Sandra – Cau obluda. Laskavo mi prines fotku Nessie! A laskavo mi napis tvoju recenziu, lebo bude zle! Aspon taku ako minule:D Drz sa.

All – Hello everybody! So this is it! The next chapter! Firstly, biiig apology to all of you who had to wait for sooo looong. But you shall see that BRUTAL HOT SUMMER it is here! Its hotter than in Rome or Barcelona! That's pretty unfair….:( We are ALWAYS cooler. Temperature records in a century! 37 celsius degrees in shade! So my brain was too fried to write. It still is, but I don't care anymore, lol.

Secondly, sorry for ANY medical inaccuracies I made, ok, for probably biiig medical stuff I messed with – but hey, my field of study is completely somewhere else!!!

Anyway, read and enjoy. And review of course. ;)

Leenie – Again, you made some excelent points. Again, I tried to set them right, however, I don't know if the outcome will satisfy you. I very much hope it will. However, to be sure, please let me know. And remember Jacks words – Honesty is the best policy. ;)

And AGAIN, thank you so much!

Where the truth lies

by- liz parker

Chapter 14 – Discontent and Small steps

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.

Then, she replaced the ventilator tube with the the second tube, and then focused her eyes imediately on the monitor. There seemed to be nothing happening, but Carolyn was patiently waiting; knowing she needed to give the patient's body the time to realize it was cut off the oxygen and reacting to the new conditions.

The room was silent, the only sharp noises coming from Vala's monitors.

For quite a while, there was no change; neither good nor bad. The monitors were beeping as always, showing all present the vitals of the patient.

All of a sudden, one monitor started beeping menacingly.

"Sat's dropping," one of the nurses informed them, quickly scanning through the monitors with her eyes.

"Give her one milligram of Epi!" Ordered Dr. Lam.

The monitors started to roar even louder, emitting ear-piercing beeps throughout the room.

"Sat's still dropping; BP's down to 100 over 66," the nurse informed them and then she shot a look at Carolyn which indicated that she was awaiting new orders. Carolyn sighed quickly, and made the decision she thought was right.

"Give her one more Epi and one milligram of Atrophine," she instructed.

"Saturation still dropping, PB's 95 over 60, pulse is 134. She's gonna crash." Warned the nurse, a little louder than necessary.

"Prepare the crash cart," ordered Carolyn.

"Doctor Lam…," started the eldest of the nurses. "…she is not responding…"

"Give her some time, will you?!" Interrupted Carolyn sharply.

"C'mon Vala…c'mon…," she continued under her breath.

"Pulse 150, BP 85 over 55, sat's 70!" Warned one of the nurses.

Carolyn released an irritated sigh.

"Alright, let's put her on the vent again," she said yielding. She began taking the ventilator tube and trying to exchange it with the monitor tube, when somebody suddenly grabbed her hand and prevented her from doing so.

"Wait, Doctor Lam," said a calm stoic voice from behind her and Carolyn turned in surprise to see Teal'c standing there, holding her hand gently, but firmly. Everybody in the room shot Teal'c a multitude of shocked looks.

"Teal'c, we don't have ti-"

"Look," Said Teal'c, nodding his head in the direction of the monitors.

While everybody stared at Teal'c and wondered about his behavior, nobody in the room except Teal'c had noticed that the beeping had become quieter and more controlled. Carolyn shot a glance at one of the monitors only to see a steady breathing rhythm indicating the patient had restored her own breathing.

The room got all quiet again. Nobody dared to speak up, as if scared that a sudden noise could ruin the favorable change in the line of events.

"She is breathing on her own," said Carolyn, sighing in relief, her hand still frozen in mid-air, hovering over Vala's endotracheal tube.

"Sat's going up," one nurse informed them.

"BP's rising, pulse is steadying," completed another.

Carolyn checked all the monitors again, knowing very well that the rest of the people in the room were waiting for her final word. She knew her words held great impact, so she checked the monitors once again to be absolutely sure. Yes, everything was returning to normal.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've got her back. She is breathing on her own, all vitals are retuning to normal. Let's just hope she will remain stable like this. If so, we may take the anesthetics down a notch," she finished, but the rest of room's occupants were still giving her expectant looks.

"It's a good sign," she said gently, nodding her head to emphasize her statement. Only then did she see their faces relax.

"So what now? Where will we go from here?" Asked Mitchell impatiently.

"Well…" started Carolyn thoughtfully. "…as I've said, if she stays stable, we will try to take her med's down to see if she wakes up."

"When?" Asked Jack, his tone betraying an impatience that matched Mitchell's.

Carolyn suppressed a smile that was threatening to form on her lips. The two men were really more alike than they ever knew. She allowed herself a moment to think about the question.

"We will wait until tomorrow. If nothing changes during the night, we will take her off the drugs in the morning."

