Daniel slept and dreamt of Abydos and Sha're, of the flap of tents and the gritty taste of sand in the wind.
When he next awoke he heard the unmistakable sound of alarms shrilling somewhere on the base. Acting on instinct he reached for his gun and tried to fling himself out of bed. His hand groped empty air and his legs tangled in the sheets and he would have fallen out of bed had not Janet been by his side in a moment, restraining him gently and tucking him back into the bed. "Shh Daniel, you're in the infirmary." Daniel looked around him wildly, confused and disorientated. "The infirmary" she repeated. Daniel sank back on the pillows breathing harshly.
"The alarms…?" he mumbled.
"Don't worry about them" Janet replied tight-lipped. "You're place is here." She hurried around him, doing another set of observations, checking the incision to check that he had not broken his stitches. Taking his pulse (racing), and giving him his meds.
"Janet" said Daniel urgently "What is going on?"
Without looking at him Janet replied with forced cheerfulness "I'm doing your observations."
Daniel caught hold of her hand "please" he said "I need to know." Slowly Janet turned round and he immediately saw that her face was tight with worry. "It's SG-1" she said and Daniel felt his heart somersault in his chest. "They've been beamed onto Thor's ship."
Confused, Daniel frowned and shook his head as he tried to make sense of the news. "Thor as in Asgaard Thor?" he repeated. Surely that wasn't a problem. Thor wasn't an enemy. Sleepiness, dreams and drugs combined to numb his mind and he felt that he was thinking frustratingly slowly. He rubbed his forehead, trying to clarify his thoughts."Thor is on our side" He stated stupidly. "Why…What?"
"Thor is in trouble" Janet explained. "Thor beamed Jack aboard to help him save Earth from an enemy that even that Asgaard have not been able to conquer."
"Sam? Teal'c?" Daniel said, almost afraid to ask.
"Jack didn't want to beam them aboard, but they got themselves beamed up with the weaponry." Janet went on. "They left nearly an hour ago and we haven't heard from them since. Jack seemed to think that .. that…" Janet broke off unable to finish the sentence. She swallowed hard. "The base is on high alert Daniel, the Airforce are tracking Thor's ship and are ready to open fire on it as soon as the order is given."
Daniel could barely take it all in, and part of him thought that it must be another drug-induced dream. On autopilot he threw back the covers and started to struggle painfully out of bed. "I have to help" he said simply.
"You are not going anywhere" Janet said firmly. She stood by the bed arms folded. "You had major surgery yesterday, your temperature is still raised, your pulse is racing and you are still in pain."
"I have to go" Daniel remonstrated with her. "I have to at least see if I can be of some use."
"You are in no fit state to be of use" Janet replied sharply. "The wound has only just begun to heal, and you could tear your stitches and cause internal bleeding by moving."
"Then I'll move carefully" replied Daniel shortly. "Look Janet, I'm not planning on fighting the ... the Asgard's enemies myself. I'm not going to do any running around. All I'm going to do is go to the control room so that if – by some miracle – I can think of anything to help them then I have marginally more chance of doing so than if I am stuck down here." He paused for breath. "Janet, they're my friends – our friends" he corrected "and they need us".
He could see that Janet was wavering.
"I'm going" Daniel said determinedly "whether you help me or not". It was a harsh way to put it, but it worked.
"Ok" Janet sighed in resignation. "But it is not a good idea."
"I know" conceded Daniel, his face heavy with concern, "but we really don't have much choice. SG-1 are on that ship."
Janet did not let him go immediately. She carefully strapped over the wound-dressing, binding up his torso to give him more support. Disconnecting him from the drip she injected him with a dose of morphine. "And that will wear off in a few hours" she warned "So you need to make sure you come back for more". Finally, she helped him to dress. Standing up on wobbly legs Daniel realised it felt like he had been in the infirmary for significantly longer than twenty four hours. It seemed like at least a week since he'd used his legs. And standing hurt. The first rush of adrenaline was wearing off and his stomach ached despite the morphine. Every breath pulled at the wound and he felt dizzy.
"Daniel" Janet said softly "are you sure you want to go?"
Daniel nodded wordlessly, trying to hide how sick and dizzy he felt. There was no choice, he had to do what he could.
"Take care" Janet said firmly, looking at him with concern "and call me if you need me". Very gently she patted his cheek. Daniel nodded again and cautiously made his way along the corridor away from the infirmary.