A/N: Thank you so much to bailey1ak for all your help and encouragement.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Stargate Atlantis or it's wonderful characters.
Spoilers: Reunion season 4
I appreciate your reviews. Any type of criticism is helpful. Enjoy!
Chapter 3
The men were busy barricading the doors and windows in the house fortifying their position. They continued to draw fire as the enemy soldiers maintained their sporadic shooting. Jennifer sat against the back wall in a fog. She couldn't hold a thought as she drifted along on a sea of confusion. All the while she kept wondering why she felt so numb. Maybe it was just the let down from the adrenaline coursing through her body.
"Is everyone okay?" Lorne asked his men as they each positioned themselves in front of the various windows in the room. At lease this should be a fairly easy building to defend, Lorne thought.
"Fine, Sir," they each replied.
"Let me know if you see any movement," Lorne ordered as he moved over toward Jennifer.
Lorne squatted down in front of Jen to see how she was doing. The room was almost pitch black by now but he could still see her eyes enough to gauge her answers.
"How are you doing?" Evan asked as he put his hand on her knee.
Evan waited but didn't get an answer. He noted that Jennifer looked okay but her eyes weren't focused and kept drifting around the room.
"Jennifer, look at me. Are you okay?" Lorne asked again. The Major began to worry a bit when she didn't answer a second time. The team kept glancing back at Lorne wondering what was happening with the Doc.
Lorne knew Jennifer wasn't used to this kind of situation. She'd been in a few skirmishes but not many where you had to run for your life. She almost displayed signs of shock. Hopefully, she just needed to catch her breath.
Lorne placed his hand on her shoulder and reassured her that everything was fine and help would be here soon. As he brought his hand away he realized it felt wet and sticky.
"Booker, throw me your flashlight." Lorne instructed.
Lorne grabbed the light and shined it on his hand.
"Crap!" Lorne swore as he looked at the blood covering his hand.
"Rains, throw me Doc's medical kit." Lorne ordered as he continued to swear under his breath at the worsening situation.
"Jennifer, can you hear me?" Evan asked softly as he moved in closer. Jennifer showed no recognition and remained frozen. "I'm going to lay you down and look at your shoulder." Evan explained as he watched her eyes slowly close. "No, no, no, no you need to stay awake for me," he urged.
Evan lowered her head to the floor and began peeling off her jacket. He started unbuttoning her shirt but it was taking too long so Evan grabbed either side and ripped it open exposing two bullet holes in her shoulder.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Evan growled as he shone the flashlight on her injury. One wound was a through and through while the other bullet was lodged in her shoulder. Evan opened the field kit, finding something to clean the wound with; he began scrubbing the area gently.
About half way through the cleaning, Jennifer loudly gasped as her eyes flew open looking directly into Evan's eyes. She began to thrash and moan loudly as Evan worked.
"Jennifer, lay still, you've been shot." Evan held her in place trying not to touch her shoulder.
Jennifer's moans turned into screams as the pain became excruciating. "I'm on fire! Evan do something," Jennifer was sobbing, unable to lay still.
"Rains, get over here," Lorne yelled. "Hold her still while I put some gauze on the wounds to stop the bleeding."
Lorne worked quickly all the while, Jennifer thrashed and moaned as Rains held her down. When he was finished, Lorne gently closed her shirt back over her body and looked in the field kit for painkillers.
"Jennifer, listen to me. I need to give you some painkillers," Evan told her as she wildly looked around.
She finally registered what he was saying but kept shaking her head. "No, something isn't right - don't give me anything yet," she said as she continued to moan.
Lorne sent Rains back to his post. He then sat down against the wall and pulled Jennifer into his lap. Evan tried to comfort her as he kept her from thrashing. She'd started shaking violently, not convulsions but just shaking. Lorne wasn't sure what was going on.
"Jennifer you need to hold still. Help will be here soon." Lorne hoped he was right.
Slowly the shaking quieted down and Jennifer went limp as Lorne's radio came to life.
"Major Lorne, this is Atlantis calling," Sheppard said as soon as the wormhole stabilized.
"Colonel Sheppard, good to hear your voice," Lorne answered clearly relieved.
"Major what's your status?"
"Colonel, we were ambushed on our way to the gate. We are presently pinned down just inside the village waiting for additional help," Lorne explained.
"We'll assemble teams and render assistance," came the clipped reply of the military commander.
"Colonel, we have wounded and suggest evac with the jumper," Lorne added.
"Lorne, what kind of injuries?" Sheppard asked knowing he'd need to notify the medical staff.
"Sir, Dr. Keller has been shot and needs immediate medical attention."
"Major, please give us your exact location," Sheppard instructed.
