Daniel was lying on the ground now, completely still and unmoving. Still as dead. O'Neill shook his head at Sam, looking furious, and she knew what he was thinking: that Barney might've been better off saying nothing at all, since his ideas were based on dinosaurian physiology. Any guesses Barney could make about the poison's effects on Daniel would necessarily go wrong. SG-1 had already learned the last time when they were on Dinoland that not only could the Neotroodon handle a tremendous amount of pain and blood loss, but also that a dinosaur's metabolism was different from a human's.
O'Neill held a hand over Daniel's face, and shook his head again. "He's not breathing," he noted to Sam, grabbed Daniel's shoulders and shook him. "Come on, Daniel! Dammit, breathe!" he shouted. It gave her a horrid feeling of déjà vu, calling to mind the first time they'd been on this planet.
The first time they'd been here, Daniel had been badly injured. This time was different. "Sir, that's not going to work!" Sam shouted at O'Neill. "If his respiratory muscles are paralyzed, he's not going to start breathing on his own before the poison's all gone."
The colonel stopped, frowning. He looked oddly at a loss. Now that she thought about it, although he must have had more than enough first aid training during his long military career, he'd mostly left such things to her. But that odd look only lasted for a blink. Then he crouched over his friend and began rescue breathing.
Sam stepped closer, and glanced around. The dinosaurs were apparently finished with the attacker, because they weren't growling and fighting anymore. Instead, they'd gathered around SG-1, staring at them with what she took to be amazement. Doctor Ramsey stood among them, just like one of them once again.
Teal'c walked to stand besides Sam. "How is Daniel Jackson?" he asked.
Sam shook her head. Not good, it seemed. She held a hand over her mouth, fighting back the dread.
O'Neill paused for a moment, and looked up. "Still got a pulse, though. Could be worse," he noted, and continued with the mouth-to-mouth.
She felt like it'd went on for ages when the antidote Barney had called for finally showed up. A Neotroodon dressed in a strange web knit of thin leather cord and pearls brought it. 'Antidote' sounded like an overly fine word to it, since it was simply a clay cup full of greenish liquid that had a vague, sweet scent to it.
Barney roared out angrily at the other dinosaur, before turning to face SG-1. "I am sorry. She was too slow," he told them. "I'm so sorry."
"Huh? What?" Jack shouted from Daniel's side. "He's not dead yet!"
"He is so far gone that he cannot swallow this himself. How, then, can we give it to him? Although the poison produces effects in tiny quantities, the amount of antidote needed to counter it is greater. We cannot simply dip a dart in it and strike him with that."
"Well, not exactly, but almost," Sam told Barney. She dropped her pack to the ground and sought the first aid kit for an empty syringe. She should've done this earlier, why hadn't she thought--but of course she hadn't, she'd been too shocked by the situation. It was only months since Daniel had quite literally returned from the dead, and the thought of losing him again was just... unthinkable.
She found the syringe and held out her hand. The dinosaur gave her the cup. She bit her lip. She wasn't sure this would be a good idea. "Barney, is this antidote safe?"
"Safe?" the Tok'rasaur repeated. "That would depend. If taken on its own, it would be poisonous as well. When used as an antidote, it can save lives."
"Right. Sir?" she called out to O'Neill. "We have no idea of the correct dosage. There's a good chance I'll end up giving Daniel an overdose of this other stuff, and that might be just as bad as the original poisoning. If this poison only affects his breathing, then he'll be all right if we just keep up the rescue breathing long enough."
"Yeah, Carter, that's one helluva big if!" O'Neill muttered between breaths, his fingers on Daniel's neck again. "What if it doesn't work that way? I think his pulse is getting weaker."
"Sir, I'm not..." she began.
He shook his head, gave two breaths, and spoke again. "Carter, that's an order. Give him the antidote."
She nodded, though she was still horribly uncertain about it. Teal'c had already moved in to pull up Daniel's sleeve and wrapped a bandanna around his arm. She placed the needle in the cup and filled the syringe with the greenish liquid. It wasn't exactly clear, there seemed to be small pieces of plant leaves or some such floating in it. She could just hope it wouldn't clog the needle. Filling the syringe entirely only took about one-third of the contents of the cup.
Sam noted her hands were shaking pretty badly, but she'd just have to manage. She located a vein in Daniel's arm, sank the needle in it, and, holding her breath, injected half of what she had in the syringe.
O'Neill glanced at her. "You sure that's enough?"
"I really don't know, sir."
"How fast should this thing work, anyway?" he asked, eyeing Barney.
"Perhaps you should not ask me. With my kind, it takes some time. When it comes to yours, I could not know," the dinosaur answered, wary since his last predictions had been so far from the mark.
"So, I guess we wait," O'Neill said darkly.
Teal'c was beginning to get frightened. He did not fear many things--danger, battle, or injuries of any kind were quite familiar to him, and he did not fear those. He would not even admit that he feared death. But he did fear losing his friends. They had merely waited for seconds since Major Carter had administered the antidote, but those seconds felt like hours, when there seemed to be no effect.
"He's still not breathing. It's not working," Colonel O'Neill declared, and resumed with the rescue breathing.
Teal'c felt something wet touch his arm, and then his head. Slightly confused, he raised his eyes from Daniel Jackson and looked around. It was starting to rain--the afternoon rain that was so inevitable in this climate.
"Aw, come on!" O'Neill complained, gazing at the first droplets falling on the ground. It would soon become soaked and muddy. They would need to move inside, but with Daniel Jackson lying lifeless on the ground, they could not consider moving anywhere.
As it was, Daniel Jackson chose this very moment to come to life again. It did not look pleasant. He breathed in sharply, and then began coughing, his entire body spasming violently. Teal'c knelt down, helping O'Neill to keep him down, but soon, they were both fighting to roll him over to his side, as he began retching.
"Oh God," Major Carter uttered right behind Teal'c. "It was too much. It must've been. An overdose."
"Carter, it's all right," O'Neill told her. "Better sick and breathing than not sick and not breathing."
The worst only lasted for some minutes, and then Daniel Jackson became still again. This time, however, he was no longer paralyzed, and kept breathing on his own. The rain was now pouring on them, and Teal'c saw that most of their dinosaur audience had disappeared.
"Barney, we should get him inside," O'Neill said.
"Ah, yes, of course," the Tok'rasaur answered, and if Teal'c could read his tone, it sounded hesitant. The dinosaur was astonished that they had managed to rescue their friend from certain death. "I shall lead you to the healer's abode. That should be the best place for him."
Teal'c lifted Daniel Jackson from the ground. O'Neill offered to help with carrying him, but Teal'c gestured him away. He could carry Daniel alone for a short distance. He noted that the younger man was shivering slightly, either from cold or from the effects of the poison or the antidote. Teal'c decided not to consider what other after effects those might have.
Barney lead Teal'c deeper into the dinosaurian village, the rest of SG-1 and Doctor Ramsey following them silently.