Thanks for your advice Stargatejunkie. I didn't realize I'd written that twice, so I've changed it slightly. It must come from the fact that I grew up in Shakespeare country. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and please review.

Part 6 – The Slow Descent to Hell

Carson was busy attending to Sgt. Mason's nose when the call came in. "What's the Colonel's symptoms, son," he asked the panicky marine on the other end of the radio.

"He's having some kind of seizure, doc, and he looks real bad."

"All right, son. What's he wearing?"

The marine sounded confused by this request. "Err…black t-shirt and tracksuit bottom."

"So nothing constricting then," Carson murmured more to himself. "Okay, son, turn him onto his side so he doesn't choke if he's sick and we'll be along as soon as I can."

-SGA-

They say that news travels faster around Atlantis than molecules down a wormhole, so it came as no surprise that Elizabeth received news of John's collapse only minutes after Carson. Dropping everything she was doing, she rushed from her office making the gate personnel wonder where the fire was.

Someone in the know, whispered. "Sheppard's been taken very ill in the training room." Which caused a sea of worried faces to follow her as they watched her disappeared from sight.

Down in the training room, Lieutenant Kagan anxiously waited for the medical teams' arrival. They had Sheppard on his side, which was fortunate because the man had been violently sick only seconds after the marine had finished talking to Dr. Beckett.

Someone placed a rolled up jacket under the colonel's head as he cried out again and another wave of sickness overcame him as he retched on nothing but bile. A thin film of perspiration covered his deadly ashen face as he curled upon himself in some degree of agony. The tremors still shuddered throughout his body at intervals as if he was suffering from shock.

The lieutenant watched in helplessness, as he really didn't know what more he could do to try to ease his CO's obvious discomfort. Turning to Corporal Higgins, he ordered. "Go to your quarters for now, Corporal. The Colonel will sort this out when he's feeling better."

Expecting to see an insolent expression on the man's face, Kagan was surprised to see a look of genuine concern. "Yes, sir!" The corporal saluted. "May I speak, sir?"

"Yes, of course."

The lieutenant naturally thought the young soldier wanted to speak to him but Higgins looked down towards Sheppard. "I'm so sorry I've caused you so much trouble, sir. You're a great commander, sir," he saluted. Then looking up at the lieutenant, he whispered. "He will be alright, won't he?"

Kagan didn't have a chance to answer as the ever-cheerful voice of Dr. Beckett called, "I'm sure he will be, lad!" as he entered the room with several assistants. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the doctor bent down to look at Sheppard. "Right let's see what the problem is this time, s…Colonel." Carson was just about to call John, son, but deemed it inappropriate in front of his men.

Carson did a quick check while John was still on the floor before instructing his team to lift him up onto the gurney. He didn't like the pallor of John's face or the tremors that still persisted to jolt his body. Sheppard was conscious but seemed unaware of his surroundings.

Beckett tried talking to him. "Are ya in any pain, Colonel?" Which was a stupid question as it was plain to see that John was in considerable agony.

However, John endeavored to focus on Carson's face but the very act of keeping the pain at bay left him exhausted, so he simply nodded.

"Can ya tell me where it hurts?" John didn't answer as a low and agonizing cry escaped his lips. "Right, let's waste no more time in getting him to the infirmary."

They were just about to leave when Elizabeth rushed into the training room. She quickly moved over to John and was appalled to see how ill he looked. "Carson?"

"I can't tell ya what's ailing him, right now. It could still be gastric flu but I'm being to doubt it. We'll run some tests and we'll soon get to the bottom of the problem, I sure."

"I'm sure you will, Carson." Grabbing John's hand, she whispered. "Hand on in there, Colonel." His only answer was another agonizing groan.

