Chapter Four
Having just finished with her last patient of the day Janet sat at her desk working on some paper work. Today had been a hectic one, with a full schedule of patients that seemed far more interested in coping a cheep feel of her ass than actually working for her. Sometime she had to step back and remind her self that some of her patients had been assholes before their injuries and that their current disability had done nothing to change that. Some even tried to use pity to get away with more aggressive sexual harassment, pretending it was all innocent. It was a card that never played well with Janet.
Janet was exhausted and when she realized that she was writing notes in the wrong patient's chart she simply drew a line through them and closed the folder. Dropping the charts into her desk drawer Janet started gathering up her things to go home. It was pushing six o'clock anyway and she was supposed to have left at three. She was almost ready to go when there was a knock at her door.
"Come in."
"Something told me you'd still be here." Dr. Heckler chuckled as he stepped into her office.
"It's been one of those days." Janet smiled. "What can I do for you?"
"I got something for you. Not exactly a present, but I thought it would interest you."
Dr. Heckler pulled a large book from his briefcase and placed it on her desk. He had an unreadable expression on his face, as if he wasn't sure if what he had found was a good thing or not. Janet gave him a questioning look before reaching out and picking up the offering.
"'The Truth About the Pyramids'." Janet read out loud. "...Daniel Jackson, PhD?"
"You know me and my curiosity. I have a few high level website acesses, thought I'd look up your mystery boy. Although I must admit that I came across this using Google."
"It can't be him."
"Flip it over."
Janet turned the book over in her hands and found a picture of Daniel on the back cover staring up at her through a pair of thick rimmed glasses. Something about him didn't seem quite right, after a minute Janet realized it was the fact that the man in the picture was smiling.
"Whatever your boy is into, he's in it deep."
"What?"
"Janet, I skimmed the book and it is clearly a cover story."
"A cover story? Publishing a book seems a little elaborate don't you think?"
"Not at all. Think about it, as an 'archaeologist' he would have a perfectly plausible reason to be in places all over the world that military personnel are not welcome. As a discredited and ridiculed one he wouldn't have to worry about being asked to lecture."
"But why go to the trouble of putting out a book?"
"Realism. Say he is captured by someone who suspects he's an agent, he could tell them to look him up on the Internet if they didn't believe him. They could even buy the book on Amazon. There is even a supposed group of like minded whack jobs who have a fan site devoted to him, it's actually a pretty amusing site."
"What is 'his' theory?"
"The main jist is that the pyramids in Egypt are actually ancient landing sites for aliens."
"Interesting." Janet said skeptically as she looked down at the book.
"It gets better. The last anyone heard from him was about ten years ago, expatriated to Egypt. So as far as the US government is concerned he's not a citizen so if he ends up in the wrong hands and they put up for ransom in some big media circus the government could honestly say: 'Talk to Egypt, he's not our problem'."
"Did you find anything on him having a family?"
"Conveniently orphaned at a young age and never adopted. I'm sure he has one, but they are being publicly protected."
"You're impressed by this aren't you?" Janet asked.
"It's genius." Dr. Heckler replied honestly. "If you ask me your boy has given at least the last ten years of his life to some war the rest of the world doesn't even know exists."
"And now that he's injured he has no life of his own to return to." Janet sighed to herself.
"Janet?"
"Nothing. Look, Phil, this is fascinating, however I think we should keep it to ourselves in case it is true or even if it isn't."
"I haven't told a soul, and the book is your's to keep."
"Thank you."
"Janet..." Phil hesitated. "Don't get too close to this one, okay? I don't want to see you get hurt."
"No matter who he is Daniel isn't going to hurt me."
"I didn't mean it that way." Phil looked around and then stepped closer. "My brother ran Black for just over a year."
"I didn't know you had a brother."
"I don't anymore. He killed himself."
"I...I am so sorry."
"It's okay, I even saw it coming and I tried to help. But in the end it was the only way he felt he could deal with his demons. I just wanted to warn you that if you lose this one don't blame yourself, there is no telling what he's been through."
Janet felt she should say more, but she was so taken by surprise that she didn't have any words. Phil forced a sad smile, his eye had brightened with tears from the painful memory. Before Janet could find her voice Dr. Heckler turned and left her office.
Staring down at the book in her hands Janet tried to see the man she had come to know in the face of the small picture. They looked like twins that had lead different lives. She wondered if he had truly been happy when the photo was taken, unaware of the difficult road that lay ahead, perhaps even excited about the turn his life was about to take.
Whoever he had been Janet decided that he wasn't this person anymore, she couldn't imagine him being able to even fake a smile like the one in the photo. He could pull back the corners of his lips, but there was no way he could get his eyes to glitter and lie like this anymore.
"Is this why you don't feel like you're worth helping...are you just waiting for the demons in your head to kill you?"
Janet shook her head and placed the book in her desk along with the days charts and locked it. After staring into space with indecision for a few minutes she picked up the phone. It was getting late, but she had a feeling that the person she was calling would answer.
