She was desperately trying to ignore the constant ache in her side and stomach, sometimes a stronger pain and other times simply a dull ache. Hoping by some random chance that lunch just hadn't agreed with her today: today was one of those…many days….when she didn't have time for a headache, or any other ache or pain that seemed to come with getting older.

Rodney was back, wreaking havoc on his scientists in their labs, Carson had taken him of bed rest, and soon the man would be back on active duty, but until then he was causing chaos among his co-workers. Meanwhile, Carson was stacked up high with ten people who decided to get caught in the crossfire. Teams twelve and five had come back three hours ago with various injuries from another world, they were lucky to have made it back at all. Then Teyla and John left for the mainland, taking Johnny and Lauryn with them to gather some things, including various medicines, herbs, and crops from the Athosians.

So here she was, sitting at her desk, with no time to be feeling sick, trying to concentrate on the work in front of her and the stabbing pain radiating through her side. She kneaded her temples slowly, knowing full well that she had a fever and was probably putting herself in some danger by not letting Carson at least know something was wrong.

She had felt like this for days, or at least two by now, it had started just below her belly button, but now it was radiating to her lower right side, and her back. It was the worst case of indigestion she'd ever had. She hadn't eaten much in the past three days, and she was fairly sure that Carson or Rodney was beginning to catch on to her small appetite. She'd thrown up two days in a row now after nearly every meal. She wasn't even sleeping well anymore, she was exhausted and yet sleep wouldn't come, she was worried.

"Dr. Weir…" came the grating voice of Kavanagh from the doorway, she looked up just in time to see the greasy haired, nasally, annoying man come stomping into the room like a four year old refusing to take a nap. Right behind him came a livid looking Rodney McKay, the vein in his neck beginning to pop out, and his face red with anger and obvious aggravation at the man who stood at Weir's door.

"Eliz…"

"Freeze!" she called, before either man could speak. She looked at Rodney, based on his facial expressions and tight body language he was dangerously close to hitting, if not killing the other scientist. She also knew, while was off bed rest, he still was supposed to be taking it easy. "You will not come barging into my office like spoiled little four year olds. Now, calmly…if you please, tell me what is going on," she said sighing.

She watched as Rodney's eyes softened, as he took in all of her appearance, which she was fairly was worse than she seriously felt at the moment. She wasn't listening to Kavanagh as she watched Rodney's reactions. "Kavanagh…shut up," Rodney said suddenly.

"Look you little pompous…" he didn't get to finish, because a second later, Rodney, with strength Elizabeth didn't even know he had, grabbed him by the arm and hauled him out of the room, seconds later she watched Major Lorne escort Kavanagh elsewhere, and Rodney hurried back in the room.

"Are you all right? You look terrible, I can get Beckett…"

There were days when Elizabeth could be stunned by how kind or gentle Rodney was, and if she hadn't felt so terrible, today probably could have been one of those many days.

"No, thank you Rodney, I'm fine," she mumbled, lying through her teeth, and she had no doubt that he could see through her lie.

"No you're not, you look…well like hell."

"Rodney…"

"Liz…"

She sighed as she heard at voice, the voice that told her 'I will not back down'. "Please Rodney, just, just let it go. Now what's going on?"

"Kavanagh just screwed up some wiring in the lower levels, I sent Radek and a couple other scientists down with him to clean up the mess…then I yelled at Kavanagh…he didn't like that…I'm sorry he came up here to bother you," whispered Rodney gently.

"Don't worry Rodney," she sighed and looked down at her computer and shook her head. "It's just been one of those days."

"Well then, take a break, come on, I've got some great stuff to show you…I found this amazing room…"

"Rodney, now's really not the greatest time…I'm so busy…" she shook her head, the pain was getting worse.

"Elizabeth," Rodney came closer to her, he wanted to help her, but he knew Elizabeth. She didn't like help, she liked to do things on her own.

"Rodney, please," she whispered looking at him.

"I ah…I'll just be going," he mumbled and headed out the door.

