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Teyla used one of the rain ponchos to partially cover up the carcass of the dead animal, then went about gathering the small amount of debris and kindling that was scattered around the cave. She approached McKay as he stood near the opening, watching the rain and lightning as he worked with his scanner, LSD and radio.
"You must get through to Atlantis," she said quietly. "He needs medical attention soon; some of the wounds are quite deep, almost down to the bone."
"I know, I can see that!" he whispered back, scrubbing at the blood that was drying along the edges of his fingernails. "But there's only so much I can do in these conditions."
"Hey...!" Sheppard's voice cut through. "I told you -- don't talk about me like I'm not here, and don't sugar-coat it. I probably know more about field treatment of battlefield wounds than either of you, so give it to me straight."
"All right." She came back, dropping the kindling on the ground nearby. "We must hope that Ronon is able to safely and quickly reach the gate. Some of your wounds are deep and there has been significant blood loss. But the bleeding appears to have stopped, no major arteries are damaged and there does not appear to be any internal bleeding. You are doing all right, for now, but we have no way of knowing how long that you will remain so. So what is your own professional assessment of the situation, Colonel?"
He looked back at her with calm eyes. "With injuries like these, procedure is to keep the soldier immobile, if possible, and apply pressure to the wounds and stop the bleeding. Shock is the most likely complication, from the trauma and/or blood loss. You wait for the medics, keep him warm and dry and calm, and hope to hell the poor bastard doesn't bleed to death before they get there."
His tone had been matter-of-fact, detached and professional, but then his eyes softened, shifting between her and McKay. "If there's going to be a long wait, my chances of survival depend on whether you can keep the bleeding under control."
"And we have, at least as well as we can with what we have available here. Now you must lie still and conserve your energy."
"I think maybe I can boost the signal on our headsets with the power source on the scanner. But it might not be enough to cut through this interference," McKay said.
"I'm sure you can work your miracles again, Rodney." He gave a strained smile. "But keep an eye on the life signs detector -- assuming it's working at all -- for any more visitors. All this blood may attract other predators."
"What!?" McKay pulled out his pistol again, pointing it nervously towards the entrance. "That's great; we're all going to end up as an afternoon snack at this rate!"
The storm continued to rage outside, lightning and thunder and pouring rain. "Ronon had no business going out in this," Sheppard said. He touched his radio with his good hand. "Ronon, this is Colonel Sheppard, do you copy...? Ronon, if you can hear me, come in...! Ronon...!" The only answer was static, and he quit trying. "Dammit."
He looked accusingly at Teyla and McKay. "You shouldn't have let him leave."
"Oh right," McKay scoffed. "Like we could have held him down."
"He was determined to go," Teyla said. "But I believe that if there is anyone capable of making it through all this and bringing help, it is Ronon."
"The man can certainly take care of himself." Sheppard sighed. "But even if by some miracle he gets through soon, the medics won't be able to leave right away -- the jumpers won't be able to mount a rescue in this mess until it lets up."
"How much do we have to eat?" McKay said.
Teyla and Sheppard looked at him.
"What? We need to keep up our strength, don't we? Especially me, if I get hypoglycemic I can't think straight."
"I'm not hungry," Sheppard said.
Teyla got the canteen out of her pack, tossing a power bar to McKay. "But you do need to stay hydrated."
"At least we don't have to worry about running out of water," Sheppard said, watching the rain pour down. She brought the canteen to his mouth, but he only took a small amount to moisten his lips. "Actually, if you think someone might be going into shock, you shouldn't give them any food or water," he said, pushing the canteen away reluctantly.
"Really?" McKay said.
"Of course; I had forgotten," Teyla said, quickly pulling away the canteen. "I am sorry."
"Sounds like someone wasn't paying attention in Carson's first aid class," Sheppard said to McKay.
McKay shrugged, looking sheepish. "Probably not... It's all voodoo anyway," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "First aid is important -- as our present situation clearly demonstrates. Consider yourself signed up for a refresher when we get back."
"Awww, come on!" McKay protested, talking around a mouthful of power bar.
"Perhaps I should be as well."
"No, Teyla, you're doing great. Carson will be proud."
"Well, what am I, chopped liver? I helped."
