Chapter 6: Encouraging News
At around 6:00 the next morning, Daniel was jostled out of a fitful slumber by the sound of his telephone ringing. He opened his eyes and fumbled for the phone. Finally, he located the handset and turned it on.
"Daniel Jackson." Daniel said sleepily into the handset.
"Daniel, it's Janet. I'm sorry to wake you."
"No, it's okay, Janet. What's up?"
"When I was checking Jack's vitals this morning, the brain monitor had risen back to a normal range and it has held stable for three hours now. I don't want to be too confident at this point, but I think that Jack's brain has totally come around. If this progress keeps up, it's possible that Jack may come out of the coma before too long." Janet explained.
"Whoa, that's great. Let me wake Sam and Teal'c and we'll be on our way over. See you soon." Daniel said as he hung the receiver up and fumbled with his glasses, coming totally awake. First, he went into the living room and tried to rouse Teal'c, who was in a meditative state.
"Teal'c. Hey, snap out of it, Teal'c." Daniel said hurriedly, shaking his friend's shoulder. Teal'c opened his eyes and looked into Daniel's face with confusion.
"What is wrong, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.
"Janet just called. Jack has taken a turn for the better. We need to get back to the SGC as quick as possible. Get ready and I'll go wake Sam."
Daniel walked quickly back to the guest room and approached the bed where Sam slept. He sat down on the bed beside her and shook her gently.
"Sam. You have the wake up."
"Mmm. Daniel? What's the matter?" Sam sat up quickly and grabbed hold of Daniel's arm.
"Janet called about five minutes ago. She said that Jack's brain activity is back in a normal, stable range and she told me that if that keeps up, there's a chance that Jack may come out of the coma soon. We need to get back to the SGC. Teal'c is already getting ready. Hurry up, okay." Daniel said as he left her to get ready and hurried back into the living room.
"I'm gonna make a quick pot of coffee while we're waiting on Sam to get ready. You want anything, Teal'c."
"I require nothing at this moment, Daniel Jackson. If I may make an observation, you seem to be much more like yourself this morning."
"It's because I know that Jack is showing signs of recovering. Of course, I think the fact that I got a good night's sleep and actually slept through the night has something to do with it, too."
"Indeed. For Earth people, sleep is important for daily function."
"You got that right." Daniel smiled as he poured himself a cup of coffee and came to sit on the couch beside Teal'c.
"May I speak to you of something, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked suddenly.
"Yeah. What was it that you wanted to talk about?
"I have heard that you blame yourself for what happened to O'Neill. I also picked it up during my meditation. Why do you feel this way, my friend? O'Neill made the decision to do what needed to be done to save you and attempt to keep the team together. I would have done much the same. What occurred that day was indeed unfortunate but you are not to blame. No one is."
"I wish I could believe that, Teal'c. I really do but if I had been paying attention to what was going on around me instead of something that had no relevance to anything at all, then I would have been able to get clear of the danger on my own without putting Jack in danger as well."
"You have risked your life to save others many times and have once even given of your life for another, Daniel Jackson. Why do you not believe that you are worthy of someone saving yours?" Teal'c asked pointedly.
"You're right. That doesn't do much for lessening my guilt right at this point but it does make me feel a lot better. Thanks Teal'c. I guess what I really need to beat this is for Jack to wake up so I can talk to him about this."
"Indeed." Teal'c relented, placing a hand on Daniel's shoulder as Sam emerged from the bedroom.
"Hey. You two ready." Sam asked.
"Yeah, let's get going." Daniel said as they headed out and hurried back to the SGC.
* * * * *
A short time later, the three appeared in the SGC infirmary and waited anxiously for news of how things were going. It wasn't long before Janet found them.
"Hey. There you are. I have some even better news than when I called earlier. Colonel O'Neill has been trying to open his eyes. I noticed that not long after I talked to Daniel this morning. After I finished checking on him, I tried to call back but you guys were already gone so I decided to wait on you."
"Can we go in and check on him ourselves?" Sam asked.
"Yes, but one at a time. He's still fighting to come back to us and we don't need to jeopardize that."
"You go ahead, Sam. I need to build up some nerve." Daniel said nervously.
"Okay. What about you, Teal'c?"
