Chapter 17

Black spots in front of his eyes. He tried to breathe through it. He could not pass out, not now. If McKay would wake up before he did, he would still try to take his own life. And that was something Ronon could not allow.

He took the extra minutes to try and recover from the effort of throwing himself on Rodney. Ronon tried to sit up, looking down at his now soaking bandages. He could feel the warm blood leaving his chest where the hole had re-opened. Along his left arm blood was running freely to meet up with his fingertips. He had to move. Soon he would lose too much blood to be able to get both Rodney and himself to safety.

Ronon looked back towards the transporter. The distance had never seemed so big. He could not use the crutch as that would mean leaving Rodney alone. He had to take the hurt scientist with him.

Slowly he started crawling towards the transporter, using his left arm to pull himself along, and then dragging his useless foot. He grabbed Rodney by his infirmary pyjamas and pulled him along with his right arm. He had the feeling his body was being torn to pieces, every meter agony. But he could not leave his friend.

Finally he reached the transporter. It opened and he pulled himself with Rodney on top, into the machine. He reached up, hoping he tapped the right buttons for the mess hall. He had to get to an area with people, preferably lots of them and preferably with Sheppard somewhere nearby.

The blinding light took them to the mess hall in an instance.

The doors opened and he rolled out with his precious cargo.

'AAH!' He never saw the woman but her screams at seeing both men, brought Sheppard and Teyla to the transporter.

Sheppard dropped on his knees, not knowing what to do first. Teyla immediately called for medical assistance.

Finally Ronon looked up.

'Sheppard, keep Rodney sedated!' He dropped his head. His vision was fast loosing coherence.

'Promise!' He grabbed Sheppard's shirt.

'I will.' He heard John say and finally gave in to the fast engulfing darkness.

Jennifer was torn. On the one hand she wanted to take care of Rodney, who for one or other reason had more cuts now. But Ronon's condition was a lot more serious. She would have to leave Rodney up to her capable staff.

Sheppard had insisted they sedated Rodney and although she didn't understand why, it was for the better at this moment.

It had taken her another three hours to get Ronon together again. Vital arteries had torn apart again in his chest, leaving his body deprived of the much needed life fluids. The stitches in his arm had all torn open as he had used his muscles to pull both himself and Rodney to the transporter.

In the back of her mind she kept thinking what must have happened for both men to get hurt so badly. She hoped Rodney had not been the cause of Ronon's situation. At the same time she hoped Ronon had not been the one responsible for the condition Rodney was in.

oooOOOooo

By daybreak both men were settled back into their beds, both fast asleep.

Sheppard and Teyla had retraced the blood and found the knife. But they were none the wiser as to what had happened. So they took some chairs and sat with their friends, hoping one of them would wake up soon and tell them what the hell was going on.

Sheppard was restless, waking through the infirmary like a caged tiger. Rodney was restless, tossing and turning in his bed. Ronon was restless, his hands trying to grab something which only he saw in his dreams. Teyla tried to stay calm, if only to make sure one of the team gave a semblance of control. But inside, she was just as restless as the others.

Rodney was the first to wake up. He realised immediately he was back in his bed in infirmary. Slowly he looked around noticing Sheppard watching him.

'Hey there.' Rodney said a bit unsure.

'Hello, Rodney. How are you feeling?' Teyla asked as Sheppard did not reply.

Jennifer immediately came running as well.

'Hello.' She said smiling. Rodney smiled back at her.

'I'm fine, little hungry. What happened?' Rodney asked.

'Can't you remember?' John now approached the bed.

'No, not really. Has anything happened?'

John was confused. Why did Ronon want to keep Rodney sedated? He seemed ok enough.

He pulled Jennifer a bit to the side.

'I thought you were going to keep him under?' He quietly whispered.

'There is no medical reason for that. What made you ask in the first place?'

John looked at the other bed.

'Ronon insisted.'

'Why? Or does Ronon not want us to find out what he did to Rodney?' That came out a lot more venomously than she intended.

'You think Ronon hurt Rodney?' Sheppard could not believe she had just implied that.

Jennifer shook her head.

'No, not really. I just wish we'd find out what happened.'

'Well, let's ask Rodney.' John said annoyed.

They walked back to the bed where Rodney was quietly talking away to Teyla.

'Rodney?' John intruded.

'Sheppard.' Rodney replied.

'Care to tell us what happened?'

Rodney looked confused.

'I was held on the planet and you came to save me.' Rodney simply stated.

'And what happened with Ronon?' John prompted.

Rodney looked even more confused.

'He fell. Don't tell me you didn't get him back in time!' Rodney suddenly panicked.

'No, no. He's recovering.' Jennifer quickly tried to calm him down. She shot Sheppard an angry look but he ignored her.

'I mean, what happened to you and Ronon on the pier?' Sheppard tried again.

'What happened?' Rodney repeated the question.

'Don't you remember anything else?' Teyla gently pushed.

'No, not really. Any chance of getting something to eat? I'm starving.' And with that Rodney seemed his usual self again. Any chance of getting further answers disappeared as Jennifer got him something to eat.

John walked back to Ronon's bed wishing him to wake up soon.

He looked down at his friend, noticing the beads of sweat covering his face. He could feel the heat radiating from his body. His breathing was hesitant and laboured.

'Doc!' Sheppard called.

Jennifer rushed over.

'Oh, this is not good. Infection has set in. We had so hoped that wouldn't happen.' She listened to his heart and breathing. She pushed Sheppard to the side and quickly injected Ronon with some strong medication, putting a breathing mask over his mouth and nose. After a few minutes Ronon seemed to be breathing more easily.

'Doc?' John tried to get her attention again.

Jennifer turned around.

'Ronon is very sick. I don't know when he'll wake up.'

That was not the news he wanted to hear. Ronon had made him promise to keep Rodney sedated. Why was that? Was it because he had something to hide? No, Sheppard immediately threw that suggestion out the window. But what was the reason then? Looking back at Rodney, he seemed his usual self again, talking to Teyla, rubbing his cuts once in a while but nothing unusual.

He'd have to be patient. But for how long?

TBC