Chapter Four:
Ronon knew he had overstepped the mark yesterday. He had allowed the anger that was bubbling within him to boil over, causing him to behave in a far more abrasive manner than he knew was acceptable. Having undertaken a gruelling run in order to cool down and work off some of the frustration he was feeling, his next step was obvious to him. And yet once again he found himself floundering outside the door to the infirmary. He would rather face a dozen wraith that be forced into making an apology, but it was something that needed to be done.
With a proud determination, he stepped into the infirmary to find it far quieter than he had left it earlier that afternoon. Teyla was sleeping awkwardly in the chair next to Kanaan's bedside whilst Sheppard continued to look eerily peaceful in the adjacent bed. Ronon could never get used to seeing his friend being so inactive and though he would never openly admit it, he would rather see Sheppard die than live like this. But neither Sheppard nor Teyla were the target for Ronon's apology.
"Carson." he mumbled.
"Aye laddie. What can I do for yeh?" he replied politely, looking up from his desk as he did so.
"Listen about yesterday..."
"Ach, say no more about it..."
"I must. I allowed my anger to consume me and disrespected a friend who has helped saved me. I am sorry"
"Aye well no apology is necessary, I understood the anger wasn't for me. But thank you anyway..." said Carson with a reassuring smile.
"Y'welcome" replied Ronon, returning the smile.
"If you really want to make it up to me, you can find a way to wake Colonel Sheppard!" joked Carson.
The smile dissipated from both their faces at the mention of Sheppard and his current plight. Both men had garnered a lot of respect for the man over the past few years and hated being so powerless to help him. An awkward silence permeated the infirmary, punctuated only by the various noises from the assembled medical apparatus. With his apology accepted, Ronon had no further business in the medical bay and needed to help Major Lorne continue with the evidence retrieval.
"Well Doc, I'll catch you later. Let me know if Sheppard wakes" he offered.
"Aye, ye'll be the first one I call" replied Carson.
Ronon turned to leave but found his path blocked by a rather fearsome looking Athosian, the look on Teyla's face causing an element of fear even in the stout-hearted Satedan. He was not looking for another argument nor felt in the mood to deliver another apology so he motioned to move past her, hoping she would relent and let him pass. But she remained stationary, though the scowl on her face diminished ever so slightly.
"We should talk" she said firmly.
"Look, Teyla..." Ronon started before he was interrupted.
"Ronon, when I say we should talk, I mean I shall talk and you shall listen." Teyla stated authoritatively. "I have known Kanaan since childhood and have trusted him with everything that is most important in my life. So to hear such allegations made against him was beyond what I could stand to hear at the time."
"I understand..."
"No you do not. I allowed my own grief and my own pride to cloud my mind from reason. I turned you away for being enough of a friend to come to me with such news. I would never had guessed that Kanaan could be capable of such actions. But I also understand that you would not come to me with this lightly. And for that I am sorry... for not believing you, Ronon" Teyla continued, the raw emotion of such an admission evident in her voice.
Ronon was always a man of few words but the seriousness of this admission left him genuinely speechless. He had expected another slanging match with Teyla, trying to convince her of something he did not want to believe himself. But as always, Teyla had reasserted control of her emotions and took in her stride, news that would break other people entirely. The two exchanged brief smiles that confirmed that they would be fine before awkwardly circling each other as the tension failed to relent.
"Hey guys" came a familiar and welcome voice. "Could you keep it down, some of us are trying to sleep..."
- - SGA - -
"All checks have been completed Rodney, we are good to go."
"Okay Radek, I'm going to bring the power levels up slowly, I need you to keep a check on the regulators efficiency rates. If they don't get above 65 percent, then we won't have enough power to make it to Pegasus in time." replied Rodney nervously.
"65 percent, got it."
The tension was palpable in the control room as Rodney and Zelenka made the first tentative steps of their ambitious plan to re-route power flow through the modified secondary atmospheric processor. Though the maths and science were both perfect, there was still always an element of the unknown about such emergency repairs. And with the stakes so incredibly high, the tension caused by such unknowns was ratcheted up by a factor of ten.
"Power levels at 50 percent, how's the efficiency ratings?" asked Rodney worriedly.
"Efficiency holding steady at 80 percent" replied Zelenka reassuringly.
"Increasing power levels to 75 percent...85 percent...95 percent"
"Efficiency rating at 74 percent...just a little more"
"Power levels at 100 percent! Hows the efficiency doing?"
"Efficiency readings remaining constant at 72 percent. We did it Rodney" breathed Zelenka, the relief in his voice almost palpable.
Inwardly Rodney was congratulating himself on once again riding to the rescue when Atlantis was faced with mortal danger. Whenever the big play needed to be made, he would step up and make the telling contribution. There were other players in the team effort of course, but every team always had a stand out performer, a superstar if you will. Smiling internally at that analogy, Rodney was maintaining his outward composure to prevent any complacency from setting in.
"We need to keep an eye on those readings, make sure they don't drop below 65 percent." he stated matter-of-factly.
"Of course Rodney" replied Zelenka, refocusing on the task at hand.
"But we did it...didn't we!" said Rodney proudly.
- - SGA - -
He had only been awake for a matter of minutes and yet the infirmary was already awash with friends and well-wishers, eager to see the Colonel back amongst the land of the conscious. The atmosphere was a little overwhelming for Sheppard, considering he had just emerged from a coma. It took the calming influence of Doctor Beckett to restore some semblance of order to a raucous medical room.
"Alright alright, you've all had yeh fun. But the Colonel needs his rest so everyone who is from Earth and isn't part of the medical staff, out!" he stated firmly but fairly.
The terms he had laid out allowed both Teyla and Ronon to remain as support for Sheppard given what he had been through. There were plenty of tests and procedures that he himself needed to carry out on the Colonel but he was allowing himself a brief moment of levity before the seriousness of the situation took over again. It was good to have Sheppard back, not only for crew morale but because he was a friend.
"Its good to have you back Sheppard" said Ronon succinctly.
"Thanks Chewie. Its good to be back."
"And you are sure you are fine John?" added Teyla worriedly.
"Well aside from being blown up, I feel fine" he replied playfully before his face took on a more serious expression. "How's Kanaan?"
"He is badly injured...but alive." replied Teyla tersely. She could instantly see the relief in her friend's face.
"Lucky him" Ronon muttered under his breath, though loud enough for everyone to hear.
"What does that mean..." asked Sheppard.
Before anyone could answer, Doctor Beckett stepped in to prevent any resumption of hostilities.
"Okay, I think you two should leave now, I need to run some tests and then Colonel Sheppard needs to rest" he stated firmly.
Both Ronon and Teyla were ready to argue the point but both relented under the fierce gaze from the Scottish medic. With a silent protest, they both said their farewells to Sheppard and exited the infirmary, leaving Sheppard and Carson alone aside from the various medical personnel and of course the other patient. Carson began the standard checks and tests to ensure the Colonel was physically fine, which he passed with flying colours. Now the serious matter of neurological damage needed to be considered.
"What was that all about?" asked Sheppard, still wearing a look of confusion on his face.
"A story for another time Colonel. Now, we need to get your checked out properly"
"Whatever you say Doc, whatever you say."