Chapter 3: Ruins
The following day
The gate activated and the klaxons blared. General O'Neill rushed to the control room, wondering who was unexpectedly coming through. "It's an Unauthorized Gate Activation sir," Sgt. Harriman informed him, "Waiting for an IDC code... it's SG-1, sir."
Thinking out loud, O'Neill muttered, "They only left ten hours ago and they weren't due back until tomorrow morning." He turned to Davis and ordered, "Get a medical team to the Gate room." Harriman nodded and picked up the intercom phone, complying with the General's order. O'Neill rushed down to the Gate Room and waited impatiently for someone to step through the gate.
As he paced back and forth, suddenly a figure emerged from the event horizon. Daniel rushed down the metal ramp shouting, "We need a medical team now!" As he finished his words, Dr. Brightman along with a couple of nurses entered the room with a gurney.
O'Neill noticed that neither Carter, nor Teal'c, had followed Daniel through the gate. Daniel himself had a large cut on his forehead and was covered in dust. "What happened Daniel?" the General asked worriedly.
"There was an earthquake...the temple...it came down around us...Sam's buried...we need to get her out..." Daniel was obviously in a state of shock as he looked around the room frantically. He pushed away one of the nurses that was trying to see to his head injury, lashing out angrily, "Sam needs help now! Teal'c is trying to dig her out, but he needs help. Why are you all just standing there?"
O'Neill, at first looking distracted and nervous, moved to the phone on the wall. Quickly his composure returned and he took charge of the situation. "Get SG-3 geared up and down to the Gate Room for a rescue mission." He then turned to Dr. Brightman. "I need you and your team geared up and ready to go within fifteen minutes."
She nodded and replied, "Yes sir."
He faced Daniel and instructed, "Daniel, you go with the Doctor and brief her on the situation so she knows what she needs to bring." The Gate room quickly emptied, leaving the General standing there very alone and very worried.
Precisely fifteen minutes later, SG-3 and the medical team entered the wormhole behind Daniel to return to the moon. After a few hours of waiting for them to return, the General went down to the Gate room and began anxiously pacing around the room.
Suddenly, the gate activated, the code from SG-3 was received, and SG-3, Daniel, and Teal'c came through the gate. Following them was the medical team, carrying Sam on a stretcher. She was wearing a neck brace, her left arm was in a temporary cast, and there appeared to be a serious injury to her head. Her face and hair were plastered with a sandy layer of dust and dirt and her eyes were closed. She was clearly unconscious – but she was alive. The two men that had been carrying her gently placed her body on an awaiting gurney and quickly wheeled her out of the room to the infirmary, followed by a stoic Dr. Brightman.
O'Neill's eyes followed Carter's receding form until he could no longer see the gurney. He then turned to behold a somber looking group. "SG-3, go and get cleaned up and checked out in the infirmary. Daniel, Teal'c – briefing room now," he ordered.
When they finally reached the briefing room, all three men collapsed into chairs and stared at each other. O'Neill broke the silence, "Okay. Do either of you want to tell me what the hell happened out there?"
Daniel hesitantly began, "Jack, everything was normal. I was translating and photographing in the temple. Sam had collected soil and mineral samples and came into the temple to check on my progress. We talked for a couple of minutes. I told her I would be done within a couple of hours. All of the sudden, the room began to shake. The roof started caving in. Sam grabbed my arm and shoved me out the door just as the portico came down on her."
Teal'c interrupted, "It would appear that a large pillar shielded Colonel Carter's body from being completely crushed under the stone. It is probably why she survived. However, I believe that enough large pieces of the temple fell on her to gravely injure her."
O'Neill tried to remain calm after hearing this information, but both Daniel and Teal'c could sense an underlying anxiety in O'Neill's demeanor as he informed them, "We'll head down to the infirmary in a minute to talk to Dr. Brightman. Right now, I think we would only be in the way. We need to give the medical staff some space. Daniel, why don't you tell me what happened after the temple came down and Carter was buried?"
"Both Teal'c and I tried to start digging Sam out."
Teal'c stepped in to take over, "I informed Daniel Jackson that it would take more than the two of us to free Colonel Carter in time and that she would most likely need medical attention before being moved."
Daniel nodded and added, "That's when I ran back to the gate and came here for help."
"You did the right thing," O'Neill reassured them. "Why don't you both get cleaned up? Then you can go get checked out in the infirmary and we can see how Carter is doing. We should know something by then."
Daniel and Teal'c stood and slowly made their way to the locker room. O'Neill, in contrast, stormed quickly down to the infirmary as soon as they were out of sight. Rushing into the room, he practically ran into the figure of Dr. Brightman.
"Sir, I was just about to call up to your office to brief you."
"How's Colonel Carter doing?" he asked, trying to appear calm.
Dr. Brightman's face remained impassive. "She's being prepped for surgery. She is suffering from minor lacerations and contusions, internal bleeding, a couple of broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and compound fractures in the left humerus, radius, and ulna. She also has a rather severe head injury that could be problematic. We'll know more after we get a CT scan."
O'Neill, finally letting his stony façade drop, asked hesitantly, "She'll be alright, won't she?"
Dr. Brightman paused before continuing, "I can't say right now. I believe Dr. Warner will be able to stop the internal bleeding, and the fractures and broken ribs will heal with time. However, she has been bleeding for hours now and the loss of blood may have serious consequences. We'll know more after the surgery. Personally, I'm more concerned with the head trauma that she has suffered. I'd like to call in a neurologist from the Academy Hospital to consult. He will probably be able to tell us how serious the damage is and whether or not surgery will be necessary."
The General quickly ordered, "Do it." He turned to leave and then stopped in his tracks, quietly adding, "Thanks, doc... for getting her this far."
"It's my job, sir. I promise you, sir, my staff and I will do everything possible for Colonel Carter."
Coming around the corner to the infirmary, Daniel and Teal'c ran into the General. Daniel immediately noticed the worried look in Jack's eyes and offered a comforting, "Hey," before asking, "How's Sam?"
"They don't know how serious it is yet. It's pretty bad though," O'Neill answered.
"But she is going to be okay?"
"I don't know, Daniel," O'Neill snapped before softly repeating, "I don't know."
Daniel began to grow agitated. "She has to be, Jack. I'm the reason she's in there. She was hurt because she was trying to save my life."
Jack looked firmly at the archaeologist, "And she succeeded. That would make her very happy, Danny. Don't beat yourself up. You didn't do this to her – an earthquake did." Jack scrubbed his hands through his unruly hair. "I have to get back to my office. Will you guys stay here for awhile and let me know if there's any change?"
"Sure, Jack," Daniel answered.
"Indeed. We will stay," Teal'c reassured him.
As Jack turned to go, Daniel stopped him, "Wait a minute, Jack. Someone should call Pete Shanahan and let him know. He's her husband after all."
"I'll call him when I get to my office and let him know what's going on," Jack assured Daniel.
With that, Jack turned and stalked back to his office – he needed time alone to let what had happened sink in. He needed to be somewhere where he could freely think and feel without reproach.