Chapter Seven
"You know they always said in med school: "When you hear hoof beats, think horses not zebras"." The lead doctor said as he stared at the scan results. "This man however is covered in stripes."
"What are we even looking at?" Another asked.
"I have no idea. Carol, you're sure this man walked in here?"
"Absolutely, you can ask the two officers in the waiting room if you don't believe me."
"I believe you, it's just a very impressive feat for a man with a completely severed spinal cord." The doctor mused.
"Whatever these devices in his chest and along the lumbar are must some how circumvent the nerve damage." The second doctor guessed. "I've never heard of anything like it though."
"No one has this technology." The head doctor said firmly. "At least not publicly."
"In any case he is showing signs of paralysis now."
"You're right. Harris?"
"Yes?" The resident replied.
"It looks like we are indeed dealing with autonomic dysreflexia, go get our patient stabilized and make sure he doesn't go anywhere. I have a lot of questions I'd like to ask him. I'm going to call Dr. Yenis and get her down here, she's never going to believe this and we'll need her expertise."
Harris nodded and hustled out of the room. Still staring at the scan results in his hands the doctor wandered over to the phone. Before he could call Dr. Yenis a commotion outside caught his ear. The other doctor and the two nurses in the room looked up as well. It sounded like a full scale invasion was going on. The doctor was just about to call for security when Jack burst through the double doors and into the lab.
"Alright folks, 'Mystery Diagnose' time is over."
"What? Who are you?"
"General Jack O'Neill, USAF."
The doctor looked at Jack's soaking wet white t-shirt and his flannel pajama pants critically.
"'General'?"
"That's right." Jack replied as he reached out and snatched Daniel's chart and scan results away from the doctor. "I'll be taking that, thank you."
"Carol, call Psyc and see if anyone's slipped off the ward," the doctor said calmly to the nurse "and get security in here."
"That won't be necessary," Jack smiled "I brought my own security."
Two uniformed Airmen joined Jack in the medical lab. The medical staff all took an alarmed step back.
"Alright, make sure you get everything thing with Daniel's name on it." Jack ordered. "I'm sure the doctors here won't give you any trouble."
"Whoa! Wait a minute!" The lead doctor protested as Jack went to leave. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"I'm doing you a favour by taking a difficult case off your hands."
"You can't just come in here and take one of our patients!"
"I am trying my hardest right now to keep my temper." Jack snarled with his eyes suddenly growing dark. "So I would suggest for everyone's safety that you not question what I can and can not do, or else you're liable to end up needing a few extra doctors to clean up the mess."
Having said his peace Jack left the two Airmen to deal with the suddenly subdued doctor. He stalked down the hall ordering the three Airmen he'd left outside to follow him. Opening the chart he took note of Daniel's room and headed for it.
Stepping into the room he found Harris and two nurses still working on getting Daniel stabilized. Tanya was standing at the far side of the bed holding his hand gently. Tears were still streaking down her cheeks, but she was bravely reassuring Daniel that everything was going to be alright.
Daniel was sweating heavily and deeply flushed. Despite the various sedating drugs in his system he still fought tactlessly to sit up. Trembling Tanya put her hand on Daniel's cheek in an attempt to calm him. Harris was trying to tell him that his agitation was only making his symptoms worse. Delusional from a combination of drugs and seizure inducing high blood pressure Daniel was in no mood to listen. Jack walked up behind the resident doctor and gently moved him to the side.
"Couldn't keep him out of trouble for even 24 hours, eh Sergeant?"
"General!" Tanya cried in obvious relief as she looked up.
"Jack?" Daniel muttered.
"I'm here, Daniel." Jack reached out and put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Take it easy."
The signing monitors suddenly reduced their fast paced alarming sounds to a more natural and even tone. Harris instantly reached out to put his fingertips against Daniel's throat to manually check his vitals.
"Wha…what did you just do?" Dr. Harris asked.
"Do?" Jack repeated. "What do you mean?"
"His blood pressure and heart rate are suddenly dropping to within normal limits." The resident replied in shock.
"Funny, usually I have the opposite effect on him."
"Jack…" Daniel panted "get me out of here."
"That's why I'm here, just relax. I called Dr. Brightman, she's on her way. She'll let us know if we can move you."
Too weak to reply further Daniel simply nodded. Having spoken Dr. Brightman's name seemed to call her to the spot. Hastily dressed she stepped into the room. Before asking any questions she read the monitors to make sure they weren't still in an emergency situation. When she pressed her fingertips against Daniel's throat he looked up at her and smiled before finally giving into sleep.
