Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

John was woken up by Rodney's incessant moaning, he wanted to stay on the platform and finish powering it up and getting as much research. Elizabeth had decided that they would all return to Atlantis and a new science team would be sent back in about a week.

As Rodney muttered on John noticed a tickle in his chest, that soon enough exploded into a cough, he noticed everyone staring at him, he tried to conceal the next cough but failed this time his chest felt tight and he struggled to catch his breath.

“John are you okay” Elizabeth moved over to sit next to him, “I’m fine, must have picked something up in the water” he looked around hoping everyone would stop staring “Get yourself checked out in the infirmary when we get back” John nodded and headed for the jumper.

He was shocked by how much effort it took him to walk the 300 yards to the jumper, by the time he got there he was out of breath, he flopped down in one of the seats and tried to catch his breath “You okay buddy” Ronon leaned on his seat “I'm fine just tired”

Ronon kept watching him, he could tell his usual ‘I’m fine’ routine wasn’t working, but he knew they had at least 3 hours until they were back on Atlantis and didn't see the point in worrying them.

He moved into the back of the jumper, he wanted some peace and quiet, and luckily for him, they had sent two jumpers “McKay if you are going to keep talking sit in the front I want to get some more sleep” he glared at the bumbling scientist as he got up and moved to the front compartment, as soon as he was though he closed the bulkhead doors, and laid down on the bench.

As he drifted off he could tell something wasn’t quite right, his chest was still tight and the occasional coughs caught him off guard but eventually, he was asleep.

He woke up suddenly every breath made him feel like he was drowning, he desperately tried to suck in air until he was wracked with an intense coughing fit, he tried to reach for the door but the minute he tried to stand his vision greyed and he collapsed to the floor.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The first time Rodney checked on John he was asleep and breathing very noisily, he sounded like he had the world fasted-acting cold, he considered waking him up and making sure he was okay but decided against it as John was clearly tired and grumpy.

Just before they arrived back in Atlantis he decided to wake Sheppard up, otherwise, he would probably bite some poor engineer's head off when they opened the back hatch. As he opened the bulkhead doors he first thought Sheppard had decided to sleep on the floor, he always did roll around a lot in his sleep, but as he moved closer to he realized John’s lips had turned blue and he was barely breathing “shit, shit, shit” he rolled him over and noticed his chest was barely moving “Ronon, RONON!!! He not breathing” as Ronon burst through into the back of the jumper Rodney bent down and started to do mouth to mouth, “Call Atlantis, get Beckett to the jumper bay” he said between breaths.

He tried not to panic as he realized he’d have to keep him alive for the next 20 minutes “Carson wants to know what’s wrong with him” Rodney gave John another breath, “Take over I’ll talk to him” Rodney moved out of the way and climbed over John, “Carson, he’s not breathing, his lips are blue, I think he's dying”

“Calm down Rodney I need to know what happened, did he get injured?” Rodney stared at the lifeless form in front of him “Ummm… he was in a flooding compartment and got thrown into a wall by the water after being willed by a wraith queen” Rodney watched Ronon breathing for John and shuddered at the thought he might loose his best friend.

“Alright, how long was he under the water, did he inhale any” Rodney panicked, how didn’t he think of drowning, “we couldn’t reach him or Ronon on the radio for a couple of minutes, he had been coughing a lot since he said he was fine” he could almost hear Carson roll his eyes through the radio, “Okay how long has he needed help with his breathing”

“I'm not sure I checked on him an hour ago and he seemed okay, and then 10 minutes ago I went to wake him up and his lips were blue and his chest was barely moving” Rodney suddenly remembered there might be a med kit on the jumper and frantically started ripping down the boxes from above his head until he located the red bag.

“I need you and Ronon to keep doing what you are doing, you should only be 5 minutes away now I'm waiting with a medical team” Rodney didn’t respond just started digging through the kit until he found a BVM and a pulse-oximeter.

