Janet cried out as Daniel lunged for her and grabbed her ankle. "Daniel! What are you doing?" Before the words were even out of her mouth, he began to scream. It started out as a low moan, but quickly escalated into a panicked wail that made her blood run cold. Part of her had been expecting it to happen at any moment, yet nothing could have prepared her for the sound that was coming from the man she loved.
"Help me!" she called to the open-mouthed spectators who stood as still as statues outside the door. Brom mutely shook his head. Janet got the message - there was nothing anyone could do until he fell unconscious.
The grip Daniel had on her ankle was so strong that she feared it might break, and his screams were so loud and shrill that she was sure she'd go deaf if it went on much longer.
Suddenly, Daniel pulled at her leg with such force that she fell to the ground in a crumpled heap beside him. Her head knocked against the wall on the way down, and for a moment everything whirled around her like she was trapped inside a giant kaleidoscope.
As soon as the sickening motion stopped, her full attention snapped back onto Daniel. She got to her knees and hovered over his now-still form. Even though he was now unconscious, a look of fear still marred his features, and his cheeks were already an unhealthy red from his rapidly rising temperature.
Janet looked up to see Brom and his assistants tentatively entering the room. "I'm okay," she said in answer to Brom's concerned glance. "Let's get him to the ward," she instructed as she scrambled to her feet.
Brom nodded and motioned for one of the men to carry Daniel into the other room.
Janet stood back and watched as Daniel was raised to a sitting position and then hoisted onto the man's shoulders, as limp as a rag doll. She tried to ignore her racing heart and fought to get her breathing under control, determined that even though she was caught in a living nightmare, she would stay strong - had to stay strong, if these people were going to live. If Daniel was going to live.
"Doc?" came a voice from the doorway.
Janet turned to face a terrified Jack O'Neill. He had traded his MOP gear in for one of Brom's surgical masks, so the fear in his eyes was plainly visible. She gave him a sympathetic look as she answered his unspoken question. "He has the 'mind fever', Colonel. We're taking him into the fever ward now." The words didn't really need to be said, but Janet knew she'd go crazy if she didn't do something to break the sudden silence.
The colonel gave a short nod of reluctant acceptance and stepped aside as Daniel was carried from the room. "Making any headway on a cure?" It was more of a plea than a question.
"We're working on it, Colonel, believe me," she answered, her voice shaking more than she would normally allow it to. "It's going to take some time, but in the meantime we're working on ways to make the infected more comfortable."
She moved to walk past him, but he fell into step beside her as she made her way down the hall after Brom. "Is there anything I can do? Me and Teal'c... we don't have much to do, and we'd rather help out than just sit around waiting."
Janet knew the feeling. "Of course, Sir. We can use all the help we can get. Would you be able to bathe the afflicted with cool cloths to try to keep their body temperatures down?"
Before he could answer, another scream echoed through the halls from somewhere else in the building. Colonel O'Neill shivered at the sound, but his voice was steady when he spoke. "Sure, Doc. Just tell me what to do."
Janet forced a tiny smile of gratitude. Then she took a deep breath and entered the ward.
"SG-1, this is General Hammond. Please come in."
Teal'c moved closer to the MALP and looked straight into the camera that was attached to it. "General Hammond," he greeted the disembodied voice.
"Teal'c. It's good to see you're safe and well, son. What's happening over there?"
"Many of the people of this village have fallen ill, but Dr. Fraiser believes she may be of great help in keeping them alive. Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and myself are providing aid toward that end."
"And Dr. Jackson?"
Teal'c paused for a moment before answering the general's question. He had delivered bad news about his friend on more than one occasion, and it was never an easy thing for him to do. His voice softened with emotion as he replied, "Daniel Jackson has contracted the disease. I am afraid he is most unwell."
General Hammond sighed, and Teal'c didn't have to see the man's face to know that this information had affected him badly. "What's his prognosis, Teal'c?"
"I am unsure," Teal'c answered honestly. "However, he is strong, and Dr. Fraiser is doing everything she can to find a cure. I believe there is hope."
"That's good to know, son," General Hammond said. "Is there anything else you require? Supplies? More medical personnel?"
"Dr. Fraiser believes a team of doctors and scientists would be most helpful in finding a cure."
"They'll be there within the hour. Anything else?"
Teal'c tilted his head slightly as he pondered the answer to this question. "Indeed there is, General Hammond. Dr. Fraiser requested that I ask you for a somewhat personal favour."
"Of course. Anything I can do."
Teal'c took a deep breath, remembering the look on the doctor's care-worn face as she had spoken to him a few minutes earlier. He knew how much she cared for Daniel Jackson, and how deep her concern must go in order for her to make the request she had made. "I believe she wishes you to pray for Daniel Jackson's safe return," he said. He knew that General Hammond would understand the extreme gravity of the situation just from those few words.
General Hammond was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "I already have been, Teal'c. Tell Dr. Fraiser that we're all sending our thoughts and prayers his way." His gentle tone was enough to tell Teal'c that he had received the message and understood how bad things were likely to get.
Teal'c bowed his head respectfully to the camera. "I will. Thank you, General Hammond."
"Good luck, Teal'c. To all of you. Keep me informed. Hammond out."
Teal'c had barely enough time to make another slight bow of acknowledgment before the gate shut down with a "woop." Without wasting another moment, he made his way back to the hospital, determined to be of help in any way he could.
After having a quick word with Teal'c, Janet quickly changed from her clunky hazmat suit to scrubs, gloves, and surgical mask and headed over to Daniel's bedside. "Okay, we need to do as much for him as we can before he comes to," she said, getting right down to business. "Let's see if we can stave off the high fever as long as possible by cooling him down right away. Colonel, if you could tie down his arms and legs, that would be a big help."
