Chapter 9: Awakening

Hammond and Jacob had managed to find a large empty table in the hospital cafeteria and were sitting down having coffee and talking while they waited on the other four to come and meet them.

"So, George, you haven't really told me how this whole mess got started in the first place. When I got here all you told me was what was going on but you never said how it happened." Jacob asked.

"Well, apparently yesterday Jack had a routine examination with Dr. Fraiser and when she ran the results of his blood work, it showed that his liver function had severely decreased and he needed a transplant to live longer than six months to a year. So Dr. Jackson went online when he found out about it and found a site on live donation. He and Dr. Fraiser discussed it, discovered it to be a viable option and here we are now."

"No wonder Sam was so upset. None of them could have possibly had enough time to let anything sink in before things hit the fan with full force. I can't imagine having to absorb something like this so quickly."

"That's true. This has been a stressful time that's taken a toll on everyone involved. When Jonas came through yesterday morning and surprised us it was a very welcomed way to break the tension." Hammond agreed as he caught sight of the others walking into the cafeteria. "Here they are."

A few minutes later the other four had gotten something to eat and they were all sitting around the large table, taking advantage of each other's company and getting away from the "front line" of what was happening.

"Jacob, when exactly did you get here. I didn't even know you'd come through until Teal'c told me earlier." Jonas asked casually.

"Well, I got a message through the Stargate at about 0100 hours this morning. It was a handwritten, message in a bottle sort of thing. At first, it was more than a little confusing but after I realized there was only one person who would send a message to me like that, I was able to decrypt what the main point was and I got to Earth at about 0500. When we got back here, Teal'c came and met us outside the waiting room saying that you were asleep. That's probably why you didn't realize I was here." Jacob answered, grinning as Jonas turned bright red and Sam patted his shoulder lightly.

"This was a good idea to detach myself from the situation for a few minutes. I'm glad I decided to come with you guys this morning. Plus, I didn't realize how hungry I was until I put that first bite of food in my mouth." Sarah commented as she took a long sip of juice.

"Well, now that everyone appears to be done, I think our break is over. We really need to get back to the guys. I don't want to be away from Jack too long in case something were to happen." Sam said, heading out of the cafeteria as Sarah nodded her agreement and followed in her wake.


As Sam and Sarah got off of the elevator together on the surgical floor and walked to Jack's room, they were startled to see Janet standing right outside the door apparently waiting for them. Sam instinctively grasped Jack's tags that hung around her neck with her own and her knees were shaking so badly that Sarah had to support her.

"Janet. What's wrong?" Sam finally managed to ask, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Nothing's wrong. Oh, God. I'm sorry, Sam, I didn't mean to scare you. Everything's okay. Actually things are better than okay. I'm glad that Sarah's with you because I want to tell this news to both of you."

"What news?" Sarah spat out eagerly.

"Well, I just got done checking on Colonel O'Neill and Daniel and I found that their conditions have vastly improved since last night. Actually, they've both improved so much that we're going to bring them out of sedation today. I thought you'd both want to be here so I waited on you." Janet began as Sarah collapsed to her knees in relief and Sam knelt beside her, hugging her. "First I need to tell you how this is going to work. What I'm going to do is stop the sedatives that we've been running into their IV lines so that they won't be affecting them anymore. But it's going to take a few hours before they'll regain consciousness, they won't wake up right away. This is almost over so you're going to have to be patient for just a little longer."

"At least we'll be able to get back to a little bit of a sense of normalcy in our lives. This is the first step to getting this whole thing over with. Where do we start?" Sam asked warily as she helped Sarah back to her feet.

"Since we're already here, I thought I'd start with Colonel O'Neill. Then I'll go and tend to Daniel. Sarah, if you want you can go to Daniel's room and wait for me there. This won't take very long and I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

"Okay. I'll be waiting for you." Sarah said as she turned and hurried down the hall.


As Janet and Sam walked into Jack's room, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of Sam's heart. She couldn't wait for the sedative that Jack had been under since the surgery had ended to wear off so he would wake up and make one of his crazy jokes to make her laugh or simply look at her with those big brown eyes that she loved so much. As Sam watched as Janet disconnected the drug from Jack's IV line, her face lit up with a bright smile as her heart soared.

"There we go. It's all done. It should only take a few hours for him to start to come around. I've disconnected the sedatives, now the rest is up to him. Try talking to him, Sam. Hearing your voice may help pull him out of it a little sooner." Janet said reassuringly. "You look more relaxed than you've seemed in a couple of days."

"Yeah, I am. I think it's because I know that in a few hours things will start getting back to normal and it's finally starting to sink in that I don't have to worry anymore." Sam admitted.

"Well, I can't stay with you for now. I have to go and see to Daniel so he can come back to Sarah. My guess is when they wake up both Jack and Daniel will be surprised at how many people have ended up here supporting them."

"I agree. They will be pleasantly surprised."

Sarah was back in Daniel's room, sitting by his side, when she heard Janet enter. Upon hearing her, she turned her head and offered a smile.

