Five o'clock and the day seemed to be lasting for an eternity; Waiting, hoping and doing nothing was hard! Daniel spent the morning with his mind going round and round in an agony of suspense, unable to drag himself away from a succession of 'what ifs'. Janet tried hard to draw him into conversation, but he was entirely wrapped up in himself and answered her questions in a distant, monosyllabic way.

Eventually he decided that he needed a distraction, and asked Janet for some of his academic books. Janet had initially suggested that resting would be a better idea, but he pointed out that reading was generally accepted to be a form of rest and relaxation and was entirely appropriate for convalescing patients. She had replied that the books he intended to read probably didn't fit into that category. He had said that they definitely did. Janet, not quite sure how to respond to direct contradiction, had been nonplussed for a moment and Daniel had seized the opportunity to hint that he could always go and fetch them himself. Janet then gave in with a resigned sigh and asked him which books he wanted. In a way she was pleased; she didn't want him thinking too much about SG-1 either. Work would probably be less taxing than the pensive brooding of the morning.

Daniel requested a couple of volumes on ancient languages, one on the lost civilisations of Central America and an obscure tome on the mathematical relationship between the different Neolithic sites around the world. As an afterthought he requested his complete dictionary of Egyptian hieroglyphs and his own research notes upon all the hieroglyphs found off-world. He had also asked for pen and paper but Janet refused that request on the grounds that the IV line that she been reconnected to the back of his hand would have made note-taking impossible. Daniel was not convinced, but decided not to push his luck.

Janet had been as good as her word (he had wondered if she might 'forget') and at ten past one she struggled over to his bed staggering slightly under the weight of the pile. She put them down on the bedside table next to him with a thump. With a grimace Daniel pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Did you deliberately choose the heaviest books that you possess?" she asked only half joking.

"No" Daniel replied innocently.

"Hmm…" Janet replied, unconvinced. "Well you owe me big time!"

Daniel flashed her a winning smile. "I'm very grateful" he promised with disarming sincerity.

Janet shot him the type of maternal look that might be levelled at a wayward but well-meaning child and left him to it, pleased that he seemed to be in a better frame of mind.

Unfortunately Daniel had soon discovered that his heavy academic books were not designed for reading in bed. He was too sore to rest them on his stomach but holding them up made his arms ache. However, having won the battle with Janet, he was reluctant to admit defeat so he rigged up an improvised bookrest involving several pillows. It wasn't comfortable, but it was functional.

"Enjoying yourself?" Janet asked sometime later when she came to do yet another set of observations.

"Thank you, yes." Daniel replied. It was mostly true, but the drugs stifled his intellect and made him feel stupid and sleepy. He had caught himself reading the same page more than once and part of him wished that he had chosen books that were intellectually and literally a bit less weighty. Keen to convince her however, he continued, "You know it is fascinating how many clear indications of extra-terrestrial contact exist within the field of mainstream archaeology." He gave an exasperated shrug, "We just…dismiss them because they don't fit with our current theories." He looked at Janet keenly, "Even the Bible has clear description of a space ship and alien life forms and we've ignored it for centuries!"

"Really?" Janet said, intrigued "where?"

"Exodus 13: 21, 2 King's 2:11, Ezekiel 1:16, Zechariah 5:22" Daniel reeled off quickly. "The evidence is everywhere but we are so arrogantly sure we understand everything that we don't see it."

"You did" Janet pointed out.

"True." Daniel closed the book, keeping his forefinger in the pages to mark the spot. "But no one believed me." He looked enquiringly at Janet and changed the subject. "Have they got the beta gate up yet?"

"I don't think so" she replied with a shake of her head. "Wrist please." Taking his pulse she continued. "It arrived by cargo plane this morning accompanied by a small army of guards. So it is here."

She stuck a thermometer in his ear, distracting him as he asked "Do we know who is – urg - going to install it?"

"Some experts from area 51 I think." She squinted at the thermometer display. "Lie back please. I need to change the dressings." She took the book from him, slipping her pencil in as an impromptu bookmark and helped him down flat. Peeling back the covers she exposed the layers of gauze covering the surgery site.

Daniel nodded. Area 51, that made sense. Sam had visited Nevada last year and worked with the team of physicists, cosmologists and mathematicians established specifically to further the SGCs theoretical understanding of the workings of the stargate. As far as he remembered, Sam had been impressed by the calibre of the group and that, at any rate, was comforting.

