Chapter 5
A steady hum of voices intruded on the peaceful black solitude of Daniel's unconscious mind.
God... Just shut up all ready... Even as these thoughts floated through his mind, Daniel became aware of the peculiar sluggishness of his thoughts.
He prodded at his memory, trying to dredge up his last thoughts before sleep. What happened? Where am I?
The familiar scent of the SGC infirmary... The familiar lingering soreness of a zat blast... With an uncomfortably sudden force, he remembered the scene he had made in the gate room.
With a quick intake of breath, he opened his eyes. The blur of his uncorrected vision was not so bad that he couldn't see that he was alone in the small cubicle formed by a drawn privacy curtain.
According to long habit, he reached for a small table next to his bed for his glasses, only to have his arms stopped inches away from the mattress. Just great, he thought with a sigh as he looked down at his hands, fastened securely to the bars of his hospital bed. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but it was certainly annoying.
"Hello?" Daniel called out. His voice echoed alien-like back at him from the walls of the infirmary that seemed deserted from behind the screening curtain. "Anyone there?"
To Daniel disgust, it wasn't the reassuringly friendly figure of Doctor Fraiser that was summoned by his call. Instead, the figure that peeked timidly around the curtain was an appallingly young man, with hair slightly too large for his head, and a stethoscope dangling forgotten from his neck. He can't possibly be a doctor. He must be an assistant...
"Where's Doctor Fraiser?" Daniel asked, his temper piqued by the intrusion of this stranger.
The doctor's large eyes flinched away from him, scanning the room before returning to Daniel. "How're you doing?" the young doctor asked, and then winced at a belated realization. "Sorry...I forgot you can't answer."
In the awkward silence that followed, Daniel's heart sank. But there was a part of him that just would not give in without a fight. With a raised brow, he lifted his hands, trying to indicate the restraints that tethered him to the bed with what he believed to be a very clear expression of query.
The stranger stared at him as though he were something entirely alien. (Which was really something, considering some of the things they'd been bringing back through the Stargate, lately.) After a pregnant silent, the doctor announced, "I brought your glasses." Before Daniel could register the non sequitur, the young doctor had pulled the glasses from a pocket and placed them on the archeologist's face. I hate it when people do that... he groaned inwardly, as he felt the arms of the glasses grinding stray hairs into the backs of his ears.
The doctor freely interpreted his look of irritation, and started chattering in a ceaseless monologue, "Oh, I know. They got knocked through the gate, but apparently Colonel O'Neill keeps an extra pair around. That seems a little odd to me, but to each his own. It seems like he really cares about his team..."
As he chattered on, Daniel took note of the nervous glances, and the way he fidgeted with the stethoscope. Is he...afraid? Of me?
"Look, as much as I'd love to sit here listening to you yammer on..." Daniel began. He knew he wouldn't be understood, but he had hopes that he could at least discourage the annoying man from talking.
No luck. "Doctor Fraiser says that she thinks it best if you stay here. Ah… You understand, I hope? Something knocked out every single one of the people in the observatory. Was that you, too?" she asked.
A quick survey of his memories gave Daniel the answer he was looking for. He considered trying to scare off the annoying doctor, but in the end, he just shook his head in the negative. The events in the observatory were news to him.
"Do you have any idea what could have caused it?" Another question, and this time a nod from Daniel. He was already tired of this guessing game, but he didn't have much choice but to sit and endure it.
"Could it have something to do with the cube you were carrying?" Daniel winced a little, but this time he shook his head. It wasn't lying if he wasn't actually speaking, was it?
"It was an accident, then?" Daniel hesitated, but gave a bit of a nod. "Ah."
A long, uncomfortable silence passed, until Daniel finally opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by the nervous doctor or assistant or whatever he was. "Well, Doctor Fraiser thinks that it's best if you stay here for now. No one is certain exactly what got into you, but until you can tell us what it was, it's probably for the best. Is there anything I could get you?"
Daniel was amazed at how quickly the assistant had forgotten that he couldn't talk. He glanced around, desperately, and finally looked down at one of his confined hands, trying to mime reading a book.
Wonder of wonders, the momentary confusion on the doctor's face cleared after a few minutes into one of revelation, and he asked, "A book? You want a book to read?" Relieved, Daniel gave an emphatic nod. "Well, that I can do!" With a bounce in his step, the young doctor disappeared through the privacy curtain to fetch the book.
Unfortunately, Daniel's excitement was short-lived, as the man returned much too quickly, to dump a worn paperback on his lap. "Okay, well. I'll be back to check on you periodically, and I'm sure your friends will look in on you as soon as they can. You take care, Dr. Jackson!"
Utterly dejected, Daniel looked down at the reading material with which he had been presented. In scrolling letters across the speckled pink, mildewed cover, blue foil letters mocked him: "The Lusty Bridegroom."
