Word Count:
5,050 Rating:
PG13 Category:
Angst Story Status:
Complete Summary:
Set after Irresistible, and Rodney is falling apart, somewhat...
Beta:
Thank you to Jayne Perry for the beta-reading.
Only Human By Leesa Perrie
----------------
“It's all
right to make mistakes, you're only human. Inside everybody's
hiding something…”
‘Slide’
by Dido
----------------
The lab was quiet, which was a blessing to the lone occupant who was
busy working on his laptop. It was late, hence the quietness
of
the lab. A muttered curse was followed by the clicking of the
keyboard, and then a loud sigh. The laptop was closed and
then
pushed to one side.
Dr Rodney McKay leaned his elbows onto the table, his hands massaging
his temples, trying to quell a headache caused by too little sleep and
too much coffee. He was exhausted but wired at the same
time. Not a good combination for restful slumber.
He lay his head onto the table, closing his eyes. Just a
minute
or two, and then he would return to the data he was working on.
Anything to distract him from the feelings threatening to bubble up
inside of him. Anything to put off the time to sleep and the
nightmares that pounded him. More coffee, maybe some food,
and
then he’d be set for a bit longer.
Though he knew it was futile, this avoidance of the
inevitable.
No matter how tired he was when he slept, the dreams still
came.
He sighed again, and sat back up. Coffee and food, then work
again. Okay, just needed to get up, get moving. Any
time
now would be good.
The door opened, and he turned red-rimmed eyes to the person
entering. And sighed yet again.
“Carson,” he acknowledged. “What brings
you here?” As if he didn’t know.
“I came to find the idiot I released this morning with strict
instructions to rest,” Carson looked irritated.
“This
isn’t resting, by the way.”
“I’m fine,” Rodney snapped, pulling his
laptop back
towards him and opening it. “Now if you don’t mind,
I have
important work to do…”
“Not according to Radek. He says there’s
nothing that
can’t wait a few days for you to fully recover.”
“Oh, did he? Well, he’s wrong.
And I am
recovered. As I’ve already said, I’m
fine,” Rodney turned his gaze to the computer
screen, and
started typing again. Only to find the laptop pulled from him
and
placed onto another table. He glared at Carson.
“Do you mind?” he said, getting up to retrieve his
computer, only for the room to sway dizzily. He felt strong arms grab
him by the shoulder and push him back down into his seat.
“Aye, I can see you’re fine alright. Damn
it, Rodney, just what do you think you’re doing?”
Rodney pulled out of Carson’s grasp angrily.
“I was working. You know, doing my job.
Helping to save the universe. Ring any bells?”
“Working yourself into a return visit to the infirmary, more
like,” Carson took a good look at the exhausted man in front
of
him. Rodney was avoiding eye contact with him, which was
never a
good sign in his book. The man was clearly on the verge of a
collapse, he had felt small tremors running through Rodney’s
body
when stopping him from falling. He sighed, perching on the
table
as he decided on his next move.
Rodney, meanwhile, had placed his arms on the table, laying his head
down again, fully aware that he wasn’t fooling Carson for a
second. He wasn’t sure what to say, for once in his
life. He could feel the emotions rushing at him, and he was
afraid that if he tried to say anything, they would burst out of him,
like water released from a dam.
“You need to rest,” Carson stated unequivocally.
“You’re not fully recovered from the flu
that’s been
doing the rounds. If you don’t rest, I’ll
drag you
back to the infirmary and keep you there for as long as I feel is
necessary. I’ll not let you work yourself into the
grave.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll go to my room and rest
then,” Rodney said with a huff.
“Satisfied?”
“Not really, but it will do for a start.”
Rodney pushed himself to his feet, more slowly this time, and was
pleased when the room stayed still.
“If you’ll excuse me,” he said snippily,
moving past
Beckett and out of the lab, with Carson following him.
“What?” Rodney snapped, realising that Carson was
walking with him. “I’m doing what you
asked.”
