A/N: I know I'm horrible for leaving you all hanging like that. I really did try to update Monday night. I got an error message. Maybe I got the translation wrong on the tablet on how to log in and upload… Anyway, I promise to resolve things soon. Thanks for your reviews and I hope you keep reading, even though I am an evil cliffhanger novice.
The Orb
Chapter 6
Sam felt herself float up to being able to sense her surroundings again and found that something had forced its way into her mouth and was pushing air into her lungs. It reminded her of the time when Jolinar her as a host. Trying to keep herself calm, since she knew she hadn't the strength fight it anyway, Sam tried to sense what was going on around her other than the machines. She wished she could just open her eyes, but they felt like lead weights. She could hear two nurses discussing her status in hushed tones. Sam caught the words "irregular" and "respirator", so she figured that she had needed help breathing. Sam was finding it hard to stay awake and as she succumbed to the darkness, she heard a mechanical buzzing and whirring faintly in her mind. Just before the blackness shrouded her, she caught a pattern – buzz, whir, buzz, whir… and then nothingness.
Jack was still waiting outside the infirmary doors and was just about ready to barge in and get some answers, as his patience was at an end. He couldn't stand not knowing how Sam was doing. He had just stood up and was preparing to make his move, when Janet opened the door.
"Colonel O'Neill, you can come in and see her, but only for five minutes." Dr. Frasier announced, and added, "And this time I really mean five minutes."
She looked at the Colonel and said less sternly, "Colonel, don't be shocked over the amount of machines that she is attached to. They are monitoring the slightest changes in her condition. Right now they are the only way I will know if and when her situation changes. She is basically in a coma except for the fact that her brainwaves are abnormal. Talk to her, sir, she may be able to hear you."
Unable to hold back any longer, Jack almost knocked the petite doctor over as he rushed into the infirmary. As he approached Sam's bedside, he could see all of the wires and tubes that were connected to her. It reminded him of the entity that had taken her over not too long ago. He felt as helpless now as he had a few months ago when he almost lost her for good. If she had died back then, he didn't know how he would have lived with himself, as he had been the one to fire the second shot from the zat.
Her pallor was as pale gray as he had ever seen a person, and with all his Special Ops, he had seen his share of soldiers with injuries. He sat down in the chair, a chair he had occupied so often when one of his "kids" had found their way into Dr. Frasier's care, and started his vigil until Janet would kick him out.
"Colonel, we had to put her on a respirator because her breathing was irregular and she needed help." Janet said quietly. "The force of the blow to her head has in effect "turned off" some of the areas of the brain that regulate normal involuntary functions, like breathing and circulation. The swelling is still not going down and if it doesn't soon, Sam may have to undergo surgery to relieve the pressure."
Jack just looked down at his pale Major, hoping that she would just wake up and give him one of the crooked smiles she reserved just for him.
Janet left quietly, knowing that the Colonel needed to talk to the one person he needed most.
"Carter, I... uh…, just in case you can hear me, we're all trying to find out what that thing did to you. Please keep fighting. I…, we all need you."
Just a little while longer to see what Teal'c and Daniel have discovered…