"Sir," Brightman looked up at Jack "I suggest we move him to the SGC now."
"Do it. These three will help you." Jack motioned to the Airmen. "They've got medical transport waiting outside."
"I…I don't think he should be moved," the resident broke in "he's already seized once."
"Dr. Harris," Brightman read off the resident's name tag "you've done an excellent job stabilizing him, thank you, but we know what we're doing."
"Uh…"
Jack gave the Airmen the go ahead and with Dr. Brightman's help they removed Daniel from the various monitors and I.V.s.
"Wait," Harris said "who are you people, what's going on?"
"We're his family, and transferring him to military care facility," Jack informed "thank you for your good work keeping him alive this long."
"You…you're welcome…" The young doctor stuttered.
Tanya had backed up against the far wall to allow the others to help Daniel. Still shaking slightly she looked around nervously. After they had taken Daniel from the room Jack came over and offered his hand for her to take.
"Come on, I'll give you a ride to the SGC. Unless you'd rather be taken home."
"No, I want to go to the Base."
"Good. You can tell me what happened on the way."
"This…this is my fault…"
"I doubt that." Jack forced a smile. "Daniel is a magnet for this sort of thing."
Jack lead Tanya out of the hospital. It was still raining outside and she found her own stomach turning. She shook off the feeling knowing that Daniel was in the best hands possible now and that they knew how to help him. Getting into Jack's car she recounted the entire tale as they drove towards the SGC.
"David didn't mean to hurt him…well, that might not be entirely true," Tanya said as she finished the story "but he wasn't trying to kill him. Actually, that might not be entirely true either."
"I'm sure Daniel won't be interested in pressing any charges. He's a fairly forgiving kind of guy."
"I've noticed." Tanya agreed. "Still, David's over reaction is inexcusable, and I know I should have just let him take me to the Base in the first place..."
"Right now I'm more angry at Daniel than anyone else."
"What? No…it was an accident, he didn't mean to hurt me."
"He didn't do anything to protect you either." Jack growled. "He shouldn't have placed you in such a dangerous position in the first place. He should have told you."
"It's not that simple, General."
"Why not? We all know he has problems."
"That's not the same as admitting to them out loud for someone else to judge you on."
"Yeah…" Jack sighed "I know."
"Please don't be angry with him, it's the last thing he needs right now, Sir."
Jack nodded his agreement as they drove into the mountain Base. Jack lead Tanya down to the infirmary where Sam was already waiting. The Base was still quiet in the pre-dawn hours despite the emergency crew. Sam got up off the bed she was sitting on and walked over to the pair.
"Where's Daniel?"
"He's in the surgery room, Sir."
"Surgery!" Tanya gasped.
"It's alright, they're just trying to flush the drugs out of his system and make sure he's not going to have another seizure. Which I have been assured was very minor."
"I don't understand anything that has happened." Tanya admitted. "How did he get so sick so fast?"
"His chart said that he'd just been hit by a taser, my guess is that it short circuited the Deep Brain Stimulator device in his chest and shut off the Crystal."
"But he turns it off all the time and he's fine."
"He doesn't shut it off completely anymore so that his reflexes don't get out of control." Sam continued. "With the stress of the arrest, and the pain of the taser his body went into autonomic dysreflexia."
"He said something about that, but I don't know what it is."
"Basically the 'fight or flight' part of the nervous system gets out of whack, the brain can't tell it to stop and so blood pressure, heart rate, and other autonomic reflexes continue to gain strength without any way for the brain to stop them."
Tanya's mind was reeling at all this information. She recalled the details of the autonomic nervous system from her college years. However she had never heard of this complication. Feeling an icy cold in the pit of her stomach she crossed her arms over it.
"Could it kill him?" Tanya asked quietly.
"Yes." Sam nodded. "However, he's in the best hands, he's going to be just fine."
"Can they get him walking again?" Jack asked.
"I don't know, Sir." Sam replied. "I don't think anyone knows just yet."
Silence fell over the group and it wasn't until this moment that Tanya noticed Teal'c standing by the door. She suddenly felt like she didn't belong in the room. She felt like an outsider, an outsider that had caused an unknown amount of damage. Tanya was starting to fear that she was going to be sick when Dr. Brightman interrupted the uncomfortable silence.
"General?"
"Yes."
"May I speak with you?"