Sheppard's eyes lingered on the drying blood on McKay's hands and jacket. "Yes, you did," he said quietly. Then the corner of his mouth quirked. "But you still need to repeat the class."
McKay snorted but said nothing, fiddling with the radio and scanner.
"I really hope this Ancient artifact we're looking for is worth all this... If it's even there," Sheppard said as Teyla continued to search the cave for anything that would burn.
"The Ancient database said it was," McKay said. "Whether it's still functioning is another story."
Sheppard sighed. "If we'd only been able to make it another mile..."
"Then we'd probably be caught out in the open in the storm," Teyla pointed out.
"True. But I'd prefer being soaked and half-drowned to this."
"But being hit by lightning, not so much," McKay muttered. "You realize we're going to have to do this all over again, send out another mission to finish what we started. Zelenka's going in my place next time; let him worry about being eaten."
Another long silence fell. Sheppard's eyes glanced around the dark stone walls, drumming his fingers against his side. "Anybody bring a deck of cards?" he asked. "Might help pass the time." They shook their heads. "No...? Well then... How about gossip? Anybody heard any juicy rumors lately?" he grinned. "I'll bet -- "
"Colonel," Teyla interrupted. "You should conserve your strength. Rest, please. You do not need to reassure us."
"Just trying to make conversation," he said, but letting the volume of his voice drop. He was tired. Damn tired.
"I cannot make a fire," Teyla announced after a few minutes, dusting off her hands and returning to Sheppard's side. "What little there is to burn will produce only smoke, not heat."
Sheppard gave her a half-smile. "Thanks for trying."
"I have a plan," McKay said suddenly, scooting over to them.
"I knew you'd come up with something, McKay," Sheppard said, eyes brightening. "Let's hear it."
"I'm going to tie together the battery from this -- " He pointed to the scanner. " -- and the radio. It'll boost the power and the signal. But -- it'll burn out the transmitter in 5 or 10 seconds. But hopefully that will be long enough to get the message across. We've got three radios so we can try it twice. It's pointless to try it right now, but hopefully in a little while it will start to lighten up and the interference will decrease. I'll send an emergency signal out the first time, then wait a half hour or so to try again. There's no guarantee it'll work, but hopefully they'll pick it up at the gate and be able to get a search team out."
"When we miss our check in, they'll probably start trying to contact us anyway. So, we keep one radio intact?" Sheppard asked, and McKay nodded. "How long is 'a little while' before you make the first attempt?"
McKay sighed. "I don't know. The storm seems to be passing quickly, but I can't tell for sure. An hour, at least, I'd say. And that's just a rough estimate." He looked over at Teyla. "Could be longer."
Sheppard's eyes closed slowly, and he let out a long breath. When he opened his eyes again, his expression was resigned. "So we're talking… hours... before anyone gets here."
McKay could not meet his eyes for long. "Possibly, yes."
"Good to know," Sheppard said, then went quiet.
"But that only applies to Dr. McKay's plan. Ronon is still out there," Teyla reminded them.
"That takes time too. It took us nearly two hours to get up here."
"But that was uphill. He's going downhill. Much faster, especially since the man was a Runner," McKay said.
"Yes, well, the problem with that is, all this rain is also going downhill," Sheppard said.
"We must not dwell on such things," Teyla said.
She got up and withdrew to the mouth of the cave, staring out at the horizon. "The storm is moving quickly. It cannot last forever." Indeed, the rain had slackened slightly and the lightning flashes were not quite as frequent, but it was still a dangerous storm.
After a long while, during which she had kept a watchful eye on Sheppard while McKay worked on the radio, Teyla approached him again, kneeling beside him.
"How are you doing?" Teyla asked.
"I'm ok," he said stoically.
"Colonel, if you want me to be straight with you, you have to be straight with me."
He chewed on his lower lip for a few moments, then sighed. "Fair enough... Been better. I'm really tired, and I'm cold, and my leg and arm are a little numb."
"Are the bandages too tight? We need to control the bleeding, but cutting off too much blood to the extremities would not be a good thing either."
"You could loosen this, just a little bit," Sheppard said, touching the belt around his thigh. "I don't think it's bleeding much anymore."