“Just making sure you don’t get
sidetracked,” Carson replied, continuing to walk beside
Rodney.
“Whatever,” Rodney grumbled unhappily.
“So, why aren’t you sleeping?” Carson
prodded carefully.
“I’m sleeping fine, just busy,” Rodney
replied defensively.
“Exhausted, more like. I hear that sleeping is a
good cure for exhaustion, you should try it.”
“Oh, ha, ha. You’re not funny,
Carson.”
“I know, and I’m not easily fooled, despite what
you might
think,” Carson glanced at his stubborn friend.
“Nightmares?” he asked.
“What nightmares? I never said anything about
nightmares.”
“Aye, I know. And I know you, Rodney, and
you’ve just confirmed it.”
Rodney scowled at him, about to make an angry reply, but then the fight
seemed to drain out of him.
“I’m handling it,” Rodney insisted.
“And I
don’t need you poking your nose in where it’s not
wanted.”
“Maybe not, but it’s my job to ensure the
continuing health
of everyone here. So if I have to poke my nose in, then I
shall
bloody well do so.”
Rodney scowled, but didn’t answer.
“I could give you something to help you sleep,”
Carson offered.
“No thanks. Last thing I need is another
addiction. Once was more than enough.”
“True,” Carson agreed, thinking back to
Rodney’s
withdrawal from the Wraith enzyme with a shudder.
“But used
wisely, you wouldn’t get addicted…”
“I dream every damn night, every damn time I close my eyes
and
drift off…” Rodney paused, obviously surprised and
somewhat embarrassed by his outburst. “I start
taking
sleeping pills, and I can guarantee I’ll not want to
stop.”
“Okay, but you need to rest. Not sleeping will only
make
things worse. Sleep deprivation causes its own problems,
including bad dreams, as you should know.”
Carson watched his friend’s face, seeing emotions warring
there;
fear, pain, hurt…and also the fact that Rodney was very much
aware that his actions weren’t helping. So why was
Rodney
making things worse for himself? He was a smart man, he
clearly
knew that not sleeping wouldn’t help, would in fact makes
things
worse…
And that was it, wasn’t it? Punishment.
Rodney was punishing himself.
“What do you dream about?” Carson asked.
“Just…stuff. Bad things.
Doesn’t matter.”
“Ach, of course it matters, you bloody fool,” the
physician said in exasperation.
They reached Rodney’s room, and Carson followed Rodney in
before he could dismiss him.
“Look, I’m going to sleep, but not with you
watching me, so if you’d just go…?”
“You need to talk about this with someone. You talk
to me,
or to Dr Heightmeyer, but you will talk about this.”
“No.”
“You’re punishing yourself for something,
aren’t you?”
“Go away, Carson,” Rodney said angrily, and Carson
knew he’d hit a nerve.
“Fine. But I won’t be letting you back to
work until
this has been sorted out. I’ll have a word with
Radek, make
it clear that the science staff are to report to me if you take one
step into the labs before I say you can, and believe me,
they’ll
do it too.”
“You can’t…”
“I can, I will and I am,” Carson crossed his
arms.
“As Chief Medical Officer my say is final when it comes to
the
health of the people here. I can’t let you carry on
like
this until you collapse.”
Emotions flickered across Rodney’s face again; anger, fear,
uncertainty, returning to anger. Carson cut in before Rodney
could form the protest clearly showing in his eyes.
“And as a friend, I can’t and won’t watch
you self-destruct.”
Rodney’s shoulders slumped. He sat down on the edge
of his bed, a hand absent-mindedly rubbing his tired eyes.
“I’m not…I’m not punishing
myself…I just…I just can’t
sleep.”
“You’re ‘just’ making things
worse, and you know it.”
Rodney didn’t answer, which was answer enough for
Carson.
He sighed, and sat next to Rodney on the bed, and waited. And
then waited some more. He knew pushing further
wouldn’t
help right now.
