AN: As always, sorry for the wait. Life gets... crazy. And, this chapter took an extra long time because of all the medical research I had to do for it. Which reminds me, I did my very best at keeping this as realistic as possible. I think it's believable, if not completely accurate. But I am sorry to all of those in the medical profession (or have medical knowledge) and if this isn't very accurate.
Disclaimer: Not mine
Warning: Nothing that I know of.
Thanks: Everyone who reviewed and everyone who has stuck with me. I know the posting gets a little annoying, but I am trying.
HUGE thanks: My beta, who is sooooo much help! sandgnat10!
In the Arms of Angels - Part V
Jeannie's prayers had been almost constant. She found them comforting, and they helped keep her mind off what was going on in the diner. As long as she prayed, she felt like she was doing something.
It had been about an hour after she walked out of the diner, leaving Madison inside, that she saw her husband fighting with some officers to get through the caution tape. Thankfully, General O'Neill took care of getting him through the crowd so he could be with Jeannie. The frantic questions had come, the shaky hugs; everything she would have expected, but nothing she wanted. The problem was, Jeannie didn't know what she wanted. Other than having Madison in her arms, of course, but beyond that, no one's hopeful words or shoulder squeezes made a difference to her.
She was happier when Caleb calmed down, taking a seat next to her and holding her hand. Her prayers had become senseless mumblings by now, just repeated words and phrases that she felt were most important, while never taking her eyes off the diner. But the prayers helped her and Caleb didn't question her or try to object.
The area around the diner had mostly been evacuated. There wasn't much surrounding the small diner, but the few buildings had been emptied and the group of onlookers and media hounds had been pushed back several yards to keep them from harm. Jeannie and Caleb had been permitted to stay closer, but were still ordered to stay in a military issues vehicle a ways off from the diner. But Jeannie could still see it, and that was good enough for now; it had to be.
Jeannie was certain she noticed the change in the diner before any of the officials did. It wasn't just the blurry outlines against the half-drawn blinds quickening their movements, but a sinking feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. She knew something was very wrong before the police and different military teams started to panic and order each other around.
She didn't realize she had stood, the thin blanket falling limply to the ground. The senseless mumbling stopped, along with any other rational thought in her mind. She was walking. Walking towards the diner and brushing off her husband's feeble attempts to hold her back. She wanted to go back in the diner. She wanted to be with her daughter. How well did she really know John Sheppard? Not very well, and yet she had left Madison in there with him.
She kept walking, closing the distance between herself and General O'Neill, getting closer to the diner. No one touched her, not for a while, at least. She heard a few people shouting, but there was a lot of that going on lately.
And just as she get near to the command post she felt strong arms wrap around her, ceasing her efforts. She tried to wiggle free, but it was futile, so she turned to words.
"Please, let me go," pleaded Jeannie, her voice shaky. "I need to be with my daughter." Becoming frustrated with her inability to get closer to the diner, she ordered, "Let me go!"
"Mrs. Miller, please," General O'Neill said. "You have to stop!"
But she kept fighting him, the sinking feeling in her gut growing, knowing the situation was getting worse by the second. "Please!! My daughter… Madison… please!"
She was then being pulled further away, pulled back from the diner. She fought harder. Something horrible was happening, she could feel it. She kept begging him; his efforts of trying to calm her falling short. Then she heard it.
A gunshot filled the air, making all the onlookers scream, though the sound was very distant, and the soldiers and police stiffened. But she didn't care. She froze and stopped fighting O'Neill, letting herself crumble to the ground, which worked out nicely because the General was already running for his command center.
The world around her burst into a flurry of movement while she stayed on the ground, the only bit of stability she could find. She found herself screaming, sobbing, or a combination of both. Her words were inaudible, even to her, and she barely noticed when Caleb joined her on the ground.
The atmosphere was already think with tension, but the gunshot ratcheted up the tension until it was almost unbearable. Jeannie had thought the S.W.A.T. team and others were suppose to be going in upon hearing a gunshot, and she had simply assumed that they were going to. However, when she gathered the strength to look up, she saw that the saviors of the day were not going in at all; they were waiting outside, as though the people inside had time for them to wait around.
Jeannie wanted to scream. Tell them to get their asses in there and bring her daughter out, but her voice was suddenly nonexistent. She tried to get up, but her body was terribly uncoordinated and the extreme tremors of her every limb wasn't helping.
Her gaze wandered over to General O'Neill, who was holding a phone to his ear, talking to someone on the phone. The same phone they had been trying to contact the occupants of the diner with. They answered! But who? Had someone been shot? Was Madison okay? Was John dead, and now Steve was bragging about it? What was going on in there?
