Sandra – Tak co? Ako je v Edinburgu? Robotu uz mate? Este si len vcera odisla a uz mi zacinas chybat. Bollocks! Nezabudni ma update-ovat ohladom teba a hlavne toho co si myslis o mojich novych chapteroch, hehe!
Drz sa, love you, Leusa!
All – Have fun reading and let me know your thoughts. :) You readers out there are just great! I love you all your lovely folks!
Leenie – You are my rock. Can't await to read the new story of yours, so hurry up, lol. :D
Where the truth lies
by- liz parker
Chapter 13 – Memories and Research
Daniel was dreaming again. However, this time it was different. His dream wasn't bizarre or anything of the sort. On the contrary, it consisted of short tiny snippets of his memories, which he viewed as an outside observer.
The memory replay started somewhat pleasantly, his mind digging up memories of situations, in which a certain dark-haired woman graced him with all sorts of charming irresistible smiles and deep meaningful looks.
…all those hearty grins that indicated she was only mocking him when she told him he looked silly in his new sun glasses…
…hidden yawns that told him she was fed up with his long boring lectures but didn't want to let him know lest she hurt his feelings …
…genuine smiles full of trust in his opinion while he discussed something considering the SGC…
…dreamy grins being shot in his direction during long and boring briefings…
… her gentle look when he told her about the loss of his wife to the Goa'uld…
… her cheeky grin when they beat the dragon…
… her lips pouting when she literally "bathed" in Merlin's treasure…
…the twinkle in her eye whenever she was teasing him and he bought it…
…her wide sincere smile when she decided to share her last remaining cookie with him while they waited on a boring off-world mission…
…the furtive glimpses she gave him whenever they had a team night-out and she had had a little too much to drink and him pretending to ignore them…
.. her shameless grins whenever she embarrassed him…
…the somewhat understanding stare she gave him when they kissed in the forest…
And then, the dream suddenly changed and more disturbing memories started to emerge from his subconscious.
…the countless arguments they've shared and the many things he called her during fits of rage…
…the scornful sneers he gave her, reminding her that she would fail when she tried to do something her own way…
…her hurt expression after the supercilious lecture he gave her on why she was behaving the way she was when he found her in his room clad only in pink nightwear…
…her pleas for his trust when he left her in the frozen cave, and how he ignored them entirely…
…how he shouted at her in front of the rest on the team…
… his sudden ironic remark in the Mace room that caused her to hit her head against the stone pedestal…
… his mocking remarks about her past or the truthfulness of her intentions…
…all those times he shooed her away from his office with the excuse of having work to do although he was clearly free, and although he knew she was bored to death…
… all those times he doubted her honesty and good intentions.…
All those memories finally culminating in the one, worst of all– how her voice trembled and cracked when she asked him to believe she was not a thief anymore whilst the ice was breaking underneath her feet and how she disappeared in the dark water leaving him standing on solid ground, mortified at that sight…
…how the doctor performed CPR, …then told them Vala had retained severe injuries she may not survive from, how that if she did manage to pull through, she may have suffered permanent brain damage, ...the piercing beeping of her monitors as the doctors rushed in trying to fix her and failed – how they later joined SG-1 in the waiting room and told them they did everything they could but Vala's injuries were too severe and she could not be saved…
Daniel jerked from his dream his head shooting up from wherever it was previously resting. His heart was pounding heavily, and cold streams of sweat were running down his spine. It took him just a second to figure out where he was - the infirmary – and another second to realize Vala was still there, resting at the infirmary bed looking peacefully asleep although that was not the case.
Daniel let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and crushed his head back onto the edge of the bed with a great relaxed sigh escaping his lips. The last part was NOT a memory.
He lifted his head and gave Vala a long look.
"You scared the hell out off me in that dream, do you know that? If you keep this up, I am going to have to double my coffee dosage." He said softly with a smile, although his insides were twitching at the memory of the dream.
