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DISTANT MEMORIES
By Lingren.
Previously:
"Of course," Daniel grinned. He liked these guys. They were good honest men caught up in a senseless battle for world domination. They were just pawns in a worthless game of chess. Moving from one side to the other in an endless game that had no significance or meaning.
Chapter 9
General Hammond stood near the bottom of the ramp in the gate room, tense lines of worry clouded his normally passive face. The SGC had been alerted a few moments ago by SG-2 that they had found SG-1 and needed a medical team to meet them when they came through the Stargate. The message had been brief and succinct, no names or other details had been forthcoming so Hammond was taking bets within himself between either Jack or Dr. Jackson being the injured party. As so often happened it was usually one or the other of the two that somehow managed to acquire an injury of some description.
He'd been down right annoyed that the Government of Ban Danara hadn't mentioned the war in all their communications before he sent his best team out there. Curiosity was building and eating away at his thoughts as the minutes ticked by and the wormhole remained open, yet free of any travellers.
Janet and her medical team entered through the blast doors and they waited in the background trying to be unobtrusive until her skills and those of her team were required.
She took a step closer to the General and stood at his elbow.
"Do we know who or what to expect sir?" she asked, her eyes drifting from the open wormhole to the anxious face of the General.
Hammond turned slightly to offer a slight wry grimace.
"No. The message merely stated that your team was needed Doctor..." he began then suddenly footsteps clattered onto the ramp and they both turned back to see who had arrived.
One of Major Ferretti's team was holding up a member of SG-1. Daniel was so tired and weak, he appeared to be in shock and as he stood there looking lost for a moment, Janet noticed he was trembling. Lt. Robson had supporting him for the last four hundred metres when dehydration and a lack of sufficient food had finally taken its toll on his body during the long hot trek back to the gate. But it was the sight of Jack's distress that had finished him off. He sat down heavily at the bottom of the ramp, dropping his head into his hands.
Janet took a step towards him but Daniel waved her away.
"I'm fine. It's not me. It's Jack," Daniel told her. "He's..." he couldn't bring himself to say it, and they were interrupted by Sam's entrance into the realms of the SGC.
"Let go Captain! I'm fine!" she grumbled, shaking off the soldier's grip.
She had fought off the supporting hand of Captain Arnold as soon as she'd stepped from the wormhole and now she staggered down the ramp and stood breathing heavily just behind Daniel. She wiped a hand across her eyes, brushing away the tears.
Captain Arnold faded into the background along with LT. Robson, but Hammond only had eyes for the two exhausted members of his premier team.
Janet could see by Sam's tear-stained face and by her short temper that she would need some gentle handling with plenty of rest and some good food into her to make her more human.
Sam pushed her weary body into some semblance of attention and hurriedly tried to explain their desperate rush to the gate because the Colonel had been wounded.
Hammond and Janet listened with growing surprise and shock to her harrowing explanation of their flight to get Jack home before it was too late.
"Then why aren't they coming through?" Hammond asked, stunned by her revelation.
"They wouldn't let me stay," Sam sniffed noisily. "I should have stayed with him, but they wouldn't let me. He didn't know them, but they practically pushed me through the Stargate."
Hammond and Janet were thoroughly confused by now.
"Sam, come on please. Let's get you to the infirmary," Janet moved her arm around her friend's shoulder, but Sam pulled away, pushing Janet's hands from the top of her arm, and having to grasp at Daniel's shoulder for support when she staggered.
"No!" she cried. "I'm not leaving yet. Daniel, tell them," she cried, slumping down to sit with her team-mate.
Daniel soothed her by taking her in his arms and casting an anxious glare towards Hammond and Janet.
"Jack doesn't know anyone," Daniel explained. "He only recognises Sam. He's got two bullet wounds and is sick with a fever which doesn't help. The bastards injected him with something...it's to do with their re-conditioning of his mind, and when we were about 200 metres from the gate, he woke, obviously disoriented, and tried to fight the others off. He thought they were the enemy and he went into some sort of fit and then his heart stopped…" Daniel choked, the words dying in his throat. "They were working hard to get him back again," he continued, "but they didn't want us to stay and watch, so they rushed us back here. They shoulda let Sam deal with him."
Sam broke into fresh sobs and Daniel pulled her tighter into his arms.
"We don't even know if they were successful..." Daniel broke off when his voice cracked and he blinked rapidly to dispel his own tears. He hated to think that Jack might have died alone back there without his team beside him.
The wormhole flickered again then suddenly the gate room was filled with cries as SG-2 along with Teal'c and the rest of SG-3 came dashing through carrying a stretcher. Each holding down the weakly thrashing figure of Jack O'Neill.
They quickly lowered him to the ramp and Janet flew to his side. She could feel the heat coming from him in waves, and it was obvious to her that he was fitting again, she yelled a string of orders.
