Chapter 4 - Disturbia.
Nothing broke the void of clinical white padding of the rubber room that Daniel had awoken to find himself trapped inside. Even the security camera he spotted high in the far corner was pale and cold.
"Déjá vu." he said aloud absently, as he tried to recall how exactly he had gotten here.
Despite his abrupt jerk into consciousness, Daniel's mind remained fogged and clouded, protesting to its sudden forced awakened state, rather than the gentle Leesia snuggles and hot caffeinated beveraged ride into morning town it had been expecting. His head felt stuffed with cottonwood and far too heavily, a feeling that Daniel had spent way too much time in the infirmary to not recognize instantly as the after effects of a drug induced sleep.
With a downward glance with both his eyes and hands, Daniel found that he was wearing a two-piece white surgical scrubs, bare feet, and a flat medical bracelet clasped his left wrist, that housed his name and a patient number and little else. For the second time in as many minutes Daniel voice the phrase, "What the?" only this time he concluded it with a curse.
He was alone, whether that was a good or a bad thing he wasn't yet sure. He needed answers, there was only so much information his visual assessment of the space could give him.
God, he needed to get these drugs out of his system so he could think clearly and figure out how he had gotten here, and where exactly 'here' was. 'I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto', the voice inside Daniel's head, that sounded suspiciously like Jack told him, unhelpfully.
His brow crinkled and his lower lip jutted out as he pondered over the problem. The last thing he remembered, with any real clarity, was his evening spent in front of the fire with Leesia. Then a few slices of memories of the following morning and day. He remembered going into the SGC with her, vaguely recalled working in his office on… He clenched his jaw, doubling his efforts to force the details to the foreground of his woozy mind. There had been a briefing about…He'd argued with Jack regarding… He wanted to go to P3... He growled in frustration, pushing his fingers hard against his forehead.
Why couldn't he remember?
Approaching footsteps and muffled voices from the other side of the rubber-checked door, snapped him out of his disobedient reflections. Pulling his feet underneath him, he raised slowly on unsteady legs, readying himself for a possible upcoming fight or flight. He half expected to see Doctor Mackenzie walk in when the door was pushed inward, but the figure that appeared in the threshold nearly caused his uncooperative legs to fail in shock. Gripping hard at the yielding wall for much needed support, Daniel gawped at Leesia, dressed in a nurse's uniform, her chocolate locks tied back in a tight bun, as she spoke to a second person out of his view.
"That won't be necessary," she said, waving away an offer he hadn't heard. "Doctor Jackson is always on his best behaviour with me."
"Okay, we'll be right outside should you need us." a male voice he didn't recognize replied reluctantly, before she pushed the door closed behind her and turned to face him with a warm greeting smile.
"Good morning. Sleep well?"
With his jaw hanging open, Daniel could do nothing but stare stupidly at her. She didn't seem surprised with his reaction and carried on without getting an answer.
"How are you feeling today, Honey?" she said softly, in a patronising manner that made him feel like she was talking to a young child.
'Honey?' he thought, 'Since when does she call me Honey?' Forcing his mutinous tongue and throat to work, he choked out, "What's going on?"
"A bit confused?" she asked kindly, with her patented questioning puppy head tilt, a characteristic he usually found adorable, but now it was only irritatingly unhelpful.
"To say the least." he chocked out, his wide-eyed expression glued to her face. She neared and as she did the name badge pinned above her left breast became clear to his slightly limited un-spectacled sight. "Lisa Smith?"
"Ah, good, you remember me then." she stated, looking more pleased.
His saucer eyes, shifted to a squint and his nose pinched. 'What kind of question is that? I'm not likely to forget.' "What's going on?" he repeated.
"It's Friday, time for your treatment," she said in a matter-of-factly manner, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and his confusion was un-justified.
"Treatment?" he repeated back to her, not likely the sound of that one little bit if the room was anything to go by. "No. This isn't right, Lees. None of this is. You're not a nurse, you're my wife."
