A/N: Ok, so I got called mean. Just to prove I am not mean... here's the next installment!
Ward opened his eyes and immediately closed them again. It was far too bright and his head felt like it was full of cotton wool.
Blinking behind his eye lids a few times he tried again.
He managed to get his eyes half open, before realising that there was a rather uncomfortable device attached to his nose that was blowing something cold up it.
Then he noticed the ache in his neck. He moved his head, first to one side and then to the other. His body felt heavy and sore. To see how sore he was he tried to move, first his fingers, then his toes. Then he tried to move his left arm and his right leg. As pain radiated from his right hip he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Easy tiger. Don't move." Skye's reassuring voice penetrated his head.
"Where am I?" he asked, his throat feeling like sandpaper.
"Bathesda. You were transferred here after they had stabilised you."
"What happened?" Ward asked.
"What do you remember?" Skye asked him.
"I was joking with you and then I remember a loud bang. That's it."
"You don't remember the crash?"
"What crash?"
"That's enough, Miss. He needs to rest." The doctor told Skye. He didn't want to send Ward's vital signs haywire.
"Hey Doc! What are you doing here?" Ward asked, suddenly feeling a little loopy.
"I got a call saying you were broken again, so I flew in. Enough chatting, now you need to rest." The doctor said to him, pushing a syringe into his IV.
Ward could feel his eyes become heavy again and once more everything went black.
The next time Ward woke up it was dark and he was alone. He started remembering what had happened to land him in a hospital bed.
"At least this time I feel with it." He thought, starting to move.
He was uncomfortable and he needed to move, so, gingerly he moved his head and when he felt no pain he moved onto his arms. These would be crucial to moving. First he moved his left arm. No pain. Then he moved his right. There was pain in his elbow, so using his left arm he removed the covers to find most of his right arm was in a splint.
"Well that's a new one." He said, laughing at himself when her realised he had said it out loud. He realised something else at that point too. He had several broken ribs.
Biting the bullet Ward used his core strength and pulled himself into a sitting position, intensifying the dull ache in his hip to a piercing pain. This change caused him to gasp and his vital signs to peak.
Using all of his training he breathed through the pain, which lowered his vital signs back to their normal parameters. He removed the covers from his legs to reveal his right leg covered in a massive bandage. He spun his legs around and edged himself to the edge of the bed. He placed both feet on the floor and stood up. He anticipated the increase in his pain levels and breathed through it. He unhooked all of the machines he was attached to and wandered into the ensuite bathroom to look at himself in the mirror.
He recoiled in shock.
Both of his eyes were blackened and puffy and he had cuts all over his face. Judging by his six o'clock shadow, he had been out for a week.
Ward looked at his hospital bed. He spent a few minutes debating what to do now. Feeling wide awake he decided to put another gown over the one he was currently wearing to cover his dignity and go for a wonder. To keep his balance and support his injured leg he moved his IV bags onto a portable stand and used it as a crutch.
Knowing he shouldn't be out of bed he peeked around every corner to make sure he wouldn't get caught. He peered into all of the hospital rooms he passed, just out of idol curiosity. He came to one where he saw the top of a head he recognised peeking out from under the covers.
It was May.
As quietly as he could manage he crept into her room and picked up the chart.
He quickly ascertained that she had suffered internal bleeding and had to be operated on, but she was making a good recovery. He guessed she would be out of the hospital in a few days.
Leaving May sleeping he left the room and continued on his wonder. He got to a room where he saw Amber being propped up by various pillows. She too was fast asleep. He read her chart too, and found out she had broken her leg quite badly and torn a couple of muscles in her leg. She would be alright.
Still not feeling remotely tired Ward made his way, following the signs to the family room where he turned on the television and settled back into a chair.
Skye walked into Ward's room the following morning to find his bed empty and his statistical monitors turned off. She raced into the bathroom thinking he may have needed to use the toilet. When she couldn't find him there she went out to the nurses' station.
"Excuse me? Could you tell me where my husband is?"
"He should be in his room."
"If he was there do you think I would be asking where he is?" Skye as the nurse sarcastically.
The nurse went to check Ward's room and, like Skye, found it empty.
Immediatley the nurse called for a lock down. She didn't see how it would be possible to sneak out of a military hospital without anyone noticing, especially in the condition Ward was in, so she reasoned he had to still be there. Somewhere.