DISCLAIMER – I do not own Stargate: Atlantis. It is the property of MGM/UA and associated companies. This story is being written just for fun, and no exchange of money is involved.
RATING – Rated T (just to be safe.)
SPOILERS – None in this chapter. If there are ever any spoilers in this story, I'll let you know.
A/N – I know I said I probably wouldn't post a new chapter till Monday, but I got inspired to write this one today. It's a shorter chapter, and it's mostly got to do with Carson, but I think you will all appreciate it. And it's not just fluff, either lol.
Again, I assume my Dr. McCoy-esque attitude and remind you that I am a lawyer, not a doctor. (dammit, Jim! hehe) Please forgive my lack of medical knowledge. I hope I've made the stuff in this chapter sound reasonably convincing.
Thanks to everybody who keeps giving me these fabulous replies! You are all fantastic for replying and you're encouraging me a lot. I appreciate each and every one of you who's reading this.
I'm still without a beta, so all mistakes are mine.
The Song Of Silent Rivers
8. Shadow
"Come on out, love. The soldiers are gone, I promise,"
Carson was kneeling on the floor in his office, trying to coax a very frightened young woman to leave her hiding place under his desk. He was frustrated beyond reason, but he tried not to let it show in his body language. He didn't want to scare the lass any more than she'd already been. When Carson had radioed Elizabeth to say the lass had turned up in the Infirmary, he'd expected Elizabeth to come alone, or perhaps with Colonel Sheppard. Instead she'd arrived with a pair of armed-to-the-teeth Marines. One of the Marines had been Master Sergeant Ryan O'Connor, bandaged arm, belligerent expression and all. Carson hadn't been pleased to see them, but Carson's ire was nothing compared to the reaction of the poor lass who was now cowering under Carson's desk. One look at the Marines had sent her scurrying out of the room with a look of abject panic written all over her. Carson had promptly ordered the Marines out of his Infirmary. They'd looked unhappy about it, but they marched out nevertheless.
Elizabeth wasn't impressed with Carson pulling rank on the Marines, but Carson was ready for Elizabeth, too. He had informed her that their so-called intruder was no more than a lost girl, and as far as Carson could tell, she posed no threat to anyone. Her presence certainly did not warrant a company of combat-ready soldiers. Carson told Elizabeth how he'd somehow convinced the lass to eat and to change into a set of the white scrubs usually worn by Infirmary patients. She'd been behaving herself until the arrival of the Marines.
Elizabeth had stalked out of the Infirmary in no better a mood than the soldiers. Carson's promise to keep Elizabeth informed about everything that happened didn't seem to appease the expedition leader very much. Carson supposed Elizabeth was feeling more than a little stressed just now, but he didn't see how that justified her acting as abrupt and snappish as Rodney McKay on a bad day. She was supposed to be a diplomat, wasn't she? Carson could hardly believe he'd ever have such thoughts about Elizabeth Weir, but in this instance, he was truly glad to see the back of her when she walked out the door.
Carson beckoned to the lass again. "Come out, now. It's safe."
She eyed him warily, but after a moment she inched out from under the desk. Carson held out his hand to her, and she tentatively grasped it. Carson helped her to her feet.
"Now, then," Carson said. "You're having quite the adventure today, aren't you? I expect you're under the impression Atlantis is a dangerous place. We're not all bad, once you get to know us. I think you'll like Teyla and Colonel Sheppard, and you may even learn to like Dr. Weir once you've gotten a wee bit better acquainted with her. I know she frightened you, but she's upset right now, though if you want my opinion on the matter, she should be thanking you. You saved the life of one of her favourite people."
All through this monologue, the lass never let her gaze stray from Carson's face. She made no response to it, however, and she gave no visible indication she understood even a single word Carson was saying.
When he finally stopped talking, the lass reached for his hand again. She lifted Carson's hand and guided it to her own ear. To say the least, Carson was puzzled by the gesture. He said, "Is something the matter with your ear, love? Shall I have a look? Come over here and sit down."
He led her to the chair at his desk and gestured for her to sit in it. She sat down, tucked her feet beneath her, and watched Carson with wide, curious eyes. She seemed fascinated by his medical instruments, and willingly let him listen to her heart and take her blood pressure. She held perfectly still when he looked into her ears with the otoscope.
