Chapter 12: Afflicted
"Status, Doctor."
"Not good," she explained. "I expected to see improvement by now, but their blood pressure is still climbing and nothing I've given them has produced any positive results."
Dr. Fraiser peered through the window of O'Neill's isolation room. The SG leader was now curled up on a gurney. A white sheet covered his trembling, sweaty body.
Hammond could see the concern marked across the doctor's face as she looked back toward him.
"Sir, I would like to place them both in the same room. Maybe the proximity to each other will help them through their withdrawal."
Hammond nodded, "Proceed, Doctor."
She signaled her assistant who helped roll Carter's gurney out of one room and into the other, right beside O'Neill.
"Colonel," she spoke softly. "How are you feeling?"
"Hurts," he spoke faintly through his pillow.
"I know," she comforted. "We're doing everything we can."
"Sam?"
His weak, broken voice caused Dr. Fraiser to close her eyes, trying to hold back her own feelings.
"She's right beside you, Colonel."
Although still curled up, he reached out his hand, trying to feel for her. Dr. Fraiser gently guided him to the shoulder of his second-in-command.
"Sam?" He searched, trying desperately to make contact with her skin. "Sam!"
"Jack," she moaned, needing his touch. Her hands urgently sought to feel his body, to feel his skin against her.
O'Neill pulled her toward him until she was on his bed, needing to feel her warmth, to hold her securely against him.
Trembling, they held each other tightly, her face snuggled into his neck while he nuzzled into her damp hair.
Fraiser left the room and stood beside the General. "All we can do now is wait, Sir."
"And if this doesn't work?"
"Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart or kidney failure. There's nothing else I can do. The withdrawal caused by this crystal is unlike anything I've ever seen."
Looking at the current state of his finest officers, Hammond questioned whether he had made the right decision in sending them back to the planet. When it came down to it, what did it really matter if his two officer's 'souls' were joined? It would certainly be better than the alternative of losing them both.
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An hour later, General Hammond returned to find Dr. Fraiser assessing the vitals her two patients who had not moved since he last saw them. She frowned and shook her head.
Hammond sighed. He knew better than anybody just how valuable they were to the success of the SGC – to the safety of the planet. Being connected could potentially give the team a tactical advantage on the field. Being able to communicate in any situation could certainly prove advantageous in many ways.
"What if we returned them to the planet?" Hammond suggested into the room.
"Assuming this is reversible, it may be our only option, Sir."
"All right. You have a go."
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With a whoosh, the Gate activated in front of the medical team standing by.
"Ok, let's go!" Dr. Fraiser ordered, and her team wheeled the gurney up the ramp which supported two of the world's finest officers, now clinging to each other as though their lives depended on it.
Escorted by Daniel, Teal'c, and SG-3, the team followed the trail to the temple, and lifted the gurney up the stairs and to the atrium which housed the crystal.
"Daniel?" she questioned, looking at the altar.
"They both have to hold it at the same time," he explained. "Just make sure you don't touch it yourself."
Dr. Fraiser held the Colonel's hand and guided it to the object on the altar. "You have to take the crystal, Sir."
O'Neill merely murmured sounds into his pillow.
"Colonel, you have to do this. I can't do it for you. You both will die unless you take hold of that crystal."
He struggled to lift his head, trying to move his heavy arm. It felt so limp, but Fraiser held his wrist firmly, careful not to make contact with the crystal herself. His fingers found the foreign object and he forced them to contract around it.
"Sam," his weak voice pleaded, "Sam, hold the crystal."
Her hand trembled as it followed the line of his arm down to his elbow and then to his hand which held the crystal. When she touched it, a discharge of energy left the object and flashed over them.
The doctor held her breath when she saw their arms drop limply, the crystal falling to the floor and shattering. She hurried to her patients, searching for vitals, hoping the discharge wasn't too much, too late.