That night Jessica was lying awake long before sleep finally overtook her. Thoughts of Daniel Jackson, her late husband and baby boy, her new life in Colorado Springs, all went through her head. All was a big jumble of mixed emotions, thoughts of past happiness and sorrows. How did she think she could start a new life? Memories do not go away just because you relocate. How could she move on? Life was nothing more than a heavy burden that she felt she had to carry all by herself. Was it all really worth it? With these dark thoughts moving through her head, she finally fell asleep. It was a restless sleep, yet it was more rest than she had had lately. The dreams haunted her. Dreams of a life that should have been.
After only a few minutes into Candyland Daniel started to nod. Jack and Teal'c knew that the painkillers that Janet had given to Daniel, were starting to kick in. Their favorite archeologist would soon be leaving Candyland and drift into dreamland. And dream he would. Too many things had happened in such a short time span. He had been alone, fallen in love, been lost and found, and close to losing his best friend. And then, just as quickly, everything was back to where it was before. Except of course the little fact that he was still in love, still in the infirmary, and still very much alone. Daniel was dreaming of Sha're. How quickly things had happened then. Life is so fragile. He was tossing and turning and his temperature was rising.
"Daniel? Daniel, wake up. You are dreaming." had been dozing off in his chair next to Daniel's bed and had been pulled from his light sleep by Daniel's tossing and turning. O'Neill's encouragement did not wake up the dreaming man, but rather it seemed to pull him further into his dreams.
Suddenly, with a startle, Daniel sat up in his bed. Looked around, wondered where he was. "Jack?" "Shh, it's okay, you had a dream. Go back to sleep, I am right here, if you need me."
Daniel got back under his covers and tried to sleep, but his head was too full of thoughts. Jessica, Sha're, Jack, the child Sha're had carried. The one that should have been his, but wasn't. Would he ever be a father now? Would he want to? He thought about how easy it was to move on with life, when work and friends distracted him from his own memories. But when night came, and he was alone with his thoughts, it was all clear how hard life had become. Was it all really worth it? Finally sleep took hold of him. But once again it was the same. Dreams that he would rather do without. Dreams that visited him every night. Dreams of what should have been.
Morning couldn't come soon enough.
Morning in the infirmary was when nurses and doctors started to move around. Being under ground there were no windows for light to shine through. So when the personnel started to move around is when the day started. Daniel was pulled from his sleep by a nurse checking his pulse and then the dreaded penlight shone into his eyes. One hell of a way to start your day. O'Neill was still in his chair next to the bed. Snoring. "Jack! Jack, wake up! Get my clothes, I'm out of here." "Wha.. Danny, settle down, you are going nowhere until Janet gets here." O'Neill was barely awake and trying to prevent Daniel from jumping out of his bed. "Jack, you don't get it. If I leave before she gets here she can't stop me!" Jack couldn't help laughing. He was wondering how long Daniel had been, thinking out his little escape plan. Although it was a good one, and one that Jack himself was likely to use in the future he just couldn't help Daniel this time. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes he had gotten a good look at Daniels face and he wasn't so sure Daniel was going anywhere. One eye was still swollen shut, there was hardly any surface that wasn't black, purple, or blue, and there was no way Daniel was wearing glasses any time soon. The cut across his nose was still looking rather bad, and his face was just too swollen and beat up to accommodate glasses.
"Danny, please, let's… Let's wait for Janet. If she lets you go I will get you some clothes and take you home. But, jeez, Danny, you just haven't seen your face." O'Neill was kind of shook to see the extent of the injuries to Daniels face. Sure he had seen it the day before, but the second day just seemed to be so much worse. The pretty face was nowhere to be seen. The whole shape had changed and you couldn't even see a smidge of his normal skin color. Daniel started to fidget, reaching for the bedside table, but due to the pains across the chest he quickly leaned back into the bed. Just then Dr. Janet walked through the door. She saw the signs of pain in Daniels one open eye. "How's our not so patient patient doing today?" Daniels just sighed because he knew that it didn't matter one bit what he said. O'Neill took it upon himself to be Daniels spokesperson and told Janet that Daniel seemed to think it was time to go home. The two discussed it back and forth while Daniel closed his eye and blocked out the sound of the battling parties. He already knew the end result so why bother. "Okay, Danny, let's get you home then." Daniel's eyes shot open which cause an unbelievable pain to shoot through his entire face. "What? She is letting me go? Now?" Daniel couldn't hide his surprise. Now he kinda wished he had paid attention so he knew how Jack had convinced the doctor. But he certainly wasn't going to argue it now. Better to get out of there before Janet could change her mind.
"While Janet talks with you, I will find you some clothes." With that Jack left, leaving Daniel alone with the dictator.
"I am going to write you a prescription on anti-biotics, and some painkillers. You must take them as directed. No skipping doses, and you must finish the whole lot. I can't with good conscience let you stay at your house by yourself, so either you go with Jack to his house or he stays with you at yours. Do not let him leave you alone. You were unconscious for hours, and you were beat up badly. You need someone to keep an eye on you for at least the next 3 days. I will check on you." Janet looked at Daniel to make sure he was listening. Daniel just kept nodding as if he was clinging to every word, but Janet was pretty sure he was just doing so, so she wouldn't change her mind. Just as she was rethinking her decision, O'Neill walked through the door with a bundle of clothes clutched in his arms. She was sure that if Daniel could have he would have leapt out of the hospital bed.
While Daniel slowly got into his clean clothes, Janet took O'Neill aside and repeated the discharge instructions again. Jack agreed to stay with Daniel at his house until she had relieved him of his duties. With a "get well" hug from Janet, Daniel left with the help of Jack. He was very sore, so he welcomed the support from his friend. Soon he would be home in his own house, where he could relax without worry.
Daniel almost smiled. Then suddenly he remembered "Wait! Is Jessica at my house?"