Part 16 – Colonel Behaving Badly
Elizabeth stood staring at him while making no effort to keep the hatred and distaste from showing on her face. She kept silent for an indefinite time, weighing Kavanagh up as he persistently paced, and she wondered what thoughts were currently passing through his sick and malevolent mind.
Kavanagh suddenly stopped his relentless pacing and he tried very hard to return her stare but after a few minutes, his nerves got the better of him, so he turned away.
Elizabeth took this as a cue, as she simply asked. "Why?"
Kavanagh turned his blood shot eyes towards her again and sneered. "Why? What do you mean by that?"
"What drove you do such an evil thing, Dr. Kavanagh?"
Kavanagh looked her squarely in the face. A flash of arrogance and conceit fortified his features before he spoke. "I still don't know what you're talking about."
Elizabeth felt anger begin to build but restrained the desire to let it show, as that would be playing right into Kavanagh's hands. He wanted her to lose it, so she called upon her years of diplomacy and the times when she'd been called upon to negotiate with some of earth's less desirable individuals. As she spoke, she pictured Kavanagh as one of those, it wasn't difficult. "Why did you do such a terrible thing to Colonel Sheppard? He never gave you any reason to hate him. In fact, he remained neutral, as far you were concerned. Only last year, he told Dr. McKay that you came under the people he needed to protect and you repaid him with untold pain and suffering. Why?"
"Nice try, Dr. Weir, but I still don't know what you're talking about," answered Kavanagh, his haggard face smeared with contempt.
"So you continue to deny any wrong doing? I find that unbelievable under the circumstances."
Kavanagh threw her a questioning look. "And why is that?"
"Because as you've been told countless times, we have the proof. So why not confess and be done with it."
Kavanagh moved towards the edge of his cell. He evaluated Elizabeth for a minute before replying. "I will not confess to a crime I did not do."
Elizabeth clenched her hands tightly and counted to ten, thinking to herself, did he really believe that he was innocent? Curbing her frustration, she said."Then I suppose the Turaka flew to Atlantis from the mainland, entered the jumper, and decided to snuggle into the Colonel's sleeping bag all by itself?" Kavanagh's only answer was an audible snort of derision.
"Of course," Elizabeth continued. "The creature was also capable of unzipping the sleeping bag. I would say that's quite a feat for something so small."
Kavanagh said nothing to that, but he suddenly took Elizabeth by surprise when he asked. "Did Sheppard die?"
"What's it to you? You never cared about him. All you ever cared about was your own precious skin, like the time when the jumper was stuck in the gate."
"And you disregarded the possible dangers just to save him! You made me look like a fool and belittled me in front of everyone because of your infatuation for him!" Kavanagh was shouting but Elizabeth was pleased, so she let him rant. "That's all you ever cared about! Your lover boy could do nothing wrong! You jeopardized the expedition repeatedly just for him. I saw the way you worried every time he was injured or late in coming back from a mission. Then you went up against the SCG just to keep him by you. You couldn't live without him, so that's why I took him away." Kavanagh suddenly stopped when he realized what he had just said. "I mean…," he stuttered but it was already too late.
Elizabeth was inwardly pleased with his confession but she looked at him questioningly. "You were jealous of Sheppard weren't you? It wasn't just revenge on me, it was a petty need to get back at a man with more charisma, personality and courage than you could ever achieve in your wildest dreams. John Sheppard was everything you could never be, so you wanted to destroy him. That is truly evil, especially as John most certainly didn't deserve it. I feel sickened just to look at you, Doctor, and I hope they throw you into the deepest cell to rot for a very long time. However, as of tomorrow that will be out of my hands because, you will be returned to Earth onboard the Daedalus to face justice. You put Sheppard through hell and back but the victory isn't yours. John will recover and those who love him will help him to do so."
Without another word, Elizabeth turned and walked away to leave Kavanagh alone. Well not quite alone, as a small black insect crawled out from under his bed.
-SGA-
Whispering voices brought John back to reality for the umpteenth time it seemed. He felt as if he'd slept for a year or so, maybe he had. During one of his wakeful periods, he clearly remembered Carson telling him that he'd been in a coma. If that was the case then waking up was sure proving a difficult task.
