Taken On Trust

By Ann3

Writer's Note: Aww, isn't it lovely to have Carson back in the land of the living at last...? All his nurses fussing over him, no doubt - and all those kisses and cuddles from Laura...?

Of course, there has to be a downside to it too... such as round two of Dr Rodney's bedside manner... ;o)

Thanks again for all the comments and reviews ! And for those of you waiting for the next load of angst - stay tuned for (spookily appropriately) chapter thirteen !

Chapter Twelve

Threats And Therapy

Waking from peaceful dreams into pain-ridden reality proved to be very much a mixed blessing. First came the pain, its excruciating depth and intensity barely countermanded by coolly soft, comforting fingers. But at least each time he opened his eyes, Laura's smiling face was always the first sight that met them. And that beautiful face, Carson now drowsily reflected, could easily make every bit of that pain go away.

So could the realisation that he was back home again, albeit feeling like hell and death combined warmed over. But he was safe. Home. Alive.

Laura could hear it too, now, as recognition brought fresh strength to that still so alarmingly faint voice

"L – La'ra…? 'm – 'm h'me…? Real'y h'me…?"

If not for her fears over hurting him, she would have smothered him in a hug of pure, unashamed relief. Instead she allowed that relief to show in a broad, reassuring smile as she gently kissed his hand.

"Yes, baby, it's really me… and yes, you're home… you're safe, and you're home…" she soothed, having to quickly catch his other hand as Carson tried to fretfully push away the mask on his face. "No, Carson, it's okay, it's just giving you oxygen… you know it's there to help you feel better…"

With both hands now held in gentle restraint, Carson could do little except frown sleepily up at her. Despite his own knowledge of its benefits, the oxygen's unnatural coolness hitting his throat was clearly unsettling him. And when that frown deepened, Laura thought, for an awful moment, that he'd regressed back into the nightmare of his memories.

But then the faintest of smiles re-appeared - followed, moments later, by a truly wonderful complaint.

"t's no'… blo'dy… w'rk'n'…"

Caught totally by surprise, Laura could have been forgiven for thinking she was the one on mind-addling medication. He'd just been through a truly horrendous ordeal, one that had so nearly cost him his life. The last thing that she was expecting to see, or hear, was a still very sleepy Carson Beckett cracking jokes.

But then she felt her surprise give way to pure delight as she lost herself in sleepily mischievous eyes. He was back. Beneath all the stitches and bruises and bloodied gauze, her precious Carson was back.

All she wanted to do right now was wrap her arms around him, just bask in the joy of his recovery – the intrusion of now familiar company both heartening and frustrating her in equal measure.

The first to arrive, Kate Buchanan was already at Carson's shoulder, carefully checking his vitals – their improvement from the previous night sufficient for a broad smile to spread across her face. Replacing, to Carson's open gratitude, the oxygen mask with a far more comfortable cannula, she then gently squeezed his hand.

"Aye, it's good to have ye back, son… we were startin' to get a bit worried about ye…"

A bit…? Bloody hell, Kate now dryly chided herself, that was the understatement of the century. Yes, he'd be alright now, make a full recovery, but… dear God, it had been close. Much too close.

As soon as John Sheppard had mentioned the bruising and distension to Carson's stomach, she'd feared the worst – and seen that fear confirmed as she'd led her team, at an all out sprint, into Jumper One's rear compartment.

He was bleeding internally. And, judging by the greyness of his face, his feeble excuse for a BP, he had been for some time. That was all she'd needed to know. The rest had been a frantic, life or death dash to get him to surgery

For all her experience and medical training, the extent of Carson's injuries had left Kate sickened – his whimpers of delirious terror cutting her to the core as she'd struggled to stabilise his condition. And when she'd touched his brutally abused stomach, those sobs had risen to an outright scream. A frantically thrashing leg had come damn close to kicking John Sheppard clear across the Jumper Bay.

For as long as she lived, Kate prayed she'd never go through such a heartbreaking experience again. Everyone who'd shared that experience with her, she knew, felt exactly the same way.

