I want to thank everyone who has commented on this story so far. I really appreciate your support and encouragement and thank you to those who have stuck with it. Unfortunately, I am finding it difficult to finish, but I will continue on and hopefully finish it soon. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Chapter 13: In the infirmary.
Teyla was beside herself with worry by the time she entered the infirmary waiting room, she had dropped Puss off at her apartment, where Amelia was looking after Torren.
John had not looked good when he had come through the gate being carried in Dave's arms and Dave had looked absolutely exhausted, she hoped for Jane's sake that Dave was just asleep right now, but she also knew that things were never that simple for John.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice speaking to her, "Teyla why don't you sit down, Rodney has just gone to the mess hall to get some sandwiches and coffee?"
Looking around the room it didn't take her too long to realise that Ronon was there, but Rodney wasn't, "thankyou Jane, have you heard anything about John as yet?"
"No, and I haven't heard any news about Dave either, but I'm hoping that he is just exhausted and in need of a long sleep."
"Yes, I really hope that Dave is alright because that would be one less thing that I have to worry about," Teyla replied. Suddenly she felt the need to apologise, when she thought about how selfish her last comment sounded, "Jane I am sorry if I gave you the impression that I was not concerned about Dave."
"Thank you Teyla and I understand how you are feeling, so I wasn't upset or offended by your comment," Jane told her softly, before taking her hand.
Teyla looked at her friend in the eye and smiled, it felt good to have family around her and Jane was family, because she was married to John's brother and he was her family.
Before either of them had a chance to say anything further Dr Cole entered the room, "how is Dave?" Jane asked standing to her feet.
"He's fine, he's a little dehydrated and probably hungry, but right now he is thoroughly exhausted, so he's in a deep sleep."
"Is there any news on John?" Teyla asked hopefully.
"All I know is that Carson has him in surgery," the doctor replied, with a sad smile.
"Thank you, Dr Cole," Teyla said sitting down again and she was relieved when Ronon put his arm around her.
"May I sit with Dave?" Jane pleaded.
"Yes certainly follow me," Dr Cole told Jane, before she left, the doctor turned to Teyla and Ronon and spoke softly, "Carson will be out as soon as possible to let you know about Colonel Sheppard."
Teyla nodded and watched as Jane disappeared with Dr Cole, she then settled back on her chair, comforted by the fact that Ronon was with her and had his arm around her. For now, the room was peaceful, so she decided to close her eyes and try to get some sleep.
Her peace didn't last long, because a few minutes later Rodney came back from the mess hall and he was speaking in a very loud voice, "have you heard anything about Sheppard yet?"
She was relieved when Ronon answered for her, "no McKay and who knows how long it will be, his leg looked pretty messed up when he came through the gate."
"I'll put the sandwiches on the table, so if you want to eat you can," Rodney said in an annoyingly high pitched tone.
She sighed and opened her eyes, as much as she wanted to sleep, there was no way that it was going to happen right now, she was too upset and worried about John, "thank you, Rodney," she said putting a fake smile on her face.
"Do you think that Sheppard will be alright?" Rodney asked with a mouth full of food.
"Of course he will, it's Sheppard we're talking about, the question is will he ever be an adult again?" Ronon mumbled, before putting half a sandwich in his mouth and taking a swig of coffee.
"I've already told you that he'll grow up, but it just may take a while!" Rodney shot back.
Teyla could sense an argument coming on, so she stood up and eyeballed both men, "please do not argue, how is that going to help John!?" She scolded, before sitting down again.
"Sorry," Ronon mumbled, before sitting down next to her.
Rodney said nothing and sat down on the other side of her.
At last, the room was quiet, so she closed her eyes and willed sleep to come and a few minutes later she fell into a deep sleep.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Carson threw his blood-soaked scrub top in the biohazard bin as he exited the OR; he had been in there for five hours fixing up Colonel Sheppard. John's left leg had been a real mess and the cat looked as if it had been playing with his leg before it had started gnawing on it, shredding skin and muscle. Carson had no idea when John would be on his feet again, as his right leg was still weak as well, luckily his shoulder was only bruised and hadn't been damaged again which was a total surprise, considering it looked as if he'd been thrown down the stairs and more than once. Carson was also relieved that John's hand was healing well and he'd managed to avoid an infection.
John was also his full size again; which had made the surgery much easier, even though any surgery was never easy.