"Hey, Sarah. It's time to get this thing over. I'm sure you're ready to have Daniel wake up and come back to you." Janet said softly, walking over to stand next to the bed.

"More than you know. I just wanted to tell you that before when I said that even though I didn't trust the situation at all I did trust you, I meant what I said. I was afraid, I won't lie about that, but somehow I knew that no matter what happened you would bring Daniel back to me and now that's exactly what you're doing." Sarah whispered.

"That means a lot to me. What I'm going to do now is disconnect the sedation from the IV line. Once I do that, he won't be directly affected by the medication anymore. After that, it should only take a few hours for him to wake up. Like I told Sam, if you talk to him and let him hear your voice it may bring him out of it a little sooner."

"Thank you. I'll do that. I know I've said this before, Janet, but I appreciate what you've done here. You stayed with Daniel and Jack, making sure that they were safe and came out of this okay."

"You're welcome."

As Sarah watched, Janet disconnected the medication from the IV port that was keeping Daniel sedated. When Janet was finished and Sarah went back to her fiancé's side, her heart was light because she knew that there truly was no more danger and soon Daniel would awaken and undoubtedly put untold amounts of energy into trying to reassure her. Taking his hand in her own, she settled in for the wait.


Back in the waiting room, the other four had just arrived from the cafeteria and were wondering what was going on with their friends. For a long moment, they were silent with quiet wondering and reverence of what had transpired up to that point.

"I wish we could have some way of knowing what was going on with Jack and Daniel. I know that if something wasn't right someone would have surely said something, but still it's a little unsettling."

"I concur, Jonas Quinn. It is indeed unnerving to be unaware if things are still well." Teal'c agreed solemnly.

"The thing is that if we're feeling this anxious right now I can't even begin to imagine what Sam and Sarah were going through while they were still in surgery and we didn't know anything. I mean, who would've thought that we'd be in this type of situation to begin with." Jonas said thoughtfully.

"Well, sometimes things just happen that we can't foresee, Jonas. I do agree though that it's not very productive that we're sitting in here on our hands when we could be at least finding out something about what's going on. Hey, I have an idea. I'm going to go and talk to Sam and see if I can't find out something." Jacob reasoned.

"That's a good idea, Jacob. Then at least we'll know for sure that things are still on the right track." Hammond agreed as Jacob nodded slightly and headed out the door to talk to his daughter.


Sam was sitting with Jack, talking to him softly and trying to help him to come around. She just hoped that Janet was right and her voice would help to bring him back.

"Hey. It's almost completely over. Janet discontinued the sedation she had you under so you're free to come back to us. There are several things that I want to tell you about so you need to hurry up and wake up so I can fill you in on everything. More than anything, I miss you, Jack. Now that I don't have to worry myself to death I realize how much I miss you around to talk to." Sam whispered, turning fast when she heard a soft knock on the door frame. She relaxed and smiled a little when she saw Jacob standing there. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Sam. How are things holding up? We were sitting on our hands back in the waiting room trying to figure out what's happening and I decided to come and see if you've heard anything new."

"Actually, something wonderful has happened. Janet said that Jack and Daniel have recovered enough that they didn't need to be sedated anymore so she disconnected the sedatives about an hour or so ago. They should wake up before too long. God, Dad, I can't tell you how relieved I am that this thing is finally over."

"That's great, honey. I know that you've been under a lot of stress since this thing started and I'm glad for everyone involved that everything can start getting back to normal." Jacob said, pausing for a moment as if listening for something Sam couldn't hear. "Oh, and Selmak says that he'll help in the process if he can."

"I appreciate that but I hope that won't be necessary now. If things keep progressing this well, then everything will be as it was before within a few weeks." Sam laughed, touched by the concern of her father's symbiote.

"Sam, I can't imagine what you've been through with all this. You couldn't have possibly had time to process what was happening. No wonder you were so afraid and felt so helpless. I only wish I would have been here for you when you needed me most. If I'd understood how serious the situation truly was, I'd have had one of the other Tok'ra replace me on the mission I was doing and come to you a lot sooner than I did. You needed me and I let you down again. I feel like I put my work first. I'm so sorry, Sam."

"Dad, you don't need to be sorry. You didn't let me down. I understand the importance of the work that you do for the Tok'ra in the fight against the Goa'uld. You couldn't have gotten out of what you were doing. What matters to me, Dad, is that you came as soon as you could and you're here now. I love you, Dad. Don't ever doubt that."

"I love you too, Sam. I just don't want to let you down again like I did in the past." Jacob said softly, embracing his daughter tightly.

"You won't, Dad. I promise, you won't." Sam whispered.

"Well, I hate to leave you alone but I need to go and let everyone else know what's happened now. I'll come back and check up on you again later. Give Jack our best."


Jacob walked back into the waiting room at the end of the hall and was immediately greeted by three curious, anxious faces wanting to know what was going on. He approached the group and smiled encouragingly at them.

"Jacob? What did you find out? Did Sam tell you anything about what's happening?" Hammond asked his friend.

"Well, Sam told me that there has been a big development. Janet has pulled the sedation and they should wake up in a couple of hours." Jacob smiled.