Teyla adjusted the belt, checking the dressings as she did so. When she was through, he flexed his foot slightly. "Better?" she asked.
Sheppard nodded. "Everything else still hurts like hell. But I'm patient -- I can wait for Beckett."
"You are strong, Colonel, in excellent physical condition. You will survive this," she said confidently.
McKay rolled his eyes. "Do you have to tell him that? We'll never hear the end of it."
Sheppard ignored him. "Thank you, Teyla," he said, smiling warmly.
"The bleeding seems to be under control. A few stitches and you will be fine."
"Well, I think there will be a lot more than 'a few'. This is really gonna screw up my golf swing." He hesitated, chewing on his lip again. "But I think the shoulder is still bleeding. You need to check the bandages."
McKay looked up, moving closer.
"They're soaked through -- I can feel it," he said as Teyla pulled back the coverings. "Underneath my shoulder, it feels wetter than before. I think it's seeping down along my armpit to the ground. Those damn claws were like razors -- cut pretty deep." He shifted slightly, grimacing.
She examined the blood-soaked bandages closely. "I believe you are right. We should have continued to keep pressure on it, but I thought it was under control."
"It was; I must've moved my arm and started it up again."
"We need more bandages," she muttered to herself, looking around. She sat down and pulled off one boot, then used a knife to cut off one pants leg above her knee, taking it off and ripping it into long wide strips. "They're still wet from the rain," she said apologetically. "But it'll have to do." She turned to McKay. "Help me hold him up."
McKay held his head, supporting his back as they both rolled Sheppard towards his left side. Blood had indeed soaked the back of his jacket and a small section of the thermal blanket, and McKay and Teyla exchanged worried glances.
Sheppard gasped and whimpered softly when she started to apply more bandages to his shoulder and upper arm. She paused, laying her hand gently on his bare forearm. "It's swollen now, isn't it?"
"Yea," he hissed, breathing hard and fast between clenched teeth, his body trembling slightly, eyes squeezed shut. His hand clutched at McKay's arm in a vice grip, fingers digging in deep, and McKay winced.
"But just get it over with, quick as you can," Sheppard panted.
"No," she said, shaking her head as she took a few brief moments to loosen the bandages already in place. "Lay him down again, Rodney," she said. "It does little good to slow the bleeding this way if the pain sends you into shock, Colonel."
Perspiration had beaded on Sheppard's forehead as he settled back into a prone position. "Good call," he said. "Hurts like hell." His eyelids fluttered close. "No more, ok? I don't care how much I'm bleeding."
"No problem," McKay said, looking nearly as ashen as Sheppard did.
Teyla wasn't much better. "I am so sorry, John. I did not mean to cause you more pain."
"It's ok... I know you're just trying to help."
She pulled the thermal blanket and Ronon's coat up over him again, letting her hands linger over his shoulder, applying gentle but firm pressure on the wounds again. Sheppard flinched but said nothing. "Rest now."
"No problem," he said weakly. He started to drift off, mumbling, "So tired… Just wanna sleep a while."
Teyla's brow furrowed more deeply. "John?" she said as she laid her fingers on his neck, checking his pulse, alarmed to find that his previously steady and strong heartbeat had become rather rapid and thready. "No, John, do not go to sleep. You need to stay awake. Stay with us."
"What is it? What's wrong?" a panicky McKay said.
"'m ok. Not asleep… Just resting my eyes," Sheppard mumbled again, slurring his words slightly.
She raised her voice. "John, everything is going to be all right. Rodney and I will take care of you, but you must help us. Stay awake. Open your eyes and talk to us."
His eyelids fluttered open, but then closed soon after. "Tired of talking… Hurts."
Teyla grimaced and gestured for McKay to say something.
"Oh, c-come on, Sheppard," McKay stammered, then cleared his throat and continued in a steadier voice. "It's just a little pain -- you said yourself you've seen worse. 'Suck it up' -- isn't that what you jock-types always say? 'No pain no gain?'. You're always telling me to toughen up, but now look at you… You -- You're a pathetic excuse for a U.S. Air Force officer."
Teyla gave him a dirty look. "Rodney…!" she hissed.
But Sheppard opened his eyes wider now. "Pathetic…?"
