The Dreaded News

[dr_c_beckett]

Carson sat in his office, trying not to put his head in his hands. After taking a deep breath, he tapped his comm.

"Rodney? Would ye please come ta the infirmary? i need ta see ye in my office."

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[dr_rodneymckay]

Rodney frowned as he looked up from where he'd been giving Andy a bath; he was saving Dora for later since he didn't want to get blood all over Andy. For reasons he didn't understand, Andy seemed to actually like water

[dr_c_beckett]

"Have a seat, Rodney." Carson thought the door shut and soundproofed.

"I'll just run through this so I can assure you he'll be alright. John's team came back early. The natives were hostile, to say the least. John got hit with two arrows, both poisoned. The surgery was to repair the hits and replace the blood he lost, as one of the agents in the poison was an anti-coagulant. We've got that under control. One arrow was near his heart, the other nicked his liver. It also had a neurotoxin in it. Quick thinking on Dr. Parrish's part got her to save another arrow to analyze and we're developing the anti-toxins. John's unconscious, but he *will* pull through, He's currently intubated, and is likely to be out for a few days. I expect him to come off the breather tomorrow. It was close, but we *did* save him." Carson sags against his desk a little running a tired hand over his face.

"I'd have called ye earlier, but there wasn't any time at all to spare before doing surgery."

[dr_rodneymckay]

Reluctantly taking a seat on the couch, Rodney listened to Carson, silent for once and his face giving nothing away. Only the rapid twisting of his rings gave away how much the news really affected him as he stared at the floor in front of him.

Several minutes later, Rodney looked up at Carson, lips quirked and said humorlessly. "Guess it's a good thing Radek isn't here, huh? I hate that I have to ask this before I can even see the man, but do we know why John's team was attacked?" Already, Rodney was shaking his head as he stood. "No, nevermind, you probably wouldn't know. Let me go see him then I need to question Teyla, Ronon and Parrish. I need to decide if that planet needs nuked or not."

He walked to the door and frowned when it remained closed before turning to Carson. Crossing his arms, Rodney raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Well? Are you going to let me out to do Eliz--my job or is there something else you need to tell me?"

[dr_c_beckett]

Carson sighed. "Rodney. Ye can't nuke a planet just because it's not a friendly place." He stopped, looked a little concerned at how that was worded.

"What I mean is, this would have likely happened regardless of which team had gone. We simply do what we do with all such planets, we write them off for the "go back to visit" list. You can see him, but he is still unconscious. He can likely hear you, though. I'm sure we'll have him home in a few days. I'm certainly not letting him on anything but light duty for a while, with where those arrows hit."

At the look he got, Carson pushed off the desk he'd been leaning against and went over to embrace Rodney. "Love..." He looked into sapphire eyes bright with worry and pain. "I just thank God it wasn't the both of you. I've only got so many hands.... I couldn't bear ta lose ye both."