"Oh, you're such a flatterer Doctor Jackson. Come on." she smiled bubbly, holding her hand to him.
His hand lifted as if on autopilot, clasping her small familiar hand in his, she smiled at his willingness and turned to tap on the door.
The door was pushed open by a bulky male orderly, his built accomplice hovering over his shoulder. He held the door wide as Leesia stepped out into the bright corridor, gently tugging Daniel along just behind her. The two aids fell in close behind, making him feel like a prisoner on transport, as she lead him off to the right.
A dozen situations with a similar feel to them popped into his head, fighting for first place in the ranking of 'most likely explanation'. A Goa'uld memory device pulling his committed time from his head and used it to recreate a hospital, just as Hathor had once done with the SGC? The gamekeeper chairs? Ancient induced dream state like Shifu had put him in?
None of them sat quite right with him and none of them answered the most troubling question of all: What was wrong with Leesia?
Seeing the watchful and near threatening nature of their escort in his peripheral vision, Daniel leaned in closer and kept his voice low so not to be overheard. "What's going on?" he asked yet again, he knew he was repeating himself, but she was still to answer the question. "What is this place? How did we get here? And where are the others?"
She glanced sideways at him briefly, bewilderment shining on her features as if she was unable to comprehend what he was asking. Her speech failed for a few heartbeats, before recognition dawned on her and her confusion turned to pity. "Oh honey, I'm sorry. I didn't realised." She slid her hand up to his elbow, rubbing his forearm in an act of reassurance. She softly continued, "It's okay. Short term memory loss is a common side effect of the treatments you've been having. It should be temporary and once you've completed your course the memories should come back in time."
"That doesn't answer any of my questions." Daniel pointed out. But it raised a hell of a lot of new ones, in his already over burdened mind. She wanted to reason this away on HIM loosing HIS memory? She was joking right? Did the word hypocritical mean anything to her? He bit back the snarky comments and everything else he was about to start to question as she lead him into one of the side rooms and his eyes speedily swept over the new disturbing room.
A hospital bed stood out in the middle of the brightly lit medical room, the focal point of the clinical grey environment. The far wall was lined with cabinets which housed a mass of pieces of electrical equipment. He recognised most, although not all, of the apparatus, having seen them in the infirmary and other medical centres before. But he froze, his heart skipping a fearful beat, as he clocked the leather restraints around the edges of the hospital bed.
Unaware or indifferent that Daniel had came to an abrupt halt just a meter into the room, Leesia patted the mattress that Daniel's eyes were unsettlingly glued to. "Pop yourself up here for me, Honey." she gently instructed, with a small smile of encouragement, before turning to appraise all of the gathered equipment.
A soft click from behind him made Daniel swivel round with a start to the doorway they had just passed through. The two aides stood either side of the only exit from the room, looking very much like uncompromising club bouncers. Their folded bulging arms and distasteful expression clearly stated that he could do this the easy way or the hard way, but either way he wasn't going to be given much choice in the matter. He couldn't run anyway. He wouldn't leave Leesia here.
Without another optional available, Daniel decided it was best to play along for now and in doing so hopefully he would get some much needed answers. He huffed in annoyance, but hopped up to sit on the bed as instructed, perching himself on the very edge.
"That was an awful lot of questions," she said wrapped a cuff tight around his upper arm. "How about we get this over with and then we can have a long chat over some breakfast?" she offered.
Again Daniel eyed the aids. She probably couldn't discuss what needed to be said with 'Bulk' and 'Built' hovering around like a bad smell he assumed. He nodded his acceptance of her offer "'Kay."
"'Kay," she repeated back to him appreciatively, patting him just above the knee, before taking hold of the small pump that hung from the velcroed cuff and squeezed it a few times, it tightened further around his bicep. She noted down her findings. "That's a lot better than last time." she told him, sounding pleased as she released the pressure.