-SGA-

Down in a laboratory many corridors away from the training room, McKay was engrossed in his computer trying to fix the latest little glitch that had occurred in one of their naquadah generators. Although they no longer relied so heavily on them since acquiring a ZPM, the generators were still used as back up when the ZPM was down and to constantly power less vital systems such as electricity for the kitchens and like the one giving trouble, the laundry. The supervisor had been very annoyed when the machines had suddenly shut down and had threaten McKay with no clean laundry for over a year if he didn't move his ass and fix the thing.

Frustrated, McKay began to wish that Sam Carter were still here, but SG-1 had been gone for some weeks now. Mind you, he wouldn't have wanted her to actually fix the problem since he was the resident genius here. No, but she could have just given him support and a little comfort, now that would have been nice.

He was suddenly jolted out of his daydreaming when Zelenka wandered into the lab. "Have you heard that Colonel Sheppard collapsed in the training room a little while back and is seriously ill?"

McKay glanced up, a look of concern plastered on his face. "What? No, no, I've been busy with this generator. What's wrong with him?"

"I hear he has a seizure of some kind. Is in a great deal of pain." The Czech's English wasn't so wonderful when he was worried and Rodney knew Radek considered Sheppard a friend.

Rodney was now torn between going to check on his friend and fixing the generator. A vision of piles of dirty socks swam before his eyes but he pushed it away as concern for John was worth far more than his dirty socks.

Radek must have seen his indecision, so he came over, pushed up his glasses, and said. "Put your mind at rest and go to see how he is, Rodney. I will fix this problem here."

"No, no, you might blow us all up."

Radek didn't want to argue with the egoistical man but Rodney pushed his button every time. He let out a curse in Czech before calming down. "McKay, I am just as capable of fixing this as you are. Now please go and see how our friend is doing."

With a huff, McKay shut off his computer. "Right, don't blame me when things go wrong." Saying no more, he quickened his pace as he left the lab.

-SGA-

By the time the news reached Kavanagh ears, the rumor mill had exaggerated the problem ten fold. A young technical, who Kavanagh knew had a big crush on Sheppard, started to tell him the news and the scientist even thought he detected tears in her eyes as she went on to describe how dangerously ill the colonel was. As she finished her account, she turned away from him and missed the smarmy smile that crossed Kavanagh's lips and the fact that he made a hasty exit with the intention of having a look at Sheppard and offering his deepest regret to all concerned.

The scientist quickly made his way towards the infirmary but just as he was about to enter the room, he collided with Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmagan as they came storming up to him. Ronon gave an angry growl as Kavanagh quickly stepped out of his way.

"What are you doing here, Dr. Kavanagh?" Teyla inquired sweetly.

"I heard about the Colonel and I just wanted to see how he was."

"You have never bothered to show your concern before," Teyla noted, "So why now"?

"Why shouldn't I show concern? I mean, I was on the mission when he was first taken ill."

Teyla looked at him closely. "But you have never confessed to being remotely interested in the Colonel's well being before. In fact, quite the opposite is true."

Kavanagh held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, I get the message but can't a person reform?"

"Yes, they can but I still do not trust your motives. I am sure the Colonel will be fine and when he has recovered enough we will tell him of your concern." With that, Teyla turned and headed into the infirmary with Ronon hot on her heels.

Kavanagh took that as a sign that his presence wasn't desired, so he turned away and moved towards control room to see if anyone would be going to the mainland tomorrow.

-SGA-

Carson labeled the sample of John's blood before placing it onto the tray the nurse was holding. She quickly walked away towards the research labs and cringed when she heard Sheppard cry out again.

Another nurse stood near Beckett handing him the IV drip, which the doctor quickly inserted into a vein in John's forearm. The vital drip of saline and glucose would replace the lost fluids due to his sickness. The nurse then quickly helped Beckett attach the monitoring equipment, which showed John's blood pressure to be much lower than it should be.

Beckett frowned as John cried out again and although the man wasn't very lucid, he needed to know a few things if he was to make an early diagnosis. "John can ya concentrate on me for a minute, son. I know you're in some considerable pain but I have to know where it's coming from?"

