Chapter 4 – Wishful Thinking
Jennifer Keller sat at her desk in the lab just off the infirmary and rubbed her tired eyes. She was checking over Rodney's blood sample for the second time to make sure there was nothing she had missed. She could not find anything in his bloodstream to cause the collapse he had suffered earlier. She was very close to handing the entire investigation over to the science teams as the affect on Rodney seemed to be from technology rather than any kind of pathogen in his system. She would just have to focus on keeping him alive until they had some answers.
She glanced down at the clock on her laptop. It was already past 3am. She sighed and pushed herself out of her chair. She stretched her stiff back and aching muscles from sitting still for too long. She then walked over to the doorway out into the infirmary.
Jennifer wandered over to Rodney as he slept. His heart monitor beeped slowly and quietly in the room. She checked the readouts and made sure the IV line was still secure. She needlessly straightened the covers over his chest and gently patted his shoulder.
He stirred and mumbled a little in his sleep, but did not wake. Jennifer smiled down at him and whispered, "We'll figure this out. Don't worry, Rodney."
She frowned in concern at the metal around his neck and hoped they could remove it soon or at least find out what it was doing to him. She mentally shook herself for lingering by him for too long and rapidly went back into her lab and sat down.
Jennifer stared intensely at the screen again and typed a few keys to alter the readout for study.
Suddenly, Jennifer felt a sharp pain in her hand, like it had just been crushed. A similar sensation hit her neck and she yelped and nearly fell out of her seat.
The pain coincided with the sound of a heart monitor flat lining out in the infirmary. There was only one patient in there at the moment and Jennifer rubbed her bruised neck with her good hand as she dashed out of her lab.
She met several night duty Doctors who had been working in another room nearby and gazed down in confusion at Rodney's empty bed. The IV stand had toppled over onto the floor and the white sheets were spotted with fresh blood where they were pushed back.
She shared a look of bewilderment with her colleagues and was about to call the Control Room on her radio, when the PA system in the infirmary activated.
"Medical emergency in the Control Room!"
Jennifer hit her radio as the medical team around her galvanized and gathered their gear. "What's the situation?"
"It's Dr McKay. He's collapsed. We didn't see him coming up here. His nose is bleeding, we had to turn him on his side when he started choking."
"Acknowledged. We'll be there in a minute."
Jennifer nodded at her equally confused colleagues and helped them wheel a gurney with their gear on it out of the infirmary and into the transporter.
She stepped out into the Gate Room and silently cursed to Ancients for not installing a transporter up the stairs. Two marines came over to help and carried the backboard and gear up the stairs into the Control Room just ahead of Jennifer and her team.
Two Technicians were crouched down next to Rodney's still form as he lay in the recovery position on the floor. There was a small puddle of blood on the floor under his head. The Technicians backed away as Jennifer and her team set to work.
Keller announced, "Pulse is good, airway is clear. The bleeding has already stopped."
They inserted a fresh IV line, placed an oxygen mask over Rodney's face and wrapped a bandage around his other hand when they found the nasty gash across it.
The marines strapped him on the backboard and carried him down the stairs to the waiting gurney in the Gate Room while Jennifer held the IV bag aloft.
The medical team wheeled Rodney back to the infirmary quickly as he remained unconscious and oblivious to the action all around him.
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"What do you think? Some kind of teleporter?"
Voices broke through the unconscious haze and Rodney opened his eyes and blinked slowly as he saw several figures having a conversation next to him. He closed his eyes tightly to clear the sleep and opened them again just as Radek spoke. "I do not know. We have found nothing in database. We really need to ask him."
Jennifer said, "Well, he's asleep and after what happened in the middle of the night, it would probably be better to let him get some rest."
Rodney cleared his throat and they all stopped talking and looked down at him. Jennifer asked, "How are you feeling?"
Rodney glanced down at himself and saw the bandage around his hand and the IV line in his other hand. "Both my hands are sore, bit of a headache… What time is it?"