"Good morning Doctor Jackson," came a strong voice from behind the curtain, which revealed the form of the day nurse, Peterson.
Daniel gave her a sleepy smile hoping the energetic nurse didn't see him jerk awake from his dream or hear any of the previous words devoted to her patient. It was nothing personal, but Nurse Peterson retained the reputation of being the largest gossip within the medical ward, and he really didn't want word to spread that he was troubled by stupid dreams.
"Have you been here all night?" Asked the nurse curiously, her eyes inquisitively searching Daniel's eyes, Vala, the bed and finally the ground, where they rested on the pile of magazines that must have slipped from Daniels grasp when he fell asleep. The nurse bent down and picked the magazines before Daniel had a chance to collect them himself and with an amused knowing look handed them to a slightly flushed Daniel.
"What time is it?" Asked Daniel stretching his stiff limbs.
"It's only 6 something am." Answered the nurse politely while taking Vala's chart and checking her vitals, then writing them down into the chart. Then, as though oblivious of Daniel's presence, she took a small tray carrying some medical instruments, some solution , gauze and bandages and begun to remove the thick dressings from Vala's hands. Daniel averted his gaze, all of a sudden he felt strange, like looking at Vala's exposed hand would somehow intrude her privacy. Well, maybe it really would in some way…
Daniel jumped to his feet grabbing the magazines and decided to take a walk, grab some coffee, maybe even food in the cafeteria, maybe even stop by his office and do some work before returning here again.
"Excuse me, Nurse Peterson, but do you know when Doctor Lam is going to come in?" Asked Daniel already behind the curtain, once again peaking his head behind it.
"She mentioned that she would be arriving here around 8 am, doctor," replied the nurse politely, before returning to her work.
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The morning went by exceptionally slow. After Daniel left the infirmary, he first went to the cafeteria where he asked for a triple shot of espresso and a chocolate muffin, Vala's favourite, he remembered, and then made his way to his lab. He grabbed some work, but could not concentrate, so he turned on his computer hoping to read some daily news online.
After he scrolled through several news pages but didn't find anything too interesting. He sighed heavily. He could not believe it but he actually felt… bored.
Unconscious of his actions, he started to spin around on his chair, looking around the room for something interesting to do. His eyes fell upon a flacon on the shelf, THE flacon to be exact, It was the one Vala had threatened to smash when he refused to join her to lunch the other day. He looked around and discovered that many of the objects in the room somehow reminded him of her – they were each connected with some kind of memory of her. How she had managed to "infiltrate" his office, leaving subtle traces of herself everywhere in such a short time, remained a secret to Daniel.
He looked around once more and his eyes fell upon the magazines he had started to read to Vala yesterday. He picked one of them up and flipped through it once more to the page that read – The Jollie-Pitts adopted again. Daniel furrowed his brow and read the headline again. THIS world – the gossip concerning famous people and all - was so strange to him…
He turned to his laptop again and typed the words: Jollie-Pitt into Google.
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When Cameron walked into Daniel's office more than two hours later, he was utterly surprised to find Daniel at his computer browsing through some very hot pictures of Angelina Jollie.
"WOW Jackson! You never cease to amaze me!" Cried Mitchell from behind Daniel's back, making him jump on the spot.
"Cam! You scared the hell out of me!" Said Daniel, looking at Cam who still sported the thick bandage upon his nose.
Mitchell looked at Daniel's table and whistled. Instead of old parchment and dusty books, he saw the glamour magazines Daniel had brought Vala the previous day, each open to a different page in a chaotic manner.
"What's going on?" Asked Mitchell suspiciously, startled at the sight. The archeologist looked a bit sheepish, awkwardly collecting the magazines into a pile, then handing them over to Cam.
"I was…doing some trivial research…on those people. So next time, I know what you people are talking about," said Daniel defensively.
"I bet you were." Mitchell grinned, letting his gaze wander to the sexy image of Angelina on Daniels screen.
"What kind of research is that?" He tilted his head at the laptop behind Daniel.