She watched him go and sighed, wishing she could suddenly call him back in the room, tell him she needed help, tell him she needed Carson. She stood, took quickly as pain ripped through her abdomen and side.

"RODNEY!" she cried out. Two ocean blue eyes stared at her, watching her go down gripping her stomach.

"Elizabeth," he cried as he rushed right back into the room, he knelt beside her, "what's wrong? Where does it hurt," he spoke frantically.

"It hurts," she cried, tears escaping from her eyes, something she had never intended for him to see. She was in too much pain to be stunned when he scooped her up in his arms and headed out the door.

"CARSON!" screamed Rodney as he made his way into the infirmary. Carson took one look at the pair and instantly hurried over to her side.

"What happened?"

"She collapsed…she cried out in pain…" Rodney was frantic with worry as Carson steered him over towards one of the beds.

"Where did she say it hurt?" Carson asked.

"She didn't, but she was clutching her stomach…"

"Okay son, I need you to step aside okay," Carson gently pushed his best friend and surrogate brother out of the way before beginning to examine her. He wasn't at all surprised when she cried out in pain as he gently palpitated the lower right side of her abdomen, "I'm sorry Elizabeth," he whispered as two sets of hazel green eyes looked up at her.

"What…what?" she asked gently.

"I believe you have appendicitis, and judging on the amount of pain…I'd say we've got on emergency surgery to perform," Carson squeezed her hand then looked up, "someone set up for surgery!" he called out.

"What's wrong with her!" Rodney demanded.

"Rodney, calm down, she's got appendicitis, it's pretty bad, but I think we've caught it just in time, try to relax."

"But..but…"

"Rodney, sit down and try to relax, go get some coffee…preferably decaf…" mumbled the doctor as he headed back over to Elizabeth.

"It was a simple procedure son, we went in, opened her up, making three incisions, we then clamped off the two ends, snipped out the swollen appendix, and then patched her back up."

"Is she going to be okay?" Rodney asked as he looked at his best friend.

Carson smiled, the operation had taken about an hour, even as emergency surgery they had done it slowly and carefully so to make sure she had few scars and little else to worry about. When he had come out, he had found Rodney sitting in one of the many comfortable chairs Carson had brought in for their new hospital wing. He felt his heart go out to the scientist, there was no question that Rodney was worried and cared for her deeply.

"She's going to be fine, she'll need four or five days to rest here, then another two weeks of light work, no heavy lifting, but she'll live. She's pretty out of it right now, pain killers and all, but you're welcome to go and see her."

"Thanks Carson," Rodney slowly got up and made his way over to one of the near by beds. He gently drew back her curtains and smiled slightly. Her beautiful eyes looked at him. "Hey there boss," he said smiling gently as he picked up her hand.

"How 'm doin?" she asked slurred from the pain-killers.

"You'll live," Rodney answered as he gently pushed some of the hair away from her face. "You scared the hell out of me Liz, I thought something was really wrong."

"Sorry, thank you," she whispered.

"Don't be," he sat down beside her, keeping a grip on his hand and gently ran his hand through her hand mindlessly, unaware of the emotions he was so blindly showing. "Listen, Carson's gonna come in here any minute and tell me that you need some rest, and he's right. You need rest, so close your eyes and try to get some sleep. I'll be back when you wake up," he said gently.

"You should rest too," she replied softly as she smiled weakly at him.

"I will do my best," leaning down he dropped a feather soft kiss to her forehead before heading out of the infirmary.

Carson rounded the curtain and smiled softly at his patient, "how do you feel?" he asked as he picked up her chart, giving it the once over.

"Strange…haven't seen Atlantis from this position really…gives me a whole new respect for what you do…" she sighed.

"Well welcome to my world…and Rodney's…speaking of which, I believe our scientist might be smitten."

"He's my best friend," she mumbled.

"Aye, and sometimes they make the best relationships. But he's right, rest Elizabeth."

"Tired," she replied as she closed her eyes.