"I don't care if you beat the crap outta me when we get back, and -- " He stopped, tilting his head. "Well, actually, I do care. But the point is, you have to be alive to kick my ass, Sheppard."
"Yes, I do," Sheppard said, but his eyes started to close.
"No no no no," McKay whispered, panic creeping into his voice again, exchanging worried looks with Teyla. "Don't go into shock."
"Colonel," Teyla said in her most authoritative tone, lightly slapping the side of Sheppard's face. "Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, I order you to stay awake… Are you listening to me, soldier?" she barked.
Sheppard's eyes snapped open, and he blinked a few times, eyes finally focusing on her again.
"Did you hear what I said, Colonel? Do not fall asleep. That is an order!"
He stirred some more, blinking again. "You're giving me orders now, Teyla?"
"Carson is not here, so I will say what needs to be said. You must fight this, Colonel. Ronon has gone and is risking his life to get help for you -- do not dishonor that. Doctor McKay and I will look after you, but you must do your part. Do not give up."
Emotion flared in his hazel eyes, and he glared at her. "I'm not giving up."
"Then stay with us. Stay awake, talk to us, and let us help you. I know you are in pain, and there is little we can do for that now. But be patient -- we will get you home, John."
She and McKay were leaning over him, and he looked into both their eyes, drawing strength from their resolve.
"I know you will," Sheppard said, his voice sounding stronger.
He took several long deep breaths, eyes wide open as he stared up at them, and gradually, over many minutes, it seemed to take less effort for him to stay conscious, his heart rate slowly dropping back to near normal. He was still pale and weak, but it seemed that Sheppard was holding himself together by sheer force of will.
Eventually he turned to McKay, giving him an odd look. "Uh, Rodney…?"
"What?"
"Can I have my hand back now…?"
"Huh?"
McKay's eyes followed as Sheppard's shifted down to his left hand.
And McKay abruptly released his grip, realizing he had been holding Sheppard's hand ever since they had tried to fix his shoulder bandages. "I was -- I was just taking your pulse."
Sheppard quirked an amused eyebrow at him. "Oh really?"
"Ok, ok, so you just seriously scared the crap outta me!" McKay babbled loudly. "Don't do that again!"
"I'll try not to die just yet," Sheppard said with his usual dry wit. "I wouldn't want to freak you out."
"Oh, this is so not my thing," McKay moaned, running his hand through his hair. "Dammit, where the hell is that quack Beckett when you need him?"
"Rodney," Teyla said, laying her hand on his shoulder. "We are going to get him home. And we all need to stay calm."
"I know, I know," McKay muttered. "I'll shut up now."
After a minute or two, McKay noticed Sheppard was looking at him strangely again. "What? What now?"
"…'A pathetic excuse for a U.S. Air Force officer'…?"
McKay rolled his eyes. "I was trying to piss you off; I thought that would keep you awake. I was improvising… It was lame, I know."
"I doubt Carson would approve of such methods," Teyla said, still giving McKay the evil eye.
Sheppard shrugged. "Whatever works… Including ordering around your team leader," he said with a strained smile.
She smiled back. "Whatever works... But I must say, I rather enjoyed that part of it."
"I'll bet."
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Teyla and McKay took turns watching over him, frequently checking his pulse and respiration as well as keeping pressure on the shoulder wounds, while the other went outside watching for rescue and trying to call for help.
When the weather had shown definite signs of clearing, most of the rain moving out, the dark clouds blowing swiftly away towards the far horizon, McKay sent the first emergency call, burning out Teyla's radio. There was no answer, however, and a half hour later they tried again with Sheppard's radio, with no success then either.
Their options exhausted, the only thing they could do was continue to use McKay's remaining radio to keep calling for help.
While Teyla took her turn outside, McKay sat near him on the hard floor. He occupied himself with the computer tablet for a while, but stopped after realizing a glassy-eyed Sheppard was watching him.
"You certainly have a knack for winding up in the infirmary," McKay said, laying the tablet aside with a sigh, reaching down to check the pulse in Sheppard's neck.
"It's a talent," Sheppard said with his characteristic smirk, blinking a few times, and the glassy look disappeared. His pulse was a bit weak but acceptable under the circumstances.