Eventually, he heard Rodney sigh heavily, and knew his friend was
giving in. He’d known when he’d given
Rodney the
choice of who to talk to, that the physicist would choose to talk to
him and not to Kate. Rodney didn’t like talking to
Kate
these days, hadn’t really since the whole Cadman incident,
which
had shaken his trust in her.
“You’re not going to drop this, are you?”
Rodney asked, already knowing the answer.
“No.”
“You’re a bully, you know that, don’t
you?”
“Aye, sometimes I need to be. Especially when
dealing with stubborn idiots, like Sheppard…or
you.”
Rodney huffed a laugh at that, before briefly turning pain filled eyes
to Carson, and then looking at the floor, trying to work out what to
say.
“Nightmares aren’t new to me,” he closed
his
eyes. “Been suffering with them on and off most of
my life,
more so since coming here. Sometimes it’s Gall or
Abrams,
sometimes it’s Peter, or Lindstrom, or Collins.
Dead and
dying, over and over. Mainly now though, it’s other
things;
like seeing my colleagues…my friends…dying around
me, in
truly horrifying ways. Or else I see Earth, and the Wraith
are
culling everyone, and it’s all my fault. It would
have been
my fault…”
“Rodney…”
“No! Don’t tell me I’m not to
blame for that,
because I am. I should have been more careful with the data
from
that damn hive ship, should have realised it was
infected…”
“Ach, you’re not solely responsible,
Rodney.
Elizabeth agreed for the data to be spread between terminals. Radek
agreed with you that it was safe. And anyway, it was my fault
that the Wraith were here in the first place, due to my experiment with
Michael.”
“Damn it, Carson, you’re not to
blame…”
“I am, as much as you are, probably more.”
“I…no…damn you,” came the
quiet, resigned
response, followed by a soft snort. “Crap, what a
pair we
make.”
“Aye. You don’t have the monopoly on
guilt, that’s for sure. We all make
mistakes…”
“Yeah, and when I make them, big things happen.
Five sixths
of a solar system destroyed type things. Wraith finding out
Earth’s address type things. People die.
I
can’t afford to make mistakes. I
shouldn’t be making
them anyway, I’m a damn genius, and I
shouldn’t…” Rodney’s voice
trailed off, and he
placed his head into his hands, breathing deeply, trying to regain
control of his emotions.
“You’re only human, Rodney. And
you’re not the
only one to make big mistakes. How about Hoff, or Ellia, or
the
Colonel turning into a bug, not to mention the whole mess with Michael
and what that led to?” Carson sighed.
“You’re
not the only one who has nightmares.”
“How do you cope?” the question was honest, and
Rodney
looked to Carson, hoping for an answer; desperation in his eyes.
“By talking about it; to Kate, to Elizabeth, to my
friends.
You’re not alone here. You have friends; your team
for a
start.”
“I don’t think the Colonel is too pleased with me
right now…”
“Aye, well, using the herb on him was low, you have to admit
that.”
“I know, I know. I didn’t really think it
through, I
just wanted…to be liked,” he laughed a hollow
laugh.
“Maybe I wanted to piss him off. Push him
away. I
don’t know. I really don’t know what’s
going on in my
head right now,” he shrugged his shoulders.
“I
don’t deserve friendship, especially when being my friend
could
get a person killed.”
“So, you’re pushing him away, punishing yourself,
and
working yourself to collapse whilst you’re at it,”
Carson
shook his head.
“I guess that about sums it up, doesn’t
it?”
Rodney paused, his eyebrows drawn together in thought.
“Maybe I am an idiot after all,” he said with a
depreciating laugh.
“Hardly,” Carson smiled gently.
“I think…I think I should try and get some
sleep…and maybe I’ll schedule an appointment with
Kate,
give her another chance…”
“I think that would be wise.”
“And find Sheppard and apologise, again. Though
I’m
sure he’ll think of some kind of revenge…I just
hope it
won’t be too embarrassing, and that he waits until
I’m over
this flu thing.”
