Chapter 13! Drum roll please…!!!!
Wonderfully betaed by Naliza as always!! You rock!!!
I need to know what you all think about the chapter so please, please review. I'm not above shameless begging here!!!
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Jack sat with Sam with a while, until she fell asleep. He felt conflicted, relieved to have got everything off his chest and hearing Sam admit that she felt the same as he did. At the same time, however, knowing that nothing would and could not happen for the foreseeable future, until something changed. This change would mean someone leaving SG-1, either for another position in the SGC or even off base or someone retiring. Neither of them were willing to making this change, SG-1 and what went with it was too important to both of them at the moment.
He headed back to Hammond's office, he was still not able to think of it as his, despite him being the temporary commander of the SGC. He sat in the chair and exhaled deeply. He was beyond tired at this point, he could not remember the last time he had slept properly. He called Daniel and asked him to sit with Sam, he did not want her to be alone when she woke it, she was finding it hard to deal with the fact that she the index case of the epidemic.
After finishing talking to Daniel he picked up the red phone on the desk. He informed the President of the latest developments regarding the cure, as much as he could without going into the medical definitions that the doctors used. The President seemed relieved that an effective cure had been found, he had been concerned that a cure would not have been found before more lives were lost.
Jack had little to do at the moment, he felt superfluous as he was not able to offer anything to the doctors. He decided that there must be something useful he could do and so walked slowly to the control room, as before it was staffed by only one person. A young female officer that he did not recognise was sitting quietly, staring out through the glass towards the quiet Stargate. As she heard someone enter she turned.
"Sir," she said, recognising O'Neill as the current commander of the base.
"You are?" He asked apologetically, he thought that he recognised her as one of the latest batch of recruits but he did not know her name.
"Lieutenant Grant Sir," she replied.
"You infected?" He asked, she looked slightly flushed and tired but that did not necessarily mean that she was infected with the disease.
"Apparently so Sir. I feel fine though," she said with a slight shrug. Her last blood test had shown the presence of the organism but she did not feel particularly unwell but watching the officers around her she knew that it would not be long before she was showing symptoms.
"Well you go and get some sleep. I can take over here," he said, sitting at the computer.
"Are you sure Sir?"
"I'm sure," he said, smiling slightly.
"Thank you Sir," she said as she stood and left the control room.
Jack turned to look at the Stargate, his mixed feelings towards the gate had not gone, people had died and there was the possibility that more would die before this epidemic was over.
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Daniel sat with Sam, quietly watching her sleep. He appreciated the opportunity to spend time with Sam, he had not really had much time to talk to her since she had regained consciousness. After almost a half hour she woke up. She smiled broadly as she saw that Daniel was there.
"Hey," he said as she opened her eyes.
"Hey."
"You look better," he said, taking in her appearance. The colour was steadily returning to her face and the dark circles under her eyes were retreating.
"Thanks," Sam replied, not exactly sure how to react to the comment.
"It's great to have you back you know. The cure seems to be working well. Janet and Sergeant Davis are doing well. The cure really came at the right time for Janet," Daniel said, he was not sure how much she knew of the latest progress with the vaccine.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, she was still in the dark about much of what had happened since her initial collapse.
"Sorry. Janet collapsed, she was pretty ill, she almost didn't make it," Daniel said quietly, as he remembered seeing Janet so ill.
"Really, she okay now though?"
"Yes, sitting up, talking, driving the medical staff crazy. I think Jack's going to remind her of this the next time he's stuck in the infirmary," Daniel said smiling. Sam laughed in return.
"Daniel can you do me a favour?" Sam asked, with an innocent look on her face.
"Of course, anything."
"Get me out of here," Sam said without losing the innocent look.
"Sam," Daniel warned.
"Just a short trip, to the infirmary. I really want to see Janet. The doctor's said I'm perfectly fine," she pleaded. She had spent enough time in bed since she collapsed, her muscles were stiff and she needed to move about.
"Okay, you win. I'll go rustle up a wheelchair."
Sam looked over at him, practically beginning him with her eyes to not take her in a wheelchair but he ignored her silent pleas.
"Get me some clothes or something," Sam called as he left the room, she was dressed only in a hospital gown, something she did not relish wearing.
With Sam dressed in a pair of scrubs and sitting in the wheel chair, Daniel agreed to escort her to the infirmary. She was right that she did not seem to be suffering any physical after effects of the disease.
