Barista 29- Airport Delay
Season 3
Spoilers: Crystal Skull (321), Nemesis (322)
Category: Drama, Hurt/Comfort
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: It has been ages since I have properly thanked everyone for providing me with such wonderful feedback and encouragement with my stories. Kira and her quirky tales would certainly have ended with Season 1, if it wasn't for all the wonderful support I get from you kids. Thank you from the bottom of my I-know-it's-bad-for-me-but-I-still-love-it diet coke can!
Special thank you to Roxie, Susan, and Suz for their wonderful beta suggestions.
I tell myself that it is way too early to ask if we're there yet, but it is taking all of my self control to keep my mouth shut. I fiddle with the dials on the radio and after two sweeps of the choices available, turn the static off with disgust. At times like this, I really hate living in the mountains. Wonder if we're there yet…
I sneak a glance at my driver and am not surprised at all that he's trying hard not to smile. Nice to know I can be so entertaining at such an early hour.
"You're dying to ask, aren't you?" He says me with twinkling eyes. You know if he wasn't so darn cute and one of my favorite people, I just might give him a flippant answer.
"Even if I were to say yes," I begin, deciding that I feel like giving a flippant answer anyhow. "It would be yes for something completely different and not for whatever it is you're thinking about." Even to my ears I sound like a complete spoiled brat. Maybe I should just ask if we're there yet and get it over with.
"You won't miss your flight Kira," Daniel says giving me a reassuring smile.
"I know Daniel," I answer grudgingly. "I'm always like this before a big trip. I'm sorry if I'm so snarky."
"Snarky?" Daniel asks giving me a funny look. "I might know a couple of languages…"
"Like 30?" I offer.
"I might know a couple of languages," Daniel repeats, completely ignoring my outburst. "But I'm not familiar with the word snarky." Man, Daniel can sure be tenacious when he wants to. Betcha Jack really likes that.
"Snarky?" I repeat. "You have to know what snarky is." I mean, come on! Who on this planet doesn't know snarky? I bet they even have an equivalent to it in Russian!
"Afraid not." Daniel replies shaking his head. "Now, when used in the context of your sentence, I am going to assume it means cranky and a little anxious, but I would definitely challenge you if you tried to place the word in a Scrabble game."
Note to self: Never play Scrabble with Daniel.
"You play Scrabble?" I ask conversationally. I actually love the game, but I bet Daniel is like Grand Master good. Although, come to think of it, do they have Grand Masters in Scrabble?
"Sam and I enjoy playing" Daniel says with a chuckle. I use perfectly legal archaeology and anthropology words to frustrate her, and she uses perfectly legal physics and astronomy words to frustrate me!"
"What about Jack?" I ask.
"Jack likes to play words like snarky and insist they're real." Daniel says giving me a pointed look. I knew I liked Jack for a reason!
"Remind me to play scrabble with Jack sometime." I laugh.
"Not with me? Kira, I'm crushed," Daniel says, feigning offense.
"I'm afraid I have an ego Dr. Jackson, and you'd crush it between your multi-doctored fingers if I played with you."
Daniel starts to laugh and then grunts suddenly and clenches his teeth.
"Daniel, you ok?" I ask. He of course couldn't tell me exactly what he had been up to for the past week or so, but he did let it slip that there was a bit of a radiation scare at work. He's not dying of radiation sickness, is he?!
"I'm fine, Kira," Daniel replies not quite convincingly. "I shouldn't have drunk so much coffee on an empty stomach, that's all."
Oh really? Since when? "I offered you a bagel..."
"I know" Daniel replies shrugging slightly. "I just wasn't hungry Kira."
"You sure you're all right Daniel?" I ask noticing for the first time that Daniel appears a little flushed.
"Positive" Daniel says giving me a reassuring smile. "So tell me again about what you're going to be doing in Cairo." That's right! I'm on my way to the airport to catch a flight to Egypt! This is so cool!
"I'm going to be studying Pre-Dynastic history at the American University in Cairo, and spend some time working on a dig in search of the lost libraries of Alexandria." Is it possible to make something sound cooler, just by saying it aloud?
"I knew you couldn't stay away from archaeology!" Daniel says smugly.
"Daniel," I reply patiently. "I'm going to be studying history and looking for clues as to the whereabouts of a 2500 year old library."
"Like I said," Daniel replies, "archaeology"
"Are we there yet?" I ask aloud as I look out the window.
We had driven in affable silence for five minutes or so when I notice Daniel wince again. His torso-area does a crazy dance thing and I swear he clenched every muscle in his body at once. Something is wrong.