"Dr. Cho's office, how may I help you?"
"I need to speak to Dr. Cho, this is Dr. Frasier from the VA."
"One moment please."
"Dr. Cho." A strong voice answered.
"Good evening, Dr. Cho. I'm sorry to be calling you so late."
"It's not a problem, how can I help you?"
"I sent a patient your way, Daniel Jackson, I was wondering if you have an update."
"Ah yes, Dr. Jackson, an extraordinary case. His surgery was three days ago, it went very well."
"Three days ago?" Janet asked in shock.
"Yes, he came in for an MRI and we had to get him on the table the next day. What was left of his popliteal artery had formed an anurisium within the confines of the bony mass. If that anurisium had broken he would have internally bled to death in minutes. A simple fall could have killed him."
"Do you know if it is cancerous?"
"We don't have the lab results back yet."
"Where is he now?"
"Room 624, he's battling a mild infection. However, if his results come back as benign he'll probably be able to go home in a week or so."
"Thank you so much, Dr. Cho."
"Not a problem."
Janet hung up the phone and snatched up her keys. She didn't know why she was so hurt that Daniel hadn't called to tell her about the surgery. After all she was just his physical therapist it wasn't like he had any obligation to her. Forgoing dinner Janet drove across town to the VA hospital where Daniel was staying. She stepped inside and was greeted by a smiling young woman.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm here to see Daniel Jackson room 624."
"Alright, please sign in here." The receptionist handed her a clip board and a visitor's badge. "Do you know your way?"
"Yes." Janet turned to leave, but stopped herself. "Could you tell me if anyone has visited him in the past three days?"
"One minute." The receptionist turned to her computer for a few minutes. "No, it doesn't look like anyone has signed into 624."
"Thank you."
Suddenly feeling nervous Janet boarded the elevator and pushed the button for the sixth floor. When she came to 624 the door was closed. Janet hesitated to knock, fearing that Daniel might be asleep. A charge nurse step up to her and smiled brightly.
"You here to see Dr. Jackson, Sugar?"
"Yes I am."
"Well it's about time." The nurse chuckled. "He's a real sweetheart, never gives me any trouble. Would die of thirst before calling me for a glass of water."
"That sounds like Daniel."
"I was starting to fear that no one was going to come. Go on in."
"Is he sleeping?"
"Don't make no difference, you're worth waking up for."
Janet smiled shyly as the nurse winked and then walked away. Not about to just barge into the room Janet hesitantly knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Thankful that she hadn't seemed to have woken him Janet slowly opened the door. Daniel had the back of the adjustable hospital bed tilted up so that he was in more of a seated position than laying down. He was staring out the large window at the city lights beyond. Janet came into the room, but Daniel didn't look in her direction. She reasoned that he assumed she was just another nurse here to jab him with another needle.
"Daniel?"
Jolting slightly Daniel took his eyes off the window to look at his visitor. He smiled, but his eyes retained the vacant, almost glassy, look that she was so used to seeing. He sat up straighter, wincing in pain as he did so. Janet glanced at his IV stand and noticed that they were dripping five different fluids into his blood.
"Janet," Daniel greeted warmly "what are you doing here?"
"Putting you to work." Janet teased.
"Oh." Daniel replied with obvious disappointment.
"I'm just kidding. I came to say hello, and see you you're feeling."
"Thank you, I'm doing well."
"I would have been her sooner if a certain someone had thought to inform me of their impending major surgery."
"I'm sorry. After the MRI they wouldn't even let me go home."
"Dr. Cho said it was really serious."
"I recall him saying something about the fact that I could die at any minute." Daniel chuckled hollowly. "Thank you for saving my life."
"Me?"
"If you hadn't insisted on an X-ray, if you had just kept pushing me I probably would have burst the anurisium and died."
"I wish I had asked you about your pain levels sooner."
"You did."
"I did?"
"Yup."
"What happened?"
"I lied."
"I see." Janet smiled. "Don't do it again."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Honestly, Daniel, what is wrong with you? Why didn't you tell someone how much pain you were in?"
"I did. I talked to my surgeon about it."
"What did he say?"
"That it was to be expected and he gave me a few prescriptions."
"In the future you need to be a better advocate for yourself." Janet said sternly. "How is your pain right now?"
"I thought you just came to visit me."
"I'm sorry, I did."
"Have you had dinner? The food here is...not the greatest, but I can have them bring something up."
"No thank you, I've eaten here before I'd rather not go through it again."
"Same here." Daniel said ruefully. "Where are my manners? Would you like to sit down or are you just dropping by?"
"I can stay a while."
Janet walked around the far side of the bed and settled down in the comfortable visitor's chair. She found herself unsure of what to say next. She was fairly certain that Daniel didn't want to talk about the surgery nor the impending lab results. Part of her was dying to ask him about the book that Dr. Heckler had given her, but she knew she couldn't. Daniel seemed content just to have another soul in the room with him and stared out the window once more.
