Author's Notes:- This stemmed from Janet's comment on Daniel. I hope you like it.
All comments are welcome
JANET
It's amazing how sounds you don't notice during the day echo endlessly during the night. The drip from the IV, the heart monitor, even his breathing, all cut through the silence of the small room.
During the four years I've been here I don't think I've seen any one person as much as I've seen Daniel as a patient. Jack comes a close second but Daniel seems to spend a good part of his life convalescing in my infirmary.
But nothing has been as bad as this.
This was his third week in a coma, which is not a good sign, and what's worse is that we're still not sure how it actually happened.
x
I was talking to General Hammond about SG4's latest medical results, clearing them for active duty when the Stargate activated. As no one was due back we were concerned. When I heard the words:
"It's SG1's iris code, sir."
I was instantly worried.
Those four seemingly harmless people can cause a serious amount of trouble, and find it almost instantly.
I headed into the Gateroom with the General and we watched as SG1 appeared.
"Nothing to worry about General," Colonel O'Neill's tight scowl turned to a sardonic grin as he saw our anxious faces, "We finished early."
Sam and Teal'c were walking down the ramp both carrying samples they had collected. Both looked annoyed and were pointedly ignoring the other two. As the Stargate closed I noticed Daniel was standing at the rear, his face was pale and he swayed slightly.
"Jack," he called out just before he collapsed forward.
"Daniel," Jack yelled in horror and caught him.
As soon as I reached them I saw a knife protruding from Daniel's back.
x
That was three weeks ago, the knife wound was easy to fix but there was something on it. A substance I have never come across and has placed Daniel in this damn coma. Jack has spent almost every waking minute he has down here watching him, waiting for him to wake up; he's also slept here quite a few times as well. That was until Sam, General Hammond and I ganged up on him and forced him to go to his quarters.
Now there is a rota. Three shifts split between Sam, Jack and Teal'c. I know the Colonel is sleeping after he leaves here because a few times I have slipped some sedatives in the tea I give him before the next shift is due. A little unethical I agree but it's my only option.
x
As I wandered over to check on Daniel I sighed.
It amazes me that he made it to this age considering how accident-prone he is. How he survived a year alone on Abydos is beyond me but I suppose Sha're and her family watched him.
Daniel Jackson, the man with the cosmic 'HIT ME' sign.
I just hope he wakes up soon, because I have a feeling if he doesn't, then he will never wake up again.
x
JACK
Damn him. Why was he doing this to me?
All he has to do is open his eyes, just wake up and give me into trouble for saying rocks instead of artefacts constantly.
I think I spend more time in this damn infirmary than the rest of this facility and most of the time is spent worrying if he's going to pull through from each new injury.
Three weeks.
Three damn weeks and he hasn't moved.
Sam is due any minute now to take over the watch. I hate leaving but if I don't Doc Fraiser has told me she'll sedate me and send me packing, so I'll go. She's not too bad, the tea she gave me is pretty good and I always seem to sleep after I've spent time here.
Come on Daniel wake up. Just wake up and give me that innocent, I'm sorry for all the trouble, weak smile. That's all I want to see.
Teal'c went back to the planet with SG2 and found zip.
Nada.
Nothing.
Nobody was there. So how Daniel ended up with that knife in his back is anyone's guess.
I just wish I could get it out of my head.
x
"Jack," I heard from him, pleading for my help, calling to the person who he always calls to.
I cried out his name in horror as he collapsed forward into my arms.
x
Dammit Daniel, please wake up.
"If he doesn't wake up soon he never will," Janet's face was filled with pain as she told me this.
She's been here for the past three weeks barely moving out of the infirmary. I have no idea who's watching Cassie but I don't think I'd want Daniel in the care of anybody else.
If only he would wake up.
x
It amazes me that when I first met him I never imagined I'd end up like this. That geeky, scruffy little scientist who was allergic to practically anything and everything, this pain in the ass I suddenly became responsible for.
Last night I got to wondering when I suddenly developed the attachment to him. How he
got through the armour I had developed for myself after Charlie died. Thinking back I decided that it was probably his first night back from Abydos.
x
I had just checked on Ferretti and as I was heading out I saw him standing there. He had been cleaned up and given some oversized fatigues to wear. It made him look about twelve but his eyes were weighed down by an agony nobody should ever have to endure.
"They don't know what to do with me," he said quietly before the despair leaked into his voice, "And I don't know what to do with myself."
