*****
On the ride back to the base Jack tried to hold his head with his hands to keep the shaking and bouncing of the transport from jarring it, but the medic attending to him kept grabbing his hand and pulling it back down.
"I need that arm, Sir," he said firmly but patiently.
"So do I, Corpsman." Jack grumbled. "So you can't have it."
"Sir, I have orders to start an IV, and if you don't give me your arm you will have to explain to Dr. Fraiser why her orders weren't followed."
Jack understood the threat. The corpsman was obviously well aware of how familiar Dr. Fraiser was with the Colonel, and he'd expertly played that to his advantage. "Score one for you," he submitted.
The transport hit a particularly heavy-duty pothole and the whole rig was tossed. The pain in Jack's head worsened to the point of threatening his consciousness again. He blindly grabbed with both arms trying to stabilize himself against the vertigo that stuck. The corpsman attending to him deftly grabbed him by the wrist and let the Colonel hold on to him, postponing the administration of an IV.
"Who's drivin' this rig, Ray Charles?" Jack said through gritted teeth.
"Easy, Sir. I know it's a rough ride, but we're almost there." His voice was suddenly coming from far away. 'Think I'm just gonna take a little nap here' Jack was thinking as the buzzing in his ears trailed away taking along with it all sight and sound. His eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp. The medic took advantage of the moment to finish the prep work required by the thorough doctor who'd sent him out, grateful for the reprieve of having to fight the stubborn colonel to get him to submit to treatment, but alarmed at the sudden obvious downturn to his condition.
The transport drove into the mountain and pulled up to the first of two elevators they could take to the level that would allow them access to the SGC. One set of elevators was for freight and the other for passengers. The freight elevator would be more useful for their requirements and less conspicuous for the colonel. They traveled the first set of elevators to the transfer level and then boarded the smaller elevators that would take them down to the SGC. At the 27th level the doors opened to reveal a team of nurses and a very impatient-looking Dr. Janet Fraiser waiting for them. The petite woman thrust her shoulders back as her part of the job began.
"Ma'am," he indicated as he began to inform her of her patient's condition as they rolled the gurney toward the infirmary, "the colonel here was involved in an MVA with a roll-over. He lost consciousness during transport. GCS is 10. BP is 130/95 and heart rate is a little tachy at 110. Resps are 16 and even. Pupils are equal and reactive. He did report having lost consciousness at the time of the accident for an unknown period of time. He complained of some minor left knee pain which he guarded upon palpation."
"Thank you, Corpsman. We've got him." She gave him a nod and pulled a curtain closed around herself and her team. The young man noticed a very tall dark figure standing very still on one side of the infirmary as if standing guard. He had not been in the corridor, but instead waiting for them to arrive here. Teal'c gave a slight nod at the corspman when he realized the man was observing him.
A few moments later the general was standing next to Teal'c. "Any word on his condition?"
"Not as of yet, General Hammond. He has only just arrived. He was unconscious as he was brought for treatment."
Hammond turned to Teal'c, "Please have the doctor inform me of his condition when she gets a chance."
The large alien closed his eyes in acknowledgment of the general's request, inclining his head slightly.
Major Carter nearly ran into the general as she jogged down the hallway trying to get to the infirmary.
"Whoa, Major! Take it easy!"
"Sorry, Sir." She stopped. "Have you seen him?"
"No, He is still being examined by Dr. Fraiser. Apparently he is unconscious. Teal'c is in there with him. I'll be back when there is more information."
"Yes, Sir." She turned and promptly took off running again quickly covering the remaining distance to the infirmary.
The general had almost made it to the elevator before Daniel Jackson repeated Sam's performance. The doctor burst from behind the sliding doors with enough force to elicit an "UMPH" from the general when he plowed into him.
"General! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..." Dr. Jackson stammered.
"It's alright, son, just slow down, okay?" The general stepped aside to allow Dr. Jackson access to the corridor. He knew that they were all worried about their CO.
Daniel burst around the corner and saw Sam talking with Teal'c. He could hear Dr. Fraiser behind the curtain instructing her staff as they cared for Jack. He approached them noting the grave look they both wore.
"How is he?"
"He is unconscious, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c informed him. "Doctor Fraiser is still treating his various injuries."
"Various?" He turned a questioning eye toward Sam.
"I don't know, Daniel." She looked stricken. "His nose looks awfully swollen and he had what appeared to be a serious blow close to his left temple. If it was close enough it wouldn't have taken much to cause some swelling of his brain."