Carson was pleased that she was being so cooperative, though he was less than thrilled by what he discovered during his examination. A look inside the young woman's ears with the otoscope revealed something to Carson that he'd already suspected, given her apparent inability to understand what people were saying to her. There was a significant amount of damage in the middle ear, which Carson surmised had been caused by a severe childhood illness. Probably something simple that had gone untreated for too long, he thought. The lass most certainly suffered from severe hearing loss. He wouldn't have been at all surprised if she were profoundly deaf.
Carson's heart ached with sympathy for her. He wished he could communicate with her in a way she would understand. He wanted to tell her that he would take care of her and that no harm would come to her on Atlantis as long as he was around. He wondered what life for her had been like on her homeworld. Her existence had been a lonely one, he guessed. Carson recalled the circumstances in which he'd found the poor lass, curled up with her head pillowed on the chest of a sleeping Radek Zelenka. She hadn't been listening to Radek's heartbeat, Carson realized now, but she must have been able to feel it. Carson could only imagine how being that close to another living person must have comforted her. She was obviously starved for human companionship and reassurance.
Carson was drawn out of his reverie by a light touch on his hand. The lass was smiling at him. Carson decided she had a lovely smile.
"I wish you could tell me your name," he said. No sooner had the words left his mouth than he was struck by an inspiration. He fetched a pencil and a pad of paper from his desk and handed both items to his patient. "Can you write? Do you understand what writing is?"
She studied the pencil for several seconds before she placed the graphite point against the surface of the paper. Her hand moved deftly as she stroked the pencil over the page. When she was done, she showed Carson what she had written. He was startled by what he saw.
"Ancient," he said. "You know the language of the Ancients."
Carson would be the first to admit his knowledge of the Ancients' language was sketchy at best, but nevertheless he attempted to decipher what the lass had written.
«I watch. I am shadow in the forest. Thank you.»
He understood her expression of gratitude well enough, but the first part of the message didn't seem to make much sense. Perhaps he'd have to ask Elizabeth to translate it properly, though he decided to wait until Elizabeth was in a better mood before he dared to ask. Maybe he could ask Rodney for some linguistic help, too. For now, though, he decided he'd just have to do the best he could with the knowledge he had. He held out his hand for the pencil, and the lass gave it to him. In his less-than-eloquent Ancient, he wrote:
«Shadow. Your name?»
The girl looked amused when she saw what he'd scribbled on the page. She took back the pencil to write him a reply.
«My name I do not remember. I am shadow.»
Carson smiled. "Well, I'm not sure what you mean, exactly, but I'm going to call you Shadow if that's all right with you," he said. "What would you say about taking a little walk? Bring your pencil, if you like. There's somebody I think you'll want to meet. He's much better at making sense of Ancient writing than I am."
He extended his hand and Shadow took it without hesitation. They stopped in the outer part of the Infirmary long enough for Carson to leave a list of instructions with his chief nurse, and then they headed for Rodney McKay's lab.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Just as Carson had suspected, Rodney McKay was holed up in his lab and working away on some project or other, instead of resting in his quarters like he was supposed to have been. The physicist was hunched over his ever-present laptop when Carson and Shadow walked in. Rodney looked miserable, Carson noted. The physicist was sniffling loudly and giving whatever was on his computer screen a baleful glare. Carson supposed he'd been wasting his breath this morning when he'd told Rodney to take a break from his work. He should have known the stubborn Canadian scientist would do no such thing.
"Hullo, Rodney," Carson greeted him. "How are you feeling?
Rodney didn't look up from his computer. "I wasn't aware you were in the habit of making house calls."
"This isn't a house call. I was just asking how you were."
"I'm still mad at you," Rodney said sulkily.
"I was just doing my job this morning, you know," Carson told him. "Besides, I never said you were dying. You came up with that one all by yourself."
"Hmph," was all Rodney said in response.
"I've brought someone to meet you," said Carson. "This is Shadow. She's got a talent I expect you'll appreciate."
"Can she fix a 'jumper? Does she know how to maintain the life support systems?"
"I don't think so."
"Well then, she has no talents I'd appreciate," said Rodney. "Now, go away. I'm working."
"Shadow can read and write Ancient," Carson said.
