Chapter 4: The Day Arrives

Two hours later, after Sarah had finally fallen asleep, she began to dream. Unfortunately, as her fear continued to control every aspect of her mind, she soon found herself trapped in a nightmare.

In her dream, Sarah found herself in the hospital waiting room with Sam, Teal'c, and a few other people that she had never seen before. She was waiting to hear something on how the operation was going, though in her heart she had a sinking feeling that something just wasn't quite right. That was when Janet walked into the room, looking stressed and very upset.

"What is it? What's the matter?" Sarah asked nervously. When Janet walked over to sit by her, she felt her stomach tie in a knot as she felt Sam grip her hand tightly.

"Sarah, I need to talk to you. Something happened in the surgery and it's not good news." Janet said as her voice broke slightly. She cleared her throat before delivering the shocking blow. "Honey, I'm afraid that there was a complication that we didn't expect. When we took the part of Daniel's liver, he had a bleed that we didn't see at first. His blood pressure bottomed out within a matter of minutes. We did everything we could do but it was too late to fix the problem. I hate to have to tell you this but we couldn't save him. Daniel's gone, Sarah. I'm so sorry."

"No! That's not true! He's not dead!" Sarah screamed as Sam put her arms around her and Teal'c bounded to his feet protectively.

"I'm so sorry, honey. We tried everything possible. There was just nothing that we could do. I wish that there was some way that I could undo what's happened. You've been through enough in the short time that I've known you. You shouldn't have to deal with this too."

"Janet, what about Jack?" Sam asked suddenly.

"Jack's okay, Sam. They're closing him up now."

"Sarah, I wish there was something that I could say right now. I know how extremely unfair this whole situation is. Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"Not unless you can turn back time and fix what has happened. I need someone to bring Daniel back to me." Sarah cried into her friend's shoulder as the horrible knowledge sank in that this was the reality. She would never be getting married. There would be no wedding because now she had no fiancé. Daniel was dead, gone forever because he had decided to be a hero.


About 3:30 in the morning, Sarah woke up screaming. She hugged the pillow to her and rocked slowly back and forth, trying to calm her jangled nerves.

"Sarah? Honey, what's the matter? What's got you so upset?" Daniel asked as he wrapped his arms tightly around his fiancé, having been awakened from a sound sleep when Sarah screamed.

"Oh, thank God it wasn't real. It wasn't real." Sarah breathed, leaning heavily into Daniel's arms, feeling his strong arms around her.

"What wasn't real? I don't understand. What happened?"

"I had a horrible dream. I dreamed that something happened during this surgery and the doctors couldn't save you. I dreamed that Jack survived and a part of me resented him for that. It was terrifying."

"No wonder you were screaming. But everything's okay now. You were just dreaming. That's not real. I'm here now and I always will be. Don't let a dream scare you too badly. That's not what you need right now. Okay."

"I'll try. I still can't believe that this is happening. It just seems so surreal." Sarah whispered shakily.

"I know. It's all going to be okay though. I promise you that nothing is going to turn out like it did in your dream. I don't want you to worry." Daniel said softly, trying to reassure her.

"I'll try not to worry. Let's just not think about it right now. It's only 4:00 in the morning. We don't have to get ready to leave until 6:00 so why don't you relax and try to sleep for a couple of more hours." Sarah urged, pulling Daniel into her arms to where his head rested on her shoulder. She held him close to her and gently rubbed his back to help him relax. Sarah whispered softly to Daniel in order to ease his troubled mind and did all she could to soothe him until he had finally drifted off. Sarah never did go back to sleep that night, she just laid by Daniel's side keeping watch over him as he slept. She promised herself then that if there was anything that could be done, she was not going to let any harm come to him.


At 5:45, Jack woke up and got showered and dressed. He wanted to eat something but remembered that Janet had instructed them the day before that they couldn't eat after midnight. After he was ready to go to the hospital, Jack sat down in his chair and turned on the television. He was waiting for Sam to arrive to pick him up, since she had insisted that he allow her to drive him. At about 6:15, Jack heard the doorbell ring as Sam arrived.

