Just as Sam predicted, P4J-592's first sun had nearly set by the time the team arrived at the bone yard. The remaining sun provided plenty of light to see by, but the stretched shadows and changing animal sounds gave the alien forest an unsettling look and feel. The group tried not to think about the scores of people that had perished here long ago, but the piles of dark cloth and old bones were hard to miss.
From her position beside Jack's stretcher, Janet stole a look over her shoulder at Daniel. She'd been periodically watching him during their trip from the campsite, trying to gauge his level of fatigue. He seemed to be holding up for the most part, but his fixed stare and occasional misstep told her he was starting to tire.
He needs a break... She thought, flashing him a small smile when she realized he knew she was watching him. There was no doubt in her mind he could keep going, driven by his concern for Jack and his loyalty to the team. She was just afraid of exhaustion and the mistakes that often came with it. Normally a simple stumble or brief lapse in attention wouldn't be cause for alarm, but where he was responsible for bearing one end of the colonel's stretcher, even the smallest error could be disastrous.
She'd considered trading places with him, but she knew she'd have a hard time keeping up with Teal'c's rapid pace. Sam certainly couldn't help with her broken wrist, and there was no way Teal'c could carry the colonel alone without the risk of further injury. Having everyone stop for a break would put them behind schedule and potentially strand them in the woods if they failed to make the game trail before dark. That left her with only one option, and it wasn't something she was particularly comfortable with.
"Hey, Sam," Janet called up to her friend. "Be on the look out for a good place to stop. I'd like to give the colonel a break."
Sam led the group on for another few minutes before coming to a stop in a relatively open patch near the edge of a clearing. As the two men gently lowered the stretcher to the ground, Janet was already reaching into her jacket for the stethoscope she had looped around her neck. Jack had been quiet during the trip and she was anxious to see how he'd fared.
She shifted the blankets aside and began to access his breathing. The left side of his chest sounded clear and normal, but the right side had definitely worsened since the last time she'd checked. The sounds she was listening for were more muffled than before, indicating that fluid was continuing to build up around his lung. His inhalations were short, and the presence of a crackly wheeze told her there was fluid leaking into his lung as well.
"Turn the monitor on for me, would you, Teal'c?" she asked, replacing the blankets to help preserve his body heat.
The Jaffa inclined his head and activated the small device tucked next Jack's leg. After a brief startup sequence the machine came to life, emitting various tones and displaying numbers as it gathered information from the colonel.
Daniel sat down heavily near Jack's head, a bag of IV fluids still pinned to his jacket. "Sounds fast," he said, referring to the monotone beep representing his friend's heartbeat.
"It is," Janet agreed, leaning over to see the monitor's small display. "All his numbers are high."
"What does this mean?"
"He's just stressed from travel, Teal'c," Sam explained. "It happened last time too."
"Are we going too fast?" Daniel asked. "Have we been too rough? I know I stumbled a few times, but I thought I caught myself in time not to…"
Janet held up her hand to quiet him. "It's all right. You didn't cause it, and there's nothing you could have done to prevent it. Like I told Sam earlier, travel is very hard on someone that's as sick as the colonel. We just have to keep a close eye on him, and let him to rest when it looks like he's becoming overstressed."
"While O'Neill is resting, we should continue to clear a path through the woods."
Anyone looking would have seen a brief flash of weariness cross Daniel's face. "Yeah, I'm with you, Teal'c," he replied, working to free the pin holding the drip bag to his jacket. "Hang on a second."
"Daniel, I'd like you to sit this one out," Janet said and braced for an argument.
He looked up from wrestling with the pin. "What? Me? Why? What did I do wrong?"
"You haven't done anything wrong. I just want you to take a break."
"A break? No, there's no time. No, I-I can't," he stammered, still taken aback by the doctor's suggestion. "I'm fine, really. I'm not tired at all." Janet gave him a dubious look and he relented. "All right, I'm not that tired. I can keep going."
"I'm sure you can, but you've been going full tilt for hours. You need to slow down, rest, and have something more substantial than an energy bar to eat or else you're going to exhaust yourself."
Sam saw the reluctance on her teammate's face. "It couldn't hurt, Daniel. I didn't think I was hungry until I had something to eat, then I found out I was starving."
"We still have a long ways to go," Janet added. "This will probably be the last opportunity for you to rest before we reach the gate."
"And if I stop, who will help Teal'c?"
"I'll go."
Janet shook her head. "Uh-uh. Absolutely not, Sam. Not with your broken wrist."
"I shall go alone."
Again the doctor disagreed. "It's too much work for one person, Teal'c. Even for you. I was thinking of going myself."
The three members of SG-1 erupted all at once.
"No! You can't!"
"You have to stay with Jack!"
"O'Neill may need your assistance."
