Disclaimer: All characters and locations are the intellectual property of others. This amateur work is not intended to infringe on those rights.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews.-------------------------------------------------------------------
Adjusting
The next morning, Rodney McKay was grabbing his coffee and heading to the infirmary when he ran into Colonel Stephen Caldwell. "Colonel Caldwell," McKay nodded, and moved to go past the man in the direction of the infirmary.
Caldwell put out his hand to stop McKay. "Dr. McKay, I'm glad I found you. I need you and Ronon ready to leave tomorrow at 0600 hours. The Daedalus needs to get back to Atlantis."
"Colonel, I thought we discussed this. Ronon and I are part of Sheppard's team, and we don't leave team members behind."
"You're not leaving him behind, McKay, you're just giving him time to heal. He will be on a later transport."
"He needs our support, particularly in a strange place."
"Dr. McKay, he is a soldier. He is used to waking up in infirmaries. Besides, we have our orders. Don't make me late."
With that, Caldwell turned and entered the mess hall. Rodney McKay continued to the infirmary, donned the gown and mask, and entered to find Ronon already keeping watch next to Sheppard.
"He seems quieter but he's still hot," said the Satedan.
"I ran into Caldwell, and he still insists on leaving tomorrow. I'm not sure how to keep from going."
"Say no."
"It's not that easy. If I insist on staying here, I could be blocked from the Atlantis project completely. You wouldn't be able to go home and would probably be kept in some facility like this, a private lab rat for someone." Rodney looked down at his laptop. "I've also been thinking about Dr. Weir. She still doesn't know what's happened. I heard Landry told them not to call back until Earth called first. That means they won't know anything until the Daedalus gets there.
The two men sat quietly, contemplating their wounded teammate and the people they'd left behind.
Atlantis
Kate Heightmeyer, resident psychiatrist on Atlantis, stood outside Dr. Elizabeth Weir's door and contemplated the expedition leader. She had not seen her in the mess hall for breakfast, so this was the first chance she had had to observe her since her conversation with Dr. Beckett. Dr. Weir's face was drawn, and her clothes hung from her. As Kate watched, she picked up her mug of coffee, and her hand shook slightly. Though looking at her laptop, Kate couldn't help but feel that Elizabeth wasn't really seeing the report displayed there. Finally, she knocked.
"Excuse me, do you have a minute?"
Dr. Weir looked up and, giving Kate a small smile, put her mug down. "Of course. What can I do for you, Kate?"
Kate entered and took a seat in front of Elizabeth's desk. Leaning forward, she looked at her feet a moment before looking straight at Elizabeth. "I'm concerned for the base personnel. I think we are going to need a memorial service sooner rather than later to help people deal with the loss. Since we have lost both Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay, both the scientists and the military are uneasy. Have you given any thought to a service of some kind?"
Elizabeth looked out at the control room, trying to control her emotions. She swallowed convulsively and cleared her throat. "I spoke to Dr. Beckett, Major Lorne, and Teyla earlier about this. I was thinking we should wait until the Daedalus returns before we have a service. There is, after all, some slight chance that they will return."
Kate leaned back in the chair. "That makes some sense, but the Daedalus may be delayed by repairs or, worse, may not return. I'm afraid that the lack of closure is hurting everyone. Have you thought of contacting Stargate Command for some kind of estimate on the return of the Daedalus?"
"They asked us not to. They wanted us to save power and wait for them to contact us. I admit I have thought of going against their wishes."
"You may want to consider that option. The tension is getting to everyone, including you."
Elizabeth looked up at that, and Kate looked her square in the eye. Unable to keep up the contact, Elizabeth resumed looking at her laptop.
"I realize that I, too, am grieving in some ways."
"No, Elizabeth, you are trying not to grieve, and the stress is manifesting itself in your lack of eating and lack of sleep. For the benefit of this expedition, I suggest you give yourself time to come to terms with this loss. You know Carson and I are here for you."
"Thank you, Kate. I may take you up on that." Elizabeth still could not meet the psychologist's eye. She was afraid she would lose control in her office, in full view of the staff in the control room.
Kate rose to leave, recognizing a dismissal when she heard it. "Please make it sooner, rather than later. At times like these, the way in which the leader handles the loss can set the tone for the rest of the staff." With that, she left.
Dr. Weir continued to stare at her laptop without reading anything. Finally, after getting herself mostly under control, she stepped out of her office and moved down to the balcony for a while to regroup. Contacting Stargate Command would be the obvious solution, but she, too, was concerned about the power drain on the ZPM. But even that contact would not solve the problem of the missing men. On the other hand, a service with no knowledge of what had happened to their people would provide only partial closure. As Elizabeth went back to her office, she contacted Teyla by radio to set up a meeting to discuss a service.