“I could ask him to go easy on you…”
“No. My mess, my problem. I’m
sure I’ll survive.”
“Okay. Try and get some sleep. And stay
away from
your lab for tomorrow at least. You need to rest, not
work,” Carson said with a stern look.
“Fine, I’ll try.”
“Good,” and with that Carson bid goodnight and left
Rodney to his rest.
----------------
Rest hadn’t come easily for Rodney, and he had spent most of
the
time tossing and turning, sleeping for short periods and then waking up
from the nightmares. Morning came, and he felt like crap, and
so
stayed in his room, trying to rest, his breakfast consisting of a
PowerBar.
By lunchtime, he’d had enough, and needed to get out of his
room,
away from the dreams, just for a little while. Knowing that
going
to the lab would be reported to Carson, bringing his wrath down onto
Rodney’s head, he went to the mess hall. Food
first, and
then…well, he’d figure that out after
he’d eaten.
However, the food on his plate lost its appeal after he’d sat
down, and he found himself poking at it and eating very
little.
He really felt bad, and not just physically at that. After a
few
minutes trying to convince his stomach that food was good, he gave up
and wandered towards Sheppard’s office.
The chances that the Colonel would be in his office were remote; he
rarely was. Sheppard had an open door policy, only closing it
when he didn’t want to be disturbed, or he was in a
meeting. If the door was closed, then he’d just
leave and
try to find the Colonel later.
He was close to the office when he realised the door was open, and
paused. Okay, just his luck, the Colonel was in.
Part of
him thought a retreat was probably a good idea, but another part of him
wanted this over with.
He approached and stood in the doorway, watching Sheppard, who had his
head down reading a report.
“Don’t hover in the doorway, just come
in,” John
said, without looking up from his report. When he realised
the
person hadn’t entered he looked up, and was surprised to see
McKay standing there. “McKay, get your ass in here,
or go
away, but for goodness sake, quit it with the hovering. Oh,
and
by the way, you look like crap.”
“Boy, thanks Colonel, I wasn’t aware of
that,” Rodney
said sarcastically, entering and taking a seat in front of
Sheppard’s desk, but then stopped before he said
anymore.
He hadn’t come here to piss the guy off more than he already
was,
after all.
“So, what brings you here?” John was
disturbed by
just how pale McKay seemed, but wasn’t about to fuss. He
hated it
when people fussed over him, so he wasn’t going to do the
same
over Rodney.
“I, ah, I thought you deserved a better apology than the one
I
gave you, after using Lucius’ herb, and all that,”
Rodney’s leg was jittering nervously, but he stopped it when
he
realised what he was doing. He found a spot on the wall away
from
the Colonel to fix on, not able to meet Sheppard’s
eyes.
“So, I guess I should…say I’m sorry
about
that. I mean, really sorry.”
John narrowed his eyes at the mention of the herb and
Rodney’s
misuse of it. Rodney met his eyes briefly, before flicking
his
view down to the desk between them, clearly uncomfortable.
“Okay, you’re sorry. I get that, but what
I don’t get is why you did it.”
If anything, Rodney tensed even more, and one hand started to rub the
other in an unconscious nervous action.
“I…” he stalled, not wanting to go into
all of this,
and yet Sheppard deserved some sort of answer. He looked
towards
the wall again. “Carson backed me into a corner
last night,
wanted to know why I wasn’t resting…threatened to
keep me
off duty until I talked to someone.” He gave an embarrassed
laugh. “Been having nightmares.”
Sheppard didn’t interrupt, long used to Rodney’s
way of
speaking. He knew the physicist would come back to the
question,
and that this was probably related to the answer.
“He seems to think I’m overworking
and…other
things…as a sort of punishment for my mistakes.”
Rodney
rubbed his eyes briefly, before returning to rubbing his
hands.
“He’s right, I think, though I’m not
entirely sure
what’s going on in here,” he pointed to his head,
before
grimacing. “Oh crap, I suck at this,
don’t I?
