"So... technically, none of this has actually been me."
Janet took her eyes off the road long enough to shoot a curious glance over at Daniel. "What?"
"The depression, mood swings, anger issues..."
"We knew all along that it was a chemical imbalance, Daniel."
He sighed in frustration. "Yes, but not my chemicals. It was those damn bugs!"
Janet tried to stifle her smile, but didn't completely succeed. "Either way, no one ever blamed you," she said in all seriousness.
Through the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel glance over at her and then turn back to looking out of his window. "Yeah."
As she stopped at a busy intersection, Janet reached for his hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "This is going to work, Daniel. By this time tomorrow, you'll be yourself again. I can feel it."
Daniel forced a smile for her benefit. "I hope so."
He remained silent for the rest of the drive, and when they finally arrived at the SGC, he was starting to look almost petrified. Janet went around to his side of the car as they got out, and she took his hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing it tight.
"Ready?" she asked.
Daniel took a slow, deep breath and nodded. "As I'll ever be."
Janet stroked his arm with her free hand for added encouragement as they entered the complex and made their way down to the infirmary.
A small crowd greeted them on Level 21, and though she could feel him stiffen as he gripped her hand ever tighter, Daniel took it all very well. Teal'c, Sam, Dr. Lee, Lt. Satterfield... all of Daniel's friends and colleagues were there, as they had all heard about the antidote and wanted to offer him all the support and well wishes that they could. Janet was almost in tears at the attention they were lavishing on him.
Colonel O'Neill's smile could have turned night into day it was so bright as he engulfed Daniel in a bear hug. Daniel laughed and returned the hug with one arm while still holding onto Janet's hand as if for dear life.
When Colonel O'Neill finally released him, he looked down at their intertwined hands and, if possible, his smile grew even wider. "Hey! You two look... better."
Daniel smiled shyly. "Thanks, Jack. We are better."
The colonel's smile faded into a more curious look and he studied Daniel warily. "You know, for a while there I really thought you guys were pretty much over," he said. "What changed?"
Daniel looked down at Janet and shrugged. "I don't know," he said, obviously not wanting to share the entire story of the misunderstandings about Andrew and his attempt at suicide. "We just... told each other how we felt - both good and bad. Then we went from there."
"Uh huh. And the two of you are..."
"Getting married," Janet was quick to jump in and say.
She heard a squeal coming from Sam's direction, but Colonel O'Neill merely raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Getting married," he repeated. He nodded slowly and looked at Daniel. "Sweet. Need a best man?"
Daniel grinned. "As a matter of fact, I do," he said. "Know anybody?"
"Oh, I think I might know someone," he said casually, rocking back and forth on his heels as he put his hands in his pockets. "How about... me?"
"Hmm... I don't know," Daniel said, feigning reluctance. "We'll think about it."
Colonel O'Neill grinned and clapped Daniel on the back. Then both Daniel and Janet had to deal with the swarm of people who now wanted to congratulate them on their engagement.
Just as Janet was starting to feel a little overwhelmed, Colonel O'Neill stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled. "Hey! Give them some room, folks," he said, and the crowd obediently dispersed.
Sam laughed and took Janet's arm in hers. "Come on, guys," she said. "Let's get you set up in the medical bay before Bregman comes nosing around."
"Bregman?" Janet asked as she and Daniel followed Sam, the colonel, and Teal'c into the main room of the infirmary.
"Yeah, some annoying journalist guy who wants to make a movie about the SGC," Colonel O'Neill explained with a roll of his eyes. "Don't worry, we'll keep him away from you."
Janet was puzzled by this. "A movie about the SGC?" she asked.
"A documentary," Sam explained. "It'll be locked away until the Stargate program is made public... if and when that ever happens." She looked uncomfortable at the idea, to say the least. "We've all been ordered to submit to an interview while he's here."
"Did General Hammond not promise that Dr. Fraiser would give an interview when she was next on the base?" Teal'c asked.
"She can't do it now," Colonel O'Neill snapped. "Not while Daniel's in here for his treatment."
