Rodney and Keller stood in front of the gate, along with Teyla, Katie Brown-Dex, and Ronon. They all were staring off in the direction of the gate, all lost in their thoughts and prayers for their own child. They had gone to find allies but, as usual were longer than expected and were over the scheduled dial in by an hour. They were probably fine but, the Pegasus Galaxy wasn't the safest place in the universe. Keller moved slightly and wrapped her arm around Rodney's. Katie leaned against Ronon who gave a slight grunt. Shaking themselves from their horror fantasies of their children being tortured, they all began to turn around. As Katie stood up straight, she felt light-headed. She grabbed Ronon's arm and raised a hand to her forehead. Ronon gave her a side-long glance and asked, "Are you okay?"
She began to mutter a reply when she fell to the floor. Ronon gave a yell, "Katie!" as he knelt beside her. Keller shoved her way to the front and felt for a pulse on her neck. A young medical staff member scurried over. Keller glanced to her and told her in a calm commanding voice, proving she was in her element, "Get me a gurney and an IV. Quick."
The person hurried off as Keller turned her attention back to Katie. Her breathe came in quick gasps and her eyes were rolling back into her head. Her head rolled from side to side and suddenly, her back arched and she went into a seizure. Keller held Katie's shoulders down and turned to Ronon, "We can't wait for the gurney, she needs medical attention now. Can you carry her?"
Ronon nodded slightly. Keller gave a nod and stood as Ronon picked Katie up carefully, as if she was glass. It was obvious how much he cared for her. She hung limply in his arms and her graying hair fell in a mess. Keller went to the door as Ronon followed.
Once in the medical bay, Ronon placed Katie on a bed. She flailed so he held her down as best as possible. Keller put on gloves as fast as possible and got her under an Ancient scanner. Readings came up on an Ancient screen. Keller read them and started yelling out different medications for another staff member to get her. A slight Asian woman ran over carrying a handful of pills. She opened her gloved palm to hold them out for Keller. Keller tipped Katie's head back and began feeding her them one at a time. She inserted the IV in Katie's arm as well and hung a bag of fluids next to her. Ronon watched the doctors rush past and wondered what they could do to help his wife. Katie stopped convulsing and settled down and her breathing became slower and steady after a few minutes. No longer needed to hold her down, Ronon backed away and simply stood guard over her.
After Keller did all she could, the sun was setting outside Atlantis and she was tired. Keller went up to Ronon and said, "I have done all I can, we have to let her rest and hope for the best. My staff will watch her if you want to catch
some sleep."
Ronon immediately answered, "No," his response coming out roughly.
Keller tightened her lips and started nodding, "Ok. You can stay here. Do you want a chair? I can have someone bring you up food, if you want."
Ronon didn't respond, which Keller took to mean he wasn't interested. She gave him a last look before leaving. He never made a move. He simply looked at Katie and waited. Keller understood her wanted to be with her when she woke up and the entire time until then.
Keller entered her quarter's she shared with Rodney. The lights came on and Keller walked to the bathroom and turned on the water. After a day like that, she needed a nice hot bath. Stripping off her Atlantis base uniform, she stepped in the Ancient bathtub. The warm water began relaxing her tensed muscles on contact. At about the time she had gotten all the way in, the door to the room hissed open. She was guessing it was Rodney.
"Rodney, I'm in the tub! How did your research go?"
In the background, Keller could here shoes hitting the floor and a body hitting the bed. No doubt, he had fallen on top of the bed still in his clothes. "Rodney, you can't sleep in your clothes. I will kick you out of the bed."
The response she got was a groan and more rustling of covers and the bed. Keller figured he needed to be ordered off the bed and to get ready for bed. She got out of the tub and wrapped a nice fuzzy towel, new from Earth and shipped with the supplies on the last restock from Hammond. Walking into the bedroom, she spotted Rodney on the bed, almost asleep on his stomach. Drool droplets dripped down his mouth to the bedspread. Keller frowned and smiled at the same time, trying to suppress a laugh at the sight of her husband. He hadn't really changed over the last 27 years of their marriage. Keller went to him and nudged him, he grunted and opened his eyes slowly. She asked, "Long day, huh?"
"What? Oh, yes," Rodney stated as he sat up and looked at her, "I have been trying to improve our drones and shield based on the information I got, which wasn't much. I did manage to enhance the shield at least a little."
Keller rubbed his back and gave him a sympathetic look, "Ok, well, at least you could do something for the shields. I mean, knowing you, you will probably make it work."
He gave another grunt in response which said, I think not. They will probably just burn themselves out. It was the pessimistic side of Rodney. Keller stood again and paced back into the bathroom, the cool tiles sending chills up her legs. She slipped on a nightgown as McKay trudged in. He peeled off his jacket while Keller went and curled up in bed.
Amelia Banks walked into the infirmary. Her skin heated up and she felt slightly self-conscious. Ronon stood over Katie Brown with a protective look. He still didn't notice Banks and she debated whether or not to leave. It had been over 22 years since they had been together but, she still, deep down had feelings for him, even if she loved her own husband, Zelenka.
Banks was about to turn and leave when Ronon noticed her. It was obvious he had been in deep thought not to notice, after his years as a Runner. Ronon barely cared she was there, or at least that's what he acted like. He turned back to Katie without a word. Banks felt more awkward than before. She timidly stepped forward, "How is she?"
Ronon shrugged, "Keller says she's never seen anything like this before. She thinks it's a plague."
Amelia frowned morbidly. She knew what he meant. It was a manufactured plague. The Ori used to do that but, since Merlin's weapon destroyed them, who possibly could? Keller needed to figure it out and soon. Atlantis needed Ronon to be ready to fight and if Katie was hurt, he would be distracted. Amelia took a step closer to the medical bed and clasped her hands behind her back. It still felt awkward speaking with him about his wife, after they had dated almost twenty-five years ago. She tried to comfort him though, "Well, sir, I have confidence in Dr. Keller. If anyone can help Katie, it's her."
