Betty almost fainted when she saw the name on the device. Danny Walker. Danny was back. Atlantis had brought him back. Her heart was racing as she rushed to find him. She knew she was in no shape or form to help treat him, her hands shaking as she held the device tightly.
She got to where he was and watched as the doctors and healers treated his wounds. She silently prayed Atlantis wouldn’t take him this time.
When they took him to his room, Betty asked - no, demanded that she stayed with him all night until he woke up.
~ Next Day ~
Betty had barely slept, constantly checking Danny’s vitals and his wounds. She couldn’t believe he was back, even as she held his hand. This time he better stay or Atlantis would have to deal with her rage, and it’d be worse than whatever COS could do.
After checking his vitals for the eighth million time, she rested her head on the bed as she still held his hand and closed her eyes. Just five minutes, she told herself.
It was a while later when Danny’s eyelids began to flutter open. Blearily, he looked around the room - what he could see of it without moving his head - then gradually he tried to push himself up to sit. He winced. He was sore. He let himself relax back against the pillow but craned his neck to peer around, trying to get his bearings.
He felt very groggy. It took him a moment to work through the fog in his brain to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and work out where he was, who the blonde head resting on the bed beside him belonged to. Slowly, it dawned on him that he was in Medical. How had he got there? He couldn’t remember. He’d been at the Base, hadn’t he? Or had he been in China? He remembered blood and darkness and pain and Rafe... but that had been before, hadn’t it? Before Atlantis. Was he getting himself confused? It all felt jumbled up in his head.
“Betty?” he asked with a frown, gently squeezing the small hand which still rested limply in his on top of the bedclothes.
Betty straightened up almost instantly when she heard her name. She had always been a light sleeper, and that paired with being a nurse and never getting much sleep during long shifts, it made her wake up at any noise she heard.
She smiled when she saw he was awake. Thank God. “Hey, Danny,” she said softly. “How are you feeling?”
“Honestly?” he replied, lifting his free hand to rub his temple. “Like I’ve been hit over the head with a shovel. What happened to me?”
“You showed up here a little before me last year and suddenly one day Atlantis sent you home without a warning,” she explained, keeping the ‘they sent you home to die’ to herself. “You remember being in Atlantis before now, right?” She knew some people came back and didn’t have their memories from when they were there before.
The frown on Danny’s forehead deepened and he made more of an effort to sit up. The jumble of memories was starting to make more sense. If he’d been sent back to their own world, it explained why the image of Rafe’s worried face was so clear in his mind, rather than a months old memory. Without having to lift the sheets and look, he could tell from the soreness that his bullet wounds were freshly healed again, rather than the light pink scars they would become with time in Atlantis.
Still, he could only have been in his own world for a few moments before being pulled back to Atlantis, otherwise he’d be dead, wouldn’t he?
“Yeah, I remember,” he confirmed, having the good grace to sound a little relieved. “How long was I gone?”
She let out a sigh of relief when he said he remembered. “Months and months. I swear I almost killed Admiral Poseidon the day you disappeared. I was so angry,” she said, clenching her hands for a moment as she felt a flash of that strong emotion.
“But it brought you back,” she smiled brightly. “I bet Flounder is excited to have you back.”
Months? Danny’s mind whirled. He knew that travel between universes wasn’t the same as just hopping on the subway and getting off at the next stop but he hadn’t imagined that he could have been gone so long here when so little time had passed in his own world.
“Flounder,” Danny repeated, his eyes widening. Danny remembered the kid better as Charlie Fisher, his little brother in Breckentale, but they’d been planning on getting to know each other properly in Atlantis. Danny felt immediately guilty. Months and months was a long time to be away after you’d promised to look out for someone. He knew that all too well.
“How’s he doing?”
“He’s been doing well,” she said, knowing he was probably worried about the little fish-turned-human. “I’ve been keeping an eye on him. Making sure he doesn’t get in any trouble,” she smiled. “I’ll talk to him and let him know you’re okay, and when you’re up for visitors. I’m sure he’ll like to see you as soon as possible.”
Danny nodded, glad that Flounder had had someone looking out for him while he’d been out of the picture. However, he knew that Flounder wasn’t the only person he’d promised to look out for.
“And what about you? How’ve you been?”
Betty had arrived in Atlantis so soon after him and in such a similar situation that he’d quickly become used to the idea that they would be a permanent part of each others’ lives. He’d resolved to look out for her. He thought it was the least he could do in Red’s absence. She felt as much like a little sister to him as Flounder did a little brother and he felt ashamed that she’d had to deal with losing him.
“I’ve been alright. Working and turning into birds and other Atlantis crazy things,” she said with a small laugh. “And I’m seeing someone,” she said a little sheepishly. “He has a dragon, Danny. A dragon! Isn’t that mindblowing?” she grinned, laughing a little. “So you don’t need to worry, people have taken care of me while you were gone?” She smiled softly and brushed his hand gently.
