Supplemental Part 3
Rodney felt the water closing in around him. As he sank into the depths, he felt as if his lungs were about to explode. A sense of vertigo threatened to overwhelm him. Which way was up? He opened his eyes but there was nothing to see in the dark waters.
His lungs burned, aching for even the smallest amount of air. Panic seized all rational thought.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, he felt something snake under his arm and around his neck. Instinct told him to fight. He tried to wrench free, his movements made ineffectual by the water and the lack of oxygen, but it refused to let go.
Finally, he could no longer hold his breath. In one last moment of consciousness, Rodney prayed for rescue.
OooOooO
Rodney came to, coughing. Someone rolled him onto his side, letting the rest of the water spew out of his lungs.
“It’s all right, Rodney,” Carson’s soft brogue sounded from behind him. His fingers encircled Rodney’s wrist, pressing on the pulse point. The doctor pulled Rodney back onto his back and then pried open an eyelid to shine a light into his eyes.
Rodney swatted at it. Through chattering teeth he said, “C-c-could you not do that?”
“I’ll do that and more,” the doctor replied. Was that anger in his eyes? “Your little midnight swim just earned you a night in the infirmary.”
Rodney fingers clenched the blanket that was draped over his shivering form. “No. Practice all the voodoo on Sheppard you w-w-want, but I’m going to get a h-h-hot shower and go t-t-to bed.”
Even as he spoke, Rodney felt himself being lifted and placed on the gurney. Straps came into sight, coming across the gurney, attempting to secure him.
“No!” Rodney bucked, tried to move. Like an animal caught in a trap, Rodney fought. They couldn’t do this. He just fell in the water. He was fine, right?
“Hold still, Rodney,” Carson bent down to his ear, speaking in soft tones, while medics fastened the upper straps.
Rodney kicked with his feet, feeling it come in contact with something or someone. “Let me go!”
“Get his feet. I’ll give him Benzodiazepine as soon we get him in the infirmary. That should calm him down.” Carson walked in step with the gurney until they arrived at the infirmary. There, his nurse handed him a prepared syringe.
Rodney shrank back. “No. You think drugs are the answer to everything. Stay away from me.”
“I should ask you the same thing.” Carson approached him with gloved hands and searched for a vein before injecting the syringe contents into Rodney. “There, that should calm you down.”
Slowly, Rodney felt his heartbeat begin to slow, his breathing become easier with the additional help of a nasal cannula. He felt the distinctive prick of an IV on the back of his hand, watched as they hung a bag of saline solution to run through it. A nurse attached a pulse oxymeter to his index finger, while another wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his upper arm.
“There. Now I think we can loosen these and get him a little more comfortable,” Carson said. “Dawn, I want his blood drawn stat.”
Blood? Rodney grimaced. That’s all Carson ever wanted from him anymore.
“I want the toxicology report on my desk as soon as it’s finished.”
“Yes, Doctor Beckett.”
OooOooO
Carson watched his respirations, counting. Satisfied that all his vitals were within acceptable parameters, the doctor went back to Rodney’s chart. The final report was in from his blood work the day before. He read through it once more, not wanting to accept what it said.
“How is he?” Colonel Sheppard asked as he hurried into the infirmary, dressed now in dry clothing. Elizabeth walked in right after him.
Carson sighed, made one final notation on Rodney’s chart and then placed it back in its holder at the end of the bed. Both of them looked at him expectantly. He took a deep breath and let it out, dreading the answers he had to give them.
“He’s fine,” he assured them as he searched for the right words. How much did he want to tell them at 0300 hours?
“But?” Elizabeth crossed her arms. She knew him too well.
“I’m concerned about some of his blood tests.” Carson glanced back at Rodney, saw the clenching of the fist and knew he was still awake. He motioned for them to follow him far enough away that Rodney couldn’t overhear him. “Rodney’s blood contained levels of a hallucinogen not unlike Earth’s -“
“You mean I just had to fish my friend from a midnight swim because he was on some sort of drug induced trip?” Sheppard’s voice rose up a notch.
“I won’t be entirely sure until Rodney can tell us, but aye, all evidence indicates it is.” Carson paused, dreading revealing the results on the other piece of paper. “I’m afraid that’s not all. Yesterday, when I had Rodney come in to do some blood tests to make sure he was all right, we discovered traces of two other substances.”
“More of this?” Elizabeth asked.
“No, it appeared to be a depressant. The only reasonable explanation I can figure is that maybe he was self-medicating in order to get some sleep.”
Sheppard snorted. “When is Rodney ever worried about getting enough sleep?”
“The other seems to be some sort of amphetamine. It would have caused him to experience very high levels of energy.” Carson caught the look exchanged between the two leaders. He sighed. “I take it you’ve noticed something.”
Elizabeth stood stiffly, her lips pressed tightly together. “There’s been some recent discussion about why we don’t allow our people to self-medicate themselves in a foreign galaxy.”
