"How is he?" Cassie asked as Janet entered the kitchen.
Janet sighed and plopped down into a chair at the table. "He seems fine," she said. "Better than I expected, really. He's taking a nap now."
"I saw him freak out in the driveway. What happened?"
Janet rubbed her face with her hand, delicately touching the skin around her eye to test whether or not it still hurt. It did, but not as badly as before. "He was just a little overwhelmed by it all for a minute," she said. "He's starting to be able to control himself again now, so I don't think we have to worry when things like that happen."
Cassie looked relieved. "Good."
"Now that Daniel's home, I want you to head back to school on Monday," Janet said in her strictest tone.
"Mom," Cassie moaned. "He just got here! Can't I spend a week with him, at least?"
"Monday. You'll fall too far behind if you're away much longer."
Cassie rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. "Are you sure you can do this alone?" she asked in all seriousness.
Janet was touched by her daughter's concern. "Yes, we'll be fine. Don't worry. Even if something were to go wrong, Sam and Colonel O'Neill are just a phone call away."
Cassie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. But I'll be home on weekends as always."
"Of course."
The two of them continued to chat quietly for a while, until Cassie decided to take her watercolours outside and paint a portrait of the house for her friends back at college. Janet took the opportunity to put a load of laundry on, and then sat down to have a light snack.
Some time later, Janet suddenly realized she hadn't heard a sound from Daniel in a while. A glance at her watch showed her it was 1600 hours, and they had arrived home just after noon. She wasn't sure whether she should leave him alone or check on him to make sure he was alright.
After some deliberation, she settled on the latter.
She tiptoed up the stairs and paused in front of the bedroom door to listen for any sign that he was awake. Hearing nothing, she cracked the door open and peeked inside.
Daniel was fast asleep on the bed, still fully clothed except for his shoes.
Janet smiled and stepped into the room to get a closer look at him. She could see as she drew near that his sleep was anything but peaceful, as his forehead was creased and his eyes were moving frantically behind his closed lids. Still, the sight of him lying there, alive and more or less well, was enough to make her legs give out from under her in relief. She dropped to her knees by the side of the bed as it all sank in. Daniel was home!
She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him and cover him in kisses, but she didn't want to disturb his sleep or frighten him. So, instead she just knelt there watching him, drinking in the sight of him back where he belonged.
It wasn't long, though, before he started tossing his head from side to side and making quiet whimpering sounds. Janet wasn't sure what to do. He was clearly having some kind of nightmare, and she wasn't sure whether to just allow it to play out or wake him up. The second choice could prove to be risky if he lashed out, but the first was tearing her apart.
"Please, no," he groaned, as he grew more and more restless. "Please... Sha're..."
Janet's heart sank at these words. It couldn't be a coincidence that he would be dreaming about losing Sha're just as he had arrived home. He was missing his wife. That was the life he wanted to lead, not the life he had been building with Janet and Cassie over the past months. It was a kick in the teeth to her, unintentional though it may be.
She stood up and gently lowered herself down onto the bed beside him. "Daniel?" Her voice was quiet, but she hoped it was just loud enough to wake him.
Daniel didn't seem to hear her, and his distress just seemed to grow.
She reached out a hand and touched his face. "Daniel?"
Before she knew what was happening, Daniel's eyes flew open and he grabbed her wrist. Within a split second, he'd bolted upright and shoved her down to lie on her back across the bed.
"Daniel, it's Janet!" she gasped as he loomed over her with eyes wide in disorientation and panic. "It's okay! You were having a dream."
He looked confused for a moment as her words began to sink in. "Janet?"
"Yes, it's me. Can you let me up now?"
Daniel blinked, nodded, and released his hold on her wrist. As soon as he sat back against his pillow, Janet slowly sat up, watching him warily the entire time.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Fine. Sorry. Did I hurt you?"
She took a quick mental inventory and found that she had no new aches or pains. "No, you didn't," she replied. "What was that all about?"
"I don't know," he said with a frown. "You... startled me."
"Was it a nightmare?"
He didn't answer, just looked down at his hands.
"Do you want to talk..."
"I'm hungry."
Janet knew better by now than to push the issue. "Okay," she said, rising from the bed. "What would you like to eat?"
He shrugged. "What do you have?"
"How about I bring you your favourite?"
He looked up at her in suspicion. "What's that?"
"You'll see," she said with a smile. Then she quickly left the room.
Preparing Daniel's dinner was almost as nerve-racking as bringing him home had been. She wanted to get everything just right so that maybe, just maybe, he would remember how much he had always enjoyed her cooking.
His favourite meal had always been her stir-fried rice - simple, yet tasty. She combined it with an assortment of his favourite vegetables, soy sauce, and spices, and he just couldn't get enough. She hoped that would still be the case now.
Once it was ready, she put everything he would need on a breakfast tray and took it upstairs to their room. Daniel was still sitting on the bed where she'd left him.
"Here you are," she said, trying to sound cheerful and relaxed. She put the tray on the bed, its legs on either side of Daniel's. "Enjoy."
Daniel picked up his fork and poked at the food on his plate. "What is it?"
"Stir-fried rice and vegetables," she replied. "You've always loved it."
He gave her a doubtful look, but took a tentative bite anyway. After carefully chewing and swallowing the tiny mouthful, he nodded. "Thank you," he said, and then slowly took another bite.
Janet smiled. She couldn't believe how good it made her feel that he still liked it.
She busied herself with tidying up the bedroom and adjoining bathroom a bit while he ate, gathering any laundry she came across, putting things back where they belonged if they were out of place, and changing the towels in the bathroom, just so she could keep a subtle eye on Daniel. He seemed to be watching her, too, but by the time she'd run out of jobs to pretend to be doing, he'd finished his meal.