"Daniel?"
"Kira, would you mind if we stopped at the next exit so I can get some antacids or something?" Daniel asks slowly exhaling from what must have been a very painful stomach cramp.
"Antacid?"
"Yeah," Daniel says putting on his blinker and taking the next exit. "I really shouldn't have eaten so much at Jack's BBQ last week." I don't fail to notice that Daniel didn't even pretend to wait until I answered him.
"That was last week, Daniel!" Gas doesn't last a week, does it?
"You obviously haven't had Jack's secret-family recipie ribs.." Suddenly both of his hands cradle his middle and Daniel cries out in pain.
"Daniel!" I cry as I grab the wheel. There is no way this is a minor thing; Daniel needs a doctor. Thankfully, we had just finished the sharp turn that exits tend to have, and had been about to stop at a light when Daniel cried out. His hands are still wrapped around his middle and he looks like he's about to get sick.
"We need to stop" Daniel says weakly as he takes control of the steering wheel again.
"There's an AM/PM over here on our right." I say pointing towards the bright blue store. Without a word, Daniel drives the car into their parking lot and pulls into a stall in the far back. He has only just turned off the ignition when suddenly he fumbles with his seat belt and yanks open the door. I cringe as his body heaves once and then twice. I have actually never seen anyone get sick other than myself before and really hope I never see it again.
"Daniel?" I ask softly as he wearily pulls himself back upright and releases a shaky breath.
"I actually feel much better" Daniel says with a weak laugh. Without opening his eyes, he reaches out and pats my leg reassuringly. "Just give me a minute and I'll be ready to head back out."
"I don't think so!" I say hotly. There is no way Daniel is going to drive me or himself anywhere. I am already reaching into the backseat for my purse; time to call in reinforcements.
"Kira, I'm fine." Daniel says again. I have to admit, he does sound better. Still—it just isn't normal to have severe stomach cramps and throw up in AM/PM parking lots!
"It really must have been something I ate." He says sounding ever so sincere. "If you can just run in and get me a little package of antacids that would be great." He gives me another reassuring smile and I nod ok.
I grab my purse and head into the store. The moment I am out of Daniel's line of vision, I reach for my cell phone and dial information.
Knowing exactly what and who to ask for this time, I quickly get patched through to Jack's office. I glance at my watch as I listen to the phone ring and cross my fingers and hope that Jack is an early bird.
"O'Neill" Jack says answering his phone. He doesn't sound tired, or angry or really much of anything. Guess 6:45 in the morning is a normal time for him.
"Jack!"
"Kira?" Jack asks after a moment, "Aren't you supposed to be in Egypt or something?" Despite the circumstance, I can't help but get a little happy-glow; Jack remembered that I'm heading to Egypt!
"Daniel's sick, Jack" I say cutting to the chase.
"Sick?" I can just picture him taking his feet off his desk and sitting up straighter, "What do you mean sick?"
"Stomach pains, nausea, and I think he might have a fever as well."
"Dammit, Frasier said he'd be fine…" Jack mutters to himself.
"Not the radiation!" I stutter.
"Dammit, Daniel!" Jack swears as I hear him pushing some additional phone buttons. "Kira, if Daniel doesn't learn to shut the hell up, I'm going to have to bring you in for a debriefing." As much as I am curious as to where Jack and Daniel work, I suddenly don't think I'd like to see it via an interrogation.
Oh God! Is radiation sickness contagious?
"Jack..?" I ask feeling more than a little scared.
"Hold on a sec, Kira," Jack orders as I hear him bark at someone for Doctor Frasier. "Have her call me the moment she gets in," I hear him say.
"No, it isn't contagious" Jack says when he returns to my part of the conversation. Wow. Guess colonels are really good at reading minds and anticipating questions. A phone rings in the background and in seconds I'm on a three-way conference call with Dr. Frasier and Jack.
"Colonel?" Dr. Frasier asks, "What's going on?"
"Daniel's sick," Jack replies succinctly. "Kira?"
"Kira?" Dr. Frasier repeats sounding pretty confused.
"Hi," I say anxiously, wondering if I really shouldn't give up the charade of buying antacids and go check on Daniel. "Daniel was supposed to drive me to the airport this morning, but has been having really bad stomach pains. When we stopped he got sick. He says he just needs some antacids or something similar, but I think he's really sick."
"Doc?"
"It isn't what you think Colonel" Dr. Frasier answers instantly. "I promise you, it isn't that." She pauses as if considering. "Kira, did you notice if Daniel ate anything this morning?"
