Title: Unity.
Author: LetitiaRichards.
Previously:
When the charge had dissipated, Janet snatched the scalpel and handed it to Sam quickly because all her efforts were focused on the Colonel who was now convulsing wildly in the throes of a seizure.
Chapter 27
"Oh god!" Sam cried on seeing Jack in such distress.
Janet and her nurses were there to make sure Jack didn't hurt himself further, and after a few moments his body stilled and fell limp. Janet quickly felt for a pulse.
Long moments passed before she ordered everyone to help get him back onto his bed.
Teal'c, Daniel and General Hammond all moved forward to help lift their friend and carry him the few yards to the bed, where Janet immediately pulled the curtains round it while Lt. Bodegas shepherded everyone from the room, asking that they wait outside until Dr. Fraiser was ready to answer their questions.
Sam slumped down onto the hard plastic chair and buried her head in her hands wondering why Jack had acted like that again. There was no-one here, other than them who would have known about the key word; so why? Was he beyond their help? Janet would surely now insist he should be treated outside the mountain by Dr. MacKenzie and his staff at a specialist hospital. Something she knew that Jack would find abhorrent and embarrassing.
Daniel was standing, well, leaning against the wall, his thoughts a million miles away. Absently he pushed his glasses back up his nose and folded his arms across his chest, sighing in frustration. He thought he had made progress with Jack and that Jack was on the road to recovery. So what had gone so wrong?
General Hammond paced a few yards then turned about to open his mouth to issue fresh orders when the door opened to reveal a grim looking Janet.
"Doctor?"
"I'm sorry but he's slipped into a coma. I'm running some tests from his blood-work, so I won't know any answers until I get the results back."
Sam sniffed back a sob, but her eyes filled with tears. Daniel sighed angrily and turned to face the wall, thumping it with his fist in frustration. Teal'c remained outwardly passive and General Hammond blew out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. He was angry. Livid even at those who had done this to Jack.
"Keep me informed Doctor. I'll be in my office!" he said with a touch of his anger showing through.
"Yes sir," Janet replied with a nod.
General Hammond was already on his way when she'd replied and she watched his angry strides as he stalked away.
"I'm sorry guys. There's nothing I can do at the moment, but you three can be there. Talk to him..."
"He's in a coma, Janet. He's hardly in a..."
"They say that even in a coma, Daniel, patients can hear what's going on around them. Sometimes it's said that they eventually respond to the voices and wake up," Janet explained. "Can you be there for him now? You promised him Daniel. As did you Sam."
"Of course we will Janet. You know that," Sam replied, brushing away her tears. She stood ready to enter the infirmary. "I'll always be there for him," she whispered.
"Good. Go to him Sam. Tell him what he wants to hear, and it might just work."
Sam pulled herself upright, taking a deep breath and smiled though her heart was aching. With a nod from Janet she entered the room.
She pulled up the hard chair and sat herself down, prepared to sit there for a few hours until Daniel or Teal'c took her place. She took hold of his hand, cradling it in hers to place a tender kiss on his knuckles, then swept the other hand over his brow and down to rest it against his cheek.
"Jack. I know you can hear me. I don't know what's going on inside your head, but you need to know that we, that is Daniel, Teal'c and I, and everyone else here at the SGC, are rooting for you. We want you back Jack. We can't do this without you. Please Jack come back to us. To me. I love you Jack, you know that. I don't want to live without you. I miss you so much. Just get yourself well again. Everything will be okay. I promise..."
Sam's voice broke, but she sniffed back the tears, but kept up the one-sided conversation, letting him know how much she loved him and needed him to wake up.
She wasn't sure how long she'd sat there talking about anything and everything, but she jumped slightly when she felt a tap on her shoulder and spun round to find Daniel ready to take over.
"Sam. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. General Hammond says he needs to know how your investigations are coming along. I'll sit with him now."
Sam dried the moisture from her face and before she could disappear, Daniel pulled her into a hug.
"He's gonna be okay Sam. I'm sure of it. Janet has high hopes of his recovery."
"Yeah, sure Daniel," she sighed, hoping he was right and that Janet could work a miracle.
OoOoOoOoO
"Do you know why Colonel O'Neill's in a coma Doctor?" General Hammond asked the next day when they were gathered around the briefing room table.
"If you recall sir, I mentioned about this chemical substance that we discovered in the Colonel's blood?" Hammond nodded. "Well, according to my test results, it's no longer there."
"How could that be?" Sam asked in awe. Chemicals just don't disappear into thin air.
"I can only come to one conclusion sir and it's this, that when Teal'c 'zatted' the Colonel, it started off a chain reaction, hence the seizure. As far as I know, no-one has ever reacted like that to a blast from a Zat gun."
"So you're saying that if Teal'c hadn't of blasted Jack he would still be under the influence of this chemical?" Daniel probed to better understand what had happened.
"That's the only explanation I can come up with Daniel. Which is a good thing, isn't it?"
"But Jack's in a coma, Janet!" Daniel sighed, pushing his glasses up to pinch the bridge of his nose. His head ached with all these strange hypotheses being put forth.
"Yes he is, but there's no reason to believe he shouldn't come out of it soon. The scans and tests all show there is normal brain activity," Janet said, her hopes that Jack would come round soon were high.
"But what prompted him to try and kill himself again? That's what I would like to know!" Daniel persisted.
"That was purely incidental, I'm afraid," Janet sighed. She'd questioned her nurses thoroughly after the incident. "Lts. Bodegas and Kuhn were having a personal conversation on the ward and during their chat, that word 'Mariposa' came up. Apparently Bodegas has a new boyfriend and he wrote to her in Spanish; she read it out loud, not knowing what the effect would be on the Colonel."
"That was rather an unfortunate coincidence wasn't it? It just happened that her letter was read out in the infirmary at that time?" Sam queried suspiciously.
"I have to agree Doctor. I want to see Lt. Bodegas and that letter," Hammond ordered.
Janet made her way to the phone and ordered Bodegas to report to the briefing room with her letter.
Minutes later the young nurse entered the room, looking slightly nervous.
"General sir!" she snapped to attention, but he waived her formality aside.
"Lieutenant," he began. "I understand you read out loud from a letter you'd received from your boyfriend?"
"Yes sir." She was puzzled.
"Have you known this young man for long?"
"No sir. Only a few weeks." She kept casting Janet fearful looks but the medic was reassuring her with nods.
"Do you have a picture of him?"
"Yes sir." She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out the envelope, taking the photo from it and handing it to the General.
Hammond glanced at it but handed it to Daniel who studied it. The young man was smiling at the camera, dressed in his US Marine uniform.
"What's his name?" the archaeologist asked curiously.
"Enrico Diaz, Dr. Jackson."
Daniel nodded his head and passed the picture over to Sam.
Sam gasped and looked up at Daniel. Then handed the picture back to General Hammond.
"Sir. This is Miguel Sanchez."
TBC
Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It's good to know people are still reading and are staying with me on this.
