For two days Jen remained in isolation – her staff working to eradicate the virus that was so obviously causing her body such distress. Her temperature fluctuated drastically, and her breathing was short and labored. They kept her on a twenty-four hour watch in a room specifically set aside for intensive care. For every moment she seemed to be pulling through, she'd slide back just as quickly.
"How's she doing?" John asked quietly as he entered the private room. He couldn't keep his eyes off Jennifer. Her skin was almost as white as the sheet she lay on, her hair dull and lifeless, eyes closed and lips colorless, surrounded by machines and tubing. God she looked like… death. He snapped his head quickly to the side, blocking the though as it formed.
He turned towards Edison, who was sitting in a chair next to the bed, his feet stretched out and a book in his lap.
Edison shook his head slowly. "No change."
John angled his head towards the open doorway. "Go ahead. I'll stay a while."
Edison nodded and stuck a small card into the book to mark his page. He stood and stretched, and handed the paperback to his CO. "Teyla said she'd be by after lunch." He stepped towards the door and disappeared with a nod.
John settled into the vacated chair and opened the book, flipping past four other markers to find his own bookmark. He settled in to read, his eyes frequently slipping up off the page to the woman in the bed then back again.
He was several chapters in when a familiar voice called over his shoulder, startling him into standing.
"Och, lass, look at ya…" Carson's soft sigh preceded him as he walked into the room followed closely by Rodney.
"Doc?" John's eyes moved from Carson to Rodney, who was standing directly behind the Doctor. "So that's where you disappeared to."
"He has a cure." Rodney blurted out, moving to stand next to the bed, his fingers fidgeting worriedly as he stared down at Jennifer. He reached for her hand, hesitated, then dropped his hands loosely to his side.
"You do?" John looked sharply at Carson.
"Now Rodney." Carson shook his head disapprovingly. "I wouldn't go that far."
"But you said…" Rodney turned towards him.
"I said I know what's causing it." Carson stepped to the bed, his hand reaching for Jennifer's still one. He lifted it up and patted the back of her hand. "How to fix it… well… we'll need a little help with that."
"Help?" John looked at the doctor expectantly.
"Aye, Colonel." Carson nodded. "Rodney's filled me in on what happened, and I believe we know why Jennifer is unable to break free of the virus." He shook his head and gently lay her hand back down onto the bed. "But I will need to run a few tests on Ronon and Teyla to be sure. If they're willing…"
"Say the word, Doc." John nodded. "They'll be all yours."
Carson smiled softly. "Right. Then lets get to it, shall we?"
John knew the grapevine in the city was fast… but even he was surprised at how quickly word had gotten through his team and Lorne's as to why Carson needed them.
Ronon and Teyla had hit the infirmary within minutes of John's call, and they were immediately followed by Edison, Williams, Laura, Sanchez, Evan and Richard Woolsey.
Unwilling to disrupt the infirmary, Carson suggested perhaps they should all retreat to the lab across the corridor and he'd explain as best he could.
Sequestered around the view screens, Carson looked quickly around the anxious faces and nodded. "Rodney has explained to me what has been happening, and after a thorough search of the Ancient Database we think we've found the little bugger."
"Ancient Database?" John leaned forward, the stool he was on sliding slightly on its castors.
"That means it's bad, isn't it." Laura shifted her weight from foot to foot, chewing her lower lip nervously.
"Yes, and no." Carson turned around and tapped the keyboard, bringing up a rotating image of several circular objects, each with spiked edges. "This is our guy."
"Cute." Williams muttered.
"And deadly." Rodney added.
"Deadly?" Teyla questioned, her expression reflecting the worry that filled the room.
Carson nodded, his expression serious. "Aye. If left untreated."
"So how do we treat it?" Ronon asked from his position at the back.
"Ah," Carson nodded. "That is the question, is it not." He turned towards the screen and changed the display. "Jennifer, and to a lesser degree, you two," he glanced quickly at Evan and Williams. "Managed to contract a mutated strain of XRP-7C."
"We did?" Williams' brow furrowed.
"Oh goody." Evan mumbled.
"It's Ancient speak for the Flu." Rodney glanced at Evan.
"XRP-7C was a native strain of Influenza." Carson glanced at Rodney.
"Was?" Woolsey honed in on Carson's use of past tense.
"Aye, Mr. Woolsey." Carson nodded. "At one time it was very much a common ailment amongst people of this galaxy, and as on Earth, it was worse on those unable to fight. The elderly, the infirm, and the young."
Silence filled the room.
"It was apparently known as the night-death." Rodney added.
"Well, that sounds happy." John threaded his arms over his torso and frowned at the ugly looking blotch on the computer screen.
"Aye." Carson sighed. "The illness spread more rapidly through the night. As the body rested to heal, the virus multiplied. It only attacked when the body was inactive."
"It got so people were afraid to go to sleep for fear of waking up with… with… that." Rodney pointed to the screen.
"It was rampant enough to be considered a plague." Carson added. "Villages lost half their population. Young and old."
"So what happened?" Richard asked.
"Well, here's the kicker." Rodney clasped his hands together. "It seems that our former landlords decided to take matters into their own hands, help the people of the galaxy and all that by formulating a cure." He made a face. "But as we're slowly learning…"
"Their cure backfired." John muttered.
"No." Carson shook his head then nodded. "It worked, actually. They successfully wiped out all traces of the original disease, and in effect, inoculated the entire human populace of the Pegasus galaxy. But in their haste, they did miscalculate an important component."
"Water." Rodney nodded.
"Water?" Richard's brow furrowed.
"Water." Rodney repeated.
"They distributed their cure through local water supplies." Carson nodded. "The fastest way to reach the entire population, actually. However… after all these years-"
"It mutated." Rodney interrupted.
"It mutated." Carson agreed.
"Mutated?" Edison repeated, eyeing Lorne and Williams critically.
"The virus mutated." Rodney rolled his eyes. "Not the subjects."
"Ah." Williams exhaled. "Good to know."
"So there's going to be another plague?" John eyed Carson warily.
"Och, no Colonel. Nothing so drastic. Genetically speaking, the natives of the Pegasus galaxy are completely immune to it."
"But we're not." John raised his eyebrow.
"Nope." Rodney shook his head dramatically.
"So why can't you just give Dr. Keller the same cure?" Edison asked.
"Oh yes, like we didn't think of that first." Rodney snorted sarcastically.
"Rodney." Carson chastised, then turned towards the Lieutenant. "The Ancient cure had no effect on Dr. Keller."
"So why aren't we sick?" Evan asked.
"Well, Major, I'm afraid it's simply because you weren't sick to begin with." Carson turned towards Evan. "You said yourself, Dr. Keller was already ill when she came into contact with this virus. I believe her body was simply unable to resist. With a regular course of antibiotics, you and the Lieutenant have defeated the virus. Dr. Keller…" Carson shook his head. "Jennifer was unable to fight."
"So what do you suggest?" Richard asked, agreed murmurs echoing his question.
"We make our own vaccination." Carson nodded, staring at Ronon pointedly. "And for that, big man... I need your blood."
"Take it." Ronon stepped forward.
Carson glanced at Teyla and smiled. "And yours too young lady."
"Of course." Teyla agreed, stepping forward with Ronon. "Whatever we can do to help."
.
.
.
Author's Note: Okay so if I could find a way to write a video montage, I would... but I'm not sure I could. So here you'll need to use your imagination and try to think of all the cool shots of Carson in the lab surrounded by a hovering group of concerned 'Lanteans. :P - Nika