Dinner Date – Part 2

"General O'Neill? Can you hear me?"

Jack nodded, opening his eyes a little and blinking at the bright light that assaulted them.

"Good. We've done an electrocardiograph, but we need to do a couple of other tests to confirm the results. You'll be kept under mild sedation while we do them. Do you understand?"

Again Jack nodded. Of course he understood. Did the doctor think he was stupid? Now, if only he could remember why he was in hospital. He lay there, his thoughts drifting from one thing to another, not staying anywhere long enough for him to grab hold and pin them down. He moved slightly, getting a little uncomfortable after staying in the same position for too long, and felt the familiar pull of unhealed injuries in his shoulder and upper torso.

A flash of a face he'd sooner forget – a face turning and looking at him. Then another longer image, of the same face smiling as drops of liquid were released from a small bottle, falling impossibly horizontally towards him.

And the sheer agony as the drops hit.

Ba'al. He was here, on Earth, and Daniel had lied to him.

They had all lied.

For a split second Jack had complete clarity of thought, then . . . it was gone again, drifting away as the drugs took hold once more.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sam Carter paced across the small waiting room, unable to relax until she saw the general for herself. Daniel's call had galvanised Teal'c and her into action and they had made their way to Washington as quickly as possible. But now, they waited. The cardiologist refused to allow them in to see O'Neill, and in fact, wouldn't or couldn't give them any news at all except to say they were doing tests. No more details were forthcoming. Apparently being close friends and colleagues didn't make them entitled to a patient's information.

So, she paced, using the time to try and firm her thoughts on the whole Ba'al problem. Not telling the general the whole story wouldn't have been her choice, but Daniel had explained his reasoning and she had heard the note of desperation in his voice as he tried to describe how scared he had been.

She didn't understand that. General O'Neill had always been able to face the reality of a situation and look for solutions – different solutions to hers, of course, but usually just as valid, if not more so. Daniel should have been honest with him, but what was done, was done.

She stopped, overtaken by a sudden desire to get out of the confining space.

"I'm going for a drink. Anyone want anything?"

Teal'c and Daniel both shook their heads and Paul Davis gave her a slightly distracted smile that she took to be a negative, so she headed out of the claustrophobic room and into the corridor.

The sound of angry voices came to her as soon as she opened the door.

"I want to see him now."

There was no way she could mistake that voice, with its clear commanding tones, for anyone else. The general was making his presence felt. She heard her companions move into the corridor to join her, but she didn't turn, instead she began to walk the short distance to O'Neill's room.

Murmurings made it clear, if it hadn't already been so, that the general wasn't alone, but she couldn't make out the words. She stopped in the open doorway, the others crowding around behind her.

General O'Neill was sitting up in bed, wires attached to several spots on his bare chest, and tubes sticking out of several places. He had an oxygen mask swinging from his neck and an expression on his face that would have had junior officers quaking in their boots. He had his arms crossed and a look of furious determination.

She gasped, unable to conceal her dismay once she had penetrated the facade and actually saw the man in the bed. He looked so – tired.

Perhaps Daniel had been right.

Then the familiar deep brown eyes caught hers and narrowed, and she realised he had heard her. Heard her gasp, and probably knew exactly why she had been so surprised.

"Hey, Carter. Guess what. I haven't had a heart attack. Nice to know, isn't it." Then the steady gaze moved on to fix on someone behind her. "Daniel – just the person I wanted to see. Let's talk. In fact, why don't you all come in? These people are just leaving."

"We may have ruled out a heart attack, General, but we haven't determined the cause of the chest pains, plus your blood pressure is still dangerously high. I can't allow visitors to disturb you at this time."

"Not allowing them to see me will disturb me even more, doctor, so how does that work?"

The white-coated man turned and gave them all a firm look. "I can see there is no point arguing, but I want no complaints when you are asked to leave." He turned back to O'Neill. "Not from anyone."

He received a reluctant nod in return. "Okay, but keep the hell away from the IV. I'm quite happy with my state of consciousness, thank you."

Sam and the others moved to one side as the medical staff filed out of the room, one of the nurses throwing her a quick smile. It was only a few moments before they were alone.

"Close the door." There was no humor in O'Neill's voice, as Teal'c immediately turned to comply with his order. As soon as the door shut, it became blatantly clear that the return of consciousness hadn't dulled any of the general's ire. If anything it had increased it, his anger frighteningly apparent in the icy words he spoke. "I've had time to think this through, and one thing is staggeringly obvious. You've lied to me. Of all the people I've known, I thought you were the ones I could trust to tell me the truth, no matter what."

Sam took a step back. This was a side of Jack O'Neill she rarely saw, and never directed at her. She could see the betrayal of trust blazing out at them all with an honesty that was all the worse for knowing how well he usually concealed his true emotions.

"Sir, please!" Paul was the first to react. "You have to stay calm."

O'Neill turned his attention to the colonel. "I'll be calm if someone gives me the god damn truth!"

This had gone on long enough. Already the monitors were pumping out data that Sam could see was not good. The general was getting too agitated.

"Gerak did kill Ba'al at Dakara, sir, but we found a lab in Ba'al's compound here on Earth. The equipment in it is used in genetic replication."

There, it was out. She waited, along with everyone else, for O'Neill's reaction. He frowned, and for a second she thought she would have to spell it out for him, but then the moment of realization hit.

The monitors went wild.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

TBC