Two weeks later

Laura and Ronon sat shoulder to shoulder, sulking against the wall in the gym as they watched John and Evan spar. Both were disgruntled at the fact that Jennifer continued to refuse to clear them for active duty. Although, to be fair, she promised it would only be a week more.

When Jen had taken Ronon into surgery, she had discovered the bullet had knicked a lung and fractured two ribs. She had repaired both, and he was an exceptionally fast healer, but she was being cautious about his recovery. They all knew that she had an especially vested interest in his well-being, and watched in awe as Ronon continually tamped down on his frustration and heeded her orders.

Laura's recovery was going a bit slower. Her dislocated shoulder had torn a few tendons that had to be repaired, several of the ribs around the broken one had been severely bruised, and then, of course, her broken rib had been set back into place. On top of all of that, she had developed a case, albeit a weak one, of pneumonia. For a week she had barely been conscious enough to register Evan sitting by her bed until Sheppard had forced him to get some rest. Of course, as soon as he'd gone, John had taken up residence in his vacated chair and stayed there until Evan returned.

After that, Laura had gone progressively better. John had joked that her competitive nature wouldn't allow Ronon to be cleared before, or at least not too much before, herself, despite the fact that her injuries had been more severe.

She had been out of the infirmary for two days, and only then because she had resorted to alternately threatening to shoot her best friend and going down knees to beg Jen to let her sleep in her own bed. Laura liked to think it had been the threats that had won her argument, but deep down she knew Jennifer had a soft spot for her and couldn't stand to see her beg.

Now she sat by Ronon, the two of them continually grumbling in complaint about being well enough to get in a little physical exercise. Laura was really just arguing for form's sake, knowing she wouldn't last more than 30 seconds if she tried to take one of the men on. As it was, she was lucky Evan had allowed her to slowly amble her way to the gym, with him hovering close behind, of course.

When Jen had told her she'd be allowed back on duty in one more week, she had qualified that by adding that it would be limited duty until Jen said so. Laura was so happy to be allowed to do anything that she hadn't argued.

John and Evan had taken a team of scientists and a team of Marines back to the planet in a couple of jumpers a few days after their initial visit. Scans of the planet's surface had revealed no detectable life signs. Evan had told Laura that Sheppard was pushing for a second go around, but Woolsey wasn't having it. They were all frustrated at never having seen their attacker, but John was taking it especially hard because he had been essentially useless while members of his team were being attacked and he was used to being the self-sacrificial one.

Evan landed hard on his backside in front of Laura and Ronon and she shot a grin at his grimacing face.

"You should have taken me on, soldier," she told him.

John came over and squatted beside them, Laura passing him his towel and water bottle.

"Thanks," he said as he mopped his face off.

Evan pried himself up off the floor, but remained seated as he too toweled off before draining his bottle of water. As the others chatted, he tried covertly to scan Laura for any signs of pain or fatigue. She hadn't been out of bed much in the last two weeks, and he didn't want her to overexert herself.

"Well, I think that's enough for today, Major," Sheppard said, standing.

"Yes, Sir," Evan replied, trying not to sound like he was agreeing to eagerly.

"I'm hungry," Ronon put it.

Sheppard laughed.

"You're always hungry, big guy. Come on, let's go see if we can tear your pretty doctor away from work and get some dinner." He looked back at Evan and Laura. "You guys coming?"

Evan looked to Laura to see if she was up for it. She nodded.

"Sure."

Sheppard and Ronon left the room, squabbling about what Ronon found lacking in Sheppard's sparring technique.

"You sure you're up for this?" Evan asked, looking at Laura with a concerned expression.

"Yes. I'm fine, Ev. It'll be nice to sit out and eat with friends."

He stood and moved to help her stand. Her left arm was supposed to be in a sling, but she refused to wear it outside her quarters because she didn't want to appear weak in front of her peers. She lifted her hands, intending for him to pull her up, but he bypassed them and hooked his hands under her armpits instead. There was no way he was going to risk further injury to her shoulder or ribs by pulling on her.

Rolling her eyes, Laura gripped his biceps and allowed him to support her while she used her legs to push herself up. Despite their care, she still felt the stitches on her side pull, causing a hiss to escape between her teeth as she faltered and let go of his arm to grab her side.

"What's wrong? Did you pop a stitch?" he asked urgently, yanking up her shirt to see for himself.

"Geez, Evan," she said, fighting with his hands to pull her shirt back down. "It's okay. They just pulled a little. Stop trying to undress me in public."

Relieved, he allowed her to adjust her shirt, looking around at the empty room before placing his hands on her waist.

"We're not in public," he retorted softly, moving closer. "There's no one here."

"Someone could come in any minute," she said, a little breathless at his proximity. He hadn't really done more than kiss her on the forehead or give her a peck on the cheek in the last two weeks, being more intent on taking care of her than being romantic.

She wasn't sure if she'd be able to lift her arms up around his neck, so she settled for looping them around his waist. She leaned against him, bringing her lips just centimeters from his.

"We're going to be late for dinner. They're going to wonder where we are."

Evan chuckled before closing the distance between them.

"Let them wonder."

THE END