Sorry about the gap between updates! Real life interfered! Still, leave me lots of reviews and I promise to update again very soon ;)
"Seven hundred and nine bottles of beer on the wall, seven hundred and nine bottles of beer. You take one down and pass it around, seven hundred and eight bottles of beer on the wall."
"Jack…" The colonel glanced idly at his friend,
"What?"
"How long are you going to keep that up?" The annoyance on Daniel's face almost made it worth starting again. Almost.
"Till we are rescued, which is ironic considering we were on a rescue mission." Damn damn damn. He left them behind. "Until you come up with some wacky escape plan." That was really Carter's thing. "Or until I finish the song."
"Therefore driving me completely insane and unable to help with the mission or the wacky escape plans." Daniel finished. Jack frowned, he had a point.
Still. "Seven hundred and eight bottles of beer on the wall, seven hundred and eight bottles of beer."
He heard a groan from Daniel's direction, and sang even louder, trying to block out his ever increasing anxiety.
Sam half walked half dragged herself into the 'ward', trying to avoid looking directly at anyone. Dumb idea really as she was surrounded on all sides. Besides, it'd be hard to do her job if she didn't. Toughen up Carter, stiff upper lip. These people needed her help, not her tears. God, never tears.
She and Teal'c had been there over 24 hours now. Still nothing from the Colonel or Daniel, not that they heard anything from outside in Haven. She'd spent most of yesterday cleaning and trying to feed those in stage two who could still eat, with little success. Today, Milliya had given her some 'Olima', a thick green liquid that apparently reduced the pain in some. At least a little.
Her own head was throbbing painfully despite the weird tasting tea Milliya had given her that morning, and her stomach swayed between a heavy nausea and sharp cramps. She'd been unable to eat anything last night, or at breakfast this morning, Teal'c was concerned, she knew, though he respected her enough to not call her on it when she insisted she was okay. He understood her better than the colonel who would have told her to 'quit being stubborn and sit down already.' He saw her as a fellow warrior, and she liked that. But even his seemingly endless patience would wear thin, and he would insist she rest, and like the Colonel, he was fully capable of making her. So she'd hide it as long as she could, and whilst she could still stand, help as much as possible.
She glanced around hurriedly. The white haired man was gone, she didn't want to think where. Thankfully there were no new patients. Five of the remaining eight patients were asleep or unconscious, they wouldn't thank her for disturbing them. The first patient she went to, a guy in his mid twenties, shivered and trembled convulsively. She managed to force a few spoonfuls down his throat before he began to cough harshly and she dared not try any more. The next was a older women, probably her dad's age. She didn't even try to take the relief offered, just turned her head away and lay in a heavy stupor. Try as she would, Sam couldn't rouse her, and eventually gave up.
The last conscious patient was the youngest. The girl they'd seen yesterday. Sam hadn't had a chance to speak to her yet as she'd been asleep when she'd been working the ward last night. She couldn't be more than thirteen or fourteen years old, just a kid really. Her dark brown hair was crumpled and lank, her green eyes faded and tired. She was one of the quieter ones, not crying out or even whimpering as some did, though Sam swore she could see the spasms of pain as they rippled over her face. As the major approached, the girl turned tearful eyes towards her, breaking Sam's heart with the memory of another girl she'd watched lie in pain like this. Cassie got better, she reminded herself, and so will this kid if I can help it.
"Hey there," she said softly, sitting on the stool next to the girl's bed. "This stuff should help, can you sit up a little?" The young woman nodded painfully, and together they managed to pull her up into something like a sitting position. Under Sam's gentle encouragement, she swallowed several mouthfuls before suffering a coughing fit so fierce it scared the air force major.
"Easy, easy, just take slow, deep breaths." Sam spoke soothingly trying to mask her growing panic. Leaning the girl forward, she gently rubbed her back for a few minutes until finally the fit was over. Sam helped her settle back into bed before giving her a reassuring smile and getting up to leave.