"Morning, Jack. Are you ready?" Sam said as brightly as she could manage given the situation.

"Hey, Sam. I guess you could say that I'm ready for a new lease on life. As ready as I'm ever going to be anyway. So let's get going." Jack said.

"Okay. I just talked to Sarah and she said that she was about to wake Daniel up and then they were going to leave and Teal'c is going to meet up with us at the hospital. Let's go and get this thing over with."


A little after 6:00, Sarah had finished getting herself ready and then she went about the difficult task of waking Daniel up. She was so tempted to not do it, to let him sleep like that forever, to leave him in his temporary escape from reality. But she knew in her heart that this wasn't an option because he knew Daniel. She knew more than anyone that he would do anything for the people that he cared about and Daniel and Jack O'Neill were as close as two people could get. So after taking a couple of deep breaths, she reached down and gently shook Daniel's shoulder.

"Daniel. It's time to wake up and get ready to go, sweetheart." Sarah whispered, bending to kiss Daniel's cheek.

"Yeah, I know. Time to face the music. I just want this to go as smoothly as Janet and I are thinking it will. I have complete confidence in the way she's taking this thing. Well, let me grab a quick shower and then we'll get ready to go." Daniel said as he climbed out of bed and went to get ready.


Back at the SGC, Teal'c walked into General Hammond's office to officially take his leave for the day before heading to the hospital to offer support to his friends.

"General Hammond, I must speak with you."

"Good morning, Teal'c. Come in and sit down for a minute. What is it you wanted to talk about?" Hammond asked, looking up from what he was doing when he heard the Jaffa's voice.

"I wish to inform you that I will take leave of the SGC today so that I may be with my friends." Teal'c said solemnly.

"Actually, I'll come with you, Teal'c. I've left Sergeant Siler in charge of things today. We don't have any teams due back until tomorrow so things should be okay if I leave. Do you mind if I ride over with you?"

"I do not. We should leave immediately." Teal'c agreed as he and Hammond headed to the car that Teal'c had recently purchased and left the base, driving across town to the hospital.


At 8:30, Daniel and Sarah arrived at the hospital and took care of all of the paperwork and everything else that needed to be done. When they arrived, Jack and Sam were there waiting for them. Jack walked up to Daniel and draped an arm around him.

"Daniel. Are you sure that you want to do this. I completely understand if you want to change your mind."

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure. There is nothing in this or any other world that would make me do anything different. This is the best chance you have to make a full recovery." Daniel insisted.

"Okay. Just wanted to give you the option. So, how's Sarah handling this?" Jack asked.

"Well, she seems to be a little calmer now than she was earlier. She woke up at about 3:00 this morning screaming because she had some nightmare about this thing and it spooked her pretty bad. I managed to convince her that it was just a dream and things were going to be fine."

"I guess the sooner we get this over with the better it's going to be for everyone."

"Yeah. I think so." Daniel said as they heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c called out as he came down the hall toward his friends, followed by Hammond.

"Teal'c. Am I glad to see you. It's good to know that you're here to keep things in line while all of this is going on." Jack smiled, slapping Teal'c on the back.

"Good morning, people." Hammond said, stepping from behind Teal'c's large form.

"General."

"What are you doing here, sir? Shouldn't you be back at the base?" Daniel asked, confused.

"I've left Sergeant Siler in charge of things on the base for today. As I told Teal'c, we don't have any off world teams due to report back until tomorrow afternoon. Besides, I couldn't turn my back on two of the members of my front line team during a time like this."

"Colonel, Daniel, it's time for me to take you to your rooms so we can prepare you for surgery." Janet said as she approached from the opposite hallway.

"Let's get to it then. Daniel, I really do appreciate what you're doing." Jack said, giving Daniel a hug.


Once everything was settled, Daniel was sitting in his hospital bed trying to reassure Sarah one last time before he was taken into surgery. He wanted to make certain that she was going to be okay.

"Sarah, are you feeling better about this after the talk we had earlier?"