Cheyenne Mountain Complex, SGC
Dr. McKay and Ronon Dex were still sitting with Colonel Sheppard that afternoon when Dr. Lam returned to check on her patient.
"Good news, gentlemen. We have been able to culture the bacteria causing Colonel Sheppard's fever, and we think we have an antibiotic that will finally do the trick." As she was explaining to them the solution the staff had found, a nurse was hanging another, smaller bag from the IV stand. "This new antibiotic is more specific to the bacteria and should act more quickly."
"So, when will he wake up? Colonel Caldwell, the despot, is insisting we leave tomorrow on the Daedalus and we'd like to at least know he's ok."
Dr. Lam shook her head. "I'm sorry, Dr. McKay, but I can't put a time on his waking up. Besides the fever, he is still suffering from malnutrition and stress. We've dealt with the dehydration, but the other could affect his return to consciousness."
"That's just great. He's going to think we abandoned him, and I'll never hear the end of it."
Dr. Lam was beginning to wonder at the nature of the relationship between Rodney McKay and John Sheppard when Ronon caught her eye and rolled his eyes. She decided not to take McKay at face value.
"Gentlemen, though you may continue to sit with your friend, I can assure you he will be out of it for the next several hours. If you have anything else you need to do on base before you leave, you might want to take this opportunity to get it done." With that, she checked Sheppard's vitals and left.
McKay closed his laptop and looked over at Ronon. "I have an idea. We can probably get someone from SG-1 to be here. I think they would understand about waking up in a strange place. I'm going to the lab?" He stood up. "Do you want to come?"
Ronon looked over at the sleeping Colonel. "Alright. Then I'll stop back by the gym one more time."
They moved to the door and got rid of the masks and gowns. McKay led the way to the lab where Colonel Carter worked most often. As luck would have it, Dr Jackson was also present, showing Carter the data from the chair that McKay had collected. They looked up as the two Atlantis expedition members entered.
Daniel spoke first. "Oh, hi, we were just going to come find you. This interface you wrote for the chair is interesting, but we're not sure about how to interpret some of the data. Do you have time…"
"Yes, yes, yes, I'll do my usual job of explaining mysteries and saving the day. Right now, though, we have something more important to ask."
Carter and Jackson looked at each other and back to McKay. What could be more important? "Uh, ok, what do you need?"
Suddenly McKay seemed awkward. "Uh, well, you see on Atlantis, Ronon and I are part of Colonel Sheppard's team. We have this practice of staying with any team member who is injured until they are on the way to recovery. Yes, I know it sounds like baby sitting, but it is really helpful. Anyway, Caldwell is leaving tomorrow and we have to be on the ship. Your local witchdoctor doesn't think Sheppard will wake up before then so, we were wondering if, uh, you or a member of your team could, uh, be there when the Colonel wakes up."
Sam Carter smiled at McKay's awkwardness. She looked over at Daniel and realized he, too, was remembering way too many vigils in the infirmary for Jack O'Neill. Sam was also remembering several vigils for Daniel, not all of which ended well. "Sure, we can take turns being around. I'll ask General O'Neill if he will help since Colonel Sheppard knows him the best of all of us."
Daniel nodded. "Sure, no problem. Though I'm not sure what he would think if he woke up to Teal'c."
Sam smiled at the image Daniel conjured up. "Indeed." Both members of SG-1 giggled at that, while Ronon and McKay just looked confused.
Daniel suddenly looked up at Ronon. "You sparred with Teal'c yesterday, right?"
Ronon nodded.
"So who won?"
McKay looked over at Ronon. "Yeah, you never said."
Ronon just smiled.
Atlantis
The dinner hour had come and gone and Dr. Elizabeth Weir was still in her office. She said she had to review reports, but she was really caught up and was trying to keep from going back to her room. Her sleep had been disturbed by nightmares, recently, most having to do with John, Rodney, and Ronon being fed on by the wraith. Finally, with no more ways to waste time, she closed her laptop, turned off the lights, and made her way to the living quarters. She didn't stop at her own, however. She continued down the hall to John Sheppard's quarters. She knew his code in case of emergency, so she let herself in.
She had seen his quarters a few times, but had never spent much time here. In one corner was a guitar, and a poster of Johnny Cash was on the wall. She picked up his copy of War and Peace, and smiled to see he had made it to page 40. "Forty pages in two years, John. At that rate, this book should last awhile." She put the book down and sat down on the bed. There was still dirty laundry in one corner, and a skateboard peeked out from under his bed. Everything in the room screamed John Sheppard, and suddenly the thought of never seeing him again overwhelmed her. She lay down on his bed, giving in to the sobs. When the first bout of tears was over, she noticed that his pillow held his scent, a mixture of soap and shampoo and something that was uniquely John. Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes, cherishing the scent. Eventually, she fell asleep in his room.