"Wait!" The call was horribly weak, the Major turned at once,
"Do you need something? The medicine should start working soon. I can get you something to eat if you want?" The girl shook her head.
"Just…stay with me a while? No one ever talks to you in here, they're scared to even stay sometimes." Sam bit her lip guiltily. The girl continued, "but you aren't like the others, I don't recognise you. Where are you from? Who are you?" Thinking, Sam sat back down. Yes there were probably more useful jobs she could be doing than having a chat with this kid. But if she didn't sit down soon she'd fall down anyway. And the youngster obviously needed the company. She forced a cheerful smile to her face and turned to the wan tired face. "You're right, I'm not from here. Me and my friends came to this place through…" she paused to remember the name Orio had given it, "The Great Circle. We're from another world."
"The Great Circle?" looking more animated her companion tried to sit up, "but we were told only those of great evil travel through the Great Circle. Or angels." curious eyes examined her, "but you don't look like a demon. And angels glow, my uncle told me." Sam smiled,
"Well you're right. I'm just an ordinary person like you. Samantha Carter, though you can call me Sam if you like."
"I'm Ella" the girl replied, far more brightly than she had previously. Either the medicine was working, or the conversation was taking her mind off the pain. "So why did you come here Sam? Did your people send you away because the soulstealer caught you?"
"We don't have the soul stealer where I come from. My friends and I are explorers. We travel to other worlds to make friends, see new places, learn new things."
"I wish I could do that." Ella said wistfully. "I've only left the village twice before now. And that was only to help my uncle and cousins with the food gathering. My parents died long ago," she explained. "I lived with my uncle and aunt till I was infected." The girl's face grew sad. "But I've heard my aunt and cousins caught it from me. Ranafal came in a few days ago and told me. My aunt and cousin Becali are gone, and dear Fene is hiding ill in the forest. I do wish she'd come here, she's so young to be facing this alone."
"Wait, did you say in the forest?" Sam interrupted, suspicion dawning on her. Ella nodded tiredly,
"Yes, why?"
"We met a kid on the way here, in fact I'm pretty sure that's how Teal'c and I got infected." she said the last part almost to herself, missing the anguished look that flew over Ella's pale face. So Orio was Ella's uncle? He hadn't mentioned her…
"Fene infected you? So it's my fault you're here?" Before Sam could quite gather what she meant, Ella drew back in her bed, "I'm so sorry!" tears fell freely from her eyes, her breathing was harsh and fast. Trying to reassure her,
"Ella, none of this is your fault! It's an illness, nothing more. We could have caught it from anyone!" She drew the distraught girl into a hug, stroking her hair, "it isn't your fault."
"But my aunt, my cousins…"
"Could have caught it from anyone who was infected. It isn't your fault you got ill, or that they did. And blaming yourself is going to make you feel worse." Sam pulled away, holding Ella by the shoulders, "If you want to blame someone, blame whoever it is who set the 'soulstealer' among your people." Ella was still crying, but her tears had slowed, and her breathing was calmer. Sam helped her lie back down. "Now I'm going to do everything I can to help you, but I want you to stop thinking about how this is all your fault, and start fighting."
"Fighting?" Ella was tiring, her temporary burst of energy nearly spent, "no one can fight the soul stealer."
"I am. And I want you to try. Please?" Ella nodded tiredly,
"If you wish it, I will try. Though it would be easier not to." she yawned, her eyes blinking sleepily. "I think I can rest now, for awhile." Sam nodded,
"Sleep well, I'll come back and check on you later." She got up to make her way out of the ward.
"Sam?" Again a plaintive cry called her back, she turned. Ella was almost asleep, but awake enough to ask with a note of hope in her voice,
"Will you be my friend here, Sam?" The Air Force Major smiled, though she was forcing away tears.
"Of course, now go to sleep." As Ella nodded, and surrendered for a while to weariness. Sam wondered what was it about kids that let them bond with people so fast. And break the hearts of those wanting more than anything, to protect them.
Meanwhile, deep in the forest, a small shadow crept around the hole where the SG1 men waited, trapped.