AN: More chapters, hooray! Though I must say that next story I'm going back to my old way of breaking up chapters, rather than doing it at every perspective change, but since I've come this far I can't change now. I really hate that asterisks don't show up for breaks, I'll have to figure something else out. Down with evil formatting...
She had stopped breathing when they went through the stargate. At first Daniel had assumed she merely passed out again until a quick search of her vitals revealed her pulse had started racing again, and it was then that he noticed. Janet and the medical team were already entering the gate room when he had called out the alarm. Daniel followed the doctor all the way to the infirmary, ignoring Lieutenant Manning who kept in stride. He had been stopped at the door by an apologetic nurse. They didn't need anyone getting in the way.
He stood there for some time, waiting for someone to come through and tell him it wasn't as bad as it looked.
"I wonder if the others are ok," Manning said.
It wasn't until then that Daniel realized that it had been a while since they'd come through the gate. He needed to go and see if there was an update on the others. But he was reluctant to leave, even though he couldn't see or contribute anything at that time. His worry for Jack and Teal'c continued to rise until it rivaled his concern for Sam. He had to at least check.
Daniel had no more than turned around when Jack rounded the corner and just missed bowling him over. Lieutenant Manning wasn't as lucky. Both landed on the floor in a heap. Teal'c stopped short.
"Watch where you're standing!" Jack said.
Teal'c ignored them completely, first eying Daniel and then the closed door. "What has transpired?"
"Sam stopped breathing," Daniel explained.
"How long?" Jack asked, already back on his feet.
"When we passed through the stargate. They got her bagged right away, but she still wasn't breathing on her own. I don't know anything else, they stopped us here."
"And nothing since?" Jack went up to the door and peered in the window. There was nothing to see, Daniel had already tried it.
"They're obviously too busy to give an update," Manning said. All three men gave him a withering stare. It was a fear that none of them wanted given voice. Manning slunk back a few paces.
A heavy silence fell as they all waited. No one took a seat, anxiety left them far too restless for such inactivity. Manning excused himself to go meet up with his own team. Time dragged on slowly.
When the door finally opened they eyed Janet, looking for some clue in her expression. It wasn't the miraculous news Daniel was hoping for, her expression was far too dour for that.
"We did manage to stabilize her, for now, and Sam is breathing on her own," Janet said quickly, answering the question she knew burned on all their minds.
"Is she ok?" Daniel asked?
The small woman bit her lip, clearly frustrated. "At this point it's really too soon to say anything. We don't know what's causing her symptoms. So we don't know that they won't recur or..."
Jack finished the thought she clearly didn't want to. "Or worse."
"Or worse," Janet confirmed with a frown. "We've sent her bloodwork over to the lab, and for the time being all we can really do is monitor her and treat any problems as they arise."
"Can we see her?" Daniel said.
"For a minute. I'm keeping her closely monitored until we're sure she's going to remain stable."
Jack lead, but Daniel and Teal'c were right on his heels. They had set Sam up in the corner, the curtain half closed. A nurse came out from behind it, on her way to tend to something else. When they finally got behind the curtain Daniel wasn't sure what he had expected.
The sight they saw was eerily similar to when they had found her back on the planet. Then she had been connected to IVs and various devices as she was now, nevermind that the two purposes were entirely different. Sam was still very pale, perhaps more so, or maybe it was just a trick of the white sheets on the bed. At least now they had been able to clean her up a little. The standard gown that hospitals favored replaced her BDUs that had been stained with her own vomit.
Daniel was pretty sure that, despite everything, they were all hoping for her to wake up, if only for a moment. Something to convince them that she was improving and not getting worse. When they were ushered away Sam still had not granted their silent requests.