Hi all! I couldn't find the other chapters. They are totally gone, as are many chapters I wrote for the first draft of my fourth book. So, it sucks worse than I feared! But, I have been rewriting! I have lost my train of thought on the story as I had already written it, so what comes from now on is all new. Hey, it's Christmas, and this is your pressie for being such amazing readers and commenters :D I'll hopefully get the rest rewritten soon :) Happy holidays, everyone, and thank you all for your support!

Chapter 26

Rodney moaned and stirred in a haze of semi-consciousness. He suffered intolerable pain and let air an anguished cry as he attempted to sit up. He stilled, panting rapidly as he rode through the resulting agony until he dared to look at his wounds. His upper torso was just a mass of red wetness. Ragged pieces of blood-soaked uniform clung to torn skin and hid most of the wounds, but he could see the damage well enough to know he was in a bad way. Unfortunately, he had a far better view of the shattered bone which poked through the skin of his injured arm. His stomach heaving, Rodney squeezed his eyes closed as he began hyperventilating and he sobbed while telling himself none of it was real.

Noise in the area told him otherwise; it was just as real as he feared. He heard the cries of pain around him. People called out for help, some loudly cursing while lost in their misery. He was back in the barn. It had been emptied out and was now being used as a makeshift infirmary. A voice called his name frantically while drawing closer. Rodney recognized it and tried to sit up to greet the approaching man only to be gently pushed back onto the bed.

"Rodney! Oh thank God. Just lay still, I'm here now."

"Carson... what happened?" Rodney asked as the doctor looked him over.

"You were attacked by a groten, Rodney. It tore open your bio-suit like it was peeling an orange."

"I don't... why are you here?" Rodney whispered weakly, clenching his teeth as Carson began to inspect his wounds.

"I was told you were injured so got here as quickly as I could."

"But... shouldn't you be piloting Jumper One?"

"The groten have retreated, the battle is over for now. Anyway, I'd far sooner be down here saving lives, than up there taking them. Majors Lorne and Stackhouse have things under control."

"Where's Teyla?"

Caron fell quiet, prompting Rodney to open his eyes and search his face for answers. "Is she... tell me she's not—"

Carson shook his head. "We don't know. No one has seen her since you were airlifted out, but Orna saw her take a hit."

Rodney made to sit up again, hissing with pain as Carson stopped him from rising.

"What kind of hit?!" he gasped.

"She's positive it was a Goh impact."

"Oh, God..." Rodney slumped back again, his mind reeling.

"Sama sent a search party out to find her, but there has been no word as yet."

Rodney shuddered and groaned as Carson started cleansing the wounds on his chest. "Damn, laddie! Pardon the pun, but what a bloody mess you've got yourself into."

"Not voluntarily, I assure you."

"I heard you did pretty well out there. Stackhouse said, 'McKay was taking the bastards down like they were kids dressed in Halloween costumes.' Quote, unquote."

It was an obvious Beckett ploy to take Rodney's mind from what he was doing. It didn't really work, but Rodney ground his teeth and played along.

"Stackhouse said that?"

"Aye, and he sounded pretty impressed. I think he wants a shot in one of the suits now."

"Yeah, well he hasn't seen me in this mess, has he? I doubt he will be too quick to ground himself in the battle if he did."

Carson sighed as he ended his initial examination. "Well, aside from multiple lacerations, it looks like you've got a dislocated shoulder and a rather nasty compound fracture in that arm. Until I can get you under a scanner, that's all I can say for sure. Still, you've been lucky, by all accounts."

"If I was lucky, I would still be out there and Teyla wouldn't be missing."

Carson didn't reply as he moved around Rodney, continuing to clean and inspect his wounds while tutting and sighing loudly. Rodney did his best to not become a bubbling wreck of misery by closing his eyes and thinking of the one thing that always calmed him− bright blue skies. Only, it didn't quite work this time. He still let out a yell as Carson prodded a particularly painful spot.

"I'm sorry, Rodney. I need to get the wounds clean and I just don't have anything here to knock you out with."

"When have you ever come on a mission without your med kit?!"

Carson sighed. "I did bring it, but it was torn from my back by one of those bloody animals as I ran for cover after being dropped off."

"Cover? How far into the village did they get?"

Carson's expression was grim. "All the way," he admitted. "I'm afraid you won't be the last person I help this day."

Rodney ground his teeth as Carson continued to cleanse his wounds. He wasn't as brave or quiet as he hoped to be, each touch catching his breath or making him cry out. He turned his head to the side, searching for something to take his mind from the pain. To his right a large man lay on the floor as two young women hurried around him, trying to stave the bleeding from his torn abdomen. The poor guy already looked to be dead, the women perhaps unable to admit it to themselves, just yet.

To his left lay what seemed to be a young girl. Her head was covered by a bloody bandage but what could be seen of her long hair had flowers woven into a braid. She stared at Rodney through a small hole in her bandages as a nurse moved her leg which was almost torn free from the knee. The girl's eyes held a world of pain that Rodney understood only too well.

"I've done as best as I can for now," Carson said. "I don't want to be resetting that limb or dislocation until I have you properly sedated."

Rodney turned from the girl and watched as Carson drew up an amber liquid from a vial.

"I thought you didn't have your med bag?"

"I don't, but I keep this on my person at all times. The nature of the drug means I have to keep a constant eye on it."

"What is it?"

"A powerful painkiller. I figure I can get maybe ten doses out of this vial. You're lucky number one."

Rodney shook his head. "No..."

"What?"

"Her first," Rodney whispered, turning to stare at the girl.