"Not really, but I'm trying to hold it together for you. I'm still scared about this whole thing." Sarah admitted honestly, taking Daniel's hand in her own.

"I'm going to give you something to hold onto. This is something that I found at a dig several years ago. It's supposed to bring peace and good luck." Daniel whispered, reaching for a small gem and placing it into the palm of Sarah's hand.

"This is beautiful. Are you sure you want me to hold onto this. It seems to be very old."

"It is. But I trust you with it. Actually, this thing used to be a pendant, although the chain it was on was old and broken when we cataloged this particular piece."

"Thank you, Daniel. Now I have a small piece of you with me that I can hang on to during the time that I can't be with you." Sarah whispered, unclasping the gold chain on her neck and weaving it through the small ring on top of the gem Daniel had given her.

"Am I interrupting?" Teal'c asked quietly from where he had appeared in the door.

"No, of course not, Teal'c. Come on in." Daniel smiled.

"I have come to wish you luck, Daniel Jackson. I also wish to tell you that this is a very heroic move which you make this day. I am proud to call you my friend."

"Oh. Thanks Teal'c. I really appreciate that. Though I really don't see myself as being a hero. I'm just a normal guy who's doing what's necessary to help a good friend."

"You will realize your own heroism when this scenario ends, Daniel Jackson. For now I must take my leave. General Hammond wishes you luck as well."

"Okay. I really appreciate you coming by, Teal'c. Thanks again for sticking around. This can't be easy for you seeing how protective you are of everyone." Daniel said quietly, squeezing Teal'c's arm in appreciation.

"You are welcome." Teal'c nodded as he turned and walked slowly from the room.


Awaiting surgery in a room of his own, Jack tried to reassure Sam and ease some of the uneasiness and terror that he saw in her deep blue eyes. The fear that she was attempting to hide from him.

"It's going to be okay, Sam. I mean, think of what we've all been through over the past several years. You can't honestly believe that something like this is going to tear SG-1 apart. Daniel and I are going to pull through this just fine and things will get back to being just the way they were before."

"I know that, Jack. It's just that this whole thing is so unnerving. I can only imagine how you and Daniel must be feeling right now. If I were in your shoes I wouldn't be able to be as calm as you are right now. I'd be a nervous wreck." Sam said quietly,

"Believe me, it's not as easy as I make it look." Jack joked, causing Sam to laugh and slightly lifting the tension that laid heavy in the room.

"What are you going to do with your tags, Jack. You know you can't wear them into the operating room."

"Good point. I have an idea. Why don't you hold onto them for me, Sam. That way you have a part of me to hold onto if this thing gets too tough. Besides, I trust you."

"Sure. I'll hold onto your tags for you." Sam smiled as she realized that time was running short, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"May I come in?" General Hammond asked, sticking his head in the door.

"Of course. Come to wish me luck, sir." Jack said, shaking hands with his commanding officer and friend.

"Yes. Also I came to let you both know something. When I found out that this was a go, I took the liberty of contacting Jacob Carter. He sends his best and has reassured me that the Tok'ra will have an operative on hand ready to come through the Stargate at a moments notice in case we need any assistance."

"Okay. That's good I guess. I hope that in the extremely unlikely event that it comes to that, Jacob is the one who steps through that gate. I wouldn't be comfortable entrusting our lives to any of the other Tok'ra."

"Please be serious, Jack. Even though I have complete confidence in Dr. Fraiser's choice in the surgeon for this procedure, since friends are involved I prefer to err on the side of caution. That means having the Tok'ra standing by just in case."

"I agree with General Hammond. The Tok'ra are trustworthy or else my dad wouldn't have remained among them for all these years." Sam pointed out.

"All right. I know when I'm outnumbered." Jack sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Well, best of luck, Jack. I know that time is running short but I just wanted to tell you that Teal'c and I will take care of the girls until this thing is over. You don't need to worry." Hammond said reassuringly as another face appeared in the door, a face that brought the tension back thicker than ever.

"Colonel. It's time." Janet said, slightly reluctant when she saw the emotion in the room when she entered.