Chapter 4: Happy New Year.
John had never been happier to arrive in the infirmary, he was looking forward to seeing Carson and getting some good drugs. His head was aching, his knee was throbbing, and his hand was stinging, so much so that if Carson told him to stay in the infirmary he would.
When his wheelchair finally stopped, he was horrified to see that Keller was heading towards him, "John, what has happened to you this time?"
"Ummm…. where's Carson?"
"There's been an emergency off world, so I'm on duty for today?"
John was still unsure of her, so Rodney walked up to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "and you're still the chief Medical officer here?"
She rolled her eyes and John could sense her confusion, "of course I am Rodney and Carson is still the chief Surgeon, so now that we've established that can you tell me what is wrong with Colonel Sheppard's hand?" She took a breath and turned to Rodney before continuing, "oh, and Rodney, Teyla's looking for you, she's in her apartment, so you might want to go and see her as soon as possible."
"Why?" Rodney asked and John could see the fear in his eyes.
"I have no idea Rodney, but you'd better hurry, since she is feeling tired and in need of a rest." Jennifer told him with a smile.
"Uhh…I'll catch you later Sheppard." Rodney said with a wave, before he left the room.
"Okay Colonel Sheppard, let's get you onto a bed and look at your hand?"
With the help of Keller and one of the nurses, he managed to get himself onto the examination table.
"John can you tell me what happened to your hand?" Keller asked again and he realised that he hadn't answered her question as yet.
"You know the usual, I was testing devices in Rodney's lab and one of them malfunctioned and it burnt my hand."
"Did you hit your head again?" Jennifer asked, as she started to look at his hand.
"No, but I think I fell on my knee when I fell out of the wheelchair."
"Alright, I'll deal with your hand and then I'll take another look at your knee."
"Hey, Doc, is there a celebration tonight?" He asked apprehensively, not sure if he was going to like the answer.
"Yes, I believe that it's going ahead as planned, why wouldn't it be?"
John sighed, he was definitely feeling a little confused, "let's just say that it's been a really weird day."
She smiled at him and started to clean his hand, "yeah, well we're on a floating city in the middle of an ocean on a different planet in another galaxy, being pursued by a race of beings who like to suck the life out of you, so weird is normal around here."
Sighing he lay back onto the pillow and closed his eyes, anything to alleviate the pain in his head. Carson had told him that he may still get headaches for weeks after his initial concussion, but Caron also believed that he would be alright long term, so for now he was going to rest as much as he could.
"How's it going Doc?" He asked not bothering to open his eyes
"You have second degree burns to your hand, so I'll bandage it up and then I'll look at your knee."
He really hoped that Keller wouldn't keep him in the infirmary overnight, "will I be able to go to the celebration tonight?"
"I don't think that will be a problem, but I'd like to keep you under observation for a few hours."
Opening his eyes and looking around the room, he suddenly realised that he had no idea what time it was, "hey, doc, what time is it?"
"It's a little after 1300 hours."
No wonder his stomach was rumbling he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast this morning, "can I have something to eat when we're finished here doc?" He looked at his hand for a minute and wondered whether he would be able to eat anything with one arm in plaster and one hand bandaged up. "That's if I'm able to eat by myself."
"I don't think you'll have any problems using your left hand and once I've looked at your knee, I'll have Marie get you some lunch."
"Thanks Doc, but can we get this over and done with, because I was planning on having a sleep before the celebration tonight."
"Do you have a headache Colonel Sheppard?" She asked as she gently bandaged his hand up.
"Yeah, it's beginning to ache a little."
"Alright, let me have a look at your knee and then I'll get you something for the pain."
Closing his eyes again, he tried not to flinch as she gently unbandaged his knee. If there was one thing he preferred about Keller as a doctor, was that she was extremely gentle.
"Unfortunately, your knee seems to be swollen again, so I'm going to ice it while you have a rest. I will take some scans on it later once the swelling has gone down." She gently patted his knee, before turning and walking away.
