the question he dreaded finding out the answer to.
Beckett considered his friend's question before answering. "I just don't know. It's a miracle he's still with us now. The strain of bacteria that infected his leg is very aggressive, though the anti-biotics we've got him on pack a real punch. It's just a matter of wait and see. The next twenty-four hours will be crucial."
"Can I see him?" McKay asked, knowing Beckett would probably veto that idea.
Beckett smiled. "In a little while. Once you've had something to eat, and I'm convinced you're not going to keel over again…"
"Sorry," was all McKay could come up with.
The doctor studied McKay carefully, reaching to pat McKay's arm "It's ok. I know it's not exactly been a vacation for any of you. Get some rest, and I'll get Shelly to bring you a sandwich. Then we'll see about getting you up."
McKay settled back against his pillows, closing his eyes, willing his friend to keep fighting.
oOo
Three hours later, McKay was quietly sitting at the side of Sheppard's bed, intently studying his unconscious friend's pale features. Beckett had briefly let Teyla and Ronon visit the colonel, before sending them away to get some much needed rest.
They were two hours out from Atlantis, and McKay was desperate to get home and see Sheppard safely in to the place he spent far too much of his time – the infirmary.
McKay knew Caldwell had been informed of Sheppard's condition, and that in turn, he had spoken to Elizabeth. God, Elizabeth. McKay knew how worried she would be. Perhaps even more so, when she actually saw the man with her own eyes. If McKay were honest, Sheppard looked as if he were dead already. If it weren't for the steady beep of the heart monitor, and the whoosh of the ventilator, that's what he would think. His friend was deathly white, eerily still, and looked so incredibly fragile and vulnerable lying there. This wasn't how Sheppard was supposed to look. The laid back, amiable, charming flyboy with the infuriating cocky half-smile he had plastered on his face most of the time – that's how Sheppard should be, not like this. So, so – still. So quiet.
"Rodney, why don't you get a few hours sleep? There's nothing more you can do here. If anything changes, I'll let you know." Beckett's voice interrupted McKay's thoughts.
The scientist vehemently shook his head. "No. I'm staying. What if he wakes up and nobody's here?"
Beckett sighed and pulled up a chair alongside McKay. "Rodney, he's not going to wake up anytime soon. He's sedated. You should get some sleep, and perhaps a shower?" Beckett grinned at McKay.
"Are you saying I need a shower?" McKay glared at the doctor incredulously.
Beckett smiled, looking rueful. "Aye. Now, off you go. Get cleaned up, have something more to eat, then sleep."
"Fine. I'm coming back here though. I'll sleep in the chair. I'm not leaving him alone." McKay reluctantly stood, turning to leave, and said, "Take care of him, Carson."
Beckett watched the scientist wearily trudge out of the small infirmary, and looked down at his most troublesome patient. "I always do, Rodney. I always do."
oOo
A day and a half later, and Rodney McKay was still sitting at Sheppard's bedside. Only now they were back where McKay knew Sheppard belonged – Atlantis.
They'd beamed straight to the Atlantis infirmary on their arrival, and since then Sheppard had suprisingly not caused any more grey hairs. The man had actually improved, Beckett had informed McKay a few hours previously, and his blood work was decidedly better, giving the chief medical officer hope that Sheppard had weathered the storm.
Elizabeth had been by to visit Sheppard on several occasions, and McKay witnessed, despite her professional exterior, how shaken she had been to see how seriously ill her chief military officer, and friend was. Teyla and Ronon were frequent visitors too; even Caldwell had turned up to pay his respects.
A movement in the periphery of his vision interrupted McKay's musings. Had Sheppard's hand just twitched? McKay focused on his friend's hand. Yes, another movement. He leaned towards him. "Colonel?" He tentatively asked. Nothing. No response. "Sheppard?" This time an eye opened to a slit, followed by the other.
"Hey, any one home?" McKay enquired. The eyes closed, immediately re-opening and moving as they tried to focus. McKay turned away from the colonel and called excitedly, "Beckett, get in here. Sheppard's waking up!"
Suddenly McKay saw Sheppard's face register a look of fear. He heard a soft groan, then watched in horror, as Sheppard gagged, struggling to raise his hand to the ventilator tubing, desperately trying to pull it out.
"Sheppard? John? Look at me. You're on a ventilator. You're going to be fine. No, don't try and pull it out. Calm down. Beckett will be here soon." McKay frantically tried to soothe the panicked man, while firmly pulling Sheppard's hand away from the tubing and holding it down at his side. "Beckett, get your ass in here, NOW!" McKay screamed at the top of his voice.
"What's going on?" Beckett ran up to Sheppard's bed, and realising what had happened, ran off, shouting back at the alarmed scientist, "Try and keep him calm. I'll be back in a second."
McKay continued soothing his friend, who was still struggling against the intrusive tubing in his throat. Momentarily Beckett returned, syringe in hand. Bustling past McKay, he looked down at Sheppard, smiling. "Calm down, lad. I know you feel like you can't breathe, but just relax and you'll be fine. Let the ventilator do its work. Time for you to go back to sleep for a little while." With that, he injected one of the IV ports with the contents of the syringe. Sheppard almost instantaneously stopped struggling, his eyes drifting shut.
Beckett let out a sigh of relief, and turned to McKay, answering the scientist's question before he had uttered a word. "Don't worry. His reaction was normal for a patient waking up on the vent. I didn't think he'd wake up this soon. I've sedated him again. We'll see how he is this afternoon, and all things being equal, we'll wean him off and see if we can have him breathing on his own by tonight."
McKay slumped in his chair, putting his head in his hands and let out a puff of air. "This is a good sign, right?" he asked the doctor.
"The best, Rodney," was the simple answer.
McKay just sat still, silently, thanking every deity he could think of, that Sheppard would be awake soon. His friend had survived, against all odds – again.
Tbc.
Just one more chapter to go. Fancy a little Sheppard angst?