This time however, John finally felt the never-ending fog and apathy begin to lift, so he fought to open his eyes and let them stay open. He cast his gaze in the direction of the voices and grinned slightly at the sight of Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon having a hefty discussion over some trivial topic, no doubt.
"Hey, guys, keep it down will ya," he tried to shout, but his voice came out all throaty. His team looked up at the sound of his croak, and in an instant, they were by his bed.
"Have you finished sleeping now?" Rodney asked with an edge of irritation.
"Dr. McKay," Teyla interposed. "It is not the Colonel's fault that he can not stay awake for very long."
"Yes, I know but he's had enough sleep to last a life time."
"Its okay, Rodney," John managed to croak out, "I'll try to stay awake a little longer this time." His sentence ended in a cough, so Teyla quickly raised the bed and grabbing the drinking cup, she brought it to his lips. John drank gratefully and cleared his throat. "Thanks," he whispered.
Putting the cup on the side table, Teyla said. "You are welcome, Colonel. Anytime you feel like some more just say the word."
What goes in, must come out, Rodney thought as he glanced towards the collection bag and quickly turned away in disgust. Oh, how he hated hospitals and all the nasty paraphernalia that went with them but once again they had saved his friends life. Therefore, he cleared things from his mind and asked. "Are you feeling any brighter now?"
John looked at him with bleary eyes. "Umm…a little. How long have I been out of things this time?"
The team members looked at each other. This was the question that none of them wanted to answer but Sheppard had the right to know. Incredibly, Ronon spoke up before the others could. "It's been five days since you first opened your eyes and before that, four weeks."
John looked shocked. "So I've been out of commission for nearly five weeks?"
"Yeah, 'fraid so." Ronon muttered in his usual no nonsense manner.
"Can you remember anything?" Rodney asked without thinking.
John's face clouded. "Remember what?"
"Dr. McKay, I do believe this subject is best handled by Dr. Beckett." Teyla stated.
"Its okay, Teyla, I think I know what Rodney's getting at and the answer is, kind of. I can't remember much but the memory of being sick, something to do with Corporal Higgins hitting Sgt. Mason and then…oh god…I remember being in unbearable pain but the rest is fuzzy. What the hell caused it?" Sheppard asked softy.
The team all looked at each other again but they were saved from answering by the appearance of Carson Beckett and Elizabeth Weir.
Carson moved over to John's bed. "Ah…so you're awake for a wee bit longer at last, Colonel."
John looked up at all the faces surrounding his bed. "Yeah," he said wearily, "And I'm trying to get some answers before dreamland claims me again." This time all five Atlantis expedition members looked at each other and John became suspicious. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like the…answer?" he murmured around a huge yawn.
Elizabeth decided as expedition leader that it was her duty to tell him. So with the approval of the others, she sat down by his bed and started to describe everything that had transpired.
By the end of her telling, John had become agitated. "You mean that...that bastard Kavanagh did it on purpose?" Everyone nodded. "God…if I had the strength right now to get out of bed, I'd personally knock him from here to eternity."
"Believe me, Sheppard." Ronon piped up, "I would have done it, but they wouldn't let me."
"That would have made the situation worse, Ronon." Elizabeth stated. The next part she really didn't like to tell John. "Anyway, it's now out of our hands because Kavanagh has been sent back to Earth to face justice there."
If John hadn't felt so drained, he would have laughed, loudly. Instead, he settled for a loud snort, which caused another coughing fit. This had everyone scrambling for the drinking cup. Then after a sip of water courtesy of the winner, Carson, he managed to croak out what he wanted to say. "Meaning, he'll plead a moment's insanity. Get sentenced to a couple of years in a psychiatric unit and, bob's your uncle, he's a free man."
Rodney and Elizabeth exchanged a wearily look because Sheppard had just voiced their concerns. "I'm hoping that's not the case for your sake, John," Elizabeth murmured. "The man needs to be brought to justice and Kate Heightmeyer has compiled a lengthy report stating that he was in his right mind when he planned the act of revenge. Although, even his thick and selfish skin had been affected by his imprisonment, resulting in a near nervous breakdown," she said, throwing an accusing look towards Rodney and the others. They kept perfectly innocent faces, as she concluded. "Still, we'll have to wait and see what the outcome will be, but I'm guessing it could take months."