As promised when Elizabeth awoke the next day, Rodney McKay sat right by her bed, as well as Teyla and John on the other side. She smiled weakly, "to what do I owe such an honor?" she said smiling as she looked at her friends.

"Well you sit with us when we're sick, or hurt or something so we thought we could return the favor," explained John as he gently squeezed her hand, "you know you really need to take better care of yourself," he said smiling.

"I'm sorry…it's been so busy…"

"We're all busy Liz, but we've all learned to relax afterwards, you've gotta start taking things easier," Rodney said.

"This form you, our mighty king of stress," grinned Elizabeth.

"This isn't about me Liz, it's about you…Carson say your appendicitis was pretty far along, and you were probably suffering the pain for several days. We've talk about this Liz, you must know we care and we're here to help you."

"I'm the leader Rodney, I'm supposed to be strong."

"No, you're a member of this team, you carry as much burden as the rest of us. It's not easy being a leader, and we've all got to deal with it, that's why we all try to stick together. If you're feeling tired or sick or anything, please tell us."

"I suppose I could say the same thing for you guys too…lets face it, we all don't share as much as we probably should…this sucks," she muttered as she tried to pull herself up slightly. Rodney reached out gently placed a pillow behind her, easing her into a more upright position.

"Trust me, we know," grinned John.

"What?" She said smiling softly.

"John was eighteen, and just about to leave for his basic training when his appendix burst," Rodney recalled.

"It's always you two, is there anything normal in your body?" she asked grinning.

"Rodney still has one of his wisdom teeth, he never got all four…" John pointed out.

"John still has his tonsils too," Rodney replied.

"You guys are a wreck," mumbled Elizabeth weakly. John just shrugged and smiled his lopsided grin, "so I guess you guys are in charge for a couple weeks," she said trying to not show the pain in her side from surgery.

"Actually, only about a week…the Doc says you'll be up and around in no time, we'll just be helping you with the work load for a few days," replied John.

"Is it normal…to feel so weak?" she asked sighing as she tried to keep her eyes pried open.

"Aye, it's the drugs and the post surgery exhaustion. Your body was fighting itself, so now it's trying to heal itself. Don't worry, you'll be goin' stir crazy soon enough…and' just between you an' me luv, I'll let you out a wee bit early, if ye promise to actually rest…unlike two others we know," Carson said as he stepped into the small cubical, grinning at his friends as he checked her vitals again.

"So…how am I doin?" Liz asked softly.

"Well, your fever is down, which means no infection. I think you'll live to tell this tale," replied Carson as he took her pulse then offered her a soft smile.

"Comforting," Rodney said softly.

"All right, everyone, our leader needs her rest," Carson said.

"Wait…Rodney, can I speak with you for a moment?" Elizabeth asked.

Carson shot Rodney a warning look, before heading out with Teyla and John. Rodney looked at her and smiled gently as he squeezed her hand. "What's up?"

"I…I just wanted to thank you for helping me," she said gently.

"It wasn't a problem…you're my friend," he replied.

"You said you had great things to show me?"

"Ah…yes, we found a room…that we think might have been made for, well possibly large get-togethers and dances or something. We're looking into it."

"Keep me posted," she smiled.

"Always do…sleep," with a final squeeze he headed out of the door, closing softly behind him.

She smiled gently, leaning her head back against her pillow, her minds drifting over her three guys, she often called them her men. She had once spoken to Samantha Carter about her team, and she could remember Sam smiling softly…

"They're my guys…it's weird, I've spent eight unbelievable years with these three men…their more than just my friends, their my brothers, my guys. I can't explain it, but there's no one in the world I love or trust more than Teal'c, Jack and Daniel. If I have a problem they're the first ones I call. They've seen me at my best, my worst, my most frightened, my guiltiest, my strongest."

It was true, Elizabeth could admit, she had her three boys, who knew her inside and out. They understood her like no other, she loved them, she loved being with them. Smiling she felt herself drifting into sleep as she allowed her thoughts traveling over her boys.