"Go ahead, Major Carter. For the time being, I shall remain here with Daniel Jackson."
"Right. See you later."
* * * * *
As she stepped into Jack's room, Sam was overcome with nerves. It hit her like a pile of bricks to see one of her closest friends lying motionless on the bed. She found it hard to believe that this was the same Jack O'Neill who just a few days before had been ragging Daniel for working himself to the point of exhaustion right before they were to start a mission. Sam smiled as she remembered that day. Then she walked over to the bed and softly rested her hand on Jack's arm, listening to the beep of the monitors.
"Hey, Jack. It's Sam. We sure miss you around here. You need to come back to us. What are we supposed to do without our leader, huh? You have your team here for you, Jack. Just like you're always there for all of us. Actually, Teal'c and I stayed the night at Daniel's last night so we could be closer to the SGC in case you needed us. Please be strong. Come back to us, Jack." Sam whispered.
A few minutes later, Sam felt Jack's arm move under her hand and she jumped back, startled, as Colonel Jack O'Neill opened his eyes for the first time in three days and looked straight at her.
"Carter?" Jack mumbled, blinking in confusion.
"Yeah, I'm here, Jack."
"Where am I? What the hell happened?"
"You're in the infirmary, Jack. We were off world to rendezvous with the Russian gate team on PS3-97K when we were ambushed by the Goa'uld. The Russian team was wiped out and after we defeated the band of Goa'uld when we were preparing to head back through the gate two Goa'uld operatives blasted the base out from under a statue near the Stargate and it was falling toward Daniel. You knocked Daniel out of the way but you weren't able to get clear in time and you were hit by the stone statue. You've been in a coma for three days, Jack."
"Oh, yeah. Where are Teal'c and Daniel? Is Daniel okay?"
"Teal'c and Daniel are right outside. Physically, Daniel's fine. You got him clear and he was able to help Teal'c bring you back through the gate." Sam said, still numb with relief. "Wait a second, Carter. What do you mean by 'Physically, Daniel's fine.' Is there anything that I should know about?"
"Well, Daniel's been having a really tough time dealing with what happened on the mission. You saved his life and because of that, he feels like he's responsible for you having been hurt. It's been totally tearing him up inside." Sam explained sadly.
"That's ridiculous. If I hadn't acted when I did, Daniel would have been killed. I did what I would have done for any of you. Daniel shouldn't feel like he's responsible for what happened because he isn't. If anyone is to blame, it's the Goa'uld for shooting down that damn statue in the first place."
"I know. That's what Teal'c and I have been trying to tell him ever since we came back through the gate that day. Honestly, I think that deep inside himself, Daniel knows that as well, but what I think he needs is to hear that from you before he'll believe it."
Before Jack could have a chance to respond, Janet poked her head through the door and was pleased to see Jack conscious and carrying on a conversation with Sam.
"Colonel. I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?" Janet asked.
"Well, now that you ask, Doc, I feel like my leg is about to fall off my body."
"That's because your leg was badly broken when you were hit by the statue. I can get you a painkiller to take the edge off of that so you can rest."
"Thanks. But I need to know how long I'll be in here. When can I get back to work?" Jack asked, causing Sam to smile in amazement.
"Well, if you appear to be okay, I can let you go back home hopefully sometime tomorrow. Unfortunately, due to your broken leg, you'll be in a cast for a while. I'm afraid you won't be going off world for at least six weeks."
"Oh, great. How am I supposed to keep an eye on my team when they're off world in danger if I'm laid up here?"
"Just relax, Jack. General Hammond has put us on hold until you're recovered. Any missions that we were going to be assigned are being delegated among the other SG teams." Sam explained as Janet gave Jack a painkiller.
"Now you guys are going to be sitting around with nothing to do for six weeks."
"Don't worry about that. We were due for some downtime anyway. Besides, it's not like Daniel, Teal'c and I would head off world without you." Sam said as she noticed that the painkiller had taken full effect, and Jack had dozed off while she was talking. She just shook her head and slipped quietly out the door and went to find Daniel and Teal'c.
* * * * *
Daniel and Teal'c were in Daniel's office working on an ancient language of some type that was in his e-mail, when Sam came in the door. As soon as they noticed her, the two men immediately dropped what they were doing.
"What is the matter, Major Carter?" Teal'c asked.