It was the response she'd expected. "I'm not comfortable with the idea either, but I don't see any other options."
"I'll go," a weak, breathy voice volunteered.
"Colonel." Janet knelt down beside the injured officer.
"Help me up."
She searched his face, looking for the telltale signs that he was joking. When she failed to find the twinkle in his eye or the beginnings of a quirky grin, she realized his mental state was starting to slip.
"I appreciate the offer, sir," she said with a kind smile. "But you're not exactly mobile at the moment."
"Just gimme a minute…I can get…I can help," he mumbled.
"Don't worry about it, Jack," Daniel said. "We've got everything covered."
"Daniel?"
The archeologist moved so his friend could see him better. "Hey, Jack. How you feeling?"
"Not one…of my better days." His response came out in a rush of air as he began to cough.
Janet pushed aside the blankets and gently supported his damaged ribs with her hand. By the time he regained control, blood spotted his chin and he was barely conscious.
"Hurts…god…hurts," he panted, his face twisted in a grimace of pain.
"Shh, I know it hurts. I know," Janet soothed as she wiped the blood and sweat from his face. "I'm going to give you something to help, sir. Something for the pain."
Even before she could ask, Teal'c brought her pack of medical supplies over and set them on ground. "Doctor Fraiser…"
"Go, Teal'c," she said, her previous argument against sending him out alone no longer justifiable. "Go clear the path."
With a curt nod and troubled look to Jack, the Jaffa hurried off into the bush.
"Let me go too."
"Sam…"
"No, Janet. Please." There was an edge of desperation in the other woman's voice. "This way you can stay with the colonel, Daniel can rest, and the trail will be cleared quickly. I'll be careful, I promise. I wouldn't say I could do this if I knew I couldn't. Please."
The doctor looked up from her gear bag and met Sam's eyes. What she saw was a fierce determination to help, to try and make things right after something had gone wrong. "Stay behind Teal'c and pace yourself. Use your left hand only. If I find that you've hurt yourself further, I swear to god I'll…"
"Janet – I'll be careful."
"Don't play the hero, Sam."
"I won't," she assured her and jogged off to catch up with Teal'c.
Janet sighed. She wasn't happy sending an injured teammate off into the woods, but for now it seemed to be best option. She quickly finished measuring out a dose of morphine for the colonel. As she turned back to her patient, she glanced at Daniel who was staring down at Jack with his arms wrapped tightly around his chest. She could tell he was upset, both by the condition of his friend and his inability to help. It was something she wanted to defuse, but that would have to come later.
"All right, colonel, here we go," she said, plugging the syringe into his IV.
"Doc?" Jack opened his eyes, his gaze surprisingly clear.
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
He took a wheezy breath, grimaced, and relaxed as the drugs started to work. "All the…the trouble."
"You haven't caused me any trouble at all, sir," she said, brushing his silvering bangs from his forehead. "Now I want you to rest, okay? Everything's going to be fine."
Jack nodded and closed his eyes, unable to fight even such a low dose of morphine in his weakened state.
"Will it really?" Daniel asked, searching her face for the truth. "Will everything – Jack – really be okay?"
The doctor could only shake her head and shrug. It was a question she just couldn't answer fairly. "Let's find you something to eat, huh?"
Teal'c grunted with effort as he struggled to pull a six-foot sapling from the ground. Its roots slowly separated from the soil making a satisfying ripping sound as they finally tore free. He threw the offending plant over his shoulder and charged forward, looking for his next target. Branches, leaves, and small shrubs were no match for his powerful hands. Rocks and fallen logs were shattered where they sat or kicked out of the way with a cold boot. Bending and twisting, ripping and tearing, Teal'c plowed through the forest leaving an almost perfect path in his wake.
During the occasional quiet moments of his demolition, he could hear Sam making her way along the path behind him. She was keeping good pace, clearing the trail of anything he had missed – which wasn't much. He'd been surprised to see her after the doctor initially said no, but he was grateful to have her along. The distance between the bone yard and the game trail was relatively short, but the vegetation was dense. With two pairs of eyes searching for hazards, the path would be safer. The safer it was, the faster they could move.
Teal'c jerked his hand back from a gnarled old branch as pain flared across his palm. A blister on the soft part of his thumb had burst, exposing the raw, red skin beneath. His hands were badly damaged, his tough calluses no match for the coarse bark and sharp thorns of the alien forest. He'd considered wearing gloves, but he didn't trust their grip, especially when carrying Jack's stretcher.
He grit his teeth and tore the damaged skin away from the broken blister to keep it from ripping further. It hurt, but he'd been taught from a young age to use pain to his advantage, not surrender to it. Teal'c closed his hand and the pain spiked. He directed it inward, turning it into anger and then hatred – hatred towards the Goa'uld and their egotistical obsession for power and control. It was their fault his hands were bleeding. It was their fault for leaving a weapon behind for an innocent being to find.