"Sir, we're in a building located on the south side of the clearing between the woods and the village proper. It's a house with a wide porch. There's plenty of room to land in the clearing. Also, be advised there's a Wraith facility a half mile past the village, although we've only seen a couple hostiles standing guard near the facility."
"We're on the way, Lorne. Sheppard out." The Colonel radioed SGA-3 and SGA-1 to gear up and meet in the jumper bay.
By the time Sheppard ran to the jumper, Ronon already had the rest of the team assembled and waiting. Sheppard gave instructions to SGA-3 to cloak immediately after clearing the wormhole. He briefed them on the situation and gave instructions to take out any resistance they encountered.
Sergeant Meyers spotted movement on the other side of the road two doors down. The men had been taking turns sneaking out and taking out the enemy. He motioned to Booker who was at the next window and then slipped out the door. Shortly afterwards, P-90 fire could be heard. After waiting for a count of 10, Booker was just preparing to join his team mate when Meyers appeared motioning a thumbs up as he slipped back in the house.
Major Lorne instructed his team to sit tight; rescue teams would be here shortly. Knowing it wouldn't be long before they would be running for the jumper, Lorne decided to check Jennifer's wound before it got too crazy.
Evan gently laid Jenn down next to him and scooted around laying her head on the ground. He grabbed the flashlight; pulling her shirt away he quickly checked the gauze. The blood had completely saturated the padding. Lorne pulled the gauze loose preparing to change it out for a clean bandage. Somehow he needed to apply more pressure to completely stop the blood flow.
Jennifer began to stir as Evan worked on her shoulder. She quietly called out for Ronon as she began to wake.
"It's only me, sweetheart. I'm changing your dressing before Sheppard gets here," Evan explained as he pulled off the bandage. He grabbed a clean wad of gauze and pressed it into the wound hoping to stop the bleeding completely. As he pressed down Jennifer came up swinging.
"Stop!" she screamed hitting at Evan with her good arm. "It burns," she began thrashing about again and Lorne had a hard time holding Jen down.
"Rains, you need to hold her down again."
"Evan stop, please. Something isn't right." Jennifer had to make him understand but she couldn't stop moaning and jerking her body trying to get free.
"Evan, listen to me … you have to get this bullet out. It's burning me – I feel like my body's on fire." Jennifer couldn't believe the amount of pain she was in. She'd never experienced anything like this before.
"Jennifer, we'll get you back to the infirmary and Dr. Cole will be able to patch you up. Just hang on a few more minutes," Evan said trying to comfort her.
"Look at me… I'm not delusional. You need to get this bullet out now. Every time I move it burns all through my body." Jennifer could see she was getting through to Evan and he was starting to listen to her.
"Look in my bag. There are forceps and a scalpel," Jennifer instructed.
"Jen, I've never done anything like this before. You need to wait until we get back to Atlantis," Evan said firmly.
"No Evan, the longer we wait the more damage it's doing. You need to dig it out now!" Jennifer was becoming desperate.
"Sir, you can do this. I'll help." Sergeant Rains knew the wound shouldn't cause this amount of pain – he agreed, something was wrong.
"Rains, you hold the light and be sure you keep it right on the wound. I can't believe I'm even thinking about doing this," Lorne whispered to himself.
"Jennifer, what do I give you for the pain? Do you have something that will knock you out?" Evan knew he was in over his head.
"Don't give me anything. There're gloves in the outside pocket. Be sure not to touch the bullet. You'll find a small glass bottle in my bag. Put the bullet in the bottle and be sure you give it to Rodney." Jennifer was firing off instructions as if she were in her own operating room.
Lorne took a deep breath and began digging in the wound looking for the bullet. It didn't take but a minute or two before he was able to feel it with the end of the forceps. He squeezed firmly as he pulled it out.
Jennifer could feel the forceps grab hold of the bullet. As Evan applied pressure her whole shoulder felt as if it'd burst into flames. The intense burning traveled through her body and she couldn't stop the screaming.
Lorne jerked with the first of Jennifer's screams dropping the bullet on the floor beside her. Quickly, he grabbed the plastic container and using his gloved hand he picked up the bullet dropping it into the bottle.
"Ouch!" Evan swore as he ripped off the glove. Looking down he could see red welts on the tips of his fingers. "What the hell …?" Just touching the bullet burned like he'd stuck his hand in a fire.
Both jumpers cloaked the minute they came through the gate as McKay began looking for life signs. He immediately determined Lorne's location. After ruling them out, he radioed the enemy's position to SGA-3.
Sheppard radioed Lorne with the location of the enemy and Evan's team headed out to join with SGA-3. The teams spread out engaging the enemy, immediately taking down most of them in the first few minutes.
Ronon could hear Jennifer's screams the minute the rear door hit the ground and fear fueled his adrenalin. He was off and running with his weapon in hand, crossing the distance to the house before Sheppard was even out of the jumper. Teyla and Rodney were close behind Sheppard as they headed toward the house.
