A/N: reviews feed my muse and at the moment the muse is starving!

in all seriousness thanks to those of you who have reviewed it kicked me back into gear. apologies for the lateness of this as i am struggling to write this story, i have a rough idea of where it is going but the fine details seem to be eluding me so bear with me i will never leave a story unfinished it just may take a while

Chapter 8: Consequences

The nurse walked into the room to find the two men asleep. She had come to pick up David Sheppard for his weekly scan to track the progression of his disease.

She smiled as she watched the two men for a minute, it was easy to see that they were brothers from the distinct similarities in their facial structures but there was something about the visitor, a weariness that betrayed his years.

She watched for a few moments longer, frowning the longer she watched. The younger man looked ill, he appeared to be sleeping restlessly and he looked pale. She was slightly confused, despite the fact that David was the one dying he looked healthy in comparison to his younger brother who lay sleeping, slumped on the bed next to him.

Thinking that perhaps she should leave the younger man sleeping she approached the bed and gently shook David waking him and as he looked round she gestured to him to stay quiet while at the same time bringing a wheelchair around for him to manoeuvre into.

Once he had seen the reason she was indicating for him to be quiet David was careful not to jostle his sleeping sibling. He moved without any of the stiffness or pain she had come to associate with cancer sufferers "you seem to be feeling better today Mr Sheppard"

"Mmmm" was David's only reply.

"Well, let's leave your brother to rest, he does look like he needs it, and we'll go and get you checked out."

They were gone for almost an hour and David wasn't sure if he should be worried or not. He had spent a lot longer under the MRI scanner than usual and the puzzled look on the doctor's face, when he had said he would come and discuss the results in a short time after he had had a chance to go over them, had not been reassuring.

When they got back to his room it was to find his brother still fast asleep where they had left him.

"He must be tired poor lad; he looks like he's been through a lot lately." The nurse commented

"yeah." Was all David could muster. He had always been the deep sleeper when they were younger; John had always been a really light sleeper, woken by even the slightest movement or sound. This deep sleep reminded him of a time when John had been sick with pneumonia and had been in hospital for several days.

"I'll leave you to get settled again but I'll be back in a little while if you need anything just press the call button."

David nodded and she left.

He climbed back into bed, jostling it a little as he did so, and still his brother didn't stir. He reached out tentatively with his hand just as the door to his room opened.

Colonel Mitchell and Ronon tensed as soon as they registered the situation. He didn't know exactly what was wrong but he could tell from their expressions that they were instantly worried and he felt the need to explain what was going on "he's been asleep for over an hour now, he didn't even wake when I left the room for a while."

He saw an unintelligible look pass between the two men before Mitchell stepped forward and reached out to John, he also didn't miss the very slight hesitation as Mitchell changed his mind about checking John's pulse and instead shook his shoulder gently.

John stirred but did not wake and it was at this point the doctor chose to enter the room. David was starting to feel a little crowded, not used to being surrounded by so many people at once in recent times. This feeling coupled with worry for his brother caused him to snap at the doctor "What is so mystifying that you couldn't tell me after the test?" From the corner of his eye he saw Mitchell once again shake John, this time slightly more insistently. What the doctor said however caught his full attention.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting but the reason I didn't come sooner is I wanted to be sure of the results..." he paused as if collecting himself before continuing, "I've consulted with several of my colleagues and I'm pleased, although completely baffled, to say that you are completely cancer free."

It was at this point the doctor noticed Mitchell helping a decidedly groggy John to his feet, although no-one else was aware, still taking care not to have any skin to skin contact. "Is your brother alright?"

Mitchell took the opportunity to butt in before David could say anything. "He's fine, it's just the after-effects of an old condition, it'll wear off soon enough."

David was standing now, "John doesn't have any long-term conditions that would cause this." He could see Ronon hovering discreetly in the background, obviously waiting near enough to catch john should he fall.

"M' fine" John mumbled trying to straighten in Mitchell's grip. "Can't a man just be tired?"

At this point he stumbled awkwardly pulling Mitchell sideways.

Everyone in the room lunged to catch him but Ronon and David reached him and stabilised him as Mitchell readjusted his grip. The doctor, having been slightly further away the others had yet to reach the group but began to voice his objections. "I really don't think..."

The voice faded as the small group was engulfed in a bright light.

As the light faded they looked around an unfamiliar room filled with other bemused looking groups of people and John sighed deeply looking at Ronon "Just once I'd like to have a nice normal, quiet trip home without these things butting in."