0630
"Jack. Jack."
The hysterical voice woke him from a dead sleep, and he shoved himself up to find Carter, to help her, to make sure she was okay.
She very clearly wasn't. She sat bolt upright on the gurney, gasping for air, total panic in her eyes. The heart monitor beside her raced.
"I will retrieve assistance," Teal'c promised and disappeared.
"I can't... I can't breathe," she wheezed at the two remaining men. "Jack. I can't-"
"It's okay. You're gonna be okay," he lied, trying to control the rush of adrenaline if only for her sake. The oxygen mask was clutched in one hand in her lap, and he gently peeled it out of her grip. "We're gonna put this back on and-"
She shoved his hand away. She'd taken it off for a reason, dammit. "Jack..."
"Easy, Sam," Daniel coached. "Don't hurt yourself."
The curtain whipped back as Doctor Lam and a nurse rushed in. "Colonel?"
"Can't breathe," she choked again.
The doctor shoved Daniel aside to press her stethoscope to her patient's chest. "You feel like you're suffocating?"
Carter nodded desperately.
"You're not. I promise. I promise. You're breathing just fine."
The woman was clearly crazy, and Sam turned to her lover, reaching out her hand for reassurance. He didn't take it, and she ended up with a fistful of mattress instead.
"Colonel, look at me," Lam said, propping a hip on the bed to get more in line with her patient. "Sam. Sam, look at me." She waited until the gasping woman refocused on her before she told her, "Your body is playing tricks on you. You're a scientist. You just have to out-think it."
She shook her head, still madly sucking in air. "I don't understand."
"You're low on red blood cells, which means your blood isn't carrying as much oxygen as usual," the doctor explained. "Your brain is making you breathe faster to try and increase the oxygen, and your heart is racing to circulate it. That's all. So we need to put this back on." She took the mask from Jack, and this time, Sam didn't resist. "Lieutenant, set that to max flow, sixty percent. Nice, deep breaths in, Colonel. Have you ever had a panic attack?"
"In the Academy," she managed through sharp breaths.
"It felt a lot like this, didn't it?" When her patient nodded, the doctor said, "That's because it was a lot like this. You're stressed out, your brain's a little low on oxygen, and it's making things snowball on you. You just have to breathe through it, okay? That's all you can do. I'm right here with you."
It took more than a few tense moments, but sure enough, Sam's breathing started to calm. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Don't be sorry. It's not something you can help. Let's get you settled." As her patient relaxed back against the pillow and she held the button to recline the bed flat, she continued, "I have good news. Airman Stolz's blood came back clean – the radiation cured him. He's been monitored since he left, so we know his exact exposure level. They expect to have the source material to the Gate within an hour or so; they'll take some quick measurements, and we can start treatment around eight o'clock."
"That is excellent news, indeed," Teal'c said.
"Friendly reminder that everyone will have to evacuate."
Daniel did the math on that statement as the doctor left. Say what you need to say, she meant. Because you might not get another chance.