AN: Gigantic thanks go to Faith-chan and princessangelwings for their amazing beta-ing! LOL!

Chapter Two

Karen woke slowly to the sound of silence and it took her a moment to realize where she was. She lay still, taking a minute to catalogue her injuries – or more accurately, her lack thereof. Except for her loss of consciousness, all she seemed to have were scrapes and bruises. As her vision cleared enough for her to see through the thick dust, she looked at her surroundings and found the room in complete havoc. She was amazed that she had managed to get away relatively unscathed, and suddenly remembered a heavy weight had pushed her out of harms way just before the ceiling around the entrance had come completely down.

"John! Colonel Sheppard, can you hear me?" Karen yelled frantically, but was cut off by a series of coughs wracking her. She silently cursed all the lingering dust in the air.

She didn't have to dodge many fallen support beams before she discovered one of John's arms sticking out from under the pile of rubble that had sealed the entrance. She immediately checked his pulse and was relieved to find it present. It was weak, but there. She tried her radio, but she couldn't get a signal. She could feel the rise of panic stir within her as she listened to the static. Her heart was pounding in her chest with fear, causing a migraine to make itself a comfy home in her temples. Raising her hands to massage the annoyance, she noted their unsteadiness with slight astonishment. She could not recall the last time her hands were that shaky, with the exception of the very first intramuscular injection she had administered as a nursing student in college. She glanced around once again at the disaster surrounding them, and then back to Sheppard's arm. She felt like a worried and distraught mother, and would have laughed if not for the seriousness of their current situation. Clearing her thoughts and concentrating on the task at hand, she willed herself to calm down. She forced herself to relax her muscles, feeling the aching knots protesting, and focused on slowly breathing air in through the nose and out the mouth. As quick as the panic had appeared, it was gone, replaced by her medical professionalism.

"Come on, Karen," she said, dragging herself back to reality. "John needs you right now, so get it together and do your job!" She began removing the debris that was covering Sheppard. She was thankful that he was at the edge of the pile rather than crushed under the center. She unburied him as fast as she could, making sure she didn't inadvertently trigger an avalanche of twisted metal. As she stooped to retrieve the bag, she couldn't help but noticed that the entrance to the room that the lost scientists were supposed to be located in was sealed with fallen debris as well; but she forced herself to remain focused on the task at hand. As she returned to John's side, she thought that he looked distinctly uncomfortable, sprawled out on his stomach, but she didn't want to turn him over yet. If he had suffered any spinal damage it could make it worse, so she decided to leave him prone until she knew otherwise. She was about to start her initial assessment when he stirred and moaned in pain.

"John, can you hear me?" she asked as she brought her face closer to his, which was already turned to the side facing her. "Hey, it's me, Karen. Can you hear me?" she asked to try and get a response.

"Mmm… What happened?" he slurred and then tried to move.

"I need you to stay still, John. It appears that Dr. Zelenka was right about the structure of this area being unstable. The ceiling collapsed in several places, and we are trapped from both ends. I believe Doctors Stern and Fairchild are on the other side of the debris at the far end of this room, but I didn't see any means to reaching them. I tried calling for help on the radio, but no one will answer. There must be some kind of interference blocking the signal," she instructed as she gently applied pressure to the back of his right shoulder to keep him immobile.

"Are you alright?" he asked with concern, but she could tell he was struggling to stay focused.

"I'm not seriously injured... Just a few scrapes and bruises, thanks to you! You know, you didn't have to do what you did. You could have been killed pulling a stunt like that, but I'm grateful for what you did for me!" she informed in a caring tone.

"It's my job…" he replied as she observed him struggling to stay awake.

"That may be, but it's not your job to get yourself killed! Your life is just as important as anyone else's," she scolded him. She could tell the exhaustion was getting to him when he didn't reply, and decided it would be best to begin assessing him for injuries before he could pass out. "Okay… First, I need you to tell me what's hurting," she said, keeping her voice calm and professional. She was doing her best to remain clinical, even though she was acutely aware of her own pulse racing. She shuddered to think what her blood pressure was like at the moment.

"Head hurts… Hurts to breathe… Right shoulder is throbbing… Left knee is aching… Actually… It'd be easier to tell you what doesn't hurt," he informed her, followed by a series of hacking coughs.

"Okay, take it easy. Just take some nice slow breaths," she soothed, watching as his face scrunched up in pain. Once the coughing fit had subsided, she continued. "All right…" she sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. "I'm going to assess you for injuries, so I need you to do me a favor and try to stay as still as possible. And, Colonel… You better be as honest with me as you can when I ask you if anything I do hurts. Okay?" she instructed, looking straight into John's unfocused eyes.

"Gotcha!" he slurred as his eyes began to close.

