Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and reviews. Hope this is worth the wait, as I still have a few more chapters to go.
John has a lot to think about and so does McKay . . . more angst to follow.
8888888888888888888888888
On Any Given Day - The Watch Stander
Chapter 8 - Into Darkness
Ronon came running through the wormhole, carrying McKay, followed by Teyla. He immediately went over to the med team with his burden, where Carson's eager hands reached for Rodney to help place him on the Gurney. The other personnel helped as well, but Carson was right there holding his friend and gently laying him down on the bed. He quickly checked the bloody bandages and opted to leave them for now, checking Rodney's vitals instead.
Dear Lord, what have they done to you?, Carson asked himself.
"Get a cuff on him and I want blood set up for when we arrive!" he shouted out - trying to save a life - a very important life.
Once Ronon had turned over the scientist to the doctors, he stepped back feeling helpless, but knowing that McKay was now in good hands. He'd done all he could - it was up to Beckett to save the scientist now.
A shout came from behind him and Ronon turned in time to see Sheppard come through the ring in a flying leap and slide across the floor in front of the gate. The sound of bullets followed, pinging against the metal stairs, making everyone stay back, waiting until the shield went up and the sound of bullets hitting it had died out.
Lorne and Ronon both went to the colonel to see if he was all right.
"That was quite an entrance, Sir!" Lorne said with a smile, once he was sure his CO seemed ok.
"Yeah, well, I've had better, but it'll do." John tried to smile while still trying to catch his breath, as he looked up from the floor. Ronon offered him a hand up and Sheppard immediately noticed the worried look on his face.
"McKay?", John asked as he stood. He held his breath, trying to keep his insides from knotting, not wanting to hear that they'd failed and death had won after all.
"Carson's got him . . . ask him."
John let out his breath, if Carson had him then there was hope. He looked over to where the med team was and saw Elizabeth. She was standing beside the Gurney, holding onto Rodney's hand as she looked down at his still form.
John immediately walked over and Elizabeth looked at him, giving him a smile of relief. "Are you all right?" she asked and he nodded.
Teyla was suddenly beside him, squeezing his arm, as she smiled quietly up at him.
"That was very close, John."
"Yes, yes it was," he said, knowing how close they'd come to losing everyone on the team. If they had waited any longer, the Genii would have beat them to the gate and cut off their escape.
John was anxious to know how Rodney was, but the scientist was still being hooked up to various medical paraphernalia, so Carson and his team were too busy to ask.
"How's Rodney doing?" he finally asked Elizabeth.
She let go of Rodney's hand, then looked at Sheppard, her eyes saying what she couldn't. There was fear in them, but finally she spoke, "I don't know . . . "
"Let's go!" Carson's sudden shout was soon followed by the med team starting to run, taking the Gurney with them. It was done smoothly. Years of practice had made them an efficient team. They quickly disappeared down the hall heading for the infirmary.
John looked impatiently at Elizabeth as she let out a breath. "We'll talk about what happened later."
John nodded, "Good, I need to go . . . " he sounded anxious and upset.
As she looked again into his eyes, she could see the pain there, but something else as well . . . It was the same haunted look she'd seen in Rodney's eyes, only days before.
She suddenly realized what it was ,Guilt!
John was feeling responsible for what had happened and she didn't know why . . .
888888888888888888
The waiting room was soon full, with all of Sheppard's team there as well as Lorne, Zelenka and Elizabeth. It had been two hours already and still there had been no news from the doctor or any of the medical people.
All they knew was that Carson had Rodney in surgery working on him, no one had told them anything more.
Teyla and Ronon sat beside John on his left, while Elizabeth was beside him on his right. No one was talking now - the chit chat had been over long ago - everyone worried as the minutes dragged on.
Earlier he had handed over his weapons and McKay's backpack to one of Lorne's men to watch. He didn't want anyone, other than Rodney, touching the ancient items it contained. The snarky little scientist had earned that right and had paid dearly for it.
It was hard to think of what would happen if Rodney didn't make it, God that would suck!
I would miss him, he finally admitted, there is no one like McKay, and never will be . . .
John's head ached and he leaned forward in his seat, holding his head between his hands for a moment to try and clear the cobwebs.
As they sat here, it seemed to him that the quiet around him was almost deafening. The silence and the worried atmosphere were beginning to get to him. In truth, he was ready to drop, his emotions draining him of what little energy reserves he had.
