By the time they arrived in the Infirmary, it was a scene of well-organised chaos. A small army of medics surrounded Carson's prone form. Elizabeth looked up at John, and he could see fear in her eyes.

A frightened looking Rodney stood to the side, his back pressed to the wall. The book he'd been reading Carson hung loosely in his hand.

"He's back!" Fergus shouted over the noise of activity.

Elizabeth allowed herself to let out the breath she'd been holding. She wasn't the only one. The team working on Carson seemed to relax almost as one. The tension that had been evident only a moment before was gone, and smiles of relief were exchanged.

Most of the team drifted back to what they'd been doing before Carson's crisis, leaving only Fergus and Jenny Martin. Carson lay between them, motionless but at least still alive. Elizabeth was relieved to see the slight movement of his chest, allowing her to believe that he might just pull through.

Jenny met her glance and gave the Atlantis leader a smile. Elizabeth smiled back, before turning, leaving the medics to get on with their job.

oOoOoOo

A noise at the door caught Elizabeth's attention and turned her thoughts away from the reports she'd been reading for the last couple of hours. Dr Cole was standing there, waiting for Elizabeth to invite her in. With a smile, Elizabeth did just that.

"How is he?" There was no need for the Atlantis' leader to identify who "he" was. There was only one person on both their minds.

"He's doing well," the medic replied.

"But?" Elizabeth could see the concern in the doctor's eyes, even though her words had seemed encouraging.

"That's just it. He shouldn't be doing well." The words came out as a rush, as if the younger woman had been desperate to share her concerns with someone. "OK, at least he shouldn't be doing as well as he is. It's as if he's never been ill."

Elizabeth frowned. "How is that possible? He almost died a few hours ago."

"I know. But all the tests we've carried out show that he is in perfect health. Almost too perfect."

"What does Carson say about it?"

"We haven't told him. Well, we've told him he is fine, but not how fine."

"What do you want to do next?"

The medic shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I haven't a clue. In all my training, all my research and all my clinical experience, I've never seen anything like this. All I can give you is an educated guess."

"And what is your educated guess?"

"Monitor him, let him do some work, but don't let him leave Atlantis, not yet anyway."

"Do you want to keep him in the Infirmary?"

Dr Cole smiled. "It seems Carson likes the Infirmary about as much as Colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay, when he's a patient."

Elizabeth returned the smile. "I see."

"I've agreed that he can return to his room this evening." The young woman's voice betrayed her reluctance to give this agreement.

"Is it safe?"

"There are sensors in Carson's room."

"The system he was working on with Dr McKay?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. It's not been perfected yet, but it will allow us to keep an eye on our good Doctor. And check up on how he's doing."

"Keep me posted."

Dr Cole nodded with a smile, before leaving the leader to her reports.

oOoOoOo

"It's not fair!" Rodney was doing a fair imitation of his niece on a bad day.

"And why is it not fair, Rodney?" Carson couldn't hide his amusement at his friend's reaction.

"Well, when I'm ill, you keep me trapped in here for days. But you get to waltz out after being at death's door."

"But I'm a doctor, Rodney."

"So am I!"

"Aye, but I'm a medical doctor."

"And do you think I'd want to be a voodoo doctor. What difference does it make, anyway? You can hardly treat yourself when you're lying on the floor gasping for air."

It was obvious that seeing his friend almost die in front of his eyes had had a big impact on Rodney.

"Don't worry, Rodney." Carson's tone was soothing. "That sensor device you magicked up will keep an eye on me. I'll be as safe as if I were in the Infirmary itself."

"Oh well, then." Rodney's response held a note of self-satisfaction.

"Ready to go then?" John came striding purposefully into the room, swooping down to pick Carson's bag from the floor at the doctor's feet, and then starting towards the door again.

Carson wasn't sure why he needed quite so many people to help him go to his room. He managed it most days all by himself. But when he saw the expressions on his friends' faces, he realised they needed to do this. They needed to be able to help. He noticed it before, when one of them had been very ill. The others all had to "do" something to help.

He smiled quietly to himself. It felt good to be cared for in this way. Even if it was a wee bit annoying at times too. So, he allowed John to carry his bag. He let Rodney bring him a cup of his favourite tea. And when Ronon and Teyla turned up with the Pegasus version of Monopoly, he gladly let them teach him how to play.

"How are you doing, Carson?" It was Elizabeth this time. He'd managed 10 minutes peace and quiet.

"I'm just fine, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth glanced round the room. She noted the bag dropped on the floor beside Carson's bed. She'd last seen it in the Infirmary. The empty tea cup on the table had almost been toppled over by the Pegasus board game that lay beside it.

"You've had a lot of visitors I see."

"Aye," he replied, with a smile.

"Carson . . ." Elizabeth wasn't sure how to ask the question on her lips.

"You want to know what happened to me?" The Scot, as usual, made things easier for her.

"Yes. No-one else seems sure what happened."

"Neither am I, love, I'm afraid." Carson looked at her apologetically. She tried hard to hide her disappointment.

"I remember trying to help those poor people, and then we were heading back to the Jumper. But after that, it's all a bit of a blur."

"And you don't know what made you so ill?"

"No, lass, I don't. It wasn't the same as my patients. The symptoms were quite different."

"Do you think it would be safe to send a team back to Marya to investigate?"

"I don't honestly know." The doctor rubbed his forehead as if he was trying to clear his head. "I want to have a look at some of the test results before I recommend anything."

"And you need to rest," Elizabeth said firmly, regretting having asked the question. She didn't want Carson to start working himself into the ground so soon. But she was worried by the lack of answers. Carson seemed to have recovered. However unless they knew what had caused his collapse, there was always the fear he could collapse again. She didn't want to have to watch the medics fight to save his life for a second time.

She got to her feet, putting a hand on Carson's shoulder to prevent him from rising too.

"And you are to rest," she said, using a tone she'd heard Carson use so often in the past.

"Yes, Mummy," the Scot replied, the hint of a mischievous grin on his face.

She laughed and was still smiling as she reached her office.

oOoOoOo

Carson sat in his room, deep in thought. It was frustrating not to be able to "do" something. Usually when there was a medical puzzle to be solved he was at the heart of it. Well, this time he was at the heart of it, but not in the way that he liked. He liked to the puzzle solver, not to be the puzzle itself.

He had tried to sneak into the labs near the Infirmary, to review the test results. But Dr Cole had spotted him and shooed him out again. It was frustrating. And hidden beneath the frustration was fear. Fear that he could collapse again. Fear that they might not be able to revive him again. Fear that they might not be able to find a cure and that he'd have to live with this uncertainty for the rest of his life – however long that might be.

Sighing, he decided it was time to get a cup of tea and something to eat, to satisfy his rumbling stomach. It might help take his mind of what had happened to him. He glanced at his watch, to see if any of his friends might be free to join him.

Instantly, all thoughts of food vanished from his mind. He stared at his watch again, focussing hard, making sure he'd not made a mistake. Then he hurried over to his computer. Flipping it open, he checked the time on that. It matched the time on his watch.

"What the . . ." he said to himself, in confusion.

Elizabeth had only just left him – or so he thought. But according to his watch, and his computer, 6 hours had passed. But Carson had no recollection of these 6 hours.

What was happening to him?