Chapter 4
Jack sat next to Daniel's bed, holding his hand gently. Twenty-four hours had come and gone. There were a few close calls, the first resulting in the removal of a kidney and then because of an allergic reaction to some medication. Janet had been livid, finally tracing the problem to an error in Daniel's records. In the end, though, Daniel had survived and everything was looking hopeful. Jack had finally gotten some sleep after creating a makeshift bed of couch cushions. Teal'c had resumed his meditative pose while Sam curled up at Jack's side. In fact, Sam had hardly left his side since the entire even occurred, seeming more concerned for him than for Daniel. Not that Jack was surprised; Sam always found it easier when she could do something. She couldn't do anything for Daniel, so she turned this burning need to act onto Jack. He understood it, but that didn't mean he liked it, and more and more he wished she could show just a tiny bit of concern towards her 'best friend'.
"So, Danny," Jack whispered to the man lying upon the bed. Except for his shaved head and the machines, Daniel could have been sleeping. "You know, we really should get some of these cushioned chairs for the infirmary. Much more comfortable than those torture chairs they have us sitting in. Windows are a nice touch, too. No windows underground.
"Not that it means much when its night. But this way, we have the entire room to ourselves. No Sam hovering with coffee and food, no Teal'c , no nurses. Hey, here you have a whole new set of nurses to charm. Of course, the downside is that at night we have to keep it quiet. You know, they actually wanted me to leave? Something about visiting hours. But you know I'm not gotten rid of so easily. Covert Ops, Danny.
"So you just keep it quiet there, Danny. A whisper would be ok, though. You just…you gotta wake up, Love."
Jack sighed when Daniel didn't react. He never stopped rubbing Daniel's hand with his fingers, wishing he could give him more.
Two days later, Jack was finally kicked out of the hospital under the theory that he needed a shower, some real food, and rest, an order that had been backed up by Janet and enforced by Hammond. Instead of going home, though, he found himself outside of Daniel's apartment. Now that he was there, though, he found himself hesitating to go in.
He knew that a team had been by to clean up the scene of the accident, and to check it out and find out exactly what had happened. All that had been found was what Jack had already said; the ladder had broken and Daniel had fallen. Though the break in the ladder had been slightly suspicious, it wasn't enough to prove any form of sabotage had taken place, and even Jack had to admit it unlikely someone would break Daniel's ladder on the off chance the fall would kill him. If he hadn't landed on the coffee table, he'd probably have gotten away with nothing more than a few bruises. So, knowing that the room was clean again, and wanting to be close to Daniel, Jack had driven to his place. He was fine until he was right in front of it, and then suddenly the fear he had felt upon first finding Daniel flooded him, rooting him to the spot.
Taking a deep breath, he let it out in a long sigh. Not wanting to turn back, knowing he would have to return to this place one day, he forced himself to get out of his truck and enter the lobby. Once inside he felt much better. Everything looked so normal, exactly the way it always did when he went to visit Daniel, that it was easier to believe that the accident was truly over. Daniel might not have woken up yet, but most of the machines had finally been unhooked and everyone seemed very confident that he would recover. Jack wasn't going to open a door to a bloody mess. Quickly he crossed the lobby to the elevator and, entering, he pushed the button for Daniel's floor. A few seconds later, he stepped out into Daniel's hall.
Standing before the door, his heart started to quicken again. He swiftly pulled out his keys and opened it before the panic could overtake him and stepped inside. With a slight sense of dread, he stepped around the corner to the very spot he had first seen Daniel lying impaled, soaked through with blood. There was no blood now, or glass. In fact, the coffee table had been replaced with a nice, sturdy wooden one that couldn't possibly break if fallen upon. Jack felt himself breathing easier. Walking quickly away from that spot, he made his way to Daniel's bedroom.
There, he was able to feel Daniel's presence all around him. It was calming, much more calming than his own bedroom would have been. Taking the doctor's advice for once, he fished out some of his own clothes left in one of Daniel's drawers from the last time he spent the night and headed for the shower. Soon feeling much refreshed, he walked around the apartment taking care of all the little things that needed to be done. Finally stopping in the kitchen he raided the fridge, going for things that were likely to be spoiled by the time Daniel came back home. Then he checked his watch, saw the alarm he had set for when he was allowed back in the hospital wouldn't be going off for another five hours, and, after setting Daniel's coffee machine, he headed for Daniel's bed. Surrounded by Daniel's smell, feeling his presence close, Jack finally fell into an exhausted sleep.
Exactly five hours later, the beeping of his watch awoke him. Groggy for a moment, he suddenly remembered what the beeping meant and was out of bed in a moment. Grabbing his discarded clothes he dressed quickly and went to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. Drinking deep, he took a moment to walk out onto Daniel's balcony, looking down at the almost silent streets below. The sun hadn't yet come up. Sighing, he leaned forward over the railing, holding the coffee firmly in his hands.
Suddenly, he felt himself falling forward, pitched down towards the distant street and only just managed to hook his arm around the railing, jerking his fall to a halt. Looking down between his feet, he watched his coffee mug shatter. Looking up, his brain finally caught up with what had happened, and he realized that, somehow, the railing he had been leaning on had swung down as though on a hinge, leaving him dangling. There was an ominous creek, and the remains of the railing swayed under his weight. Several miles away in the Memorial Hospital, Daniel suddenly opened his eyes and whispered, "Jack!"