Work Text:
Rodney is standing at the reception desk getting a patient file when the man walks into the ER. The guy is tall and his hair is a mess, but he’s ridiculously attractive. He has a hand to his side, but he doesn’t seem to be in any distress, so it’s probably nothing very serious. A nurse will probably get to him soon.
Just then, two paramedics rush in with a woman on a gurney, shouting about a major accident and more incoming. The guy slips almost immediately from Rodney’s mind.
Five hours later, things have finally calmed down and Rodney is nearing the end of his shift. He’s picking up another file from the reception desk when he notices the guy from earlier is still there. He frowns, wondering why since a nurse should have checked him and released him long ago.
Well, he’s not busy, so the least he can do is check it out. Totally for patient safety and all, definitely no ulterior motives like seeing how much hotter the guy is up close. Nope.
“Has a nurse got to you?” Rodney asks as he approaches. The guy looks up and shakes his head, making Rodney frown. He’ll have to have a word with the nurses later. “Uh, sorry to make you wait, then. I’m Dr. McKay, I can check you in. What’s the problem?”
The guy smirks a little and moves his hand away from his side. Rodney blanches, taken aback by how much blood there is. “Is that a gunshot wound?” he demands, already waving at Teyla, the nurse at the front desk.
“Yeah, not a big deal,” the guy replies. “I’ve had worse.”
Rodney wants to roll his eyes at the guy’s bravado, but he’s a professional, plus he is kind of worried. The guy’s been slowly bleeding out in their waiting room for the past five hours, that’s the kind of thing Hospital Director Woolsey is always saying is going to get them sued.
“Whatever you say,” Rodney says, wondering whether the guys nonchalant attitude about getting shot made him more or less attractive. He’d probably say less, but then the guy smiles reassuringly at him, and he’s pretty sure he lost that battle before it began. Luckily one of the male nurses, Ronon, is there to help move the guy into the back, and Rodney can ignore the attraction a little more easily when he’s actually working instead of just talking. “Let’s just get you into a room.”
“A room with you? Sounds good to me,” the guy says with a wink that really does make Rodney roll his eyes. He thinks the guy might be a little delirious from blood loss and dehydration.
“How about we save the flirting until after you’re not bleeding out, hmm?” Rodney asks, a little distracted as he motions for Ronon to settle the guy on an exam table.
“I can do that,” the guy says, and it might be Rodney’s imagination, but he thinks there’s actually a genuine smile there. “I’m John Sheppard, by the way.”
He passes out almost immediately after, but Rodney can’t keep the smile from his own face even as he starts working. He kind of likes this John guy, even if he obviously has no self preservation instincts.