Sheppard looked at the blurry figure of Carson Beckett for a minute trying to clear his mind enough to form some coherent words. He'd never felt like this before. His whole body felt strange, distant, although the pain that emanated from every corner, every cell was real enough. It came in waves like an ocean of agony. There was no rest bite and the worse pain was in his head. He wanted it to stop as it pulsated to the rhythm of his thumping heart. The white noise in his ears was a constant background roar and he vaguely wondered if he was dying. Eventually, he managed to choke out the simple words. "It's everywhere."

Carson looked puzzled and worried. "The pain's everywhere?"

John panted and although it hurt to do so, he nodded.

Carson looked towards his head nurse. "I don't think we're dealing with gastric flu anymore. Let's give him some meds and see if we can help ease his pain."

"Yes, doctor," she replied, as she wasted no time in injecting the prepared medication into John's IV. They waited patiently for any sign of improvement but Sheppard continued to cry out from time to time.

Carson sighed. "I don't like the look of this. Those meds should have taken effect by now and he must be experiencing a lot of pain for him to react like that." Turning to his patient, he told him. "I'd like to do a full body examination, son. I have an inkling that ya may have been bitten or stung by something. Can you remember anything?"

Carson's words registered through the haze of pain and noise but his mind refused to remember. It hurt too much to shake his head, so he slurred. "No." He vaguely registered as Carson and the nurse gently examined his arms and legs before moving onto his body. Towards the end of the inspection, the pain meds finally kicked in and he drifted into a coma like state of sleep.

Beckett watched in relief as John calmed down and fell asleep. "Well, I found nothing to indicate a bite. Did ya find anything?" he asked his nurse.

"No, doctor. It's a bit of a mystery isn't it?"

"Aye that it is. I could be wrong about the bite so we'll have to wait and see what the lab tests reveal. I know one thing for sure he's not out of the woods yet. I'm going to talk to Dr. Weir, let me know if anything changes."

When Carson arrived in the small waiting area, he found Rodney pacing from one wall to another while Elizabeth, Teyla, and Ronon looked annoyed from where they quietly sat or stood.

The minute McKay saw Carson he stopped his relentless pacing and turned to ask. "How is he?"

The doctor's gaze fell on Elizabeth as he answered Rodney's question. "I'm afraid it's not looking too good at the moment because we haven't a clue as to what's ailing him." Carson sighed as he took a seat near Elizabeth to rest his wearily legs. Turning to the others, he asked. "Other than the bout of sickness, did he complain about being bitten or stung by anything while on Sovia?"

The team members exchanged a look before Rodney answered. "Not to me." The other two shook their heads. "Are you trying to tell us he's been bitten by something poisonous?" Rodney asked.

"I wish I knew. There's no outward sign of a bite anywhere on his body but some of his symptoms point towards toxic poisoning. He's in a great deal of pain and the meds took an unusually long time to kick in."

Teyla looked thoughtful. "What if the poison has been introduced deliberately through his food or drink?"

"Are you saying that someone may have done this on purpose?" Elizabeth asked the young woman.

Ronon didn't let Teyla answer as he growled. "It's a possibility."

Elizabeth looked astounded. "I find it hard to believe that John would have any enemies here in Atlantis."

Teyla nodded. "I know, Dr. Weir, but it could explain why there is no bite site."

Carson held up his hands. "Let's not jump to conclusions yet. The lab results should be back in a couple of hours and then we should have some answers."

"Yes, of course you're right, Carson. Can we see him?" Elizabeth requested.

"Well, he's asleep at the moment but I think it would be a good thing if one of ya could stay with him while he's going through this ordeal. It may help him."

"I'll take the first slot." Rodney quickly volunteered.

Elizabeth looked towards him and asked. "Have you repaired the naquadah generator yet?"

"Oh, no, no, it's alright, Radek is seeing to it.

"I believe I have some time on my hands." Teyla stated.

"Yeah me too." Ronon quickly added.

Elizabeth smiled at their willingness. "All right, let's work out a schedule then."

tbc