Ronon burst into the room swinging his gun in all directions checking for hostiles. When all seemed clear, he holstered his weapon and swiftly knelt beside Evan.
"Major report," Sheppard ordered as he watched Lorne bandaging Jennifer's shoulder.
"Sir, the village is empty … looks like they just disappeared. We found a Wraith facility just beyond the west side of the village. We were heading back to the gate when we were ambushed so we came back to the village and took cover here. I believe Dr. Keller was shot as we crossed the clearing." Lorne continued to work on Jennifer as he explained the situation to Sheppard.
"What do you mean 'you think' … don't you know when she got shot," Sheppard scowled.
"Sir, she never made it known. After we secured the building I went to check on her and discovered the wounds," Lorne explained frowning.
Jennifer continued to sob as Lorne applied a bandage to her wounds; thankfully she'd stopped screaming so he knew the pain had lessened. Jen continued to writhe with the intensity of the burning she felt throughout her body.
"Ronon, you need to hold her down while I tape this bandage in place," Lorne instructed.
Jennifer finally became aware that Evan was talking to Sheppard. She opened her eyes to see Teyla standing next to Evan and knew help had arrived.
"Jennifer, how're you doing?" Evan asked as she focused on his face.
"I've never been in pain like this. Did you get the bullet?"
"Yes, it's in the bottle," Lorne nodded toward the small glass container. "Hold on, I'm putting the dressing on your shoulder so this is going to hurt."
As Lorne pressed down on the gauze to stop the bleeding, Jennifer cried out and began thrashing. Ronon was on his knees above her head holding her tight so Evan could finish. Jennifer began calling out for Ronon.
"I'm right here," Ronon assured her squeezing her good arm.
"Don't leave me," Jennifer whispered reaching for his hand.
Ronon grabbed her hand relieved that his touch seemed to calm her down. Major Lorne quickly packed up Jen's medical bag and helped bundle her back up. Sheppard checked in with his men in the field finding everyone was heading back toward the jumpers.
"Okay boys and girls, let's go home. Lorne you can brief me on everything once we get back to Atlantis." Sheppard grabbed Jennifer's bags and led the way back.
Ronon carried Jennifer's limp body to the waiting jumper, seating himself in the back with Jennifer in his arms. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Hearing her screams of pain had torn at him and now her stillness made it hard for him to breath.
The team stood off in a corner of the infirmary waiting for news on Jennifer's condition. Ronon paced back and forth with a permanent scowl on his face. Sheppard and Lorne sat next to each other against the wall.
"What the hell happened to Doc out there, Lorne?" Sheppard growled at his 2IC.
"It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. I've known her to tumble down mountainsides, take a beating from the Bola Kai, even break an arm sparring without shedding a tear. Sir, this was a simple shoulder wound," Lorne said shaking his head back and forth. "I'm not even sure when she got hit. I've gone over it in my mind a dozen times and none of it makes sense."
"Why'd you remove the bullet?" Sheppard asked thinking it wasn't necessary.
"Jen convinced me it needed to come out." Lorne started to explain.
Sheppard and Lorne stood up as they watched Dr. Cole walk across the room.
"Colonel," Dr. Cole greeted Sheppard while nodding to the rest of the team as they gathered around her. "Jennifer's in recovery. We cleaned and stitched her wounds and will be starting her on dialysis shortly. I don't know what went on out there but her blood work is like nothing I've ever seen before. She has several foreign compounds in her blood samples that I can't identify. Quite frankly, this is a bit out of my area of expertise. Dr. Keller has done a lot of work with her research on the Wraith enzyme and it looks familiar to the compounds we see in her blood. I'm sorry I don't have more information for you at this time."
"She's going to be okay though … right Doc?" Lorne asked worriedly.
"Major, at this time I don't know what to tell you. We'll spend the night cleansing her blood as much as possible and decide on a course of action from there," Dr. Cole explained trying to sound positive.
"I almost forgot. McKay, Jennifer told me to give this to you," Lorne said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small bottle containing the bullet he pulled from her shoulder. "She said not to touch it directly," Lorne instructed. "There's definitely something oozing from the casing," Lorne added as he held up his two welted fingers.
"I'll get this to my lab right away." Rodney grabbed his data pad and quickly headed out the door.
"Can I see her?" Ronon asked.
"She's not awake but you're welcome to sit with her. I'll let you know if her condition changes." Dr. Cole turned and left to check on her other patients.
Ronon scooted his chair closer to Jennifer's bed so he could hold her hand, the whirl of the dialysis machine filling the air. He'd spent weeks pushing her away but now he just needed to be close to her … to feel the warmth of her skin assuring him she was still alive.