I shake my head even though they can't see me. "No, ma'am," I reply. "In fact, Daniel said he wasn't hungry when I offered to buy him a bagel with his coffee."
"Describe his stomach pains for me."
"Real sudden and sharp. At first he just gritted his teeth, but this last time he actually cried out and doubled over clenching his stomach. After we pulled over, he got sick and now says he actually feels better." My turn to pause. "I don't think he's better Dr. Frasier. He looks a little flushed, but I don't think he has a major fever or anything."
"Colonel, how did Daniel seem last night? Did he eat anything out of the ordinary?"
"A bunch of us took Dr. Frasier's daughter Cassie to see a movie last night, Kira." Jack says explaining to me. "Actually Doc," Jack says sounding a little worried, "Daniel didn't eat more than a few bites of bread. He made some lame joke about still being full from my BBQ last weekend."
"He said the same thing to me," I add.
"It isn't food poisoning," Dr. Frasier diagnoses. "But other than that, I won't know until I see him. It could be the flu, but the symptoms don't seem to be in the right order…"
"There's an order?" Both Jack and I repeat at the same time.
"Where are you now, Kira?" Dr. Frasier asks. I tell her the exit number and add, "He parked in the back of the lot at the AM/PM right off the exit."
"And how's Daniel doing now?" Dr. Frasier asks.
"I'm currently in the store and Daniel's in the car. If I go outside and check on him, he'll know that I've called you."
"Do it." Jack orders. Orders. And get this - I don't hesitate for a moment.
"Daniel?" I ask softly as I open the door. He has unfastened his seat belt and tilted back his seat a bit. His face is anything but relaxed-looking and his hands are resting protectively against his stomach, a bit to the right actually…
"Jack!" I whisper as I quickly step out of the car. "Has Daniel ever had his appendix out?"
"Appendix?" Jack repeats.
"No" Dr. Frasier adds. "Daniel has not had his appendix out."
"A friend of mine from school had hers removed last Christmas. The way Daniel seems to be favoring the right side of his stomach got me to thinking about it."
"Appendix?!" Jack repeats again.
"Kira, put Daniel on the phone," Dr. Frasier asks.
I open the door back up and call out to Daniel.
"Hi, Kira," Daniel says opening his eyes and giving me a weak smile. "Did you get the antacids?"
"No," I reply feeling guilty. If it turns out that Daniel does just have heart burn or gas, I'm going to feel really bad about all of this. "I have Dr. Frasier on the phone" I say offering him my cell phone.
"Janet?" He asks confused. I nod and give him the phone.
"Janet?" He asks into the receiver. "Why are you calling?"
I don't hear Dr. Frasier's answer, but listen as Daniel says yeses and nos and does a lot of frowning. He isn't too happy to hear either Dr. Fraiser's or Jack's voices. I don't hear the specific question, but I do hear Daniel say, "I'd really rather not."
He pauses to listen to something, and sighs as he hands me the phone. "Kira, Janet wants to talk to you." Clearly he isn't thrilled with what she's going to tell me.
"Kira, listen carefully," Janet begins. "I need for you to gently press on the right side of Daniel's stomach directly over his waist band. His appendix is actually located below that, but I don't think either one of you would be comfortable with going lower."
"You have that right," I murmur blushing.
"You're looking for any inflammation or swelling. If he does have appendicitis, it may be obvious."
"Ok." I say. "I have to set the phone down for a minute."
I set the phone down and look at Daniel apologetically. "You ready?" I ask. Daniel nods and lifts up his shirt slightly. Ah, man! He has ripples! The first guy I'm going to touch with actual abdominal muscles and it is to see if he's sick. Life is so unfair.
"It's ok, Kira." Daniel says as he sees me hesitate. I might like the view, but I definitely don't enjoy the thought of hurting him. Very, very gently I place the fingertips of my right hand over his waist band. Daniel lets out a small sound and closes his eyes. I move my hand a little to the right and very, very gently splay my fingertips across his stomach and press down. Pressing down doesn't seem to elicit any strong emotions from Daniel and I am very, very thankful that it appears like I had this appendicitis diagnosis completely wrong. Then I remove my hand.
Daniel screams.
I jump back as tears threaten to spill out. Oh my God, I just made Daniel scream. With shaky hands, I grab the phone as Daniel positions his body away from me and becomes even more protective of his middle.
"Daniel.." I say into the phone.
"We heard, Kira," Jack replies softly. "Janet is on the phone with 911 now. She thinks Daniel definitely has appendicitis and needs to have it removed ASAP. There was nothing more you could have done."
"Will they be here soon?" I ask taking a shuttering breath. I made Daniel scream. Just thinking about it causes me to cry.