With all the force he could manage with his confined hands, he threw the book away from the bed. When the book hit the curtain, he was denied even the satisfying smack of it hitting the wall.
This was going to be a long day.
Two days later, Daniel fidgeted impatiently on the examination table in the infirmary.
"Well," Dr. Fraiser said, reluctantly, "You've shown no violent tendencies whatsoever. I'm a little worried about this PET scan, though..."
Daniel rolled his eyes, but was mollified by Sam's encouraging smile. "Janet, we're hoping that going back to the planet will help him to show some improvement. He seems to think that it will."
Although he couldn't contribute as actively to the discussion as he would have liked, Daniel frowned with frustration and gave a firm nod.
"Well, I can't see any reason to veto it, but I'm not happy about it," she announced, leveling them both a fierce look that froze any celebratory gestures before they'd even begun. "Now, I'll be coming along to monitor Daniel's condition. If I see the slightest signs that he's being adversely affected, I'm going to give the order and send him back through the Stargate. Is that clear?"
Daniel gave a sober nod, and Sam replied more vocally, "We'd expect nothing less."
Finally, some time alone, Daniel thought to himself, as he slipped down the hallway.
Sam was somewhere behind him, having separated at the locker rooms. A pang of guilt stabbed Daniel as he recalled her playful admonition. "I'm trusting you," she'd said, jokingly. As though there were no question that he was to be trusted. "A quick shower, and pack your bags. Then we're off to get you back on your feet."
Well, she doesn't know what's really going on, he reassured himself. If I could just explain to her, I know she'd go along with it.
A sigh exploded from his lips as he paused, smiling uncertainly at a passing soldier. Air force? Army? He still couldn't tell them apart in their SGC uniforms.
Sam will forgive me, he reassured himself, fighting back a familiar stab of loneliness. However, as he slipped unnoticed into his silent office, he paused near the doorway.
A brief moment of indecision passed, and he steeled himself to walk to his desk. A quick search through the desk revealed exactly what he was looking for: The sand-colored cube, tossed forgotten in a drawer. Perhaps one of the soldiers had picked it up and put it away 'for safekeeping.'
For a moment, he was transfixed. He couldn't even take it eyes off it long enough to pick it up. Finally, he tore his gaze away with a purposeful blink and picked up the object. Such a small object to cause so much trouble...
Just as he was tucking the cube into his backpack, a myopic, slouch-shouldered scientist opened the door. For a moment, they both stood owl-eyed and frozen, startled. Shit, shit, shit... What if he knows I'm not supposed to be unsupervised...?
The young scientist gave an uncertain grin, "Oh, ah...I...I'm sorry D...Dr. Jackson... I th...thought you were...ill?"
You don't know the half of it, he thought, but what came out of his mouth was a string of nonsense filled with awkward, forced humor.
The grin on the young-man's face faded to a look that Daniel knew too well: pity. With an uncomfortable smile, Daniel looked around, trying to find some excuse to be in his office when he clearly wasn't fit for work.
After a brief hesitation, he grabbed a book and held it up, giving a weak grin as he gestured to it.
The young man seemed to think he understood, as he gave a softer smile and nod. "A little light reading, sir?"
Daniel gave a bit of a grin and a shrug of his shoulder. That seemed to be all he needed, for the scientist gave a bit of a start, and jumped out of the way of the door.
Not about to waste the opportunity, Daniel slipped past and walked quickly down the hall.
"H...Have a good day, sir! Get....Get well soon!"
The words echoed behind him, but Daniel just kept his head down and put up a hand that he hoped would be accepted as an appropriate farewell, just before he turned the corner.
"Now remember, Daniel. This isn't a kindergarten field trip. No exploring, no matter how interesting the funny markings seem..."
O'Neill was lecturing, but Daniel was smiling quietly, like a man with a secret. On his other side, Sam gave him a questioning look, but Daniel just waved her off and ducked his head. On the bright side, this whole dysphasia thing makes a great excuse not to explain myself...
"If you see something that you think might help, don't go investigating it yourself," O'Neill rambled on. "That's what your science buddies are here for."
As the Stargate burst into life in front of them, Daniel had to stifle a wild urge to laugh as a strong euphoria overwhelmed him. A moment later, O'Neill gave the signal for the group to move forward, and Daniel strode ahead of the rest of the group, when he usually would have lagged behind, fiddling with his equipment.
O'Neill watched Daniel disappear through the Stargate. The linguist even had a bit of a bounce in his step. "What was that all about?" he asked.
But Carter merely shrugged and gave a little smile. "Probably just happy to be taking action."
Although O'Neill couldn't dismiss his unease, he made no more comment, but led the rest of his team through the Stargate, rushing to catch up with Daniel.
Meanwhile, wrapped in many layers of clothing, in the bottom of Daniel's pack, hid the sand-colored cube.