"Hey! Hey, I also need you to stay awake! Come on, Colonel, stay with me!" she ordered, lightly placing her left hand on his cheek. She wasn't surprised to find it cold and clammy.

"Tired…" he whispered as he forced his eyes to stay open.

"I know," she sighed with sympathy, "But I need you to stay awake. Why don't you tell me something about yourself, other than the fact that you like to save damsels in distress," she teased, trying to lighten the mood. She was pleased to get a small smile from him, and began a posterior head-to-toe assessment.

"I like ferris wheels… and I love to fly," he gasped out through a grimace as she checked a wound on the back of his head. She grabbed some sterile gauze and normal saline solution from her med bag to apply to the area.

"Is that a prerecorded response? Come on, why don't you tell me something I don't already know?" she teased, trying to keep him as alert as possible. "The biggest rumor going around right now is that a certain civilian leader is always very worried for your well-being whenever you go off world," she insinuated as she pulled up the back of his shirt and jacket to inspect and palpate. She found some pretty nasty bruises, but was pleased that he showed no signs of pain when she palpated around his spine. However, she was worried that she had overstepped her boundaries when she didn't get a response from her teasing. "I'm sorry, that was inappropriate. I didn't mean to offend you," she apologized, mentally kicking herself.

"No… It's okay… I just hadn't realized I was the talk of the town…" he joked, but then winced in pain as she palpated his left hip.

"Was it your hip that hurt?" she asked, making sure that that was the source of his pain.

"Yeah, but it hurts more toward the front than the side," he explained, doing his best to control his breathing through the pain. She nodded her understanding.

"Just keep letting me know when it hurts. You're doing great, just keep it up!" she encouraged.

"Okay…" he sighed with relief as the throbbing in his hip subsided. "So… does this certain civilian leader really worry that much about me?" he asked.

"Very much, actually. Most of the medical staff are aware of it. Every time you get yourself injured, she always manages to slip by us to keep vigil while you sleep. We've all but given up on trying to keep her away from her nightly visits," she gleefully informed him as she checked his legs for injuries.

"I hadn't realized…" he responded quietly.

"We can talk about something else, if you wish," she offered, worrying that she was upsetting her patient rather than cheering him up.

"Actually… Ahhh!" he yelled out in pain when she reached beneath his leg and palpated his kneecap.

"Try and relax, I know it hurts. I'll be better able to check on that as well once I get you turned over," she reassured, placing her hand on the back of his left thigh. She moved her thumb back and forth slowly to try and comfort him through the pain.

"I don't suppose… Ahhh… I could get some pain meds?" he asked with a grimace, followed by an inescapably agonizing moan.

"I wish I could," she sighed with sympathy. "Unfortunately, you have a head injury, and Beckett would have my hide for that," she regretfully informed him; but he simply nodded in understanding as a soft whimper escaped his lips. She waited until his breathing was back under control and the pain was more bearable before she continued. "Okay, I'm going to take your shoe off your right foot first for a few minutes, to give your left knee a little more time to rest," she explained as she untied his laces and pulled his shoe off. "Can you wiggle your toes for me?" she asked, and was pleased to see the digits oblige. "Excellent!" she praised as she preceded to check the pulse at his foot, making sure his circulation was good and reaching all distal extremities. She put his shoe back on, leaving the laces loose. "All right, I need to do the same thing to you're left foot. I'll do my best not to jar your knee," she promised as she performed the same process. She then crawled back up to his side, positioning herself to turn him over. "Okay, the fun part's over, now comes the hard part. We're going to have to turn you over onto your back. Do you think you can help me out?" she asked.

"Yeah…" he responded softly as he continued the battle to stay awake.

It hurt like hell as Karen positioned him, but he was surprised at the relative ease with which the small woman was able to get him to his back. It wasn't long after turning him over though, that he became nauseous and she had to turn him slightly to his side so that he could vomit. He felt an arm wrap around his middle just as the bile reached his mouth. The acid burned his throat, filling his mouth with that all too familiar acidic taste. His whole body shook with the effort, until there was nothing left to come up and he dry heaved until spots were dancing in front of his eyes as he fought to breathe. He coughed harshly, adding to his growing misery. When he stopped, he sucked in a long ragged breath and then heaved again. His eyes swimming with unshed tears and his gut moaned in protest. The pain and pressure in his chest increasing to an almost unbearable level, and he finished off with an agonizing stream of panting and coughing. He felt a gentle caress on the back of his neck as Karen tried to give him what meager relief she could. He was beyond grateful when she helped him sip some water from a canteen to rinse his mouth, and he managed to sneak in a couple of swallows to relieve his scorched throat. The water was cooling as he felt it slide all the way down his esophagus, but he grimaced when he noted the horrid taste remained.

After he was finished, she gently returned him on his back. The waves of shuddering and panting were slowly abating, so she waited for him to get more settled and relaxed before she began an anterior head-to-toe assessment.

