Chapter 2: A strange sickness

When John awoke the next morning there was sunlight streaming through his windows. Rolling over he snuggled under the blankets and was surprised to find that Teyla was no longer beside him. Looking at the clock on his bedside table he realised that it was already 0930 hours, Teyla would have left for work and taken Torren to day-care by now, so for now he was completely alone.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and go back to sleep a strange buzzing sound pervaded his senses. Looking around his room he wondered what it could be. The buzzing continued and it wasn't long before he realised that it was his com device.

Grabbing it from the bedside table he put it on and tapped the earpiece, "Sheppard here."

Rodney's high pitched voice replied and he sensed that the scientist was agitated, "Where the hell, are you Sheppard, you were supposed to meet me in my lab half an hour ago?"

"Sorry McKay I overslept, just give me twenty minutes and I'll be there."

"Well just be quick, because these devices can't wait all day to be tested."

"See you soon, Sheppard out!" He cut the connection before Rodney had a chance to complain further.

He laid his head back on the pillow and moaned, he hadn't realised until now that his headache was about as bad as it had been yesterday afternoon. I guess I'll just take some Tylenol and get on with my day. It was at that moment that he noticed that his knee was beginning to ache as well.

It was really tempting to just lie in bed all day, but he was never one for laying around when there was work to be done, so he sat up as carefully as possible and looked for his cane. Carson had been apprehensive about him walking around at all, but John had told him he'd be trying to get around no matter what he said, and seeing as he couldn't use crutches, because of his broken arm, Carson had conceded and said that he could use a cane, but he shouldn't be on his feet for long periods of time.

It took him longer than normal to crawl out of bed and after hobbling to the bathroom to freshen up and use the toilet, he spent another fifteen minutes trying to get dressed. He was sitting on the edge of the bed when he suddenly felt dizzy and had to lie down again, after a few minutes the dizziness passed, so he managed to get to his feet and hobble to the kitchen, where he made himself a piece of toast and a cup of coffee.

Sitting down at the table, he decided that he was going to enjoy his breakfast and McKay and his devices could wait. Before he had a chance to take a bite of his toast, his com activated again.

He tapped his ear piece and wasn't impressed to find that it was Rodney at the other end again, "What do you want McKay!?" He said impatiently, his headache notching up again.

"You said that you'd be here in twenty minutes and that was thirty minutes ago, so where are you?"

"I'll be there when I get there, Sheppard out."

After eating his toast and drinking his coffee in silence he decided that it was time to go, so after taking a couple of Tylenol he stood to his feet and was relieved that he'd managed to do it without falling flat on his face.

Leaving his apartment he hobbled towards the nearest transporter and he found himself wondering why it was so hot. His headache hadn't abated and his neck was really beginning to ache as well, so he wondered if he should go to the infirmary before heading to Rodney's lab, but then he knew that was a stupid idea because Carson would insist on running some tests and keeping him there for a few hours at least.

He was hit by another dizzy spell when he exited the transporter, so he grabbed the wall to try and steady himself, luckily the corridor was empty at this time of the day and there was no-one to see him stumble around like a drunk. Continuing on down the passage way he began to feel incredibly nauseous and he was beginning to think that something was seriously wrong with him.

Relief swept over him when he finally reached Rodney's lab and was able to sit down. He took the opportunity to look around and found that there was a Christmas tree in the corner and it appeared to be a branch from the Christmas tree that was in his apartment. There were two gifts underneath and he wondered who they were for, maybe Radek had bought Rodney something. Suddenly a sharp pain shot through his head and his stomach began to churn, so he rested his head on the desk and hoped that it would alleviate the pain.

After a few minutes, he began to feel better, until a loud voice pervaded his senses, "about time you got here Sheppard, what is it with you wanting to sleep all day?"

He looked up at his friend, just as a dizzy spell hit, "Sshh….," he whispered rubbing his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" Rodney asked and much to his relief he was actually quieter this time.

"Sick," he choked out before losing his stomach contents all over the floor and by the time he'd finished retching, he could have sworn that last year's Christmas dinner, had made a reappearance as well.

Vaguely he heard Rodney yelling at him in the background, as another dizzy spell hit and this time he felt himself falling, he felt a sharp pain in the side of his head before he hit the floor with a thud, "Aw crap," he muttered before the darkness that was beckoning him finally claimed him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Rodney turned up his nose at the smell of vomit on the floor of his lab, but right now he had more pressing concerns than to worry about the fact that Sheppard had just been sick in his lab. He was about to call Carson when Sheppard's face turned as white as a sheet and he began to lurch to his side, he started to yell at his friend to try and get his attention, but all he could do was watch as Sheppard fell of the stool he'd been perched on, hitting his head on the way down.

Watching on in disbelief, he heard him mumble something, before he lost consciousness. Realising that his friend needed help he sprang into action and tapped his earpiece, "McKay to infirmary, I need a medical team in my lab stat."

