I apologize for the long delay getting this chapter ready. I hope there are still some of you out there reading!
Just want to let you know that I have NO medical training, so anything along those lines in the story is bound to be flawed, if not complete nonsense! I looked most of it up on the internet, but we know how accurate that can be! Please be forgiving :-)
62
"It's not good news, Mr. President," General Hammond says reluctantly, speaking into the red phone on his desk. It has been eighteen hours since SG1 and SG5 came back through the stargate.
"Jack?" the President asks.
"He's in a coma," Hammond says. "The damage done by the staff weapon was bad enough. It took Dr. Faiser hours just to pick the shrapnel out of his back. One lung was punctured, the pericardial sac was torn, and there was some liver damage. One kidney was so bad she had to remove it."
"Crap," the President puts in. It is a moment before he speaks again. "I have a feeling you have more to tell me."
"After the kidney removal, there was some serious internal bleeding. A weak spot in the renal artery blew, and he lost a whole lot of blood. They kept transfusing him, but the loss was too fast, too extreme."
"He's dead?!" Hayes exclaims. "I thought you just said..."
"He's still alive... on life support. Dr. Fraiser isn't happy with the EEG's."
"Brain damage?"
"A possibility." Now that he's said it, Hammond falls silent for a few moments. At last he continues, "In addition..."
"My God!" Hayes interrupts. "There's more?"
"He was hit directly in the back, Mr. President. Amazingly there are no broken vertebrae..." He pauses.
"I hear a 'but' coming."
"His spinal cord has started to swell from the trauma. Just a little so far, but if it continues..."
"There's not much room there..."
"Exactly, sir."
There is a brief silence before the President speaks again. "Is there anyone—anywhere—that Dr. Fraiser would like to have brought in on this—a surgeon, consulting expert—anything? I'll do my best to get her anybody she wants."
"I'll ask her, sir. Thank you."
"What about the rest of them? Major Carter? The Tok'ra? Captain Austin, was it?"
"They're all recovering," Hammond says, happy to convey some good news. "Jacob Carter and Leara are doing well, now that their symbiotes have recovered. Austin will be off his feet for a while, but he'll be okay. The young Jaffa To'kel is already recovered. Major Carter has a broken clavicle and a staff burn on her shoulder and upper arm, but she'll be all right, too."
"Good. That's good. Talk to Fraiser, tell her I'll do anything I can."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. President."
"And call me back if there's any more news on Jack!" The concern and frustration are clear in Hayes' voice.
After he hangs up with the President, Hammond sits back for a minute in his chair, eyes closed.
"Sir?"
He looks up to see Sergeant Harriman at the door. "Yes, Walter?"
"Is there anything I can get you, sir? Coffee? Something to eat?"
"No, thanks, Walter. I'm just going to sit here for a few minutes."
"Umm, Sir... General Carter is here to see you..."
"Okay. Send him in." He sits up straight again.
Harriman opens the door for Jacob to enter, and then goes out, shutting it behind him.
"Have a seat, Jacob. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, George. Selmak has taken care of my problems." He looks closely at Hammond. "I wish I could share her with you—you look like you could use it."
Hammond laughs mirthlessly. He is like Jack—nothing could convince him to carry a Goa'uld in his head. "I appreciate the offer. I think."
Jacob smiles understandingly.
"How's Sam doing?" Hammond asks.
"In some pain, but tolerating it. She's been refusing painkillers since she woke up. Says she wants to stay sharp. She won't leave Jack's side."
"Mmm hmm. Not surprised. Anything new in the past half hour?"
"No change," Jacob says. "Have you heard from the Tok'ra, George?"
"Not since you got back. I've had Walter sending out messages every hour on the usual frequencies, but there's no response. They did say they'd be out of touch while they're moving their headquarters. Ha'mara said she would contact us regularly. But the next time probably won't be for a while yet."
Jacob bows his head briefly and Selmak takes over. "Please keep sending the messages often, General Hammond. Someone may be listening. It is imperative that the Tok'ra Council learn what we have found out as soon as possible."
"I understand," Hammond says. "I'll step up the schedule."
"We have many operatives undercover in Goa'uld camps whose lives may depend on this information," Selmak adds.
Jacob takes charge again. "Add onto the message that we're in need of a healing device. Ask them to send somebody with one."
"For Jack?" Hammond asks.
"Yes." Jacob looks deeply worried. "George, I don't think he stands much chance without it."
"Can you heal him?"
"I don't know how much we can do, but Selmak is willing to try."
63
Sam sits at Jack's bedside, her eyes fixed on his face. There are so many wires, tubes and monitors attached to his body, that it is difficult to find part of him to hold onto, but she has been able to grasp three fingers of his left hand—the fourth has an oxygen meter attached to it—and she is hanging on for dear life. His skin is cool and dry and unresponsive to her touch, but if she moves her fingers to his wrist, she can feel the pulse there. She does this often, simply to feel that small sign of life in him, terrified each time that she will not find it there.