Look, I knew it was a bad idea, the herb and all that. I knew
you’d be mad at me when you found out what I’d
done, and I
think that’s why I did it.”
“To punish yourself?”
“Partly, yes. And to…to push you away, I
guess.” Rodney shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his gaze
returning to the desk. “I make mistakes, and people
die
from them sometimes. Or solar systems get badly
damaged. Or
the Wraith find Earth, and nearly get there. It’s
dangerous
to be my…friend. Crap, it’s dangerous
just to be my
colleague. And it’s even worse when people trust
me…” he trailed off for a moment, brow furrowing
as he
thought about his next words. “I don’t
deserve to be
trusted, and it’s dangerous for people to do so. I
feel
like, recently, we’ve, you know, sort of got over the
problems
after Doranda. I mean, that things have been better, that
maybe
I’ve regained your trust, at least to a large extent,
and…after what has happened recently, I…I
don’t
want you to trust me too much. It’s too
dangerous.”
“Rod-ney,” John drew the name out, causing McKay to
look
him in the eyes, and, oh crap; the fear, the pain, the guilt shone
through clearly. Sheppard was uncomfortable, but knew his
friend
needed some help, some reassurance. Sure, he was pissed at
what
McKay had done with the herb, turning him into a sycophantic slave,
but…not enough to turn him away. He
sighed. “I
do trust you. And this, this hasn’t changed
that.
Sure, it hurt, but…Elizabeth pointed out to me that I was
being
an unmitigated bastard about things, about the way she and others were
fawning over Lucius, and I just figured you were trying to make me see
things from their, and your, point of view. That you were
pissed
with the way I was acting, and this was a sort of object
lesson.
Okay, I was still planning to get you back for it, but I’m
not as
pissed as I think you want me to be. Of course, now
I’m
wishing it was as simple as that.”
“You were being a pain about it all,” Rodney
agreed.
“Wish I could say that was my motive,
but…”
“But it wasn’t,” John leaned back in his
chair,
considering his next words. “You do deserve to be
trusted,
McKay. And you’re not solely responsible for what
happened
with the Wraith. Crap, I wouldn’t put any of the
blame on
you, to be honest. So you didn’t detect the virus
or worm
or whatever that was hidden in the data, neither did anyone
else.
And it was Elizabeth’s decision to spread the data between
terminals.”
“Because I said it would be okay. Because she
trusted my judgment…”
“Because there wasn’t time for anything
else. The
Wraith were putting us under pressure to do things quickly, and now we
know why, don’t we? So that we would make
mistakes…and we all
made mistakes, McKay. All of us. You
were not to blame, we all were.”
“I…but…”
“Besides, one thing I know about Rodney McKay; he learns from
his
mistakes. That’s why I trust the guy, one hundred
percent.”
Rodney was surprised at that, looking around the room, eyes flitting
from one thing to another, before settling back on John.
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” he said simply.
“There’s a lot of things I probably
shouldn’t do, but
do anyway,” John smiled, before turning serious
again.
“And this trying to push me away crap? As well as
the
punishing yourself shit? That’s just
stupid.
Especially as now I know what you’re up to. No
chance of me
turning away from you now, McKay. You’re a part of
my team,
and I trust you,” John looked away, feeling self
conscious
about what he needed to say, but saying it anyway.
“You’re my friend, Rodney. Family,
even. So
drop it with the trying to push me away crap, will you?
Won’t work.”
“I…” Rodney was at a loss of how to
reply.
“Well?”
“Okay,” McKay sighed heavily.
“Okay, I’m
sorry. I’ll try not to, you know, try to piss you
off or
anything.”
“Good. Now that that’s cleared up, I
think you need
to go get some rest. You really do look like something the
cat
dragged in. Actually, I’m not sure the cat would bother with
you. I think it’d be embarrassed to drag something
as
pathetic looking as you in,” Sheppard grinned.
“Oh, ha, ha.” Rodney huffed, before
standing
quickly. Only that wasn’t such a good idea he
discovered,
as he suddenly felt light-headed, and his body started to sink to the
ground.