"I wish I could see the stars." Daniel sighed.
"Stars?"
"I'm used to seeing them, but there is too much light pollution here."
"I guess I never really thought about it."
"The deserts have the best stars, you can see the whole milky way." Daniel smiled dreamily. "On Abydos you felt like you could reach out and touch them."
"Abydos?" Janet repeated. "Is that in Egypt?"
"Egypt? No, Abydos is ano..."
There was a gentle knock at the door that distracted Daniel. Whoever was at the door did not wait for permission to step inside. An older doctor stepped into the room with a chart in his hands. When he looked up he seemed surprised to find two people in the room.
"Good evening, Dr. Jackson and..."
"This is Janet, a friend of mine." Daniel replied.
"I am Dr. Geling, I am here to discuss your lab results."
"Oh." Janet got to her feet. "I'll leave you two."
"Stay."
Janet looked down at Daniel. His single word may have been taken as an order, but Janet instantly knew that it had been a request. He held out his hands and after a moment's hesitation Janet took it. Daniel smiled and squeezed her delicate hand.
"The good news, Dr. Jackson, is that the abnormal bone grow was completely benign. You do not have bone cancer."
"That's good to hear." Daniel replied some what unemotionally. "What's the bad news?"
"The bad news is sort of good news in your case. You have, or rather had, a very aggressive and fast growing Giant Cell Bone Tumor combined with the usual extraneous bone growth due to the amputation."
"Okay." Daniel nodded. "Now what?"
"Now nothing actually." Dr. Geling smiled. "The usual treatment for this kind of tumor is surgery. In most cases the devastation is caused by having to cut out so much bone that it can no longer support the joint. Since you have no knee there is no problem, Dr. Cho already treated the end of your femur so there is little chance of it growing back. We'll want to take another X-ray in a month just to check it out, okay?"
"Okay." Daniel gave him a thumbs up sign.
"I'll leave you two." Dr. Geling said as he ducked out of the room.
Janet released a breath that she hadn't even realized that she'd been holding. She felt that she was more relieved by the news than Daniel was. If anything he looked more depressed than she ever remembered seeing him. She squeezed his hand but he just stared out the window again, searching for stars.
"Janet?"
"Yes, Daniel?"
"Do you get that?"
"Um...get what?"
"What we were just told." Daniel clarified. "Beyond 'you don't have cancer' I didn't understand a word of what that guy just said."
"You're going to live."
"Ah."
"Ah?" Janet repeated. "That's all you have to say?"
"Janet...I am so full of drugs right now." Daniel said as he gestured vaguely with his free hand. "I...uh...I took some stuff before you came in. I figured I was in for another long lonely night and that there was no harm in it."
"Wait...you 'took' something?" Janet asked in concern as she looked up at his IV stand. "Daniel, what did you take?"
"Just a couple of Percocet, no more than normal."
"Daniel! You are on a morphine drip, you can't be taking Percocet!"
"Why not? It's working."
"Those are both opiates!"
"And?"
Janet pulled her hand out of Daniel's. Shr grabbed one of the IV tubes and clamped down on the small plastic regulator to stop the flow of morphine. Daniel looked up at her and giggled.
"What are you doing?"
"Making sure you don't overdose on pain killers."
"Janet, you should have become a medical doctor...you are a life saver."
"Are you having any trouble breathing?"
"No."
"How's your skin feel? Are you cold?"
Janet reached out and put her hand against his cheek to make sure he was still warm. Daniel reached up and took Janet's wrist. He pulled himself together and looked directly into her eyes causing her to pause.
"I'm fine, Janet. Thank you so much for visiting me, but it is getting late."
"Alright, but no more Percocet tonight. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Where is it?"
"Where is what?"
"Your prescription."
Daniel furrowed his brow as he thought about if he was going to tell her or not. Eventually he reached over to the other side of the bed and opened the nightstand drawer. He brought out a small container and handed it to her. She briefly noted that the prescription date was from a week ago meaning he must have brought it with him to the hospital. She slipped it into her pocket.
"Hey." Daniel protested.
"I'll give it back when you get out of the hospital."
"Fine, whatever."
"Can I come see you tomorrow?" Janet asked.
"I'd like that."
"I'll stop by after work."
"Good night, Janet. Thank you again."
Janet smiled and went to leave. She was going to go straight to the charge nurse and let her know exactly what had happened so that they would know to monitor Daniel tonight. Before leaving she turned back one last time. Daniel had turned his attention back to the veiled stars. He looked so lost. Janet hesitated for a moment and then pulled a pen out of her pocket and grabbed a scrap of paper to scribble on.
"Daniel?"
"Yes?"
"I want you to take this. Use it any time, day or night, if you ever need...if you need help or just someone to listen to you."
"What is it?" Daniel asked as he took the paper.
"It's my home phone number."