"Last time? How many have I had?" he asked, unable to believe he had a good result considering how hard his heart was hammering inside his head. He would have assumed his blood pressure would be through the roof and dreaded to think how bad must it have been last time if this was a good outcome. The thought did nothing to calm him.
"Today will be your ninth one," she told him as she placed a thermometer device in his ear and took his temperature, again recording the figures. "Do you mind taking this off?" she asked softly, gesturing to the thin cotton top he was wearing.
"Why?" Daniel asked stubbornly, ignoring the warning look he got from the tensing aides.
She smiled sincerely. "I need to check your heart. You can keep it on and just lift it up if you prefer."
Fidgeting on the edge of the bed, Daniel considered it for a while. Ultimately deciding it didn't really matter. The thin material offered little protection, it's only benefit was to preserve his modesty. Besides, off it wouldn't hinder his movements, as it would do if it was bunched up under his chin. He tugged the top off over his head.
He noticed the subconscious little lick of her lower lip and slight up curve of the corner of her mouth, as she fleetingly glanced over his naked torso. She blushed when she noticed she had been caught checking him out and he frowned in confusion. Why would she be embarrassed? She had never been so before, it wasn't her way. Nudity in any form, didn't faze her, she wasn't restricted by human conformities. Besides, he was her husband for God sake, she had seen him in far greater state of undress and knew his body intimately, there was no reason for the shyness she was showing.
"Okay," she said through an easing breath. "Lie back for me." she instructed soothingly, as she pressed her hand to his chest, gently guided him onto his back. Daniel swung his legs up and complied, slightly reluctantly.
He lifted his head from the bed and watched closely, as she stuck a number of sticky pads on his chest underlining his heart and then two more below his collar bones, then fasten wires to each of them. She stroked his forehead, encouraging him to lay flat and then turned her attention to the wheeled device alongside her. After a few readjustments and fiddling, she checked over the printout and announced, "That's all good. Now Doctor Jackson-"
"Daniel." he quickly corrected. 'Honey' he could cope with - just about…sort of - but calling him by his title and surname was far too impersonal to be coming from his wife's lips in that formal way, and he was freaked out by her detachment as it was.
Hearing the slight anger to his tone, she nodded compliantly, "Okay, Daniel." gently, she lifted his hand, taking it in both of hers and rubbed across the back, alone the prominent vein. "Now, I need to put in an I.V line. Will you left me do that?"
An alarm bell rang inside his head. The act was going too far now. Quickly he snatched his hand back from her light grasp, firmly telling her, "I don't want any drugs."
Pushing themselves off the wall, the aids surged towards him threateningly, and Daniel lurched upright, readying himself as best he could. But before they could reach their intended target, she stepped between them and Daniel, holding her hand up in a halting action.
"Stay." she told them sternly, like a master ordering her disobedient pets. "I don't want him upset. These are the best results we've had."
Muttering under their breath and looking more than a little put out, they reluctantly backed up to their post, folding their arms grumpily.
With the drama avoided she turned her attention back to Daniel, her tone returning to the soft silk of reassurance that he knew and loved. "It's for the anaesthetic and a muscle relaxant." she told him. "They'll only last a few minutes and there will be no lasting effects I swear. Trust me."
He wanted to trust her. That silken voice that he adored had never lied to him, but his anxiety had a tight hold and he certainly didn't want to be unconscious in this situation, no matter how long.
He was off the bed and on his feet in an instant. "No, this is wrong. It's not supposed to be like this. What the hell is wrong with you?"
From his peripheral vision he saw the two aids closing in on him with speed. He braced himself for the impact, hearing Leesia's cries of protest, but they ignored her this time. He struggled as they grabbed hold of his upper arms, their tight grips biting into both his biceps. Desperately trying to twist free of their grasp, he felt his feet leave the floor and was dragged backwards. Towards the bed. Towards the restraints! Towards the drugs and the unidentified treatment he was about to receive and was still none the wiser about.
