Author's Comment: Thank you for the reviews. :-) I'm really interested to hear what you think, especially now that this story decided to move into a direction I didn't quite see when I first started writing it... SGC goes ER. Chapter 2. Or, Fa3Y, chap 12. Here you go.
Teal'c had spent enough time in bed, thinking, meditating. His health had improved quickly since his symbiote was nearly in full health again, and it had suffered far more than his actual body.
He got off his bed and stood up. His feet were steady. He lacked some strength, but it was not the strength of the body that he needed now. It was that of the mind. He needed to trust in Doctor Fraiser's skills, and to believe that Daniel Jackson would be well again.
He had not even reached the door, when Doctor Fraiser appeared, shaking her finger at him.
"Just wait a moment, there."
"I am nearly fully healed, and I insist you allow me to continue as normally. I wish to stay by Daniel Jackson's side as do Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter."
"I can't let you go before checking that you really are as 'fully healed' as you tell me. Just give me a moment."
Teal'c nodded, and backed away to the bed where he had been resting. He waited placidly for her to finish her examination, as uncomfortable as it was to have someone prodding at his pouch. It greatly irritated his prim'ta. Nevertheless, since Doctor Fraiser deemed it necessary, he did not mind.
She was nearly finished, taking off her gloves, when the telephone rang. Teal'c found the sound ominous. All these events had begun with that one phone call O'Neill had received, when they had been spending time peacefully at his apartment, and ever since, he had not heard of one that would have brought good news.
His somewhat unreasonable suspicions were quickly confirmed, as the Doctor picked it up, and listened for a while.
When she spoke in answer, her face carried clear signs of concern. "Damn! Yes, I'll be there in a sec."
"What has occurred, Doctor Fraiser?"
She shook her head. "Complications with Daniel. I've got to run. I'm not clearing you off the infirmary yet, but since you're really looking surprisingly healthy, I won't complain if you follow me and stay with him."
She had not said what kind of complications, exactly, but since her worry was so evident, it instantly spread to Teal'c as well. She ran off with such speed that he had trouble keeping up with it.
As they entered the observation-operation room were Daniel Jackson was, Teal'c thought that perhaps his extreme worry had been premature. There was only one nurse in the room, together with Colonel O'Neill.
"He was awake for a while," O'Neill told them, speaking softly but intently. "Opened his eyes, just a crack, but he looked at me when I spoke to him, I'm sure of that. He was there. He saw me, and then he went back to sleep."
Teal'c regretted very much that he had not been there to see it. But there had been speak of complications, and as far as he knew, regaining consciousness was not one.
Indeed, it seemed that Doctor Fraiser was not even listening to O'Neill. She addressed the nurse instead.
"How long since the symptoms started?"
"It's a bit hard to say exactly since his body temperature was on the high side to begin with, but the fever really spiked about five minutes ago, and he's been getting increasingly tachycardic since then," the nurse answered.
Fraiser nodded, still looking very grave. She moved closer to observe some of the monitor readings that Teal'c could not understand, and then to examine her patient.
"I need another echo and X-ray, stat--and page Doctor Warner, I want a second opinion on this."
"What's going on, Doc? Is it serious?" O'Neill asked.
"Let's pray it isn't. Looks like an infection, but I can't tell how bad it is, and what's the exact cause. Hopefully I can say more after a few more tests."
"Did you not request for expert help on this matter?" Teal'c inquired, in turn.
"We did, yes, but we just reached her, and since she's coming from Fort Detrick, Maryland, it's going to take more than a few hours before she's here, especially given all the trouble with security clearances and so on..."
"From Maryland? For crying out loud, why didn't you just go ahead and call someone from Paris while you were at it! Aren't there any heart specialists around in Colorado Springs?"
"Of course there are, but we're dealing with an unusual case of trauma here, not some standard heart condition. Any cardiologist might not know what to do with it. Now, Doctor Carlsen's been in the military for nearly thirty years, and she has extensive experience on dealing with cardiac gunshot wounds and their complications. She's the best there is for this job, and I wouldn't have anyone less than that in this case."
"Right. None but the best, I agree with you on that," O'Neill said. He had placed a hand on Daniel Jackson's shoulder. "Danny's going to hang on until she gets here--aren't you?"
To the surprise of them all, Daniel Jackson suddenly opened his eyes. His expression was not hard to interpret. His eyebrows were raised, his eyes wide with fear and anguish. He lifted his hand, very slowly, as if it was extremely heavy, and placed it on his chest.
Sam waited at the far end of the embarkation room, standing on the tips of her toes, gaze fixed on the open gate. The Tok'ra had answered their earlier communications in a very negative tone. They'd told that if this was about one single human only and nothing else than that, then they could not spare the time. Nevertheless, here they were with an incoming wormhole and the Tok'ra IDC.
A solitary figure emerged from the event horizon, and Hammond could instantly order the soldiers to lower their weapons. It was Martouf, once again, just all alone this time.
