Meant to get this up yesterday but FFN was being annoying, lol. Sorry I left ya'll hanging at the end of 42. So here's what happens, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :) I can't wait to hear what ya'll think! Thanks! hugs
Chapter 43
The healing device was working enough to keep those most seriously injured alive. Vala was glad of it, and was just hoping that Daniel would get back soon, when Siler burst into the infirmary, calling her name.
"What?" she called, worried. The sergeant found her and hurried across the infirmary to her, breathing heavily as if he'd been running.
"There was an accident…in one of the labs…and explosion. Daniel…he was hurt," he explained quickly. "It's…pretty bad. We didn't want to move him…"
Vala glanced at Carolyn, who waved a hand in dismissal. "Go."
Vala nodded and turned back to Siler. "Take me to him," she said urgently. "I can help with this," she said, showing him the device on her hand.
"Sam said you'd gone to get it," Siler nodded. "Come on; we should hurry." He rushed out, and Vala followed him closely, her heart pounding in her throat.
When they had made their way down to the corridor in question, she pulled in a breath when she saw him--and the scrap metal sticking into him. "Daniel!" She knelt quickly beside him, fixing the healing device on her hand more securely.
Sam was still with him. His head was on her knees, and the woman looked almost ready to cry. Daniel was unconscious. Sam was more than relieved to see them.
"I do have some medical training, but I can't know how bad it is without any equipment. But I didn't want to risk bringing him to the infirmary; moving him…i-it could have killed him," she explained shakily.
Vala had to put out a hand against the wall to keep from falling over from dizziness. She swallowed hard. "It's…It's all right. I've got it. I can heal it, or most of it, probably." But would she be able to do it when she was this worried? The device required a mental component, and if she was distracted….
She knew she was capable of doing it, but seeing Daniel this way even knowing that enough to shake her badly.
"Vala?" Siler questioned.
"I'm fine…I can do it, I just…" She grimaced. "That thing has to come out first."
Sam didn't look so sure. "But the bleeding--"
"I'll stop it before he loses too much. I'll make sure I heal the surface first. Look, I don't like it either, but you've got to trust me. He'll be all right," Vala answered sharply--a little more sharply than maybe she would have liked. But she didn't have time to worry about that now.
"It'll probably wake him up," Sam said after a moment.
Her mouth pressed into a grim line. "I know. But we don't have a choice, and I don't know if it would be wise to take the time to go back to the infirmary and get a sedative." There was already enough blood on the floor, and it was still leaking out.
The other woman nodded and sighed. "Okay…"
Vala looked at her and Siler. "Listen. Once it's out, I'll need to get started and done as quickly as possible, so I won't have any spare concentration to talk to him. You'll have to keep him calm if he wakes up."
"If?" Siler scowled, obviously not a big fan of this idea. She gave him a look.
"I understand," Sam answered.
None of them liked it, but it was what needed to be done. In the end--ten seconds later--it was Siler who pulled out the metal scrap, leaving Sam's hands free to hold onto him in case he moved.
And move he did. Daniel was awake immediately, screaming. Sam kept tight hold on his upper body while Siler kept his legs down as Vala instantly activated the healing device. But that feeling only confused him more, and he tried to thrash again.
"Daniel! Easy! It's okay, we're trying to help!" Sam told him.
"It's all right, it's us," Siler was saying.
"You have to keep still," she warned.
Daniel slumped back against her knees, gasping. His eyes darted back and forth in disorientation, and if he hadn't been in pain before passing out, he certainly was now. And he was confused. But he seemed to see Vala, and settle a little bit. Sam saw him open his mouth as if to say something, but she shushed him.
"Don't try to talk just yet, Daniel. Just take it easy. You'll be all right."
Vala was concentrating hard, eyes closed. Daniel saw the healing device, and finally stopped trying to move in any way. He lay where he was, taking slow breaths that didn't sound easy. At least not at first. It seemed to get easier as Vala continued, and Sam was finally able to breathe a small sigh of relief.
Daniel was going to be all right.
Jenny glanced back at Simon when he came up beside her again.
"You don't have to stay here," he reminded her gently, giving her a small smile. "We can take turns."