He managed to yank his right arm free from 'Bulk's' grip, just as he was slammed onto his back on the bed and gave the larger man a swift elbow to the gut, taking a small amount of satisfaction when he heard the air forced from the man's lungs. However the action distracted his attention from 'Built' and the other man took advantage, forcing Daniel's left arm down to his side and his wrist into the restraint. With the leather strap fastened, 'Built' speeded around to the other side of the bed to help his winded partner wrestle with the wildly thrashing archaeologist.
Through the commotion Daniel could scarcely make out Leesia's voice trying to sooth him, insisting that he calm and try to relax. As if that was possible for him at this time.
With the weight of two large men on his arm it was impossible for him to stop them securing his free wrist into the restraint. He kicked out at both men, as they turned their attention to his flailing legs, trying to gain a purchase on him. All the while Leesia's tiny hand was stroking over his upper arm and shoulder, in would what have been a comforting motion in a different situation. But there was no comfort to be sort here, not with both his arms trapped by his sides, thwarting any possible chance at escaping his unknown fate and two men pushing on his knees hard, to flatten his legs down onto the thin mattress.
Two against one, and the one being at a disadvantage, it was only a matter of time before he was fully restrained. Panting from exertion and anger, and now immobile, Daniel could do nothing but glare daggers at them.
"You alright, Tom?"
Daniel's eyes grew wide, when he realised it was Leesia that had spoken.
'Bulk' gave a quick nod, "I'm fine, little winded is all. He caught me off guard, won't happen again, Ma'am."
"Make sure it doesn't," she said in a harsh tone. "And I'm not talking about your carelessness. I will not have my patient upset unnecessarily."
"He was getting agitated." 'Bulk' (or rather Tom) said defensively.
"Yes," Leesia agreed, staring at him as if to say 'what's your point?'. "But if either of you bother to notice, in the four years that he's been here, not once has he ever shown any sort of violent behaviour, therefore your actions were not only premature, but also unnecessary."
Daniel didn't feel his jaw drop open, nor his eyes growing increasingly wide, as she continued to chastise the two men with the air a Victorian school mistress. It wasn't the way she was speaking, or even the fact that these two men were taking the verbal battering with their heads bowed, that surprised him, in fact he hardly heard anything she said. No, it was two of her words that echoed around in his mind and made his stomach twist with nerves to the point of becoming painful, that stunned him.
She had just claimed that he had been here for four years!
Four years?
Four years!
It wasn't possible.
To think that he might have lost the last couple or few days because of whatever drugs he had been given while he was here, wherever here was, that he could believe…maybe, but years? Four of them? That wasn't possible. It just wasn't!
He tuned back into the present to see Tom and co leaving the room, closing the door behind them. Leesia dropped her hand back down to her side, from pointing it towards the exit, muttering something under her breath that sounded like 'brains they were born with'.
Silently, he followed her movements meticulously, as she came back alongside him her attention on the equipment, studying her for any signs of aging. Any sign that four years had passed since he last remembered… He found none. She was identical looking to that of his last memory of her before he had woken up in that padded cell.
His eyes snapped down from her face as he felt her swab the back of his trapped hand with a cool wipe.
"Don't, Lees." he pleaded, seeing her readied a needle.
"I'm sorry," she said earnestly, and Daniel felt a sharp pinch, as she slowly and gently eased the needle into his vein, all the while he scowled at her with hurt eyes. "But this really is helping you. A month ago you weren't even able to respond to simple questions. Thanks to these treatments you've made more progress in the past few weeks than for the past few years," she said, as she taped the needle in place tenderly, before clipping a pulse oximeter onto his index finger.
"What is this treatment? Why do I have to be anesthetised?" he asked, as she started replacing the pads on his chest that had come away during his struggle with the aids.