“Put this on his finger” he handed Ronon the PulseOx, and placed the mask over John’s face, and began squeezing the bag. He focused only on John and squeezing the bag over and over, he almost didn’t notice the jumper landing, or the doors opening.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

As the back hatch lowered Carson shuddered at the sight before him, John lay prone on the floor with Rodney intensely focused on breathing for him and Ronon standing guard, and if he didn't know any better he would say the satean had tears in his eyes.

“Alright lads, time to let us take over” Carson approached Rodney who almost jumped when he tapped him on the shoulder, Rodney slowly relinquished control and one of Carson's medics took over ventilating Sheppard.

Carson did a quick head-to-toe before they got moving and as he feared it looked like the Colonel was suffering from secondary drowning, which meant he was running out of time.

They quickly got Sheppard into the infirmary, “Can I get an airway tray and Marie can you set up a 40mg propofol drip” he worked quickly securing John’s airway, and setting up the infusion, and then getting him under the scanner.

“bloody hell” As Carson looked over the scans, there was a lot more fluid on Sheppard's lungs than he expected, he was hoping for it to be a mild case and 24-48 and some diuretics would clear it up but this would be more difficult to fix.

Carson prepped another infusion and decided to set up a central line, he may have to keep Sheppard in a coma for a while and he didn't want to faff about with multiple IVs. he got John settled and then had to face the part of this job he hated, telling his friends the bad news.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Rodney watched as Carson came through the doors “How is he, is he okay, Carson?” Carson slowly came and sat down, that's never a good sign.

“Carson, is he okay?”

“I'm afraid he is suffering from a condition known as secondary drowning, his case is rather severe….we have had to place him in an induced coma until we can get the water out of his lungs” Rodney tried to process what Carson said.

“You mean he’s downing without being in water, only Sheppard could manage that” he looked through the doors to the infirmary “Can we see him?”

“In a little while, we have a few more tests to run and it will be one at a time and only during the day, I don't need you lot getting in the way of my staff” Rodney scanned the room, he could see everyone itching to be with john to see him with their own eyes.

“We should make a kind of schedule to ensure he is not alone” Teyla’s voice of reason as usual was needed at that moment.

“I’ll go first” Ronon chimed in with his usual gruff tone, Rodney debated arguing but he realised quite quickly that there was no point, Ronon had that determined look in his eye and knew that any argument would probably lead to violence.

“Me second” he piped up before anyone else had a chance to speak, he wasn’t going to wait longer than he needed to before he got to see Sheppard. “Is there any way we can just see him for a minute” he almost begged Carson, he was so sure John was dead when he watched Carson wheel him away.

“Alright alright, but be quick I need to get these tests done” Carson gestured towards the door and they all quickly followed him in.

As Rodney turned the corner to see John his heart sank, although he knew all the machines, wires, and tubes were keeping John alive but it was almost too much to look at, how could he have just saved all their asses and then just stop breathing, how was that possible. Before anyone could notice the tears in his eyes he headed for the door and started counting down the minutes till he could sit with John.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It had been a week so far and Sheppard’s team had gotten into a pretty predictable pattern, Ronon was always there at 6 am sharp, the first few days Carson had tried to argue that during the day meant after his rounds but Ronon was insistent that it was daylight so it was during the day.

Then at lunchtime, the whole team would be there to eat lunch all together usually only for about half an hour, and then they would all leave bar Teyla who would remain at John’s bedside singing, praying, or meditating until, Rodney arrived with dinner.

Rodney would stay until he was kicked out at about 22:00 he would slink off to his lab and then sneak back in at around 02:00 and sleep with his head on Sheppard’s bed, he tried to argue with him but it was no use, he’d find more and more convoluted ways to get back in.

Carson had to give it to them, they were dedicated to ensuring the Colonel was never alone, but he could tell this strict routine was getting to them, especially as John wasn’t making as much progress as they had expected, the higher salt content of the Lantean ocean had made his recovery harder and slower.

