Anything with /'s inside quotes is being spoken in Czech.

Chapter 12

"She hasn't moved since she sat down, Colonel. She blames herself for what happened. She's not eaten since yesterday, and I'm a little worried. Elizabeth didn't want him to go on this mission, not as far along as he is. On that level I agreed with her, but there was a very good chance there was a ZPM on that planet, and only a very narrow window of time to investigate. Radek was set on going, they had it out in the lab I hear."

John listened to Beckett's rundown of what had happened, watching Rodney out of the corner of his eye. The scientist was quietly approaching Elizabeth, and he could see her look up when Rodney touched her shoulder.

Rodney said nothing, only laying one hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. Part of him wanted to rail against her, or against Zelenka for letting this happen, but he knew he would have done exactly what Zelenka had and wound up just as damaged because of it. Elizabeth reached up and took his hand, both of them watching Zelenka, sharing an odd companionship.

Rodney might not be acting the proud father, but it was known to his friends he was looking forward to the birth. And for all his beratement of the Czech, he liked and respected the only other man he would trust the caretaking of Atlantis to. Something about the prospect of an actual child had tempered McKay in ways no one could put a finger on. He yelled as often as usual, but it was a different tone. Maybe they were all just getting more used to it, but everything felt different, now. Marina changed everyone around her, it seemed.

When Rodney and John separately and together failed to get her to leave to eat, they settled on bringing her some food, though she wouldn't leave Radek's bedside just yet.

Another day passed, and there was still no change in Radek's condition. His heart beat steadily, his lungs drew in air, and his brain showed activity, but he simply wouldn't wake up. Beckett said this was expected, he might be out for a while. They already had him on IV fluids so he would be nourished.

On the forth day, they talked Elizabeth into leaving long enough for a shower and real food in the mess hall and a nap. They got the first two, but she would only sleep once she was back in the chair at Radek's bedside.

A week after the accident, Elizabeth began to get ahold of herself a little better. She spent only what time she had to in her office, usually at night when it was quiet in the city. The rest of the time she spent working at Radek's bedside. She began sleeping in her own bed again. She kept up a vigil over his unmoving body. The part of her that had to make the hard decisions was resigning herself to the fact that Radek may never wake up. Her emotional energy shifted to Marina, who Carson assured her was still developing inside Radek's body. Sometimes she'd lay her head on Radek's stomach, and she could almost hear the tiny heartbeat, her eyes following the line on the monitor showing the tiny, steady beat that was not his own coming from inside Radek's body.

At night, before bed, she'd read to him, or speak to him in English and in Czech. On the table at his bedside, she arranged a few of the little knick knack's she'd given him. Sometimes, she would lay her head gently on his stomach, feeling the baby move, humming softly to her, as she had done with a very awake Radek on the morning of his accident.

Everyone walked carefully around her, except Ronon, who had by default become the one sent in to get her if she spent too much time with him and needed to eat or sleep.

After two weeks, with no change, Carson took Rodney and John into his office and locked the door.

"I'd like Elizabeth to be here but I dinnae think she needs to hear this, not yet. There's no simple way to put this, but Marina's killing Radek. The pregnancy is taking whatever resources his body has to keep the child healthy, at the expense of Radek's own recovery. He should have woken up a week and a half ago. Now, the child's old enough, I can do a c-section and hysterectomy now and she's more than capable of surviving, but with Radek in the state he's in, that feels an awful lot like butchery, and it's a call I'd rather not make on my own. You two are his closest friends, apart from Elizabeth. I'll be consulting her as well, but I'd like you pair there, already knowing what I'll have to say. I won't do this unless we all agree. I've spoken to the other doctors, and this is the only thing we can think of to change his condition. Otherwise he'll go on like this. We can take Marina now, and hope he wakes up. Or we wait another two weeks when he hits the nine month mark. I'll have to take her then. There's a slim chance he'll wake between now and then but I'd rather not take that chance. His body needs time to heal himself. Marina can survive outside of him at this point, eight and a half months is plenty of development."

The two men across from Carson were thoughtful, mulling over what he'd said. It wasn't a question of what, really, but when. Whether Radek awoke or not, Marina would have to be delivered via surgery anyway. If they took her out now, there was a better chance he'd awake sooner.

"We'll talk to Elizabeth," Rodney said, surprising both other men, who nodded.

It was late, the gate room was pretty much empty but for the few unlucky techs who drew the night shift on this rotation, monitoring gate and city activity just in case. They pretended not to notice the walls of Elizabeth's office going from frosted to clear and back at random intervals.

John took point, tapping the currently clear door. Through the glass he could see her pale skin and tear-reddened eyes. He filed in, with Rodney and Carson behind. Carson and Rodney sat, with John standing behind them like a dark sentry. Elizabeth moved her hand over the desk, fingers brushing the modification Radek had made and the walls shifted to a frosted white.

"We need to talk to you about Radek, Elizabeth," Carson began. He explained what he'd already outlined to John and Rodney. "The real question is do we take Marina now, or two weeks from now. My recommendation is now, but I won't do it without the consent of both you and Rodney. I know there's nothing official with you and Radek, but I know how close ye are now to him."

Elizabeth nodded, and the three men across from her recognized she was thinking, and hard. John had last seen this particular look when his team was visiting Hoff.

If they took Marina now, it felt almost like admitting Radek wouldn't awake in time to 'be there' for the birth, that he wouldn't awake at all. However, if they let her grow to term, another two weeks, it made it seem like Radek was an incubator, nothing more. "Carson ... you're certain there's no other way to wake him?"

"Aye. If it weren't for the bairn, there's a few things I'd try, but hearty as she is, a baby is a very delicate thing, and I don't know as much about the connection between her and Radek as I'd like, not by a long shot. I'm worried if I do something to revive him, it'll harm the little one, and-"

"Radek would rather she be safe than him," Elizabeth said softly, sighing and sitting back. "Do it. Whenever you're ready, Carson. I'd like to be there, to hold her, if that's alright."

Carson nodded, a ghost of a smile flitting over his lips. "Aye, of course, Elizabeth."