John glanced at his watch and replied, "9am."
Jennifer patted Rodney's shoulder and walked away to get some painkillers.
Zelenka was clutching a tablet and peered down at Rodney like he was searching his face for something. Rodney shifted uncomfortably and snapped, "What?"
John said, "What do you remember about last night?"
Rodney grimaced, "Lots of horrible things. Oh, Sheppard, why did you glue my slippers to the floor? Did you think it was funny?"
John looked confused and crouched down. He straightened up and waved the slippers at Rodney. "I'm not sure what you mean."
Radek frowned and spun his tablet around so that Rodney could see the screen. It was showing a video feed from the infirmary at 3.16am. He muttered, "Watch," and started the tape.
Rodney grabbed the tablet and winced as his sore hand pulled. He saw himself lying sleeping in the bed and Jennifer in her lab. Suddenly he vanished from the screen and Jennifer jolted as if she had been hit. Radek switched the feed to the same time index in the Control Room. Rodney watched in amazement as he reappeared and collapsed onto the ground with his nose bleeding.
Rodney mumbled, "I suppose that makes sense. I was kind of hoping it was just a nightmare."
John frowned, "Was it a teleporter?"
McKay grimaced, "No. It froze time."
The eyebrows of both men next to Rodney shot up in disbelief at the same time. Rodney quickly asked, "Any luck with the Database?"
Radek shook his head and then said, "No, I will get back to it. Dr Keller said she will be releasing you later. I want you to come down and help us if you feel up to it. You can give us all details of event last night."
John patted Rodney's shoulder and said, "I've got to go as well. Mr Woolsey is concerned and wants to be updated on what's going on."
McKay watched them as they both left the infirmary. He looked down to study his bandaged hand and wondered where Jennifer was with the painkillers for his rapidly flaring and angry headache.
"Rodney? Rodney!"
He looked up in shock and found Jennifer hovering close to him with her hand on his shoulder. She had been nowhere near him a moment earlier and he stuttered, "Where did you come from?"
"You were miles away. It took me a while to get your attention." She narrowed her eyes at him, pressed some pills into his palm and gave him a glass of water.
Rodney knocked them back and then handed her the empty glass. She shook her head and said, "I'm going to release you back to light duties. I've asked the others to keep a close eye on you to make sure you don't push yourself too hard and collapse again."
Rodney opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off, "I want you back here every couple of hours for a checkup. If you feel any new symptoms or dizziness, I want you back here straight away."
Rodney nodded humbly and Jennifer pursed her lips and removed the IV line from his hand. Rodney grimaced as she pressed a plaster over the small hole before she walked away.
McKay watched her as she retreated into the lab off the infirmary. He looked around the room and wondered exactly when she was going to release him. He shivered as a tingling sensation spread out across his whole body.
Rodney's eyes widened as his ears picked up a high pitched whistle. While he watched, he saw a blur moving across the infirmary. It zoomed past the end of his bed and out of the door. It then walked around to his side and the whine became higher and louder. It zipped back across the room into the lab. Rodney frowned in puzzlement and got out of the bed. He walked over towards the lab. The blur suddenly came at him blindingly fast and he was too slow to move out of its path. It hit his shoulder and knocked him onto the ground.
Rodney rubbed his throbbing shoulder and stayed down as he saw the blur whipping around the room more quickly and the high-pitched noise intensified. The single blur was soon joined by several others. One of them came closer to Rodney and he tried to roll out of the way. He was still too slow and felt something hit him in the stomach. He coughed and clutched his midsection as he curled around the pain to try and lessen it and protect himself from further harm.
He heard shuffling feet above the tinny sounds which were beginning to hurt his ears and make his headache worse, despite the painkillers he had just taken. The footsteps were at the correct pitch and gradually got louder.