Carson had made progress with an experimental treatment derived from a plant native to PJX 9092-672 but the lingering fluid on Sheppard’s lungs had caused him to develop aspiration pneumonia almost 4 days ago and only now was he starting to respond to treatment.

If all went well Carson was hoping to reduce John’s sedation in a couple of days to see if he would be able to breathe independently, if he could he was sure he would be fully wake within the next week although he wouldn't be out of the woods for a little while.

It was nearing 04:00 when Carson did his nightly checks, he almost stood on Rodney as he walked around the bed the scientist was asleep lying on the floor next to John, “Rodney… Rodney” he poked him as he woke up Rodney looked up at his bewildered.

“I was trying to sleep” Carson gave a disapproving look and offered a hand to Rodney.

“Not on my infirmary floor you're not, I know you want to be with him but this is too far, I suggest you go back to your quarters and try sleeping in your bed” Carson helped the scientist up and he sat back in his chair.

“You might be surprised to know I didn’t intend to sleep on the floor but your bloody chairs are killing my back, I might bring my desk chair down do us all a favor” Beckett gave McKay a disapproving look.

“You bloody well won’t these chairs are perfectly fine for sitting on they are not designed for sleeping in, you need to sleep in your own bed it's been over a week now” Carson gestured to the door, “don’t worry I’ll sit with him until Ronon get here, he is my friend too”

Carson was surprised when Rodney obliged and headed for the exit, after he watched Rodney leave he took a seat next to John’s bed and settled in for the night.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

As Ronon went on his usual morning run, he found himself running faster and longer than usual, Carson was taking John off the ventilator today, he had been warned that it could go either way, he could breathe on his own or he could still need the ventilator.

The part that really hit Ronon was that if John didn’t breathe on his own they had to turn off the machines, apparently, John had signed a piece of paper when he joined the Air Force that said he didn’t want to live on machines for more than 2 weeks and today was was day 14.

He turned his last corner, showered, and headed to the infirmary; as he entered he saw Rodney pacing back and forth he looked like he hadn't slept at all, Teyla sat cross-legged on a chair next to his bed humming an Athosian lullaby, Elizabeth was sat on the other side holding Sheppard’s hand.

He scanned the room and he couldn’t see Beckett anywhere, he looked back to his office and saw him cradling his head in his hands, he walked over to the doorway “You okay Doc”

“To be honest no, I never thought we’d get to this point” Ronon watched Carson wipe away a rouge tear and headed for the door “I’d better get in there”

“No rush Doc” Ronon watched as Carson composed himself and headed towards John's bed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

As Carson approached John’s bed his heart sunk, if only he could give him a couple more days to get stronger, for his lungs to get stronger. He had taken John off the sedation 3 days ago and optimistically Sheppard had been making some respiratory effort, but Carson feared it wouldn't be enough.

He had been on the phone with the Air Force and IOA for most of the night arguing that a piece of paper the Colonel signed as a lonely 18-year-old shouldn’t hold up almost 20 years later if there was any certain good to come from this it was that all current and future expedition members would need to update their living wills to reflect their current wishes, something he hopes he could talk to John about in a couple of days.

He finally made it to the bed, the walk seemed much longer than he knew it was, and he gazed at each member of Sheppard’s team all taking vigil at his bed as he began his preparations.

He swiftly completed the final set of checks and then stopped to look at his friend, hoping to delay what he knew he had to do, he reached down and disconnected the ventilator.

They all watched on as they waited for him to take a breath.

Chapter Text

They all sat on the edge of their seats, waiting, hoping, praying he would just take a breath it was almost 2 minutes of waiting when he finally took a breath, his breathing was uneven and shallow at first but soon evened out after another couple of minutes Carson removed his breathing tube, he coughed a couple of times but everyone was relieved when he settled into a steady rhythm once Carson placed an oxygen mask over his face.

Carson allowed them all to sit with him for a couple of hours he didn’t have the heart to make them leave.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The first thing John was aware of was a soft beeping behind his head, then the familiar noises of the infirmary surrounded him. He tried to open his eyes but soon found it took too much effort and settled for moving his hand around to feel his surroundings he just about managed to move a couple of fingers when he heard McKay shout.

