The moment he stepped onto the solid ground behind the 'gate a medical team descended, quickly taking Elizabeth from his arms and lying her on a stretcher, carrying her straight to the infirmary. His heart demanded that he follow them, that he never leave her side again but his head told him no, there were things that he needed to do first.
As Teyla climbed back through the fluctuation he rounded the 'gate, yelling for Rodney to put the shield up. The moment the shield went up the fluctuation vanished, blinking out of existence as quickly as it had appeared. At the same time the 'gate shut down as well, the energy that had been powering it gone. Climbing the stairs to ops he nodded to the on duty staff there, looking at Rodney.
"Did it work?"
"Of course it did," came his sure reply.
"Good. Now dial Gishcar and get the team there back. I'm going to the infirmary."
Rodney looked up at him then, his face pale. "I'll be there soon." Around him there was a chorus of agreement, apparently most of Atlantis wanted to check on its leader.
With a final parting nod, John took the stairs two at a time and began running to the infirmary. When he arrived Teyla and Ronon were stood outside.
"Dr. Beckett will not allow us in," Teyla said calmly, a little hint of frustration in her voice. John let himself sag against the wall, sliding down until he was sat on the floor, his legs stuck out in front of him. Quickly both Teyla and Ronon followed his example. When John looked up at them he couldn't help but pull a face at the state of Ronon. He was covered in dried blood, his shirt stiff and sticky, his hands and arms coated in dark red.
"You should go get cleaned up," John managed.
Ronon looked down at his front before grunting slightly, bobbing his head towards Sheppard. "So should you." It was only then that John realised he had Elizabeth's blood on his hands and clothes, that it was caked under his finger nails and soaked into his tactical vest. The feeling of it made him suddenly sick, the thought of leaving the infirmary even more so. Indecision began eating at him, he didn't want to look like this when Carson finally let him in to see Elizabeth but he didn't want to risk leaving her alone either.
As if sensing his inner turmoil Teyla spoke up, "you should both go and change. I will remain here and wait."
Without arguing Ronon stood, looking at Sheppard to do the same. Finally, after another moment he did, unclipping his P90 as he did. His steps were heavy as he walked away from the infirmary, away from Elizabeth.
By the time he got back, not twenty minutes later, Teyla had been joined by Rodney, Ronon and Major Lorne and his team. "Any news?" he asked the moment he arrived. In return Lorne shook his head. Again he sat down opposite Teyla and Ronon, Lorne on his other side. For a long time, they sat in silence, no one really knowing what to say. When, finally the infirmary doors opened revealing Carson stood on the other side everyone climbed to their feet still in silence. For a moment the scot just stood there, looking at the congregation loitering outside his infirmary.
"Alright, Dr. Weir is stable. If you'd like to see her, you can but she's sedated. I want to keep it that way for now." Without hesitation, everyone but Major Lorne and his team moved, quietly making their way into the infirmary. Seeing the Major's hesitation John hung back.
"What about Jen?" Lorne asked, his voice almost hollow. John knew how hard it had been for him to lose his team after the siege. Another loss now might be the final straw.
"Lt. Shann is in serious condition. She's lost a hell of a lot of blood and the trauma she's undergone is extensive. She has an infected puncture wound in her shoulder, incisions into the muscles in her left hand, arm, leg and foot, as well as one into her abdomen. Now we've got her dialysis to filter out the alien toxin in her blood. She's not breathing on her own either, so she's ventilated for now." Pausing, John heard Carson take a breath before he went on, "I'm sorry Major, but if there's no improvement in her condition in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours then her living will request that we turn her life support off." John could see the two marines stood beside Lorne visibly shrink, their shoulders sinking. "If you'd like to come with me you can sit with her but I have to warn you, there are a lot of tubes and wires around the lieutenant." John watched as they walked past before he headed over to sit by Elizabeth. Rodney had already pulled a chair out for him.
For hours John sat by her bedside, watching as the bags hung by her head slowly emptied into her veins, replacing the blood and fluids she'd lost. One by one his team members went on their way, Teyla falling asleep against Ronon's shoulder forcing him to carry her to her quarters and not come back. Rodney left to check on the shield and the dismantling of the grounding rod and most likely to get something to eat. By the time Carson came to check on Elizabeth only John was sat there, a cup of coffee clutched in his hand, his eyes locked on Elizabeth's sleeping face.
