# # # # #
Hours they waited. Hour upon hour, each would have a glance at the clock on the wall and notice that only a few minutes had gone by since the last time they had looked at the time. It seemed never-ending. Every so often, one would leave to get more coffee. That soon died. Neither of them could stomach any more of the drink. After the tenth cup in so many hours, it was more than anyone could take. And so then they waited with nothing. No coffee, no talking, no moving. It seemed one moment had frozen in time, and they were stuck in it. But not so. In a room not so far from where they waited, countless doctors worked harder than most of them had ever worked before in the desperate battle to save a man's life. And a desperate battle it was. However not entirely fruitless. After countless hours of work, the doctor Daniel and Teal'c wanted to see emerged from the room she had been in for more than half the day. Both sprung to their feet - or sprung as best he could in Teal'c's case - and fired questions.
"Is he ok? What happened? Where is he?"
Raising her hands for some quiet, Fraiser took a breath. It wasn't the easiest thing she had had to do. It almost qualified as one of the hardest.
"Ok. I uhh.I don't want you to panic. He is alive,"
and then she paused in the wake of a sigh from both parties, audible or not, then she continued,
"but only just. He's in a coma. Life support. I don't know how long he'll last."
# # # # #
Within the confines of the ICU, was a bed. It was white, just like all the others. White sheets, white pillows, white everything. And its occupant could have passed as white along with it. His face lacking in colour - drained of life. Hospital's all contain machines of which most people have never seen nor heard - let alone taught each their purpose. This wasn't the exception of hospital rooms. More cluttered than most, the bedside tables and any other space around the bed had some kind of a machine beeping, hissing, gurgling or moving on it.
Through his serene silence, the machines were louder than a nuclear explosion. If he had the ability to change things, he'd have changed Sam leaving. Not let her. The whole mission, all he'd been thinking of was her. It wasn't her fault that he'd been hurt so badly, but if his mind had been thinking about what he was doing, and his body not so tired from lack of sleep in desperate searching, things may not have gone the way they did. His friends were horrified by this new sight of their friend. Not worse than the alternative, but certainly an adjustment for the eyes. They sat next to the bed of their friend's lifeless form. No words were able to express what their feelings were. Confusion being the most of it, if words were fit to be used.
But they weren't. Confusion. It surfaced again. Why had this happened? And why to him? The best officer anyone could want to know. Maybe not the best person all around, but he was the last person anyone would expect to see in a coma in a hospital bed, with a cold, insipid, lifeless face. No expression, just one of tranquillity.
That was the only way one could explain a lifeless expression - tranquil. How could one say it was anything else? It wasn't one of anger, or pain, or joy. Nothing. Just tranquillity. His - although tranquil - seemed to have troubles behind it.
Not completely tranquil. But close enough to make it known he was left with almost no life. This couldn't have been meant for him. Couldn't be his fate. No one could say it was. Not even close.
# # # # #
Daniel and Teal'c sat by the bed. Not every day and every hour, but for the most they could, they did. Was the site not enough, but for more, they knew not what it was that was going to happen to their friend. Would he survive? Would he die? Would he remain the way he was? And that wasn't the worst of it. It was not only their question; it was the doctors as well. They knew no more than Daniel or Teal'c. A tiny child would have been no more help to this comatose man, than a fully qualified doctor. No matter the education, nothing could be done.
The doctors almost made a point of staying away. There was no need for them to take up valuable working time with checking up on a man that no one could help. Not even he could help. It was a battle worth leaving for the strong - but even in the wake of unimaginable strength, this war was not to be won. Not for a definite answer to it. The only defence, the strength of will power.
This man, whom now lay motionless in a hospital bed, had will power beyond anyone's expectations. And yet it seemed to have no apparent difference on the situation. He was in a deep coma, and it made no difference how strong his will was, it was of no use to him. And although all of the circumstances seemed to pile up in the 'terrible things' pile, there was still a distant glimmer of hope. Not close, by any stretch of the imagination, but that little glimmer existed - and as long as it did, there was hope. The hope existed in his mind. In his heart. In his soul. It was alive.
All it needed to do, was come home.
# # # # #
For each and every day that went by, Daniel or Teal'c - or both of them - would be sitting by the bedside of their friend. They slept by it on occasions. But much to their dismay, with every day that passed, no changes were recorder. This was their friend of many years, and countless missions. The one that had saved them both, many a time. The one they had spent their down-time with. The one they had all argued with so many times and more than half the time lost their arguments to.
The one who had taught both of them many a thing. Their friend and almost their brother. He was as close to family as both of them had. Teal'c's were away on another planet. Daniel's ceased to exist any longer. And yet all the things that this one person was to them, they were all the same things for him. He knew them well. They knew him as well as anyone could know him. But there was one person in this picture that was missing. She had a big part in the situation, and she wasn't there. And as more days past, Daniel's conscience began to nag at him more and more.
'Should I call Sam and tell her what's happened?'
'I can't call her though, she will be angry with me, she asked me not to call her.'
'But then if I don't call her, and something happens to Jack, she will be even more angry with me.'
'And then maybe if I call her and she comes and talks to Jack, maybe he will wake up.Janet said he can hear us.'
So many different opinions about what he should do were circling inside his head every day of the week. And then that week turned into two. And those two into three, and those three into four. And then the month, into another. And the process continued until there were months and months gone by and hope dwindling.