She paused in her work to look him in the eye. "You really don't remember?"
He shook his head with a small shrug and she sighed looking annoyed. "Your gonna have a very small electric current passed through your head to induce a seizure. It'll only last a minute and you'll be out the entire time. You wont feel it." she promised.
"You're talking about electroshock!" he gasped out in fearful horror.
She pushed his sweaty bangs off his forehead, but he found her the usual calming effect her touch had was absent as she began attaching small pads around his hairline. "We don't call it that anymore," she told him while she worked. "Nowadays it done under controlled conditions." she said repeating the action on the other side of his forehead. He recognised the machine the new leads where attached to, it was a EEG for monitoring brain activity. "You'll feel so much better when it's over."
"That's why I don't remember?"
Reluctantly she nodded. "One of the side effects is amnesia, but your memories should come back given some time."
"I need to remember now. I certainly don't want to risk forgetting more. Don't do this." he pleaded.
Just then he heard the door open. Daniel raised his head to see two different men enter dressed in white medical overcoats.
"Please," Daniel whispered to her imploringly, grabbing at her clothes. "I don't want this."
She patted Daniel's shoulder sympathetically, then gently prising her uniform from his grip, she whispered, "Try to relax."
The first man moved behind Leesia and started checking a couple of I.V bags carefully, while the second, a balding man with overly thick glasses that gave him an owlish appearance, moved to the foot of the bed, reading though a file in his hand. "How is our patent this morning?" he asked Leesia, without looking up from the notes he was carefully studying.
"Vitals are good." Leesia replied. "Very responsive. So responsive in fact, that I was wondering if this was really necessary."
That made the Doctor stop reading, and he gazed up at her, looking completely taken aback. "You more than anyone should know that. You've seen the progress he's made."
"I know," she agreed, "but he's so much more aware now and he's requested to not have it done."
"I'm afraid that's not up to him." The Doctor told her.
"It should be," she argued, "especially considering how much more aware he is now."
Behind them the anaesthetist had halted his checks to watch the scene unfolding, looking equally as surprised by Leesia's protests as the Doctor was.
"He's also suffering quite severely with amnesia." she concluded.
The Doctor set down Daniel's notes and turned his full attention to the quarrelsome nurse, folding his arms across his chest to emphasise his displeasure. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I shouldn't have to remind you that he's up for re-evaluation next month. Or how likely the possibility of relapse is. Finishing the treatment course is his best chance of recovery."
"But-"
"Nurse Smith," he interrupted, with a slight raising of his voice, before she had chance to continue her argument. "if you continue to dispute my decision I can have you replaced for the procedure." His tone softened as he glance from Leesia to Daniel and then back again. "However I would prefer not to have to. He responds well to you, and I feel it would be better of him to have you here rather than another nurse he is not as comfortable with."
After a thoughtful beat, she nodded, conceding defeat and moved around to the far side of the bed. What choice did she have? Daniel would have the treatment whether he wished it or not and she would rather be there for him than leave him to face it without her.
"Now, Doctor Jackson," the Doctor said, turning to Daniel now that the situation had been resolved. "How are you feeling today?"
"Peachy," Daniel replied sardonically, meeting the man with a distasteful scowl. "but I'm sure that's something a little electrocution will fix."
Unsure of how to respond to the disrespectful manner in which his patient was addressing him, the Doctor turned to the anaesthetist, "Are we ready?"
Daniel gripped the bed, his knuckles turning harsh white, as the two men hovered over him. He tried to keep his expression neutral, refusing to show them one drop of the fear that was flowing though him.
Feeling Leesia's tiny warm hand rubbing over the back of his, he quickly opened his fist, blindly seeking comfort from her touch. She slipped her hand into his and he gripped it tightly. His breathing stilled, as he felt the cold rush of the anaesthetic entering his system.
With his gaze locked on her, Daniel fought against the heaviness that was increasing in his drooping eyelids. Already knowing it was a battle he couldn't win.