Rodney looked around at the blurs still zooming past him as he lay there. He decided to try and move out of the line of fire and pushed himself backwards to sit against the wall. He looked across the infirmary towards the door and saw a man standing completely still in the corridor and glaring back at him. It was a different man from the night before and Rodney saw that he was holding a long, thin spike of metal in one of his hands, which looked like some kind of crude weapon.
Rodney stood up and called out to him, "You're not the one from before. Who are you? What do you want?"
The man looked even more haunted than the other one and Rodney thought he saw a flicker of remorseless evil pass across the face peering back at him.
Rodney continued to stare and was starting to feel a little unnerved as he wondered about the intentions of the figure. Blurs still zoomed around the infirmary between them and the high-pitched wailing sounds had not abated.
Suddenly the man vanished and reappeared a couple of metres closer to Rodney. He was still in the same stance and still holding the spike. Rodney cried out quietly in fright and could now see that the spike was stained dark brown as he stood under the brighter lights in the infirmary. The man's clothes had long since degenerated into dark rags and he opened his mouth and grinned malevolently at Rodney.
McKay saw yet another gold band around the man's neck.
Suddenly the man vanished again and instantly reappeared within striking distance of Rodney. He raised the spike above his head and brought it down quickly towards McKay's chest.
Rodney yelped in panic and covered his face with his hands. He felt a sharp blow to his side and found himself falling to the ground. He hit the floor heavily and rolled to see who had just shoved him out of the way. The white-clad man from the night before who had spoken only in riddles was shaking his head as though scolding him.
He muttered, "I said he would find us. Do not upset Rorkan. I told you not to."
Rodney looked up and saw Rorkan was struggling with the spike. He had embedded it in the wall where Rodney had been standing only moments ago. He asked, "Rorkan? Hmm, so what's your name?"
"S-s-seven?" The man shook his head and rubbed his temple trying to recall a long forgotten memory. "Um, stars… Oh, Solian! I think… Although it has been forever since I was called anything."
Rorkan won his fight with the spike and rounded on the two men. Solian looked intensely afraid and called out to Rodney, who was still on the floor, "You run. You survive." He then dashed out of the infirmary.
Rodney was too slow to push himself up as Rorkan came at him again. He covered his head again and screamed in anticipation as the spike plunged down through the air towards him.
"Rodney! Rodney!?" A woman was shouting at him and he felt strong hands grabbing his wrists and prying his arms away from his head as he curled his knees up to his chest and rocked on his back on the floor.
McKay's scream faltered and ended with a yelp as he looked up into Jennifer's worried face as she knelt down next to him. Rodney let his legs drop down with his knees bent up as he lay still.
Jennifer rested a hand on his forehead and sighed before she asked, "Oh, Rodney, where have you been all this time? You vanished from the infirmary this morning. We've spent most of the day looking for you, but found nothing. Until now."
Rodney felt a lump of fear in his throat and his heart palpitated in his chest as the adrenaline continued to flood his system. He asked, "This morning? I've only been awake for a few minutes at most."
Jennifer frowned at him and said, "It's nearly 6pm! What's going on with you?"
Rodney rolled over, winced and rubbed the bruise on his belly. Jennifer helped him upright and guided him over towards the bed he thought he had only vacated a moment ago. The sheets had been stripped and replaced with fresh ones. He sat on the edge of the bed and Jennifer gazed across at him in concern.
Rodney quickly said, "I need to get to Janus' Lab to continue working on that code. If we can't decipher it, I might get stuck out of phase with normal time forever." He did not want to tell her about the attack or the other people he had seen with the bands around their necks. He thought she might be forced the keep him in the infirmary under mental health regulations if she found out.
Jennifer narrowed her eyes and said, "There was nothing keeping you in here this morning. I'm going to release you, but I want someone with you all the time just in case you collapse or disappear again."
Rodney laughed softly, "All the time…"
Jennifer gave him an exasperated look as she walked away to find him some clothes to change into.
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TBC