"How are you doing?" she asked, looking him in the eyes, gently placing her hands on both sides of his face.

"Still alive… I can breath a bit easier… but it still feels like something's pressing on my chest," he admitted with a scratchy voice as he struggled to breathe normally.

"Okay, just relax and I'll take a look," she replied as she began a focused assessment. She gently lifted his shirt, her face falling slightly as she noted bruises covering his entire chest. She took her stethoscope from her med bag and began listening to his lungs, hoping to hear soft and low-pitched breath sounds. However, she sadly noticed the abnormal breath sounds right away as she heard course crackles in both his lungs. She was deeply concerned about the difficulty he was having with each breath he took. She saw his gaze becoming more and more unfocused, and worried he was close to blacking out. "Hey! I need you to focus," she paused to make sure John was paying attention to her. "The reason you're feeling pressure in your chest and having difficulty breathing is because your lungs have become stiff and noncompliant."

"Who, me?" Sheppard wheezed. "Non… compliant? Never." Karen only smiled a little and shook her head, continuing with her explanation.

"Basically, that means that your lungs are like a new balloon that requires a greater effort to inflate. You probably have some broken ribs and blood in your lungs. I don't have the proper supplies with me to ease the pressure, so what I need you to do is concentrate on breathing and continuing to stay awake," she told him in as calm a voice as she could manage.

"Yeah… breathe… and stay awake… Got it," he acknowledge as he struggled to comply.

"All right, I'm going to continue checking you for other injuries," she told him as she finished placing the blood pressure cuff around his left bicep.

"I… don't suppose… you could tell me… more about… what else I'm… unaware of… regarding a certain… civilian leader? Ya know… to help… take my mind… off things?" he asked, still struggling for each breath.

"Well, some of us nurses have overheard her talking to you while you sleep in the infirmary," she said as she finished taking the rest of his vitals and checked his pupil reactions. "I've seen her do a bit more than talk, too," Karen added with a wink.

"Such as?" Sheppard asked. Karen checked his capillary refill, and was disappointed to find it delayed. She worried that he wasn't getting enough sufficient blood flow, but she buried the thought as she continued.

"Such as, a caress of the cheek, combing her fingers through your hair, whispers in your ear," she said, trailing off slightly. John locked eyes with her for a moment.

"Why… are you telling me?" he breathed out. She thought about that for a moment.

"You asked," she replied simply with a shrug, inspecting a wound just above his left eyebrow.

"This is all kind of… unexpected," he confessed.

"Really?" she paused in surprise, "From what I hear you two are constantly flirting."

"Thought… we were… just being… friends," he replied in between breaths.

"Yeah, friends with benefits," she teased, wishing his skin could turn a couple shades of red right now, rather than his current pallor.

"I always seem to be… a step behind… in that department. I guess… I'll have to… pay more attention," he responded.

"Careful, I might hold you to that," she teased with a pause. "All right, I'm gonna need to take a closer look at your left hip. I promise, no peeking," she said as she unzipped his pants. She slid the waistband of his pants and boxers just far enough to get a good look at his hip, finding the area badly bruised. She lightly palpated to check for any serious damage, but stopped abruptly after hearing a grunt of pain. "Well, the good news is, I don't think anything is cracked or broken, but it's deeply bruised. Dr. Beckett will have to x-ray you to find out for sure," she said as she fixed his pants and zipped them back up. She continued with her assessment, by grabbing a pair of scissors from the med bag and cutting from the cuff of his pant leg to just above his left knee.

"I… can't tell you… how many pants… I've had to go through… because of situations like this!" he informed in between breaths.

"I'd believe it, especially since I've had the privilege of cutting your pants up on several occasions," she teased as she began to gently palpate around the kneecap. She didn't have to apply much pressure, and John was biting his lower lip against the pain. "Sorry," she apologized.

"Don't do that again, okay?" he asked in between pants of pain, a few trickles of dampness making their way over his temples and into his matted hair.

"I won't, I promise," she assured him as she placed a comforting hand on his stomach. She suddenly realized how much he was shaking, and covered him with an emergency blanket she pulled from her med bag.

"I think… it's getting colder in here," he announced as he tried to control his shivers.

"It's okay. You're cold because your going into shock, so I need you to try and stay calm and relaxed," she explained as she grabbed a second emergency blanket out of her bag to drape over him.

"Okay…" he replied softly as she tucked the two blankets around him as snugly as she could to keep the heat in.

"It's going to be fine... You've just got to hang in there. You don't want Beckett putting me on bedpan duty because I didn't take good care of you, right? I really hate cleaning bedpans," she teased as she brushed some damp hair off his forehead. She was about to tease that Dr. Weir would probably have her sent back to Earth if she didn't give him the best possible care, but a signal over her radio redirected her thoughts.