At least he was in his own reality now, well he assumed he was in his own reality and soon he would be able to go home to see Teyla. One thing he knew for sure though, was that he was never going to leave his apartment again, because he was far too likely to get hurt if he did.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rodney left the infirmary and headed to Sheppard's apartment; at least he hoped it was Sheppard's apartment. Being in the other reality had certainly been disconcerting for him because there was no way that he could ever imagine being with anyone else but Jennifer, and as much as he liked Teyla, she was definitely more suited to Sheppard than him.
Arriving at Sheppard's apartment he took a deep breath and pressed the door chime. He stood waiting for a few minutes, before Teyla finally opened the door.
"Dr McKay, I am so glad that you are here."
Clearing his throat, he opened his mouth and hoped that something intelligible would come out of it, "is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes, my computer is not working as is should be and I was wondering if you would be able to take a look at it please."
"Yes, I can do that," he answered rather abruptly, "and I should probably tell you that Sheppard is in the infirmary, he has burnt his hand on a malfunctioning ancient device."
A worried look crossed her face, "how bad is it, do I need to head to the infirmary?"
"Don't worry, Jenn said that she'd keep him in there for an hour or two and then she would send him home, so if you need to rest you might as well."
"Thank you, Rodney, can you please take my computer with you, since I do not need it today and I will collect it from you later. That way I can go back to bed, as I am beginning to feel very tired."
"I'll just go and grab it from your home office, I assume that's where it is."
"Yes, it is, please see yourself out, because I'm heading back to bed now."
Rodney watched her leave the living room and he was relieved that he appeared to be in the right reality, and everything seemed normal for now.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John awoke with a start when he felt someone leaning over him and their hair was brushing against his face. His first instinct was to try and get away, which was a mistake because he managed to fall out of bed again.
Moaning he opened his eyes to find Keller kneeling beside him.
"Easy Colonel."
He looked at her and could see concern in her eyes, "Sorry Doc you startled me."
"Did you fall on your knee again, or did you hurt your hand or head?"
"No, I think I'm alright."
"I was just coming to tell you that it's 1500 hours and you may as well go home and rest for the afternoon. Just take Tylenol for the pain and I expect you back here in two days to check on your hand and knee."
That was great, but he suspected that there was no way he was going to be able to push himself out of there, "that's great doc, but I don't think that I'll be able to move under my own steam right now."
"I've asked Rodney to come and take you home, seeing as it's his fault that you landed up in the infirmary."
"I know doc and I don't think I'll ever help him in his lab again."
"That would be extremely wise Colonel," she said with a smirk on her face.
He could feel his lip beginning to curl into a smile and for the first time since he'd been back, he felt comfortable in the Doctor's presence.
Rodney came in at that moment and he immediately went into panic mode, "Jenn, why is he on the floor, is he injured, can he still go home?"
"Rodney darling, he is fine, and he can go home now, but I must insist that he stays out of your lab, until his injuries are healed." She said and John didn't miss the eyeroll that she gave Rodney.
They both helped him into the wheelchair, and he was grateful to be in his own clothes, as Carson or Jennifer hadn't made him change into scrubs in either reality.
"Thanks Doc," he said as Rodney wheeled him out of the room.
Once they had left the infirmary and Rodney had started to push him towards his apartment, he decided that he didn't want to go home right now, "hey Rodney, can we go to the east pier, I don't think I want to go home straight away."
"Are you alright Sheppard?"
"Yeah, it's just been a really strange day and I want to get a breath of fresh air, before I head home."
His wheelchair promptly changed direction and they continued on his silence until they reached the pier. Once Rodney had pushed the chair up to the railing John immediately stood up, leant against the railing, and closed his eyes, "I love the smell of the fresh ocean air."
"Should you be standing on your feet, Jennifer will kill me if anything happens to you." Rodney said in a high-pitched voice.
Suddenly he felt frustrated, so he opened his eyes and turned to face his annoying friend, "well, she won't know about it if you don't tell her, will she?"
"I won't tell her, but she'll probably find out somehow, since she seems to have eyes, and ears everywhere."