It is their fault O'Neill is gravely injured and Major Carter is burdened with guilt…He thought, his blood slowly starting to boil in his veins. No longer feeling the pain of his abused hands, Teal'c began to rip and tear at the bushes around him. Had Menoetius not stolen from Cronus and fled like a coward, the ma'krell stone would not have been left for Major Carter to find. If she had not found the stone, O'Neill would not be injured.
The reasonable part of his mind also knew that if Menoetius hadn't taken up residence on P4J-592, then it was likely SG-1 would not have been sent to the planet in the first place. But as far as he was concerned, that point was moot. He viewed the injuring of his friends as just another example of how the Goa'uld continued to destroy lives. What bothered him most was that they could do it even hundreds of years after they'd abandoned one planet for another.
Teal'c tore at a leafy shrub blocking his path. It was large, towering well over his head with branches and vines jutting out in all directions. He could have easily gone around it by adjusting his course slightly, but he was too engulfed with anger see such things. With an animal like growl, he flung himself at the plant and found himself plummeting face first into nothingness.
Further down on the trail, Sam heard what she thought was a low growl followed by a commotion in the bushes. "Teal'c?" she called, straining to see through the thick vegetation. When he didn't respond, she readied her weapon and hurried down the path. What greeted her at the other end were her friend's booted feet sticking out of the tall grass.
"Teal'c!" She gave a cursory glance around to check for obvious signs of danger before plunging through grass. She found the Jaffa warrior lying face down in the dirt; his jacket covered in shredded leaves and snapped vines. "Teal'c? Can you hear me? Are you…?"
"I am fine," the large man rumbled, picking his head up from the ground. His expression was a mixture of anger and embarrassment, a combination Sam found rather odd.
"Are you sure? Did you see something? What happened?"
"I saw nothing," he replied, not ready to admit a moment of self-induced rage had blinded him. "I was merely clearing the path when I tripped."
"That's strange, because I thought I heard…" Sam realized Teal'c was still on the ground and stuck out her good hand to help him up. "I'm glad you're okay."
Teal'c accepted her hand and slowly got to his feet. "As am I."
As she helped to brush the scraps of leaves and grass off of her teammate's uniform, Sam took notice of their surroundings for the first time. "Looks like you found the game trail all right."
He observed the wide path stretching out before them, leading off into the depths of the forest. "Indeed. Doctor Fraiser will be pleased." The light abruptly began to shift around them, the blue sky rapidly taking on a golden hue. "The shadows are changing."
"The second sun is starting to set. It won't be long before it's dark."
"We must return to the others at once." He quickly cleared the last few feet of the trail before heading off. As they walked, he made note of how clean the path was. "You did an exceptionable job finishing the trail, Major Carter."
Sam smiled modestly. "You did all the work, Teal'c, I just kicked a few stones out of the way. Besides, it was the least I could. I got us into this mess, after all."
"This was not your doing."
"Yes it was. I'm the one that set the ma'krell stone off. I'm responsible. I could have killed Janet, the colonel, myself…" She hung her head, the guilt coming back like a tidal wave. "Who am I kidding? The colonel probably won't even make it…"
Teal'c abruptly stopped on the trail, scarcely moving when Sam ran solidly into his back.
"Teal'c! What's…?"
"You must not blame yourself for this, Major Carter," he said solemnly. "You cannot allow the guilt to consume you."
She met his dark eyes as he turned to face her, the compassion she saw making a lump form in her throat. "It's not that easy, Teal'c."
"It was an accident."
"Even accidents have consequences."
"Did you know the ma'krell stone was a weapon when you discovered it on the ground?" he asked.
"No."
"Did you disobey an order from O'Neill not to touch it?"
"He didn't even know about it until I picked it up to show him."
"Then your actions were not deliberate. O'Neill will not hold you responsible."
"I wish I could say the same for myself."
Teal'c heaved an inward sigh. During his time on Earth, he'd come to learn a great deal about humans. While he could relate to many of their customs, there were some he felt he would never understand. One such habit was their reluctance to shed guilt over matters for which they had no control. It was a tiresome practice; using up precious time and energy that could be better utilized somewhere else.
"In our efforts to defeat the Goa'uld, we have all done things we regret and, at times, have caused unintentional harm to the ones for which we care. It is one of the many sacrifices we make to protect your world and others from a life of slavery and fear."
"To lose one of you guys would be devastating enough, but to know it was by my hand…" Sam shook her head, hanging onto her emotions by a thread. "I don't think I could live with myself after that."
"O'Neill may yet survive his injuries."
"But he might not."