He winced as Janet peeled back the tape holding the padding in place. "That's looking good" she said in satisfied tones. "No sign of infection and the stitches are beginning to heal already." Daniel, overcome by curiosity, tried to lift his head off the pillow to squint down at the wound, and discovered that was another move to avoid. "I wouldn't try that just yet!" Janet laughed. "I can find you a mirror or take a picture if you really want to see!"

"No need" Daniel replied with a grimace "I'm not that interested."

"Well you should be" Janet teased "I stitched you up beautifully."

Daniel pulled a face and then flinched as she poked and prodded him. "Ow" he said grumpily "Do you have to do that?"

"Yeah I do" Janet replied mildly, taking the tetching as a sign that her patient was improving. "Two minutes and I'll have you all neatly wrapped up again."

"You make me sound like a sandwich" Daniel grumbled.

Janet smiled to herself but didn't reply as she deftly disposed of the old bandage and tapped a new dressing in place. Daniel put his hands behind his head and frowned at the ceiling as she fussed around him. Eventually she announced; "Right, you are all done." Stepping back she surveyed her patient. "You never know, I might even let you get up tomorrow." She hesitated, unwilling to steer him back to more troublesome territory, but anxious for answers. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Ok" Daniel replied carefully. His face gave nothing away.

"Dreams?" Janet enquired.

"Some" Daniel cautiously conceded.

"It is a known side-effect of morphine" Janet assured him. "As the dose decreases, so will the dreams."

"Mmm" Daniel mumbled, noncommittally. He was pretty sure that the only thing that would get rid of the dreams was having SG-1 back.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Janet probed.

"No"

"Sure?"

"Yes."

Dreams were private. Janet might get to poke around in his insides, but he had no intention of allowing her to do the same with his subconscious. He glanced up and saw Janet's concerned expression. He looked at her earnestly, "I'm fine." She looked unconvinced. "Really fine – they are only dreams." He was pretty sure that he was not the only person in the SGC to suffer from an over-active imagination at the moment.

"Ok" Janet said reluctantly. "I'm here if you change your mind."

Daniel nodded. "Thanks."

Janet gathered up her equipment and hung Daniel's chart back at the end of the bed. As he watched her retreating figure he realised with a sudden pang that she was probably as close to SG-1 as he was. She was certainly close to Sam. Guiltily he wondered whether Janet might have wanted a chance to talk about SG-1 for her own sake rather than his and he had stonewalled her efforts.

Later that evening Daniel looked up from his books in surprise as General Hammond came into the infirmary.

"Good evening, Dr Jackson" the General said pleasantly, "how are you doing?"

"Uh.. good thanks" Daniel replied, feeling self-conscious and slightly thrown at the unexpected site of the head of the SGC at his bedside. "Sir" he added as an afterthought.

"That's good to hear." Hammond replied warmly. "No, no don't move" he remonstrated as Daniel started to ease himself up the bed. "Dr Fraiser is taking good care of you I trust?"

"Yes sir" Daniel answered, wondering where this was going. Nice as it was to have the General look in on him, it felt more than a little weird.

"Good, good." General Hammond paused, apparently in no hurry to get to the point. Daniel felt his pulse quicken – was something wrong? Had they received word of SG-1?

"The beta gate…?" he asked quickly, his voice a semi-tone higher than usual.

"Being installed as we speak." Hammond replied. "I thought you would like to know that we have some very competent people on the job. Dr Rodney McKay, currently heading up the stargate investigation team at Area 51 has agreed to oversee proceedings. He comes very highly recommended." (Not least by himself) he added mentally.

"That's great!" interjected Daniel in relief. "How soon will it be up and running? Because Jack will er…" He was about to say that Jack would be going stir crazy trapped off world, but stopped himself just in time.

The General shook his head. "Can't say as yet, but assuming that there are no problems we hope be in a position to hear from SG-1 by tomorrow afternoon."

"That's great!" said Daniel again, aware that he was repeating himself but unable to think of a different way of putting it. Hesitant relief swept over him "Thank you for taking the trouble to tell me in person sir."

"I thought you deserved to be kept in the loop" Hammond said with a smile. "I hope that we will be in a position to welcome back SG-1 very soon."

Ok, so Rodney appearing here is not exactly Canon, but with Sam trapped off-world, who else would they get?