"Very good," she said as she took his tray. "Do you feel like coming back downstairs?"
"Not really," he said. "I'm still really tired. I don't think I can manage the stairs again."
Janet tried to hide her disappointment. "Okay... what would you like to do for the rest of the evening?"
He shrugged. "What I did in the infirmary, I guess. Just sit here until I feel like sleeping again."
Janet sighed and set the tray at the foot of the bed. She sat down beside him and laid her hand on his arm. "Daniel... I know it's hard and all you want to do is sleep the days away... but you have to start stimulating yourself again. If not physically, then at least mentally. How about I get you a book to read?"
Daniel bit his lip. "I, um... I don't read very well anymore."
Janet's insides lurched as she realized her blunder. "I'm sorry... I'm sure it'll improve with time," she assured him. "Maybe you just need to practise."
He didn't look convinced, but Janet got up and found a book for him anyway. It was just a light fictional novel that was sitting on their bookcase; one that Cassie had bought her one year for her birthday. As far as she knew, Daniel had never read it. He hadn't had much time for novels, preferring to read more intellectual or educational books instead. It was just the kind of book that would be good for him now, though - relatively simple to follow and not full of words that he might find hard to understand.
"Thank you," he said half-heartedly as he accepted it from her.
She tucked her finger under his chin and lifted it so he was looking up at her. "Cheer up, Daniel," she said kindly. "This will all be over before you know it."
He nodded, though he didn't look convinced.
As much as Janet wanted to stay with him, she knew he didn't want her hovering around him all the time. After giving him one last encouraging smile, she left him alone to read in peace.
A few minutes later, she was sitting in the living room with a book of her own when she heard the upstairs toilet flush. She smiled to herself as once again it hit her that Daniel was home and getting well again, slowly but surely. She wondered how long it would be before little things like that would stop seeming like little miracles to her.
"Janet?"
She was on her feet in an instant when she heard him call her name from the top of the stairs. "Yes, Daniel?"
"Where's the dog?"
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at him in surprise. "Leroy?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's his name. Where's Leroy?"
Janet's heart soared. He remembered Leroy? Yes, things were definitely looking up. "He's been outside all day," she explained, barely able to get the words out of her mouth in her excitement. "I didn't want him to disturb you, so Cassie set him up out there in his kennel before you arrived."
Daniel shuffled his feet, holding onto the wall for support. "Can you let him in?"
"Yes, of course." Could she let him in? She'd let every dog in the neighbourhood in if Daniel wanted them.
She wasted no time in going to the backdoor and calling for Cassie. The girl was still sitting in the yard with Leroy at her feet, just finishing up her painting by the looks of it. Janet asked her to let the dog off his chain, and as soon as she did so, he came running over to Janet happily.
"Hey, Leroy," she greeted him, ruffling his soft fur affectionately. "Guess who's home?" She let the dog inside and coaxed him to follow her over to the stairs.
Daniel was no longer waiting on the landing, so she took Leroy upstairs and watched as he bounded ahead of her into the bedroom. The laughter she heard a moment later was enough to give her a mental image of the scene before she even stepped into the room. Leroy, so happy to see his 'master' again, had leaped up onto the bed and was currently trying his best to lick Daniel's face. Daniel seemed equally as happy to see him, though he was trying his best to not have his face licked.
Janet watched them with a feeling of contentment enfolding her like a blanket. Leroy had always had a fondness for Daniel over all of the other men in their lives, and over the six years that she'd had him, the two of them had struck up quite a bond. Janet and Cassie were perhaps the only people who knew just how much of a dog lover Daniel was deep down inside. Leroy was really the first he'd ever had.
"Can he stay?" Daniel asked, looking and sounding like a ten year old that wanted to keep the poor, abandoned puppy as a pet.
"Of course he can," Janet replied. Like she could take him away now.
Daniel smiled and buried his face in the dog's furry coat. Janet had to quickly duck out of the room to hide the depth of her emotions at the scene she was witnessing.
The rest of the evening passed quickly for Janet. She and Cassie had their dinner and sat and watched a movie on television, while Daniel read a bit of his book as he absently stroked Leroy. The dog seemed to have taken up residence in the middle of their bed, which would normally have annoyed Janet, but this time she was willing to make an exception. He seemed to have a calming effect on Daniel that no one and nothing else had been able to achieve.
Finally, the time came for everyone to go to bed.
Janet changed into her nightgown in the bathroom and nervously entered the bedroom to find Daniel still sitting there with Leroy, apparently engrossed in his book.
"How are you doing with that?" she asked. "Can you read it alright?"
Daniel glanced up at her for a second, but then looked back at his book. "Yeah, it's fine."
"Good." She turned back the covers and climbed in beside him.
Daniel cleared his throat and rubbed Leroy's ears almost harshly.
"I see you found your sweats," Janet observed. He'd finally changed out of the pants and shirt he'd come home in and was wearing the sweatpants and zip-necked sweatshirt he wore for lounging around and sleeping in on cold nights.
"Yeah," he said. He snapped his book shut and placed it on his nightstand. Then he took his glasses off and put them on top of it.
"Ready for lights out?" she asked, her hand at her lamp.
"Yeah." He switched off his own lamp and turned on his side away from her.
Leroy looked over at Janet as if to ask why Daniel had suddenly turned his back on him, so she gave the dog a reassuring pat. "Night, Daniel," she said as she turned off the light.
He didn't respond, though she could tell he was still awake.
Never before had she felt so grateful for Leroy's presence. She understood then why Daniel had asked for him to stay. He was their safety net - as long as he was there, they didn't have to think about being alone together in the same bed.
She sighed and mirrored Daniel's actions, turning on her side with her back to his.
She was sure she wouldn't sleep a wink.
To be continued...