Sam was still observing Dr. Flietstra and Meese's work when she heard a couple of medics out in the hall mention something about an emergency concerning Daniel. Fearing the worst, she rushed from the morgue back to the lab, hunted out her latex gloves and surgical mask, put them on, and jogged down the hall to the fever ward.
By the time she arrived, the fuss was already beginning to die down. Dr. Carmichael, however, looked rather distressed as he tended to Daniel.
She looked around at the swarm of medical personnel in the room, but they all seemed too busy to have time to answer her questions. The only one in the room who wasn't rushing around performing various duties was Teal'c. The Jaffa was standing off to the side, but his watchful eyes were trained upon Daniel in unwavering concentration.
"Teal'c?" Sam said as she approached him. "What's going on?"
"Doctor Fraiser attempted to free Daniel Jackson from his restraints," he replied almost breathlessly.
Sam gaped at the man lying in the bed before her. She could hardly believe it was Daniel she was seeing. His eyes were open wide, and his face was frozen in an expression of terror. His hair was so wet with sweat that it was plastered against his head like a helmet. The restraints around his wrists and ankles looked more like some form of torture to her than a safety measure, and it made her shudder with revulsion.
"Where is Janet now?" Sam asked.
"Colonel O'Neill took her out of the ward," Dr. Carmichael informed her as he finished up with Daniel and came over to the two of them. "I don't know where they went after that. You didn't see them out in the hallway?"
"No," Sam replied. "Wait a minute... why did the colonel take her out of here?" She must have missed something...
Carmichael looked uncomfortable for a moment before he answered. "I asked him to."
"Excuse me?"
"She was doing more harm than good, Major," he said, his tone laced with regretful sadness. "She was letting her emotions make the decisions, and in situations like this, that's a dangerous thing to do. No one else has been allowed to see their family members this way, and I think that's a good thing. It's just been too much for her."
Sam was torn between wanting to yell at Carmichael to shut up and let Janet stay with Daniel throughout his ordeal, and understanding the point he was trying to make. She knew there was a reason why doctors were generally not allowed to perform medical procedures on their loved ones, she just hadn't thought that in a million years that reason would apply to Janet.
"Is he okay?" she asked, gesturing towards Daniel.
Dr. Carmichael looked grave and seemed to weigh his words before he spoke. "His fever is rising quite rapidly, and nothing we've given him seems to be stopping it. It won't be long now before the spasms and seizures start, and the sores will follow quickly after that. The next hour or two will tell the tale. If he makes it through..." He shrugged rather than finish his sentence.
Sam sucked in a deep breath and took a moment to steady herself before she trusted her voice enough to speak. "Thank you. Let me know if he... if there's any change."
Carmichael nodded, and turned back to tend to his patients.
"I'm going to see if I can find Colonel O'Neill and Janet," Sam told Teal'c. "You'll stay with him?"
He inclined his head in response. "Indeed."
Sam gave Teal'c's arm a grateful squeeze. She felt better knowing he would be there to watch out for Daniel's well being. He was as good or better than any bodyguard could ever be.
Without wasting another moment, she left the ward and started searching all the possible places that Janet could have gone. When she came to the observation room, a muffled noise from inside made her stop and press her ear to the door. Someone was crying. Not just any crying, either - whoever it was sounded close to hysteria.
The sound chilled her to the bone. Could that really be Janet in there? She could hardly believe that her normally unshakeable friend could ever sound so... broken.
She tapped lightly on the door and paused to wait for an answer. When none came, she opened it a crack and peeked inside.
Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that met her eyes. Janet was sitting there sobbing her heart out into Colonel O'Neill's shoulder, her arms wrapped so tightly around him that it looked almost painful for him.
More surprisingly still, Colonel O'Neill was crying, too.
After staring at them for a moment in stunned silence, she decided it would be best for her to leave them alone. She was about to exit the room when the colonel either heard or sensed her presence.
"Carter?" he said as he pulled away from Janet and got to his feet. His mask was hanging from its strings around his neck, and his face was wet with tears. He passed his sleeve across his eyes in a self-conscious gesture, as though he were embarrassed at having been found that way.
"Sorry to interrupt, Sir," Sam said quietly, her eyes trained on Janet who was also trying to get rid of the evidence of her emotional meltdown. "I just went in to check on Daniel, and Dr. Carmichael said the two of you had left. I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."
"Everything's fine, Carter. Thanks," O'Neill assured her with a pat on her arm. "Fraiser's just... exhausted."