With one last "please" escaping his lips, he lost the war and drifted off into the blackness of unconsciousness.
Freeing her hand from his now lax grasp, she retrieved a bite block and gently inserted it into his mouth, while the muscle relaxant was administered.
Double checking the bite block was correctly situated between his teeth, she slipped the oxygen mask over his face.
There was a sharp buzz as the machine was turned on. In less than one second over 100 volts surged through his brain. She held his chin protectively as his jaw clenched, toes curled and body gently shock. The muscle relaxant eliminated nearly all the physical effects of the induced seizure, but it couldn't stop the strained groan that echoed from his throat. She knew it was only the air being force out of his lungs and that he wasn't in any pain, but the knowledge didn't stop the anguish she felt.
She had witnessed dozens of these procedures and saw for herself how much they helped the patents, but for some reason watching Daniel go through it was always…hard.
She turned her attention to the monitors to hide her face from the other members of staff in the ECT room. She couldn't let them see the tears fall, just like every time she had been here for his treatments. His blood pressure was high and his heart rate had significantly increased…
Yep, she hated this.
Just as she had promised him, the seizure only lasted a minute. When his body relaxed she rechecked all his vital signs, taking the opportunity to wipe her face as she did.
…
His head pounded, his jaw felt stiff, every muscle ached.
Groggily he forced his eyes open, blinking hard against the harsh lighting. He had a mask over his mouth and nose and was still restrained. A hand squeezed his and Leesia moved into his hazy field of vision.
He inwardly groaned, rolling his eyes then pinched them close. He knew that wishing it had all been some crazy, warped dream, or more accurately a nightmare, had been too much to hope for.
Gently lifting the mask from his face she asked, "How are you feeling?"
He snorted. After what had just been done to him, it was a stupid question. "Like I got zatted after the truck ran me over."
For the briefest time a look of concerned confusion appeared on her features, before it was quickly replaced with a more neutral perceptive expression. "Can you tell me your name?" she asked, as she pressed her first two fingers to his inner wrist, taking his pulse.
He signed irritably, he knew this routine, he had been through it before. But, he wasn't groggy from the anaesthetic, not in the way she was thinking anyway. She didn't remember what a 'zat' was, but he answered anyway. "Daniel Jackson."
She cover her name badge with her hand. "And can you tell me mine?"
He locked his eyes onto hers, fixing her with a stubborn glare. "Mrs Leesia Jackson." he said poignantly.
Staring up at the blank expression that had replaced the concerned one she had worn, he felt his hope dig a pit in his stomach and set up refuge. "Please tell me that you know that. I have to figure out what's happening, how we got here and that…"
"Doc-" she stopped herself with a sad, smile. "Daniel, you need to get this fantasy out of your head. You've made remarkable steps forward-"
"It's not a fantasy," he quickly interrupted, giving her the most serious of serious gazes. "We are married. I don't know why you don't remember that, or in fact how we got h-." He cut himself off. Why was Leesia here? If this was some mission gone drastically wrong, she should still be safe and sound back at the SGC, waiting for him to come home. If she was here, wherever here was, then could this be a foothold situation?
He'd only seen Leesia, he didn't recognize any of the Doctors or the aids. Where the others here too? If he was going to get to the bottom of this he needed more information and he needed Leesia to believe him.
He was distracted when she tugged at the tie at the top of his pants, loosening the waist. "What are you doing?" he asked, watching her as she covered him over with a white cotton sheet.
She smiled sweetly. "Oh honey, I know the other nurses don't cover you, but what can I say I'm just an old fashioned type of gal." she slipped her hands beneath the sheet and took hold of his pants at the waist band. "Lift your hips for me, honey."
"Why?"
"I'm just going to get you nice and clean and then we can get you some breakfast. Waffles, your favourite. Would you like that?"