Daniel and Teal'c are nearby; she can sense their presence, but she does not look their way. It is more important to keep her eyes on Jack—as if her gaze will somehow keep him with her. She can only see a portion of his features; the breathing tube mask, and tape holding it in place obscures his mouth and nose, and since Janet has him immobilized and lying flat to help ease pressure on his spine, she can see his eyes only if she stands up. She can hear the heart monitor beeping off to the side, and the quiet shush-shush of the ventilator delivering oxygen to Jack's body. There are other soft sounds in the background, but those keeping him alive are the ones she concentrates on.
On the far side of the bed the EEG machine clicks on and begins one of the periodic brain scans that have been running automatically. Sam glances up at the wavy lines on the screen, but other than telling her there is activity of some level, they do not mean anything. The EEG must have set off a silent alarm somewhere, because a few minutes later, Dr. Fraiser steps quietly into the cubicle.
Janet pauses first to glance over at Sam, who does not acknowledge her, and then she moves over to the EEG and presses a switch. The machine spits out a meter-long paper tracing of the latest scan, and Janet tears it off and studies it, comparing it in her memory to the previous one. There are some differences, so she resets the switch and obtains a copy of the last scan. Holding them side by side, she notes an increase in activity in the area of pain reception. She frowns and bites her lip. It is disturbing to think he is experiencing pain, but slightly hopeful that it registers on his scan. On some level his brain is responding to pain stimuli. Janet debates with herself whether this is hopeful enough to mention to Sam, and decides that for the moment it is not.
She turns to leave the cubicle, but her actions have attracted the attention of Teal'c, who is standing quietly beside the wall.
"Dr. Fraiser?" he questions softly, stepping forward almost into her path.
She raises an eyebrow and nods minimally toward the corridor. When she exits, he follows.
As they leave, Daniel looks up from where he is sitting, in a chair against the wall at the head of Jack's bed. After a moment he stands and goes quietly out behind them.
Sam makes no move to indicate she noticed their departure, however once she is alone with Jack, she begins to speak softly to him. "I know you can hear me, Jack," she whispers. "You have to fight. Please, please don't give up. No matter what, I love you. I need you alive with me. We've had so little time together... I need to be able to look into your eyes and see that you love me. Whatever happens, we can work it out. I'll do anything, if you'll only wake up...look at me. Stay with me." She pauses and sighs, tears welling in her eyes. "I know I'm being selfish. I know that if you can't be the man you were, you won't want to come back. But we didn't have enough time. Please, Jack. Please..." She continues speaking quietly as the tears slip down her cheeks.
Daniel finds Janet and Teal'c a few meters down the corridor. "What is it?" he asks in a low voice as he joins them.
"Almost nothing," Janet says. "He has a small change in the latest scan. A slight reaction to increased pain levels."
"That's good, isn't it?" Daniel says hopefully. "It's something..."
"It's something," Janet concedes. "It means his brain is still reacting to stimuli. Pain is one of the most basic reactions. It's involuntary."
"But..." Daniel urges.
"But it does show increased brain activity. It's a small improvement, but it's there, and we'll keep an eye on it." Her pager beeps softly in her pocket, and she takes it out and looks at it. "I'll run another scan just before his next meds. We'll keep checking it. I have to go. General Hammond wants to see me." She heads off down the corridor toward the elevator.
64
Janet steps into Jack's cubicle, and pauses. Sam is talking softly, but she stops when she senses that she is not alone. It has now been twenty five hours since SG1 returned through the gate and Sam has been in the chair at Jack's side for the last twelve. Most of the time she holds his hand; sometimes she curls in the chair and just watches him She is alone in here now, but Janet passed Teal'c just outside, standing against the corridor wall. On the table beside Sam are a half-drunk glass of milk and an untouched sandwich.
Jack has been back from his last MRI for only about an hour, and Janet has been studying the results in video consultation with a spinal specialist from Johns-Hopkins. Jack's EEGs are looking better, to Janet's relief, but the spinal cord swelling is still a problem.
"Sam, you can't keep sitting here," Janet finally says. "You need to rest. And when was the last time you ate anything?"
It is several seconds before Sam reacts to the fact that Janet has spoken to her. Her body flexes slightly, but her attention does not leave Jack's face. "I can just put my head down on the side of the bed, and rest that way..."
"No, you can't. And not for your sake, for his," Janet insists. "You could fall asleep and accidently shake or jostle the bed. I'm worried about the spinal cord swelling, Sam. Any kind of movement could cause irritation."