"If you fear the outcome of the future, you cannot exist in the present," Teal'c said, placing his large hands on her shoulders. "We need you here now, Major Carter. O'Neill needs you."
Sam forced herself to nod. His words rang true, but so did the cliché 'easier said than done.'
"There will be time later to atone your mistake should you desire to do so. But now we must return to the others if O'Neill is to get the chance at survival he deserves."
"Thanks, Teal'c," she said quietly.
He gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze before turning on his heel and starting off down the trail. Sam watched him go, wanting a moment to herself. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. It had been a rough day and she suspected it was going to get even rougher before they finally reached the gate. They still had ten miles to go and she was already feeling physically and emotionally drained. Her broken wrist was starting to hurt again too.
Teal'c had been right. Although he'd said it more eloquently, she had to suck it up and get her head straight if she was to be there for her team. There would be time later to place blame and make things right.
Letting go of a tense sigh, she purposely squared her shoulders. There was a job to be done and she had to do her part. Forcing her personal emotions and fears to the back of her mind, Sam jogged off to catch up with her friend.
SG-1's second night on P4J-592 proved to be just as cold and dark as the first. The planet's primary sun had set not long after they'd arrived at the game trail, turning the pleasant landscape into a murky field of shadows. A constant breeze stirred through the bushes and rattled the trees, making the forest itself seem alive and restless. Small nocturnal creatures scurried unseen amongst the scrub, their shrill voices sounding like mad laughter.
Sam walked ahead of the others wearing the night vision goggles she had found in Jack's bag. Her main concern was warning the others of potential hazards on the path, but she was keeping a watchful eye out for hidden predators as well. The others wore headlamps to illuminate the trail and help guide them through the pockets of difficult terrain.
They had been traveling for several hours without interruption when Sam spotted movement up ahead on the trail. She slowed and held up a fist, silently signaling the others to stop.
"What is it, Major Carter?" Teal'c whispered.
"Something on the trail. I can't tell what it is – turn off your lights."
Janet switched off her own lamp before doing the same to Daniel's and Teal'c's. Except for the slight glow from the stars overhead, the group was plunged into darkness. Sam fiddled with the focus of her goggles, trying to identify what was blocking their path.
"No way…" she uttered, identifying the creature by its gangly shape and large antlers.
"What is it?" Janet asked, coming up beside her.
"You're not going to believe this, but I think it's a moose."
"A moose? Out here?"
Sam shrugged. "Take a look." She took the goggles from her face and passed them down to her friend. Janet slipped them on, her eyes adjusting quickly to the muted green field of vision.
"You're right. It looks just like the ones back on Earth."
Daniel shifted uneasily in the dark. Although he had Jack's P90 strapped to his chest, he still felt vulnerable. "So now what? Can we scare it off?"
"I doubt it," the doctor replied, returning the goggles to Sam. "It's pretty big. And last I knew moose tend to be rather cranky. It might try to charge us."
"I don't think we can go around it either," Sam added in a hushed voice. "Not with the colonel the way he is anyway. The forest is really dense here. We'd never get the stretcher through."
Teal'c's solution proved to more direct. "We must neutralize it."
"You want to shoot it?"
"Its death would be unfortunate and wasteful, but I do not see any other way."
"Shooting it won't work, you guys. It's got to weigh at least a thousand pounds. We'd never be able to move it off the trail," Sam said, watching the large creature munch nonchalantly on a bush. "And trying to climb over it would be a disaster."
"So what do we do?" Daniel asked. "We can't scare it, go around it, or shoot it. How do we convince a half ton alien moose to…mosey along?"
Nobody could think of anything. They just stood in the dark, listening to the ominous crunching of the unseen beast. A solution finally came to one of them, but it was last person any of them expected.
A barely audible voice rose from the darkness.
"Repeat yourself, Daniel Jackson."
"That wasn't me, Teal'c."
"Then who was it?" Sam asked, having heard the low mumble as well.
"I don't…" Daniel looked down, just able to make out the colonel's form in the faint starlight. There was movement and his eyes widened in surprise. "Guys, I think Jack's awake."
Leaving Sam to keep an eye on their visitor, Janet hurried around to the side of the stretcher. "Colonel?" She pulled a penlight from her vest and used her hand to defuse the beam. There was just enough light for her to see that the man was indeed awake. "Colonel, what's wrong?"
"Kinda dark."
"I know. We've run into a bit of a problem and Sam thought it was best if we turned out our lights."
"Moose?"
"Yes, sir," she said, wondering how long he'd been awake. "There's a moose standing on the trail. Our options are limited and we're not sure how to get around him just yet."
"Bigger moose."
"A bigger moose? What do you mean?" She heard him draw a difficult breath. Talking had become a tremendous waste of energy for the injured man, but she needed clarification. "Colonel?"