In that moment I should have just left him. If I had I'm pretty sure I would not be in this situation but I couldn't. I dragged him to my house and gave him somewhere to stay and someone to talk to. That night I suppose we became friends.
x
But sitting here thinking about it I realise that it was before that. It happened on Ra's ship when he threw himself in front of me and took the blast from the staff weapon. Dying for the first time for a man he didn't know, for someone ready to kill himself anyway. I didn't really have time to think about it then but in that moment he got through a small chink in the armour
x
"Come on Daniel," I whispered to him, "You've got to wake up. Who am I going to argue with? Who am I going to force to come and watch a hockey match with me? What am I going to do without you?"
That last one wasn't supposed to come out but it was true. I couldn't imagine my life without him there in it. I couldn't imagine the SGC without having to come in and make him go and eat something or get some sleep. And I couldn't get out of my head the last words I said to him.
Sam popped her head in and I saw Janet's face turn towards me to make sure I left.
x
SAM
Three weeks we've been doing this. I think I know the inside of the infirmary better than my own apartment. Colonel O'Neill is taking this badly, very badly.
Daniel was still very touchy about what the Colonel said to him while we were on Euronda. Jack telling him to shut up like that Daniel took it badly so was still trying to make Jack pay slightly for the pain he felt.
Listening to the two of them arguing on the planet was really getting on my nerves but both Teal'c and I were not getting in the middle. We had had a meeting the day before and agreed to let it run its course and just hope they didn't kill one another. The arguement rang through the hills and finally we were ordered back through the Gate. But they both got one more dig into each other.
Jack's last comment turned Daniel pale with shock before I saw anger burning in his eyes. The next thing I knew we were through the Gate and Daniel had collapsed unconscious with a knife sticking in his back.
x
"Sir," I said as I came into the infirmary for my 'shift', "I'll take over."
He pulled himself up and headed for the door, he's been quiet and sullen for weeks.
"Colonel, this isn't your fault," I reminded him, his guilt trip had begun to wear just a little thin.
"I know that," he said tiredly, Janet's sedative was starting to take effect.
"He'll wake up," I told him, "And you'll have to apologise."
He grunted and staggered out.
Janet wandered in to see me.
"No change?" she asked quietly.
"Nope," I sighed stretching out slightly, "I wish he would wake up."
"So do I," she agreed sitting down next to me, "Mostly, so I can get rid of you three."
"Any ideas on what was on that knife?" I asked, as I had asked absolutely every time I came down here.
"Still no idea," Janet frowned and shook her head sadly, "Has Teal'c found anything?"
I shook my head as well, "I don't get it. There was no one behind us, no one is on the planet so how did that damn knife get into him?" I slammed my hand on the chair, "Teal'c is working like crazy with SG2 on this."
"SG1 still on standdown?"
"Well, Daniel's here, Jack has barely left here either. I think General Hammond isn't going to let us out with him on a major guilt trip. So, Teal'c has at the moment joined SG2, I'm doing lab work and any time we can get the Colonel out of here the General has him working with new recruits."
"Those poor people," Janet commiserated.
"Look at it this way," I shrugged, "If they can survive him over their first few days then they can easily survive any Goa'uld they come across."
Janet laughed slightly before leaving me alone as she had to deal with a sudden influx of patients.
x
I gently brushed a loose strand of hair away from Daniel's face and studied him. Asleep he looked so young, so innocent, as if he didn't have a care in the world. The wariness that I see in him nowadays is gone as he sleeps.
Damn, this is hard.
Watching and wondering if he'll ever wake up again. Hoping that he knows he has something to wake up for, so close to the first anniversary.
Ever since Sha're died he's been distant from us, no matter how much we try to get him to come out of himself. After Jack did the undercover thing as well.
I saw Daniel's face when he watched Jack leaving. As we thought he was going for good. The sheer pain and unbelievable uncertainty of what was going on showed in those eyes. The one place he can't keep anything from us is his eyes. Those clear blue orbs that communicate whatever emotion he feels with such intensity.
x
Come on Daniel, wake up.
I just find myself wanting to shake him, to yell at him. I did at the beginning of last week, yelled anyway, but it didn't help. He just lay there.
If I find out who put that knife in his back I'm near the head of the queue to annihilate them. Jack's at the front with Teal'c nearby.
I don't think I really realised how protective Teal'c is of Daniel. It's remarkable. Though I think it might be another guilt thing, being the one responsible for choosing Sha're then being forced to kill her to save Daniel's life must weigh heavily upon him so one way he tries to make up for what he's done is to guard our wandering archaeologist.
x
TEAL'C
As I came in to take over the vigil we have been doing for Daniel Jackson I was surprised when Major Carter hugged me tightly. The stress of the past three weeks must be taking its toll on her. She then gave me a quick smile before disappearing to her lab.