At that moment Dr. Fraiser pulled the curtain aside and came toward them all pulling latex gloves from her hands. She pushed a few limp strands of brown hair from her eyes. Daniel got a quick glimpse of Jack laying so very still on the gurney. He didn't look like the man Daniel knew. Stillness was not a characteristic of that particular man. Movement personified him. This was unnatural and Daniel didn't like it one bit.
"He is unconscious and it is too early for me to say just how deeply unconscious he is. He went from being relatively stable to relatively unstable in a matter of minutes. Apparently he lost consciousness on the way to the base and shortly after we got him he began showing symptoms of rising intracranial pressure." Sam bit her lip. The doctor continued, "His respiration has fallen off enough that I'm concerned about coma." She let that statement sit with them for a moment. "I need to call the general." She reached for a phone on the wall.
Daniel walked over to the bed where his friend lay unconscious. How many times had their places been reversed? A pang of guilt twisted his gut as he wondered if it felt this bad for Jack when he was lying there instead. He mumbled softly, "Hang in there Jack."
Sam and Teal'c appeared beside him and he noticed Sam was carrying a large duffle bag. She unloaded her burden on a chair off to the side of the curtained off area. Teal'c remained nearby silent and solid. He was an anchor for them in the churning sea of their fears. He cherished his position among his friends. Sometimes his presence was all he could offer in the midst of the often great turmoil of their lives. Teal'c often felt that everything that had happened in his life before joining the Tau'ri had prepared him for fighting the Goa'uld, but nothing had prepared him for the trials he would face at having to stand by and watch those who risked all for so many for so little in return struggle year after year with heartache and trial. A warrior knows little of such battles and his time with SG1 had brought him to battlefields of the heart and soul as well as those more familiar grounds on which warriors waged battle with one another.
Dr. Fraiser returned shortly and the general came in behind her. 'That was quick' she thought. She took a moment to observe Jack's vital signs on the monitor and adjust the rate of the infusion pump controlling the fluids and medications being administered intravenously. She took out her penlight and checked his pupils. Sam was reminded of how the colonel hated this part of his routine post-mission physical. He always moaned and made comments about it. Now he was saying nothing. He offered no resistance. But when she rubbed his sternum with her knuckles one of his hands drew up slightly.
"Janet? Did he do that before?" Sam asked hopefully.
Janet stood still for a moment. She didn't want to give them false hope because it was obvious that the colonel had some swelling of the brain. She didn't want to scare them, either, because it was often a normal, albeit serious, reaction to a severe blow to the temple.
"Janet?" Sam became more insistent, rising to her feet.
"Well, he didn't respond as well to painful stimulus before, but at the time his pupils were equal and reactive. Now he seems to be reacting as expected to pain, but his left pupil is reacting more slowly than the right. We're going to do a CT scan. That should tell us something. But it's still early. After a severe blow to the temple it is not entirely unusual for a patient to lapse into a coma for a period of time due to brain swelling." She put a hand on Sam's arm and then continued addressing all four worried faces, "if it gets bad enough we may have to insert an ICP monitor to keep a reading of the pressure to his skull. But hopefully it won't be that bad. His GCS has increased from a 10 when he got here to a 12, which is a good sign. Let's get that CT scan and we'll know more."
Sam retreated and sat back down on a gurney across from the Colonel. She'd seen him unconscious before but this felt different. The laxity of his features made him look strange to her. The bruising forming under each eye and the swelling of his nose was giving him a mask of unfamiliarity.
"Janet, is his nose broken?" Sam inquired as the doctor came to move him to the CT room.
"It looks like it might be. The CT scan will show if it is." She motioned to a nurse who came and helped wheel the colonel away.
Daniel had been standing at the foot of Jack's bed and he moved out of the way. He watched them go and then sank down on the bed next to Sam.
"Some vacation," he muttered miserably.
"Dr. Jackson," the general started. Everyone looked startled. They'd all forgotten he was in the room. "I don't expect you to leave the base with Colonel O'Neill in his current condition, but I was serious about this down time. After Dr. Fraiser returns with the results of the CT scan I want you all to report to your base quarters and rest. Someone will call you immediately if his condition changes. Do I make myself clear?" Daniel nodded absently and Sam muttered, "yes, Sir."
"I will remain in the infirmary, General Hammond." It wasn't defiance. Teal'c was doing his Jaffa version of imploring.
"Teal'c I cannot allow all of SG1 to run themselves down any further. Despite today's events I need you rested. We have missions coming up that I'm going to need you all on and at your best." It was a gentle refusal, but a refusal nonetheless. Teal'c nodded his head in acquiescence to the general.