At least he'd woken calm now, and blessedly lucid again. Now, at least, the healing could begin. And the broken, traumatised body of her CMO, Kate knew, had one hell of a lot of healing to do.

Revived by the oxygen's icy coolness, fragments of memory were already starting to return – the telltale change in his eyes, the hitch in his breathing, already bringing Kate's hand to his shoulder.

"It's alright, Carson, you're safe now… it's alright, you're safe now, it's all over…"

Even as he wearily smiled back at her, Carson had still sensed the lingering worry around him – his smile fading as he tried to focus oddly uncooperative eyes on a row of identically gaunt, palely strained faces.

Kate. Laura. Elizabeth. John. Rodney. Teyla, and… dear God, was he hallucinating…? Ronon too…?

It was one face, though, the tears within its beautiful eyes, which affected Carson the most deeply – his weakly grinned attempts to reassure her as much for Laura's benefit as everyone else around her.

"Ye – Ye th'nk I look l'ke crap, lass…? Ye sh'uld see th' bug'er tha' gr'bbed me…!"

She may have smiled back at him, but that smile hadn't come close to reaching Laura's eyes – prompting another squeeze on her hand, an even weaker attempt to both reassure and convince her.

"'m – 'm alr'ght, love, jus'… jus' a wee bit s're… 'll be up an' about 'gain in no t'me…"

Watching a succession of humouring smiles, the grin then faltered as Carson glanced up at Kate.

"Or – Or m'ybe no'… Kate…? Wha's the d'mage…?"

Smiling back at him, Kate rested a calming hand on his shoulder while reciting the worst of that damage as gently as she could.

"Well, aside from a beastie of a concussion, you've also suffered severe internal haemorrhaging... a tear to your spleen, Carson, which... well, which was a right bugger to repair..."

Guessing from a shaky nod that she didn't need to jog his memory further, Kate then paused – needing to shut out some harrowing memories of her own as she quietly went on to break the rest.

"There was a sap-like irritant in your bloodstream, too, which ye had a severe reaction against... it had one hell of a grip on ye, son, and... well, I won't lie to ye, it wouldnae be fair, but… aye, you've had a rough time of it, Carson… a bloody rough time of it..."

Praying he didn't look as shaken as he felt, Carson just nodded, doing his best to dredge up a smile – his eyes not the only ones to stare in dismay as McKay made his own, rather less sensitive contribution

"Scared the hell out of us, more like…" he muttered, typically oblivious to the reactions around him. "You've been unconscious for five days, babbling out of your head for most of them, and… what…?"

As everyone round him just shook their heads, it was left to John Sheppard to dryly speak for them all

"My advice with a bedside manner like that, Rodney…? Stick to the day job…"

Ignoring, with practised ease, the sulky glare that followed, he then returned his attentions to Carson – gratefully noting that his friend was smiling again now, seeing McKay's outburst for what it truly was. It was just his way, of course. The only way of expressing his emotions that Rodney felt at ease with.

For all his bluntness and complete lack of tact, the concern of an anxious friend still lay underneath – the tentative fingers which now patted Carson's arm, then lingered gently on his spare hand, speaking volumes for how worried he really was.

Even as Carson managed a faint grin in return, there was no hiding the pained tiredness in his eyes – prompting a round of far gentler bedside manners as Kate finished replacing the various IV units above him.

"Regardless of Rodney's bedside manner, Carson, you're goin' to be alright… you're fully stable now, and ye'll go on to make a full recovery. Aye, you will be up and about again, just as ye said, just… well, just a wee bit later than sooner…"

Already resigned to that famous Beckett bloody-mindedness proving her wrong, Kate then smiled – making a final check on those all important, healing meds, before giving his arm another gentle pat.

"I know you just want to go back to sleep now, son, and it's the best thing for ye, I know... but before ye do, Carson, are ye still in pain…?"

He could be brave about it, of course, and say no. But his silently screaming body had other ideas.

