It's been a little while updates but I've been madly writing essays but they're all done now so I've had time to write some fic!!! This is the penultimate chapter, the grand finale will follow in the next couple of days!!!!!
Naliza, for betaing this, I am, as always, immensely grateful!!!
*~*~*
Jack was relieved when he heard that General Hammond had regained consciousness. The news from the infirmary had not all been as positive. Airman Ellis had died a few minutes before, the dose of epinephrine needed had apparently been too much for the young man's body to cope with.
They had been warned that this was a real possibility but it was still a difficult situation to have to deal with. Having someone killed by the cure was probably worse than them succumbing to the disease itself.
The cure had been administered to almost a third of the infected personnel and was being administered as fast as it could be produced. Thankfully Ellis had, thus far, been the only casualty associated with the vaccine but one death was already too many for Jack.
Jack was now being asked whether the vaccine could be taken off base to the high school and the hospital. He was still reticent to lift the quarantine on the base. There had been no new cases of the disease reported for hours but Jack was not willing to risk possible further contamination outside the base.
He was aware that the decision to wait could cost lives since there were critically ill people at both the sites who needed the vaccine. The decision had not come easily to him and was still weighing heavily on his mind.
*~*
Sam and Janet were still talking almost an hour after the Doctor had woken. They were not bothered by any of the medics as they were all preoccupied with delivering the vaccine and treating the infected.
Sam could see that Janet was tiring and therefore left her to get some sleep. She walked slowly out of the infirmary, leaving the wheelchair behind. She was unsteady on her feet at first. With her leg muscles not having been used for so many days it was slightly strange for her to be walking again.
Not being able to face going back to her room she made her way to the control room. She knew there would be someone there she could talk to. Sam was slightly surprised when she saw Colonel O'Neill sitting alone with his feet up on the desk.
"Colonel?" she said as she entered.
Sam saw Jack visibly jump as she spoke. His feet shot off the desk and he span round in the chair.
"Carter, you scared me," he said, trying to get his breath back.
"Yes Sir," Sam answered, smiling broadly.
"I never knew you could be so sneaky. You sure you were never in special ops?" he asked, breaking into a smile.
"Yes Sir," she said, still smiling. She sat in one of the free chairs and exhaled. She hated to admit it but she was feeling pretty tired.
"So you finally got out of the clutches of the doctors?"
"They're a bit busy, I don't think they know I'm gone," she admitted.
"Sneaky. You've seen Janet?"
"I just came from there."
"I can't believe I forgot to tell her you were alive. It's not like it's something insignificant," Jack said guiltily.
"She understand, it was just a bit of a shock for her,"
"That's an understatement. She okay now?"
"Giving the medical team grief already. I swear she's a worse patient that you."
"Hey," Jack said with mock indignation.
"As much I appreciate your company, what exactly are you doing here?" Jack asked after a few moments of silence.
"I was bored I guess. The doctors won't let me have any work, everyone is either ill or really busy."
"So I'm a lost resort," Jack added with some humour in his voice.
"Honestly I didn't know who would be here, I just knew someone would."
"Well thank you," he said, slightly unsure of how to react.
"Colonel?" Sam asked after a minute.
"Yeah."
Have there been any other casualties?" she blurted out.
Jack exhaled and turned away slightly, remembering her reaction last time.
"Who?" Sam asked, reading O'Neill's face.
"Airman Ellis."
"He didn't get the cure in time?"
"No he got it, it was just too much for him. You okay?" he asked looking closely at her face.
"Yes," she said quietly. Jack did not believe it for a second.
"Carter."
"I'm sorry Sir, it's just…"
"I know."
"Everyone who's sick, everyone who died was infected by me," she said quietly.
"Carter, we've been through this. None of this is your fault."
"I don't know how you can say that."
The phone ringing interrupted Sam at that moment. Jack stood and grabbed the phone from the wall. Sam could not hear what was being said but she could tell that it was not good news by the look on the Colonel's face.
"What's happened Sir? Sam asked once he had finished on the phone.
"Another casualty, at the hospital. One of the patients."
Sam sighed heavily and leant back in the chair.
"Hey, don't do this Carter," he said kindly, noticing tears building up in the corners of her eyes. He went and sat next to her and quickly squeezed her hand in support.
"I could have saved them," Jack admitted.
"Sir?"
"I could have sent the cure off-base, they were asking for it, but I kept the base locked down."
"But you had no choice. You couldn't risk further infection," Sam rationalised.
"Just like you had no choice about bringing the disease back to the base. You didn't ask for this to happen. It's not your fault."
"I don't know Sir," Sam said, still unconvinced.
"I do," Jack said with some finality.
They both turned as they heard someone walking up the stairs, it was Jacob.
"So this is where you snuck off to," Jacob said upon laying eyes on Sam.
"I was going crazy in there dad," Sam apologised looking over at her father.
"I know. I'm just making sure you're okay. I went to your room and you weren't there…"
"I went to see Janet and then I came here," Sam explained.
"Anything going on?" Jacob asked Jack, accepting Sam's account.
"Not really, just trying to convince your daughter that this whole thing isn't her fault," Jack replied. He hoped that Jacob might be able to convince Sam that she was not to blame.
"Sam, honey, there's no way it's your fault. How can you even think that?" Jacob stressed.
"You look tired Carter, maybe you should go back to bed," Jack said.
"Maybe," Sam admitted.
Sam let Jacob escort her back to her room. He tried wholeheartedly to convince her that she was not to blame. After a while Sam finally agreed with her father just in order to get some rest. Although in reality she was still far from being really convinced of her innocence in the matter. Jacob made sure she was settled in bed, she fell asleep within five minutes. He left the room but not before gently planting a kiss on her forehead.
*~*
Daniel had been conscripted into helping in the infirmary. He was not sure how this had actually
occurred. He had very little knowledge
of medical matters but with the numbers of available staff still incredibly
low, they needed all the help they could get and this obviously included
Daniel.
He was called into one of the isolation rooms. He was so exhausted that he did not realised it was Cassandra's room until he entered. He was slightly taken aback when he finally registered whom the occupant of the room was.
"Cassie," he said gently as he took hold of her hand.
"Miss Fraiser has naquadah in her blood," Dr Green started his explanation, not quite realising the history that Daniel had with Cassandra.
"I know," Daniel answered, looking round at the Doctor.
"We're not exactly sure what is going to happen. We've run some tests and it seems that a larger dose of epinephrine may be needed."
"I thought the normal dose was dangerous already," Daniel asked concerned.
"It is but we don't have another choice," the doctor said candidly.
"Have you discussed this with Dr Fraiser?"
"Of course, she asked for you to be here."
"Okay. Cassie, you stay strong for a just a bit longer okay? It won't be long now," Daniel said quietly to the teenager.
He stood back and watched Dr Green prepare the vaccine. In a way he was glad that Janet had asked him to be there for Cassie but at the same time it would be incredibly difficult to watch if anything went wrong.
Daniel had to turn away just after the doctor had administered the vaccine as he saw the traces on the heart monitor become sporadic and unstable. Alarms started to sound; the rapid shrill beeps struck fear in his heart. He had heard the same sounds too many times recently and the last person he wanted to see die was Cassandra.
The doctor called his name, forcing him to turn back. He was given instructions which he blindly followed, not really understanding what he was doing or even if he was helping Cassandra or not.
After a few minutes he thought he noticed an improvement but he realised that he must have been mistaken when the doctor grabbed the defibrillator paddles from the crash cart and started administering it on Cassie.
*~*~*
The last cliff hanger of the story, I promise!!
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