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Wing Men

Chapter 6 – The Waiting Game

Sheppard leaned back in the plastic chair and tapped his head lightly against the wall. What on earth was taking Carson so long? He'd brought McKay back to the infirmary after their trip to the mess. His friend had been a little disappointed by the coffee, this late at night the cooks had closed up shop already and left the remaining food out to sit for any late-night snackers. That meant the last batch of coffee was all McKay would get, and it meant cold coffee on this particular night. Guessing when the mess would close down for the night wasn't an exact science, sometimes he swore the cooks kept an irregular schedule just to keep everyone confused.

They'd made it back to the infirmary just in time. Carson had already shed his trademark white jacket, made his final round to check on all of his patients, and was about to leave for the night just as they walked in. Beckett had been relieved to see that Sheppard had been able to get the McKay to listen to him, although Sheppard had left out the bit about the rough-handling he'd subjected Rodney to. McKay was right about that, Beckett would've blown a gasket at hearing about it.

Beckett had scrubbed the exhaustion off his face, put his jacket back on, and put in calls to his two favorite surgical nurses. They were technically off-duty, but with a surgery this precise he wanted to start with all of the advantages he could. While the nurses were rousing themselves from their quarters Beckett had instructed a pair of the night staff nurses to prepare the surgery room. While his support staff was taking care of that, he'd taken care of Rodney himself, giving him a pair of scrubs, taking one final scan to make sure everything was in order, getting an IV going. He finished with explaining the details of the procedure; Sheppard saw that Rodney appreciated that bit. McKay was detail-oriented in his normal habits, with something this personal; he'd sat up a bit straighter, abandoned the normal snark, and paid careful attention to Beckett's explanation. Sheppard could see that Rodney wanted to know what was going to happen while he was out and what to expect after the fact.

John had tried to stay out of the way while all of this was occurring, content to stand off in a corner of the room and observe. It was odd to see events unfold like this. It was slow, there was time to explain what was going on, there as time to consider the repercussions of this surgery and make plans for after the fact. Normally when Beckett was involved a life was teetering dangerously close to death. They would come through the gate broken, bleeding, howling in pain or unconscious altogether and there would be the mad dash to the infirmary and often to surgery after that. This seemed so much more laid-back in comparison. Yes, they were looking at a long recovery time, but Sheppard wasn't sitting there worrying that his friend would bleed out and die before he heard his voice again.

John knew Rodney would be coming out ok, this was a technical but routine surgery, and he had already started making plans for afterwards to make things easier for Rodney. He'd radioed Zelenka and let him know he'd be filling in while Rodney was away; he'd also radioed Ronon and Teyla and let them know that Rodney had gone along with the surgery. At Beckett's request he'd told his teammates to stop by in the morning, Beckett said one visitor was all he was going to allow in to see Rodney tonight and Sheppard had already claimed that privilege.

Which was what had him sitting in the corner of the infirmary that Carson had designated as the pseudo waiting area. He threw a quick glance at his watch to see that it was now edging on two-thirty in the morning. They had taken an unconscious McKay into surgery three hours ago. Sheppard prided himself on his patience but he'd run out of things to keep him busy about an hour ago. He closed his eyes for just the briefest of moments, it was late, it'd been a long day…

Something was tapping gently on his shoulder, "Colonel, ye got a bit more energy in ye to step in and visit a friend?"

Sheppard jolted upward and reached down toward his now-empty holster, a long-trained reflex to an unexpected awakening. He slowed his jerky movements and sat up with a yawn before snapping to full attention, focusing on the hazy Scottish physician that was coming into focus, "Yeah, yeah. I'm up," he scrubbed at his face with one hand before flipping it over for a quick inspection; it was four in the morning. Damn, he must have fallen asleep for a little while there. That explained the kink in his back then. Sleeping upright in an uncomfortable chair would do that. "How's Rodney? Everything go ok?" he inquired anxiously.

Carson gave a slight tip of his head forward, "Aye, took a bit longer than I expected, but we brought him out of surgery about thirty minutes ago. We did another nerve conduction test and it looks like everything is where it should be."