It was with a heavy heart that he headed to the waiting room, things were looking pretty grim for Colonel Sheppard, yet again. On entering the waiting room, he found Teyla and Rodney fast asleep. Ronan was pacing the floor and as usual, he didn't look very happy.
He looked at the remains of a meal spread across the table and felt a little jealous that he wouldn't be getting anything to eat in a hurry.
"How is he Doc?" Ronan asked, stopping long enough to ask the question.
By this time Rodney and Teyla were stirring as well, so he waited until they were awake before he gave them a prognosis.
"Well, his left lower leg was shredded to pieces by a wild cat chewing on it. The damage was deep and his leg had been fractured by the pressure of the cat's teeth and Jaw, so eventually, I will have to put it in a cast. He may require one or more two surgeries first though. " Carson took a deep breath before continuing, "his heart stopped before we took him into surgery and he stopped breathing, so we had to intubate. We assume that may have had something to do with the fact that he suddenly grew up."
"So he's the real John Sheppard again, the one that looks like a scary soldier?" Rodney asked, with a worried look on his face.
"Yes he appears to be the real John Sheppard again," Carson stated with a small smile, before continuing. "Although we won't know for sure until he wakes up again."
"Will he be okay?" Teyla asked softly, with tears in her eyes.
"I honestly don't know, because five minutes ago he slipped into a coma and I can only assume that has something to do with the fact that he has suddenly grown-up again."
"Can we see him?" Ronon mumbled.
"Yes but only for a little while," Carson told them.
He was about to turn and leave when he remembered that there was something that he needed to tell Rodney, "when you've seen him can you please search the database to see if there is any information about the people who slipped into comas after using this device?"
When Rodney nodded Carson turned and led them towards the ICU. He knew that his friends would be shocked by the state that Colonel Sheppard was in, but then they had seen him in an injured weakened state so often recently so it probably wouldn't come as a surprise to them.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Dave felt groggy when he awoke and he wasn't surprised to find that he had a pounding headache, not to mention he was hungry and thirsty. He turned his head to the side and almost immediately regretted it, "Where… am… I?" he stuttered, still feeling half asleep.
A set of green eyes appeared in front of his face, "Dave it's good to see you awake, I was so worried about you."
"Where…am…I?" He asked again.
"You're back on Atlantis in the infirmary," Jane informed him with compassion in her eyes. She took his hand, before she continued, "don't you remember coming back through the gate?
Suddenly the fog seemed to clear and he remembered what had happened to him, "How's...John?"
Dave looked into Jane's eyes and he wasn't happy by what he saw, he had a feeling that she had no idea how he was. "I'm sorry Dave, but we have absolutely no idea, Carson has taken him into surgery and that was about five hours ago."
"Do you know if he's grown up, or is he still a child? He must have grown at least four inches while we were missing." Dave asked the words tumbling out of his mouth.
"I have no idea; no-one has been in to tell me anything."
Dave sighed, he still felt incredibly tired and decided that it was probably time to go back to sleep, but he had no idea how long he'd been asleep, "Jane how long have I been asleep?"
"You've been asleep for almost six hours."
He pushed the covers back and tried to get out of bed, "I have to go and see him." It didn't take him long to realise that his head really hurt, so he lay back on his bed and moaned.
"Dave Dr Cole wants you to stay here for the next twenty-four hours and her instructions are that you are not to get out of bed unless you need to go to the bathroom, she wants you to sleep," Jane took a deep breath and stroked the back of his hand before continuing, "I promise you that as soon as I hear anything about John I will wake you and let you know how he is."
"I guess, I could use some more sleep, but first I would really like something to eat?" Dave replied stifling a yawn.
"I'm sure that something can be arranged and if you need to talk about what happened on that planet, I'm here for you," Jane told him before she turned around and left the room.
He watched her leave the room and was overcome by a wave of fatigue, so he decided that it was probably a good time for a nap before Jane came back with his food. Closing his eyes, he tried to forget what had happened over the last couple of days and it wasn't long before he fell into a deep sleep.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Teyla followed Carson into the ICU, afraid of what she may see. John had spent a lot of time there over the last ten weeks, but she was never prepared for the vulnerable state that she usually found him in, when he was in the infirmary.
The first thing she noticed when she saw John, was that he was his full size again and hopefully, that meant that he was John Sheppard, the man she loved. Rodney had told her that there shouldn't be any side effects once he reached his adult form, but he couldn't guarantee it.