"Yeah," John whispered. He wanted to ask more but his eyelids had started to droop and the fog closed in. He tried to fight it but it was a losing battle, so he closed his eyes and smiled as the distinctive Scottish lilt of his favorite doctor could be heard ordering everyone out.
-SGA-
The rattle of an infirmary trolley woke him up for the third consecutive time that day and John was beginning to grow pretty tried of it. Not that he really needed anymore sleep, but what else could you do when faced with endless hours of boredom while stuck in the infirmary with no sign of freedom in sight.
Read, he was tired of that and even the few smuggled copies of Playboy hadn't helped much. If he used his laptop, he found himself drifting off over some boring mission report. His Sudoku book didn't help very much because he'd done most of the puzzles within the first day of being given it. Playing computer games wasn't so much fun on your own and he wasn't into patience as Elizabeth was. In addition, he still didn't have the stamina to concentrate long enough on a game of chess against the tactical genius who'd programmed his computer's version.
No, he was definitely beginning to go stir crazy especially now that the highlight of the day had come and gone in the form of Ms. Waterstone, resident physiotherapist and torturer. Her no-nonsense tones still rang in his ears even a couple of hours after she'd left. 'We need to get some strength back into your legs, Colonel. If you don't cooperate, you won't have the strength to walk again. Now bend your knees for me, and then push. No, no, no, you're not doing it right.' No matter what he did, he never did things right for Ms. Waterstone. So once she'd gone, he practiced the exercises in peace, working up strength until exhaustion limited him.
Now he weighed up his options of a little exercise away from his bed. The catheter had been removed a day ago, along with the IV and monitoring lines. Therefore, he now had the freedom to get up and he really needed to take a leak.
Looking around, he noted that the nursing staff were all very busy with several other patients that had just brought in after an off-world skirmish. His own little area was cordoned off from the main area by several, well placed, privacy screens, so he could see them but they couldn't see him so good. He spared a look at the side of his bed and noted that someone had thoughtfully left the urinal bottle for his use. God how he hated using those things, but worse still was the dreaded bedpan. No, the quicker he could get up, the quicker he was free of their humiliation.
With his mind made up, he carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed and pushed himself up. The world spun a little for a few minutes but once his balance righted itself, the room settled back into its normal place. Cautiously, he put one foot in front of another and even though his legs felt a bit like the blue Jell-o he'd had for lunch, they managed to support his light frame as he shuffled across the room.
Thankfully, the bathroom wasn't that far from his bed, just one-step more and then, freedom. Well, not quite freedom but at least he could take care of matters in privacy now.
The bathroom like many in Atlantis was functional and relatively plain in design. A row of cubicles, five in all, lined one wall. Two wash hand basins were neatly placed opposite and a small annex led to several shower units. Everything worked automatically much like modern public restrooms back on Earth, although the sensors were less obvious. Therefore, it seemed that the Ancients hadn't gone in for pure luxury when it came to the mundane and necessary functions of life, as most of their efforts had centered on the beauty of the cities living space and passageways. Not that the bathrooms were ugly or anything but they just wouldn't meet the sumptuousness standards of some high-class hotels back on Earth.
Nevertheless, the bathroom still had plenty of marble hard surfaces on which to fall if John didn't watch where to put his feet. And the last thing he needed right now was a broken arm or leg, so he gingerly made his way across the polished surface to one of the toilet cubicles.
Opening the door, he entered and locked himself in. However, he began to question his wisdom as the whole effort of getting here had knocked the stuffing out of him and the cubicle began to swim before his eyes. He felt hot and clammy as beads of perspiration formed on his skin. A lightheaded feeling began to spread as the blood drained from his face, so he quickly sat on the toilet seat and lowered his head between his knees. Although unfortunately, it didn't make an ounce of difference, and as he felt himself blacking out, he thought, I should have used the damn bottle after all.
-SGA-
Carson Beckett considered himself overworked and underpaid or at least that's what it felt like most days in Atlantis. He was weary and in darn need of a nice cup of tea, so after dealing with the last patient, he made his way to his office. However, on the way he happened to glance towards Sheppard's bed and did a double take when he noted that the Lieutenant Colonel wasn't lying amongst the rumpled sheets.
