Authors Note: Sorry for the wait guys, work has been busy, Covid rules always changing things. I hope this chapter makes up for it. Special thanks to jasminesmommy, Csiaddictfan87 and sheppardlover928 for their reviews!
Chapter 5
Carson was exhausted, after several hours in surgery he needed to get some sleep. He'd just about had time to eat something and take a quick shower before he was called to the briefing room, his turn to be questioned. At least he had saved Elizabeth, she'd lost a lot of blood but the damage wasn't as bad as he'd initially feared, though it had only been a couple of centimetres away from being a different story. He'd been able to repair the damage the bullet had caused and a blood transfusion, along with Elizabeth's stubborn willpower, had taken care of the rest.
"Thank you for coming Dr Beckett," Agent Gavorn greeted, Carson didn't wait to be offered a chair, he was too tired. "I know you've spent a good deal of time in surgery so I'll try to keep today's interview as brief as possible. How is Dr Weir doing?"
"She's stable, still unconscious but she should make a full recovery," he replied, not bothering to go into details, if Gavorn wanted them, he could ask for them.
"That's good to hear," Gavorn said. Carson forced his mind to focus, forced himself to stay awake when all he really wanted to do was drift off to sleep.
Gavorn started asking him a bunch of questions about his position on Atlantis, all stuff that would be in the datapad the agent had on his knees. He went on to ask him about what he thought of different members of the expedition, what he thought of Elizabeth and Rodney. Carson answered honestly, he had nothing to hide and if the agent had to ask all of these inane questions before he could get to the point then it was best done quickly.
"As a doctor, you took the Hippocratic oath, correct?"
Carson looked at the man for a moment, he wasn't going to like where this was heading, he could tell. "That's right."
"Do no harm," Gavorn said, as though confirming the words. "Have you ever done harm, Dr Beckett."
"Not intentionally, or when there was any other choice," Carson replied, swallowing back a wave of anxiety.
"You've fired a weapon before?"
Gavorn would already have the answer to that but Carson answered anyway, "I have, when a life was in danger. I'm a doctor, not a sitting duck, nor would I stand by and allow someone else to be killed."
"During your first year here, you met people called the Hoffans," Gavorn began. Carson had known he would be asked about this, he just didn't like to talk about it, didn't like remembering the results of the work he had done there when he thought he'd been helping people. "I know how all of that turned out, we don't need to go through all the details. Afterwards you did some further research on the drug?"
"I looked into where it had gone wrong, whether or not it could be altered so it wouldn't kill the people taking it," Carson said, "Nothing came of it."
"The information on the drug was restricted, why?"
"It was dangerous but for some people it was still a temptation, the Hoffan people chose to give the drug to their entire population knowing it would kill half of them, that's how desperate they were to stop the wraith," Carson explained, pushing back memories of the people dying, Perna, the resolute look on Chancellor Druhin's face as the team failed to stop them using the drug.
"One of your doctors asked for access a few months ago though?"
Carson told him about Dr Harper coming to him with excitement in her eyes, wanting access to the research so she could explore some ideas she had. He'd told her to put together a proposal, that he'd take a look at it and speak to Elizabeth. He'd read her proposal two days later, Elizabeth had decided to defer to his judgement on the matter.
xXx
He'd read through Dr Harpers proposal on the research she wanted to do with Hoffan drug. He'd gone through it twice, she had been excited to get the chance to work on her ideas and he wanted to make sure he gave them proper consideration. He'd taken his thoughts to Elizabeth, he'd wanted her opinion on giving the young doctor access to the drug.
"This isn't exactly my area of expertise Carson," Elizabeth had said with a raised eyebrow. He'd given her a summary, in less technical terms, of what Harper was proposing. "You're in the best position to decide if this research is worth pursuing."
"I know," Carson admitted, and he already knew his answer. "But I just wanted your take on it."
"My take is that I trust you to know what you're doing, I'll defer to your judgement on the situation," Elizabeth said, he'd known she was going to say that as well. "It doesn't sound like you're inclined to grant her access?"
"I've looked through her proposal, there's nothing new in it, all of the approaches she's mentioned are things we tried when we returned from Hoff. I just don't see any benefit in the research, her time would be better spent on something else," Carson explained, then took a deep breath and sighed. "She's young and eager, I think she wants to make a name for herself and this is the way she's chosen to do it."
"Carson, if you think that this research would be a waste of time and resources then it seems you already have your decision. I'm sure there are other ongoing projects Dr Harper can be attached to," Elizabeth told him, lacing her finger together on her desk. "I trust your judgement, do what you think is best."
"Aye then," Carson took another deep breath as he stood up, preparing himself to let the doctor down. "I'll be getting out of your hair then."
He made his way back down to the infirmary where Dr Harper was currently on shift. She was speaking with a patient so he waited in his office until she was done before calling her in. There was an eager smile on her face as she entered, she was expecting positive news.
"I've read through your proposals twice, I'm afraid you won't be cleared to access the research on the Hoffan drug," he told her, being direct seemed the best way, her face fell instantly, disappointment radiating through the slump in her posture. "You've got some good ideas, but all things we've already tried."
"I think that's a mistake," Harper replied, standing up a little straighter. "You may have tried those things but I haven't, I could find something you didn't think of."
He didn't point out that he hadn't been the only person to work on the drug research after they returned from Hoff, a lot of research had gone into it by numerous scientists. "I'm sorry Dr Harper but your request is denied. Now Dr Sanchez has begun a research project that you might be interested in…"
She cut him off before he could explain, "I'm not interested in that, I'd like you to take another look at my proposal, I really think you should reconsider."
"The decision has been made," Carson told her more firmly.
She clenched her jaw for a moment, took a breath, "This is a mistake, I'd like to speak to Dr Weir about it."