This was an experience I would rather not have had. O'Neill does not seem to be taking this turn of events very well. His feelings towards Daniel Jackson have always confused me. One minute he shall be yelling at him before they are 'carrying on'. They are sometimes like brothers then other times like strangers but are never far from one another when the other needs them.
I commented about this once to Major Carter, she shrugged her shoulders before replying that she didn't get them either.
However, the arguments between them lately had been escalating to the point that I was very worried for both of them. When Colonel O'Neill pretended to leave the SGC, we were all confused but the reasons behind it made sense to me and to Major Carter but Daniel Jackson couldn't understand it. Most recently however was the argument they had on Euronda.
x
"Look, Daniel," O'Neill yelled, "I did it because it was necessary. I wasn't deliberately trying to hurt your feelings."
"Sure Jack," Daniel shot back, "Look me in the eye and tell me you weren't just dying to tell me something like that. That you really just wanted a chance to have a go at me."
"Oh for crying out loud," O'Neill groaned, "Trust me Daniel you're not THAT important to me."
That one sentence frosted the air around us .The knowledge that O'Neill was the one person Daniel Jackson could always turn to was something he held onto. O'Neill tried instantly to take it back but couldn't as Daniel Jackson turned and walked away.
x
I have a feeling that there was more going on than any of us realised. But in that one sentence snapped in the heat of an argument was the last thing that O'Neill said to Daniel Jackson. And the knowledge of that was hurting him badly.
x
I relaxed on the bed opposite Daniel Jackson and placed myself in a lesser state of Kel-no-reem. Here I would be able to relax while I would be able to listen for any changes in the condition of my friend. He would wake up soon, I knew this because the alternative was too unpleasant to think of.
x
JACK
I wandered along the corridors after I left the infirmary and collapsed onto my bed before instantly falling fast asleep.
x
Daniel was on fire and screaming for my help. But I couldn't reach him. Instead we headed to the water, to safety, before retreating home.
"Where's Dr. Jackson?" Hammond asked.
"Daniel's dead sir," I answered.
x
I woke up with the hair on the back of my neck standing on end and sweat pouring off me. I threw some cold water over my face before practically racing down to the infirmary. I couldn't get it out of my mind.
"Daniel's dead sir."
Stop it, stop it.
Daniel was still there. Sleeping maybe but alive. Still alive.
One look at my expression had Janet over at my side in a minute.
"Colonel?" she said quietly, she placed a hand on my arm when I didn't answer, "Jack, are you alright?"
I kept my eyes fixed on his still form on the bed.
"Just a bad dream," I said before grunting slightly, "Well, one I could wake up from."
I sunk into my seat at Daniel's bedside letting Teal'c leave. General Hammond had him trying to work out who could have done this. A fact Janet was obviously grateful for. She was probably sick of the sight of SG1 but we were a permanent fixture until he woke up.
x
I just wanted to hear him say something.
Usually the first word out of his mouth is my name. Incredible. He looks for me to protect him and what a wonderful job I did this time. Even after everything we've been through, after everything I'd said a few minutes earlier and he still calls to me for help. I suppose I've never realised before how much I care about him. I knew I did care don't get me wrong but the depth of it. I always thought of Skaara as the one person I let through when I came back from Abydos but I was wrong.
Come on Daniel. You're needed here. You're an important part of this command, you have friends who need your input into some amazing discovery that would put me to sleep in seconds.
I need you.
There's so much about my past that is horrible and terrifying that I have never told anybody but right now I would gladly face most of that rather than face the prospect of losing him.
Dammit wake up.
x
The gun was pointed in my face as a wild-eyed Daniel shook.
"What are you going to do, Daniel?" I asked edging closer, "You going to shoot me?"
The gun kept shaking as he looked at me but it wasn't him.
"God, look at you. I know what this is, I know what this is like," I told him.
He let out a choked sob and the gun dropped.
I pushed the gun away as I pulled him to me. Gently I rocked him as he sobbed on my shoulder. He clung to me like I was the only thing in the world he had and I let him. Until he was recovered from what that damned sarcophagus did I stayed with him.
x
I didn't realise I had fallen asleep but I had. I heard a soft moan from next to me and I looked up to see a pair of crystal blue eyes looking curiously down at me.
"Daniel!!" I cried in relief, "Hold on."
I dived over to the phone and called Fraiser before bounding back over to him.
He was trying to talk but his lips were dried and chapped. I gently held water over for him to take a few sips.
"It's okay buddy," I reassured him, "You'll be just fine."
As I smiled down at him he tilted his head and looked at me confusion spread all over his face.
"Who are you?"