"This is indeed good news." Teal'c said happily.

"Exactly. You could have cut the tension with a knife so far. I'm just glad that things are getting better." Jonas pointed out.

"I haven't seen Sam so relieved in a long time. She told me earlier today that this is the first time in a long time she'd felt that helpless in any situation. The sooner that this whole thing is over and done with the better for everyone involved."

"Yeah, I can't say I'd argue with that, Jacob. Fortunately this will all be over very soon and we can all get back to the normal routine of our lives. I'm sure by tomorrow Jack's going to be pestering Janet to let him out of here so he can get back to work." Hammond agreed, causing the others to laugh at the truth of the statement.

"It appears that there is nothing further to be done now than wait for O'Neill and Daniel Jackson to awaken. I hope it will not be long." Teal'c pointed out with a solemn nod of his head.


About an hour later, Sarah was sitting faithfully at Daniel's bedside talking to him as Janet had suggested, hoping that he would soon wake up and look at her or talk to her. Soon enough, her hopes were founded as she felt Daniel slowly begin to stir under her touch and his hand tightened around hers. Sarah looked up in surprise, just in time to see Daniel's sleepy blue eyes open and look directly into hers.

"Sarah?" Daniel mumbled, trying to focus his vision without his glasses.

"Hey. I'm here. It's all over now. How do you feel?" Sarah asked to which Daniel replied with a half smile and a nod of his head as she handed him his glasses and helped him to put them on.

"Thanks. That's better. Now I can see you."

"I'm glad. That was a very brave thing you did, Daniel. I am so very proud of you."

"Did it work? How's Jack? Is he okay?" Daniel asked anxiously.

"Jack's fine. Janet said that things went perfectly and there were no complications at all. Just relax, everything's okay." Sarah soothed, gently stroking Daniel's brow to calm his nervousness.

"That's good. I feel better now."

"Welcome back, Daniel." Janet smiled as she entered the room, responding to the call bell that Sarah had activated when Daniel had awakened.

"Thanks. From what I hear, you need to be congratulated on a job well done. Jack's okay, I'm okay. You did a great job." Daniel smiled but his smile immediately faded as his pain became obvious to him.

"Hold on, Daniel. I'll go get something for that pain. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, Janet returned with a syringe of medication that she injected into the IV port. Then she patted her friend's arm and left the room to give the couple some privacy and to let Daniel rest.

"You'll feel better in a little while, sweetheart. Just relax and close your eyes."

"But I think I've slept enough from what I gather. How long have I been out anyway?" Daniel protested, though his body wasn't listening as his eyes began slowly drooping.

"You've been sleeping for two days but you need all the rest you can get right now. That was an extreme ordeal you went through. So close your eyes and get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." Sarah whispered, gently stroking her fiancé's arm to help him relax. Within moments, Daniel could no longer fight the drowsiness that was claiming him and he slipped back into a sound sleep, barely feeling Sarah place a kiss on his forehead.


At the same time, Sam was sitting with Jack. She was talking to him constantly about things that she knew were pleasant to him in an attempt to bring him back to the conscious world.

"I can't wait until I can tell you about the things that have gone on while you've been sleeping. Something tells me that you're going to be very surprised when you hear it all." Sam said quietly, resting her hand lightly on Jack's arm.

"Well then you'd better keep it to yourself. You know how much I hate surprises." Jack murmured sleepily as he opened his eyes and brought his free hand over to cover the top of Sam's hand.

"Hey, Jack. How do you feel? Are you hurting?"

"Not too bad. Especially when you were who I got to wake up to. I feel healthy again."

"I'm glad to hear that. After you completely recover we have a lot to talk about."

"Like that crazy, spontaneous thing that we were going to plan for SG-1 after this is all over. Whatever that ends up being." Jack said, shooting Sam a tired, lopsided grin.

"You remembered." Sam beamed, tears of relief glistening in her eyes.

"Of course I did. I may be getting older but my mind's not going yet."

"I know. Actually I have some ideas for that. After you rest for a bit, we'll discuss them."

"Sam, I just wanted to tell you that…." Janet began from the doorway, causing Sam and Jack to both turn their attention to her.

"Tell me what, Janet." Sam asked.

"That Daniel woke up a few minutes ago. I was also going to tell you that the Colonel would probably be waking up soon but I guess I don't need to tell you that now. Are you feeling okay, sir?"

"I'm feeling pretty good, Doc. Considering what I've just been through. Just a little tired. Might take a nap here in a minute. But it's not me I'm concerned about at the moment. How's Daniel? He's the hero in this." Jack answered with a yawn.

"He's doing fine, sir. He was in a little pain so I gave him something for it and he's asleep at the moment. Now that both of you are awake, we're over the peak of the mountain that we were facing. It's all downhill from here. You and Daniel will be back hopping planets in about a month." Janet reassured him quietly.

"Good. I'm glad. Nice work, Janet." Jack mumbled, giving Sam a heartwarming smile as he faded back into sleep.

"Get some rest, Jack. You've been through hell so you definitely need it." Sam smiled, running a hand over Jack's hair and kissing his forehead softly.