"Why, Rodney McKay," Carson chuckled. "I had no idea you were such a hero."

Rodney smiled just before he felt the needle pierce the flesh of his arm.

"I'll give her the next dose," Carson said in reply to his look of betrayal.

The drug acted swiftly. Rodney felt it working before Carson had even moved from his side to attend to the young girl. His pain ebbed away to become an intense throbbing he could better endure. He sighed with relief just as Carson returned a moment later, smiling knowingly.

"That's eased your pain a bit, eh?"

Rodney nodded, eyes slowly closing. "Any word on John?" he asked with little more than a whisper.

"We've not heard anything since they left for the Goh planet. Look, get some rest, I'll come by shortly to check up on you."

Rodney nodded again and smiled as his pain disappeared. It's little wonder Carson keeps that particular drug on his person, Rodney thought as he became blissfully unaware of his pain. It felt like his mind was nothing but a big ball of cotton wool. He felt like he was floating, the sensation the only thing he could focus on. It relaxed him enough to pull him closer to sleep, his mind shutting down as his body numbed.

Suddenly he was pulled back into reality as fresh shouts and screams rent the air. The sounds dragged him from his pleasant reverie as a new wave of wounded surged into the makeshift infirmary. Carson strode purposely into the crowd of injured as Rodney lay despising of the fact he was unable to help. He struggled to push through the mind-altering effects of the drug and wished to be on his feet again, wanting to get back out there to at least search for Teyla. He'd heard of wounded soldiers who got patched up then headed back out into war and Rodney wanted to do the same. But while his heart was in it, his body simply wasn't. He was much too weak and broken. While his pain was masked, for now, Rodney knew no matter how powerful a drug was that Carson might give him, its effects would eventually wear off and leave him in agony.

The light coming through the door was momentarily eclipsed when a giant entered the place. Orna, still strapped into her bio-suit, carefully made her way through the crowd of injured people. It still surprised Rodney that a thing of its size could move with such careful grace. The front of her suit was open and she was searching the room for something or someone. She looked worried and a little scared. Rodney had never seen that look on the face of a Caronaa warrior before. The one she sought was Carson and she moved swiftly to him as he pressed a dressing over a young woman's injured arm.

Rodney wiped at his eyes and shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of the fuzziness in his mind. He focussed on the others, tried to hear their exchange of words but they were too quiet to make out. Then Carson stood abruptly, his eyes locked on Orna's, his mouth gaping momentarily. Rodney leaned himself up on the bed and followed the now loudly spoken conversation which was filled with worried tones.

"Forgive me, Fer Beckett."

"Are you sure it was Teyla you saw?"

"Quite sure. I could not reach Fen Emmagan before the foul beasts took her body."

Rodney's mind reeled at the words. They shocked him so much that he sat up without thinking, quite forgetful of his injuries until the howl tore from his mouth. Tears burned in his eyes as he thought of losing Teyla. He could see her in his mind, the small, lithe beauty, quick of mind and body, fighting the groten with grace and strength that never faltered. It was unthinkable that she had fallen to them, completely inconceivable that Teyla Emmagan had perished at the hands of such brutish beasts.

Rodney refused to believe it.

The fuzziness in his head cleared a little as a result of the burst of adrenaline the news gave him and Rodney forced himself to push up from the bed. Trembling, he pushed his legs over the side and onto the ground with little idea of what he intended to do. But, Rodney simply would not accept that his teammate was dead. He had to do something, anything, and wallowing in his own misery wasn't going to cut it.

He had to find her.

All ideas of gallantry were forced from his head when his damaged arm struck the edge of the bed. He grunted and pitched forward, his mind rapidly dulling as fresh pain ripped through his shattered limb that not even Carson's drug could mask. Then cold, strong, arms halted his fall and lifted him up and back onto the bed.

"Fer McKay, you look terrible," Orna said quietly, peering at him from her bio-suit.

Rodney grimaced, his eyes fluttering as he fought to stay awake. "So would you if you'd been ripped from your suit."

"Yes," Orna replied, lowering her gaze. "Others have not been quite as fortunate as you or I, as I'm sure you overheard," she finished pointedly.

"It can't be true," Rodney whispered. "Not Teyla."

"I'm sorry, Fer Mckay. But, I saw it with my own eyes."

"Tell me what you saw," he demanded.

"I saw Fen Emmagan carried towards the danu ship, limp in its filthy arms."

"But you can't be sure she was dead."

"It was a danu, what else would she be?"

"Alive?!" he spat, "you can't be sure! Why would they take her body? They never bothered before!"

"Perhaps, but she is lost regardless."

Rodney twisted and grabbed hold of Orna's mechanical arm. "You need to get me another bio-suit," he whispered desperately.

Orna pulled away from him. "You are in no state to be out of bed never mind inside a suit. You couldn't work one in your condition!"

"Damnit, Orna! The suit is operated by the thoughts in our heads, not the strength in our bodies! I can work the suit, just get me one!"

"But why?!"

"Because I will not lie here while my team is decimated and their deaths are reported back to me in piecemeal!" he shouted angrily.

Orna pulled away and shook her head resolutely. "You are not well enough. Fer Beckett will not allow it."

"He doesn't need to know!" Rodney despaired then attempted to use her Caronaa warrior pride to get what he wanted. "Please, Orna, from... from one warrior to another… help me find her. Help me bring her body home."

Orna seemed to war with herself, the internal fight playing over her features until she locked eyes with Rodney. "I cannot bring you a bio-suit," she said finally. Rodney was about to protest when she leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "but I can take you to one."

To be continued...