"You should get some sleep son," Carson said as he looked at John. He knew how much Elizabeth meant to him, even if the rest of the population of Atlantis didn't. God knew they did a good job of keeping it professional. But knowing how much she meant to him helped him understand how much of a living hell he must have been going through while she was missing.
"I'm good for now Carson," John mumbled, holding his coffee cup up a little before he took a swallow.
Having expected as much, Carson nodded. "Well if it's any consolation she should be waking up anytime. I gave her the last of the sedative and it should wear off in a couple of hours." The thought rallied John a little, gave him a little burst of energy. Smiling in thanks to Carson he watched him head over to the room Shann was in before turning his gaze back to Elizabeth.
Eventually John must have fallen asleep, his eyes shutting against his will, his hand still holding Elizabeth's. It could have been ten minutes or ten hours later when the slight pressure on his fingers jolted him awake. It took a minute for his mind to focus, to come alert to what was around him. Someone had draped a blanket over him while he slept but it wasn't that that had woken him. Again the pressure on his fingers came, his eyes shooting to Elizabeth's face. Her eyes were still shut, but the colour had come back to her cheeks and John was sure she breathing easier. Gently he squeezed her fingers, hoping for her to respond in kind. When she didn't he waited her out, conscious of the fact she may still be asleep. His patience won out though when her eyes flickered open, bouncing from one thing to another, taking in her surroundings.
For Elizabeth, consciousness came back on cloud of painkillers, their weakening influence allowing for an uncomfortable throbbing through her middle. It took effort to open her eyes, but mostly because she didn't want to. She was sure that when she did she'd be back in her cell, cold and alone. At least with her eyes shut she could enjoy the half conscious state, sure she was safe in Atlantis. Gentle pressure on her palm pulled at her thoughts but the desire to stay safe, if only in her mind, was stronger.
As the drugs wore off a little more the subtle bleeping filtered through to her mind, instantly causing her to question her reality. If she was in the cell then no one would be monitoring her heart rate, surely. Curious now, she opened her eyes. The lights were dim enough that she didn't have to blink against them. Below her, the surface was soft, not hard and the air far warmer than she had grown used to. Blinking again to clear the blurred vision Elizabeth saw monitors, her heart rate and blood pressure displayed for all to see. Beside them were empting bags, a thin film of red clinging to the insides of one. Slowly she followed the tubes down, seeing where they were taped to her skin, where it was punctured when they reached the needle at the crook of her elbow.
Again the pressure came against her fingers, her gaze travelling to her hand. Someone else's fingers were wrapped around her own, warm and strong when she tightened her grip. Following the hand upwards, Elizabeth finally saw John, his dark eyes watching her with relief.
"Hey," his voice was rough but quiet and Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder how long he'd been sat there, silently watching over her.
Smiling slightly, she tried to speak, only for her voice to come out as a harsh whisper. Instantly John was on his feet, a jug in his hand. The sight of the water made her dry throat burn, after all, she hadn't had anything since she was taken from the city. Gently he slid his hand under her head, lifting until her lips could reach the cup, pulling it away when she shook her head.
"Better?"
She smiled again, "yes." This time her words came out smoothly. Briefly she looked around the infirmary again, "how long have I been here?"
"About a day." Elizabeth let her eyes fall closed at that. A day. There were so many things she wanted ask, so many things burning at the forefront of her mind but ultimately it came down to one thing.
"Is the city safe?"
For the first time John smiled. Trust Elizabeth to worry about the city over herself. "Yes. Rodney fixed it. We're not going to be losing anyone else." For a minute he was quiet, not really knowing what to say to her. "I'm going to go get Beckett." Standing, he placed the blanket over her feet, gave her another smile and left to find Carson, leaving Elizabeth alone with her thoughts.
From where she was lying, Atlantis seemed to running smoothly. The personnel she could see were more at ease than they had been before, and that in turn eased her own worried mind. If John said everything was fixed, then she trusted him. Leaning her head back against the pillows, Elizabeth closed her eyes, breathing out slowly, all too aware of the deep ache running through her stomach. In her mind she could still see the creatures that had taken her, that had tortured her, that had wanted to
killed her. The mental image sent a shiver through her, her eyes blinking open, the light banishing the mental torment.