“Aye, I agree. The bottom line is there is nothing else that can account for these levels in his bloodstream except drugs.”
Sheppard glanced in the direction of Rodney’s bed. “So, is he going to be all right?”
“Aye. I plan to keep him overnight at least and run some more blood tests to be sure. Beyond that, I’m afraid there’s little reason to keep him here. I’m given him a dose of Benzodiazepine to calm him down. Hopefully, it’ll help him ride through this a little easier. I’ll sit with him for awhile and have one of the -“
“I’ll stay with him,” Sheppard said firmly.
Carson nodded. “I kind of figured that might be the case. I had the nurse prepare another bed so you get some rest while you wait. If Ronon and Teyla had been up, I would fully have expected to pull in chairs as well.”
Sheppard opted for a chair as soon as Carson and Elizabeth left. He leaned back and watched his friend. How could this have happened? Ronon and Teyla had been addicted to the same enzyme. But it hadn’t been the same. Even Carson had told them that they had no idea what kind of long term effects Rodney might have for his ‘karate chop dose’ as Rodney called it. While searching for him, Teyla, and Ronon, Carson said Rodney had been running on adrenaline and coffee.
Sheppard let his head fall back against the chair, while his eyes slid shut. He might as well get a little sleep. Tomorrow he planned to have a long talk with Rodney. A very long talk.
OooOooO
Taking a seat opposite of Elizabeth, Rodney prepared for the worst. Already that morning, Sheppard had confronted him. Tried to talk to him. Begged him to admit to his ‘problem’. Told Rodney that he understood. It hadn’t taken long before Rodney quit trying to defend himself. Long before their ‘chat’ had even begun, Sheppard had already made up his mind.
The worst of it was that he really had no defense. At least not one that held even the slightest bit of credence. What did they expect him to do? Admit that his memory had left him on more than one occasions? He wondered how many appointments that would get him with Heightmeyer. No, the best thing to do was to keep quiet until he could figure out what was going on.
Unless of course, he was going crazy. Rodney pushed that thought to the back of his mind and focused on what Elizabeth was saying.
“Can you explain what happened last night?”
“Elizabeth, I’m telling you I don’t know what happened.” Rodney tried to explain after she shut the door to her office. “I couldn’t sleep and went for a walk. The next thing I know I tripped and found myself in the water.”
“Carson said you were taking a hallucinogen,” she accused, leveling him with her gaze.
“I am not taking drugs. Just because I made a rash decision one time to help my teammates does not mean that I am an addict.”
“Blood tests indicate otherwise. We also found this in your bedroom.” She fished a bag out of the drawer of her desk. Inside the bag there was a variety of pills.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but those are not mine.” He jabbed his index finger at the bag, leaning forward. “Elizabeth, you know me better than that. I spend more time in the infirmary than most. Don’t you think Carson would have noticed something before now?”
“That was before you took the enzyme. And we know how it can change people.” She gave him a pointed look and he knew she was thinking of Ford. “No, until you can prove to me that you have this problem under control, I am relieving you of duty.”
“What?” This was ridiculous! Sure he’d taken a huge dose of the enzyme, but that didn’t make him some drug addict. He tried once more, “Think about what you’re doing. Without someone to watch over them, one of the scientists would probably blow up half of Atlantis.”
“And Zelenka isn’t capable of watching them?” She held up a hand, holding back his response. “And remember before you answer: you trained him.”
Rodney stared out the clear glass outer walls of her office. This couldn’t be happening. But it was. “He’s more than capable.”
“Good. Then I’ll let him know. In the meantime, I want you to follow up with Dr. Beckett and make an appointment with Dr. Heightmeyer.”
“But…” His voice trailed off. How could he tell her he didn’t want to see Heightmeyer. There was no way the psychologist would understand what was going on in his mind. She’d probably sent him off to a padded room. Sighing, Rodney nodded. “Is that all?”
“For now.”
OooOooO
With a silent, determined stride Ronon made his way to the end of the pier where they had told him Rodney had fallen in. After breakfast Dr. Weir had called a special briefing and explained the situation. Something didn’t sit right with him and he wasn’t sure why.
There were few people on the pier as he stepped out the door. He spoke to no one. Reaching the end of the pier, he stared out toward the sea and then turned and faced the city walls, thinking, hoping something would give him a clue. He tried to imagine what Rodney must have been doing that caused him to fall in the water. Could it have been just the drugs?
Ronon stepped backwards. His foot slid on something and he had to twist in the open air in an effort to stop his impending fall. Oof. Ronon landed on the pier with all the grace of a wild marmot.
“Are you all right?” One of the marines who had been patrolling the area rushed over to help.
Ronon speared him with a look. The marine instinctively backed up, allowing Ronon a wide berth to get to his feet on his own.
Kneeling down on the pier, Ronon let his hand slide along the outer part that met with the sea. He rubbed his fingers together, letting the greasy substance speak for itself. And right now, it spoke volumes.
~TBC~