"Is Daniel alright?" Jack asked for Tanya's sake.
"He's still a little groggy, but he's out of danger."
Jack breathed a sigh of relief and headed into the next room with Dr. Brightman. Hearing that Daniel was safe Tanya's adrenaline suddenly failed her. Exhaustion crushed down on her. Sam saw the change and reached out to steady her. Tanya allowed Sam to lead her over to one of the infirmary beds to sit down. Closing her eyes for a moment Tanya tried to collect herself.
"How are you doing?" Sam asked softly.
"Me? I'm fine. I'm not the one who almost died tonight."
"No, but you've still been through a lot." Sam replied as she sat down on the bed next to Tanya and put her arm over her shoulders.
"Daniel didn't know he was hurting me, it was a nightmare."
"That's not what I was talking about."
Tanya tried to keep from crying again, however she couldn't stop herself. Sam gathered the bio-engineer into a comforting embrace. Grateful for a shoulder to cry on Tanya released some of her emotional tension. She didn't allow herself to cry for long and quickly pulled away and rubbed away the salty stain. She sighed heavily and stared sullenly at the floor.
"Tanya?"
"He's never going to want to see me again…is he?"
"This is Daniel we're talking about here." Sam chuckled. "He's died so many times it is going to take far more than a 'near' death experience to chase him away."
Tanya forced a smile, but didn't look convinced. Sam took a breath to say more but was interrupted as Jack and Dr. Brightman came back into the infirmary. Tanya instantly got to her feet.
"Sergeant?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Daniel's asking for you."
A little anxious Tanya looked back at Sam who flashed her a reassuring smile. Dr. Brightman lead Tanya to the ICU unit but did not go inside with her. Daniel had propped up the bed so that he was closer to sitting up than laying down. A white bandage had been placed over the place where Tanya had scratched him.
His eyes were still a little unfocused from the sedation, however when he looked over at her a bright smile lit up his face. Tanya had not been expecting him to look so healthy after seeing him so close to death just an hour before. When she didn't approach his bedside he reached out to her. Smiling shyly Tanya stepped forward and took his hand.
"Hell of a night, eh?" Daniel chuckled.
"You certainly know how to show a girl a…um…"
"Terrifying time?"
Tanya nodded.
"Do I get the chance to make it up to you?" Daniel asked with a sad smile. "Or have you had enough?"
A sly smile spread across Tanya's face. She leaned in and engaged Daniel in a passionate kiss that he was more than happy to return. She carded her fingers through his drying hair as she gently bit down on his lip. When she pulled away Daniel laid back with his eyes still closed and sighed contently.
"Okay…now I've had enough." Tanya teased. "Bye."
Daniel laughed and caught Tanya's wrist as she turned to leave. Using his considerable upper body strength he pulled her up onto the hospital bed. He cradled her like a child and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Tears brightened her eyes once more, but this time for a different reason.
"So…who was that wonderfully protective young man I had the pleasure of meeting tonight?"
"No one." Tanya grumbled. "I disown him."
"He's your brother, isn't he?"
"He was…I'm never going to speak to him ever again."
"Tanya, if I had a sister and some stranger brought her into the ER with blood dripping from her temple, and bruises on his knuckles I would have beaten him senseless to."
"That's still no excuse for what he did to you."
"He loves you. Is that a crime?"
"Yes." Tanya huffed.
"Then he had every right to arrest me."
Tanya stared at Daniel and then turned scarlet. Still cradled in Daniel's arms she nuzzled against his neck affectionately, suddenly unable to look into his sapphire eyes. Daniel smoothed out her tangled hair and held her tighter.
"I thought I was going to lose you tonight." Tanya admitted.
"It takes more than a little dysflexia to kill me."
"I'm not talking about death."
Daniel ran his hand through Tanya's ebony hair and tilted her head back to make her look at him. He closed the small gap between them with another gentle kiss. When he released her Tanya shifted so that she was laying next to him on the small bed rather than on top of him. Resting her head so that she could listen to his heart she took a deep breath.
"Tired?" Daniel asked.
"Exhausted."
"You should go get some sleep."
"I want to stay with you."
She could feel Daniel tense, or at least all the muscles above his waist line did. He didn't answer right away and she could practically hear his thoughts. Eventually he shook his head.
"I'm sorry…I'm not ready, I don't think it's safe."
"I understand."
"Which is exactly why I love you."
"I see." Tanya blushed again. "And remind me again why I love you?"
"I'm just lucky I guess."
