NON REVERSABLE EFFECTS

CH16

Bright overhead lights caused spots to fill vision. Usually this would piss me off, but today it was a sure sign. A sure sign that I was alive, so I didn't cuss or anything. This meant that I was in the SGC infirmary, on the road to recovery. I was actually feeling pretty good, considering the condition I had been in earlier. Actually, to feel this good I must have been on some pretty good pain killers.

Looking around I found that I had one of those private rooms—which was actually a surprise. I was hooked up to a heart monitor, oxygen tubes up my nose and an IV in the crook of my elbow as well as in the top of my hand. They were hooked to my left arm, because my right hand was wrapped in a cast. I wasn't wearing a gown or anything and I was pretty sure I wasn't wearing underwear either—I could feel the scratchiness of the blanket on my tender flesh. And speaking of that, my chest was covered in bandages. They were on my arms as well as my back I was sure. My right leg was out from under the blanket, my foot elevated on a pillow. My ankle was wrapped in bandages and what looked to be a soft cast, it looked red and swollen, and there was a steady ach coming from it. I craned my neck, trying to get a better looked when—well it frigin' hurt, to be honest. And that reminded me of the Doctor and whatever he had put in my neck, me tearing out the stitches and ripping out whatever it was that he had put in there. I laid my head back down and ran shaking fingers through my hair—and found a light bandage wrapped around my head.

I wasn't sure how long I had been out for, but I was still tired. I didn't really feel that up to a check up or whatever, so I didn't make a fuss. I shifted on the bed, trying to get comfortable. There was a sort of lump in the sheet where my lower back was, and after a minute I got it flattened. My eyes slipped closed and the room around me faded away.

The next time I opened my eyes, the light was still there. I had been happy the first time, but now it was just annoying. I turned my head away and found that the chair at my side that I hadn't noticed before was now occupied. He looked like he was dozing, his arms crossed and his chin resting on his chest.

"Daniel." I called, but it came out as a croak instead.

I cleared my throat to try again, but my throat was too dry. I looked around me to see if there was anything that I could throw at him to wake him up, but there was nothing near. I calculated the distance from my bed to his chair, and found that it was close enough. I shifted in the bed—that lump under my lower back returning—and reached out my right arm. It was a little heavy and sore, but I had just enough reach to touch his pants. I pinched some of the material between my fingers and tugged. He jerked awake, almost falling out of the chair in the process.

"Careful." I told him, though my voice was but a whisper.

Daniel looked at me. "Nick!" he grinned with relief. "You're finally awake."

I raised an eyebrow at the comment, but shook it off. "I'm sure it hasn't been that long."

Daniel scratched. "It's kinda been four days, Nick."

"What?" I exclaimed. "Four days?"

I tried to sit up. Daniel saw the pained expression that crossed my face and quickly stood, a light hand on my shoulder. He lightly pushed me back down. "Careful." this time he was the one to chide me. "Four days may seem like awhile, but you were in pretty bad condition."

"Fine," I forced myself to relax, which was kinda hard considering that frigin' lump! I made a noise of frustration. "Do you think that you can fix the sheets?" I asked Daniel. "There's this lump in the sheet that's annoying the crap outta me." before he could say anything, I rolled away from him. Moving the blanket that covered me out of the way, and belatedly remembering that I was naked. It didn't really matter any way; it wasn't like Daniel hadn't seen me naked a hundred times over before. A hesitant and uneasy expression crossed Daniel's face, and I looked at him over my shoulder with my brow furrowed. "What?"

"Um—that's not the sheet." he said after a moment.

I rolled back. "I'm not fallowing you."

"Nick—" Daniel started before he stopped, licked his lips and started again. "Do you remember when you said that the man who captured us, put something in your neck to make you do things that weren't in your control?" I nodded. "And then you tore into your neck, and pulled something out?" I nodded again. "Something happened after that."

"I know." I agreed. "When we had to take out those two guys, I tried to Change, but nothing happened." I paused, a troubled look crossing my. "I think I'm stuck, whatever was put in me controlled my whether I Changed or not—and when I forcefully took it out, it must have short circuited the connection that allows me to transform."

Daniel took a breath. "Not quite." he said slowly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, you're kind of stuck in between." he winced slightly.

"Stuck in between what?"

"You're stuck in between your transformation." he told me, a nervous smile on his lips.

"Like—you mean that I'm half human and half animal?" I questioned.

"Well—Tiger would be more accurate." Daniel corrected awkwardly.

I looked at him with wide eyes, my heart beating rapidly. "If the lump isn't the sheets, then what is it?" I asked, even though I had my suspicions.

"It's a, uh, a tail." Daniel said with hesitation.

My nostrils flared as I breathed heavily through my nose. I reached underneath myself and felt for the "lump", and instead of feeling the sheets in my grasp, I felt something furry. It twitched in my hand; the fur was soft and short. I pulled it out from beneath me; its pattern was that of a tigers, black and orange with a white tip. I squeezed and I actually felt the pressure—it felt as if someone was giving my arm a squeeze, but not quite. I let go and it fell to my lap.

I looked at Daniel. "What else?"

"Your ears,"

My hands shaking, I reach for my ears. Without my hair still cut short, my ears were easy to find. Instead of my finger tips finding the shell of a rounded ear, they came in contact with the triangular ears of a tiger. They were pointed and covered in a downy-fur that I assumed was like my tail. They flickered and twitched at the contact, much as they did when I was fully transformed and something near brushed near them. I gave Daniel a wide eyed look.

"Your nails." he told me and I looked at him in confusion.

I was sure that I would have notice a difference in my nails when I notice the IVs, and the cast around my hand. I held up my right hand and looked at it, it looked like it usually did, except maybe after feeling them, my nails felt a little thicker than normal. Again I gave Daniel a confused look. Leaning forward he gave me an apologetic look, and too a hold of my index finger. He pushed down on the part just above the nail—just like when you squeezed at cats paw and the nails come out—mine grew and curved downward into a sharp point. Freaked out, I yanked my hand away and my nail went back to normal.

"Your eyes and teeth," Daniel said, no need for prompting here—might as well get it over with as fast as possible.

The soreness in my gums would explain that, their sharpness biting into them. And me being able to see the scents when I felt like it, meant that my eyes had been like they were before, though Daniel probably meant that my pupils were permanently in the diamond slits.

"Is that it?" I asked and Daniel nodded. So now I supposed that I was like Inu Yasha from that anime show. "Great." was all I said in return—depression was probably immanent.