Title: Identity 2.0
Summary: Carson is injured while running through the forest. How will these injuries effect his ability to help Jennifer when she needs it?
Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing.
AN: Written for GW's CB Rewrite An Episode challenge.
Carson ran, trying his hardest to catch up but sadly he was not as in shape as the rest of them. Well, the rest of them besides Rodney, he amended as he heard the puffing breathing of the scientist behind him. He gleaned some sort of satisfaction from that little triumph at least. The shooting continued up ahead of them, spurring them into action, running toward the sound.
"Come on Rodney! Jennifer could be hurt!" he called behind him, turning his head to see the scientist give him a dirty look and put some more umph into his stride. Soon he surpassed Carson making the doctor want to add more speed into his own stride. His legs pumped furiously as the muscles tried to comply with his brain's demands and soon he started to gain on the physicist.
Rodney spun out of the way of a tree, gliding almost graciously passed it, and disappeared out of sight. Ignoring the burning in his lungs and legs, Carson urged his body to put on more speed and soon he too was flying through the forest with greens and browns and blacks whizzing by as he went.
His forward movement was abruptly halted by his foot catching on a tree root, sending him cascading down toward the forest floor. Pain throbbed in his right wrist as his hand struck the hard, unyielding ground, forcing the limb back more than the hand and wrist were comfortable with. Instantly after his body hit the ground, Carson felt warm, bone-jarring pain in his left leg as his knee struck hard against a seemingly innocent rock in the ground.
As the pain registered in his mind, Carson released a loud but brief cry of pain that echoed through the quiet of the wood around him and rolled onto his side, cradling his wrist to his chest and raising his leg so it did not touch anything. He laid there in silent suffering hoping Rodney had heard his cry and would return soon.
Wind rushed past his ears, silencing any potential sounds the animals that lurked nearby could back. His own labored breathing echoed harshly into the air and the frantic pounding of his hearts rung in his head. Rodney stopped when he heard something that sounded like a cry of pain, panting through the cramp that ran along his side, but when gunshots sounded again, he kept running figuring the cry he'd heard was a person who had been caught by a bullet.
He resumed running only to practically crash into Sheppard as the soldier appeared out of no where with anger in his eyes and ice in his demeanor. Ronon swept by him carrying the woman in Jennifer's body, his usually tan clothing becoming stained with crimson from the gunshot wound in her side.
"What happened? Where are we going?" Rodney asked in confusion as the members of his team started moving once again.
"We're heading back to the village so Carson can get the bullet out," Sheppard answered him shortly as his head turned in every direction possible in search of something. "Rodney, where's Carson?"
"Well he's-" Rodney cut off when he too noticed the absence of the doctor and he felt his heart sink. "He was right behind me I swear!"
Sheppard and Ronon emitted low, guttural growls and began running in the direction Rodney had just come from. Teyla merely spared him a look that he couldn't decipher before she too took off at a brisk jog. Lowering his head in frustration and defeat, Rodney leaned on his knees trying to catch his breath then quickly began to follow. Carson had better be unconscious or Rodney is going to kill him.
After what felt like hours of waiting, Carson finally realized that Rodney was not coming back for him and that admission hurt more than he cared to admit. He knew the scientist could be down right prickly and cold-hearted but he had thought that deep down the physicist actually cared.
He probably didn't hear you, you daft dolt, a voice similar to his own chided with a sigh. Either way you best be gettin' up. Yer not doin' yerself any good by sittin' down on the ground.
Carson wanted nothing more than to ignore the voice in his head and continued to lay where he was in his own small bundle of misery but approaching footsteps began sounding through the din of the forest making him realize he at least needed to find cover if not manage to stand.
Doing his best to prepare for the pain that moving would cause, Carson slowly raised himself up so that he was leaning against a tree. His arm and leg gave a jolt as they both were jarred in the process but he bit his lip in case unfriendly ears could hear. He took a moment to examine his leg, trying to determine if anything was broken then upon seeing no deformities – other than bad swelling – he proceeded to raise his good leg so his foot was planted firmly on the ground and began to push himself up to standing, using the tree as leverage.