The minutes dragged on and finally Carson appeared, eyes bloodshot and baggy, his face drawn from exhaustion.
All eyes were on him, and the doctor was well aware of his audience and their expectations. No matter how arrogant Rodney McKay seemed, underneath all that, was a human being and a man who had saved their collective asses a number of times. The people here all wanted Rodney to make it, that he was sure of.
" He came through surgery ok, but not out of the woods yet." He smiled tiredly, glad to be able to give that bit of news at least.
Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief all at once.
John was on his feet instantly, "Can we see him?"
Carson stared at the man before him, who looked utterly beat, dirty, and very relieved to hear the news. In other words, the John Sheppard he had known before all the crap from the Doranda incident had hit the fan.
"Only for five minutes and only one of you. The rest can visit another day when he's stronger. We need access to him just incase of complications."
Carson could see the disappointed looks on the faces around him, but he knew they would be in the way if his people had any emergencies in the night ahead. Rodney could crash at any time and he didn't want anyone in the way of his staff.
John didn't wait for anyone else to ask to be the one to see Rodney, he quickly left to find the scientist . . .
888888888888888888888
Elizabeth watched John leave, then the others around her said their goodnights and Thanks to Carson as they left. She waited till they were all gone before patting the seat next to her for Carson to sit down.
"Carson, have a seat, you look about to drop."
He slowly sat down, like a tired old man. "Aye, he gave us quite a scare in there twice." Carson ran his hand over his face trying to compose himself and get his emotions in check. In truth though, the memory was still fresh and it upset him just thinking about it. "I was afraid we'd lost him, but somehow the stubborn bugger managed to come back. It was hairy though. Took a few years off my life."
Elizabeth smiled, she knew how much Carson cared about his patients and the fact that this one was a close friend, made it even harder on him.
"Tell me about his condition."
Carson took a deep breath and leaned forward, "Well, first off, he still had the bullet in him, second he lost a lot of blood and third his blood sugar was very low. All of this was putting him close to going into shock. Another half hour and we would have lost him for sure. There was also internal bleeding and some other damage caused by the bullet."
He looked at her, "We were very, very lucky . . . Elizabeth, he almost died."
She just stared at him, "Yes, yes... we were, Carson. Thanks to you!" She finally managed to say.
It would have broken her heart as well as Carson's if Rodney had died. Somehow she was also sure that John would have been hurt as well. His whole attitude toward Rodney had changed from this morning. No longer did he seem so angry with the man, but rather more like the old John who used to hang around with McKay and get them both into trouble.
There was also something else, but for now, she was glad to have the real John back, not the angry man from the past two weeks.
She would still need to hear his report on what had happened, but for now it could wait. They all needed time to try and get back to normal . . .
888888888888888888
They had placed the scientist in a critical care room off to the side of the infirmary. It was a very small room and John could see why Carson was restricting access to the scientist.
The still figure on the bed was hooked up to more machines than John thought possible. It was hard to tell if McKay was even breathing, only the steady beat of the monitors assured John of that.
Careful not to interfere with any of the connections, he stepped up to the side of the bed. Bandages covered Rodney's chest and there was a blanket folded just over the edge of those. His complexion matched the whiteness of the bandages making the dark circles under his eyes even more pronounced. It was very hard seeing him this way and knowing how badly hurt he was.
John lightly grasped hold of McKay's arm, "Glad you made it, Buddy, we all are. Everyone outside sends their regards. Carson says you're holding your own, so you just better continue doing that."
The scientist never moved, so John finally let go of his arm. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Rodney this still. Even after being hit by a wraith beam, McKay's body had at least twitched as it slowly recovered from the paralysis.
Sheppard sighed as he could feel his own exhaustion slowly starting to take hold of him and knew it was time to get some rest before he too joined McKay here. If he passed out, Carson would insist he spend the night. Right now all he wanted was a hot shower and a good night's sleep. The latter was probably wishful thinking after all that had happened, but at least he could put his head down and hope for the best.
He took one more look at the scientist and then quietly left, praying that everything would go well and they wouldn't lose him during the night ahead. There were things that needed to be said...
Once more the fact that this was his fault, ate at him and he tried to bury it, but he knew that it wasn't going to go away . . .
TBC