A huge sigh escaped his lips as he turned to his staff. "It looks like we've got a fugitive on our hands. Did anyone happen to notice where he escaped to?" A chorus of no's and headshakes greeted him. "When was the last time anyone checked on him?"
A pretty blond nurse called Susan piped up. "I checked about an hour ago and he was asleep, but I afraid I've been busy since then."
"Aye, like we all have, love. Okay, he can't have gone far and he shouldn't have gone without help but…well that's Colonel Sheppard, Mr. Independent, for you." Carson paused for a minute. "I'm guessing the most logical hideout would be the bathroom, so I'll check that first."
Carson carefully entered the room in question and found it empty, or at least the shower and wash-up area was. However, he noted that one of the cubicles doors was firmly closed, so he called out. "Colonel are you in there, son?"
Silence greeted him, so he tried the door and found it locked. "I don't believe it," he muttered to himself. The locking mechanism was straightforward in its design and like many; it was just a simple latch. The only trouble was there was no access to the latch from outside the cubicle. Stupid really but this area was probably not used as a hospital by the original Ancients. Beckett had complained about it many times but no one had ever got around to changing the locks.
Well, let's not panic, he thought as he got on his knees to see if the wayward colonel was on the floor. Unfortunately, unlike the cubicles in the United States, these only had a small gap at the bottom. There was nothing to see under the door but on close inspection, he could just see a little tuft of dark hair sticking out the doorframe about a quarter of the way up.
Carson tried calling again. "Colonel! Come on, lad, wake-up for me, ya need to unlock the door!"
Still no answer, so Carson dived into the next cubicle, got up on the toilet seat and tried to look over the dividing wall. He could just make out the slumped form of John Sheppard, but he couldn't tell what condition he was in.
Once again, he shouted down. "Colonel! Open the door for me!" His shouting must have attracted attention because he suddenly found himself looking down at the concerned faces of Ronon and Teyla as they entered the cubicle.
"Need some help there, doc?" Ronon called up to him.
"Aye. The Colonel seems to have collapsed and the daft bugger has locked the bloody door."
Teyla looked at Ronon and together they shooed the doctor out of the cubicle. Then Ronon proceeded to lift Teyla until she could clamber over the top of the dividing wall. It was a tight fit but the petit woman soon lowered herself down the other side being careful not to tread on the prone figure below her. Reaching over, she quickly opened the door to allow the doctor access. As the door opened, Sheppard slumped forward and would have landed flat on his face if Carson hadn't of quickly caught him.
Laying John out on the bathroom floor, Carson assessed the problem but thankfully, the colonel was already coming around. He tried to push himself up but the Scotsman pushed him back down. "Easy, lad!" he called, reaching for his stethoscope and placing it against John's chest.
John gave up his struggles and rested his head against the floor. His confused brain registered the worried faces of Ronon and Teyla, and after Beckett removed his stethoscope, he asked. "What happened?"
"Ya passed out is what happened, lad. Ya silly bugger, I don't remember anyone telling ya it was all right to get out of bed. Now did they?"
John looked embarrassed. It was bad enough facing Carson's wrath but having two of his team witness it. "I needed the toilet and the staff were kind of busy," he muttered in defense.
"Aye, that's true but that's what the little bottle by ya bed's for."
"Give me a break, doc, you know how much I hate using those things. I thought a little trip to the restroom would be easy. Guess I'm not as healthy as I thought."
Carson looked exasperated. "Aye, you're right about that. My god, lad, ya were in a coma for weeks and you've been awake now, for all of nine days. Give it time and use the bloody bottle or I'll put the catheter back in."
John blanched at that and slowly nodded. "Okay, doc, I'll try to be good."
"Aye, you'd better be. Come on, Ronon, let's get him back where he belongs."
Between the two of them, they lifted John off the floor and started to guide him out of the room. Teyla heard John's plaintive voice call, "But I still need the toilet."
Beckett's voice came loud and clear. "The bottle is still by ya bed."
John's loud groan echoed around the bathroom as they ushered him through the door.
tbc