Author's Note: This one-shot was written in response to the Carson Beckett Challenges and Fun challenge of the week. The challenge was, "Carson has fallen asleep at his desk again. Why? It must include whump for one of the characters and be from Carson's POV." Well, the "why" is in here, but it may not be super-obvious. This is something of a tag to "Conversion" and takes place in the two weeks that Sheppard was in the infirmary. Hope you enjoy! ~lg

oOo

The swing set screamed with every movement of the tortured chain. Carson Beckett looked up at the bearings supporting his weight and frowned. Someone needed to grease them so they'd stop sounding like incredibly loud crickets. But he kept pumping his legs to propel himself higher and higher.

The creaking changed to more of a screech. Good Lord, he thought. It sounds like a woman in pain! But he kept moving until the swing jumped and his stomach tightened every time the ground rushed up to meet him. He idly thought that he might want to slow down, but the thought left him when he looked at the horizon.

"Good Lord!" He spoke aloud this time as realization dawned. He was in the playground on one of Edinburgh's elite parks. "I havenae been here in. . . ." His mind added the years, and he shook his head. He hadn't been to this park in thirty years.

Thinking back to the last time he'd seen this horizon, he shook his head. He'd flown out of Edinburgh to take his posting in Pegasus. But he hadn't visited this park then. So why was he here now?

Shaking his head a second time to clear it, Carson blinked. A small boy, looking remarkably like his brother Calum had at that age, ran in front of the swing. Carson couldn't stop his forward momentum, and he slammed into the boy without warning. Calum went down with a scream as Carson's swing bucked and twisted. He lost his grip and fumbled with the chain.

"No!" His cry did nothing to stop what happened next. Somehow, his fingers caught on the chain as his body fell. The resulting jerk dislocated his shoulder and broke his index finger. He screamed in agony, biting it off to a groan and rolling onto his back. The now-empty swing slowed as he carefully sat up. Five other children plus a man—his father!—crowded around the fallen boy.

Carson pushed to his feet and rushed over. "Let me through! I'm a doctor!"

The crowd parted, and his father frowned at him. "Carson, lad, are ye okay?"

"Aye, I'll be fine." Carson knelt next to Calum. His brother blinked slowly, and Carson recognized signs of a minor concussion plus a nasty cut. He reached forward with his good arm, willfully ignoring the agonizing pain in his dislocated shoulder and broken finger with great difficulty.

The world shifted.

Carson blinked at the stack of files an inch from his nose and shook his head. He'd fallen asleep at his desk. Again. Straightening with a sigh, he rolled his stiff neck muscles as he rubbed the residual soreness from his shoulder. He rarely thought about that day thirty years ago. Just a week later, his father had died from a sudden myocardial infarction, and he'd been unable to help. It had shaped his desire to become a doctor, and the mishap with the swings was forgotten. Except in dreams.

Carson stood, feeling his back pop as he stretched. He should be in his quarters resting. As he left the infirmary, he stopped next to Colonel Sheppard's bed. The colonel still faced a long recovery from having been infected with the Iratus retrovirus, but he was stable. Deciding the night shift could keep watch, Carson walked to his quarters.

Once there, he moved to the desk and picked up the framed portrait. His father's cheeky grin and happy blue eyes made him smile. For the first time since he was five, he clearly heard his father's voice in his mind. Carson, lad, are ye okay?

"Aye," Carson said to the memory. "I'll be fine."

Feeling only a twinge of sadness, Carson prepared for bed and crawled under the covers. His father would be proud of the man he'd become. He was certain of it. At peace with his life, he drifted to sleep where memories still lived in his dreams.

Author's Note II: "Myocardial infarction" is a heart attack. I used the medical terminology because it strikes me as the way Carson would think. ;)