December 22nd

Returning to consciousness was gradual. At first all Evan was aware of was the noises around him – machines and the faint sounds of people moving about. Familiar sounds that somehow reassured him. He was drifting … until abruptly his mind conjured up the last events he remembered. Torrell pointing his weapon at Privic, his own attempt to push the Olessian elder to safety. It seemed as soon as his mind remembered events so did his body, the pain of the hit he'd taken to the chest rising to the fore with enough force to have him letting out a groan.

"Evan?"

The low, hopeful voice was accompanied by a hand caressing the hair back from his brow.

Jenn. His lips curved up at the edges as he forced his lids to open, his eyes locking on hers immediately. "Hey," his voice sounded rough, his throat dry the way it always was when he'd been put under a general anaesthetic. He wasn't sure what it said about him that he'd been under enough times to recognise the after effects so readily.

"Hey," Jennifer smiled, her relief palpable enough that his guilt level rose sharply in response.

"I'm sorry Jenn," he felt compelled to utter the words even though he knew they didn't really help.

"You should be too," she responded briskly. "Colonel Sheppard already told me what happened so don't even try to down play it."

"He ah – I wasn't going to - …," he trailed off awkwardly.

"It's okay Evan," Jennifer leaned closer, taking his hand and holding on to it tightly. "At this point I'm just glad you're going to be okay."

"How bad was it?" he asked, his eyes telling her he'd know if she tried to downplay things too.

"Bad," she admitted starkly. "You were lucky the energy bolt missed all the vital organs but it still did a lot of damage. It'll be a few weeks before you'll be ready to return to light duty."

He nodded. "I guess there's no point in asking when I can get out of here," he commented.

"None whatsoever," Jennifer said firmly. "You might be feeling somewhat okay right now but when the pain meds wear off it'll be a different story. You'll stay here until I judge that you're strong enough to get around without risk of hindering your recovery."

"Right, sure, of course," he grimaced, sure that he'd be frustrated with the inactivity long before he managed to get to that stage. "Was anyone else hurt?" he asked.

"Just you," Jennifer reassured him. "As soon as Torrell was eliminated the rest of his men surrendered without a fight. Ronon went to the home base and brought back the villagers they'd taken – the ones that were still alive."

"That's great news," Evan smiled, glad that something good had come from the day's events. "I'm guessing since I'm here that Eldon lifted the block he put on the Stargate?"

"Colonel Sheppard didn't give him a choice," Jennifer's voice quivered, her eyes watering as she looked at Evan. "We had to get you back to the infirmary here as soon as possible, otherwise …," she couldn't finish that sentence.

Otherwise he wouldn't have made it. Evan frowned.

"Don't say sorry again," Jennifer put a hand to his lips when he began to speak. "I knew going into this relationship that there would be times like this. Atlantis isn't a place for the faint of heart Evan … it all but killed me to see you so badly hurt but I can't blame you for that. I don't blame you. The attributes that had you stepping in to save Privic are the same ones that made it impossible for me to do anything but fall in love with you."

He wanted to say the right thing to make everything better but there was no right thing. Sometimes reality was harsh … but it made the choice to stick together and forge something lasting all the more meaningful.

"John's visited a few times waiting for you to wake up so I should let him know you're awake," Jennifer deliberately changed the subject, squeezing his reassuringly before she let go as she rose to her feet. "Nate and Dan are probably still hovering around outside even though I told them to go and get some rest. Eldon too – he feels guilty enough that you ended up in here so go easy on him."

"Don't -," he stopped himself short of making demands on her, knowing she had a job to do and could probably use a break from the seriousness of his situation, now she was assured he'd be okay.

"I'm not going far," Jennifer smiled, leaning down to kiss him gently, her hand caressing his cheek. "You do make it hard sometimes Evan Lorne," she murmured.

"But worth it, right?" When he was feeling stronger he'd probably feel embarrassed over how needy he sounded.

"Hell yes," she borrowed his own words to reassure him. "Now lie back and rest … I'll tell your team and Eldon they can visit for a minute or two each but then it's back to sleep for you."

"Yes Ma'am," he murmured, settling back into his pillow.

"Rest," she ordered, leaning in to kiss him again. When she straightened he was smiling. "What?" her eyes narrowed as she looked at him expectantly.

"Nothing," he returned. "I was just thinking about luck – and the large share I got dealt because I'm the one who gets to love you."

"Evan," her eyes misted and her lips trembled when she smiled. "You charmer," she murmured, letting the magnetism between them draw her back for a third, more heated kiss. Abruptly she pulled back, straightening and tugging down her jacket in an effort to appear calm and together. "Nice try but you still have to stay here," she said firmly. "I'll come back once the boys have had a chance to talk to you."

"-kay," he yawned as he watched her leave, wincing when the action pulled at his chest wounds. There was another set of knowledge he'd rather not be reminded he had – all the various normal functions like yawning and sneezing and laughing – that were all guaranteed to remind you of just how injured you really were.

"Sir," Nate was the first to arrive at his bedside.

"At ease," Evan returned, nodding as Dan and Jimmy moved to stand beside the Sergeant.

"It's good to see you awake Sir," Nate said less formally. "You had us worried there for a while."

"How long have I been out?" Evan had the sense that it was a while, enough that he hadn't wanted to ask Jennifer.

"The rest of yesterday and most of today Sir," Reed answered. "Doc says it'll be a few weeks before you're back on the roster."

"Yeah, that's what she told me too," Evan admitted. "Colonel Sheppard can assign someone else to the team while I'm laid up."