"Major Carter, before I go, can you tell me anything about what happened exactly?"
The question hit Sam like a punch to the midsection. "Oh my God, Sir!" She exclaimed. "I completely forgot!"
"What is it, Major?"
"We have to find out about the condition of the woman he hit!" She jumped off the bed with purpose.
The general's tone clearly expressed his surprise, "The woman he hit?" How could she have forgotten to tell the general what had happened?
"Yes, Sir. Colonel O'Neill struck a pedestrian with his truck. She was in reasonably good shape when I arrived at the scene, but the colonel told me she'd been in much worse shape than he prior to our arrival. General, if she is seriously injured or..." Her words trailed off. She didn't want to say it. Daniel said it for her.
"If she were to die he could be in some kind of legal trouble." 'Leave it to Daniel,' she thought. Daniel stood up and faced her, "Sam, did you find out who she was?"
"I heard her name. Her first name. Shaboni. They took her to Mercy Hospital. That's all I know."
"Major, Dr. Jackson, I want the two of you to find out the identity and condition of the woman and then report back to me. A civilian police report may be filed on her behalf at the hospital." He turned to Teal'c, "I guess resting will be put on the back burner for the moment, Teal'c. You may stay in the infirmary if you wish." Teal'c nodded his head graciously. Then the general strode from the infirmary.
"Daniel, I'll call the hospital and see what I can find out. Will you tell Janet to make sure that the colonel has a tox-screen and blood-alcohol level added to his lab panels? Don't look at me that way! I know he wasn't drinking, but if we don't the Air Force could face charges of a cover-up if something happens."
"Call me when you find out any information on the woman, okay?" He called to her back as she was leaving.
"Got it!" She called over her shoulder.
"I believe Major Carter and General Hammond have been adversely affected by their many hours of conversing with Tau'ri political figures." Teal'c commented to Daniel.
"We all have, Teal'c. They're just covering their bases."
*****
Sam had gone to her lab to retrieve the number for the hospital. She had called but was unable to find any information about the woman. She didn't even have a last name. She walked back down to the infirmary and found Daniel sitting in a chair next to the Colonel's bed.
"How is he?" She looked at him. He didn't look any different to her and she couldn't decide if that was good or bad.
"I dunno. He looks the same to me. Janet has gone to read the results of the CT scan." Daniel looked as miserable as she felt.
"I couldn't get any information on the woman." She pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. "I think we're going to have to go to the hospital."
"Would they not give it to you or did they just not know?"
"I'm not sure."
Just then Dr. Fraiser came back into the room. She was carrying a large radiology envelope with a series of images inside. She sat them down on one of the carts that contained Jack's other chart information.
"What did the CT scan tell you?" Daniel asked her.
"Well, he definitely has some brain swelling. There is a moderate subdural hematoma just above the left temple. At this point I don't think it will be necessary to insert an ICP monitor, but we're going to have to watch him closely. His nose is also fractured, but there is no displacement of the bone fragment. It is very mild. I doubt he will suffer from any deformation of the nasal bone. It really is a small fracture. I'm much more concerned about the head injury. Aside from administering certain medications to keep fluid levels in his body lower or possibly draining the hematoma if it gets too severe - which is something I really don't want to do if I can help it - there is not much I can do. We'll just have to wait and hope the swelling goes down on its own."
"Do you have any idea when he might wake up?" Sam asked.
"None. It could be an hour, it could be a day." The doctor made a couple of notes to his chart and left the room.
"Daniel, will you come with me to the hospital? We need to find this woman." Sam asked.
"Sure, Sam." And with that he rose to his feet.
"I shall remain here with O'Neill and will contact you if there is any change in his condition," Teal'c informed them.
"Thanks, Teal'c." Daniel said.
The two of them started to leave the infirmary when one of the monitors began to beep a warning. Daniel ran to it and saw that the colonel's heart rate had risen dramatically. Movement from the bed beside him pulled his attention away from the monitor.
"Jack!" Daniel exclaimed. The colonel's body arched away from the bed as a seizure gripped him. "Sam, get Janet!" He yelled, but she was already gone. Teal'c moved to the side of his friend to help Daniel restrain the colonel so that he wouldn't pull out his IV or injure himself as he bucked with the full force of a gran mal seizure. His teeth were already locked together and the muscles in his jaw stood out strikingly. Daniel remembered something about putting something in his mouth to prevent him from injuring his tongue, but that was not possible.
