Disclaimer: Not mine... Also posted on my LJ and the jonh elizabeth community

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John hesitated before the closed hospital door, feeling his own heartbeat fall in synch with the dim sound of the heart monitor on the other side. Slowly he raised his hand and lay it flat on the warm wood of the door before finally stepping into the room.

"Lizabeth," he murmured in a devastated voice as he caught his first sight of her.

He could not remember ever seeing the beautiful diplomat looking so fragile and broken. Elizabeth's pale skin was almost deathly white in contrast to the livid bruises covering her arms and face, an army of machines kept watch over her vital functions, and an IV tube twisted upward in a dark line from her wrist.

"Lizabeth," John murmured again, grabbing a chair and dragging it to the side of the bed.

"I should have been there," he whispered. "No," he amended. "No… you should have been on Atlantis, with us; with me. You should have been where I could protect you."

His eyes flickered to a small monitor that kept watch over a second rapid heartbeat.

"Where I could protect you both," he said softly.

He was silent a long moment before whispering, "Why didn't you tell me, 'Lizabeth? You could have told me, somehow."

He reached over and brushed back the long, dark tendrils of her hair. His fingers hovered over her cheek, afraid to touch for fear of hurting her. For moment, his eyes went dark with despair before his expression turned fierce and determined.

"You have to fight, Elizabeth. You have to come back to me. I know it seems impossible. I know you must feel like it would be so much easier to just let go; to sleep. But you have to fight, just like you've always done. You've made it out of tougher situations than this and you've never let the 'impossible' defeat you."

Suddenly, the door opened and John looked up and over to see a tall, dark, well-dressed man standing in the doorway holding a small, colorful bouquet of pink tiger lilies.

"Hello," the man greeted John with a small measure of surprise. "You must be, Colonel Sheppard."

Something in John's expression must have prompted the man to add, "Don't worry, I have the security clearance. I know about the Stargate program and Atlantis, and Elizabeth has mentioned you once or twice, though I'm not sure she ever really meant to."

"Doctor Wallace," John said, realizing then who the man was.

"Simon." He looked over to where Elizabeth lay in the bed.

"Her mother called me after the accident. I was actually the one that contacted the SGC and arranged to speak with Doctor Beckett. I had hoped that there was something on Atlantis that could help Elizabeth. Unfortunately," he added as he entered the room completely, "the doctor told me that with Elizabeth's condition with the way it is, we couldn't risk transporting her to Atlantis, and nothing there could be sent back here, for obvious reasons."

Simon's expression was frustrated and his tone dark as he said the last, and John found himself understanding the other man with perfect clarity for a moment.

"I'm glad you're here though." Again, something in John's expression must have prompted Simon to explain further. "I love Elizabeth and I want her to have everything that she needs." He took a breath. "She needs you."

Dr. Wallace walked over to a small table and set the delicate, clear vase of flowers there in the sunlight. "Her favorite," he said quietly. "I think because her father used to call her Lily, so they always remind her of him."

He turned back to face John. "We were together because it was comfortable. We fit in each other's worlds for so many reasons. We loved how nicely we fit together and how pleasantly it all worked out," he said without more preamble.

John listened, waiting for Simon to say everything that he needed to.

"But I don't think that she ever really needed me." He looked at John. "I know she loved me, but I don't think that she ever really needed me. She needs you," the doctor finished, a quiet, if somewhat sad, acceptance in his voice.

"You're the one that the pulled strings…"

"To get you here… yes," Simon confirmed. "And to get Elizabeth reassigned as the expedition leader when she recovers." He shrugged. "Elizabeth's not the only one with 'friends' in high places. And my friends happen to owe me one or two really big favors."

"Why?" John asked, trying to understand the man before him.

"Besides the obvious, that she's the best for the job and Atlantis?" Simon took a moment, considering the man across from him. "Maybe because I'm as much a hopeless romantic as she is." He shrugged lightly.

John nodded in thanks.

Simon stepped over to the bed and held Elizabeth's hand lightly, careful not to hurt her and avoiding the IV. "Keep fighting, Elizabeth, you have a city to get back to." He took a moment then added, "And Liz, he is a good man." Simon gave her a ghost of a kiss on her forehead and turned to go. Before he left though, the doctor turned back once more to the man still sitting by Elizabeth's bedside.

"Oh, and Colonel, a word of advice? If you haven't bought her a ring yet, you should," Simon said almost cryptically and somewhat sadly before opening the door and heading out into the hallway beyond…

TBC