I am sorry to say that this is the last chapter until April. I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow and I will not have computer access till I get back in April.
I have a theory about Quarantine. From what I think I know about Jennifer Keller, I do not think she would have sought Ronon out for dinner if all that stood between them was an almost kiss. I think she would have seen Ronon, freaked out and run off to have dinner at the infirmary. Thus we have a tag for Quarantine, and my personal opinion of what happened between when the doors whooshed open and when they met up later for dinner.
It was so strange when she took the time to think about it. While she had been patching Ronon Dex up for the past two years, she didn't really know him at all. Well, she did know him. She knew that he liked to fight, and that he was reckless with it. She knew that he could handle a lot of pain. She knew that he had grown to care about her, as his tantrum after her last off world mission proved.
Over the last few hours she had learned more about him than she had learned over the past two years, and that still added up to very little. She knew that there had been someone very special to him on Sateda, that she had been a doctor, and that she had died in a Wraith culling. Jen also knew that she reminded Ronon of this woman and she couldn't quite decide if that was a good or bad thing.
But right now, sitting next to him on the floor of the infirmary, leaning against one of the beds, that didn't matter. She felt him shift closer to her, and she couldn't help but move closer as well, resting her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for a few minutes, and then Jen felt Ronon shift again. She looked up to see him staring at her, and then he began to lean forward. Jen couldn't help but lean towards him, already wondering what it would feel like when his lips finally brushed against hers.
And then the lights went out.
They both glanced up, surprised. Jen didn't have much time to wonder what was going on as Ronon started to move forward again.
And then the lights came back on.
They looked up again right as the doors whooshed open. As much as Jen wanted to go back to that moment and feel Ronon's lips against hers, the doctor in her took over as she jumped to her feet.
"Help me with the bags," she told Ronon, grabbing two of the medical bags they had packed while waiting for the doors to open. Ronon scrambled to his feet and grabbed the others. Together they made their way out into the hallway towards the control room. Almost immediately they ran into Colonel Carter, Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne and a couple of the technicians from the gate room.
"What's going on?" Jen asked Colonel Carter. "How many are sick?"
"No one's sick," Colonel Sheppard stated. "It was a computer malfunction. One that Rodney is going to fix just as soon as we find him."
"You might want to have the infirmary ready though," Major Lorne added, eyeing Sheppard warily. "Just in case people, ah, hurt themselves trying to open doors."
Jen thought about hers and Ronon's attempt to blow up the infirmary door using an oxygen tank and nodded. "Good idea."
"You should probably be expecting McKay too," Colonel Carter added, "and whatever fake disease he's created during this."
"Right," Jen agreed as she watched them go. She looked back at Ronon and gave him a sheepish grin. "Help me carry these back? After that you can go do whatever."
Ronon nodded and followed her back to the infirmary. They unpacked the bags of supplies, and by that point people were beginning to make their way to the infirmary (doctors, patients and sometimes both at the same time), and Jen really didn't have much time to wonder about what had almost happened between her and Ronon.
As Colonel Carter had expected, Rodney was her first patient, brought in by Katie Brown and a rather irritated Colonel Sheppard.
"For the last time, Rodney," Sheppard was saying as Jen returned with the results from the tests she had run on Rodney. "There was no outbreak. It was a computer malfunction caused by an atmospheric storm. You. Are. Not. Sick."
"Oh, then how come I feel like I'm about to die?" McKay shot back.
"Because you are a hypochondriac and a pain in the ass," Sheppard snapped.
"I'm afraid that Colonel Sheppard is right," Jen said. Rodney gave her an evil look while Sheppard smirked. "I meant about there being no disease," Jen stammered. "You're in perfect health."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Did you check-"
"Perfect health," Jen repeated.
"But-"
"Isn't there something you need to fix?" Jen asked.
"Oh? Right," McKay said, jumping off the table and wandering off to fix whatever needed fixing.
"Thanks," Colonel Sheppard said as he and Dr. Brown followed McKay out.
Next was Dr. Zelenka, brought in by Major Lorne.
"I tell you, I am fine," Zelenka was telling his escort as Keller joined them.
"What seems to be the problem?" she asked.
"He's favoring his wrist," Lorne said as Zelenka began to mutter angrily in Czech. "Colonel Carter says that he's not allowed to help with the repairs until someone looks at it."
It turned out that Zelenka had sprained his wrist. After wrapping it in a brace and giving him some pain medication, Keller sent him back to the repairs with Lorne as his escort. Zelenka was still muttering in Czech, but he was less angry now and more annoyed.
After that came a steady stream of people who had injured themselves while trying to make explosives. It was because of this that Jen wasn't at all surprised when Laura Cadman finally made her way down to the infirmary.
Jen heaved a heavy sigh as she stared as the burns on Cadman's hand, which had been haphazardly bandaged several hours ago.
"It's really not as bad as it looks," Cadman said helpfully. "And I had to try something. I was locked in a room with Sergeant Drey and you know how he is."
"Hopeless?" Jen supplied as she began to clean the burns.
"Exactly," Cadman agreed. "Were you stuck in here?"
"Yeah, but I wasn't alone. Ronon was here too."
"Ronon?" Cadman asked, perking up. "What happened?"
"Um, well first we gather up the medical supplies, because we honestly thought there was a disease on the loose. Then we tried to blow open the door using an oxygen tank. The door opened not long after that."
"That's it?" Cadman asked.
"Yeah," Jen lied, figuring that it would probably be a bad idea to tell Laura about the almost kiss. "Why?"
"Because Ronon's standing outside the infirmary, and according your nurses, he's been there all afternoon."
"Ronon's outside?" Jen asked, and she couldn't help but looking at the door.
"Something did happen!" Cadman gasped, bouncing a little on the bed. "Do tell!"
"Nurse," Jen called, waving one over. "Her burn needs to be cleaned and after that it should be an easy patch up. I'm going to take a quick break."
"Jen!" Laura shrieked.
"Yes, doctor," the nurse said as Jen practically ran out of the infirmary.
"Ronon," she said when she saw him, standing right outside the infirmary, leaning against the wall. He straightened up when she called his name, and Jen came to a stop in front of him. "Um…"
"You busy?" he asked.
"I'm on break," she replied.
"You want something to eat?"
"Um, no, not yet," Jen said, looking around the hallways. "Walk with me?" Ronon nodded and together they began to make their way down one of the more deserted halls of Atlantis. "Listen, things can't really be awkward between us because I'm the only doctor here who will treat you. So, pretending that it never happened probably isn't the best way to go about this, but maybe-"
"You want to pretend that it never happened?" Ronon interrupted.
"Well, no, but- we were locked in a room alone together for several hours," Jen said, careful not to meet his gaze, because she desperately wanted to know what would have happened if they had been able to complete their almost kiss. "People do weird things during trials like that. It's probably better to just put it behind us, don't you agree?"
"No."
"Well, what do you want to do?" Jen asked, finally looking up at him.
"This," Ronon said, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers. As he drew away, Jen stumbled a little. This felt just like her vertigo, except she was falling up instead of down. "Doc, are you alright?"
Jen nodded as the dizziness began to fade. "Do that again," she whispered. Ronon grinned and brushed his lips against hers again. This kiss didn't last as long, but it felt nicer and Jen couldn't help but lick her lips as he drew away.
"You really want to pretend that didn't happen?" Ronon asked. Jen shook her head. "Good."
"Um, I should probably be heading back to the infirmary?" Jen said as she began to back away from him. "Will I see you at dinner?" Ronon nodded. After giving him one last smile, Jen turned and practically raced back to the infirmary. She hoped that Laura was still there. She really needed to talk to her friend about this one.