But none of that mattered right now, the man before her needed her love and strength. He looked incredibly pale and she could see that his left leg was heavily bandaged and placed on a large pillow. The thing that disturbed her most though was the whoosh of the ventilator breathing for him.
"Dr Beckett, how long will he have to be on the ventilator?" She asked not taking her eyes off of John.
"I'm thinking that we should be able to wean him off of it in the next twenty-four hours, all being well."
"And when will he wake up from the coma?" Rodney asked in his high pitched panicked tone.
Carson just sighed and shrugged his shoulders, and Teyla could see the sadness in his eyes, "It could be tomorrow, or it could be months from now, or he may never wake up, I can't really tell you."
"That's what you say every time he's in a coma doc," Ronon stated in a matter of fact tone.
"I know lad and as always, I just don't know."
Teyla sat down and held John's hand and she was surprised to see how cold it was, "Dr Beckett why is his hand so cold?"
"His heart rate is a little low at the moment," Carson replied in a gentle tone.
"Well, I think I will sit with him for a while." Teyla stated, turning back to look at John. She had every intention of sitting with him until he woke up, so she knew it may be a lot longer than a little while.
"I'm staying too," Ronon mumbled, sitting on a chair at the end of the bed with his feet up.
"I think I'll stay for a while too," Rodney stated sitting opposite Teyla and taking John's other hand.
"Aye, you can stay as long as you don't get in the way of my nurses and if there's an emergency you'll need to clear out," Carson said with a sigh.
"Sure Carson," Rodney said not taking his eyes off John.
"Of course Dr Beckett," Teyla said in a serine tone.
Ronon just grunted while leaning back on his chair.
Teyla sat back in her chair still holding John's hand; she knew she was in for the long haul, so she might as well be comfortable while she was about it.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Dave woke with a start, the dream he'd just had was quite disturbing. Klull had been holding a gun to John's head while his men had been beating and stabbing John. He took a deep breath and looked around the room and was relieved to see that Jane was still sitting next to him fast asleep.
Once he had managed to catch his breath he whispered to her hoping to wake her up, "Jane, wake up?"
There was no reply, so he spoke a bit louder, "Jane, wake up?"
He was relieved when she woke up since he really didn't want to shout and risk his headache notching up.
"Dave it's good to see you awake. Mr Woolsey was in here earlier wanting to talk to you?"
He looked at his wife with suspicion, "do you know what he wanted?"
"I think he wanted to ask some questions about what happened on that planet."
Dave took a deep breath to try and calm himself, before answering since he still felt disturbed about the nightmare he'd just had. "I don't really want to talk about it." Closing his eyes he reached out for Jane's hand, "have they told you anything about John?"
"Yes he is out of surgery and Dr Cole has said that when you wake up, you can go and visit him."
Dave looked at her with worry in his eyes, "did they tell you how he was?"
"Perhaps I will go and get Carson to explain what is going on, as I don't really know all of the details."
He watched her leave and lay back down on the pillows wondering whether he should just go back to sleep again, he had no idea how long he'd been back on Atlantis, or how long he'd been sleeping, but he still felt tired.
It wasn't to be though, because before he had a chance to doze off Woolsey walked into his room.
"Mr Sheppard, it is good to have you back on Atlantis," Woolsey said with a smile, before taking a seat next to his bed.
"It's good to be back," Dave said with a smile, "what can I do for you today Mr Woolsey?"
"What happened on that planet?"
"I'll give you a quick rundown and then I was going to go and visit John for a while." When Woolsey nodded, he continued. "Well, John and I were kept in a small room on a cold planet, John wasn't well for the first night and then suddenly he grew by a couple of inches. Then John escaped through the window and found a gun, he then came and let me out and shot Klull, then we tried to make it to the gate and along the way a giant cat decided to gnaw John's leg. After that, we made our way to the gate and found it was guarded by Klull and one of his goons. I created a diversion and John took down one of the guards. Klull worked out what we were doing and then he stunned us as we went through the gate."
Dave was relieved when Carson and Jane came back and Woolsey didn't have a chance to question him further.
"It's good to see you awake Dave, would you like to go and see John now?" Carson asked in a gentle tone.
"Yes, I would love to see him, but can you tell me how he is first?" Dave answered.
He looked at Carson and by the look on the Doctor's face he knew that it wasn't good, "well I've fixed his leg and there is massive ligament and muscle damage, not to mention the strong grip of the cat's jaw has fractured the bone. He is in a coma and not breathing on his own, so at the moment he's on a ventilator." Carson gave him a weak smile before he continued, "I have one piece of good news though, he is his adult size again and hopefully that means that when he wakes up he will be the John Sheppard we all know."