"Oh." Sam sits up straighter and draws in a deep breath, looks down to make sure she is not touching the bed, except for her hand on Jack's. At last she gives her attention to what Janet is saying. "How bad is it?"
"It's not getting worse. But it hasn't gone down any, either. We've got him on high doses of steroids to keep it under control. There's very little room in the vertebral canal, and any swelling is too much." Janet puts her hand on Sam's shoulder. "Sam, I want you to get some rest."
Sam stiffens under Janet's hand. "I'm fine."
The doctor steps over to the curtain separating Jack's bed from the neighboring one, and pulls it aside. Her voice carries the authoritative ring which she does so well. "You can use this bed just as long as I don't get another critical care patient. That way you can watch him."
Recognizing that Janet is not giving her a choice, Sam nods and reluctantly releases her grip on Jack's hand. She is surprised then when Janet pushes the empty bed closer to Jack's. She climbs onto the second bed, and reaches for the lever which raises the head. Within a few minutes she is settled, positioned so that she has a reasonably good view of his face.
Janet brings her a blanket, and watches for a few moments, before once more going to check Jack's monitors.
xXx
The water in the lake is rippling slightly with the breeze. Reflections of the moon break into multiple shards, and then re-form, only to break again. They are sitting on the end of the dock and his arm is around her shoulders, and she relaxes against him as they watch the water...
Sam's eyes fly open and she gasps as she realizes she has been asleep! Terrified, she pushes herself up in the bed and searches for Jack in the dim room. He is not there—the bed is gone!
"Janet!" she cries, swinging her feet to the floor, trying to stand.
Teal'c is there, steadying her, careful of her injured shoulder. He has risen from a chair beside the door the instant he heard her wake, and now he urges her back to sit on the edge of the bed. "MajorCarter," he says. "You must take care."
"Teal'c... what happened?" she gasps out. "Where's Jack?"
"They have removed him for more scans," he reassures her. "Dr. Fraiser did not wish to awaken you."
"More scans? Why? Did something... Did he...?" Her heart is pounding.
"It is routine, MajorCarter. There has been no change."
She sinks back onto the bed, still terrified, feeling weak and hollow and cold. "How... how long..." she whispers.
"He has been gone half an hour. Dr. Fraiser said the procedure should take a little over an hour." He pulls the blanket up over her shivering form, gently, as he would for a child. "You have been asleep for the past four hours."
"Four hours? How could I have slept so long... What time is it, Teal'c?"
"It is 1835 hours."
Just then Daniel enters the cubicle, carrying a tray of food. He smiles at Sam. "Oh good, you're awake. I was afraid Teal'c and I would have to eat all this by ourselves." He sets the tray down on the bedside table. There is a great variety of goodies on the plates.
Sam looks at the food and realizes she is hungry. "That looks good," she admits.
Daniel grins widely. "Help yourself."
She drinks the coffee that Daniel hands her, and the warmth makes her feel a little better. She eats half a chicken sandwich, and afterward part of the bowl of blue jello. Daniel and Teal'c consume sandwiches and fruit and pie. They have nearly cleared the tray by the time Janet and a nurse bring Jack back to the room.
Janet smiles and nods her approval that Sam has eaten as she and the nurse reattach Jack's monitors and transfer the breathing tube from the portable ventilator to the built-in unit in the cubicle wall.
Sam's eyes are glued to Jack's face while this is happening.
"What did the scans show, Dr. Fraiser?" Teal'c asks.
"The nephrectomy incision shows early signs of healing—that's right on schedule," she explains. "There's no internal bleeding—I was still a bit concerned about that; afraid we might have missed other weaknesses in the blood vessels caused by the shrapnel. His spinal cord is still swollen." She looks at Sam as she says this. "There's no change, despite the steroids. He needs the swelling to go down."
xXx
Daniel follows Janet when she leaves the room, walking with her until they are well out of earshot.
"What didn't you say in there?" he asks, touching her arm to make her pause.
She frowns. "I'm very worried about his spinal cord, Daniel. It's been thirty-six hours. The swelling should have begun to go down by now."
"Can you give him more steroids?"
"We're giving him the maximum safe dosage as it is. I believe the swelling is responsible for his inability to breathe. Pressure on the nerves can keep them from doing their job, and stimulating the lungs. That kind of pressure can cause the same problem all along the spine. If that's the case, it could mean almost total paralysis."
Daniel looks stricken. "You mean even if he wakes up now, he won't be able to move? Oh my God." He stares at her. "Have you told Sam?"
"Have you told Sam what?" They are both startled by the new voice. Neither has noticed Jacob's approach and now he is right on top of them. "Well?" he demands.
But before Janet can begin to explain, there is another interruption over the PA speakers;
"General Carter to the control room, please! General Carter to the control room."