Chapter 6

They took turns at watching over their friend, though Daniel was loath to leave his vigil. Somehow he felt responsible, thinking perhaps it his fault that Jack was lying there fighting for his life. If he hadn't made him drink that damn beer; if he'd been sober enough to notice that Jack wasn't hung-over as he had thought he was; if only he'd stayed awake long enough on Saturday morning to recognise that Jack was really ill and try and get him to go see the Doctor instead of ignoring the fact that Jack looked terrible. There were so many 'ifs' that it almost overwhelmed him. If only he'd...

"It's not your fault Daniel Jackson!"

Teal'c's deep clear voice penetrated Daniel's fog of self-flagellation.

"Uh? What? Teal'c?" Daniel gaped as he tried to recall just what it was that Teal'c had said.

"I believe that O'Neill would not lay the guilt for his illness at your feet, Daniel Jackson. You are in no way responsible for his condition."

Daniel blushed, and shook his head at Teal'c's perception. Sometimes his friend's knowledge and understanding of human feelings was so deep it took his breath away, considering that he was an alien.

"How did you know what I was thinking Teal'c?"

"It is obvious my friend that you are under a great deal of stress due to your misapprehension. I do not believe that such undertaking on your behalf will improve O'Neill's health."

Daniel was rendered speechless for a change. There were occasions like this that he felt like an open book and that Teal'c could read his thoughts and feelings with great perspicacity.

Daniel blew out a huge breath.

"I can't help it Teal'c. I hate seeing him like this. I feel so...so useless. I'm helpless to do anything other than just watch him get worse."

"Have they not yet discovered the main cause?"

"No," he sighed, "the lab boys are still working on it," Daniel shrugged in defeat. He was an archaeologist not a research assistant. He wished he could go down there and help find out what exactly was wrong with Jack. At least then he would be doing something constructive instead of just sitting there doing absolutely nothing. He wanted at best to be by his friend's side, perhaps mopping his fevered brow or whatever he could. He was willing to do anything, but all he could do was to sit up in the observation room and watch while others cared for Jack.

"I will watch over him for now Daniel Jackson. Dr. Brightman says you are to go and partake of some nourishment - but was insistent that you forego any coffee - before she is required to force-feed you and that you will afterwards go and rest. She has asked me to remind you that she will not hesitate to sedate you so that you will be forced into getting some sleep if you refuse to do so."

Daniel snorted. Dr. Brightman was getting to know him quite well, and she was beginning to sound like Janet. With those thoughts his heart jolted. Would he ever be able to come to terms with what happened to the petite auburn haired fire-ball that Janet was? She had been a good friend as well as their physician and she may have been small but she more than made up for it in other ways. Even General Hammond had met his match there in all things pertaining to the health of her patients.

Dr. Brightman had a long way to go to fill Janet's shoes if she ever could, but she was learning fast and Jack was no mean push-over when it boiled down to it; stubborn to a fault was General Jack O'Neill. That was one reason why he was down there; if he'd only said he'd felt lousy earlier, then all this might have been avoided.

Daniel summoned all his strength and stood wearily, though his eyes never left the occupant of the bed in the room below.

Reluctantly he nodded to Teal'c who responded with a slight dip of his head. Daniel quietly left the room and headed to the commissary, though he wasn't feeling in the least bit hungry and he was way beyond sleepy.

It was still touch and go several days later. Jack hadn't deteriorated any further, but then, he hadn't improved either. They were all worried about him. There was a melancholy air around the whole base while everyone kept their fingers crossed that he pulled through this, just as he had on many occasions come back from the brink of death. Though until they discovered exactly what the problem was they could only hope that his Irish luck held true.

Dixon had re-opened the base again once Dr. Brightman had assured him that whatever the General had contracted had proved not to be contagious. Most of the SGC personnel though had volunteered to stay on the base so that they would be close at hand to hear the latest news on the health of their Commander.

Sam wandered into the observation room as soon as she'd arrived at the SGC. She had been home for the first time in what had seemed like ages and had spent a quiet evening there with Pete. She'd apologised to him that she really didn't feel up to celebrating her safe return from another mission; not with the General so ill. Pete had sighed but said he'd understood. Would he ever really be able to understand the complicated relationship between her and Jack? She pondered. Could he live with that?

She looked down at her friend and smiled sadly. Daniel was asleep. His arms folded over the bench with his head resting on them, glasses askew. She should make him go to bed but she knew how much the General meant to him too; to all of them. In his short time as CO of the SGC, General O'Neill had proved himself a worthy successor to General Hammond, and there was nothing the personnel of the base wouldn't do for him.