Sam broke away from Daniel and stood, hovering close by, watching Jack as his writhing abated and his limbs fell unnaturally still.
"He's crashing," Janet cried, and her team pushed past everyone as they leapt into action.
Sam and Daniel sat side by side on one of the infirmary beds. Neither had much to say as their thoughts were tuned to what was happening in the OR down the hall.
They had both been ordered to sit there and rest after their own examinations had revealed they were in need of sleep, food and fluids. Janet didn't want them going anywhere and charged Teal'c to watch over them.
Sam had picked at her food and Daniel hadn't fared much better either. How could Janet expect them to eat and sleep at a time like this. Sam absently rubbed a hand across her stomach; it ached for food but she was too wound up to swallow it, and besides she couldn't force it past the lump lodged in her throat right now. She pushed the barely touched plate away, and with a heavy sigh she fell into a broody silence.
Sleep was something they were both fighting. Sam didn't want to fall asleep, at least not until she knew that Jack was going to be okay.
And Daniel just couldn't allow himself to rest knowing Jack was fighting for his life.
Daniel couldn't believe it had only been five minutes since he had last glanced up at the huge clock on the wall. He was so certain it had stopped working. He flicked his wrist and studied the face of his watch; shook it and held it to his ear. It was still ticking; but how? Surely an hour had passed already since the last time he'd looked.
He would have paced the floor but he was too damn tired to move, besides, he thought, if he made a move then he was pretty sure Sam was going to fall down without him there to support her weary body. She looked all out, way beyond tiredness. She was pale, and black rings circled her hollow eyes. Right now, he knew he probably didn't look much better either, but that wasn't important.
Daniel closed his eyes for a moment and leaned against Sam; the gesture bringing some small measure of comfort to them both when she leaned into his touch as well.
The door being pushed open noisily made Daniel open his eyes and blink again as Janet entered the room and came straight across to the bed.
Daniel glanced up at the clock again and was surprised to find that another hour had gone by. He thought he'd only blinked. He looked up at Janet expectantly and felt Sam sit up and take note. Something she hadn't done all the time they'd been sitting there.
"Janet? Please say he's okay?" she murmured tearfully.
Janet gave a small grimace, making Daniel's heart plummet to his booted feet.
The petite medic sucked in a deep breath after looking down at her clip board, before she started speaking.
"Right! Where to begin?" she sighed. "The bullet wounds we treated, and although the most recent one was fine, he did lose a lot of blood and we're replacing that volume right now. It was the original bullet wound that was actually infected and was the cause of his high fever. It had been treated, but it's apparent to me that their methods of treatment and hygiene are vastly different to ours," she harrumphed unhappily. "If you had stayed there for much longer and it remained infected, then he could possibly have ended up losing either his leg or his life. It's all sorted now though!" she reassured them quickly seeing the worry on their faces deepen. "I've got him on some pretty strong antibiotics, so you don't have to worry about that."
Sam still turned a whiter shade of pale at this news, if that was at all possible. She had been pale to start with. Daniel took her hand in his and slipped his arm round her shoulders, trying to smile reassuringly.
"What has me more than a little worried though is that his blood chemistry is all out, and I don't know what's causing it. I believe that whatever he was injected with is what's causing him to have fits," Janet sighed again, baffled by the evidence in front of her.
"Even the Colonel's 'other' team didn't know what chemicals were used to wipe his memory before they were about to do whatever they had planned for him," Sam explained. The idea chilling her even more. She shivered and Janet called for another blanket to wrap round the Major.
"I'm sorry Janet, I never thought to bring the empty syringe with me; we were more concerned with trying to get him home again."
"It's okay Sam, I've already got my people working on it down in the Lab. Whatever it is. If we can counteract the chemical, those fits should stop. We're trying to filter it out of his system, but I can't tell how much if any damage has been done already, not until he wakes up."
"Can we see him Janet. Please!"
"You should be resting Sam. How about you getting at least a few hours sleep and then you can sit with him. Hopefully he'll be out for hours yet. I promise I'll wake you if...if anything happens. Okay?"
Sam nodded tearfully and shivered again. Janet helped her down from the bed and got her to lie on the one next to Daniel's, insisting he gets some rest too. Sam was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and Janet covered her friend up with another warm blanket.
Daniel didn't argue, he was just too tired. He just sprawled out on the bed and was instantly asleep. Teal'c removed his boots and covered him with a blanket too then took his place between the beds as sentinel to watch over his team-mates.
Janet left them under Teal'c's care, while she returned to Jack's side.
He'd already been revived a third time. Just how many times would it take before they figured out the answers? How much more could he take without suffering any permanent brain damage? She sucked in a huge weary sigh and tried to shut out the morbid thoughts. She had to concentrate on being positive. She was going to make damn sure he survived.
TBC