The girl shook her head and turned back to looking at Shane, who was still out several hours later. By some miracle they had gotten him into one of the last beds in the nearest hospital. It was one in a long ward, and beyond a curtain around the bed there wasn't much privacy; she hadn't even bothered to close 'that'. There wasn't much point. He hadn't even woken up yet.
His injuries weren't as bad she'd worried they might be. He had a mild concussion, a couple of broken ribs, and some concern from smoke inhalation. But otherwise, the doctor that had seen him briefly had seemed positive that he would be all right with time.
Jenny had been sitting here almost since they arrive, and she had no intention of moving. Maybe she didn't even really know this young man, but that didn't mean she didn't care. On the contrary--she cared very much.
She sighed. "I know…but I'd rather stay."
Simon nodded silently and squeezed her shoulder gently. "All right…Do you need anything?"
"No thanks; I'm good," she shook her head.
"Okay. I'll be around, all right? I'm not leaving; I'll be in the lobby. If I'm not sitting out there, I'm right outside calling Sam. I should let her know where we are; she'll probably be coming home soon, if they haven't held her at the base because of this."
"Right," Jenny agreed. "You go call her. I'll be right here."
Simon gave her another smile and left, and after she'd watched him go she returned her attention to the bed again. Shane, of course, was still out. And, of course, as a teenage girl, she couldn't help but notice how cute he looked that way. She vaguely remembered thinking that he was attractive when she'd first seen him--before her mind had been distracted by why he was there. Straight blonde hair cut just above his ears on the sides, and stunning blue eyes…that were staring right at her.
Jenny started. "Shane!"
He didn't jerk like she had; he just looked at her in confusion. "Jenny….?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"Where am I?"
She calmed herself and straightened. "You're at the hospital. You were in an accident."
His eyes glazed over with groggy amusement. "Figures. I've never been the best at the whole driving thing."
Jenny grinned. "I've got you beat. I'm seventeen and I don't even have a permit yet. Though I guess I can use all of the strange things that have been happening the past few years as an excuse."
"I would," Shane agreed. He started to shift position a bit, but then grimaced and decided that wasn't such a good idea.
"You okay?" she asked in concern.
"Yeah…Yeah, I'm fine…I think." He looked at her, eyes clearer now. "What's the prognosis?"
"Two broken ribs, and a mild concussion," she reported, wincing. "Not horrible, but I'm glad I'm not you, no offense."
"None taken," he chuckled. But that wasn't a great idea either, apparently. He grunted in pain, and Jenny couldn't help but be a little worried.
"Be careful."
He sighed carefully and smirked. "Thanks, I figured that out." There was a moment or so of silence, before finally he broke it, asking, "What happened? It's coming back to me…and it wasn't just a car wreck. The car a couple in front of me exploded--just like that. With no obvious reason."
Jenny leaned forward a little, having anticipated this discussion.
"It was the horses of the next judgment from Revelation in the Bible. They breathe fire, smoke, and sulfer. That's what made that car explode. You just couldn't see the horses themselves."
He looked at her strangely. "Why not?"
"Because they're spiritual. We can see them though--believers. I don't know why God chose to not allow everyone else to see them, but that's the way it turned out."
Shane looked at her for a moment. "How did I know you would be just like the rest of your family?"
"Is that a bad thing?" she asked sheepishly.
"No…I expected it, actually. They were so different from before. I didn't see how you wouldn't be affected by it too. I was…listening to a lot they were saying that day…"
Jenny smiled. "Good. Do you want to hear more?"
He seemed to think about that for a moment before answering, "I'd like to."
She crossed her arms on her knees. "All right. How much do you know already?"
When Daniel woke again, the first thing he noticed, gratefully, was that he wasn't on the cold floor anymore. He didn't even open his eyes to the ceiling of the infirmary. Instead, it was his room in the SGC.
"Hey."
The voice was off to his right, and he found Vala beside him, as if she'd been sleeping while waiting for him to wake up.
He shifted just a little to be able to looks at her better; it hurt, but not too much. He glanced down to see that he was in infirmary scrubs, and he could feel the bandages wrapped around his middle under the shirt.