She sat in the vacant chair and nudged her team-mate who woke up with a start and Jack's name on his lips through deep concern.

"Wha...? Jack?"

"There's no change Daniel, which I guess is a good thing. At least it means he's no worse. Go get some rest. Take a shower; eat!" she ordered.

"Thank god!" he said, sighing with relief, "No, it's okay. I'm fine..."

"I could make it an order Daniel."

He glanced sideways at her, frowning, doubt written over his gentle features. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and blinked owlishly at her, wondering if she really would make it an order. She'd never normally use her rank to persuade him to do anything, well, at least, not often.

"Sam...please don't..." he pleaded, but was interrupted when the door was suddenly flung open.

"We think we've identified the cause of the problem," Doctor Brightman informed them with a smile as she hurriedly entered. "but we still have no idea where he picked it up. At least we should be able to treat him now and see if it works."

At their puzzled looks she continued.

"Whatever it is, we discovered that it's a chemical that is absorbed through the skin and it's this unknown element that's causing the General's illness, add to that the anomaly in the beer and we have an unknown illness." she announced proudly. "When we looked at a past sample of the General's blood, we found exactly what we were missing. Unfortunately we still don't know what it is exactly.

"That's great!" they chorused. "So he should start to improve?"

"Once we can find the right medication and the correct dosage to administer, then yes, but it's a case of hit and miss until then; it could take a long time to sort it out and there's no guarantee that it will clear it up completely. He may suffer some residual damage, but I won't be able to tell as yet. One other thing Dr. Jackson. Did the General burn himself at all prior to his collapse?"

"What? Not that I know of, no. Why?" Daniel frowned. What had that to do with whatever Jack was suffering from? He asked himself.

"Only that his right hand shows severe blistering as a result of what looks like a burn, that's all. It's probably nothing."

Daniel turned and watched his friend for a few moments, then sighed. He didn't recall Jack burning his hand at all, but then he himself was suffering a bit with that dang hang-over and he was sure there was nothing wrong with Jack's hand when they drove into the base that morning. Sometimes he wished Jack would be a little more forthcoming when it came to feeling ill or was hurting. He guessed the man would never change though.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he pondered over the problem. He was so tired. He'd lost count of when he'd really slept, showered, shaved or eaten last. Unbeknownst to the Doctor, he'd been living on coffee, despite her orders to drink something else. It had been brought to him by his ever faithful friend Teal'c. And although Teal'c had never said as much in words, Daniel knew he was as upset about Jack as were he and Sam. He rubbed his face again, his fingers pushing up his glasses to rub over his eyes.

"Go and rest Daniel. I'll stay here..."

"Actually there's no need for you to stay away from his side now we've sort of identified the problem," the Doctor assured them. "As I said he had a severe reaction to the chemical, but it's nothing like I've ever seen before. This wasn't the usual response to such a severe...allergy. Nothing like the sort of reaction you would have had to any normal stimuli Dr. Jackson."

"But Jack hasn't been anywhere off-world for a long time," Daniel puzzled.

There was silence in the room once more as Daniel digested the medic's information when suddenly Sam all but shouted out, making him startle.

"Wait!" she cried. "Daniel do you remember when the Ambassador from Venastras visited?"

"Ambassador Kaytan?" Daniel gaped, wondering where Sam was going with this old news.

"Yes. You said that touching was taboo on their planet."

"Yeah... So?" He had no idea what Sam was getting at. Maybe it was because he was so tired and he had just woken up from a deep sleep. His head still felt muzzy.

"General O'Neill kept looking at his hand after the Ambassador shook it," Sam gasped, breathless with realisation. "Don't you see?" she asked hopeful that Daniel would understand. "We thought that it was strange at the time because the General seemed a little 'spaced out' for a moment afterwards...and now he has blisters on his hand!"

Daniel jumped up excitedly, all traces of tiredness banished in the joy of comprehension.

"Th...the c...contact!" he cried, his words tumbling over each other in the rush to voice his discovery. "Could it really be that simple? That there was a reason for not touching?"

Doctor Brightman looked at them totally perplexed.

Sam began to explain her theory slowly to the Doctor who then came to the same conclusion about what they were saying.

"Could we perhaps get a sample from them?" the medic asked hopefully. "It will make the research into finding a cure that much easier."

Sam nodded and said she would ask Colonel Dixon if she, Daniel and Teal'c could make a quick return to Venastras to take a few swabs. She was out of the room in a flash, followed by Brightman who would endorse their request.

Daniel turned to look out of the window once he was alone again and whispered to his friend to hang on just a little bit longer. Then he too hurried after Sam, eager to find a cure for his best friend.

TBC