"We're good with being on stand down Sir," Nate countered, his tone the one he reserved when he thought Lorne was being particularly dense and in need of some upwards management.

"You feeling the need for a vacation Sergeant?" Evan teased.

"After weeks being the guests of the Olessians?" Nate's brow rose sharply. "Hell yes Sir."

"I feel like I've lost fitness," Reed admitted. "It'll probably take us just as long to reach battle readiness as it will you Sir."

Nate and Jimmy both nodded. Evan knew what they were doing – making it clear they'd rather wait until he could lead them back out into the field than go out there without him – and he appreciated it.

"You all did well out there," he said.

"So did you Sir," Nate returned.

"Time's up," Jennifer's voice intruded on the team back slapping session. Evan smiled when Nate frowned. "Now that you've seen the Major I trust you'll follow my order for food and rest."

"Yes Ma'am," they all said reluctantly.

"Don't worry Sergeant," Jennifer said easily. "I'll let you know when you can come back. For now Major Lorne needs his rest too."

"We'll be back Sir," Reed promised as the three men turned to leave.

They passed Eldon as he hesitantly walked forward, his head low and his eyes downcast. Evan didn't think he'd ever seen anyone who looked as remorseful.

"Lighten up," Evan told the young man firmly.

"I'm r-really s-sorry M-m-major Lorne," Eldon seemed not to have heard Evan's words, his need to get out what he'd clearly prepared to say overriding everything else. "If I hadn't f-forced you to come to Olessia n-n-none of this would have happened."

"That's true," Evan's blunt response brought Eldon up short, his eyes going wide. "And Torrell would still be terrorising your people, taking the ones he wanted for who knows what purpose. And Olessia would be doomed to a slow death. I think we can all agree that would have been bad."

"So you're not mad?" Eldon suddenly sounded younger than his years in his need for Lorne's approval.

"I'm not mad," Evan affirmed. "Just do me a favour okay. Next time, tell me all the facts first and let me work out how best to help you."

"Okay," Eldon smiled, his eyes shining with gratitude. "Th-thank you Major."

"You're welcome," Evan said simply. "So, you sticking around the city for a while?"

"No," Eldon blushed, his eyes going down to his shoes. "Elana's friend was one of the people Ronon brought back to the village. She asked me to h-help with Kira's recovery."

"And you couldn't say no," Evan smiled. "I understand that one buddy. Sounds like you're on the right track with your girl."

"She's n-not my g-girl," Eldon protested. "Y-yet." His eyes met Evan's and the two men broke out into matching grins.

"Ouch," Evan put a hand to his chest. "Don't make me laugh."

"Sorry," Eldon was immediately contrite.

"It's not your fault," Jennifer was back again, her arms folded over her chest as she regarded her almost fiancé pointedly. "Major Lorne is notoriously bad at following infirmary orders."

"Colonel Sheppard is worse," Evan smirked when Eldon swallowed back a chuckle.

"You're welcome to visit again before you go back to Olessia Eldon," Jennifer said in a friendly tone. "Give Major Lorne a few hours to get some rest first, okay."

"Okay," Eldon agreed. "Thank you Doctor Keller, for everything."

"You're welcome," Jennifer smiled, watching as the young man hesitated, giving Evan's arm an awkward pat before he turned and hurried away.

"Thank you for everything?" Evan queried.

"He insisted on apologising to me for what he put me through taking you away for so long," Jennifer revealed. "Apparently you were quite eloquent when you talked about me."

"Oh," Evan grimaced. "That. I ah – I wanted him to think about all the consequences of his actions – to think beyond his own problems to how what he did affected others. Part of me was always worrying about what was going on here … with you … so I …," he trailed off, shrugging as much as his injuries would allow.

"You told him about us," Jennifer put a hand over his. "It's okay – it was flattering actually. Eldon is so earnest it would be hard to take offence to anything he said."

"He's a charmer all right," Evan returned, shaking his head. "So we're good?"

"We're good," Jennifer agreed. "In fact I have something I wanted us to do together." She held up a small scroll of paper.

Evan grinned. "You kept up?"

"I did," she admitted. "I know it's silly but I couldn't bring myself not to. In my mind I was linking you waking up with reading the messages for the two days since you were injured."

"Read today's message," Evan invited softly.

Jennifer nodded, sitting down beside him and carefully unrolling the tiny message. She read silently, giving him a laughing look when she was done. "That's your reason? To give John the push he needs with Teyla?"

"Hey, it doesn't say that," Evan swiped the paper before she could move it away, re-reading it quickly.

"I never understood that 'share the happiness' thing – friends trying to set you up just because they were happily hitched themselves. Until you. Now I'm thinking it would be fun to set an example – push a little in all the right places. We could be the first of a run of Atlantis weddings … if you say yes."

"You might have made that general but we both know you're thinking about John and Teyla," Jennifer insisted.

"What about me and Teyla?" Colonel Sheppard strode towards Evan's bed, his brow knitted in confusion.

"Nothing Sir," Evan shot Jennifer a warning glance. She took the advent message, spiriting it away into her pocket before she turned to give John a welcoming smile.

"Colonel, you're just in time to visit with Evan before he settles down for another rest," she said. "Just for a few minutes though, okay?"

"You got it Doc," John agreed, giving Evan a sympathetic look. He'd done enough infirmary time himself to understand how all the restrictions chaffed.

"I'll be back," she told Evan, touching her hand to his before she left them to speak privately.

"Good to see you awake Major," John said.

"Good to be awake Sir," Evan returned.