"I have something great to tell you. Jack's out of the coma. He regained consciousness about five minutes ago. He's asleep right now because Janet gave him something for the pain in his leg."
"Are you serious?" Daniel exclaimed.
"Yes, I'm very serious." Sam confirmed as Daniel proceeded to leap over his desk and lift her from the floor, spinning her in a circle.
"I'm going to go in and keep an eye on Jack. When he wakes up, he and I need to have a talk."
"Teal'c and I will go and let General Hammond know what happened."
* * * * *
Sam and Teal'c hurried to General Hammond's office and were so anxious to tell him the good news that they didn't even knock. Given the situation, they doubted it would be frowned upon if they were unannounced.
"General."
"Teal'c, Major Carter. Is something wrong?" General Hammond asked as he looked up and acknowledged the two.
"O'Neill is no longer unconscious." Teal'c announced with a wide smile.
"When did this happen?"
"About fifteen minutes ago, now. I was sitting with Jack and he suddenly woke up and looked straight at me." Sam explained.
"This is fantastic! I'll have to go down to the infirmary and look in on Jack later."
"I'd wait a little while, sir. He's asleep right now and Daniel went to sit with him. Those two have some things to talk about when Jack wakes up."
"Of course. Thank you for filling me in on what happened. You two should head back to the infirmary now to lend Jack some strength."
"Yes, sir." Sam acknowledged and Teal'c simply nodded his head in acquiescence.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, down in the infirmary, Daniel steadied his nerves and walked into the room where Jack was sleeping. He was extremely relieved that Jack was going to recover, but it still hit Daniel weird to see his friend in the infirmary. He quietly pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down to wait for Jack to awaken so that they could talk.
After a few minutes of listening to Jack's steady breathing and the quiet beeping of the monitors, these sounds began to have a lulling effect on Daniel and he felt himself growing tired. Though he tried to fight against it, his eyes were becoming rather heavy.
"I think Jack has a good idea here. Maybe I could just rest my eyes for a minute." Daniel thought to himself as he yawned and closed his eyes, bringing his head to rest on his hand. A few moments later, he was dozing at Jack's bedside.
At around 6:00 the next morning, Daniel was jostled out of a fitful slumber by the sound of his telephone ringing. He opened his eyes and fumbled for the phone. Finally, he located the handset and turned it on.
"Daniel Jackson." Daniel said sleepily into the handset.
"Daniel, it's Janet. I'm sorry to wake you."
"No, it's okay, Janet. What's up?"
"When I was checking Jack's vitals this morning, the brain monitor had risen back to a normal range and it has held stable for three hours now. I don't want to be too confident at this point, but I think that Jack's brain has totally come around. If this progress keeps up, it's possible that Jack may come out of the coma before too long." Janet explained.
"Whoa, that's great. Let me wake Sam and Teal'c and we'll be on our way over. See you soon." Daniel said as he hung the receiver up and fumbled with his glasses, coming totally awake. First, he went into the living room and tried to rouse Teal'c, who was in a meditative state.
"Teal'c. Hey, snap out of it, Teal'c." Daniel said hurriedly, shaking his friend's shoulder. Teal'c opened his eyes and looked into Daniel's face with confusion.
"What is wrong, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.
"Janet just called. Jack has taken a turn for the better. We need to get back to the SGC as quick as possible. Get ready and I'll go wake Sam."
Daniel walked quickly back to the guest room and approached the bed where Sam slept. He sat down on the bed beside her and shook her gently.
"Sam. You have the wake up."
"Mmm. Daniel? What's the matter?" Sam sat up quickly and grabbed hold of Daniel's arm.
"Janet called about five minutes ago. She said that Jack's brain activity is back in a normal, stable range and she told me that if that keeps up, there's a chance that Jack may come out of the coma soon. We need to get back to the SGC. Teal'c is already getting ready. Hurry up, okay." Daniel said as he left her to get ready and hurried back into the living room.
"I'm gonna make a quick pot of coffee while we're waiting on Sam to get ready. You want anything, Teal'c."
"I require nothing at this moment, Daniel Jackson. If I may make an observation, you seem to be much more like yourself this morning."
"It's because I know that Jack is showing signs of recovering. Of course, I think the fact that I got a good night's sleep and actually slept through the night has something to do with it, too."
