The Fire Still Burns – Part 11
"Shush." Doctor Fraiser put her finger to her lips in the motion the Tau'ri used for silence. Teal'c nodded and picked up his book to resume reading – to himself this time. It was strange how the Tau'ri often felt compelled to…the expression was, he thought, 'state the obvious'. He had no intention of speaking or making any other noise which would disturb his sleeping teammate. It was with pleasure that he watched the slow, even rise and fall of his chest. O'Neill's rest up until now had been short, disturbed, and clearly unsatisfying.
Dropping his eyes to the page, he once more attempted to immerse himself in the sordid affairs of the Tokyo underworld, but within a few minutes his gaze was pulled back to the man in the bed. After a while he closed the book without looking at it and quietly fixed his stare on the almost hypnotic movements of the shifting bed sheets.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"Shush."
Daniel stopped just inside the infirmary entrance and blinked in surprise when he saw Teal'c raise a large finger to his lips and frown dramatically at him. The gesture seemed strange coming from the Jaffa, but he obediently tip-toed forward to stare down at Jack. It was only after staring at him for almost a minute that Daniel realized why Teal'c had been so emphatic about keeping quiet. Jack was sleeping peacefully.
There was none of the restless movements and painful swallowing of the previous days. Instead he seemed to be deeply asleep.
"How long has he been like this?" he asked, keeping his voice down to a whisper.
"One hundred and fifty seven minutes."
"You've been watching the clock?"
"I have."
Daniel nodded in understanding. "It's good to see."
"Indeed."
"I'll take over if you want to get something to eat."
"Thank you, I shall take the opportunity to do so." He paused and Daniel found himself fixed by a fierce glare. "Do not disturb O'Neill. You must refrain from loud noises."
Feeling like he was being admonished by a somewhat scary teacher, Daniel could do nothing but nod emphatically and agree. "Of course. I'll keep quiet. Look – staying quiet now. Completely."
"Daniel Jackson." The rumbling voice was low, but it held a hint of menace. "Silence."
"Shutting up." Of course he could be quiet. He had no idea why Teal'c was getting so annoyed.
"Now."
Daniel nodded again, too worried about the consequences to speak. He even waited until Teal'c had left the infirmary before daring to pull the chair he had vacated a little closer to the bed to sit down.
Its legs squeaked loudly on the hard floor.
Freezing, Daniel held his breath, hopeful that the noise hadn't disturbed Jack, but his hopes were in vain. Eyes moved beneath lids – lids that opened ever so slightly and stayed mainly closed as if the energy to lift them completely was missing.
Praying Jack would go back to sleep, Daniel threw a quick glance at the door, his heart thumping. It was ridiculous to be this worried about Teal'c returning. Teal'c was his teammate, his friend. He wouldn't do anything to him – would he…?
"Daniel – that you?"
Finally straightening, Daniel turned back to find Jack staring blearily up at him, blinking. His eyes looked painfully bloodshot, small red lines running into their corners.
"Yes, it's me. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
"Okay." The reply was a mere mumble as Jack snuggled his head further into the pillow. Daniel breathed a sigh of relief as the reddened eyes vanished again. It looked like disaster had been averted. He very, very carefully dropped into the chair that had been the cause of the problem and sat, as silent as the proverbial mouse.
It wasn't until almost forty minutes had passed, after a nurse had quietly checked her patient and had given him a bright smile that he realized Jack hadn't coughed once in all that time.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"I haven't any explanation for it at all."
"Maybe the bacteria have a limited lifespan? Or they can't survive in a foreign host?" Ann Durante shrugged. "Or we might have just gotten lucky."
"Perhaps, but we still need answers." Doctor Fraiser cocked her head slightly to the side, her puzzled expression changing to exasperation as she looked down at Colonel O'Neill. "We need to make sure we keep on doing whatever it is we're doing – if only we knew what it was we were doing." She muttered something that sounded like 'Urgg' and Ann hid a smile. She could tell the doctor was very close to stamping her foot, probably only prevented from doing so by Ann's presence.
With a sigh, the doctor turned to the instrument tray next to the colonel's bed. "Okay – I'll draw some more samples, run some more tests and look for anything different."
The two women quietly went about their work. The whole conversation had been carried out in whispers. It was just as important to allow Colonel O'Neill to continue what appeared to be a healing sleep as it was to find out what had caused the improvement in his condition.
"Check the rash on his torso."
Obeying the doctor's orders, Ann gently pulled the sheet and gown away from the colonel's chest and shone her penlight onto the exposed skin.
"It's definitely improving. The weeping patches have dried."
"Thank goodness for that." Doctor Fraiser bent to look herself and gave a satisfied nod. "Now if only his heart was joining the rest of his system." She gave the ECG a reproachful glare. Ann could only silently agree as she watched the lines stutter erratically before settling once more into normal rhythm.
"Ann-"
She guiltily returned her attention to Doctor Fraiser as she realized she hadn't heard what the other woman had said. "Sorry, Doctor."
"That's okay." Fraiser gestured to the vials of blood and urine. "Could you get these to the lab and ask them to run the same tests as before. I'll be there as soon as I've reported to General Hammond, and I'll explain any new tests I want run then."