"…Sheppard…read…Colonel Shep…do you copy?" the radio in her ear crackled to life.

"Please say again! Your breaking up!" she responded. She watched John attempted to activate his radio, but she grabbed his hand and placed it back under the warm blankets. "Hold still," she calmly instructed him.

"Karen, we read you! This is Dr. McKay, is Colonel Shepard with you?" Rodney asked.

"Yes. He's here, but he's in need of immediate medical attention. I need to speak with Dr. Beckett," she informed them, placing a comforting hand on John's forehead.

"I'm already here, lass. The rescue team has informed me that they will make it through the debris within the hour. Are you alright?" Beckett asked.

"I'm fine Doctor. Colonel Sheppard is the one in need of medical attention. We never made it to Doctors Stern and Fairchild, and the Colonel and I are blocked in from both sides. Has anything changed in their whereabouts?" she asked, worried that the two missing scientists were in more serious trouble than they were. There was a long silence on the other end of the radio before Beckett's tired voice came back to her.

"I'm afraid they didn't make it. McKay said their life signs disappeared right after we lost radio contact with you and Colonel Sheppard," Beckett paused again. "What's the Colonel's condition?" he added with concern as he slipped into professional mode. Karen did likewise.

"Hypotension with BP of 86/54. Moderate hypothermia with temperature of 86.6 degrees. Dyspnea with respiration of 9 breaths per minute as evidenced by cyanosis of the lips and labored breathing, and manifested by possible hemothorax. Pulse is 52 beats per minute, and Apical is 57 beats per minute. There is a 3 inch laceration in the lower right quadrant on the back of his head. I irrigated the wound with normal saline and covered it with some 4 x 4 cotton gauze, making sure it was occlusive. His pupils are unequal in reaction with his right pupil fixed at 9mm on the pupil gauge, and the same goes for accommodation. He seems unfocussed at times but is potentially oriented to person, place, and time. He's continuously struggling to stay awake and vomited until nothing was left but dry heaves when I had turned him over. There is a presence of ecchymosis on several areas of his back and some surrounding the spinal region, but there is no obvious presence of neck or spinal injury. All peripheral pulses were present, but his capillary refill is delayed by about 3 seconds. There is an extensive amount of ecchymosis covering the majority of his thorax, and possibly several broken ribs. I'm very concerned that one of his ribs has punctured a lung. His lungs appear to be stiff and noncompliant and auscultation reveals adventitious breath sounds of discontinuous crackles. He states that he feels like there is a pressure on his chest and that it is painful when he inhales and exhales. During auscultation of the abdomen, abdominal sounds were found present in all four quadrants. He stated that his right shoulder was throbbing and when palpated, his clavicle was found very tender. His left hip is extremely tender to palpation, and there is a presence of swelling and ecchymosis. His left knee, specifically his patella, is also swollen and deeply bruised. He rates his overall pain as a 9. I've tried to make him as comfortable as possible, but I obviously can't give him anything for his pain because of his head injury. He's gone into shock with his skin feeling cool and clammy, so I've covered him with the two emergency blankets I had available to try and prevent any of his body heat from escaping. I was just about to put him in a High-Fowler's position to prevent him from aspirating before you made radio contact with me," she informed while keeping a comforting hand on John's forehead.

"Damn!" Sheppard muttered through his hazy consciousness. "Does it always… sound that bad?" Karen flashed him a smile.

"Yea, but you're usually unconscious by that time anyway." She turned her attention back to the voice of Beckett buzzing in her ear.

"You're doing great, lass. Just keep an eye on his vitals and notify me immediately if his condition worsens. The rescue team will reach you in no time, and I'm standing by with a full medical team just on the other side of the debris. Just hang in there," Beckett said, worry thickening his accent.

"Will do. I'll keep you up to date on the Colonel's condition every 15 minutes!" she replied before ending the transmission. She then gently raised John's upper body and slipped in behind him, so that he could rest up against her. "Help's on the way. You just hang in there, got it?" she encouraged as she felt every breath he struggled to take, hoping that another would continue to follow.

"Wouldn't… want to miss those… amazing bed baths you girls give," he teased as he struggled to breath and stay focused.

"You, and every guy in Atlantis," she teased back as she fussed over tucking the two blankets around the both of them.

"If snuggling… was on your mind… all you had to do… was ask." He smiled as she continued to get as closely wrapped around him as she could to conserve the heat.

"You wish, Colonel," she smiled in response, "Now do us both a favor and save your breath," she instructed, worried that talking would make his breathing efforts more difficult.

"Yes, Ma'am!" he responded with as close to a full-blown grin as he could manage. She couldn't help but smile back at him, nor could she help but feel a bit of jealousy crawl up her spine.

TBC…

Please review to let me know if you enjoyed it! LOL! Oh, and move on to the final chapter, hee hee!