"Indeed. For Earth people, sleep is important for daily function."
"You got that right." Daniel smiled as he poured himself a cup of coffee and came to sit on the couch beside Teal'c.
"May I speak to you of something, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked suddenly.
"Yeah. What was it that you wanted to talk about?
"I have heard that you blame yourself for what happened to O'Neill. I also picked it up during my meditation. Why do you feel this way, my friend? O'Neill made the decision to do what needed to be done to save you and attempt to keep the team together. I would have done much the same. What occurred that day was indeed unfortunate but you are not to blame. No one is."
"I wish I could believe that, Teal'c. I really do but if I had been paying attention to what was going on around me instead of something that had no relevance to anything at all, then I would have been able to get clear of the danger on my own without putting Jack in danger as well."
"You have risked your life to save others many times and have once even given of your life for another, Daniel Jackson. Why do you not believe that you are worthy of someone saving yours?" Teal'c asked pointedly.
"You're right. That doesn't do much for lessening my guilt right at this point but it does make me feel a lot better. Thanks Teal'c. I guess what I really need to beat this is for Jack to wake up so I can talk to him about this."
"Indeed." Teal'c relented, placing a hand on Daniel's shoulder as Sam emerged from the bedroom.
"Hey. You two ready." Sam asked.
"Yeah, let's get going." Daniel said as they headed out and hurried back to the SGC.
* * * * *
A short time later, the three appeared in the SGC infirmary and waited anxiously for news of how things were going. It wasn't long before Janet found them.
"Hey. There you are. I have some even better news than when I called earlier. Colonel O'Neill has been trying to open his eyes. I noticed that not long after I talked to Daniel this morning. After I finished checking on him, I tried to call back but you guys were already gone so I decided to wait on you."
"Can we go in and check on him ourselves?" Sam asked.
"Yes, but one at a time. He's still fighting to come back to us and we don't need to jeopardize that."
"You go ahead, Sam. I need to build up some nerve." Daniel said nervously.
"Okay. What about you, Teal'c?"
"Go ahead, Major Carter. For the time being, I shall remain here with Daniel Jackson."
"Right. See you later."
* * * * *
As she stepped into Jack's room, Sam was overcome with nerves. It hit her like a pile of bricks to see one of her closest friends lying motionless on the bed. She found it hard to believe that this was the same Jack O'Neill who just a few days before had been ragging Daniel for working himself to the point of exhaustion right before they were to start a mission. Sam smiled as she remembered that day. Then she walked over to the bed and softly rested her hand on Jack's arm, listening to the beep of the monitors.
"Hey, Jack. It's Sam. We sure miss you around here. You need to come back to us. What are we supposed to do without our leader, huh? You have your team here for you, Jack. Just like you're always there for all of us. Actually, Teal'c and I stayed the night at Daniel's last night so we could be closer to the SGC in case you needed us. Please be strong. Come back to us, Jack." Sam whispered.
A few minutes later, Sam felt Jack's arm move under her hand and she jumped back, startled, as Colonel Jack O'Neill opened his eyes for the first time in three days and looked straight at her.
"Carter?" Jack mumbled, blinking in confusion.
"Yeah, I'm here, Jack."
"Where am I? What the hell happened?"
"You're in the infirmary, Jack. We were off world to rendezvous with the Russian gate team on PS3-97K when we were ambushed by the Goa'uld. The Russian team was wiped out and after we defeated the band of Goa'uld when we were preparing to head back through the gate two Goa'uld operatives blasted the base out from under a statue near the Stargate and it was falling toward Daniel. You knocked Daniel out of the way but you weren't able to get clear in time and you were hit by the stone statue. You've been in a coma for three days, Jack."
"Oh, yeah. Where are Teal'c and Daniel? Is Daniel okay?"
"Teal'c and Daniel are right outside. Physically, Daniel's fine. You got him clear and he was able to help Teal'c bring you back through the gate." Sam said, still numb with relief. "Wait a second, Carter. What do you mean by 'Physically, Daniel's fine.' Is there anything that I should know about?"
"Well, Daniel's been having a really tough time dealing with what happened on the mission. You saved his life and because of that, he feels like he's responsible for you having been hurt. It's been totally tearing him up inside." Sam explained sadly.