# # # # #
Hours they waited. Hour upon hour, each would have a glance at the clock on the wall and notice that only a few minutes had gone by since the last time they had looked at the time. It seemed never-ending. Every so often, one would leave to get more coffee. That soon died. Neither of them could stomach any more of the drink. After the tenth cup in so many hours, it was more than anyone could take. And so then they waited with nothing. No coffee, no talking, no moving. It seemed one moment had frozen in time, and they were stuck in it. But not so. In a room not so far from where they waited, countless doctors worked harder than most of them had ever worked before in the desperate battle to save a man's life. And a desperate battle it was. However not entirely fruitless. After countless hours of work, the doctor Daniel and Teal'c wanted to see emerged from the room she had been in for more than half the day. Both sprung to their feet - or sprung as best he could in Teal'c's case - and fired questions.
"Is he ok? What happened? Where is he?"
Raising her hands for some quiet, Fraiser took a breath. It wasn't the easiest thing she had had to do. It almost qualified as one of the hardest.
"Ok. I uhh.I don't want you to panic. He is alive,"
and then she paused in the wake of a sigh from both parties, audible or not, then she continued,
"but only just. He's in a coma. Life support. I don't know how long he'll last."
# # # # #
Within the confines of the ICU, was a bed. It was white, just like all the others. White sheets, white pillows, white everything. And its occupant could have passed as white along with it. His face lacking in colour - drained of life. Hospital's all contain machines of which most people have never seen nor heard - let alone taught each their purpose. This wasn't the exception of hospital rooms. More cluttered than most, the bedside tables and any other space around the bed had some kind of a machine beeping, hissing, gurgling or moving on it.
Through his serene silence, the machines were louder than a nuclear explosion. If he had the ability to change things, he'd have changed Sam leaving. Not let her. The whole mission, all he'd been thinking of was her. It wasn't her fault that he'd been hurt so badly, but if his mind had been thinking about what he was doing, and his body not so tired from lack of sleep in desperate searching, things may not have gone the way they did. His friends were horrified by this new sight of their friend. Not worse than the alternative, but certainly an adjustment for the eyes. They sat next to the bed of their friend's lifeless form. No words were able to express what their feelings were. Confusion being the most of it, if words were fit to be used.
But they weren't. Confusion. It surfaced again. Why had this happened? And why to him? The best officer anyone could want to know. Maybe not the best person all around, but he was the last person anyone would expect to see in a coma in a hospital bed, with a cold, insipid, lifeless face. No expression, just one of tranquillity.
That was the only way one could explain a lifeless expression - tranquil. How could one say it was anything else? It wasn't one of anger, or pain, or joy. Nothing. Just tranquillity. His - although tranquil - seemed to have troubles behind it.
Not completely tranquil. But close enough to make it known he was left with almost no life. This couldn't have been meant for him. Couldn't be his fate. No one could say it was. Not even close.
# # # # #
Daniel and Teal'c sat by the bed. Not every day and every hour, but for the most they could, they did. Was the site not enough, but for more, they knew not what it was that was going to happen to their friend. Would he survive? Would he die? Would he remain the way he was? And that wasn't the worst of it. It was not only their question; it was the doctors as well. They knew no more than Daniel or Teal'c. A tiny child would have been no more help to this comatose man, than a fully qualified doctor. No matter the education, nothing could be done.
The doctors almost made a point of staying away. There was no need for them to take up valuable working time with checking up on a man that no one could help. Not even he could help. It was a battle worth leaving for the strong - but even in the wake of unimaginable strength, this war was not to be won. Not for a definite answer to it. The only defence, the strength of will power.
This man, whom now lay motionless in a hospital bed, had will power beyond anyone's expectations. And yet it seemed to have no apparent difference on the situation. He was in a deep coma, and it made no difference how strong his will was, it was of no use to him. And although all of the circumstances seemed to pile up in the 'terrible things' pile, there was still a distant glimmer of hope. Not close, by any stretch of the imagination, but that little glimmer existed - and as long as it did, there was hope. The hope existed in his mind. In his heart. In his soul. It was alive.
All it needed to do, was come home.
# # # # #
For each and every day that went by, Daniel or Teal'c - or both of them - would be sitting by the bedside of their friend. They slept by it on occasions. But much to their dismay, with every day that passed, no changes were recorder. This was their friend of many years, and countless missions. The one that had saved them both, many a time. The one they had spent their down-time with. The one they had all argued with so many times and more than half the time lost their arguments to.
The one who had taught both of them many a thing. Their friend and almost their brother. He was as close to family as both of them had. Teal'c's were away on another planet. Daniel's ceased to exist any longer. And yet all the things that this one person was to them, they were all the same things for him. He knew them well. They knew him as well as anyone could know him. But there was one person in this picture that was missing. She had a big part in the situation, and she wasn't there. And as more days past, Daniel's conscience began to nag at him more and more.
'Should I call Sam and tell her what's happened?'
'I can't call her though, she will be angry with me, she asked me not to call her.'
'But then if I don't call her, and something happens to Jack, she will be even more angry with me.'
'And then maybe if I call her and she comes and talks to Jack, maybe he will wake up.Janet said he can hear us.'
So many different opinions about what he should do were circling inside his head every day of the week. And then that week turned into two. And those two into three, and those three into four. And then the month, into another. And the process continued until there were months and months gone by and hope dwindling.
# # # # #