"Hi…" he answered, a little confused.
Vala smiled. "You'll be fine. We got that nasty piece of metal out, and I was able to heal most of the wound. The surface is healed over, so the bandages are just for precaution. Carolyn says you'll still have some healing to do. She wouldn't let me finish; there were other patients that needed my expertise. And then she made me promise to get some rest."
"Good for her," Daniel agreed. At his smile, she took that as her cue to slide closer, and he wrapped his arms around her carefully.
"How's Sam?"
"She's okay."
"That's good."
Vala buried her head in his chest. "I thought I was going to lose you there for a minute or so."
"I'm not going anywhere before my time--and I guess I have you to thank that it wasn't today." When she didn't answer--only held onto him--Daniel smiled. "Thank you."
It was late by the time Sam was sure Daniel was all right, she'd been treated herself for the arm injury, and she'd been able to get out of the SGC. Thankfully it hadn't been deemed necessary to lock down again due to this incident. She got the call from Simon on her cell phone just as she was pulling out of the base parking lot, and decided to head for the hospital instead of home.
Simon was sitting in the lobby as he'd said, only now he was half asleep. She had to nudge him a couple of time to bring him around enough to notice her.
"Sam," he sighed, standing groggily and hugging her.
She had to take a step back, wincing. "Easy, buddy."
Simon straightened and blinked at her in confusion for a moment before seeing the sling her left arm was in. "Sam! What happened?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I told you on the phone that there'd been an explosion in one of the labs because of the fire."
He scrubbed at his eyes. "And you told me your arm was hurt, but it was nothing serious. You didn't tell me in was in a sling. How did you even get here?"
"I drove my car."
"Like that?" He looked a little put out.
She sighed. "I can still move it, it just hurts. But you know Carolyn. She didn't want me doing anything with it. The only way I got her to let me leave was compromising. She let me drive, and I promised to keep it in a sling for a week or two and not use it when I wasn't."
Simon shook his head and smiled. He hugged her again, watching for her arm. "You're stubborn; you know that?"
"Know it, and proud of it," Sam teased. "So how is he?"
"The boy will be fine. He only recently woke up though. Jenny's still in the ward talking to him."
"Dad! Dad! Simon!"
The call came from down the hallway toward the elevators, and they both turned to see Jenny bursting out of one of them.
"Or not," Simon smirked.
When several heads turned in her direction, she quieted, but still broke into a run to get to them. She was grinning.
"Guess what?" she said excitedly when she reached them.
Sam let go of Simon and turned to her. "What's so exciting?" she smiled.
But Jenny frowned, momentarily thrown off. "What happened to you?"
"An small explosion at the base because of the horses; got cut by some scrap metal, but I'll be fine. Now what's going on?"
She still looked concerned, but it couldn't completely overrun her excitement. "Shane did it!" she told them quietly, even though she was practically bouncing. But caution was needed in places this public. "He's one of us now!"
By that night, the horses were all over every major news network--or the fire, smoke, and sulfer were. Only the believers could see the horses in the footage. No one knew how to explain it--only as a natural phenomenon gone awry. Thousands were dying, and it wasn't over yet. There were 200 million horsemen, according to the passage in Revelation. That was a huge number, but they couldn't cover the entire globe all at one. There were still plenty of areas that had not yet been attacked--but they would be.
As a doctor and human being in general, Carolyn shuddered to think what that would mean in casualties. Not that she had to very much; she knew it was supposed to be a third of the remaining population. But she couldn't get her mind around the number. Hundred of thousands…millions….and if one counted the rest of the galaxy, billions.
She didn't want to think about it. Her own infirmary was already full.
It was late now--or early in the morning, depending on one's point of view--but General Landry was still up and around. When she wasn't tending to patients, Carolyn could stand in her office doorway and watch him pace up and down the rows of beds. Occasionally he would stop to speak with one of those that were awake, offering what encouragement he could. She had to admire what she was seeing; the picture of a good leader in a crisis.
Carolyn was about to get back to work when her father turned and seemed to notice her standing there for the first time that night. Something registered in his eyes, and she wondered what was on his mind as he made his way over to her. He stood at her side and looked back at the full infirmary.