"They'll be there soon" Jack confirms.
"Will you stay with me until they get here?" I ask as I continue to stare at Daniel and his trembling body.
"I'll need to switch to a cell phone so I can drive up to the hospital, but I'll be here Kira."
"He's in a lot of pain," I say breaking down on the telephone. I can't help it! Daniel might be dying right next to me and I can't do anything to help him. "I'm sorry." I sob.
"Kira, it's ok," Jack says gently. "He'll be ok."
"Promise?" I ask knowing full well that Jack O'Neill has no control whatsoever over Daniel's apparent appendicitis.
"Promise."
"So how's our boy doing?" Jack asks as he finds me in the waiting room drinking a weak cup of tea. He's dressed in a funny-looking blue jump suit and has an anxious look on his face.
"They took him into surgery about 20 minutes ago," I reply. "They weren't really supposed to tell me anything, but seeing as how we already suspected his appendix, they confirmed it for me. They said judging from the inflammation and size; Daniel's appendix was just ready to burst." Tears threaten to spill out again.
"He'll be fine, Kira." Jack says leaning down and giving me a big hug. "He has been through way too much to let a simple thing like appendicitis get him down." I nod into Jack's chest and have no doubt that he's right and Daniel will be fine.
"Hey," Daniel says semi-drugged as he blinks owlishly in my direction. No one had given him his glasses back. "You're still here."
I nod and bite my lip hard to keep from crying. The surgery went fine and Daniel's wounded appendix had been removed without any complication. Still, this had happened while he was driving me to the airport.
"Not your fault you know," Daniel says eyeing the cup of ice chips on the table next to him. I put several chips on a spoon and carefully feed them to Daniel. "God, you can't believe how good these things taste after surgery," Daniel says as he closes his eyes and sighs contentedly.
I'm a little disturbed that he's had enough surgeries to make a comment like that.
Daniel opens his eyes and squints around the room. "Where's Jack?" He asks.
"He just went for some coffee," I reply. Daniel nods and closes his eyes again. Suddenly he snaps them back open. "You're still here!"
I smile and nod. "I'm catching a flight tonight to New York and will arrive in Cairo tomorrow."
"I'm sorry Kira." Daniel says sounding embarrassed.
"Daniel!" I admonish. "You nearly had your appendix blow up while driving me to the airport! If anyone should be sorry, it's me."
"Can we just agree that it's no one's fault?" Jack asks from the doorway. "Honestly, what is it about kids these days and guilt?"
"Hey." Daniel says squinting up at Jack.
"Hey." Jack says in return. Oooo- big talkers these two.
"Kira Meyers?" I turn around and see a military guy in the doorway.
"Can I help you?" I ask. I didn't park illegally or something did I?
"I'm here to give you a ride to the airport ma'am." Instantly I shoot a look at Jack.
"Hey! It's the least I can do in return for you keeping an eye on Daniel yet again."
"I thought we established that this wasn't my fault," Daniel says sounding a little hurt.
"It isn't your fault Daniel," Jack confirms. "It honestly seldom is your fault, but that doesn't mean I'm not displeased when these things happen to you when someone is around to watch your back.
I smile.
"You'll take good care of Daniel while I'm gone, right?" I ask Jack. "Make sure he eats, takes his vitamins and doesn't exceed the Daniel recommended dosage of 300 mg of caffeine a day?"
"Will do!" Jack says cheekily. "Come here." I walk over and Jack gives me a big hug. He releases me and then grabs me again and gives me another one. "That's from Daniel," he whispers.
"Take good care of yourself Kira." Daniel says in a slightly slurred voice as his eyelids begin to droop.
"You too, Daniel," I say. "I expect at least one email reply a month. I know you guys travel and such—but let me know every now and then that you're alive and kicking ok?" Daniel nods and then loses his battle to keep his eyes open and falls into a light sleep.
"Ma'am?" The military guy says from the doorway. Oops. I had forgotten all about him.
"Coming."
"Bye, Jack."
"Bye, Kira," Jack says giving me a nod as he takes a seat next to Daniel's bed. I steal another look at Daniel and then head off with my personal chaperone. It is nice having Jack and Daniel as friends.
Author's notes: And so we come to an end of the Chapter 3 Barista stories. Season 4 will continue sometime in late July. Sorry kids, but I'm spending my summer bicycling across the United States, and I'm afraid I will be leaving my laptop behind. Look on the bright side…I bet I'll think up all sorts of new Stargate adventures on the road. ;
AM/PM explained-- This is a convenience store that is similar to a Seven Eleven.