Then the grin faded into a solemn expression. "I never ask people to do something I wouldn't do myself. Or maybe you'd prefer to go into the dark scary cave first next time." His voice was low, but still held a definite note of underlying strength.
McKay shuddered. "No, thank you."
"Didn't think so. And I wouldn't want you to -- that's my job. This is what I do, Rodney. I'm a soldier. Getting wounded is an occupational hazard. When I take point, I know that means I'm the most at risk. I do it to protect my team." He quirked a smile. "Even you."
McKay rolled his eyes.
"I…" Sheppard had been looking directly at him, but now his eyes dropped. "I'd sacrifice my life for any one of you. If -- "
"Wait a minute," McKay interrupted, eyes widening, looking panicky again, "What are you doing? If this is one of those 'I'm dying so I'd better make my peace with everyone' type of moments, you can just stop right now."
"Rodney -- "
"No, just shut up. You're not going to die."
"That's not what I meant -- "
"You're giving up. You can't do that."
"I'm not giving up!" He tried to raise his voice, but it came out disturbingly squeaky, since whenever he took a deep breath his ribs expanded and pulled painfully at the slashes on his chest. "I was just -- "
He huffed, feeling very light-headed, the room starting to spin a little as it had several times before. He was in no condition for one of their usual 'No I didn't -- Yes you did' type of snarkfests.
"I wasn't saying goodbye," he sighed.
"Then what were you saying?"
"That I was just doing my damn job today, McKay. And shit happens."
"Oh." McKay was quiet for a few moments. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place instead of starting to get all mushy and -- "
"I have no idea," Sheppard grumbled. "Must be lack of blood and oxygen to the brain."
McKay was still eyeing him warily, and Sheppard continued, "There's no way I'm going to let myself be taken down for the final count by some damn alien animal… It would look really un-cool on my tombstone -- death by cat." Maybe it really was the lack of oxygen, but he could not help but grin at the absurdity of it all.
"But it's not a cat -- it's a big scary mountain lion with really big teeth. And very sharp claws."
"Still -- not cool. Now, dying while I take out a fleet of Wraith hiveships -- that would be cool."
McKay rolled his eyes again. "What is wrong with you? 'Dying' and 'cool' do not belong in the same sentence. I suppose it's all part of that ridiculous 'hero complex' of yours. Either that or you have a death wish. Or maybe it's one in the same for you military types."
Sheppard smiled back, starting to chuckle. "Yea, that must be it. On both counts." But then the chuckle turned into a cough, and he grimaced, hissing in pain. "Aw, hell," he gasped, clutching at his wounded shoulder as the coughing made his chest feel like the claws were tearing at him again. "Not a good idea."
"What? What's wrong?" McKay asked worriedly, leaning over him, hands hovering but too afraid to touch Sheppard for fear of inflicting more pain.
"Laughing..." He bit his lip as he went completely still and the coughing and pain subsided. "Don't make me laugh, McKay."
"That was laughing?"
When the spasm had passed, Sheppard nodded. "I guess a belly-laugh would probably kill me." McKay just looked at him worriedly. "Hopefully I didn't open something up again."
"Great," McKay muttered.
He reached out hesitantly, lifting the corner of the blankets, letting his hand hover a hair's-breath above Sheppard's as it pressed against the bandages. "I guess it's my turn again."
"'S'ok; I got it. You concentrate on getting us out of here."
"I am perfectly capable of multi-tasking," McKay huffed. "Even one-handed. You just lie there and -- and conserve your energy, and try not to bleed all over everything." McKay scooted up close, balancing the tablet in his lap. "I don't need another first aid class -- tell Beckett I get credit here for hands-on experience."
Sheppard gave a weak smile. "He just might do that."
McKay's steady hand replaced Sheppard's shaky one on top of the bandages, continuing to apply pressure to the wounds.
"Just do me a favor and don't get so wrapped up in that screen that you forget I'm here and lean back or something," Sheppard said.
The bandages were warm and sticky with blood, the humid air thick with the metallic smell of it, like a copper penny, and McKay muttered, "Like I can forget why we're here."
TBC
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(This is part 2 of a 4-part fic)