"I believe I know what O'Neill is referring to, Doctor Fraiser," Teal'c said over his shoulder. "Are you able to change positions with me?"
"I think so." Grateful for her small stature, the petite woman ducked down and slipped in between the Jaffa and the stretcher. She took a firm grip on the wooden poles and tested the weight. It pulled uncomfortably at her sore back, but she felt she could manage it for a short time. "All right. I've got him."
Teal'c slowly released his grip on the stretcher, staying close until he was certain she was situated. Filtering the beam of his flashlight with his hand, he located his staff weapon propped up against a tree.
"What are you going to do?" Sam asked when he appeared at her side.
"Attempt a charade."
"A what?"
"Observe." He turned his staff weapon sideways and braced it against his forehead. Switching on his headlamp, Teal'c pulled himself up to full height and started walking toward the animal.
"Teal'c!" Sam hissed, bringing up her P90.
Projecting confidence and authority, Teal'c made his way down the path displaying his improvised rack of antlers. At first the moose was too absorbed in its meal to take notice of the oddity walking toward him. When he finally did, however, the bull wheeled around to face the intruder with alarming speed and grace. He stomped, snorted, and shook his massive head, brandishing his antlers.
Oh, god, Teal'c, be careful! Sam thought, clearly able to see the creature's show of dominance through her goggles.
Teal'c squared his shoulders and mirrored the creature's display. Everything the moose did, he tried to do bigger and better. When it snorted, he'd snort louder. When it rocked its head slowly back and forth, he'd rock slower. When it took a step back, he'd take a step forward. If the moose advanced, he stood his ground.
Although their strange dance of power had only been going on for a few minutes, it felt like an eternity to Sam and the others. It was agonizing to watch, everyone wondering what would happen if the moose suddenly decided to drop its head and charge. Between the stretcher and dense forest, there was literally no place for SG-1 to run.
Sam fingered her weapon's trigger. She had no idea how much firepower it would take to drop an adult bull moose. Even if she did manage to get a kill shot the first time, any momentum the creature had built up in its charge would propel it forward into them. No matter how she looked at it, the situation was not tipped in their favor.
So caught up in his display, Teal'c failed to notice his hand slipping toward the firing mechanism of his staff. As he shook his head at the large animal, the weapon fired, sending a wad of flaming energy into the trunk of a nearby tree. The moose snorted in surprise, its eyes wide in the flickering light. Sensing the creature's indecision, Teal'c put his head down and charged, letting loose a yell worthy of a warrior in battle. Confused, frightened, and decidedly out matched, the moose gave a strangled grunt and plunged into the bushes, its huge mass and strength allowing it to break through the dense tangle of weeds with ease.
With the sound of the moose's panicked flight fading into the woods, Teal'c lowered his staff weapon and rejoined his friends.
"A charade, huh?" Sam asked, noting the pleased look on the Jaffa's face.
"Indeed," he replied. "O'Neill's plan was successful. I do not believe that moose will trouble us again."
"Let's hope not," Daniel said, adjusting his grip on the stretcher as Teal'c and Janet exchanged places. "'Cuz I don't think he'd buy it a second time."
"Are we ready to go?" Sam asked, starting to feel the chill of the night air her through her jacket.
"Just a second." Janet took a moment to check on Jack. He was asleep again, his raspy breathing slow and shallow. She gave his arm a reassuring pat and pulled the heavy blankets up under his chin. "Okay, Sam. We're good to go."
Making a quick adjustment to her night vision goggles, Sam took lead of the procession once again. Despite their impromptu meeting with the moose, the group had made good time. Based on the landmarks she was seeing, she estimated they had a little over five miles left to go. It was a relief to know an end was in sight, and in just a few short hours they would be home.
Little did she know, however, just how difficult those few short hours would turn out to be.
Sam puffed herself up against the chill of the night air. She found herself wishing for a pull down hat and a pair of decent gloves, but most of the team's cold weather gear had been left back at the campsite. It had seemed like extraneous equipment at the time; she'd forgotten how frigid the planet became at night. The trees provided them with some protection against the wind, but every so often a stiff gust would find its way through and leave them all shivering.
She looked at her watch. It was just after 0200 back home. If they kept up their current pace, they'd be stepping through the gate just as the work shifts were changing over. She suspected they'd have to slow down some; especially once they reached the tree line near the top of the mountain. Their ascent had begun about a mile before, the terrain changing from leaf litter to packed dirt and crushed gravel. Several times already she'd had to raise warning about loose footing, knowing even a slight stumble with the stretcher would be devastating.
"Guys, we need to stop."
Hearing Janet's command, Sam quickly returned to the others, exchanging her night vision goggles for a headlamp as she went. "What's wrong?"
