Author's note:Thank you kindly for all of the reviews! I hope that I continue to entertain you lovely people. :o) Don't forget to check out this story's site if you are so inclined (address in the first chapter). Blessings upon you all!

IV. A Startled Deer

He could hear a steady beeping noise. The constant chirp that fought through his hazy hearing was foggily familiar. Where had he heard that sound before? It wasn't a bird. It wasn't water dripping. It's not a natural sound at all, he slowly realized. Then why was it so familiar?

He sighed as he shifted and the scent around him only added to the tantalizing dance of things he felt he should know, as did the cool feel of the fabric brushing against his bare forearms. The answer hit him so suddenly that he tried to open his eyes. The Infirmary. That's where he'd awoken to that steady beep before – when he'd been shot by the woman inhabiting Weir.

The white of the bedding was too bright so he let his eyes slip shut again with a cracked groan.

Teyla sat up straight upon hearing the noise, having been lightly dozing with her back against the wall beside the bed. She watched the muscles in Ronon's throat ripple as he swallowed and tilted his chin in a sign of wakefulness. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips and she moved her free hand to rest on top of the hand that held Ronon's. "Ronon?"

Remembering was proving too tiring so he'd let his memory drift to the point that he was nearly asleep again. As such, it took his name a few heartbeats to travel from his ears to his mind. When it registered, he cracked his eyes open again, this time willing them to fight past the urge to water and squint against the white around him. That voice was familiar...

"Ronon?" She leaned over a bit to better see his face, her hair brushing over her shoulders.

Teyla. The melodic voice belonged to Teyla. That meant that whatever had happened, he was back in Atlantis, home and safe. Teyla would have made sure of that, for he often felt her eyes on his back. He moved his head a little to try and find her but the small action made his vision swim and he felt as if he were suddenly spiraling into an abyss. He breathed shallowly to steady himself, and in that pause, felt her warm thumb running along the ticklish back of his hand. Shifting his shoulders, he blinked his eyes open a little more and looked up to find a blurry Athosian smiling down at him. His return smile came as naturally as breathing.

Teyla couldn't help but grin so widely that she felt on the point of laughter when he smiled sleepily, almost bashfully, back at her. He blinked slowly and she realized that she was staring so she averted her gaze to their clasped hands. Yet upon feeling his eyes still on her, she looked back to meet his gaze. "You are safe, Ronon."

He wanted to say, "I know," but his mouth was too dry.

"Dr. Beckett successfully removed the tracking device and we have all returned home safe and sound."

Tracking device? But they'd taken that out a year ago... what was she talking about?

Her smile began to fade when she noted the confusion that obscured his eyes. "Do you not remember?"

He managed to shake his head no, having only the increasing awareness of pain and soreness to tell him what he'd just been through.

"Well." She gave his hand a squeeze, warming it. "There'll be time enough for remembering later."

Remember? Remember. The light haloing her head highlighted the strawberry red of her hair. Melena had hair that sometimes looked that color. He had long wondered at its many shaded tresses, browns and golds and reds all blending so seamlessly into curls that were his undoing. It had been her curls that first caught his eye when they bounced as she laughed with a friend.

He'd been in the waiting room of the hospital with a handful of other eighteen and nineteen-year-old soldiers. The young recruits were called in one by one for a health inspection and as he waited, he watched Melena on her break, chatting with the administrative secretary who had witty brown eyes and a ready smile. Her name was Arya.

From the desk, Arya could see that he was peeking at her friend whenever he could. Arya arched a brow at him in acknowledgment and he was sure his rigid form and wide eyes resembled a startled deer. Melena stole a casual glance at him over her shoulder after her friend told her that he was staring and she'd hastily spun her head back around to Arya, her curls bouncing as the two laughed. He sunk a little lower in his seat, his cheeks coloring as the two giggled at his expense, yet still, he could not stop looking her way.

After a few moments Arya gave him a "what do you want?" expression, compounded by Melena looking over her shoulder at him again with a furrowed brow. He subconsciously chewed the inside of his lip as a bashful smile alighted on his face when her eyes met his. Melena had started to smile back then checked herself, clearing her throat as she looked away but stealing another glance at him over her shoulder.

A friend elbowed him with a smirk as the bored, heavyset nurse called his name in the waiting room for the third time. "Ronon Mato Hota Dex?"

He rose, clenching his jaw at the sniggers from his fellow soldiers.

The nurse blinked with bovine interest. "This way, please, Mr. Dex."

He followed her into the examination room, too embarrassed to steal another glance at the pretty nurse standing at the desk.

"Here." Teyla was offering him a straw and he forced his mind back to the present, taking a few slow swallows, the dryness of his throat burning with the action. Once the cooling water soothed his throat he reached to help hold the glass, making slurping sounds through the straw as he drank thirstily, making Teyla laugh. "I am glad you are recovering," she said as he leaned back against the pillows, the glass empty. "I shall ask Dr. Beckett if you may have some more water." She rested a hand on his shoulder and smiled as she rose. He watched her as far as he could without moving his head. There was something about her smile that made him feel safe, just as Melena's smile had always made him feel like he was home.

Please review!

Note: "Mato hota" is Lakota for "brown bear." I always saw Ronon as a bit of a bear in that if he's charging and you shoot him, all it does is get him more anrgy rather than stopping him.