"That's ridiculous. If I hadn't acted when I did, Daniel would have been killed. I did what I would have done for any of you. Daniel shouldn't feel like he's responsible for what happened because he isn't. If anyone is to blame, it's the Goa'uld for shooting down that damn statue in the first place."
"I know. That's what Teal'c and I have been trying to tell him ever since we came back through the gate that day. Honestly, I think that deep inside himself, Daniel knows that as well, but what I think he needs is to hear that from you before he'll believe it."
Before Jack could have a chance to respond, Janet poked her head through the door and was pleased to see Jack conscious and carrying on a conversation with Sam.
"Colonel. I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?" Janet asked.
"Well, now that you ask, Doc, I feel like my leg is about to fall off my body."
"That's because your leg was badly broken when you were hit by the statue. I can get you a painkiller to take the edge off of that so you can rest."
"Thanks. But I need to know how long I'll be in here. When can I get back to work?" Jack asked, causing Sam to smile in amazement.
"Well, if you appear to be okay, I can let you go back home hopefully sometime tomorrow. Unfortunately, due to your broken leg, you'll be in a cast for a while. I'm afraid you won't be going off world for at least six weeks."
"Oh, great. How am I supposed to keep an eye on my team when they're off world in danger if I'm laid up here?"
"Just relax, Jack. General Hammond has put us on hold until you're recovered. Any missions that we were going to be assigned are being delegated among the other SG teams." Sam explained as Janet gave Jack a painkiller.
"Now you guys are going to be sitting around with nothing to do for six weeks."
"Don't worry about that. We were due for some downtime anyway. Besides, it's not like Daniel, Teal'c and I would head off world without you." Sam said as she noticed that the painkiller had taken full effect, and Jack had dozed off while she was talking. She just shook her head and slipped quietly out the door and went to find Daniel and Teal'c.
* * * * *
Daniel and Teal'c were in Daniel's office working on an ancient language of some type that was in his e-mail, when Sam came in the door. As soon as they noticed her, the two men immediately dropped what they were doing.
"What is the matter, Major Carter?" Teal'c asked.
"I have something great to tell you. Jack's out of the coma. He regained consciousness about five minutes ago. He's asleep right now because Janet gave him something for the pain in his leg."
"Are you serious?" Daniel exclaimed.
"Yes, I'm very serious." Sam confirmed as Daniel proceeded to leap over his desk and lift her from the floor, spinning her in a circle.
"I'm going to go in and keep an eye on Jack. When he wakes up, he and I need to have a talk."
"Teal'c and I will go and let General Hammond know what happened."
* * * * *
Sam and Teal'c hurried to General Hammond's office and were so anxious to tell him the good news that they didn't even knock. Given the situation, they doubted it would be frowned upon if they were unannounced.
"General."
"Teal'c, Major Carter. Is something wrong?" General Hammond asked as he looked up and acknowledged the two.
"O'Neill is no longer unconscious." Teal'c announced with a wide smile.
"When did this happen?"
"About fifteen minutes ago, now. I was sitting with Jack and he suddenly woke up and looked straight at me." Sam explained.
"This is fantastic! I'll have to go down to the infirmary and look in on Jack later."
"I'd wait a little while, sir. He's asleep right now and Daniel went to sit with him. Those two have some things to talk about when Jack wakes up."
"Of course. Thank you for filling me in on what happened. You two should head back to the infirmary now to lend Jack some strength."
"Yes, sir." Sam acknowledged and Teal'c simply nodded his head in acquiescence.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, down in the infirmary, Daniel steadied his nerves and walked into the room where Jack was sleeping. He was extremely relieved that Jack was going to recover, but it still hit Daniel weird to see his friend in the infirmary. He quietly pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down to wait for Jack to awaken so that they could talk.
After a few minutes of listening to Jack's steady breathing and the quiet beeping of the monitors, these sounds began to have a lulling effect on Daniel and he felt himself growing tired. Though he tried to fight against it, his eyes were becoming rather heavy.
"I think Jack has a good idea here. Maybe I could just rest my eyes for a minute." Daniel thought to himself as he yawned and closed his eyes, bringing his head to rest on his hand. A few moments later, he was dozing at Jack's bedside.