"Tie him down?!"
The indignant surprise in the colonel's tone dragged Janet's attention away from her unconscious patient, and she shot him an apologetic look. "As soon as he wakes up, Sir, he'll be thrashing around and trying to get away. We've had to resort to restraining the sick once the illness reaches a certain stage. It'll be much easier for us all if we restrain him now before the need arises."
O'Neill nodded reluctantly and took the restraints Nurse Penner was holding out to him.
Janet gave an inward sigh of relief. As much as she hated the thought of Daniel becoming as panicked and ultimately violent as the rest of her patients were, she knew it was inevitable. While seeing his arms and legs tied down made her feel sick to her stomach with empathy, it was the only way to keep him from hurting himself or others and prevent him from fighting them off when they tried to administer the drugs that could help save his life.
She only wished there was a sedative that was strong enough to knock him out completely for the next day or so, until the illness had run its full course. No matter what she had tried on the rest of her patients, however, the best result she had gotten was to have them calm down somewhat. She wasn't looking forward to watching him being tormented by hallucinations and memories he had tried to suppress, unable to help him through it in any way that he would respond to.
A minute later, Daniel's restraints were securely in place and Nurse Penner was instructing Colonel O'Neill on how to keep his body temperature down using cold compresses. Janet took a moment to stroke the side of the sleeping man's face before she kicked back into professional mode and moved along to check on the man in the next bed.
Brom approached her as she looked over the man's chart. "Doctor Fraiser?"
"Yes?"
The healer looked hesitant to say whatever he wanted to say, but his tone held nothing but respectful curiosity when he spoke. "Forgive me, but I couldn't help but notice... Daniel Jackson... he is your mate, is he not?"
Janet felt as though she should be surprised by the question, yet she wasn't. If it was that obvious to perfect strangers what she and Daniel meant to each other, then so be it. "I guess you could say that, yes."
Brom's face suddenly looked graver than ever, which Janet felt was quite an accomplishment. "I am so very sorry."
The implication behind his words - that Daniel wasn't going to make it; that she was about to lose her "mate" forever in the most horrible way imaginable - only served to turn the tiny flame of anger and determination that had been festering in Janet's heart ever since she had found out that Daniel was ill into a raging inferno. She donned her most intimidating glare and the stance to match as she took a deep breath to reply. "You have to understand something about Daniel, Brom. He's been in situations like this before - in fact, I watched him die a slow and painful death right in front of my eyes once. He has always... always come away victorious. I don't intend to give up on him so quickly, and neither should you."
Rarely had she seen a man become quite so nervous and penitent as quickly as Brom did under her intense stare. She knew he had done nothing to deserve it, but she was an inch away from screaming and pulling her hair out at the unfairness of it all. Brom was the only one close at hand, so it was all too easy to just take it out on him.
"I...I'm sorry..." he stammered.
A wave of regret washed over Janet as she saw how anxious she had made him feel, fear that he had somehow insulted one of the visitors from Earth plainly written on his face. "No, I'm the one who's sorry, Brom. I shouldn't have..."
Janet's apology was cut short by a frightened cry coming from Daniel's direction. "Janet?!"
She rushed back over to Daniel's bedside at lightning speed. "Daniel?"
His eyes darted frantically around the room and his hands tugged at his restraints. "Where is it? Janet? Where did it go?"
"Where's what, Daniel? Look, try to calm down, okay? There's nothing..."
"The Ree'tou! I saw it... it's right behind you!" His breath came in short, panicked gasps as he strained to break free. "I can't move! I've got to kill it!"
Colonel O'Neill hovered at Janet's side, holding a damp cloth in his hands. "It's okay, Daniel. There aren't any Ree'tou here. Just relax."
"Sir... I think he's reliving the memory of the Ree'tou attack on the SGC," she told him quietly. She remembered the event all too well... Daniel and Colonel O'Neill had burst into the infirmary and yelled for everyone to get down while they scanned the room with TER's for the invisible aliens. Chaos had broken loose, and Daniel had finally been the one to fire the shot that had killed the last remaining Ree'tou before it could kill everyone in the infirmary... including her.
"NOOOO!" Daniel screamed, twisting his body as if trying to worm his way out of his bonds. "Let me go! I have to kill it! It'll kill you! Janet!!"
Janet motioned for the nearest nurse. "There's no point in waiting. We have to sedate him now."
The nurse nodded and handed her a syringe before she even had to ask for it.
Janet took it and inserted its contents into Daniel's IV. Within moments, his thrashing ceased and he stopped crying out. His head still tossed from side to side and every now and then he moaned and muttered something incoherent, but at least he wasn't hurting himself trying to break free.
"What the hell was that?" Colonel O'Neill's eyes were wide as he looked to Janet for an explanation. She knew he had seen some of what this disease did to its victims, but this was the first time he had been witness to a full-blown hallucinatory episode.
"He was hallucinating, Sir. To him, it was as though he was back in the infirmary five years ago, seeing and hearing all that he saw and heard back then, only being tied to a bed and not being able to do anything to stop the Ree'tou from killing everyone. This is only the beginning, Sir. I would imagine he has memories far worse than that that will come out and haunt him within the next few hours."
O'Neill swallowed hard. "I knew what to expect, it just..."
Janet nodded in understanding. "Just try to keep him cool and as calm as possible. Call me if his condition changes."
At his nod, she left his side to attend to her other patients.
There was no doubt about it - this was the worst day of her life.
To be continued...