Jack was rigid like stone and jerked his arms and legs spastically. Daniel was pretty sure he wasn't breathing and foamy spittle appeared at his bluish lips. The seizure had already lasted nearly a full minute when Dr. Fraiser came running into the room with a nurse coming behind her.
"Janet, where did you go?!" Daniel demanded, his fear coming out as frustration with her for not being here. She ignored the question.
"2 mg of Ativan IV." She calmly instructed the nurse who ran to a cart containing the drugs kept nearby in case a patient became unstable. Daniel and Teal'c were still holding the convulsing man trying to keep him from injuring himself further or pulling out his lines and tubes. The nurse appeared with the syringe of anti-convulsive medication and administered it. The seizure did not stop.
"Give him one more milligram," she told the nurse, watching the monitor.
To Daniel it felt like the seizure had lasted for twenty minutes. His arms and legs were burning with the strain of tying to keep the colonel pinned in place. He tried to rearrange his position so that he could have more leverage and he allowed one of Jack's arms to get free. The arm flew up and hit Daniel in the face, knocking his glasses off his head.
"OW!" He spat, getting a hold of the flailing arm, he pushed it back to the bed and laid as much of his body weight across the man as he dared. The nurse appeared with the second dose of Ativan and administered it. The myriad alarms blaring from the monitor next to Daniel began to quiet and the seizure began to subside. Within a minute of the administration of the second dose the colonel went limp. The nurse took a Kleenex and wiped froth from his mouth and the side of his face. The bluish tinge to his lips began to be replaced with a more normal color as he was breathing again. Daniel let go of him and stepped back a bit. His body was coursing with adrenalin.
Teal'c stood back and stoically appraised his friend. He then returned to the corner of the curtained area and resumed his position as sentinel.
"Okay, hang a Dilantin drip of 800 mg over 30 minutes." Dr. Fraiser said when she was at last satisfied that her patient's vital signs were returning to normal. The nurse left the room to retrieve the medication and Dr. Fraiser turned to Daniel, "I was in the bathroom, Daniel. I'm sorry." She sounded stricken.
Daniel realized he'd blamed her inappropriately. "No, Janet, I'm sorry. It was just...unexpected. I looked to see if I could get something into his mouth, but his teeth were clamped tight." He looked at his feet. He felt ill, sick to his stomach.
"No, no. It is best that you don't try to put something in a seizure victim's mouth. That is some kind of myth." She tried to reassure him, "Seizures can be caused by rising intracranial pressure. I'm going to have to place that ICP monitor so that we can know what is going on. If the pressure gets too high I will attempt to drain the hematoma with some burr holes." Though a consummate professional she was definitely feeling the personal effects of seeing her favorite bad patient in such serious condition. She turned to Sam who was standing with an ashen face and stricken expression in the entrance to the infirmary, too afraid to come close, too afraid to look away. "Will you tell the general? This is a surgical procedure." She then turned to Daniel and said, "I've got to get some assistance to prep him for the procedure. I'll be back in a few minutes. If he seizes again before then just stay with him. You don't need to hold him down. The medication Lieutenant Riley is bringing will help."
Daniel appreciated her reassurance. He felt like a heel for attacking her. He looked at his friend lying pale and still. His throat was tight. He bent down and retrieved his glasses from the floor and strode to a chair and dropped himself heavily into it.
The nurse appeared with a small bag of fluid and hooked it up to the tubing of the colonel's IV. She adjusted the infusion rate on the pump and then swept out of the room again.
When she was gone Teal'c turned to his troubled teammate. "Colonel O'Neill is a strong and brave warrior, Daniel Jackson. I do not believe that he will succumb to his injuries," he offered.
"I know, Teal'c." He held his breath a little then let it out slowly. "I just keep meaning to tell him something. I never do it when I have the chance and then something like this..." he gestured towards the bed.
Teal'c was surprised by the sudden words of admission from his teammate. It was not common for him to confide in Teal'c, nor for that matter was it common for him to confide in anyone. Even after all they had fought through as a team; there remained the fact that the Jaffa was responsible for the Goa'uld infestation and eventual death of his wife. Daniel had spoken words of forgiveness to him, yet he still struggled with the difficulty of releasing himself from the burden of his guilt.
"When he awakens will you not take advantage of your opportunity to communicate with him that which you regret not having spoken of before now?" the Jaffa asked him.
Daniel laughed sardonically, "I doubt it." He suddenly felt very tired. He pulled his glasses off, squeezed his eyes closed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not notice the stirring on the bed in front of him.
Teal'c, however, did not miss the signs of life coming from his friend. He walked forward and observed the man turn his head and try to open his eyes.