He ignored the question, it was hard enough to concentrate on his thoughts without having to think about his grumbling stomach as well. However he found his hunger easier to ignore than her touch as she gently stripped off his pants and began bathing his skin under the sheet with a warm damp cloth.
"W-w-what's the date?" he gasped out, willing his body not to react when she manoeuvred the cloth up his thigh. He may have had bed baths before, but he had been more than mildly out of it at the time. He had not had one while he was so aware of what was happening. And certainly not given by his wife and her beautifully arousing hands. It was not easy to ignore and focus on the problem at hand.
"It's November ninth." she told him, concentrating on where her hand was beneath the sheet that covered him from ankle to neck. Knowing he would be stiff after his restraint and treatment she left his arms and legs for last so she could cleanse and massage some life and relaxation back to his limbs once he was clean.
Meanwhile Daniel was finding concentration nearly impossible, as his groin was stroked repeatedly with the warm soapy washcloth. Each tender swipe coming in a different direction, leaving no inch, grove or crevice ignored. Fighting to keep his thoughts clean and stopping his blood from migrating south, he wanted to keep up with his urgent questioning, but was forced to clamp his lips tightly shut for fear a inapt moan would slip out.
"What year?" he managed to get out as she had to paused her torture to rinse the cloth.
She turned back to him with a taken aback frown, that morphed to one of sorrowful understand. Promptly she composed herself, before she lent over him, so she could slip the re-warmed cloth between him and the bed. "Two thousand and four," she answered sympathetically, working the cloth from his lower back downward to cleanse his buttocks.
"Eight days." Daniel stated quietly seemingly to himself, with an air of realisation, managing to focus his thoughts now she had finish with his loins. It wasn't the four years, previously stated, it was just over a week.
"Okay, Lees, you have to listen to me, very carefully." he said, finding it much easier to think and talk, once her attention was on his chest rather than the previous more intimate areas. "This is wrong. This whole place. This whole situation is wrong. It shouldn't be like this. I don't know why I don't remember how we got here but somehow-"
"Amnesia is a regular side effect of ECT, that doesn't mean anything."
He dropped his head back, a crestfallen sigh forced from his lips. "Okay think about it like this, if you're right and I'm some deluded nut obsessively stuck in a fantasy world of his own making, then listening to me will cost a days therapy at the worst."
"It could do much worse than that, Daniel. You're due for revaluation next month. One setback could cost you months, maybe even years of your life.
"But if I'm right," he said with a pause. "And you don't believe me, it could cost lives."
"Daniel."
"I have to get out of here, Lees. I have to figure out what's going on, where the others are. Please, please just listen to me."
After a weighted paused, she gave a slightly lopsided smile and reluctantly agreed.
For the remainder of the day he talked speedily, spilling the story of his life for the past eight years, trying to get all the information across to her as quick as he could, without leaving out any details that was necessary - The Stargate, SG-1, the Goa'uld, the Ancients, meeting her, their wedding (both of them), the lose of their baby. Trying to cover all the angles he explained his few theories of a possible foothold, or memory manipulation - though why it had failed on him he could only guess at - or an artificial reality.
After a number of failed attempts to interrupt his speeded and amazing tail, she settled to just listen to him, her look of sympathy increasing the longer he continued.
He talked through a rushed breakfast, he talked through his supervised recreation time with the other permanent patients (none of which he recognised, which dampened his theory of a foothold), he talked the day away, hardly noticing the time as he did. Throughout his talking, she carried on with her work, making sure he ate and bathed safely, all the while taking notes with a look a cross between total disbelief and utter amazement.
"Seriously, who'd make this shit up?" Daniel demanded as a conclusion back in the padded room many hours later.
She didn't answer, just folded her notes, checked her watch and announced, "It's time for your meds."
"I don't want any. I need to be able to think, coherently."
"Honey, you need to rest. It's been a long day for you. These will help." she told him gently, holding out a small paper cup.