Carson's voice replied and to Rodney he seemed remarkably calm considering he'd just said that there was medical emergency, "what's seems to be the problem Dr McKay?"

"Sheppard's just fain…, I mean passed out in my lab and he managed to hit his head on my desk on the way down, so why don't you get here as quickly as possible and perform whatever voodoo medicine that you see fit."

"Is his head bleeding?" Carson asked and he still sounded strangely calm.

He took a quick look at Sheppards head and almost lost his breakfast when he saw the mess that he was laying in, "Ummm…. Yes, it's bleeding a lot."

"Well make sure you put pressure on the wound and I'll be there as soon as I can. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot, so hopefully it's not too bad."

His stomach began to churn at the thought of what Carson was asking him to do, "but he's just been sick and unfortunately he fell in it."

Carson definitely wasn't calm any longer and Rodney could hear the frustration and annoyance in his voice, "just do it Rodney and I'll be there as soon as I can, Carson out."

Grabbing a face mask out of his draw and putting it on, he found that the smell was diminished, so he grabbed some gauze out of the first aid kit that Carson had insisted he keep in his lab and held it to his friend's head.

Sheppard chose that moment to open his eyes and moan, "wha…?" he slurred and Rodney could see that his eyes were unfocused.

"You fainted and your head on the corner of my desk."

"Why…?" Sheppard asked and he suspected that Sheppard wasn't going to make sense anytime soon.

"I have no idea Colonel Calamity, but what I do know is that Carson is on his way and will be here soon to take you to the infirmary yet again."

"Kay…," he muttered and Rodney watched as he lost consciousness again.

All he could do now was wait and waiting was something he hated to do, especially when he had to take care of a sick person and more often than not it seemed to be Colonel Sheppard these days.

Sighing for what seemed like the millionth time that day a terrible thought struck him, what if Sheppard has some deadly disease and what if I've caught it, I'm going to die, Sheppards going to die. He started to panic, trying to think of all the places where they could have picked up whatever the illness was.

His thoughts were interrupted when Carson came through the door with a med team and a gurney, "Okay Rodney tell me what happened. Did he touch anything in your lab before he passed out?" Carson asked while he was setting up an IV.

He couldn't help but panic as his early thoughts came back to him, "no…but he could have picked up a deadly disease on Gaffer and I could have it too…Oh no, I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"Rodney please calm down, if you picked something up on Gaffer chances are you would be showing signs of it by now, so why don't you come down to the infirmary and let Dr Cole conduct some tests, before you start to worry? Now, I need you to focus and tell me everything that happened while Colonel Sheppard was in your lab?"

Rodney shrugged his shoulders, he couldn't really remember what had gone on, "he came in, was sick and then he fainted and hit his head on the way down."

"He has a temperature of 102, has he complained of feeling hot, or having a headache at all?"

"He had a headache yesterday afternoon, but then again that was after he fell off a ladder."

"What the bloody hell was he doing up a ladder!? "Carson exclaimed and Rodney could see that he wasn't happy.

"Umm…perhaps I shouldn't have told you that. Can you tell me what's wrong with him Carson?"

"I'll know more when I get him to the infirmary, so perhaps you should go and get changed and then go to the waiting room? Perhaps you can contact Teyla as well and then I'll see you there."

Looking down at his clothes it didn't take him long to realise what Carson had meant when he'd said for him to change his clothes. "I'll see you soon then."

He stood and watched Carson leave with Sheppard strapped to a gurney, before tapping his earpiece and contacting Teyla.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Teyla had just finished another long morning of meetings with the Coalition of planets, when her com device activated.

Taking a deep breath, she tapped her earpiece "Teyla here."

"Teyla it's Rodney, Colonel Sheppard fainted in my lab and he hit his head on the corner of my desk on the way down, so Carson is taking him to the infirmary now."

Great that's all she needed, she was looking forward to hearing some more Christmas stories this evening, "I will see you in the waiting room in a few minutes."

"I need to get changed first, but I'll see you there in fifteen minutes, Rodney out."

That was strange, she thought, I wonder why Rodney has to get changed? She shrugged it off and headed off to the waiting room. Maybe she could convince someone to get her some food, because she was really beginning to feel hungry, as she hadn't eaten much this morning, since she was feeling sick.

Five minutes later she arrived in the Waiting room and was surprised that Woolsey was there with a plate of sandwiches and some coffee and tea, "Teyla I was just on my way to the mess hall when I heard about Colonel Sheppard, so I thought that I'd bring some food down to eat while you wait."

She remembered back to what she'd thought of Woolsey when he'd first come to Atlantis and it wasn't good, but now she realised that he had become one of her closest friends and colleagues, "thank you, Richard, I was just beginning to feel hungry."

"I must be getting back to my office, since I still have a mountain of paperwork to do before the afternoon meetings. Please keep me informed of Colonel Sheppard's condition."

