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The first thing Rodney became horribly aware of when he regained consciousness was a sharp pain in his left side.
The second thing he noticed was how hot his body felt despite the cool, damp weather surrounding him. The third and certainly not last thing he noticed was a Carson-shaped blur hovering over him and fussing about like a mother hen.
"Oh bloody hell, Rodney! Yeh nearly gave me a heart attack!" There was relief in the oh-so-familiar voice with the sexy Scottish accent.
No matter how hard he tried, Rodney couldn't quite get his vision back into focus. He felt like he was looking through a microscope, back when he was interested in certain aspects of medical "science", that Jeannie had purposefully tampered with in order to get back at him for doing whatever he did that had bothered her. Pitting two geniuses against one another was definitely not a good idea, even if it was all in good fun.
"Don't do that! I was so scared, Rodney. Please don't do that again." There was that voice again. God, it sounded like music to Rodney's ear. Yet it made his stomach tighten in knots and gave him a really bad feeling. How could something so sweet make him feel so wrong? He couldn't remember.
"Carson." He sounded hoarse even to his own ears, and he couldn't be sure if it was blood but he had a coppery after-taste in his mouth. Great. Just great.
"Aye?"
"Carson." He played around with the name, begging his memory for any shred of information regarding why the hell he was lying on a cold, hard ground - which was probably going to further worsen his back problems - beside Carson. Wait... "Carson???"
"I'm so thrilled you're coherent, Rodney, but repeatin' my name really won't do yeh any good."
"Aren't you - didn't you -" disappear? finished his mind as Carson interrupted him with what appeared to be a sad smile tugging at his still blurry lips.
"Hush, Rodney-bear. You've got a fever and I managed to stop the bleeding from the wound in your side for the moment. Rest now, Rodney. Don't you worry about a thing." Yeah, right. Rodney could remember everything, now. He'd gotten himself stuck alone on the most boring, empty and food-lacking planet he'd ever been to and still managed to run into aliens pissed off about something or other. They always managed to have guns. What do you do when two angry aliens with guns find you? Run. What do you do when one of the two decides to shoot you on the spot? Scream like a baby and hide. So of course he had nothing to worry about. He was only stuck away from home, was the main course for a couple of crazed and not to mention hideous aliens, and was currently hallucinating about his lover, Carson. Of everything that was happening to him, he much preferred the fake Carson. So much better than the fake Sam Carter he'd hallucinated about a while back when he was stuck in a sinking Puddle Jumper somewhere in the waters around Atlantis.
"...Carson?" He fumbled with his right arm until a hand came down and covered his own. God, it felt so nice and warm. Not to mention real.
"Don't worry, love. Everythin's goin' to be fine." Rodney finally let his eyelids droop shut and he drifted off into a peaceful slumber with only one thing on his mind: "Please let it be real. Please let it be real."
The next thing he became aware of was a thin blanket covering his body. He'd have to remind Carson to bring in some more blankets if he could get some. Theirs were too thin to be considered real blankets. He'd be damned if he'd get another cold because of that. Not that he minded Carson taking care of him. He actually took comfort in it.
He could hear people talking, now. Probably Carson watching that morning talk show he likes so much. Maybe he could get him to turn it down just for a little while longer.
"Carson...?" He cracked open an eyelid and flinched as bright fluorescent lights blinded him momentarily. It suddenly dawned on him: he wasn't at home with Carson. No, he'd been on that stupid godforsaken planet with - "Carson!!"
Rodney jumped up in bed and was immediately pushed back down by two strong arms as John's torso swam into view with a sudden clarity, immediately followed by a concerned Teyla, a frowning Ronon, and a smiling Elizabeth. A peach blur behind Elizabeth fled out of view and he couldn't be sure but he could have sworn that it looked just like Radek. He relaxed under the hands, and they disappeared after a moment of hesitation.
"Where's Carson?" It was John who opened his mouth first.
"Still gone." There was a moment of awkward silence as Rodney mulled that piece of information over before John continued. "But the doc says you're doing a lot better, buddy. You pulled through okay. It was a miracle you survived on that planet for two days." No, it wasn't a miracle, Rodney thought angrily to himself.
"It was Carson." He glared at everybody, daring them to say otherwise. This time it was Elizabeth's turn to break the silence.
"The doctor says you'll be up and about in no time."
Rodney remained silent.
"We all miss you. Please feel better soon." Teyla was smiling that smile that only she seemed capable of.
"Yeah. Weir's got us cooped up in here until you're better." Ronon was even more scary when he was trying to be friendly. It was the next part that he added that scared Rodney the most. "There's nothing to hunt around here."
They each gave him a smile and, one by one, his team mates - no, his friends - filed out of the infirmary. One by one he counted the seconds since Carson was no longer a part of his life. One by one the tears rolled down his face.