It had been three days since Holly last had seen Carson, or just about anyone, for that matter. She had been focusing on getting herself back up to healthy, by Carson's standards. She had gained a few pounds, due to forcing herself to eat, though she still hadn't been getting as much sleep as Carson would have liked. Holly knew that. Still, she was trying her very best, and she was worrying more and more as each day passed. Colonel John Sheppard was still missing. She had one guess.

The Wraith.

A few weeks earlier, a few people had headed out on a team with John to a planet recently culled by the Wraith. He had chosen to take Teyla, Ronon, Holly, and Dr. Lance Warren, a new scientist that had recently joined Atlantis. Unfortunately, while they had been searching for any survivors, a few Wraith had stumbled upon them and attacked. A fight ensued, but after one of the Wraith was injured badly, with the other two injured enough to get them to back away. One, who was far more creepy than the other, had spoken harshly to the team: "I could kill you where you stand, Colonel, but your time has not yet come; however, we will have our way, one way or another."

Holly hadn't paid much attention to the warning before; it wasn't like the officers on Atlantis hadn't been threatened before by their enemies. But now, it seemed so real. She was fearing the worst. What if, while SGA-1 had been off on their most recent mission, the Wraith they battled had managed to take John away? What if that wasn't an empty threat, but a promise that the Wraith had made? She had been having trouble getting a grip ever since then. John needed to get back.

She arrived in the infirmary, timidly standing near the doorway as Dr. Marino examined a few charts. She didn't notice Holly at first, so the blonde lieutenant simply watched her. Marino was average height, probably around five six; she had long black hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a complexion to die for. It made Holly a little jealous, really, that she wasn't that pretty. But then women are always comparing themselves to other women, are they not? It took a few moments for Eva Marino to realize she was being watched.

"Lieutenant Cavanaugh!" Marino spoke, clearly startled when she saw Holly standing in the door. "What are you doing here?" she asked, then paused. "I mean, are you here to see Carson? I thought he gave you the thumbs-up?"

Holly shrugged a bit and sighed, slowly walking further into the infirmary. It had a cold, lifeless feel to it; that was probably the reason she never enjoyed being there. Well, that and being injured didn't exactly make one feel well. "He said I was healthy to the extent of not being diseased." When the physician's assistant gave her a funny look, she took a deep breath and continued. "He said I needed to get more food and more rest. Which I did, and I came back to get cleared for the missions roster again."

"You military types," Marino said under her breath, shaking her head. She looked at Holly and raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait for him."

"But you have the same power when it comes to stuff like this," Holly tried reasoning. "I mean, you could perform a quick exam and clear me for duty. Am I right?" The doctor gave her a bemused look, and Holly took a deep breath. "Dr. Marino, what would be wrong about that? Seriously? I just want to be cleared for duty, I'm not asking you to fake a report or anything."

"Take it up with Carson Beckett," Marino ordered her. "I'm not clearing you for duty. Carson took you off the roster, he has the power to put you back on. I'm not about to do something to somehow undermine his authority, Lieutenant. I don't think it wise for you to ask me to do such a thing, either. Have a seat. He's currently attending to a patient recently discharged from the infirmary."

Dr. Marino started to walk away when Holly opened her mouth. "It's McKay, right?" The doctor stopped and turned to look at her. "He's okay, then?"

"Healthy as a horse," Marino said with little enthusiasm. "But, sweetie, there's no point in asking him about Colonel Sheppard. We've already tried, and up until Rodney showed up here, he couldn't remember a damn thing that happened to him. He had a panic attack down in the gateroom because he didn't know how he'd ended up there."

"What does he remember?"

Marino looked annoyed. "Lieutenant Cavanaugh, you need to understand something: you are neither the military leader nor are you Dr. Weir, so I really don't have to answer. I'm a civilian, and you can't order me to, either." She paused, and took a deep breath. "It's not that I don't want to; it's just that things like this are delicate matters. You need to give it time, I'm sure the Colonel will show up sooner or later. Major Lorne has been taking teams out, day and night, to find him."

There was a moment of silence, during which Holly soaked all of this information up. After a moment, her gaze met the doctor's again, and she spoke. "Dr. Marino, I have one more question. Answer it for me and I will leave you alone. Please. Just answer it for me."

Marino thought about this for a moment; all she had to do was answer one simple question and she could get the lieutenant out of her hair. This appealed to her. "All right. What's your question?"

"From what McKay knows, and from what you may or may not be able to assume, what's happened?"

There was yet another short period of silence. Marino wasn't counting on a question like this, but then she had promised to answer it for Holly, and she did want the blonde to leave her alone. "Well," she began, thinking over her answer carefully. "We really don't know that much. What we do know, however, is that while off on a mission, SGA-1 got separated. Ronon and Teyla from the colonel and Rodney. Colonel Sheppard tried getting everyone back together when he and Rodney were attacked."

"By what?"

"We don't know, and that also exceeds your limit on questions." Marino took a deep breath and shrugged a bit. "Just have a little bit of faith, Lieutenant. He's going to come back, because if he was taken by the same thing or the same person that Rodney was taken by, then he will be back. The same way Rodney came."

"And what if this thing's MO changes? What then?"

Marino shrugged. "I don't really know, Lieutenant." She started to walk away, then stopped and turned to look at Holly. "Carson should be back soon. You can wait here, if you'd like."

"I would, thanks."