x_erikah_x | FIC: Devil Inside

DEVIL INSIDE By ErikaHK

Title Devil Inside - Ch. 11/14
Word count: 1.260
Rating: PG
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Elizabeth Weir, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Carson Beckett
Genre: Drama, Angst, H/C, Suspense, Gen
Disclaimer: Stargate and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment. Not done for profit, just for fun.

Summary: A mysterious entity takes over the bodies of the members of the Atlantis Expedition. Season 3 pre-Sunday. No spoilers.

Special thanks to my beta lauriel01!

Chapter 11

The day went by with little progress on the translations. The files were extensive and incredibly detailed with useless information and technicalities. Rodney had to divide his time between three different teams of translators, and all of them were now working in his lab exhausted. Rodney’s own patience was running increasingly low over the last few hours due lack of rest and the stress of the job. He closed his fists so hard that his knuckles were white and his hand was trembling. He took a deep breath.

“Are you stupid? Where did you get this nonsense from? It’s pure gibberish! The words are all scrambled and have the wrong meanings! See! This does not mean random pattern, it’s systematic pattern! The total, complete opposite! Where is your head? Did you forget it somewhere?” He shouted loudly, spitting all over the man in front of him.

Everyone on the near vicinity stopped their work to stare at him and the poor soul to which the explosion was directed. Rodney was breathing hard and his face was as red as a rotting tomato.

“What are you all looking at? Back to work!” He shouted.

“Doctor McKay, we’ve been working non stop for twelve hours. All of us are finding it hard to concentrate. We need a break.” A woman beside the man explained calmly and firmly. “And so do you.” She kept a firm gaze on him.

He closed his eyes and tried to breathe steadily and deeply. The redness in his face disappeared after a few intakes, but he still kept his jaw shut tightly. He usually didn’t care about what anyone else was thinking about him, but at the moment he felt his own leadership skills failing. The new translating team working with him was rebelling begging for rest not only for them, but for him too. The scientists that worked for him gulped around the woman that obviously didn’t know his working system and returned to their tasks, shooting nervous stares at her.

One of the first rules that his minions learned is that no one begs for time off. You earn them if you get your job well done. That was a rule he applied for himself as well. He would not stop until his work was well done and finished, even if that means going on days without sleep.

“You’ll get your break as soon as this page is finished and corrected.” He spoke clearly and slowly then went back to his laptop.

They had to solve this soon, because now they had a time frame. According to the data, the host’s body starts to deteriorate after twenty four hours with the entity inside and they just reached that limit. From now on, Teyla would start to suffer increasingly until she died from the trauma to her system and he was the only one that could find a solution to this problem.

…

Carson stood on the observation balcony staring at the bed below in the isolation room with arms crossed. The only sound inside the room was the faint snoring from Ronon sleeping on a chair in the back. Teyla slept too, unaware of what was happening to her body. The thought of what that bloody creature was doing to her enraged him. Having that thing stealing her body and thoughts was a violation.

He was keeping her under sedation since her exam the previous night and now he was thankful he did so. Rodney had informed him a few hours earlier about the deterioration of the body after twenty four hours of exposure to the entity so now he took hourly exams and kept her vitals in check every minute. He could perfectly understand the evolution of the condition now and the frustration of not being able to do anything besides keeping her asleep consumed him every time he thought about it.

The Colonel was improving slowly, but still at a faster rate than he would normally expect. He had learned never to underestimate Sheppard’s healing capacities. The man was one of the luckiest, strongest and most resilient patients he ever had. That shot could easily have been fatal. When a bullet enters the ribcage it’s all set for disaster. It can ricochet on the ribs and sternum and the damage is unpredictable. It can easily hit the heart, the aorta or any major organ in the chest cavity, but he managed to get away with a minor lung injury. It was too early to give any estimates, but judging from past experiences he imagined he would be out of the ventilator in a few days (meaning that Carson would have to endure his complaints about boredom) and out of the infirmary in a couple of weeks.

He heard someone enter and turned to see Elizabeth Weir coming to stand by his side. He smiled heartily. She looked a wee bit more rested.

“How is she?” Elizabeth asked, looking down at the isolation room.

“Her deterioration has begun.” He said quietly. “Her adrenalin levels are skyrocketing. She can’t continue like this for long.” He let his worry into his voice.

“How long?” She looked into his eyes.

“I’m keeping an eye on her progress. She has an increased heart and respiratory rate as well as blood pressure. If this continues, her immune system will be compromised, she could have hypertension crisis, insulin shock, lesions on her heart and will grow increasingly weak until she dies. We’re doing our best to try to give her some kind of treatment, but all drugs we’ve given her so far have been ineffective in diminishing the accelerated heart. I’m not sure what else can be done.” He sighed deeply and rubbed his face to fight his frustration.

“I know you’re doing your best, Carson.” She squeezed his shoulder.

“Aye, but is not enough.” It hurt his heart to acknowledge the fact.

“You’re exhausted, get some rest.” She said softly.

“I can’t. Not until she’s out of the woods.” He turned back to watching Teyla. “How’s the translation going?”

“Slowly. The ancients kept a huge file full of futile details.” He sensed her frustration. “It will take time.” She closed her eyes.

That was something they didn’t have. If only he could find a way to slow her progress while they worked on finding a solution to give them more time. He narrowed his eyes as an idea crept into his mind.

Elizabeth apparently noticed the change on his expression. “What, Carson?”

He lifted his head to face her with his eyes widening. “I could give you an extra twenty four hours.” He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of that before. He saw Elizabeth’s blank frown and elaborated. “What if I take her off the sedatives and offer another host for the time being?”

She tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow. “That should work. But who-“

“I’d be more than wiling to volunteer.” His patient’s welfare was in his hands and if that was the only treatment for it, he would take his chances.

“You can’t. You’re the CMO! Teyla will need to recuperate and Sheppard is in the ICU…” She started to try to change his mind, but his decision was already made.

“My medical staff is more than capable of handling it. The Colonel is starting to show signs of improvement, and Teyla will start to recuperate the minute the bloody thing is out of her.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “Please, Elizabeth, let me save her.” He begged softly.

…

TBC…