Janet didn't protest against this statement, which Sam took to be a very bad sign. "How is Daniel?" she asked in a weak and shaky voice.
"He's calmed down for now, but Dr. Carmichael said his fever is rising. He said the next two hours should tell."
Janet nodded and took a deep breath. "Am I allowed to return to the ward now... Sir?" she asked with an almost insubordinate air.
Colonel O'Neill ignored the attitude. "I don't think that would be such a good idea, Doc. I think you know that."
Although his answer obviously wasn't what the woman had wanted to hear, his gentle tone made it seem pointless to argue the point. Janet simply nodded again and looked down at her hands.
"Major... a word?"
"Yes, Sir."
Sam followed the colonel back out into the hall. He closed the door of the observation room behind them, and when he spoke his voice was low and quiet so as not to be overheard. "She's not doing so great," he confided. "This whole thing has been too damn stressful for her, plus getting a whack to the face hasn't done her any good. Carmichael says she probably has a concussion."
"Whack to the face?" Sam repeated in surprise. "What happened?"
Colonel O'Neill winced. "Daniel got a bit agitated, that's all. She needs to rest, but at the same time I think she needs to feel like she's doing something, you know? Any ideas?"
Sam chewed on her lip for a moment as she thought. "I've been observing the autopsies Dr. Flietstra and Meese are performing on the people who didn't make it. They feel they're getting pretty close to figuring this thing out, so maybe she could sit in on that."
O'Neill shook his head doubtfully. "I don't consider performing autopsies 'resting.'"
"No, Sir, she wouldn't be performing the autopsies, just sitting there, watching. Dr. Flietstra and I have been discussing various possibilities regarding the..."
"Sitting, watching, and chatting... all good," he interrupted her. "Can you take it from here?"
"Yes, Sir. Are... you okay, Sir?" she asked, concerned by his sudden gruffness.
"Just fine and dandy, Major," was his sarcastic reply. "My best friend is going through hell in there and may not last the night, while his soon-to-be wife is concussed, exhausted, and on the verge of a complete emotional breakdown. So yeah, I'm just fine. Thanks for asking."
He began to march off down the hall, but Sam called after him. "Sir?"
Without a word, he swung around to face her again. The look he shot her made it clear that she should think carefully before saying whatever it was she was going to say.
"It... it's not hopeless, Sir."
His gaze softened a little as her words sank in. He gave her a nod and the hint of a smile, and then continued on his way back to the fever ward.
Sam hesitated for a moment before she went back into the observation room. She had no idea what to say to her friend to ease her pain. She was afraid she would just end up doing the wrong thing and causing the poor woman to break completely.
Still, she wasn't going to let that stop her from trying. With a determined twist of the handle, she opened the door and entered the room.
Janet didn't move a muscle the entire time Colonel O'Neill and Sam were gone from the room. She knew they'd gone out into the hall to talk about her, but she didn't care. All she could think about was Daniel, and what he must be going through.
"I'm burning! Janet! Oh God, it hurts!"
His whispered cries had cut her to the core. She knew it was stupid of her to release his arms, but she couldn't just sit there while he was writhing in agony like that.
"Janet! Please... I don't want to die like this!"
She jumped as she heard the door open behind her, and turned her head to see Sam enter the room. She was practically on tiptoe she was treading so carefully.
"Hey, Janet. How are you doing?"
"It's okay, Sam. You don't have to tiptoe around me. I'm not going to fall to pieces or anything."
One look at the guilt-ridden expression in her friend's eyes told her that's exactly what Sam was expecting to happen.
Janet sighed. "What did the two of you decide?" she asked wearily.
Sam crossed the small room and sat down in the chair next to Janet's. "Colonel O'Neill says you need to rest, but that you also need to feel like you're doing something to help. Do you agree with that?"
Janet nodded, waiting to hear the rules and conditions she knew were coming.
"Good. Dr. Flietstra and Healer Meese need some help in the morgue - just someone to bounce ideas off while they're examining the bodies. Feel up to that?"
Janet eyed her friend warily for a moment, wondering just what kind of help that could possibly be in this situation. Still, she did feel she had to do something, and if this was the best offer she was going to get, she'd take it. "Of course," she replied. She stood up, straightened her rumpled clothes, ran a hand through her hair, and dabbed at her cheeks with her sleeve to dry off the last remaining tears. She suppressed a wince as she touched the sensitive skin under her right eye and kicked herself for forgetting about her brand new shiner.
"Okay," Sam said, standing up and walking over to the door. "Let's go."
To be continued...