She watched General O'Neill hang up the phone and tap his earpiece.
"What?" Jeannie whispered, finally finding her voice, though raspy. "Caleb, what's happening?"
Caleb was looking around as well, appearing just as confused and concerned as she did. Jeannie knew a gun had gone off, yet no one was doing a damn thing about it! She found enough strength to lift herself from the cold pavement and pull away from Caleb. She was walked towards General O'Neill, furious and intent on getting answers.
She was almost there, so close to getting the answers she so desperately wanted and needed, when another shot rang out. She stopped dead in her tracks. That was it; for everyone, apparently. A flurry of motion and noise erupted again. More shouts and gasps, more panic and more confusion. But what mattered most to Jeannie was that the good guys were going in.
They were getting her daughter. They were bringing Madison home.
She was crying again, trembling and shaking with anxiety and fear. It was over, though she wasn't sure what it was. Was it the end of Steve's life, or John's? Or worse, Madison's? No, she couldn't think like that. She mustn't.
She continued to watch the diner as the members of the S.W.A.T. team swarmed it, and heard them yelling and saw the lights of their guns illuminating the darkened building. She couldn't make anything out other than the S.W.A.T. team through the diner windows. What did that mean? Was no one else in the diner able to stand? What was going on?
She heard General O'Neill talking with someone who was apparently within the diner.
"Right," he gravely said into the radio before turning to his aide beside. "We need four ambulances."
Jeannie panicked. Four ambulances? Four? There were only five people in the diner, which meant her daughter could have been one of the one's hurt. Either way, at least one of the people she cared about in that diner was hurt.
"General!," yelled Jeannie, breaking away from Caleb's arms and running over to General O'Neill. "My daughter -," she cried, tears still pouring over her face. "What about Madison?! Is she okay?"
O'Neill grabbed her shoulders and squeezed them. "She's fine," he said. "They're bringing her out."
The world stopped. It was what she had been hoping and praying for the entire time. Those precious, beautiful words. The darkness within her lifted and she found it hard to stand. Then Caleb was there, holding onto her and laughing a shaky, trembling laugh. Even the twinkling lights the stars provided seemed to shine brighter than they had all night.
"Jeannie," Caleb said, pointing, "look."
She knew where to look; it was the same dreadful place her eyes had been locked on for hours. Yet, nothing could have been as beautiful as what she was seeing now. Against the jet black uniform of a S.W.A.T. member, a pink dress stood out as Madison was carried out of the diner. She was vaguely aware that everyone was clapping now at the sight of Madison, alive and well. But no one were more thrilled than Jeannie; she was running forward again, only this time, no one tried to stop her, not that anyone could have. She reached them and threw her arms out around the man and around her daughter. She heard the man laugh heartily as he handed Madison over to her.
It was one of the sweetest moments Jeannie had ever experienced in her life, rivaling that of the first moment she held her newborn baby girl in her arms. That day seemed so far from now as she held Madison, her strong little girl, no longer a baby. She vaguely noticed people pushing by her and entering the diner, but she paid them no mind.
Still, something wasn't completely right. The initial happiness that accompanied the news of her daughter's safety dissipated, only slightly, as it occurred to her exactly what that meant. It meant John was hurt. Meant he had more than likely been shot trying to protect her daughter.
Jeannie reluctantly handed Madison to Caleb, feeling horrible as she did so, but she had to know what happened to John. She turned back to the diner and tried to get closer, felt her stomach flutter and clench at the thought of going back in. As she neared the diner's entrance, a soldier stopped her from entering. She didn't fight him, but tried to peer around him to see inside the diner.
Seconds later, a gurney surrounded by paramedics rushed out the door, pushing Jeannie to the side, allowing her a quick glimpse of it's occupant. It was John. He was pale, blood covering his face, more so than the last time she saw him, and now, the entire right side of his chest was covered in blood as well. The paramedics hustled around him, shouting different things and grabbing different objects. John's eyes were closed, and Jeannie was sure he was unconscious. At least he was not in pain.
Her stomach tightened, not knowing how John was hurt, or what she was going to tell Mer when he got there. Had they been notified yet? Jeannie knew they would want to know as John was basically a part of their family.
She saw more bodies being taken from the diner, but her attention was still on Colonel Sheppard's gurney being put in the back of an ambulance. They would take him to the SGC's infirmary to be sure he wouldn't reveal any of the SGC's secrets while he was disoriented. Jeannie just hoped she would be able to see him because there was so much she needed to tell him. More importantly, she just hoped she would get that chance at all.