He had to admit the man was right, "you're probably right, so for now I'll sit down."
It didn't take him long to sit down and the minute he did, Rodney started to panic in his high-pitched voice again, "do you want to go back now Sheppard, Teyla will be sending out a search party before too long."
He sighed, knowing that Jennifer would have told Teyla that he was on his way home, "no, I just want to sit here for a while longer and beside Teyla can't really beat me up at the moment, because she's pregnant and I'm far to injured."
"I don't think her being pregnant is going to stop her, but she will probably cut you some slack because you're injured at the moment. Mind you I think the Teyla in the alternate reality would probably just shout at you until you came home."
"Yeah, and Jennifer would just cry until you came home," John said before taking a deep breath of the fresh sea air, "I think it's really incredible how one event can affect people so differently."
"You mean Carson's death?" Rodney asked and John could see the sorrow in his eyes.
"Yeah, in this reality we somehow got over it and continued fighting, but in that other reality, it seemed to hold everyone back. It's almost as if they stopped fighting."
"I'm glad that we didn't give up, because there is always something worth fighting for." Rodney stated and at that moment John was proud of the man that his friend had become.
John was beginning to feel tired and he'd certainly had enough of the emotional chit chat for now, so he knew that it was time to go home, to his Teyla, "thanks for the detour buddy, but I think that it's time I got home to Teyla."
"Yeah, I think I'll head to the infirmary and walk home with Jenn, her shift is almost over and after being in that other reality, I realise how much I really appreciate what I have here."
Rodney's speech actually left him speechless, he never really knew that Rodney had it in him to be so loving towards another and at that point, he knew how perfect Jennifer and Rodney were for one another.
He sat in silence as Rodney wheeled him through the halls of Atlantis, relieved as always that there wasn't too many of his men around to see him as an invalid. When they finally arrived at his apartment, he smiled at Rodney and was relieved when he helped him in.
Once Rodney had left, he looked around the living room and noticed that Teyla was nowhere to be seen. "Teyla Sweetie, I'm home," he yelled out hoping that she was awake.
When there was no answer, he tried to wheel himself through the house to the bedroom. Although it was painful, he succeeded and was happy to find that Teyla was in bed fast asleep. He really loved this woman and after the events of the morning, he planned on telling her as often as possible how much that he loved her, but for now he would climb into bed beside of her and have another sleep.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rodney left John in his apartment and headed off to the infirmary to pick up Jennifer, perhaps he would have a rest with her this afternoon, or maybe he would make her a late lunch or something. One thing he knew for sure was that he really loved this woman and he wanted to let her know about it.
When he arrived in the infirmary a few minutes later, he found that Jennifer was in her office speaking to Dr Cole, he waited until she had finished talking and then approached her, "Hey Jenn I thought that I would walk you home and then perhaps I could get us a late lunch."
She looked at him with a suspicious look and it was a look he knew well, "what have you done?"
"Do I need a reason to walk my fiancée home and make her lunch?" He asked putting on his most charming smile.
Much to his relief, her face lit up, "In that case walk me home and I had a sandwich for lunch, but I really need a cup of coffee and some cookies."
"Well in that case go home and put your feet up and leave it to me."
"Don't you have to work this afternoon Rodney?" She asked and she still looked suspicious.
"Whatever needs to be done can wait for now, as I want to spend some time with you before we go to the party tonight."
Holding her hand, he led her out of the infirmary and took her home, and at that moment he was grateful to have her in his life.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John was totally amazed by what he saw when Teyla pushed him into the mess hall, the Christmas tree decorations had been replaced by New Year's Eve decorations, including a large carboard clock that read midnight and a carboard Calendar saying January the 1st. There were banners all around the room saying Happy New Year and in the middle of each table there was a placard thanking them for an outstanding year. Looking down at his son, he was astounded by the wonderment on his face and he really hoped that he wouldn't lose that sense of awe that came with a childhood innocence.