As they entered the
infirmary they saw Janet walking slowly and slightly unsteadily along the
length of the room, leaning heavily on an IV stand. She did not see Sam and Daniel initially but she was approached
by a doctor. The doctor appeared to be
berating her for getting out of bed, she seemed to be putting up a pretty
valiant defence until she turned slightly and saw Sam sitting in a wheelchair
in the doorway, a wide smile on her face.
Janet's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly, as Sam and Daniel
watched Janet fell to the floor, pulling the IV stand as she fell. The doctor immediately bent down at her
side, a number of other medics swooped down on her and gently picked her up
from the floor and put her back on the bed which she had recently vacated,
seemingly against medical advice.
Daniel and Sam shared looks, concern etched on their faces. They watched as the doctors worked on Janet, initially they seemed to be concerned about her condition but after a few minutes they appeared to be satisfied with her status. One of the doctors crossed to where Sam and Daniel were standing.
"Should you be here?" The doctor asked Sam.
"Yes," she said simply, daring him to question her.
"How's Doctor Fraiser? What happened to her?" Daniel asked
"Well, as far as we can tell she fainted, we don't know why. She's stable, she pulled her IV line out but I think that's it."
"Why did she faint, was it because of the vaccine?" Daniel persisted.
"We don't think so but there's not really any way of knowing. Dr Fraiser didn't seem to be exhibiting any side-effects before she collapsed," the doctor said, he could find no medical reason to explain why Janet had collapsed but he knew that people would faint without reason.
The doctor excused himself, he had other patients to see to. Daniel wheeled Sam over to Janet's bed. Her left hand was bandaged, covering the damage left when she pulled the IV line out of her hand as she fell. The IV line had been replaced in her right hand.
Janet woke after a few minutes, she saw Daniel first and smiled slightly at his presence.
"Hey, what happened back then?" He asked, as Janet's eyes opened.
"I thought I saw…" Janet started nervously, she thought that her mind had been playing tricks on her when she saw Sam.
"Saw what?" Daniel asked, totally confused about why Janet had been so shocked. It had not dawned on him that Janet may not know about Sam being alive.
"I thought I saw Sam," Janet admitted after taking a deep breath.
"You did," Daniel said, pointing across the bed to Sam. He still did not understand Janet's reaction.
Janet looked across the bed and saw Sam, she was smiling broadly at her friend.
"But she...you…died. I was there," Janet stuttered looking Sam in the eye.
"No one told you? I did die, but something happened, some of the organisms mutated and I sort of came back to life. I can't believe no one told you," Sam said, in shock.
"When did all this happen?" Janet asked, trying to absorb the news.
"Hours ago, the mutated organisms used for the vaccine came from Sam," Daniel explained.
"Right. All this time I thought that you were dead," Janet said, her voice was wavering slightly and tears had begun to form in the corners of her eyes.
Daniel stood and quietly walked away, he realised that this was a private moment to be shared between Janet and Sam. He was surprised that Jack had not told Janet that Sam was alive. He figured that it had been a mistake, rather than a malicious act.
As he found one of the small offices off the infirmary empty, he took the opportunity to use the phone.
"O'Neill," came the reply, as Daniel tracked Jack down in the control room.
"Jack it's me."
"What is it Daniel?" Jack asked, tiredness was evident in his voice.
"You didn't tell Janet that Sam was alive?" Daniel asked simply.
"Oh my God," Jack said guiltily.
"Janet fainted when she saw Sam, she thought she was seeing things."
"I totally forgot that she didn't know about Sam," Jack admitted. He could not believe that he had not told Janet that Sam was alive during the time he was talking to her. So much had happened between the times when Janet collapsed and regained consciousness and it was easy to forget that Janet had missed everything that had happened during this period.
"Look, I'll come down to see Janet when I get a minute. I'm manning the control room at the moment," Jack explained.
"Sure, I'll see you later," Daniel said as he hung up the phone.
Daniel headed back to the infirmary, as he entered he saw some activity in the corner of the room. The corner where General Hammond was situated. Daniel looked over and saw that Sam and Janet were still deep in conversation and so had not realised what was going on.
Daniel slowly approached the General's bed, as he neared he saw Hammond slowly open his eyes.
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Okay, these chapters are getting happier and happier. I'm losing my angst!!!
Questions? Comments? I'm asking (begging?) again for feedback, I like to know what about this you like and don't like!