And then there was nothing.
There were voices. It seemed like she ought to recognize them, but she didn’t. They were coming from so far away, from a place of pain that she retreated from. Her daughter? Maybe. It might be Desireé, heard through something heavy and muffling. A young woman’s voice, swearing and crying, begging forgiveness. Desireé might do that. Though she didn’t have anything in the world to blame herself for.
And that was worth coming back for, back from that dark, quiet place. Desireé mustn’t worry. She mustn’t blame herself.
She couldn’t draw a full breath. Something was pressing down on her, the weight against her back, shoving her down on her right side, her left leg on fire. She wanted to say that it was ok. There was nothing to blame anybody for. But she couldn’t draw breath for a single sound.
“Hang on, Eva! We’re coming to get you!” A man’s voice, a strong baritone with an English accent. William. Dr. William Lynn. And with that it came rushing back.
Snow against her face, ice digging into her… She must be trapped beneath the collapsed ceiling of the ice dome.
“Over to the left there. Lift.” A bass, roughened by strain as though he were shouldering something heavy. Ronon.
Snow pattered down, small crystals falling around her, touching her face. Not entirely dark. Through the few inches she could see, there was a faint light, one stripe of gold impossibly far away. She couldn’t even turn toward it, but it was there.
“Goddammit. Goddammit. Don’t be dead.” That was Laura, quick and desperate, the voice she’d taken for Desireé’s. She’d thrown the grenade that dropped the ice cavern ceiling.
At that she tried to speak, to say that she wasn’t dead, but all that came out was a whisper instead of a shout, a low moan.
“I heard something,” William said. “I think I heard something.”
“Don’t stand there,” Ronon said. “Careful! The blocks under it will shift.”
“Eva! Can you hear us?” That was Laura again. The sound of ice moving, of something heavy being thrown.
Ronon was strong. He would be lifting big chunks of ice. He’d get to her if anybody could.
“Ro…” It was a little louder this time. The weight seemed less. She could draw a full breath, though it sent stabbing pains through her side. Broken ribs, she thought. But she could breathe.
“Take this one. That end.” That was Ronon again, calm, unhurried, taking it apart like a puzzle.
“Ugh.” William, trying to take the other end. Blocks shifted. Light poured down a shaft that opened, dazzling and bright.
“Eva?” More swearing. Laura sounded like her voice was choked with tears.
“I can see her!” William exclaimed triumphantly. “I can see the top of her head.”
“Easy does it.” Ronon. “Cadman, move that there.”
“I’m here,” she said, and this time it came out. Thready, but she could speak. The weight pinned her, no longer crushing. She could take a full breath.
“Thank you, God,” Laura said. “She’s not dead. Hang on. We’ve got to get this stuff off you.”
“Ok.” She could hear her own voice, feeble but there.
Another crash, Ronon throwing an ice block aside.
The light wavered. William had climbed up on a block, stripping off his gloves as he reached down to touch her, his fingers against the side of her neck. She smiled into his hand. He had warm skin, and she could feel every bit of roughness.
“Good pulse,” he said. “Eva, can you talk to me?”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes.”
“Don’t try to move her!” That was Laura, somewhere out of sight. “She may have spinal injuries.”
The blocks were lighter now, Ronon and Laura still lifting.
“Can you feel your legs?” William asked.
“Yes. They hurt like hell.”
“That’s good.” The lines at the corners of William’s eyes crinkled as he smiled encouragingly. “Just hang in there. We’re going to get you out and back to Atlantis in a jiffy.”
“How?” Talking to him was distracting, just as he intended. Ronon and Laura were still moving ice.
William frowned. “Ronon is going to go get the jumper and…”
“Ronon…can’t fly the jumper,” she said. A weight lifted off her legs and she gasped.
“You leave the rescuing to us,” William said.
The last piece. She could breathe, she could move her arms.
“Careful,” Ronon said.
Laura knelt down beside her, her face pink with exertion. “My God, Eva. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize when I threw that grenade…”
“It’s ok.”
Ronon squatted between her and William. “Ok, let’s have a look.” His voice was calm, snow clumped on his beard. “I knew you’d be hanging in here. Can you move your legs?”
“Maybe,” she said, and tried. Stabbing pains in the left one, but the right moved. She sucked in a breath and tried not to scream.
“Ok,” Ronon said. “No spinal cord injury, no broken neck. Looks like you’ve got a busted leg here. I’d guess it’s the left femur right above the knee.”
His hands hurt like fury patting down her leg, feeling the wrongness, and it was all she could do not to yell. Eva bit down on her lip hard.
“Maybe some busted ribs. Not coughing blood and you seem to be breathing ok.” Ronon gave her a lopsided grin. “You’re a tough old bird. How are the arms?”
“Ok, I think…” She flexed her hands, surprised that they worked.
“I think that big block that was sitting across her legs took the full weight off her head,” William said. “Ronon, how are we going to get the jumper down here? She’s the only one who can fly it and we’re out of range of Atlantis with the radios.”
“We’re going to go up and use the communicator in the jumper to call for backup,” Ronon said. “Get Kusanagi to bring another jumper out here.” He looked around. “There’s probably a place down here flat enough to land.” He looked down at Eva. “We’ll have Keller out here in less than half an hour. So you just chill and it’ll be good.”
“I’m on it,” Laura said, leaping to her feet. “William?”
“I’ll come with you,” he said. “If Ronon is staying here?”
“I’m staying,” Ronon said. “Cadman, tell Control that we need a second jumper pilot to get our jumper back, and a full medical team.”
“Got it.” Laura and William took off, presumably to retrace their steps upwards through the base.
“Thanks,” Eva said quietly. It hurt a lot.
“No problem,” Ronon said. He put his hand to her throat, checking her pulse. “I’ve done this before.”
“This?”
“Not exactly this.” He was keeping her talking, keeping her alert. Eva knew that. “Got trapped in a collapsed building with Sheppard once. He had a pipe in his side, real bad bleeding.” Ronon shrugged. “You just got to keep working at it, is all.”
“Did you…dig out?”
“Nah. Carter dug in. One of those sucks to be us moments.” He looked up toward the sky as if he expected to see the rescue jumper already. “No complaints. It worked.” He took her hand. “How’re you doing?”
“Hurts,” Eva said.
“You busted that leg pretty good.” Ronon nodded. “But not a pipe in your liver.”
“Sheppard had a pipe in his liver?”
“Oh yeah.” Ronon grinned. “Had Keller put transport sutures in and then he went back after Teyla. I thought Keller was going to kill him herself.”
Eva winced. Talking. Keep talking. The part of her that was professional applauded Ronon. He knew just how to do this. Keep them calm. Keep them talking.
“Didn’t Carter mind? A guy with a pipe in his liver…”
Ronon shrugged. “Carter’s ok.” Ronon looked up at the sky again. There couldn’t be anything there yet. The sky arched blue over the island, and Eva wondered how it had looked through barred windows.