He felt the threads of his jacket and vest catch on the bark but he ignored them in favor of trying to fool whomever was about to come around the bend. Still cradling his wrist, Carson awkwardly grabbed his gun with his left hand and tried to use his more dominant right to hold it. Pain burned through the arm in response to his attempt and he had to bite down hard on his lip to keep the pained cry from escaping his mouth.
A twig cracked under the weight of a person's foot and Carson drew his gun into his left hand and raised his arm, blue eyes hard and determined as he waited for the enemy to appear.
Spiky black hair and brown dreads that could only belong to two different, familiar men stood out in the green of the forest and Carson quickly lowered his weapon in relief. He leaned his head against the trunk of the tree panting from exertion, adrenaline and pain.
"Doc you okay?" the Colonel asked sounding light though Carson could hear something stern underneath. Something must have happened otherwise the soldier wouldn't have been as distant in his question.
Ronon appeared in full view carrying Jennifer's limp and pale body and instantly Carson knew the reason for John's tone of voice. Hoping he hid the pain from his voice, the doctor answered, "Aye fine enough. We need to get Jennifer," for that's whose body the woman was in, "to a place where I can examine her."
"Great," Rodney panted, his face red and annoyed, "tell us something we don't know!"
"What are we waiting for?" Ronon asked impatient to lighten his load and switch the two women.
But John didn't respond. His breathing, while much quieter than Rodney or Carson's had ever been, was still fast but the doctor knew it wasn't from exertion. Colonel Sheppard was in such good shape he often put lads much younger than himself to shame. Hazel eyes hadn't moved from staring at him and Carson could tell the soldier suspected something. When his eyes focused in on Carson's cradled wrist and injured leg the anger within them softened somewhat and he headed straight for the hurting doctor.
Without bothering to say a word, John pulled out one of the compression bandages that this particular team has been known to need and began wrapping it around the swollen and bruised wrist. His touched gentled with every pained sound Carson made offering apology instantly for hurting him and soon the job was done. The wrist still ached horribly but it was tolerable enough until he was able to get Jennifer taken care of.
"Can you walk?" John asked eyeing his knee skeptically.
Carson chose to put some weight on his leg to see. Pain instantly shot from the joint, spreading throughout his leg and the knee buckled beneath him. The Colonel caught him before he fell and slipped under his right side, wrapping an arm around his waist.
By some mutual agreement the group started heading off in the direction of the village. Thankfully it wasn't more than half a kilometer from where they were to the magistrate's building but even so, each step Carson made with his left leg was a pain close to agony. By the time they'd reached the ratty old building, his muscles were shaking from trying to control it and his leg had begun to refuse his weight.
The group burst through the door rather unceremoniously and Ronon placed Jennifer upon the table while Carson, with help from Teyla, began to get things set up. Vaguely Carson heard John threaten the magistrate but he was too busy trying to gather up his strength for the procedure he was about to do to truly listen.
He painfully step-hopped over to the right side of the table then put his gloves on. The latex hurt as it wrapped snugly around his injured wrist and Carson couldn't quite stifle a small sound of pain and a wince but he soon began picking up the instruments he would need and began exorcising the bullet.
Through his peripheral vision Carson saw Teyla watching him closely with calm concern in her eyes. She watched every move he made, every wince and grimace he gave, and she listened to every sound he elicited. He could tell she was torn between her concern for Jennifer and her concern for him and he felt honored by her indecision. It was nice to know that his friends truly did worry about him, even if he wouldn't allow them to.
Stifling another sound of pain, Carson extracted the bullet and dropped it into the silver basin that Teyla held. As if sensing that its work was done, his wrist sent a particularly painful throb vibrating through his arm and his fingers responded by dropping the bloodied forceps to the floor. He inhaled a hissing breath, once again cradling his wrist to his chest, and exhaled out a groaned growl. His left hand shook as he tried to staunch the bleeding so they could get her back to Atlantis where she could be properly taken care of but eventually he was able to create a thick enough bandage, taping it securely to her abdomen with a pre-taped gauze bandage he'd made before he'd started.
Jennifer's eyes opened, looking around her in confusion before they focused on her two friends and offered a weak smile.
"Welcome back."