SGC – Cheyenne Mountain Complex
Dr. Rodney McKay, in a foul mood in spite of coffee, was sitting with Ronon Dex in the mess hall at 0530 hours. They had already packed and had been by to check on Sheppard who was still unconscious but stable.
"I still say we shouldn't leave him." Ronon's expression was grim even for him.
"We've had this discussion. I can't change Caldwell into a caring human being, and I can't go against the military mindset."
"Correct, Dr. McKay. I hope you are packed."
McKay jumped up and turned to find Colonel Stephen Caldwell behind him with a wry grin on his face.
"Yes we are packed. I still say we don't need to leave this quickly."
"Dr. McKay, I am not going back to Atlantis without both its chief scientist and its ranking military officer. I will at least be able to give Dr. Weir her chief scientist back. Now, if you gentlemen will accompany the sergeant, he will take you to the ship."
Caldwell left without giving them time to respond. An uncompromising sergeant stepped forward to take their luggage. "Follow me, sirs."
They left for the Daedalus.
Two hours later, in the infirmary, Jack O'Neill sat by John Sheppard's bed. Now that they knew the bacterium causing the infection, the medical staff had cancelled the mask and gown requirement. O'Neill was glad since he wasn't sure he could have stood it. When Carter had contacted him, he volunteered to take the morning shift. He had just started his crossword when he realized the patient was stirring. He looked up at a nurse and signaled for her to get the doctor.
Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard slowly became aware of his body. He tried to stretch but quickly realized he had an IV in his arm. He grimaced as he felt the catheter. That meant he had been out for some time. He cracked open his eyes, bracing for the bright lights of the Atlantis infirmary, but found instead a dark, high-ceilinged room. The infirmary smells were the same, but this wasn't Atlantis.
"He's awake doctor."
The voice came from the foot of the bed, and Sheppard glanced that way to see a nurse recording his vital signs from some monitors.
A dark-haired woman moved into his line of sight.
"'Lizabeth?" His voice was raspy.
Reaching for some water and holding a straw for him, Dr. Lam replied, "No, Colonel, I'm Dr. Carolyn Lam. Do you know where you are?"
"Actually, no. Smells like infirmary, but not Atlantis. Exactly how many trucks ran over me?"
Dr. Lam smiled. He must be doing better if he could joke. "You are in the infirmary at Stargate Command. What do you remember?"
Sheppard closed his eyes in concentration. In a slightly stronger voice, he said, "I remember being on the hive, then flying the dart to Antarctica. I know I got to the chair, but I don't remember much about the battle. Can I assume we won?" He looked at the doctor again. She looked over at O'Neill.
"Yes we did win, Colonel," said O'Neill. Sheppard glanced to his other side and saw the general was sitting next to him, leaning forward. "Unfortunately, as soon as the battle was over you lost consciousness. The big guy caught you before you dented your head on the floor of the chair room."
The doctor continued. "You probably lost consciousness due to the combination of an infection with fever, exhaustion, and a slight case of malnourishment. We've taken care of those, but you still have a nasty laceration on your leg that will require some physical therapy. In fact, I was just getting ready to change the dressing when you woke up. So if you don't mind. . .?" She moved toward the foot of the bed to remove the sheets from his leg.
Sheppard nodded then, realizing something, he suddenly turned to O'Neill. "Where're McKay and Ronon? Are they OK?"
"They're fine. Caldwell and Landry decided to get them back to Atlantis as quickly as possible since there has been no communication since before the battle. I think they thought Dr. Weir might want to know she doesn't need to put out a help wanted ad. They shipped out this morning, but not without great protest. That's why you have me sitting in."
Sheppard looked taken aback. "Thank you, sir."
"Anytime, Colonel."
John jerked suddenly as Dr. Lam pulled on a tender part of his leg. "Sorry about that. I haven't stitched you because the wound was so old. Instead, we've used maggots to clean the wound, and we now have healthy tissue to work with. I'm going to wrap your leg rather than suture it, so you are going to have to be more careful than you would normally with a wound of this type."
John had missed half of what she said. "Maggots?"
Dr. Lam smiled. "Yes, Colonel, sometimes the old remedies are the best. As soon as your fever is completely normal, I'll get you started on some physical therapy. Now, how about some breakfast?"
As if responding to the comment, John's stomach growled. "Breakfast sounds good, but I'm not really up for any fruit right now."
Dr. Lam signaled to the nurse to fetch a tray. "Fine, I think we can work with that. I'll check on you later." With that, she left Sheppard with O'Neill.
O'Neill was about to ask about the hive ship when he noticed Sheppard had fallen asleep again. Unperturbed, he picked up his crossword and tried to think of a four letter word for a heavenly body.
TBC
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