"He's in distress," the doctor replied, wrestling her stethoscope from under her coat. She slid the metal disc beneath the blankets and listened to the harsh sounds coming from Jack's chest. "We need to set him down, but I want him turned so his feet are pointing downhill. Elevating his head and shoulders should help him breathe."
Sam stepped out of the way as Daniel and Teal'c maneuvered the stretcher and carefully placed it on the ground. As they passed her, she got her first look at the condition of her CO. What she saw immediately concerned her.
Ghostly pale in the low light, the injured man was sweating despite the cold air. Thick cords of muscle stood out on his neck as he worked to pull in enough oxygen, the pain of each breath evident on his face. He was definitely in trouble and they were still miles away from home.
"Teal'c, in one of the large pockets of my bag you'll find some oxygen masks. Grab one and a tank off the side," Janet said as she knelt beside the colonel. "Daniel, get the vitals monitor started up. I need the readout that displays on the Oxy/Sat line." She bent over her patient and patted his cheek, trying to gauge his level of consciousness. "Colonel O'Neill? Can you hear me, sir?"
Jack's eyes opened briefly and he tried to say something, the effort sparking a violent coughing fit.
Janet cursed under her breath. "Sam, can you come here please?"
"What do you need?" Sam asked, joining her friend on the ground.
"Your hand."
She held out her good hand, which the doctor took and placed firmly against the right side of Jack's chest. Even through the thick padding of bandages, Sam could still feel the sickening shift and grate of his broken ribs as he coughed.
"Keep your hand right here," Janet instructed, showing her how much pressure to use. "It'll help with the pain."
"Doctor Fraiser." Teal'c appeared with the items she'd requested in his large hands.
"Thank you." She quickly assembled the oxygen unit and slipped the mask over Jack's face. "Easy, sir. Try to calm down."
Aided by the extra oxygen, the injured man gradually brought his coughing under control. Fine drops of blood coated the inside of the mask, confirming that he was still bleeding inside. Exhausted and hurting, Jack sagged into the deep pile of sleeping bags and panted shallowly for air.
With a nod from Janet, Sam released the light pressure she was holding against Jack's chest and searched for his hand beneath the blankets. She found it, and was surprised when it closed weakly around her own.
"You're doing good, sir," Janet said as she mopped the sweat from his forehead. She knew his body was starting to fail and that it was only a matter of time before it gave out completely. If they were still in the middle of the woods when that happened, there would be little if anything she could do to prevent it. "Daniel, the monitor?" she asked, realizing she hadn't heard its familiar chime.
"It won't work."
"What?"
"It won't work," the archeologist repeated. "I flipped the switch, it came on for a split second and then shut off."
"Damn battery," Janet muttered, silently wishing she'd never seen the machine's advertisement in one of her medical journals. "Teal'c, there's a spare battery in the electronics case. Help Daniel change it over and get it going."
"Doc…" Jack uttered breathlessly. "Doc…"
"Try not to talk, colonel," she said. "You're going to be all right."
He shook his head. "I can't…I…" He wheezed, coughed, and grimaced. "It…hurts…I…help please…"
Janet bit down hard on her bottom lip, fighting to keep her personal emotions in check. She'd known since the first exam that his injuries were life threatening, but she'd privately hoped they would make it home before he started to crash. Seeing him now and hearing his plea hurt her straight through to the core. The man was slowly dying. She knew she could buy him some time, but she honestly didn't think it would be enough to save him.
"We got it!" Daniel's momentary excitement over the monitor fell short on the others.
"We have succeeded in activating the vitals monitor, however I am uncertain as to how long it will remain functional," Teal'c reported. "The replacement battery is significantly low on energy."
"It's the cold," Janet replied absently. "Read me the number on the Oxy/Sat line."
Daniel consulted the monitor, many of the readouts foreign to him. "It says 76…no, wait…72."
The doctor closed her eyes. Jack's oxygen level was low, just as she'd suspected it would be. Although it wasn't her preferred course of action, Janet knew what she had to do. "Teal'c, can you bring my gear bag over here please?"
The large man did as she asked, picking up the heavy pack as if it were full of clouds. "Are you able to help him, Doctor Fraiser?"
"I'm going to try, Teal'c." She unzipped the bag completely, its two halves spreading open like a book. "I'm going to need your help, Sam. And Daniel's too."
"What are you going to do?" the archeologist asked, his anxious expression readable even in the dim light.
"I'm going to put in a chest tube."
Sam's eyebrows rose. "Now? Out here?"
"I realize it's not the most ideal situation, but his condition is deteriorating fast," Janet said as she began to sort out the supplies she'd need. "His internal damage is substantial, and complications are starting to develop. If I can drain the free blood from his chest and relieve some of the stress on his body, it might give him the extra boost he needs to make it through the gate."