"Dad?"
He sighed. "My grandma used to talk about Armageddon sometimes…Is this it?"
Carolyn crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe of her office door. "No. That's not for another four years."
"Then if this isn't the end…does that mean that…maybe it's still possible to believe? In your God?"
She straightened in surprise. "Of course it's possible. He wants you to believe. He loves you."
"And everyone? That's what you and the others are always saying."
"That's right," she answered quietly, nodding. "Why? Do you believe it?"
Landry was quiet for a moment, before he nodded slowly. "I think I do. But…I don't know what to do."
Carolyn smiled softly, fighting not to tear up at the same time. How long had she waited? She held out her hands. "I can help," she said, stepping back into her office, hopping he would follow.
He looked at her for a moment, and it was the longest moment of her life, wondering…Until finally he came in and closed the office door. The general took a deep breath. "What do I do?"
Breakfast in the commissary was late the next morning--more of a brunch, as it was almost lunch time anyway. Daniel convinced Vala to bring him there to eat with everyone else, but she only agreed on the condition that he let her get a wheelchair from the infirmary to bring him there in. He agreed to the terms reluctantly.
Siler and Reynolds were the only ones there when they arrived. Vala parked Daniel at the table where they were.
"I could have wheeled myself here. There's nothing wrong with my arms," he complained.
"True, but you can't wheel around in that and get your food from the line at the same time. You wait here. I'll be back," she replied, patting his shoulder before scurrying over to the line.
The other two men were smirking in amusement, and he shot them a look. "Don't say a word."
They only snickered. "We weren't saying anything," Siler told him.
"I could have walked here, actually. She just wouldn't let me. And she's my wife. What can I say?"
"Not to mention that at the moment, until you're more recovered, she is stronger that you," Reynolds pointed out.
"Okay, I think you two should be quiet now," Daniel smirked.
Reynolds relented. "All right, all right…hey, have you heard from General O'Neill yet?"
"Yeah, earlier this morning. The horses haven't hit New Babylon yet, so they're fine. He was just worried about us."
Sam was the next to arrive, coming in late from home. She told them about Shane, which was a piece of good news to start the day with, even after what had happened the day before. Then they were wondering where Carolyn was; she was the only member of the Trib Force SG-1 missing that morning. They hadn't planned on eating breakfast together, but it seemed to be working out that way anyway.
It didn't surprise anyone when the doctor came in late, but what did surprise them was that her father was with her--and that the general had the mark of the believer on his forehead.
"General!"
"Sir!"
There were exclamations of surprise and delight from all around the table. Landry grinned as if you say 'surprise'!
Daniel was grinning, too. He could tell that everyone wanted to jump up and hug him, but that would have to wait. There were others in here, not believers. It would be a bit hard to explain. They probably already looked a bit strange to anyone watching.
Carolyn grinned and found another couple of chairs so that both she and Landry could sit at the table with everyone else. He pushed her chair in for her once they had gotten their food and she was seated, and then settled down himself. He glanced around at the rest of them again, smiling. To anyone watching who didn't know what was going on, it would have looked like they all knew the most wonderful secret in the world.
And they did.
"I guess all things do work out for good," Daniel said earnestly.
It was that afternoon that Daniel's cell phone rang again. Vala had with him most of the day, even though there wasn't much to do besides watch DVDs. But he'd finally convinced her to go do something. She hadn't been gone for long, and he wasn't quite sure where she was, but he had no doubt that she wouldn't be able to keep herself away for long.
Daniel turned in bed enough to grab his phone, and frowned when he saw Jack's number flash across the screen for the second time today. Concerned, he quickly flipped the phone open and held it to his ear.
"Jack?"
"Yeah, uh…hey, Daniel."
"Something wrong? Are the horses there? Are you okay?"
"Whoa, easy, Danny-boy. No, it's nothing that drastic. Well, okay, it is kind of big-ish, but not like that, or whatever. Thought you'd like to know though…"
Daniel raised an eyebrow out of force of habit. "Okay….Jack, are you all right? You sound a little…distracted."
Jack barked a laugh. "Well, hey, you would be distracted too if you'd just gotten an e-mail from yourself."
