Title: Lost

Author: atlantis child (Command Dynamics), innocent choir girl The Wraith return to Atlantis again. Spoilers for all seasons one and two.

Genres: Angst, Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Missing Scene

Warnings: Abuse, Character Death, Torture, Violence

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 9 "The Long Wait"

Author's Notes: Okay, so I haven't felt well today, so I feel like writing now…so here it is… I apologize for any weird-adies and blame it on not feeling well.

It took them a good hour for them to transfer Elizabeth, Carson, and the ones who had been rescued to Atlantis. They ended up getting them up to the surface and having the Daedalus transporting everyone, but Sheppard and the Marines back to Atlantis. Sheppard remained behind to try to rescue any other survivors. Carson had been moving non-stop trying to keep Elizabeth's temperature from dropping any lower. Slowly warming her up was Carson's current treatment. He had been pumping her with warm IVs and that had brought up her core temperature a fair amount. Carson had also started her on a mask that brought warmed oxygen into her.

"How's she doing?" Rodney asked. He had already been cleared. Those that were in the cell he and Elizabeth were suffering from some stage of hypothermia as well. That had been treated easily enough. With some warm IV fluid and the breathing in of warmed oxygen had brought them all quickly out of it. Carson had still scheduled several check-ins with all of them, but so far Elizabeth was the main concern.

"She's still in stage three. She's still unconscious. At least her organs seem to have stopped shutting down. I'm worried about her breathing though… She's barely breathing on her own; I'm hoping the warm oxygen will help with that…" Carson said tiredly rubbing his face. "Have ya heard anything from Sheppard?"

"No, not yet… He had a couple more places to search for any more survivors…" Rodney said. "You should really get some sleep."

Shaking his head, Carson spoke up, "I'm not gonna leave here until Elizabeth is stable… You should sleep yourself… I don't need you getting any sicker…"

"I'm fine," Rodney argued.

"Now you are," he countered. "But Rodney that doesn't mean that you're fine. You still need to rest and take care of yourself."

"The city isn't exactly working at one hundred percent."

"Has it ever been?"

"No."

Carson nodded, "That's what I thought. Zelenka can take care of things for a couple days…even if you don't like it, Rodney. You need rest. The city will survive without you for a couple days. Can ya do that for me, please?" he asked wearily.

"I'll try," Rodney gave in with a frown.

"You'll do more than that," Carson argued. "You'll actually rest. Or I'll hunt you down and sedate you…"

Two days later, John was back with the Marines and they had gone back to trying to put the city back together. The Daedalus had left once they had beamed Elizabeth and the scientists back to Atlantis since Beckett had informed Caldwell that they'd need medical supplies soon. The Daedalus would be due back in about a month's time. John knew the trip would take two weeks each way, and that they'd be hurting for medical supplies by the time the Daedalus did get back.

John stopped by the infirmary four times a day once he got back. In the morning, he'd drink his coffee and just talk to her. He'd come back around a couple hours later during his lunch time and spend it with her. Around four, he'd return again for a half an hour. And then finally around ten when he'd finally eat a sandwich for dinner, he'd spend hours with her. Sometimes even fall asleep and be woken by Carson and made to go to his own quarters to sleep. Each visit he'd wish that she'd wake up to the sound of his voice. He knew it might seem silly, but if Carson said talking to her might help, then he wasn't going to argue.

"John, no sleeping in here tonight," Carson told him. "I'm going to sleep in my own bed for a couple hours…I expect you to do the same. You're the second on the list to be notified if there's any change in her condition. Even the slightest degree of increase in her core temperature," he assured.

Sighing, John nodded, "I'll go in fifteen minutes. I promise." He rested his chin against one of the palms of his hands that was turned upward. She was still not stable enough…he knew that the only reason that Carson was actually taking time to sleep was because he was starting to fall asleep at his own desk. "Elizabeth…" John said a bit sleepily. It was already past eleven, and his body was ready to sleep, but he wasn't quite ready to leave her yet. "You know everything's looking better here… I think the control room and the hallways are probably the cleanest places so far…"

Carson turned to leave knowing that John was tired, too, and that if John did fall asleep that his nurses or one of the other doctors would wake him and make him go back to his quarters. He himself had been ordered earlier that day. He had fallen asleep while he had been talking to a nurse, and had ended up ordered to sleep by another doctor. He'd have his radio on and close by while he was away from the medical bay. He just hoped that a good night's sleep (or at least a couple hours) and some food would do him wonders.

He picked up her hand, the one that wasn't secured with an IV, and rubbed it between his two hands trying to warm it up feeling that possibly maybe it could make a difference. "Elizabeth, we miss you…" he told her and then added quietly, his voice a bit pained, "I miss you… It's not the same without you around telling us what to do first… I doubt Rodney's listening to Carson, I saw him with Zelenka earlier… You know how Rodney is…"

Ten minutes later, he was interrupted by a nurse. She smiled at him, "Colonel, I'm just supposed to remind you of the time. You have five more minutes."

"Ten?" John half pleaded.

She moved her head back and forth thinking for a minute, what could she do? Say no to such a good looking guy? Let alone a colonel? "Okay…" she gave in, letting him know she was serious about this, she added, "Ten more minutes." Pointing her finger at him, she spoke up again, "I'll be back in eleven minutes and you better not be in that chair. You need sleep, too. In fact…everyone on Atlantis needs sleep…"

John gave her a smile and nodded, "Noted. And thank you."

Nodding, the nurse turned and shook her head as she left.

He groaned a bit rubbing his eyes trying to banish the sleepiness away; he wasn't ready to leave yet. "…Lizbeth," he said, his voice slurring a bit, "I shouldn't have…have left you here. It's my fault…" he whispered letting his head drop so that her hand was against his forehead. "I love you," he whispered letting tears fall. John was surprised by his words; it wasn't something that he had really thought about, it had just happened. And he wasn't ready to lose her…not when he didn't even know if she returned his affection or not…

Ever since he had become apart of the Atlantis Expedition he had been protecting Elizabeth. He remembered when Colonel Sumner had tried to explain who was in charge, and he had made it clear that he was going to listen to Elizabeth. No one had been happy, he had even thought that all the military personnel thought he was crazy…and maybe he was. Maybe he still was. It had started off at being pushed into the chance to do something great…and now…he couldn't see it any other way.

Looking up at the clock he saw his time was almost up, "I'll see you tomorrow morning," he told her before letting out a yawn. He turned, but then stopped. Turning back around, he leaned down and gently placed a kiss on her forehead, "I love you," he whispered into her ear before turning to leave once again. On his way out, he waved to the nurse who had allowed him to stay the extra five minutes with Elizabeth. To anyone else, it might have seemed silly, but he needed the time alone with her.

His walk back to his quarters seemed long, but in fact John was just sure that his fatigue was wearing on him too much. Once he was in his quarters, he stripped down to his boxers and t-shirt before collapsing onto his bed. Sleep followed quickly, it enveloped him and brought him immediately into a deep state allowing him the rest he truly needed.

TBC…