“HE’S WAKING UP, CARSON HE'S WAKING UP” John tried to look towards the shouting but again settled for moving his hand this time he felt someone else's hand gripping it, he squeezed it and was comforted when Rodney squeezed back.

“Rodney, this better not be one of your false alarms it's 5 in the morning” John was comforted by Carson’s familiar tone towards Rodney and he squeezed Rodney’s hand again.

“Look, look he's squeezing my hand, he's definitely squeezing my hand” John felt Rodney lift his hand up and he Squeezed as hard as he could, it was all he could manage, but he wanted to prove McKay right.

As Rodney laid his hand back on the bed he felt Carson take both of his hands “Alright Colonel if you can hear me squeeze my hands as hard as you can” John obliged.

“That’s good, can you try opening your eyes for me” John struggled, his eyelids felt like lead and he could already feel the warm embrace of sleep calling to him. He kept trying and eventually, he managed to open them slightly.

“That brilliant Colonel” As Carson did that he pulled John’s eyes open further and shone his pen light in each. John recoiled from the harsh light and closed his eyes again, he could hear McKay and Beckett talking as he let himself drift off.

It must have been sometime later when John woke up again, this time he opened his eyes first and found the infirmary was a lot brighter and Teyla was sitting next to his bed, “wh’t h’ppen’d” John struggled to get the words out and was gripped by a painful cough.

“Do not try to talk John, Dr Beckett said it would be quite painful for a while” John nodded and appreciated Teyla pouring him a glass of water and bringing it to him with a straw, he took a couple of sips and placed it on the table.

“I will go find Dr Beckett and he can explain what has happened, but John it is nice to see you awake” With that Teyla walked towards Carson’s office, he was glad she had opted for a quieter way of getting Carson.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Carson was flicking through various pieces of paperwork when Teyla entered his office, he almost didn't notice her if it wasn’t for her less-than-subtle cough.

“Dr Beckett, John is awake again, he has asked about why he is in the infirmary” Carson always admired Teyla's calm demeanour but he did wish she would call him Carson.

“Alright love, I’ll be out in a minute, why do you see if you can keep him awake for me while I find his paperwork” With Sheppard being so unwell he had fallen behind with all his paperwork, just doing the bare minimum to keep the infirmary running.

He watched Teyla leave and quickly located the file he’d been looking for and headed for John’s bed.

“Good Afternoon Colonel, it’s nice to good to see you awake, you seem a bit brighter than last night” John simply nodded, still slumped in his bed, the two weeks in an induced coma and further week of him simply being unconscious had left Sheppard very skinny and pale.

“I need to do some checks and catch you up on what’s been going on, Teyla could you give us a minute” Carson waited for Teyla to leave before he started his usual list of checks, he was happy to see John was already fiddling with cables and especially his nasal cannula, “leave that alone you still need it” John smirked at Carson and rested his hands back on the bed.

“Catheter?” John asked with a hopeful glint in his eye.

“Yes son and it will be staying in for the time being, you're in not state to be traipsing around the place” Carson watched as John tried to pull a stern face but failed miserably.

“Wh't happened” John asked, Carson could tell the words hurt as John stifled a cough and held the cup up to John’s mouth.

“ you managed to inhale some of the water when the jumper window broke, and you suffered from something called secondary drowning, which then turned into pneumonia” Carson paused for a minute “We had you on a ventilator and sedated for 2 weeks before we could excubate you” Carson paused again as a look of horror struck John’s face.

“It was further week before you woke up for the first time last night, you’ve given us all quite a scare” Carson finished his checks and peaked around the curtain to see Teyla and the rest of his team waiting not so patiently by the doors.

“I think there are some people here to see you if you are up for it” John nodded and watched as his team filed in and took seats around him, carson retreated content in the fact it seemed the Colonel would make a full recovery.