"I already have," he told her, watching as she clenched her jaw again, balled her hands into fists at her side. "I can give you some details on the project Dr Sanchez is working on and you can decide if that's something you'd like to be a part of."
"I should get back to work," Harper said and walked out of his office without another word, he could still feel her anger even after she was gone. She hadn't taken it very well but it could certainly have been worse, hopefully she would choose to get involved with Dr Sanchez's work, it would give her something to focus on.
xXx
"Did she ever mention the Hoffan drug to you again?" Gavorn asked him without looking up from the tablet he was once again tapping on. It made Carson nervous, what was he typing, what had Carson said that Gavorn needed to make a note of?.
"Not to me," Carson told him, giving himself a mental shake, of course Gavorn was making notes, it wasn't like he would be able to remember everything people said. Carson suppressed a sigh, he was too tired, the surgery had been long, his emotions were high and after everything that had happened lately, he needed a vacation.
After a few more questions Carson was able to leave, he should sleep but he needed to check on Elizabeth. Colonel Sheppard was right where he'd left him a couple of hours ago, sitting by Elizabeth's bed. At some point he was probably going to have to order him to go and get some rest but, for the moment at least, Carson was happy to let him stay where he was.
"How'd it go with Gavorn?" John asked as the doctor approached.
"As well as it could," Carson told him as he looked at Elizabeth's vitals, she was resting comfortably now, hopefully she'd be awake in the next few hours. "She's doing well," he told the colonel who nodded his head, not taking his eyes off Elizabeth. Carson looked between the two of them, it was a bit of a role reversal. It wasn't that Elizabeth had never ended up in the infirmary but the vast majority of the time it was Colonel Sheppard who wound up here and Elizabeth visiting him.
xXx
It took a lot of patience to be a doctor, to deal with such a wide variety of people with a wide variety of problems. Carson had dealt with every kind of patient, including ones holding a gun on someone. He considered himself to have a lot of patience but Colonel Sheppard's constant fidgeting was starting to wear on him now.
"If you don't stay still, I'm just going to have to do this again," he told his restless patient as he attempted to draw a blood sample.
"You've already got my blood, how much do you want?" Sheppard questioned with a raised eyebrow and a slight pout.
"I'll be taking all of it in a bloody minute," Carson said, his exasperation starting to show. He was more than a little relieved when the door opened and Elizabeth walked in, she was the only person that could make him do as he was told.
"Only you could get into trouble less than three minutes after you stepped through the gate," she said as she walked over to where Sheppard was sitting on the bed.
"It's gotta be a record right?" Sheppard asked, sitting still enough now for Carson to draw blood without damaging him.
"Maybe not one to boast about," Elizabeth replied with an amused smile before turning to Carson. "How's he doing?"
"I believe we've counteracted the venom," he explained, "he's got feeling back in his extremities and is able to walk again. We're going to run another test now and he's going to have to stay here for a least a few more hours for observation but he should be back to normal by the end of the day, barring anything unforeseen."
"That's good to hear," Elizabeth turned her smile back to Sheppard. "You're lucky your team reacted as quickly as they did, you should probably thank Ronon for carrying you back through the gate."
"I'll do that," Sheppard replied sarcastically. There was a moment of silence as they just looked at each other. Carson took a step back, removing himself from the conversation, sometimes it was like the two of them entered a bubble that no one else was in. "You know, it's not really my fault there was a snake thing in the grass, it could have bitten anyone."
"And yet, somehow, it picked you," she said, raising her eyebrow at him.
"Why wouldn't it?" John shot back, the flirtatious banter was hardly a new development, they'd been like this since almost the beginning. "It could be worse, it could have bitten McKay, then we'd all be sorry."
That didn't even bear thinking about, Carson thought to himself. Elizabeth shook her head slightly, her smile still in place, he could see she agreed with the sentiment. If he thought Sheppard was a problematic patient, he had nothing on Rodney.
"I have to get back to work," Elizabeth said, finally averting her eyes from Sheppard's, she gave Carson a quick nod, then once again turned back to the patient. "If you want to be out of here in a few hours, I suggest you do as you're told."
"We'll see," Sheppard said as she headed for the door.
"Be good," Elizabeth called back without turning around.
xXx
That had been a little under three months ago but it felt like longer, it felt like a lifetime ago. He looked at the two leaders of Atlantis now and hoped that everything got back to normal soon. He'd take having a restless, problematic, complaining patient over this situation any day. He was sure he'd eat those words in the near future, he wanted to eat those words in the near future.
The sound of a door opening drew their attention and one of the airmen on guard outside stepped in. "Agent Gavorn is here, sir."
John nodded and stood up, a moment later Gavorn walked in, the airmen returning to his post. He cast his eyes over the two men and then over the unconscious form in the bed. "I've conducted my initial interviews with all the members of your team Colonel Sheppard, as well as Dr Beckett here. I still have a number to conduct which I'd like to get through today. I'll continue after I have a break and something to eat, I thought it appropriate that I stop by here."
"Learn anything useful?" Sheppard asked.
"There are a number of potential suspects, I believe you can figure out who the likely candidates are for yourself. I'll be speaking with all of them at some point as well, I believe the key to finding who is responsible is figuring out the motivation for the attacks. Speaking with Dr Weir should help in that regard."
"She's not in much of a condition to be interviewed at present," Carson replied, a little more sarcastically than he'd intended to.
Gavorn didn't appear fazed, "You'll let me know when she is."
He left again, his visit seeming more of a formality than anything else. Carson still didn't know what to make of the man, he didn't give much away, he was almost unreadable. He had a job to do though and there was no sense in getting in the way. "What do you think of him?" Carson asked.
John sat down again, "Not sure yet, all I know is there's a murderer running loose in the city and we need to find them before they attack again."
TBC