"I need to go and sit with him now and I want to be able to stay with him, I'm his brother and he needs me!" Dave demanded and he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"I think we can manage that. I will allow you to sleep in the other bed in the ICU," before he had a chance to complain, Carson held up his finger and continued, "and you will stay in bed and rest."
"I promise that I will stay in bed for as long as you tell me to, but for now I really need to be with John." Dave practically pleaded.
"Stay where you are and I'll bring you a wheelchair," Carson instructed, before leaving the room.
Sighing he looked at Jane who had been quiet through the entire conversation, "how are you feeling Jane?"
"I must admit that although I'm worried about John I am relieved that you are alight. Does that make me a selfish person?" Jane asked and Dave could sense the worry in her voice.
"No of course it doesn't."
Dave was about to say something else reassuring when Carson came into the room pushing a wheelchair, "come on lad, let's get you moved and settled, then you can be there for your brother when he wakes."
"But what if he never wakes up Carson?" Dave asked with fear in his eyes.
"I honestly don't know what to tell you Dave; there is no reason whatsoever that he shouldn't wake up. If it makes you feel any better I have Rodney researching the ancient database to see if there has been anyone in this situation before as a result of using the device and if so have they woken up?"
"Well if anyone can figure it out, I'm positive that Rodney can," Dave replied with a small smile.
"Well come on then lad let's get moving."
Dave was surprised when he stood up and his legs tried to buckle underneath him, but luckily Jane and Carson were by his side and happy to help him into the wheelchair. He was relieved when the chair started moving. He was really hoping that John would be alight eventually and when he was he was never going to let him leave his sight ever again since when he did he always ended up getting injured.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rodney had been sitting by John's bedside for over an hour and he was fed up with it. He knew that John needed his friends near him, but he had no idea whether the man in the bed had any idea whether he was there or not. Ronon had left a few minutes before and the look on his face was one that said, 'if you don't get out of my way, I'm, going to hit you. He assumed that the big man was heading off to the gym to hit something. That left Teyla holding John's hand and it was obvious to him that she wasn't going to leave in a hurry.
Suddenly he felt the urge to leave and head to his lab, so he stood up and a real sense of terror overcome him before he looked at Teyla and spoke to her, "I have to leave now and go back to my lab, hopefully, I can find something to help John."
Teyla looked up at him and he could see that she had been crying, but who could blame her if it was Jennifer lying in that bed, he would be crying as well.
"Thank you Dr McKay and I really hope that you can find something to help John," she said to him with a small smile.
"Umm…, you're welcome," he muttered before leaving the room.
He exited the infirmary and headed straight to his lab. Once he'd arrived he locked the door behind him not wanting to be disturbed. He hated sitting in the infirmary when one of his teammates was injured or sick, he really needed to be doing something and if checking the ancient database would help Sheppard he was happy to do it, in fact, he wasn't about to leave his lab until he found an answer, even if it took him days.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Dave was shocked at the sight of his brother lying in the bed so still and pale. No matter how many times he'd seen John in this condition he never got used to it. He immediately instructed Jane to take him over to his brother so that he could hold his hand.
Grabbing John's hand Dave leant down and whispered in his ear, "I'm here, little brother and I'm going to stay right here until you wake up. Teyla is here with you too and I'm sure she won't be leaving in a hurry."
"I will come back and see you later Dave," Jane said kissing him on the cheek.
Once Jane had left the room he looked up to find that Teyla was staring at him.
He felt a little uncomfortable to have her staring at him, so he turned away from her gaze, "What's going on?" He asked her.
"I was just thinking about how lucky John is to have a brother like you. I never had any siblings to look after me the way you and John seem to look after each other and I know that it has not always been that way, but I am glad that it is now."
"Thank you Teyla," Dave said still feeling uncomfortable, "I want you to know that Jane and I consider you family, so if you or John ever need help with anything, please let us know?" Wow, that was difficult, he thought, but I actually sounded loving and compassionate.
"Thank you, Dave," Teyla said turning back to look at John.
"You're welcome Teyla," Dave said, before turning back to his brother.
For the next hour or so they sat there in silence, not bothering to talk to each other. Dave felt as if he had said all that he could to her for now, but in the future, he knew that there would be a whole lot more that needed to be said, but for now, all he wanted to do was sit with his little brother.
TBC…