A moment later, Elizabeth could hear footsteps approaching followed by Carson's rich accent. "Good to see your awake. How're you feeling love?"
"I'm fine." Both Carson and John looked doubtful.
"Okay. Let's try this. Are you in any pain?" She was tempted to lie again but the pain was getting a little more intense than she'd like. Apparently Carson read her face. "I'm going to give you some morphine. It'll probably make you sleepy again though."
Instantly she shook her head, "no. I think I've slept enough this past day." Beside Carson, John grinned slightly causing the exasperation on Carson's face to grow tenfold.
"Alright, how about this. I'll give you some codeine. It won't take away the pain completely, but it'll ease it." She watched him go over to one of the cabinets, pulling out the required bottle and drawing up a syringe. Beside her, John settled himself back into his chair, kicking his feet up onto the side of her bed, causing her to smile.
When Carson came back he threw a glare at John that instantly made him drop his feet, a thoroughly chagrined look on his face before he injected the liquid into Elizabeth's IV line. "I'll let you rest now."
A thought struck her suddenly, one of the many scattered things that had been on her mind. "Lt. Shann, is she," her voice trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. Both Carson's and John's faces clouded, causing her heart to plummet.
Finally, Carson took a breath, seeing the despair on her face, "no, she's alive," Elizabeth could sense the 'but' coming, "but she's on life support and there's been no sign of improvement." They could both see the sadness in Elizabeth's eyes. Neither of them knew exactly what had happened since their disappearance, Dr. Marshall's account only filling in the end of the story. With a sad smile, Carson left her in John's company.
From where he was sat, John could see that Elizabeth's thoughts had taken her away from the infirmary, back to whatever had happened. He so desperately wanted to ask, to help her exorcise the demons that he had no doubt were running rampant through her mind, but at the same time, he wasn't sure that he could take hearing it. The whole time she'd been missing he'd felt so powerless. When his thoughts cleared he realised she was watching him, her green eyes trying desperately to probe into his thoughts.
"What's wrong?" Her voice was quiet, almost exhausted.
"Nothing's wrong," the defensive tone ringing in his ears. It didn't faze her, an eyebrow quirking at the blatant lie. His shoulders sank as he exhaled, the brave face he'd been trying to hold onto disappearing.
"I'm sorry," he said simply, "I should have been quicker, got to you sooner, been a better leader while you were gone." He felt so guilty, in every way he'd let her down.
Her eyes flooded with sympathy, her heart breaking at the sight of him so sad and broken, "John, I'm sure you did everything you could. Atlantis is still here, you did great." Her confidence in him seemed misplaced in his eyes, an argument already building on his lips, her voice cutting him off. "This is going to take time to get over, but I've got you by my side to help me do it, and I'm going to be by your side for you. Don't apologise for something you couldn't have changed." His face softened at her words, she was right he knew.
After that, at her begging, John went through everything that had happened in the city, quietly explaining each and every step. Part of him knew he should be letting her rest but the other part of him couldn't help himself. It felt like everything was getting back to normal. He was almost at the end of his version of events when a shout drew both their gazes. Lorne was stood, leaning out of the room Lt. Shann was, his face a mask of concern. Instantly Elizabeth's heart sank. She could do nothing but watch as Carson ran towards the room, his white coat billowing out behind him as he disappeared. Again John looked over to Elizabeth, watching her as she watched the door. The pain on her face made him want to cry, instantly he took her hand, squeezing it tight, the only support he could give.
It felt like hours later when Carson came out, a tired Lorne behind him. One look at Elizabeth told John she needed to know, that it was breaking her heart not knowing, but couldn't find the words to ask.
"Major", he called, watching as Lorne turned to face him. "What's happening." For a moment John thought he was about to cry, Elizabeth's grip on his hand tightening, before an exhausted smile split the Major's face.
"She's breathing." John smiled along with him at the news while Elizabeth let her head fall back against the pillow, a relieved sigh on her lips.
Well, this is it. The final chapter. Although like I said before I'm thinking of doing another one to tie it up and would absolutely love to do one from Shann's POV. If you would like to read one (or both) of these please can you tell me. For now though I'll list it as complete, but it may have more added.
Thank you all so much for sticking with this and reading it all and reviewing it all! I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