"Is it dangerous?" Daniel asked.
"In a hospital setting it's quite routine," she said, continuing after a brief hesitation. "But doing it out here poses some risks." She saw the reservation on her friend's faces. "If it's any consolation, this isn't my first time doing this. Or his."
"If there is even a remote chance to preserve O'Neill's life, then you must attempt this procedure."
Janet looked up at the large Jaffa, thankful for his black and white way of thinking. "Teal'c, I know I said earlier that clearing a trail was too much work for one person, but…"
"I will clear the path from here to the tree line," he replied. "The distance is short. It will not take me long."
"Teal'c, wait," Sam called as her teammate turned to leave. She tossed him the pair of night vision goggles and her P90. "Just in case."
Teal'c accepted the items and tipped his head in thanks. He paused a moment to regard Jack, silently willing his warrior brother to be brave and strong. He sensed the injured human had little strength left with which to fight, and his determination to get him home grew. Feeling a fresh surge of energy flood his tiring muscles, he secured his gear and jogged off into the night.
In spite of the cold, Daniel was sweating bullets. He'd foolishly watched Janet make the first incision into Jack's chest and was now battling a mild case of shock. He didn't really consider himself to be squeamish, but he'd never seen anyone get deliberately cut into before either. He tried telling himself that Janet knew what she was doing and that she was helping Jack, not hurting him. But then the memory of his friend's blood on the scalpel would flash into his mind and he'd start to feel sick all over again.
"Daniel, you need to keep his arm tighter."
"Sorry, Janet," he mumbled, the other man grunting as he took a firmer grip on his arm. "Sorry, Jack." He'd been given the duel task of restraining Jack and keeping his arm in the proper position during the procedure. Daniel thought the assignment sounded simple enough until he'd learned it was Jack's right arm that needed to be stretched tightly and kept behind his head. The sounds of Jack's cries as they manipulated his broken arm still echoed in Daniel's mind, and he was certain they would continue to haunt him for days to come.
"Hemostat."
Sam quickly placed the requested item into Janet's waiting hand. Her field medical training qualified her to assist with the emergency surgery, and she was doing her best despite being one handed. The sight of blood didn't bother her as much as the fact that it belonged to her commanding officer did. Like Daniel, she tried not to watch as the doctor worked, but she often found herself having a hard time looking away.
"All right, this next part is going to hurt," Janet warned. "I've numbed the area with local anesthetic, but he's still going to feel some of it. Daniel…"
"I've got him," he assured her, hoping he sounded more confident than he really was. He felt Jack's body stiffen as the doctor set to work, slowly advancing the hemostat through the muscles of his chest wall. "It's all right, Jack. Let it out," he urged, suspecting his friend was trying to weather through the pain in silence.
Jack groaned and tried to move, but Daniel was holding him tight. It was impossible to tell what was worse: the grinding protest of his broken arm and collarbone or the feel of cold metal tearing its way through his body. He wished for nothing more than to escape into the pain free realm of unconsciousness, but the darkness refused to come.
There was a quiet hiss as Janet finally punched through the thick layers of muscle and into the open space surrounding Jack's compromised lung. She carefully widened the hole and withdrew the hemostat. "Tube," she said, holding her gloved hand out to Sam. Locking the hemostat's jaws onto the perforated end of the plastic tube, she inserted it through the incision and began to slowly guide it into the man's chest.
Feeling every move the doctor made, Jack uttered a strangled half groan, half cry and tried to shift away from her hands.
"I know it hurts, sir, but you have to stay still," Janet said, her eyes never leaving her work. "I'm almost done."
"Come on, Jack. You're doing good," Daniel said, trying to keep his friend's attention. "She's almost done. Just a little longer. You can do this." His encouraging words failed to get through, and he was surprised to feel the colonel's back start to lift off the ground.
"Daniel!" Janet's warning was sharp, but she needed her patient still.
Reacting on impulse, Daniel gripped Jack's broken arm and leaned heavily onto his good shoulder. There was an audible crack and Jack cried out, his body going rigid for several seconds before falling completely limp. "Jack? Jack!" For one horrible moment, he was certain his friend had stopped breathing. "Janet!"
"It's all right, Daniel, he just passed out," Janet explained, silently amazed the weakened man had been able to hold out for as long as he did. She finished advancing the flexible tube and released it from the jaws of the hemostat. A few moments later, darkened blood began to drip from the tube's exposed end and onto the ground. Without looking up from her work, she held out her hand. "Valve."
Sam handed her the small, one-way valve that would keep the draining blood from reentering Jack's chest. "Is it working?" she asked, passing her the plastic collection bag when she indicated she was ready for it.