John had seen Rodney’s face pale alarmingly, and vaulted over
his
desk quickly, grabbing his friend before he could do himself any
damage, and easing him gently to the floor.
“Hey, easy there,” he said, as Rodney appeared to
recover slightly and he helped him back into the chair.
“Sorry, just stood up too fast…” Rodney
trailed off as Sheppard activated his comm unit.
“Dr Beckett.”
“Hey, don’t…” John threw
Rodney a look that shut him up.
“Beckett
here.”
“Hey, doc, it’s Colonel Sheppard. Do you
have time to
come to my office? McKay decided to collapse on me.”
“Did he lose
consciousness?”
“No, but I’d be happy if you could take a look at
him.”
“Already on my
way, Colonel.”
“Thanks.”
Rodney was glaring at him, but he just smiled back, making McKay even
more annoyed.
“You didn’t need to do that,” he
protested. “I’m fine.”
“Uh, uh, sure. Consider it payback for the herb
thing. We’re even now.”
“What? Rather a pathetic payback for what I did,
don’t you think?”
“True, but you’re not seriously going to argue me
into doing something worse, are you?”
“Ah, no, guess not,” McKay looked slightly sheepish.
“Good. Otherwise I’d have to think
you’re still
trying to punish yourself or something equally as mixed up as
that. And then I’d have to try and knock some sense
into
that stubborn head of yours.”
“Great. I should never have told you
that.”
“Maybe, but I, for one, am glad that you did.
Can’t
watch your back if I don’t know what I’m watching
out
for.”
Just then, Carson entered Sheppard’s office, having been not
too far from it to start with.
“Ach, what are you doing here, Rodney? I thought
you were supposed to be resting.”
“I’ve rested, and I was on my way back to my room
when Sheppard panicked over nothing.”
“I did not panic,” John said.
“And it
wasn’t over nothing. You stood up, went chalk
white, and
collapsed. You’re lucky I have fast reflexes,
otherwise
you’d have some bumps and bruises to add to your list of
woes.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” McKay denied,
trying to pull
his arm away from Carson, who was attempting to check his pulse
rate. Carson tugged Rodney’s arm back and gave him
a look
that boded ill, and Rodney reluctantly settled and let Carson check his
pulse.
“It was,” John disagreed.
“Did you have anything for lunch?” Carson asked.
“Yes,” and at another look from Carson,
admitted.
“Okay, I wasn’t that hungry. Managed to
eat a few
vegetables before I gave it up as a lost cause.”
“Hmm. How much sleep did you get since last
night?”
“Not much. Maybe four or five hours of interrupted
sleep.”
“Not nearly enough,” Carson pointed out.
“Yes, well, I’d sleep for an hour or two and be
woken by a
nightmare. Forgive me if it took awhile to try and get back
to
sleep again after one of those.”
“Maybe you could give him something to help, doc?”
John asked.
“We’ve already had this conversation, and he
doesn’t want anything.”
“Oh,” John realised he was missing out on
something, but decided to leave it alone for now.
“Okay, I think we need to get you back to your room, and then
I’ll get you some soup. Hopefully you’ll
be able to
get some of that down you,” Carson said to Rodney.
“I’ll get the soup,” Sheppard offered.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, doc. Be a good excuse to escape the
paperwork for a
bit,” he grinned, heading out the door.
“I’ll
meet you at his room.”
Carson helped Rodney to get up slowly, and then followed him back to
his room. Rodney shrugged off any help, managing to walk,
well,
stagger, back unaided.
Once back in his room, Rodney disappeared into the bathroom to take
care of business and change into sweats and a t-shirt, whilst Carson
moved some items from a table and chair, ready for when the Colonel
brought the soup.
“I really think you should take a pill today,”
Carson said as Rodney re-entered the room, sitting down on his bed.
“I told you, I don’t want that.”
