Chapter 11

Like most of the rooms in Atlantis, Elizabeth had situated her bed so that it was more or less directly across from the door on the far wall. All of the senior staff and most of the other inhabitants of the city did this so that if there was ever an emergency, all they had to do was leap across the floor and dash out into the hall way. No stumbling over furniture, no bumping into corners. A simple, straight B-line for the door.

When the five men and women entered the room, they saw Elizabeth lying directly across from them, motionless in her bed. Her body was rigid and the lines in her face seemed to have deepened, making her look tired and sick. Her face was covered in a sheen of sweat and the sheets around her had been drenched, as if she had been wracked with fever. And from where Carson stood, she didn't appear to be breathing.

"Hell, Elizabeth." Sheppard hissed as he crossed the room. He leaned over her still form and pressed his fingers against her throat. He stood there for several seconds before he looked up at the others, a grim look in his hazel eyes. "She's got a pulse, but it's weak."

Heightmeyer and Cadman didn't even have to be pushed aside. They had already parted to give Carson a clear path to Elizabeth's bed and he rushed to her side, placing his medical kit beside her on the bed and taking a good look at her.

She looked like hell. Her face was drawn and pale and her eyelids looked like they were sinking into her face. Her hair was tangled and damp from sweat and he could see the goose bumps on her skin, the drying perspiration chilling her. By all the looks of it she had a severe fever, but if she had been sick she would have called him. She would have told him. She would have gotten help—especially when she was looking after Rodney as well as herself.

"Colonel Sheppard, Doctor Beckett."

Teyla's voice, always so calm and measured, cracked slightly as she called the two men. Sheppard, already at her side, looked over her shoulder and Carson was beside him in a flash, reading what appeared to be a note. It was written in Elizabeth's handwriting and Carson read it over a second and third time after Teyla handed it to him. With the words burned into his brain, he handed it numbly to Kate and Cadman.

I've gone to find him. Help me.

"Oh, Elizabeth, what have you done?" Heightmeyer whispered as she handed the note to Cadman. Teyla and Beckett looked at her in surprise, while John's eyes remained fixed on Elizabeth.

"What has she done?" Carson asked, confused and frightened by Kate's reaction.

Kate sighed and rubbed her forehead. She dropped her hand and looked at Elizabeth lying sick and pale on her bed.

"Rodney and Elizabeth share one mind. Forcing two fully formed consciousnesses and personalities into one brain is bound to cause problems, but more problems can arise if the dual personalities begin to fight over control of the body—as is apparently what happened in the lab. It's my fault that—"

"We've been over this, Doctor." Sheppard said shortly, his eyes still focused on Elizabeth. "It's no one's fault. You couldn't have known something like this would happen." He looked up at her, his eyes dark with worry and the closest thing to fear Carson had ever seen in Sheppard. "Just… tell us what's going on now."

Kate sighed.

"The exact opposite of what should have happened. Or rather, the exact opposite of what I would have expected to go wrong. Zelenka told you that there was apparently an argument between Elizabeth and Rodney, right?"

"Right." John nodded. "He told me she hit him… well, herself, I guess, but he had still been in control at the time. Mostly. He thinks."

Kate shook her head.

"I think he was still in control—at least over the speech-oriented part of the brain. Elizabeth must have gotten control of motor functions and hit him to get his attention. In any case, Rodney—who had been against the idea of sharing control of her body to begin with—probably realized that he had wronged her, that he had gone too far. He got scared, probably a little angry, and he gave up control. But apparently he gave up everything. He—he left."

"He what?" Carson shouted in surprise at the same time as Sheppard was asking, "left where?"

"One moment… how could Rodney leave Dr. Weir?" Teyla asked slowly. "He is inside her mind. He has nowhere to go."

"On the contrary." Heightmeyer said. "He does have somewhere to go. As far as Elizabeth's brain is concerned, Rodney is a subconscious. Which means that there are parts of Elizabeth's mind that he can get into that she is unaware of. Sort of… sort of like a hidden tunnel underneath your house. You know about the house and you might even know about the tunnel, but you have no idea how to get to it. But your subconscious—which is sort of like… well, bad example, but sort of like a mouse living underneath your floorboards—knows how to navigate what you don't. It not only knows about the tunnel, but it also knows how to get into and through it. Well, Rodney must have found one of those tunnels, purposefully or accidentally, and hid there. He had relinquished all control, which means he might as well not even… exist any more. As far as I know… Rodney has disappeared."

The room went very still as the enormity of Heightmeyer's words sank in.

"You're telling us…" Sheppard suddenly looked almost as pale as Elizabeth, "that Rodney's dead?"

Heightmeyer shook her head again.

"I—I don't know. Frankly, I have never had to deal with anything like this before and certainly no one can prepare you for it." Kate sighed. "But… but this is the best I can come up with. This is all that makes sense, and even then it's but barely."

"That's not what I asked." Sheppard asked softly and Carson shivered at the dangerous tone in his voice. He was in no way threatening the woman, but Carson recognized the man's tone. He didn't want to be screwed with. He wanted answers, he wanted them now and he wanted them straight. "Is. Rodney. Dead?"

"I… I don't know." Kate said again. "I… I don't think so. But I think he's lost. Or at least Elizabeth seems to think so. Which is why she's gone to find him."

"What does that mean, "gone to find him"?" Cadman asked, speaking for the first time. "You mean she's gone to find him… in there?" she pointed to her own head. "In her head? How?"

Heightmeyer shook her head.

"This is way beyond me. I have no idea, truthfully, what is going on or what Elizabeth is doing. All I know is that we should probably move her to the infirmary so that we can keep an eye on her."

"Jus' what I was thinkin'." Carson said and tapped is radio. "This is Dr. Beckett. I need a medical team with a gurney at Dr. Weir's quarters immediately."

"So… what? We can't even do anything?" Sheppard asked. Carson looked at him, his blue eyes sad.

"I'm afraid all we can do right now is try to make her comfortable and wait. Whatever she is doing inside that head of hers, she is doin' on her own."

"Then why did she ask for help?" Sheppard shouted, snatching the note from Cadman and shoving it in Carson's face. "If we couldn't do anything, why would she ask us to try and do something?"

"How could I possibly know tha', Colonel?" Carson snapped back. "I'm a medical doctor, not a bloody mind-reader. If she can tell us what t' do, she will. Until then, we can't do anythin'. Understand, son?"

Sheppard glared at him, but nodded reluctantly.

"Yes." He said softly. Carson sighed and looked up at the team arrived with the stretcher. He motioned to Elizabeth.

"Help me move her. Gently!" when she had been moved to the stretcher, Carson leveled a sympathetic gaze at Sheppard. "At least we can keep an eye on her in the infirmary…"