As his ambulance pulled away, Jeannie turned back to her small, but wonderful family. Once again, they were safe. They would get another day together, and that was good enough for her. She just hoped that keeping her family safe didn't take away a part of Mer's.
She wanted to leave now, wanted to forget this place ever existed and go somewhere, anywhere, else. Caleb seemed to read her mind as he gently urged her forward. They were going to be taken to the SGC in one of the military vehicles, General O'Neill had mentioned that earlier. As they made their way to the awaiting car, Jeannie turned back to get one last look at the diner.
She stopped dead in her tracks. She hadn't even considered the diner's name in all the hours spent staring at it, but now it seemed important, and in many ways, ironic.
The large, moonlit sign read, Angel's.
Jeannie smiled and felt more tears forming in her eyes as she remembered her prayers and how they had been answered. Madison had always been in the arms of an angel, just maybe not one from heaven. With that thought, she was ready to leave.
The ride to the SGC was a silent and quick one, complete with tears and a few forced words, but not much else. Once they had arrived at the SGC, they were informed that Caleb and Madison would have to remain in one of the small conference rooms; the same one, in fact, that Jeannie had been sitting in earlier that same day, although that seemed like days ago now.
Caleb had not fought with her or complained about it; he knew she needed to be there for John. "I just wish I could thank him myself," Caleb had said before Jeannie was escorted towards the infirmary. She understood why she wasn't exactly allowed to freely roam about the underground base, and even appreciated it as she didn't know where to go anyway.
They were in a silver-walled elevator now and when the door slid open, she saw her brother, pacing back and forth outside the infirmary. He stopped pacing when he heard them approach, and was suddenly coming at her. Before she had time to react, his arms flew around her, taking her surprise. She returned the hug after a moment, but he pulled away shortly after.
"What… what happened?" he choked, looking completely disheveled. "I heard there was a hostage situation. I just got here but they wouldn't let me leave because it was over and they said that you were coming here,… I just saw him. I-I don't know what's going on and… where's Madison? They said she was there but where is she? What the hell happened?"
They haven't really told him anything, Jeannie thought. She didn't want to relive the nightmare so soon, and even so, there was so much that happened in that diner she didn't know about. She didn't know how John had gotten shot, or who took out all of the gunmen. The only thing she had gotten from Madison was that John had forced her to hide behind a table or something like that. Jeannie could guess what had happened, but that was it.
She told him what she knew, which was not that much, and then joined him in waiting. It was awkward; neither really knew what to say to the other. Jeannie knew Mer was happy she and Madison were alright, but was still very worried about John.
"I'm sorry Mer," Jeannie said finally, feeling as though something needed to be said. "I'm sorry for all of this."
"What?" he asked, lifting his head and looking at her with a confused expression. "Sorry for what, exactly? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
Jeannie shook her head and fought back tears. "I… I don't know. Everything that's happened."
"Oh, well you know its not your fault," he tried to console her, but didn't seem very comfortable with it. She still appreciated it, though.
"I just wanted him to feel like he had someone here, you know," she continued; she needed to say these things. "And I know things would have been different if Madison wasn't there. He probably would have taken them out or something, but John promised me he would take care of her." She saw Mer smile knowingly at her words, the opposite of what she would have expected. "And now you had to come here and wait…"
She was interrupted by Rodney's forced laugh. "This? This is nothing. Well, let's just say I'm used to it. Normally, Ronon and Teyla would be here, but seeing as how both of them are off world…"
Jeannie stopped and looked at him. "So, it's like this a lot? People getting hurt and almost dying?"
Rodney stuttered as he tried to find the right words, "Well, kind of. Not all the time, of course, but it happens. Especially with Sheppard. I tell you, his ATA gene can't possibly be as strong as his suicidal one, that's for sure.," he said with a smirk. "Always jumping in front of bullets and volunteering for suicide missions…"
His words washed over Jeannie and something occurred to her all of the sudden: John Sheppard was an angel. Not the stereotypical kind, of course, but he fit Jeannie's standards of an angel. He was able to keep so many safe during the worst of times, even if it meant giving his own life.
"So, Ronon and Teyla are off-world?" Jeannie asked, trying to move away from the talk of death.
"Yeah. Was supposed to be a three-day recovery mission on some storm-ravaged planet. Communication is not the best there, but Carter's trying to get a hold of them."
Jeannie nodded, "I'm sure they'd like to be here as well."