"So she could wake up sometime tomorrow?" Asked Sam, hope evident in her voice.

Carolyn scrunched her face. Her situation was becoming difficult. How can she phrase her response so that they can fully understand it?

"Well, that is extremely unlikely, ..." She said at last, but before she got the chance to continue, she was yet again interrupted by a discontented member of SG-1.

"Why?" Asked Daniel irritated.

"Because right now, she is in a medical induced coma. Even after we take her off the medication, she most probably will remain comatose. Her body has had to deal with a lot in the past few days and it probably won't respond to external stimuli for a while."

"A while? How long is that?" Asked Mitchell. Carolyn sighed. She knew these people were only concerned for the well-being of their teammate and friend, however, their disgruntled questions were already starting to put her off.

"I can't tell you. Maybe a day, maybe a week, maybe a month. And maybe…," she said taking a deep breath before continuing, "she won't wake up at all. We don't know how much neurological damage she has suffered, especially since there is no real test to let us know for sure. This is a waiting game. I know you don't like it and trust me, I hate it as much as you do, but there is nothing for us to do right now but wait. Please, be patient," She emphasized the last word and the room became quiet once more.

"This is ridiculous!" started Daniel dismissively. "She didn't get shot with a staff weapon, she didn't suffer some alien unknow injury! There is no way she can't be treated in a better way! I mean; we've been all around the galaxy, we've seen all kind of things. Teal'c is on tretonin, free of the symbiote, something he wouldn't even dream of ten years ago, and there is so much more, so why don't you use some alien technology Carolyn? We have a workable healing device for christ's sake!" finished Daniel heatedly. However, after he saw the deadly look on Carolyn's face, he shut up at once.

"Are you indicating I am not doing my job well enough Dr. Jackson?" she said angrily, yet quietly.

"I didn't mean you…" Daniel started to back off.

"I am sorry your friend is hurt. And I am sorry there is not much to do but wait. But unfortunately, as 'ordinary' as Vala's injuries may be, we have to treat them by the best modus operandi we know so far, which in this case sadly, is waiting. And about the healing device, there is one little catch in your plan Doctor Jackson, since you are forgetting that the only person who is able to safely use the healing device is Vala."

Looking at their stern faces, she regretted her harsh words instantly, her features softening at once.

"Look. This is good news. She is breathing on her own and stable. Have faith in Vala and give her time," she finished in a quiet but gentle tone.

Then she added: "She's probably be better off unconscious anyway. She'll probably be in a lot of pain when she wakes up."

"A lot of pain?" Asked Sam, concern written all over her face.

"You have to consider all of the aspects of her accident. She has nearly drowned, has suffered serious frostbite on her hands and feet, has required multiple shocks from a defibrillator to jumpstart her heart, and until recently, has been attached to a breathing machine. She has suffered a head injury that was followed by brain swelling, and her whole system has shut down several times. Don't forget that her body still has to deal with the various cocktails of medicine we are giving her to keep her stable. On top of everything, she has evolving pneumonia, which gives us serious worries, and her temperature is increasing although we are doing everything we can to keep it at acceptable levels. Using some kind of alien technology on Vala, especially in her complicated medical condition, even in good faith , could in the end cause her more harm than good. We can never be absolutely sure what the effects of such technology could be, as well as we know that every human reacts differently on different kind of treatement. Trust me, this may not be the easiest, but definitely the safest way to go."

Carolyn finished and sighed again: she knew she had already said enough. All the faces in the room looked even gloomier than they had been before, although the seemed to finally understand. Neverthelles, she cursed herself inwardly. This dejection was not what she had wanted; this was after all supposed to be a good outcome.

"C'mon people. Half an hour ago, we didn't even know if she could breathe on her own. The fact that she can proves two things – first; we are giving her the right treatment, second; she is a fighter. She's made really good progress, hopefully the first in a line of positive results. Small steps people."

"You may stay here and keep her company if you want, but I would advise you to go get some rest or some work done. If I know you as well as I think I do, I know you're going to be keeping her constant company starting tomorrow, especially since she has a chance of waking up at any time since then. Don't worry, I will call you at once if anything changes."

With that, she left the infirmary heading to her father's office to tell him the good news.

TBC

AN – Ok people. Now, what did you think of this one? And what do you think? Is Vala going to wake up? How soon? And if, is she going to be ok? C'mon, lets start a bet! Whoever gets the closest gets a reward!;) Ok, maybe just a – Nice work! – and an appreciative pat on the back, but hey, it will be fun, promise! BTW, I won't be around much in the next month, firstly going to vacation with my family – hiking into the mountains, sadly no internet :( - and then going off with my sis for 10 days to London! Yepeeee! We always wanted to make that trip, I am soo looking forward to it! I hope you all having a good time as well! Take care and let me know your thoughs. Liz