Sheppard frowned slightly at this, "I thought you were going to update me as soon as you got out…"

Beckett smiled, "But ye just looked so cute there, even had a bit of a snore that broke up the silence in here so nicely, I didn't have the heart to wake ye. The night nurses said it gave them a wee bit of entertainment in an otherwise quiet shift," he said, nodding over toward the giggling nurses at their station. "We used the time to do that test and then get him settled in one of the private rooms."

Sheppard stood up and cracked his back, "I can visit him tonight then still, right?"

"Aye, I did promise. Although it's closer to morning now," Carson said wearily. The man looked it too, there were purple crescents under both eyes, a testament to the effort he'd put in for their friend. Sheppard was tired just sitting here; he couldn't imagine having to be completely alert for that whole period of time and working in such a delicate manner. Sometimes it did seem as if the Scottish physician had some hidden reserve of energy that he could tap during nights like these, he didn't seem to need to resort to the caffeine binging that the rest of the base relied on to achieve the same effect. Or maybe it was just a stubborn determination to see everything right, to make sure his charges were safe, on their way to recovery, and settled before allowing himself the same privilege.

Carson led the way past a series of beds, most empty, a few housing drowsing patients, before they finally entered one of the rooms closest to Beckett's office. He did always have a way of wanting to keep his friends close.

Rodney was unconscious in the partially reclined bed. There were a few pillows arranged behind and around his injured shoulder for support and several bags of ice obscuring the joint from view. The obligatory sensors, monitors, and IV's stood to either side of his bed. Sheppard just stood at the entrance for a few moments while Beckett busied himself with observing the readouts on the various monitors. Sheppard was content to merely watch the man breath in and out. He saw Rodney's facial expression shift for a moment, scrunching up to something that resembled a wince although it wasn't accompanied by any audible sound, "He can't feel anything, right? I'd imagine going in like that had to put him in some pain."

Carson turned back to Sheppard, "Of course we'd not let him suffer. He's doped up on the best stuff we have and will be for the next few days at least. Ye know I am a strong believer that rest is one of the best cures for an ailing body."

Sheppard nodded. Couldn't argue there. Beckett liked to keep them off duty for too long in Sheppard's opinion. They were always itching to go back to work and Carson would keep them off the roster for a few days past that point without fail. "When will he wake up?"

Carson shrugged a bit, "Normally with this dosage, I'd say not before noon. Another eight hours at least before we'll start looking for some regaining of consciousness. But then Rodney's not normal now is he? We'll have someone checking in every fifteen minutes on the lad to make sure everything's ok."

"Can I stay for awhile? You should go curl up for some sleep doc; it's been a long night for you."

Carson smiled again, "Aye, I've got a cot in my office with my name on it. As for ye, I figured ye'd want to stay, this bed's for ye to sleep in," he said, patting the empty bed next to Rodney's that had been fitted with sheets, pillow, and a folded up blanket at the end. "Yer little cat nap in one of my chairs out there suggests that some sleep is in order for ye too."

Sheppard nodded, "You know us too well doc. But a cot for you? I think you've probably earned a few hours outside of your infirmary at least. Can't your staff watch over Rodney until you can get some shut eye?"

"Ach, of course I trust my staff. But it's Rodney, he's not just another patient, he's my friend too. I'd like to be close too in case anything happens. I'll sleep easier down here than up in my room. I'd only be running down here in a few hours to check on the lad anyways. At least this way it's a shorter walk."

"Never let anyone say you don't work overtime Carson, I swear you never actually go off duty. I think I'm going to catch a few Z's then," Sheppard said, hopping up onto the bed and pulling his boots off one by one and letting them drop to the ground.

He laid back against the pillow, folding his hands behind his head, "Do the same doc, you look how I feel, bone weary."

Carson checked Rodney's pulse once more with a light grip on the underside of his wrist and nodded, "Aye, true words. Ye come get me if anything's amiss, no matter how small."

As Sheppard nodded in understanding Carson withdrew, quietly shutting the door to the room behind him. Sheppard turned on his side, eyes half open for a time, content to let the rising and falling motion of Rodney's chest occupy his attention until he too drifted off.

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