After calming himself down to some extent, Janet finally let Jack return to her infirmary. As it was, he was now sitting in a chair beside Daniel's bed, under the occasional observation of the nurses and Janet herself every ten minutes or so... perhaps to make sure he wasn't going to lose it and break something.

Shifting his weight, Jack made another attempt to get comfortable.

"Damn chairs." He cursed. "I should get a recliner for as much time as I spend in here." He mumbled and gave a pointed look at the prone archaeologist. "Mostly because of you."

Jack settled for putting his feet up on the bed and leaning somewhat. His head lolled back and he rubbed his hands roughly over his face, still trying to come to terms with the whole situation and struggling to keep his weariness at bay. This was one of the times he wondered why the hell he hadn't retired years ago.

"Dammit, Daniel." He muttered for what he figured was probably the gazillionth time since he had met the man. "You gotta stop doing this." He sighed and allowed his hands to fall to his lap. "I can't –" in typical Jack O'Neill fashion, he stopped short of expressing what exactly he was feeling and redirected. "It's killing Carter to see you like this. And Teal'c – well, you know Teal'c and his stoic warrior bit; but even he's started to crack after all the times we've almost lost you... hell, after all the times we actually have lost you. I can't even remember how many times you've died anymore; I'm getting sick of packing up your stuff and planning the memorials." Jack stopped and gave a hard glare. "So wake up now." He ordered. After a moment of nothing, "it was worth a try." He defended, shrugging his shoulders.

Jack leaned his head back again, ignoring the discomfort he felt at being in so unnatural a position. He stared blankly at the ceiling for many long moments, unable to keep morbid thoughts from coming... how long would it be til he had to watch his friend die... and for real this time? It didn't seem right: this was Daniel, for crying out loud. It wasn't at all how Jack ever would have imagined: lying in a hospital bed in the SGC, no one quite sure what was wrong or how to stop it and no one quite sure how he'd gotten that way.

"Jack?"

Jack's head popped back up; he looked first to his right and then left, sure he'd finally crossed some line of demarcation in stress levels and was hearing voices.

"Jack." The voice repeated... impatiently? Jack knew the tone all too well... he quickly stood and leaned over the figure lying in the hospital bed. He was incredibly relieved, yet somehow unsurprised at seeing blue eyes staring back up at him.

"You told me to wake up." Daniel's raspy voice stated quite simply.

Jack straightened and crossed his arms, a little self-satisfied. "I didn't even know I had that power." He reflected. "Hell, if I knew that's all it would take..."

Jack snapped back to attention after a moment. "So..." he began, "where were ya, Danny?"  there was a distinct softness to his tone.

"There was a woman." Daniel answered tiredly. "It was like a dream – she showed me what was possible."

"Kinky." Jack suddenly found humor in the whole thing now that Daniel was awake.

Ignoring the joke, or not hearing it at all, Daniel went on. "It was that pillar." His eyelids were drooping already as Jack waved over a nurse.

"Go get Fraiser." He ordered as Daniel began speaking a language Jack recognized as belonging to the Ancients. "Daniel, try to stay with me here." Jack laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to keep his attention.

Daniel's unfocused gaze found his friend again. "It was them, Jack. Somehow..." he trailed off, closing his eyes, trying to pull knowledge from his overworked brain.

As Daniel was still thinking, Jack heard the familiar click of Janet's heels. Their eyes met for a moment while she came up behind him, pulling out a stethoscope and moving round to Daniel's other side. When Daniel opened his eyes again, Janet smiled down, taking his hand, probably more of a comfort to herself than to him.

"Hey." She greeted. "Welcome back."

Maneuvering the stethoscope around, Janet listened to the four chambers of Daniel's heart, relieved to hear perfectly normal, healthy sounds and a strong, steady beat. She was, naturally, surprised and confused by the sudden and unexplained recovery, but then she had seen much stranger things... from this man in particular.

Daniel blinked several times, obviously fighting to stay awake.

"It was the pillar." He looked first to Janet and then to Jack, his brow crinkling as he tried to bring back the memory.

"Daniel –" Jack moved to cut him off as his friend began speaking Ancient again.

Daniel stopped and refocused. "No, Jack... it was..." his brow furrowed again, "a moment in time." He finally came up with, blinking a few more times before his eyes closed with a sort of finality or at the very least, accomplishment.

Jack looked to Janet, a little alarmed.

"Doc?" he questioned, afraid for a repeat of the last week.

"I can't be sure without running some tests, but I think he's just sleeping, Sir." She informed the colonel. "His body systems may be recovering very quickly, but he'll still need a little time. You have to remember that he had high brain activity since we brought him back through the gate, even though he appeared to be comatose." She smiled. "Why don't you go get Sam and Teal'c?" she suggested. "We'll run some tests, and I'll be able to give you all the full rundown."

Jack nodded, somewhat reluctant to leave, but finally released his hold on Daniel's shoulder and shuffled out of the infirmary.