Janet fastened the bag over the valve's opening to contain the blood that was now flowing steadily from the tube. "It looks good so far, but it'll be a few minutes before we know how much it's going to help. Can I have the sutures, please?"
Sam watched quietly as the doctor used several neat stitches to anchor the tube in place and close the sides of the incision. She finished by cleaning the surgical site and covering it with a thick bandage.
"There. I'm done," Janet declared, stripping off her gloves and depositing them in a red bio bag. She cleared the sterile drapes away from Jack's chest and pulled the blankets back over him. "You can ease up on his arm now, Daniel."
Still feeling decidedly sick from the whole experience, the archeologist shifted his weight off Jack's body and slowly sat up. He looked down at the unconscious man. If it weren't for his ragged breathing, Daniel would have sworn he was dead. "I didn't hurt him, did I?" he asked. "I didn't break another one of his ribs or…?"
"Break a rib?" Janet echoed as she carefully repositioned Jack's broken arm. "What makes you think that?"
"When I leaned into him that last time, I heard a crack right before he passed out."
Janet frowned. She vaguely recalled hearing the crack he was referring to, but certainly didn't think he'd handled the colonel rough enough to break a bone. On a hunch, she gently felt around the broken portion of Jack's arm and collarbone. What she found made her smile. "Congratulations, Daniel. You just set your first broken bone."
The man's mouth fell open. "I what?"
"That last pull you gave his arm was enough to bring his collarbone back into alignment. We'll still take an x-ray to be certain it's in the correct position, but it feels pretty good."
"You mean I…and that cracking sound was…oh boy…" Had the lighting been better, the two women would have seen his face take on a pale shade of green.
"It's all right, Daniel," Sam said. "The colonel was my first time too."
The archeologist swallowed back his rising stomach. "That doesn't help me very much, but thank you anyway."
Janet's amused grin faded as she put on her stethoscope and began listening to Jack's breathing.
"What is it?" Sam asked, seeing the change in her friend's expression.
"He's breathing a little better…"
"But…?" Daniel pushed when she didn't offer more.
The doctor switched on the vitals monitor and waited for it to calibrate. The small machine managed to keep its display lit for a full fifteen seconds before going dark; its final battery drained of power. Luckily she'd had time to see the number she was most concerned about.
"His oxygen level is still way lower than it needs to be," she said, continuing on when she saw the dismay on both of their faces. "But it should be enough of an improvement to get him home."
"And then what?" Daniel asked, hating to think the torture they'd just put Jack through had been to merely buy him a few more hours of suffering.
"And then we wait and see." Janet knew it was an unfair and cryptic answer, but there was little she could say without giving false hope or dampening their spirits even further. At the moment, things didn't look good for the colonel. He was weak, breathing poorly, and bleeding from places that only a skilled surgeon could reach. She wasn't about to give up on him though. As long as his will to survive remained, she knew there was a chance he could walk away from this terrible misfortune.
A noise in the woods brought both Sam and Daniel to their feet. Fearing the moose or another large creature had found them, Sam retrieved Jack's P90 and clutched it in her good hand. She was about to try her radio to discern Teal'c's location, when his familiar shape came into view.
"Major Carter, it is I," he called, sounding out of breath.
"Teal'c, you scared us," Daniel said. "We didn't expect you to be back so soon."
"The distance between us and the Stargate is short," he replied, stepping into their light. "The soil is rocky and the plant roots are shallow. I was able to clear a path with little difficulty."
Sam's eyes widened when she saw that the lower half of his right leg was covered in blood. "Teal'c! What happened?"
"In my haste, I failed to see a rock in my path. My leg sustained moderate damage, but I was able to continue."
"Let me take a look at you."
"Do not concern yourself with me, Doctor Fraiser. We must get O'Neill home."
"But Teal'c," Daniel protested. "You're bleeding."
"My symbiote will sustain me and heal my wounds in time," the Jaffa said, unwilling to discuss the matter further. "Is O'Neill able to travel?"
The petite doctor nodded. "He is."
"Then we should depart immediately."
Although she would have preferred to take a look at his injuries, Janet knew there was little sense in trying to argue further. She just hoped his confidence in the healing capabilities of his larval Goa'uld wasn't about to put the colonel at risk.
With Sam's help, Janet repacked her gear and prepared Jack to be moved. She watched Teal'c carefully for signs of weakness as he and Daniel lifted the stretcher, but his strength never faltered. He gave no indication of feeling discomfort from his injuries, and she had to trust that he would speak up should the need for assistance arise.
She took a moment to take Jack's pulse and check the condition of his chest tube and IV line. When everything passed her inspection, she tucked in his blankets and adjusted his oxygen mask. Giving the unconscious man's arm a pat, Janet turned to her teammate and said the words they'd all been waiting to hear: "Take us home, Sam."
And that she did.