It was a long day of test after test, running through exotic and mundane possibilities alike, Beckett coming up with new questions to ask Rogue every few minutes as he ruled out one illness or condition after another. He was at least far less annoying than Rodney about it, and had given Rogue something for the pain before he started anything too extreme.
There was a clear frustration in his expression by the afternoon, though. Rogue could see it in the way he worked with his tablet, in the way he spoke with his team, and her heart ached for him. A man dedicated to healing the sick, he couldn't do his job if he couldn't figure out what was wrong with her.
The answer was pretty simple in the end, though. Stupidly so, and the Scot audibly cursed himself for not having seen it sooner.
"What is it?" Rogue asked him in almost fearful concern, not having heard the doctor speak that way before.
Carson shook his head at himself and offered his patient an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, lass, that was a bit uncalled for. I'm just feeling a right idiot, is all. How long has it been since you spent any real time in the sun?"
That... was an unexpected question. "A while," she answered hesitantly. "I don't exactly get much opportunity on the hive."
"And before you arrived here, you would mostly stay covered, correct?"
Nodding, she confirmed, "All the time."
Beckett gave her a genuinely optimistic smile then and reached out to pat her knee through the sheet on the bed. "Well, then, we'll have fixed up in no time. You've got a severe deficiency of vitamin D, likely from a combination of lack of exposure to natural sunlight and your current diet. It's been known to cause migraines and fatigue, and when compounded with the stress you described, it fits all your symptoms."
It was a relief, that was for certain. For a while there, Rogue had actually been afraid that she had some extreme illness, that she might make the others sick, that she might be... But no. It was a problem that many people had, simply exacerbated by the life she'd been living. The doctor assured her that it was perfectly treatable, outlining his plan to get her levels back to normal with supplements and plenty of time spent under the sun while she was in the city, enjoying her newfound control over her powers (which he congratulated her for again).
Word was sent to Todd that a diagnosis had been made and that it was nothing too serious - Rogue had insisted he be informed.
Atlantis time = we write novels
There was a clear frustration in his expression by the afternoon, though. Rogue could see it in the way he worked with his tablet, in the way he spoke with his team, and her heart ached for him. A man dedicated to healing the sick, he couldn't do his job if he couldn't figure out what was wrong with her.
The answer was pretty simple in the end, though. Stupidly so, and the Scot audibly cursed himself for not having seen it sooner.
"What is it?" Rogue asked him in almost fearful concern, not having heard the doctor speak that way before.
Carson shook his head at himself and offered his patient an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, lass, that was a bit uncalled for. I'm just feeling a right idiot, is all. How long has it been since you spent any real time in the sun?"
That... was an unexpected question. "A while," she answered hesitantly. "I don't exactly get much opportunity on the hive."
"And before you arrived here, you would mostly stay covered, correct?"
Nodding, she confirmed, "All the time."
Beckett gave her a genuinely optimistic smile then and reached out to pat her knee through the sheet on the bed. "Well, then, we'll have fixed up in no time. You've got a severe deficiency of vitamin D, likely from a combination of lack of exposure to natural sunlight and your current diet. It's been known to cause migraines and fatigue, and when compounded with the stress you described, it fits all your symptoms."
It was a relief, that was for certain. For a while there, Rogue had actually been afraid that she had some extreme illness, that she might make the others sick, that she might be... But no. It was a problem that many people had, simply exacerbated by the life she'd been living. The doctor assured her that it was perfectly treatable, outlining his plan to get her levels back to normal with supplements and plenty of time spent under the sun while she was in the city, enjoying her newfound control over her powers (which he congratulated her for again).
Word was sent to Todd that a diagnosis had been made and that it was nothing too serious - Rogue had insisted he be informed.