Chapter 9 - Help on the Way

Her eyes brimming with tears, Jennifer crawled over to Ronon and cradled his head in her arms.

She couldn't say how long she had been sitting there, when suddenly there was the crackle of static in her ear, and she heard a voice

"Ronon? Dr. Keller? This is Teyla. Come in, please."

Relief flooded through Jennifer. She quickly tapped her earpiece, and sobbed, "Teyla, thank God. We need help. Ronon's been injured, and has lost a lot of blood. I was trying to attach an IV but he woke up and..."

"Understood, Dr. Keller, we will send a rescue team immediately," Teyla's calm voice interrupted her. "Please advise of your location."

Trying to calm herself, Jennifer replied "I don't know where we are, somewhere in the forest. Oh please, hurry!"

"They are readying a jumper as we speak," Teyla replied. "It will be able to track the signal from your subcutaneous transmitters. Hold on, help is on the way."

Praying that they would not be too late, Jennifer checked Ronon's pulse again. If that was possible, his heartbeat seemed even more feeble than it had been, and she noticed with concern that it seemed to be missing beats in beween.

"Come on, Ronon," she pleaded, stroking his deadly pale face, "Just hang in there a little longer. You can't give up now that help is so close."

"Dr. Keller?" a new voice came over her com. "This is Sheppard. We are receiving your signals loud and clear. There is a clearing not too far from you where we can land. We'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"What we need most of all is a large supply of 0 negative blood," Jennifer reminded him.

"Got it. We'll send it by express as soon as we touch down," was the reply. Jennifer was just beginning to wonder what he meant by that, when she looked at Ronon's face again and saw that his eyes had opened once more. They were calm and clear, without any trace of fear or mania.

"Ronon?" Jennifer leaned over him.

"You're here." His voice was barely a whisper. "I tried to... find you."

"Sh," Jennifer cautioned, "don't try to talk, save your strength."

His eyelids fluttered shut again. With a shock, Jennifer suddenly realized what his words meant. What had she done? How long ago had the effects of the poison passed? He had been looking for her, for her assistance. And instead of helping him, she had led him on a chase through the forest. And when he had reached for her, she had tried to get away from him, ruining her only means of stabilizing him until their rescuers arrived. Biting her lip, Jennifer felt tears of remorse and grief rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh God, am I too late?"

John Sheppard was standing before her, breathing hard, sweat running down his face.

"No," Jennifer said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "At least, I hope not."

Quickly, Sheppard knelt and put his backpack on the ground. He extracted several bottles of blood. Luckily the needle was still in Ronon's arm, so he attached the first IV. Only when he saw the life saving liquid disappearing into the Satedan's vein did Shepard take the time to take a closer look at his team mate's multiple injuries and Jennifer's dishevelled state.

"What the hell happened here?" he asked. "I thought you were staying for some kind of feast."

"That's what we did – at first," Jennifer replied. "But it's a very long story. Could I have some water first?"

"I'm sorry, of course, here you go," Sheppard replied, handing her a canteen. Gratefully Jennifer sipped the cool liquid.

"You must be exhausted," Sheppard said, " the story can wait until we're back in Atlantis."

Jennifer gladly agreed. She would have to come up with a plausible reason why they had spent the night in the forest. That part of the story would be her and Ronon's secret. But she could see that Sheppard was bursting with curiosity, so to change the subject, she turned to him and said "So this is your express delivery system."

"Yeah, works every time," Sheppard replied with a hint of his cocky smile. "Good thing Ronon's such a hard taskmaster. Trying to keep up with him has worked miracles on my running skills." Looking at the still, pale body in front of him, he added "And if I catch him before he's fully recovered, I may even beat him for once."

They passed the time until the rest of the rescue team arrived in silence, watching the slightest trace of color return to Ronon's face. The marines brought two stretchers, and with Sheppard walking next to Ronon, holding the rapidly emptying IV pouch, he and Jennifer were soon transferred to the waiting jumper.