"Aye, lass… jus' a wee bit… an' I'm awfu' th'rsty…"

"Yes, I just bet ye are…" Kate nodded sympathetically, passing Laura a small bowl of crushed ice. "Not too much, though… and take it slowly, Carson… just a wee bit at a time… aye, that's it…"

She'd had to warn him, of course, not to overdo it. But, as things turned out, she needn't have worried. Carson barely managed two, gently prodded spoonfuls before his scant supply of strength ran out.

A past master in the art of tactful exits, Elizabeth now leaned carefully closer to kiss Carson's cheek.

"I can see you're getting tired, Carson, so we'll let you get some rest now… okay…?"

"Yeah, take it easy, doc…" John Sheppard agreed, adding his own unique twist of mischievous advice. "Just be a good boy and do everything this doc tells you to, 'cos I gotta tell you, she's real mean with the needles... nearly in the same sadism league as you, in fact, and… oh yeah, let Nurse Cadman here take real good care of you..."

It was good to see some colour return to Carson's face – albeit through a blush of embarrassment. Amid much laughter, he went even redder as Teyla stepped forward to follow Elizabeth's lead, placing the gentlest of kisses on his cheek.

"Yes, sleep well, Carson… I am sure that under Laura's expert care, you will soon feel much better…"

"Oh, you can count on that… I'm going to kiss him and spoil him until his toes curl up..." Laura grinned back at her, favouring Carson with a playful wink – causing his entire face, even his ears and dimples, to turn the same shade of red as Elizabeth's shirt.

It had to be said, though, that her literal interpretation of 'kissing it all better…' had its good points too. Her latest flurry across his cheek was definitely making him feel a whole lot better. And it would be downright churlish of him not to give credit where that credit was so enjoyably due. So from under a veiling mane of strawberry blonde hair came a muffled, sleepily appreciative mumble

"I – I co'ld g't used to th's…"

As laughter erupted once more around him, it had to be McKay that made his feelings peevishly clear.

"Oh, enough already…! I – I mean, jeez…!"

"'ou're jus' jeal'us…" Carson shot back, bringing another age old adage to quite glorious life. Nothing, it seemed, not even a perilously close call at death's door, could keep a good doctor down.

The same determination clearly applied to inwardly thrilled, outwardly miffed Canadian scientists.

"Am not…"

"A'e too…"

John Sheppard knew he'd pay for this, come his next physical, but… oh, this just too priceless to pass up.

"Hey, if you're feeling that left out, McKay, you can always pucker up yourself, and…"

The response was all he'd hoped for, as a sleepily indignant voice floated up from the bed beside them

"You try, R'dney, an' you'll be gettin' a kiss you'll nev'r f'rget…"

Sensing that all sorts of ructions were about to erupt, Kate Buchanan stepped swiftly in to intervene – no mean feat when she was enjoying this most welcome battle of wits as much as everyone else.

Quite how her CMO dealt with these two overgrown kids in adults' bodies still totally escaped her. She'd only had to cope with them for a few days, and she was sure she'd already developed an ulcer.

The sooner Carson Beckett was back on his feet, Kate dryly reflected, the happier everyone would be.

Taking a gently firm hold on each sleeve, she then steered John and Rodney towards the door – promising herself, and Laura too, an especially bracing mug of tea. God knew, they'd earned it…!

"Alright, ye two reprobates, that's enough… get away with ye both now, let Carson get his rest…"

Finally succeeding, with some help from Teyla and Elizabeth, Kate then returned to her patient – noting, in both personal and professional relief, that said patient was now soundly asleep. Cradled in Laura's arms, safe and sound, calm and contented, he was even smiling – another very welcome sign.

It would all soon change, of course, once his gently drug-dulled mind was allowed to remember. The mental scars from his ordeal, she knew, would not heal nearly so easily as the physical ones. But for now, at least, safely snug in his lady's arms, Carson Beckett didn't have a care in the world.

Making a final check on those precious vitals, Kate then offered Laura a proudly reassuring smile – giving Carson's arm another gentle pat, before leaving him to enjoy the best medicine he could ask for

All the meds in existence, she dryly reflected, couldn't compete with the love of his very special lady. How vital that love's healing power would prove to be, in the long and painful days to come.