Nodding, she watched him leave and settled back in the chair she was in, ready for a long wait.

She was disturbed a few minutes later when Rodney walked into the room, "hey Teyla have you heard anything yet?"

Knowing it was probably going to be a while, before they heard from Carson, she decided to conduct some more research on Christmas. "No, but seeing we are probably going to have a long wait can you tell me a bit about what Christmas was like for you as a child?"

"Ummm…," he stammered, "what would you like to know?"

"John has found a magnificent Christmas tree for us, so I was wondering did you have a Christmas tree growing up."

Rodney snorted, "If Jeannie and I received straight A's on our report cards, my father would go out and buy us one and let us decorate it."

Teyla furrowed her brow, she really had no idea what a report card was, but she really didn't need a long-winded explanation from him right now, "so, what happened if you didn't get straight A's."

"I only remember that happening once when I was in grade school, both Jeannie and I got a B, and dad was so angry that we didn't have a Christmas tree that year."

Her eyes opened wide at Rodney's revelation, "did you celebrate Christmas that year? Were there any gifts?"

"Yes, there were, but to be able to open them, we had to conduct a scientific experiment that our father approved of."

It sounded to her that Rodney's father tried to get his children to do the right thing by punishing them. Her father always let her learn through wise guidance and making mistakes from time to time, he never punished her by not letting her celebrate an important occasion with the Athosian people.

"Did you get your gifts?"

"Don't look so horrified Teyla, despite what it looks like my father did love us, he just had a strange way of showing it. For many years I resented him for being so hard on me, but when he died, I wish I could have told him that I appreciated what he did for me."

"Do you and Jennifer have a Christmas tree in your apartment?"

"We haven't bothered this year, because she's back on earth, but I love Christmas and next year Sheppard will be helping me pick out the biggest tree we can find. I do have one in my lab though and Radek and I have bought each other gifts to put under the tree."

"When is Jennifer due back?"

"She'll be arriving back Christmas eve during the day."

"And when do you intend to give her the engagement ring Rodney?"

"I have arranged a quiet dinner for just the two of us Christmas night, so I will give it to her then and I hope she says yes."

"Of course, she will say yes, she adores you Rodney."

Before they had a chance to continue the conversation, Carson walked into the room.

Standing to her feet, she approached him, "how is he Dr Beckett?"

"He has a moderate concussion and it appears that the dizziness and fever come from two small insect bites."

She looked at him with confusion, "I do not understand."

She watched as Carson pulled a specimen Jar out of his pocket, "I found swelling at the base of his neck and in the centre, there was four small puncture marks and that was when one of the nurses brought me these," he showed them the jar and in it was two small insects. "Apparently, she found them in his clothing from the other day and thought nothing of it at the time, but she decided to keep them anyway."

"They are marmite flies and they are very annoying, but harmless. They are found on countless worlds throughout the galaxy." Teyla explained, feeling confused as to how they could make anyone sick.

Rodney took the Jar out of Carson's hands, "have you ever heard of anyone having an allergic reaction from a bite."

Furrowing her brow, she took the insects from Rodney and took a good long look at them, "no I have not, but they are definitely Marmite flies."

"Well in that case I'm off to my lab to research these little bugs, hopefully it's just an allergic reaction and it's not going to kill Colonel Catastrophe." Rodney said grabbing the insects back off of Teyla.

Carson frowned in Rodney's direction, "don't be unkind Rodney, he can't help it."

"See you later," Rodney said with a wave of his hand, as he walked away.

Teyla watched him leave and then turned to Carson, "may I please sit with John for a while? Torren is with Amelia at the moment, seeing Ronon is off world."

"Yes, you can, but you need to make sure you get plenty of rest and he needs it as well."

Carson turned and walked away and she quickly followed. When they arrived in John's private room a few minutes later she rushed to his side and she wasn't happy by what she saw. He had a large bandage on the side of his head, there was an IV in his left hand and there was sweat beading off his brow. His knee was also heavily bandaged and placed on a large pillow. He had obviously just been given a sponge bath as well, since his hair was wet and floppy.

"Dr Beckett, what is wrong with his knee?"

"Well when he fell of the ladder yesterday, he twisted it even further. He will now have to be off his feet for at least two weeks and then we will look at it again. If it hasn't shown any sign of healing by then, he will need surgery."

"And what of his fever, how bad is it?"

"It is 103 at the moment and we're managing to keep it down using cooling blankets and sponging him down. We can't give him anything at the moment until we know what's happening with those insect bites."

"May I sit with him and sponge him down for a while Carson?"

"Go ahead luv and if you get tired feel free to curl up on the other bed, but please call a nurse first, so she can keep an eye on him."

Once Carson had left she took the bowl of water and a sponge that Carson had left and began to wipe it over John's chest. Then she started to sing one of her favourite Athosian songs to him, it was a song that celebrated life and all that was good.

TBC…