"Actually, now would be the perfect time," Andrew said as he came walking into the medical bay. "I need to check Daniel over first, run a few tests... shouldn't take more than fifteen, twenty minutes, but it would be the perfect time for Janet to have her interview."
He looked over at Janet as he spoke, and she could tell he was trying to tell her something. She could pretty much guess what he was asking for - he wanted a few minutes alone with Daniel to hopefully do some damage control. A few days ago, she would never have allowed it, but she knew now that Daniel wouldn't do anything awful while she was gone.
"Okay," she said. "Where do I go?"
"I'll take you to him, Janet," Sam offered.
Janet turned to Daniel, who was sitting on one of the infirmary cots looking rather anxious and dejected. "I won't be long, Daniel," she said. She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and whispered, "Be good."
"'Kay," he said. "I'll see you soon."
Janet smiled and squeezed his shoulder. Then she followed Sam from the room before she had a chance to change her mind.
Daniel watched with an aching heart as one by one, his friends all left the medical bay. He hadn't counted on this - he'd thought Janet would be with him the entire time. He wasn't sure he was ready yet to be left alone with Carmichael.
The doctor seemed one hundred percent professional, though, as he gathered his medical supplies and brought a cartful of them over to Daniel's side. That just made Daniel feel guilty. He knew he couldn't have been that casual around someone who had acted the way he had at Janet's birthday party.
'Whoever said that silence is golden hadn't been in a room with two silent men who were in love with the same woman,' Daniel thought to himself. The fact that Carmichael hadn't spoken yet was setting his teeth on edge.
"Okay," Carmichael finally said as he prepared a needle, "I'm just going to take a blood sample first. You know the drill." He took Daniel's left arm and started to pull up the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
As soon as Daniel realized what he was doing, he tried to flinch away from him, but he was too late.
"What is this?" Carmichael asked in surprise when he saw the bandage over his wrist. "Were you injured?"
"Uh... it's nothing... important." Daniel shrugged his arm out of Carmichael's grasp and pulled the sleeve back down. "Here, use this one," he said, holding his right arm out and rolling up the sleeve.
Carmichael wasn't buying it. "Daniel, what happened to your arm?"
"Just... an accident," Daniel said nervously. "It's fine. Janet patched me up."
"What kind of ac..."
"Look, could we just get on with this?" Daniel snapped. When he realized what he'd done, he sheepishly added, "Please?"
Carmichael took a slow breath. "Daniel, I'm going to ask you to let me take a look at it," he said.
"Janet..."
"I know she patched you up, but Daniel, I'm your doctor. Your health is my responsibility, so I need to see it."
Daniel knew by Carmichael's firm tone that he wasn't going to win this argument, so he huffed in frustration and yanked the sleeve back up.
Carmichael carefully unwrapped the bandages and examined the wound. "It looks deep, but I don't think it's getting infected," he said.
"I've been putting antiseptic cream on it every few hours."
"That's good," Carmichael said. He looked Daniel straight in the eye then and asked frankly, "What did it? A razor blade?"
Daniel swallowed hard and looked down. "No, it was a... penknife."
"Clean?"
"Basically."
Carmichael sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "When?"
"Two days ago."
He nodded. "Do I need to be concerned about this?"
Daniel looked up at him guiltily. "It won't happen again, if that's what you mean."
"You're sure?"
Daniel nodded. "Positive. It... it was a... very bad day. Things are... better now."
"Between you and Janet?"
Daniel ducked his head and didn't answer. He wasn't about to confide in this guy about his relationship with Janet. No way in hell.
"I'm not blind, Daniel," Carmichael said once he realized Daniel wasn't going to speak. "I've seen what's been going on between the two of you. Janet's been beside herself worrying about you, thinking you were itching to leave at the earliest opportunity."
"I know," Daniel said quietly. He couldn't believe that Carmichael dared to tell him anything about Janet, like he didn't know his own fiancée. He really wished he hadn't been left alone with him. This conversation was starting to make his temper flare again.
"I saw you in the window the other night," Carmichael went on.
Daniel winced at the memory. "I know that, too."
"She's a wonderful woman, Daniel. And I do care about her."