"That…uhm.. Did you know that Angelina Jollie has a child with Brad Pitt, the guy who starred in that movie Teal'c likes…uhm…Interview with the Vampire? And that they've both already adopted 3 children, from 3 different countries…pretty cool, huh?"
"Well, If you say so…" Said Mitchell, giving Daniel a suspicious look and a wide grin, at the same time laughing inwardly. Daniel noticed Mitchell's look, dug his hands deep into his pockets and ducked his head confessing:
"Alright. I'm a guy too, ok?!" He shot a glance at his screen. "She IS pretty hot."
Cam laughed. "Well, now THAT is something General O'Neill won't believe!"
Daniel's eyes almost fell from his head in horror.
"Relax! Just joking. I see you have a thing for brunettes, huh?"
Daniel squinted at Cam and pulled a face, yet didn't comment.
"Any particular reason for your visit?"
"Mmmhmm…I just came back from the infirmary. Dr. Lam is going to unplug Vala from the respirator this afternoon at 2 pm," said Mitchell, adopting a more serious tone, and studying Daniel's face intensely.
"Will be there," replied Daniel in a casual yet firm tone.
"Ok. Wanna join Sam, T and I at a late breakfast?"
"Nope, thanks." Replied Daniel kindly.
"You sure?"
"Yep."
"Ok. See you later then."
"Sure. Oh, and Cam?"
"Yeah?"
"If it's not too much trouble, could you get me some red jello while your there?"
"You betcha." Mitchell smiled wildly. He didn't know what the General had told Daniel, but it seemed to have done wonders.
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The morning was going slow, but to Daniel surprise he spent it rather comfortably. He was finally able to do some work, and he managed to help doctor Cass on some research and advise the members of SG-7 on the proper behavior and customs of PX-759.
At noon, Sam and Teal'c came by to pick him up for lunch and they met with Jack and Cam at the cafeteria.
They spent the lunch in quiet casual conversation discussing work and Jack's job at Washington, although Daniel and Sam barely touched their food, resigning themselves to merely toying with it. All five of them continuously threw nervous glances at the cafeteria wall clock.
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All members of SG-1, accompanied by Jack, walked into the infirmary five minutes before 2 pm, Carolyn Lam and her two nurses were expecting them. Doctor Lam gave them a nod and a small supportive smile as gathered around Vala's bed, at the same time allowing the doctor and her nurses ample space.
Carolyn walked to the head of Vala's bed, putting on a pair of gloves while explaining her next steps to the small crowd.
"I am going to withdraw this tube…", she pointed to the tube leading to the ventilator, "…and exchange it for this tube." Carolyn pointed to a second tube she was holding in her hand. It was attached to another monitor.
"Thanks to this second tube, we will be able to see on the monitor, whether Vala starts to breathe on her own or not. If yes, we will observe her condition for some amount of time and if everything goes well and she stays stable, we will procede and remove the breathing tube completely, as well as start to lower her anesthetics dosage. If she does not breathe on her own right away, although we may have to give her body some time to react to the shortness of oxygen in her lungs and blood, we will put her again on the ventilator and try later. However, it would significantly lower her chances to restore to health."
She gave the group a short time to process the information she just voiced and then gave them a final look.
"Ready?"
They all nodded in unison.
Carolyn gently took hold of the ventilator tube attached to Vala's endotracheal tube, pushed the shutter and pulled it away with the deflated sound of seeping oxygen.
TBC
A/N - Ok, so this one is bit of a filler and I almost hated it while writing, but on the second though, it is not all that bad. BTW - Raise hands everybody who are by now somewhat annoyed with Daniel self-loathing and feeling of guilt /raises her hand/. Who else thinks that Leuska should FINALLY go on with the plot and concentrate on the story itself /raises her hand again/?
Ugh, ALRIGHT! You outvoted me! The next one – less guilt and more action. (hopefully ;))
Oh, and yeah, the next chapter should be interesting, lol.