Later that night Carson lay in an infirmary bed with his head back and his eyes closed, listening to Jennifer and Rodney chit chat. His right arm was in a cast which encased half of his forearm and currently resting with an ice pack on top of it in a sling that was at an odd angle in order to allow for elevation. Now that it was surrounded by the snug material, the excruciating throb that had overtaken the limb just after surgery was now down to a rather dull ache. He'd known it had been broken back on the planet but he also had a life to save and he wasn't about to let a few broken bones stop him.
Rodney and Jennifer laughed and Carson smiled in spite of himself. They were an oddly matched couple but somehow they worked. It made his friend happy and to him that was all that mattered.
He shifted to get comfortable but soon stopped when his knee snapped at him not to move. The leg was elevated one a couple of pillows with one under his foot so as not to stress the knee by making it bend with a rather big ice pack covering his injured joint. The knee itself was pretty badly swollen with a pretty array of bruising that encompassed the entire color spectrum. Scans had shown a bad sprain but he'd been confident that he would be fine without surgery to fix the damage and so he sat doing his time of overnight observation before being released in the morning.
The thought of being released made him long for the morning but he wasn't looking forward to the brace they would want him to wear if ever he tried to put weight on his leg. He hoped it would be some time before he'd be forced to try but knowing the Pegasus Galaxy – well, let's just say there's no rest for the Scottish.
Footsteps sounded off to his left and he looked up to find Colonel Sheppard coming in and heading straight for his bed.
"Hey Doc, how ya feelin'?" he greeted cheerily as he came to stand on Carson's left. The doctor suspected that the Colonel's happiness had something to do with the fact that for once he hadn't needed to remain in the infirmary overnight and Carson did but he couldn't prove it.
"Better Colonel, thank you," Carson answered with a tired smile. The medication they'd given him hadn't been too terribly strong but they were strong enough to make him slightly loopy and extremely tired while also taking most of the pain away. He'd always been a bit of a lightweight when it came to medicines – something he was quite grateful for whenever it came time to him needing them.
"Good," John responded, gently bringing a part of his lower hip into his mouth in order to allow his teeth to nibble on it. He heaved a great sight and folded his hands behind his back. "Look, Doc, I just wanted to apologize for making you walk."
Carson gave him a friendly smile and a small shake of his head. Since the area was heavily populated with trees, the idea of a puddle jumper coming for them had been completely out of the picture, leaving Ronon to gladly carry Jennifer while an annoyed Rodney trailed closely behind and John to help Carson limp. The trek had been made harder by the fact that his leg wouldn't hold his weight meaning he had to hop his way to the gate while trying to keep his left foot from coming into contact with the ground. It had been excruciating to say the least but of one thing he was sure – it was not John's fault.
"You have nothing to apologize for Colonel," he granted easily as his soft blue eyes focused on worried hazel ones. "It wasn't exactly an exercise I'd like to try again mind you but I know that if you'd had a choice you would have flown the puddle jumper there yourself."
John nodded – though Carson didn't think he'd actually listened – and his eyes soon moved from Carson's face to his iced knee. He gave a wince at the sight of the joint underneath the ice pack but soon righted himself, pasting on a fairly fake smile.
"So, you got anyone to take care of you when you get out of here because if not I think that cute nurse over there would be willing to volunteer." Mischief and teasing filled the Colonel's eyes as he spoke and Carson couldn't help but flinch and turn in hopes that the young woman hadn't heard him.
"Colonel keep yer voice down, do ya hear me?" Carson hissed at him when he saw the nurse give him a blushing smile. "And Lara is a very sweet young woman who happens ta have a boyfriend if ya dunnae mind."
A smile so wide it could have created a bridge for the Mississippi river spread across John's face. "Do you know your accent gets thicker when you're embarrassed?"
"Aye I do. Now you can feel free to stay or ya can go but if ya stay, no more of this talk. Ya hear me? There isnae a single woman on this base that 'tis interested in me."
A recently returned off-world team comprising of all females passed his bed and John saw them all spare admiring glances at the doctor but he didn't seem to notice it. How could this man be so clueless?
John just smiled and settled into one of the visiting chairs. "Whatever you say Doc," he said in a tolerant tone. "Whatever you say."
~fin~
There you go folks! Short and sweet. Don't forget to review!