Mer nodded but said nothing else. They sat in silence for the most part, exchanging a few forced words every-so-often, but none of them ever amounted to true conversations. Not that Jeannie had shared many conversations with her brother over the years, but it didn't decrease the nagging feeling she had that something needed to be said.
Time became a distant notion to her after about two hours. She had already spoken with Kaleb and knew he and Madison were back at his mother's house. Jeannie's goodbye with Madison had been an unnaturally long one, filled with numerous hugs and kissed, but they had parted. Two hours stretched into three, but finally, the infirmary doors opened and out came a young female doctor who looked very tired. Suddenly, Mer was standing and meeting her in the middle of the hallway. Jeannie followed suit and also stood.
"How is he?" Mer questioned immediately. "Better yet, let's start with his injuries."
Jeannie sighed, hearing the accusing tone in her brother's voice and remembered his distrust in medicine. However, when she saw the doctor's face, Jeannie knew the doctor was capable of handling him.
"Colonel Sheppard is going to be okay," she said sternly. "The bullet did quite a bit of damage, but he is luckily his ribs did what they were supposed to do. The bullet actually hit one of his ribs and was then ricocheted into his shoulder. The rib it hit was broken and another fractured, but at least we didn't have to remove the bullet from his lung."
Jeannie nodded, grateful that this doctor, Dr. Maisley, was explaining everything so that she could understand it. Jeannie glanced over at Rodney and was almost surprised to see him quiet and not questioning every last thing that was said.
"The bullet didn't do a lot of damage to his shoulder. Nothing that we could fix, anyway. However, halfway through the surgery we found that the broken rib lacerated an intercostal artery which had caused the Colonel todevelop a hemothorax, or bleeding around the lungs, but a chest tube was inserted and the blood is draining nicely."
Jeannie looked at her brother once more and noticed he looked a little green, no doubt from the idea of a tube sticking out of John's chest, as it was an unsettling thought for herself. Dr. Maisley seemed to sense this uneasiness in them because a weary, yet reassuring smile formed on her face.
"I expect a full recovery. We'll just have to watch him for the next two weeks or so to ensure that the drainage is working properly, but other than that, he's going to be really sore."
"Is that all?" Jeannie asked now. "Just the bullet? I know he took a pretty good hit to the head and chest, and that was before I left."
Dr. Maisley nodded. "Yes, he did have a slight concussion, I also saw some bruising on his chest that is not due to the gunshot wound he received. That just means we'll be monitoring his pain management that more closely, especially with the concussion. We want to make sure that the Colonel's pain is under control but that he is not so heavily sedated that his breathing becomes compromised or that he becomes nauseated."
Mer grunted amusingly at this comment, causing both Jeannie and Dr. Maisley to look at him questioningly.
"He doesn't like pain meds," Mer said simply with a shrug.
"Well, I'm sure he won't mind them this time."
"This time? He doesn't like them anytime. Of course, he won't notice until he's lucid, but then he'll prefer the pain over the 'way it makes him feel'," said Rodney, ending the sentence in what Jeannie guessed was his best impression of Colonel Sheppard. Either way, the comment made Jeannie smile and when she looked at Dr. Maisley, she too was smiling.
"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Once we get Colonel Sheppard settled into the ICU, I don't see why you can't sit with him for a few minutes. It will be a while though before we can get him settled."
Jeannie felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders and saw the strong relief in Mer as well. Although John had not escaped unscathed, he was alive and had kept Madison safe. So, all in all, not a bad ending to the day.
Jeannie gently lowered herself to her chair, prepared to wait with her brother until they were allowed to see John. With a relieved sigh, she closed her eyes and said one last thing to God; she did not ask anything of Him, simply thanked Him for staying with her and the people in the diner and getting her to where she was now.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed Mer had his eyes closed as well. She briefly wondered if he was praying too, but decided it was a silly thought. She sighed and relaxed her back against the chair's back, and waited.
"I haven't seen that one yet, is it any good?"
"Haven't seen it? I live in another galaxy and I've seen it, how on… Earth could you not have seen it yet?"
Sheppard was vaguely aware of voices speaking near him, but the heaviness in his eyelids overpowered his urge to see who was speaking. He wasn't sure about a lot of things at the given moment, but he knew he didn't feel right. He was not in pain, per se, but he felt achy. It wasn't pleasant, but he found the confusion of it all to be even more unbearable.
Sheppard briefly considered trying to find out more about his current surroundings and the state at which he was in, but quickly decided against it. Sleep sounded much more appealing and easy, and so he allowed himself to tune the hushed voices out, and slipped into peaceful darkness.
EN: One more chapter to go! I'll try to get it out soon, but please forgive me if it takes another week.