Teyla parked his wheelchair and sat down beside of him and he was astonished to see that childlike wonder on her face as well, "John this is amazing, I am really looking forward to spending the evening with you and our friends."
"We are happy to be spending the evening with you too Teyla," Jennifer said as she walked up with Rodney alongside of her.
"Aye I'm glad to be back to spend it with you as well," Carson stated as he came up and sat next to Rodney.
"Looking forward to it," Ronon mumbled as he and Amelia came up to join them.
John looked around the table at his friends, his family and he found that he was grateful for each of them. They had all made a difference to his life and they were all remarkable in their own way.
He didn't have long to contemplate how much these people meant to him before Woolsey stood up to make his customary speech.
"Thank you all for coming tonight and I want to thank each of you for a fantastic year. It hasn't been easy, but we have come through it relatively intact. As I said at Christmas time, we have not lost a single member of our expedition this year. There has been a few serious injuries, where we have had to send people back to earth, but no one has lost their life and for that I am grateful. Now that we have come to the end of another year, I hope that each of you will find time to reflect on the year that was, learn from it and make plans for the future and I hope that you can look forward to it with a sense of hope, learning from the mistakes of the past year. Once again, I want to thank you for all of your work this year and I hope that you all have a fantastic evening."
John was relieved when Woolsey finally sat down because everyone knew that he could be a bit of a windbag.
A meal of steak and seafood was served a few minutes later and he found that he was grateful that he was able to feed himself despite the injuries that he had sustained over the last week or so. Torren seemed to be doing a good job of feeding himself as well, which allowed Teyla to sit and enjoy her meal, something that she hadn't been able to do at the beginning of the year.
Torrens speech had also taken a backward step towards the second half of the year, but he was grateful that it seemed to be developing well again.
A little voice pervaded his contemplations and looking up he realised that Torren was trying to speak to him, "Daddy I am so glad that you're my Daddy." Before he had a chance to reply Torren continued, "I was upset when Kannan left, but now I know you're my Daddy."
Wow, he had never heard Torren speak so eloquently and it made him realise how fast he was growing up, which was probably a good thing because by this time next year they would have two babies to take care of. "Thank you Torren and I am glad that you are my son."
The evening progressed with plenty of conversation and laughter, but John was happy to sit and take it all in, until his friends started to talk about their New Year's resolutions. Torren was fast asleep in his lap by this time, so he was happy to join in.
"Okay Chewie, what's your resolution for next year?" John asked and Ronon looked at him with a confused look on his face.
After about five minutes of Rodney explaining to him what a new year's resolution was, he simply muttered, "to not injure as many Marines."
"What about you McKay?" Ronon asked.
"To work less and spend as much time as possible with my beautiful fiancée."
"And what about you Sheppard?" Rodney asked with a grin.
"I want to spend a whole lot less time in the infirmary next year."
Everyone laughed at his suggestion and before the conversation could continue further, Woolsey started counting down and everyone joined in, "10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1," and everyone shouted, "Happy New Year!"
Looking at the beautiful woman sitting next to him, he couldn't believe how lucky he was, "Happy new year Sweetie," he said and then he gently kissed her on the lips.
He was still kissing her when the music started and the whole room erupted into a rendition of Auld Land syne. Eventually he pulled away from Teyla and joined in.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne
For auld lang syne my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For auld lang syne
Looking around at his friends and family he saw the same joy that he was feeling, expressed on their faces and although they had laughed when he'd said that he wanted to spend less time in the infirmary, he meant it, because he had responsibilities now, to the woman he loved, his son and his future children.
Fin…
This will be my last post this year and I want to wish everyone a safe and happy new year. I know that it has been a difficult year for many and we can only hope that 2021 will be a much better year.
I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed my stories this year, I really appreciate your encouragement and support.
I will be completing 'Boys' vacation,' sometime in January for those of you waiting for new chapters. I will then try and finish, 'Becoming whole.'
A special thanks to my daughter for trying to teach me how to use photo shop for the cover images on my last two stories. You know what they say about teaching old dog's new tricks. Lol