He folded his arms across his chest in stubborn refusal and scowled at her.
"You have to take your medication, Daniel. And taking them orally is a lot nicer than the alternative."
He tightened his arms. "Is that a threat?"
"Of course not," she said sounding hurt by his accusation. "But you know what happens when you refuse to take your medication." Her eyes fleetingly flashed to his upper arm, the glance only lasting no longer than a blink, but Daniel noticed it. Truth was he didn't know what happened, but he did remember his time when Mackenzie had committed him before and suspected he knew the reason for that troubled look. Slowly he unfolded his arms and pushed his sleeve up to his shoulder, checking to see if his assumption was correct. There beneath the cotton material he found several small roundish bruises of varying colours, ranging from deep red to blue black, to faded yellow. Like everything else today it seemed taking the drugs wasn't going to be his choice.
Angrily he took the cup from her and peered at the contents; two small round tablets. "What are they?"
"It's just something to help you sleep."
He nodded solemnly and tipped the two white tablets into his mouth, tucked them safely under his tongue and then slipped the offered water. Making a deliberate show of swallowing, he handed her back the remaining water.
"Open." she softly ordered.
He frowned in disbelief, "You're kidding right?" he said, doing his best to keep his speech normal around the tiny obstructions.
She looked at him pointedly, waiting for him to follow her requested.
With a sigh of defeat, Daniel took the plastic cup back from her. "Can't blame a guy for trying." he said and chugged down the last swills of water, swallowing the tablets along with it.
Once she was satisfied the tablets where gone, she gathered up her notes and bidding him a good night, she left.
As soon as the door was closed Daniel sat down facing the corner, deliberately turning his back to the intrusive camera. He pushed his first two fingers into his mouth as far as he could and poked at his uvula. Almost immediately his stomach heaved and he took a deep breath around his fingers as his eyes started to water. His stomach settled, so he poked again and again, while his mouth filled with saliva and tears streamed, but he kept trying until his stomach finally gave up its contains in one sudden rush. Pulling off his top, he wiped his face roughly and covered the small essential pile of vomit. 'Right, part one; drugs of system. Check. Part two…Escape.'
Adapting a casual manner, he moved across to the far corner of the room. Standing directly under the camera, he stretched up onto his tiptoes and reached up as far as he could. Too high, it was still a foot out of the reach of his outstretched fingertips. Dropping his hand to his hips, he looked around the bare room. There had to be a way. If he could escape a Goa'uld Mothership this padded room should be childs play…'right?' For the first time ever he started to wish that he had had the military training that Jack, Sam and Mitchell had had, but all that crawling through muddy tunnels on your elbows and running up walls had never been… 'Running up walls.'
With his sight focused on his target, Daniel backed up to the far corner of the cell. It wasn't a big run up but it would have to do. Using his arms to spring himself forward to gain as much speed as possible in the limited space, he sprinting as fast as he possibly could across the spongy floor. As he neared the corner he leapt, his toes and fingers digging into the walls yielding surface, as he scrambled up. He swung for the camera and managed to knock it with his fist, so it faced the floor. He reached up again for it, hoping that now the lens was pointing downwards he would be able to reach it. Still just out of reach. He back up to the corner again and threw himself back across the room and up the wall. This time managing to wrap his fingers around it. It came away from the wall in his hand. Leaving a clump of disconnected multi coloured wires in its wake.
He speed to the door and pushed his back against the wall as tight as he could. The approaching footfalls making his heart hammer harder in his chest.
As the door opened and an orderly stepped inside Daniel swung his improvised weapon as hard as he could, upper cutting the man on the temple. He went down instantly, blood seeping from the unconscious mans head.
He quickly frisked the man. I.D card, keys, wallet, gun. 'Gun? What sort of hospital is this? Not the point. Get moving!'
He dragged the man into the padded room, grabbed the stuff and slipped out into the too bright, steel grey corridor.
