Chapter 58

Felix slept very soundly through the night for a change, and he woke up just when the nurse changed his IV bag at 0630.

She could hear his stomach growling a lot so she asked, "When was the last time you ate?"

He thought for a moment and then replied, "About four days ago," and left it for the nurse to see if he was getting any breakfast; he was already planning his escape to the dining hall for food if he didn't get any breakfast.

The nurse checked the board at the end of the bed and exclaimed, "Oh! You're ... oh!" and walked away rapidly.

Felix sat up with only a bit of discomfort and pain, and started disconnecting all the sticky sensors that were all over him - that set off an alarm; then he removed the very uncomfortable lower extremity tubes carefully - that set off more alarms. He knew the IV was still needed for now so he left that in, much as the big needle bothered him a lot, and gradually swung his legs off the bed and used the IV stand for balance.

Just as he was about to try standing, two nurses and Dr. Beckett came towards him at a hurry, telling to get back into bed right now. Carson was upset as he asked, "Just do ye think yer trying ta do, Felix? Yer in no condition to be out of bed, lad."

Felix sat there on the edge of the bed and told them in a matter of fact voice, "I'm hurt - not dead - not yet anyways. I'm taking my butt to the dining hall for some normal food as getting mobile means getting healthy, not to mention the fact that I'm starved. What else? Oh yeah - I'm not sticking around here for morning rounds so that I can have a bunch of people poking and prodding and hemming and hawing over me."

Carson held up a placating hand and rebutted, "How about ye get back into bed, we'll start ye with some breakfast - see that stays down, then we'll talk further and see where we go from there. You cooperate with this or I'll have ye strapped into the bed and fed that way while ye stay here for longer than ye want to."

Felix came back with, "A full breakfast - not some starvation diet meal."

Carson rebutted, "No - half."

Felix was stubborn; "Full or I go to the dining hall dressed like this."

Carson capitulated and threw up his hands, "Fine! Full breakfast - but if you chuck it, you're doing the cleaning of it."

Felix replied, "Deal," and then managed to pull his legs back onto the bed without too much grunting and groaning, let go of the IV stand and lay back as he pressed the button to raise the bed to a sitting position.

Beckett sent the two nurses away - they had grins on their faces from the entertainment - and stood there looking at Felix in amazement, shook his head and said, "You're incredibly stubborn - ye need rest lad. When was the last time you had any time off to relax?"

Felix replied casually, "Well, as I told Dr. Weir last month ... just over 5 years ago was the last time."

Carson was astonished and exclaimed, "5 years? Do ye even know how to relax, lad? Yer not exactly a spring chicken anymore, Felix - you should relax sometimes."

Felix came back with, "Mm hmm, and when was the last time you took a day off? I seem to remember having this very conversation with Dr. Heightmeyer last week, and she worked her day off - I'll bet you do the same."

Carson tried a different tact as he looked down then back at Felix and said, "Look - rescuing our people is a wonderful thing ye do, and I gather you are quite good at it. But ye aren't getting any younger - the abuse yer body has been through would drive most people to retire early. Ye need time off is my point."

Felix looked the doctor right in the eyes as he replied softly, "Where would I go? Earth isn't exactly a viable option, anybody I know here in Atlantis is always busy - such as yourself - I don't know of any relaxing worlds out in this galaxy - so where would I go?"

Just then the breakfast tray arrived; the nurse gave the tray to the outstretched arms of Felix, who promptly placed in down on his lap and methodically devoured all the food in less than 1 minute. Beckett and the nurse were astonished at the speed the food vanished into Felix, who held up the tray and said, "Thank you - any chance of getting a bit more?"

That was when Beckett shook his head and threw up his hands in defeat and said, "I give up - get him another tray, please," then walked away shaking his head.

Several minutes later when the nurse returned with the second tray and gave it to Felix, this time she struck up a conversation with the patient, "Are you that camouflage guy we've heard about?"

Felix shrugged as he ate his second breakfast - it seemed a rather superfluous question to him - she then continued; "I'm right - you're the one that rescued those children yesterday, aren't you?"

That stopped Felix eating - he asked the nurse in a low voice, "Where did you hear that?"

She almost stuttered because the look on his face upset her but she managed to say, "A friend told me when you came back, and she overheard the conversation."

Felix asked further, "Where does your friend work?"

She stammered, "U ... upstairs in the control room - she saw you come back yesterday - that's all."

Felix gave a low grunt in reply and went back to eating second breakfast, and also filed that nugget of information away for future use.

The nurse asked, "Am I in trouble or something?"

Felix felt a valuable lesson could be passed on if he phrased his words carefully - he paused to gather his words, then said, "Part of my job involves me staying unseen and unheard. I can't do that if a person talks carelessly or needlessly, causing me to get compromised. That means more casualties coming to the hospital here, and all because of a person who can't keep their mouth closed. Savvy?"

The nurse nodded and took the now empty tray along with his thanks; she left him to lie back on the pillows and wait for morning rounds to commence in a while.

Felix dozed while the staff looked in on him to make sure he was okay; he woke up to see Dr. Beckett, Dr. Weir, and Colonel Caldwell standing next to him. Felix sat himself up with minimal showing of pain and blinked away the sleep as all three greeted him - and they had knowing little smirks on their faces.