Danny found himself smiling along with her but his eyebrows rose a little when she said she was seeing someone. His first thought was, But what about Red?, but he checked himself. They - he and Betty - were dead things now. They couldn’t spend their lives here focused on the past. They weren’t of that world any more.
“I’m glad for you,” he said, his voice soft but sincere.
“What’s his name, this guy with the dragon?”
“Thank you, Danny.” She knew he meant it. She had to move on, just like she knew Red had done back in their world, where she was dead. She knew Red would find someone who would make him even happier than when he was with her.
“Henry Ferris, but he likes to be called Ferris. And his dragon is called Hiltrud. She’s very nice,” she said with a smile that said everything about her feelings toward Ferris. “I think she’ll like you.”
“Ferris,” Danny repeated, trying to recall whether he’d met the guy before. He thought he’d remember a guy with a dragon, though, so he guessed not. He was about to say that he hoped this Ferris treated Betty right but the smile on her face stopped him. He could tell that she was happy; she had the kind of face which didn’t keep secrets. “Well, I look forward to meeting them.”
“Do you know when I’ll be allowed out of here?” Danny asked after a moment, trying to shift himself a little more upright against the pillows again. He gritted his teeth against the soreness. He could feel that there were bandages wrapped tightly around his torso and neck, just like when he’d arrived the first time. He assumed the Medical staff had operated on him straight away when he’d shown up, taking out the bits of bullet and shrapnel that didn’t belong and sewing him back together again, nice and neat. He remembered it had taken him a while to heal the first time and the doctors had kept him in Medical for a few days but, looking back, he thought a lot of the “observation” they’d kept him under before had been to keep an eye on his psychological state rather than his physical wounds.
This time, he didn’t want to waste days stuck in the hospital bed. He didn’t have to think hard to figure out how close he’d come to being dead for good and, although it had left him feeling a little shaken, he didn’t feel the same despondency that he had before. If anything, it had reminded him how lucky he was. He’d been granted a second chance the first time he’d come to Atlantis and now he’d been given a second, second chance. How many people got those? He wanted to make his count.
“As soon as you feel better, I’ll make dinner for the three of us,” she said with a nod, smiling brightly at the idea of dinner with her two favorite men.
“I think they were saying something about Monday,” Betty answered. “They’ve used something new to make your wounds heal faster,” she explained. “But you have to promise not to go all hero and start doing crazy stuff thinking you’re a 100% fine when you’re still healing, okay? Or I’ll make sure they put you in bed rest for two weeks. And I’ll do it, Walker.” She put on her best nurse voice to warn her friend. She didn’t want him to get hurt again.
Monday. “And today’s Sunday, right?” he confirmed, casting a glance up at the clock on the wall which had the day of the week in three letter format beside the time. “That’s not too bad at all.” He could cope with one night in Medical and, if it took a little longer for this new ‘something’ to get him healed completely, so be it.
A little laugh creased Danny’s eyes as he saw the Navy nurse come out in her. He would never forget how terrifying he’d found the nurses during their medicals.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied with a formal nod. “I promise. No crazy stuff.” He was about to say that ‘crazy stuff’ was more Rafe’s style than his but, now he thought about it, he’d done his own fair share of ‘crazy stuff’ recently, both with and without Rafe to back him up. Getting himself shot was pretty high up there on that list.
She nodded. “Yup. Sunday, September first,” she said brightly. She couldn’t believe it was September already. Where had time gone?!
“Good boy,” she said with a bright smile, patting his hand gently. “Now I think I better leave you rest a little.” And maybe she’d get some decent sleep in an actual bed. “Do you want anything before I go? Water? Some food?”
“Alright,” Danny agreed. He had to admit, the strain of sitting up and talking was taking its toll on him. He felt weak and tired. Perhaps he’d just take a small nap. Sleep was good for healing, right?
“I’m okay,” he replied out of habit, before he’d had chance to think about the parched feeling in his throat. “Although, maybe you could leave some water on the nightstand?” he added. He felt a little pathetic for having to ask but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it up and across the room to the jug just yet.
Betty raised an eyebrow when he said he was okay. He wasn’t and she knew it. He would probably want some actual food in his stomach. And water. “Of course,” she said with a smile and a nod, moving to get the water and leave the glass on the nightstand.
She took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently. “I’m really happy you’re back, Danny.” She leaned in and pressed a soft sisterly kiss on his forehead. “Sleep, okay? I’ll come back if you need me.”
Danny nodded and received her light kiss graciously, with a small smile. He knew he wouldn’t call her back, though. She looked almost as tired as he felt and he hoped that, now she knew he was conscious and healing, she’d be able to rest herself.