"Martouf! I'm so glad you could come," she called out when they approached each other.
"I came against the advice of others. Lantash did not completely agree with me in this, either. But I know how important Daniel Jackson is, not only to you, but to the alliance between us, and to our fight against the System Lords. If there is anything I can do to help, I will. He must not die."
Sam gave him a quick hug. Not all her warm feelings towards him were residual from Jolinar. Coming here even when everyone told him not to showed that he really was a good man, caring and compassionate. Or then it was just because of his feelings for Jolinar. Maybe he had just come because he reflected his feelings on her and didn't want her to feel bad... But no, she couldn't take the credit for his return. Whatever his reasons, she was glad he was here, even though as far as she knew, Daniel wasn't in any immediate peril.
"The last I saw him, it actually didn't look as bad as you might think. He's--the bullet's stuck inside him, but our Doctor thought it might not cause any harm if it just stays in its place."
"Your weapons truly are curious. I have never encountered anything like this. I doubt whether a healing device will be of much help here. Lantash tells me that we should just ignore this and turn back, but let us go and see him, and I'll see what I can do."
When they reached the isolation room, she found that she might have been slightly too optimistic. Doctors Warner and Fraiser were talking in low, serious voices, and both Teal'c and O'Neill were crouched close to Daniel at his bedside. She couldn't help noticing that the ever-present beeping so often heard in the infirmary was a lot faster than what what she'd expect.
"Carter--Marty! You picked the perfect time to pay us a visit," the Colonel greeted them. His light, joking tone carried an edge that told he was just trying to cover his anxiety. "The Docs haven't bothered to explain a thing to us yet, but Daniel's obviously taken a turn for the worse. And you just missed him being awake. Not that he could say anything with that tube in his mouth, though..."
Janet turned to look at them as well, putting aside the papers and images she had been examining. "Martouf. Do you have a healing device of your own, or should we get the one we've got? Is there anything you can do? We would really appreciate any help."
That sounded bad. Sam didn't think she'd ever heard Janet ask for help like that, admitting her helplessness so openly. "Janet? I thought you said he was stable?"
"He was, just a while ago. Now, we're facing some serious complications. Life-threatening. He's showing signs of infection, and his condition's deteriorating rapidly. Also, from what we can see in the scans, it looks like the bullet's grown bigger. That suggests there's blood clotting around it. It might be the cause of the infection. Even if it's not, it could instantly block a vessel if it started moving, and there are signs of cardiac trauma that weren't there before. We need to do something, and fast."
Martouf had already produced a healing device and positioned himself next to Daniel's bed, holding the device over him. Sam placed her hand over her mouth in anxious anticipation, as the light orange glow of the device hit his chest.
It wasn't much more than a quick flash. Martouf let his hands droop and shook his head.
"I can see the damage, but there really isn't much I can do, since the source of the trouble is this foreign object within his heart. This," he said, lifting the device still in his hand, "This is a healing device, and not a transporter. I do not have the means to get this bullet out."
Sam saw the Doctors exchange a meaningful glance.
"What about that cardiologist you..." she started.
Teal'c answered before she was finished, "It will take many hours before this expert will arrive."
"And I'm very much afraid it'll be too late by then," Janet added. "They way things look, and I'm just being realistic here, I don't think he's got that long. So, if Martouf can't do anything, then..."
Doctor Warner nodded to her. "I agree. If he's to have any chance of surviving, we have to act quickly. I just wish we had someone around with some experience in this kind of operations."
"As do we all, but-" Janet had turned to stare intently at the Tok'ra. "Martouf, if we get the bullet out, then you can help, right? You could just stand by and wait during the surgery--and if something should go badly wrong, maybe you could try and help?"
"My experience in medicine is very limited, and Lantash is still not very willing to help, but I will be here and do my best."
"Thank you, that's all we ask," she told him, and then turned her head, gazing at each of the three conscious members of SG-1 in the eye. "I won't do this if you're strongly opposed to it, but I think it's the best, and probably only, chance he's got."
"Do what?" O'Neill asked, looking confused.
"Since we're running out of time here, we've got to try and get the bullet out on our own. It's going to be a very risky operation, but without it, the prognosis is even worse."
"So, you go for it, with Marty backing you up. Sounds good to me."
"I agree," Teal'c said.
Sam thought about it for a while. The idea of Daniel dying at Janet's hands on the operating table was terrible, but she didn't see any other options. Janet clearly didn't think they could wait and hope that he would live until they got the specialist here, and Martouf couldn't do anything.
So, she nodded. "I think you should do it."
"All right. I need the room cleared and cleaned and ready and the patient prepped for surgery asap. We'd better call Doctor Carlsen and ask if she has any suggestions on how, exactly, we should go on about this. You're free to stay in the observation room and watch, if you think you're up to it. I can promise that even if all goes well, this isn't going to be pretty."