Daniel raised his eyes to glare at him. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
"I've been worried about her through all of this. It's been hard on her. You've been hard on her."
"Are you going somewhere with this?" Daniel asked, his voice quiet and laced with anger.
"Yes. I'm telling you that more than anything in this world, I want Janet to be happy." He paused, and then added, "Unfortunately, I'm not the one who can make that happen. You are."
Daniel straightened his back a little and sized the other man up. "Still don't see why you're saying all of this," he said warily.
"I'm saying it because I don't want to be hiding any secrets from you. I care about her, but that's as far as it goes. It's been breaking my heart these last few weeks to see her going through hell and knowing there was nothing I could do about it. But when she walked in here today... I don't know what's different, but I can see that she's happy again. Both of you are happy again. That's all that matters to me."
Daniel was still staring at him as he spoke, analyzing his every move, watching for the slightest hint of a challenge. He didn't find one. "That's it?" he asked, unable to hide his suspicion.
Carmichael shrugged. "That's it."
Daniel nodded thoughtfully as he thought these words over. "Thank you," he said at last.
Carmichael smiled and went back to dressing his wound. "You're one lucky son of a bitch, Daniel Jackson," he said. "I wish the two of you all the best."
"I appreciate that." He really meant it, too. Maybe he'd underestimated Carmichael after all.
"Okay," Carmichael said with a sigh as he finished with Daniel's arm. "Let's get this show on the road." He took Daniel's other arm and quickly took the blood sample he needed.
The rest of the tests were performed in record time, and before Daniel knew it, Janet was back and they were preparing for the procedure. He couldn't believe how anxious it made him feel.
Janet took his hand as soon as she came in the room, though, and didn't let it go the entire time. She tried to get his mind off of what was coming by chatting away as though nothing was wrong, even telling him with a twinkle in her eye that Bregman had been hitting on her. "Don't worry," she said, "I told him I'm very much taken. He actually looked disappointed. It was quite flattering."
"Does every man you meet have to fall in love with you?" Daniel asked in dismay.
Janet laughed and kissed him. "You have nothing to worry about, Daniel. Trust me."
Daniel was about to reply when klaxons suddenly started to sound an off-world activation. They didn't think anything of it until a few minutes later when Carmichael was about to start the procedure. The infirmary phone started to ring, so he rushed to answer it.
After a moment, he hung it up again and announced, "There's an emergency medical situation on P3X 666. I've just been ordered to accompany the rescue team. Janet, can you handle this?"
Janet barely had time to nod before he dashed out of the room.
Daniel and Janet exchanged concerned glances. "What was that all about?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know," Janet said. "Do you want me to do this, or should we wait for Andrew to come back?"
Daniel took a deep breath and looked at the tray Carmichael had left behind. "It's just a shot, right?" he asked.
"Yes, the chemical compound that Dr. James discovered could counteract..."
"Right," Daniel interrupted, feeling much too antsy to put up with medical babble. "So let's do it."
"You're sure?"
"Positive. I want you to do it." He paused for a moment, and then smiled at her. "That'd be perfect, wouldn't it? Even though you couldn't cure me before, now that we've found something that can help, you'll be the one to make it happen."
Janet smiled and kissed his forehead. "I'd be honoured."
Daniel lay down on the infirmary bed as Janet picked up the syringe and got it ready to use. His heart was racing, and he could feel the adrenaline building up in his system. 'Not long now,' he thought as he closed his eyes and braced himself. 'Soon it'll all be over.'
He felt the prick of the needle in his neck and winced. Then he waited.
The room was completely silent, as even Janet seemed to be holding her breath in anticipation. Each second seemed to take an eternity to pass as Daniel lay there waiting for something to happen... anything.
It started out as a dull ache at the base of his neck, but soon spread up into his head like a wave of hot water. Then it began to burn deep inside his brain, getting hotter and hotter and hurting more and more.
Within seconds, the pain was intense. Daniel grabbed the back of his neck and cried out in agony as his head felt like it was splitting in two.
Then everything grew silent as he descended into darkness.
To be continued...