Ann didn't hesitate. She gathered up the samples and hurried down the corridor to the medical lab. Glen Vaztic was just crossing the room near the door and stopped, coming toward her.
"Do you need some tests done? I can take them."
"Thanks Glen, but I need to speak to Doctor Burton. These are from Colonel O'Neill."
The medical technician nodded his understanding and pointed to the other side of the large room. "He's in the isolation lab but he'll be out in a minute. How is the colonel?"
"He seems to be improving."
"That's great."
"What's great?" The head of the medical laboratory was a large man, but moved remarkably silently. Ann was convinced he must be distantly related to Teal'c. She was pleased she had, for once, managed to not jump when his voice suddenly boomed from just behind her shoulder.
"That Colonel O'Neill is improving," she explained. "The trouble is, we're not sure why, so Doctor Fraiser asked if you'd run tests on these samples to see if anything has changed."
"Anything she wants done differently?" Doctor Burton asked as he took the vials.
"She said she'd discuss that with you herself as soon as she's spoken to General Hammond."
"What improvements is the Colonel showing?"
Ann followed the doctor toward the laboratory table as she answered, and watched as he began to divide the various samples carefully. "His liver and kidney functions are improving and the rash is definitely getting better and his temperature is stable."
He turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow that made his resemblance to Teal'c even more uncanny. "And Doctor Fraiser has no suggestion as to the reason?'
Shaking her head, Ann told the doctor all she knew about the improvements the colonel had made over the last few days – and the ones he hadn't. When she left the doctor was calling another of his staff off some less urgent tests to complete Colonel O'Neill's as soon as possible.
Hopefully, Ann thought, they would have some answers soon.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
The strange little flip and plop his heart gave every few hours would have had Jack on the edge of his seat if the Doc would only let him sit up. It was a disconcerting feeling, taking him by surprise every time and leaving him with a terrifying feeling of imminent death. And imminent death, although far too familiar, wasn't something he enjoyed.
What if the next time the flip didn't plop back?
Sometimes the flip was followed by a thump and another flip. That wasn't a sensation he wanted to experience again.
Even though the chest tube had been removed, there wasn't any lessening in the number of leads and tubes stuck to him – if anything their number had increased with the addition of several more mysterious attachments on his chest that had necessitated the shaving of chest hair. He knew he'd be left with weird round bald patches, making him look like he had a bad case of mange, especially when you combined it with the skin now flaking off all over. He grimaced at the shower of white falling from his arm onto the sheet.
"Colonel O'Neill!"
Oh crap. Jack shoved his hands under the sheet and tried to look innocent, but it didn't work on the Doc any more than it had worked on those natives on P7whatevertheheckitsnamewas – and that had so not been a fun experience! And judging by the look on Frasier's face he would be better off in the extremely sticky hands of those same natives right now.
"Mittens. Big, fluffy, bright orange mittens. Need I say more, sir?"
Jack kept his mouth shut, his hands still and shook his head firmly.
"Didn't think so. How are you feeling?" The doctor picked up his chart and gave a satisfied smile. "I see you've had a reasonably quiet night. Did you sleep well?"
"Sort of. At least I didn't sneeze much. It's just that I keep expecting those…" He gestured at his chest and the Doc nodded.
"I can understand that, sir. The lab is still running the tests I ordered."
He gave a small cough and Janet reached for the bottle of Nyquil beside the bed. "It's time for another dose."
"Do you really think it's working, Doc?" Jack asked as he pushed the button to raise the bed head a little more.
"Well, Colonel, your cough is a lot better. So – open wide." She held the medicine cup out and waited while he drank down the liquid. "Where are your teammates? I thought it was Sam's turn to entertain you."
"Hammond needed her in the Control Room." On the tail end of Jack's words the infirmary door swung open and Doctor Burton hurried through.
"I'm glad I caught you, Doctor Fraiser. I tried your office but there was no answer and I didn't think this could wait."
"What is it, Doctor?"
"I was looking at the latest results of Colonel O'Neill's tests and – well, it's hard to explain. It would be easier to show you. Perhaps we can use your computer?"
"Of course."
Jack sat up even straighter, ignoring the twinges and aches that the action caused. "Why? What have you found?"
"If it's anything important I'll tell you as soon as I've finished speaking with Doctor Burton, sir. Now…" The Doc reached down and pressed the button to return the bed to the totally flat position. "…you try and get some more sleep."
She was gone before Jack could protest and he was left with that helpless feeling he got when he had been in the infirmary for far too long – like he was becoming a part of the furniture – a well-loved but rather uncomfortable and scratchy couch.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"It's unprecedented. That bacteria should be affected in this way by something so simple."
"If only we could use this to treat toxic shock normally."
Janet shook her head ruefully. "Unfortunately your tests have shown that only the alien bacteria respond in this way." She gave a laugh as she raised a hand to rub her forehead. "Colonel O'Neill is going to love this! I can already hear him crowing."
Mike Burton joined her, his baritone laughter ringing through the confines of the small space. "Oh yes. After all those times you've told him…" He dissolved into uncontrollable mirth.
Janet sniggered.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
TBC
Author note: Thanks again for the reviews. I'm glad you're still enjoying the story.