That statement made Rodney take a bit more notice of his visitors. He finally pulled his attention away from his laptop and looked at Carson and Shadow for the first time since they'd entered the lab. He eyed Shadow with evident suspicion, and demanded, "Who's she?"
"I've already tried to tell you, this is Shadow," said Carson. "She's here for a wee visit, so try to make her feel welcome if you can."
"Oh, no. No, no, no…. I know who she is. She's the intruder everyone's been trying to catch. Does Elizabeth know you've got her? Somebody should call in the troops or something, because a dangerous alien like her shouldn't be roaming around Atlantis. She might hurt somebody. She could—"
"Does she look dangerous to you?"
"I heard she bit a Marine," Rodney said.
"Oh, aye, she did. The way I understand it, he was being a bit rough with her at the time. She was just defending herself."
"Defending herself? She's the one who infiltrated the city."
"She didn't infiltrate anything."
"Right," Rodney said. He pointed a finger at Shadow and narrowed his eyes. "You should be locked up, not going on a guided tour of Atlantis. Do you hear me?"
"Actually, Rodney, she doesn't hear you," Carson said.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're wasting your breath yelling at her. Shadow is deaf."
"Wha…?" Rodney said inarticulately, caught off guard in mid-rant. He flapped his hands in a vague gesture, and averted his gaze from Shadow to some random spot on the lab's far wall.
Carson watched Shadow, who was peering quizzically at Rodney. She must have thought he was funny, because she imitated his agitated hand-flapping and slackened her own jaw to match the expression on his face. Carson couldn't help grinning at her antics. Shadow, evidently, was not above amusing herself at Rodney's expense which, as far as Carson was concerned, made her a kindred spirit with half the personnel in Atlantis. Carson knew he probably ought to scold her for making fun of the physicist, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Rodney hadn't exactly been charitable to Shadow so far, and Carson figured Rodney was getting exactly what he deserved.
After a few moments, Shadow gave up trying to play copycat with Rodney. Carson wondered what had drawn her attention away. He looked where she was looking, and spied a small silver-wrapped rectangle on the lab table next to Rodney's laptop. It was a power bar, and Carson already knew how Shadow felt about those.
Before either Carson or Rodney had time to react, Shadow darted forward and snatched the power bar from the table. Her nimble fingers tore the wrapping from it. Without so much as a pause for thought, she took a rather indelicate bite of the treat.
"Hey!" Rodney exclaimed. "That's mine!"
"I think it's hers now," Carson said. He was trying hard to hide his amusement, but one look at the expression on Shadow's face pushed him over the threshold of restraint. He laughed out loud. "I'd say you've finally met your match, Rodney."
Rodney's face began to turn an alarming shade of red. He waved his arms in a display of impotent fury, and yelled. "That's it! Get out of my lab! Both of you, get out of here right this second!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Well, that didn't go so well, did it?" Carson said, as he and Shadow made their way down the corridor, away from Rodney's lab. Shadow clutched her half-eaten power bar in one hand. Her other hand was curled securely around Carson's fingers. Carson glanced sideways at her and smiled fondly. "Aye, I know. You had a grand time in there, didn't you? I don't think Rodney'll be inclined to be friendly for a while, though I don't suppose that'll bother you, will it? Shall we go back to the Infirmary, then? I want to look in on Radek, and unless I miss my guess, you'll want to look in on him, too."
Carson realized that Shadow didn't understand a word he was saying. She did seem to like it when he talked to her, though, so he kept up a running commentary as they progressed through the city. Getting back to the Infirmary took longer than Carson had planned. He hadn't counted on Shadow's curiosity about everything. She'd been so nervous before that he hadn't expected her to want to explore now. He told himself he should not have underestimated her. She was proving to be full of surprises.
At one point, they passed an open doorway that led to one of the city's many balconies. The sun had already set, but apparently Shadow didn't mind the dark. She tugged Carson in the direction of the open door.
Shadow got very excited when she saw the ocean, which made Carson wonder if this was the first time she'd ever laid eyes on such a large body of water. She let go of Carson's hand and went right up to the railing. She would have climbed the railing for a better look at the water if Carson hadn't caught her from behind and held her in place. Carson was amazed that she didn't try to squirm out of his grasp. He was even more surprised when she actually leaned against him.
They stood together and watched the water in perfect, peaceful silence.