“Aye, I know, but I’m not talking about giving you
a bottle
of the bloody things, just one. You’ll not get
addicted
with that. Besides, I’ll not let you.
Trust me, for
once.”
“I…ah…damn it. Just one, just
this once.”
“Good.”
The Colonel knocked and entered carrying a tray with some soup, bread
and a glass water on it, placing it on the table that Carson had
cleared down earlier.
“Okay, lunch is served,” he said, waving McKay over
to the table.
“Thanks,” McKay muttered. He looked at
the food,
still not really hungry, but knew they weren’t going to let
him
off eating it. With a sigh, he picked up the spoon and dove
in,
unenthusiastically. “You don’t need to
stay and watch
me eat. It’s not a spectator sport,” he
grumped at
them.
“I’ll stay, doc, make sure he eats it all and then
rests.”
“Okay,” Carson turned to McKay, who had rolled his
eyes at
the exchange. “I want to see you tomorrow morning
for a
check up. Let me know when you’re awake and
I’ll make
a house call,” Carson turned his attention back to
Sheppard. “Make sure he eats the soup at least, and
takes
the sleeping pill.”
“I thought he didn’t want one of those?”
John asked, confused.
“We came to an agreement,” Carson said, and John
figured
the less said the better, having been on more than one end of an
‘agreement’ with the doc.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Rodney. Get some
rest,” he ordered as he left.
Sheppard looked around the room, moving items from another chair so
that he could sit down.
“I have to admit to being a little bit hurt,” he
said
sadly, though not entirely seriously. “I mean, all
my hard
work, putting stuff away, and a few days later the place looks worse
than before I started on it.”
“Oh, that,” Rodney shook his head, and then
continued to
eat the soup at a look from the Colonel, rolling his eyes again in
exasperation. “Yes, well, you put everything away
and then
I found that Icouldn’tfindanything,” he finished in
a rush.
“You couldn’t find anything?” John
interpreted, and
then laughed. “Not so good, then, having someone
else clear
your stuff away.”
“No.” Rodney look a little embarrassed.
“I got
everything out again and was in the midst of re-organising it all when
I came down with the dreaded flu,” he shrugged his shoulders,
and
gave a little huff of laughter. “Guess
I’ll have to
finish sorting it out later, when I feel better.”
“Yeah, guess so.”
McKay had finished the soup, and moved over the his bed.
“Well, if you don’t mind, I should try and get some
sleep,” he said, only to see John approaching with the glass
of
water and the pill.
“Forgot something?”
Rodney sighed, and hung his head.
“Okay, okay, I’ll take the damn pill.” He
took it
from John and swallowed it with a gulp of water.
“Happy
now?”
“Ecstatic.” Sheppard smiled. “I
don’t
have much on for tomorrow, just more paperwork.” He made a
face
at that. “So, I could bring lunch? And if
you feel up
to it, you could tell me where to put things and I’ll help
you
clear this mess up.” John indicated McKay’s room.
McKay was stunned, and temporarily speechless. But only
temporarily, of course.
“Why would you do that?” he winced, realising how
ungrateful that probably sounded.
“Hey, it’s what friends do.” The Colonel
stood.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow then, depending on any
unexpected emergencies?”
“Aren’t all emergencies unexpected?”
Sheppard sighed and looked heavenwards, shaking his head.
“Lunch sounds good…and the rest too.
Thanks.”
“No problem. Get some rest.” And waved a
hand in farewell, leaving McKay to his own devises.
McKay settled down, already beginning to feel the effects of the
pill. It would seem that trying to push Sheppard away
wasn’t that easy, and he found he was actually glad of
that. He just hoped he didn’t get the Colonel, or
anyone
else for that matter, killed because of it.
Still, he was Rodney McKay, genius. He’d learn from
his
mistakes, and he’d be more careful in the future so that he
didn’t make anymore. Or at least, that he
didn’t make
as many.
And with that thought, he drifted into a dreamless slumber.
----------------
“One who makes
no mistakes never makes anything.” – Anon.