Jack could hear voices near him. The deep baritone of Teal'c a comfortable rumble. The sound of tension tightening the soft-spoken words of Daniel. The sound of a monitor beeping the steady beep of a slow heart beat. They were near him, but still far enough away they were hard to understand...they felt wrong somehow. He tried to open his eyes and abruptly regretted it as the light stabbed at him increasing the pounding in his head. He didn't know where he was exactly. He couldn't remember how he'd come to be sleeping...or whatever it was he'd been doing. His muscles felt cramped and his arms and legs were burning like he'd been lifting weights. His mouth was dry and his throat begged for moisture. He swallowed, his tongue feeling thick.
Daniel noticed Teal'c move forward. He looked up at Jack. There was stirring and it looked like he was trying to swallow. "Jack?" He stood and walked to his side speaking softly. "You with us?"
"Uhmn..." came the unintelligible reply.
"I shall inform Doctor Fraiser that O'Neill has awoken," and he strode from the room.
"Jack can you hear me?" Daniel encouraged him gently.
"Dan'l?" A thick-sounding croak came from the Colonel.
"Yeah. Hey. How are you feeling?" He smiled thinly.
Feeling? Wrong. He felt wrong. Everything hurt and he couldn't organize his thoughts. He wasn't even sure where here was. Then he was aware of the quiet beeping coming from beside him. Beeping...monitor...heart beat...
"Inf'rm'ry?" he whispered.
"Yeah. You were in an accident. Do you remember anything?"
He searched his thoughts for some memory of what Daniel was trying to tell him, but the effort of it was too much. He started to tell Daniel that he just couldn't think clearly but the words came out funny.
"Cnnthnnk...wha..." and then he went limp again.
"Jack?" Daniel waited. "Jack? Can you hear me?" Where was Janet? He must have passed out again. Perfect, just perfect!
"Daniel?" Janet came into the room.
"He was awake. Didn't know where he was at first. Then he passed out again."
"Actually, this is very good. It is normal to be disoriented in the post-ictal period after a seizure. I wouldn't have expected him to wake up for at least half an hour if he had been conscious before the seizure in the first place. Add the medication we gave him when he was convulsing, which is a sedative, and he's not likely to be too lucid," the doctor told him. She didn't add that she was astonished he'd woken at all considering the fact that she had taken the seizure as a sign of his condition worsening. "We're going to have to do another CT scan to see if there is any change in the amount of swelling and collection of blood at the site of the hematoma. But maybe we won't need that ICP monitor after all."
Sam came into the room at that point. "How is he?" Her blue eyes large and liquid. Daniel realized she hadn't come back right away after Jack had had the seizure.
"He woke up for a minute." Daniel replied.
"Really?! That was fast. I thought it took a lot longer than a few minutes to wake up after a big seizure like that." She looked at Janet hopefully.
"It usually does. I won't know anything until I do another CT scan, but I think it is possible that somehow the seizure affected the amount of pressure in his brain, lessening it," Janet supplied.
"SG4 has just returned from P4X 987 and the general is a little tied up with the debriefing. It took me a few minutes to get in to see him. He asked me about the woman. We still need to go to the hospital and see if we can get any more information," she told Daniel.
"After the CT," Daniel declared decidedly.
"Of course, Daniel." She grabbed a chair from an alcove across the room and pulled it alongside his.
The three of them sat in silence as Jack was wheeled away for a second CT scan in just one hour. Then they waited as patiently as possible for Janet to return with the results. When a nurse pushed the gurney back into place Jack still appeared to be unconscious to them. Sam noticed Daniel let out a sigh of frustration. Apparently he'd been hoping the same thing she was: that he'd woken up while he was having the exam.
"What were the results, Janet?"
"He's definitely improved. We're not going to need that ICP monitor at all. The hematoma has lessened and the amount of swelling is already reducing. I am not sure how, but the seizure seemed to actually help him. Of course, it is entirely possible that the two are completely unrelated. I just don't know. Head injuries are very unpredictable. He's had a very large dose of a powerful benzodiazepine, though, so I suspect he'll be sleeping soundly for the rest of the night." She smiled broadly.
"He's just sleeping?" Daniel perked up noticeably at that little bit of information.
"Yep. And I want you three to let him sleep. We'll keep monitoring him for any changes, but the three of you need some rest as well."
"We've got an errand to run, Janet." Sam said getting to her feet and pulling at Daniel's shirt sleeve for him to follow.
"I'll call you if there is any change," she assured them.
"Come on, Daniel." This time they were successful in getting out of the infirmary.