Falling Down
Falling Down
by Coz
Summary: Sam is infected with a myseterious disease which must be stopped before it spreads through the general population
Category: Angst, Drama
Season: Season 4
Pairing: Daniel/Janet, Jack/Sam, UST
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 01/20/04
Falling Down by Coz
Authors notes: Big thank you to Naliza, who betaed this for me and to everyone who has reviewed this. A special thank you to Danielite, dietcokechic, Faith, Falcon Horus, Gatergirl, Ilovesg1, lighteninglady, Lynn, Mara Jade, neenee, Rainbow345UK and Sci Fi Fan Gillian who have offered constant encouragement, pointed out the odd mistake and given the occasional suggestion!
Chapter 1
The Stargate on P5J 347 shut down, leaving the four members of SG-1 standing in a small clearing in a sub-tropical forest.
The commander of the unit, Colonel Jack O'Neill looked round and sighed. "Carter, you sure we haven't been here before? It looks very familiar." He asked his second in command, Major Samantha Carter.
"Yes sir, I'm sure." O'Neill didn't look convinced by her answer.
"Another fun filled two days with more trees and moss," Jack said dryly "And of course, the ever popular mineral and biological survey." Looking round at the ream he noted the different expressions, Carter looked almost excited, at least interested. Dr Daniel Jackson, the SG-1 archaeologist and linguist looked bored at the prospect of two days with no apparent civilization to study, Teal'c, the resident Jaffa looked as stoic as ever. "Come on kids, lets make camp before we get started." Jack added and grabbing his pack headed out in to the forest, the rest of the team followed suite and trekked in to the dense woodland.
*~*
Jack and Daniel were relieved when the sun began to set, neither of them enjoyed mineral survey missions, Jack in particular had frequently voiced his disdain for such missions and after a number of years Major General George Hammond, the long suffering commander of the SGC gave SG-1 less of these missions, if only to stop O'Neill from complaining too much. Carter had spent much of the day collecting soil samples and samples of the local flora.
They headed to their designated camp site, as the sun began to set it seemed the bugs of the planet came out in force. As they sat around the fire eating the always exciting MRE's, Daniel had heard that there were some varieties which tasted good but even after four years, he hadn't found one which tasted even remotely like it should but he had learned not to complain, especially as Jack would remind him of all the unusual things he had eaten when on archaeological digs around the world.
By the time they had finished eating they were being plagued by whatever passed for mosquitoes in this corner of the galaxy, despite the liberal amounts of insect repellent they applied, much of the evening was spent swatting bugs away from themselves. They slept under heavily treated mosquito nets which allowed some protection but no-one enjoyed their watch, the night air was punctuated with the occasional slap as a mosquito attempted to get its evening meal.
Sam had been given the last watch of the night, as the sun came up the mosquitoes renewed their attack but had thankfully gone by the time the sun had fully risen. Sam put some coffee on, Daniel needed at least one cup of coffee in the morning before he could speak coherently and while O'Neill was nowhere near as bad he was still easier to get along with after a decent cup of coffee.
*~*
By that afternoon and the end of the mission everyone was glad, the preliminary analysis Sam had done with her 'doohickies' as O'Neill called them had shown nothing of interest, there was nothing to keep them here.
When they arrived back at the SGC they were all clambering for a shower, the insect repellent they used wasn't exactly pleasantly scented at the best of times but with the amount of the stuff they had used over the past two days they were all smelling pretty ripe, the humid climate of the planet hadn't helped the smell. Carter was glad that it was her turn to hit the showers first, she tried to shower as quickly as she could while still removing all traces of the insect repellent. She tossed her dirty uniform in the container, which was treated as a biohazard and not just because of the colonels socks. She pulled on a clean pair of BDU's and after briefly towel drying her hair running a comb through it she left the locker room, unusually O'Neill, Daniel and Teal'c were waiting outside.
"Doc Fraiser didn't want us ion the infirmary at the moment, I think we're a bit ripe. I mean what do they expect after two days in a rainforest and that damned bug spray."
"Yes sir." Carter said smiling, she walked to the infirmary, leaving Jack, Daniel and Teal'c to shower.
Dr. Janet Fraiser, the chief medical officer of the SGC was waiting in the infirmary for SG-1 to arrive so she could carry out their post mission physicals, she looked up from her paperwork as Sam entered.
"Hey Sam, how was it."
"Hot, with lots of mosquitoes and not a lot else."
Janet smiled, sometimes she wished she could go off-world regularly and others, like this, she was happy to stay in her air-conditioned infirmary.
"Come on, lets get this over and done with" Sam said sitting on one of the beds.
"Are you still coming over tonight? Cassie's looking forward to seeing you. You can still come right?"
"Of course. It's not every day Cassie wins the science fair." Sam said, the pride evident in her face "Colonel O'Neill's looking forward to it, he was saying he hasn't seen Cass for ages."
After being cleared by Dr Fraiser, SG-1 headed to their respective offices, after a couple of hours, most of which O'Neill spent trying to distract Carter and Daniel from their work, in a bid not to do his own, which had begun to pile up, they decided to call it a day and head over to Janet's to celebrate Cassie's achievement.
*~*
"Hey congratulations Cass." Sam said as Cassandra opened the door and she pulled the teenager in to a hug.
"Yeah, good work Cassie." Daniel added giving her a quick hug as he entered.
"An outstanding achievement CassandraFraiser." Teal'c said.
"Hey Cass, when did you go geek on me? I had such high hopes for you!" Jack said
"What do you expect, with mom and Sam, you think they'd forgive me if I got a bad grade in science?" Cassie laughed.
"It's a hard life Cass." Jack said sarcastically.
"Tell me about it." She replied with an equal amount of sarcasm in her voice, Jack's sense of humour had rubbed off on her, much to her adopted mothers dismay.
"So you been anywhere nice recently Jack?"
"I wish." Cassie immediately regretted asking as he started complaining about the weather, the bugs, the bug spray and everything else associated with the last mission. Cassie raised her eyebrows and smiled, asking Jack about recent missions or hockey was almost as dangerous as asking Sam how something worked. On seeing her look Jack stopped his tirade.
"Colonel, can I get you a drink?" Janet asked as Jack and Cassie entered the kitchen.
As the evening progressed Sam started to feel tired, which didn't escape the eer watchful eye of Dr Fraiser.
"Sam, you alright?"
"Yeah, just tired."
"You sure?"
"Yes Janet, I'm fine." Janet didn't look totally convinced but let it slide.
"Look Janet, I'm going to head home, get some sleep."
"Do my ears deceive me or did you say you were going to go and sleep. Seriously though I think it's a good idea."
"Very funny Janet. He Cass I'm gonna head home, congratulations again."
"Thanks Sam, chess on Saturday?"
"Of course, see you Saturday. See you tomorrow colonel, Daniel, Teal'c"
"See ya Carter."
"Bye Sam."
Sam let herself out of Janet's house, she made it to her car before erupting in a coughing fit. She waited for the racking coughs to abate before starting the car and driving home, she had to pull over half way home as she was overcome by another wave of coughs. Sam hated being ill, especially when she was so busy on the base and mentioning it to Janet would be an invitation to be poked, prodded and used as a pin cushion before being told it's the flu and lectured about working too much and not sleeping enough.
When Sam got home she took a couple of Tylenol to stave off the headache she could feel brewing. Filling a glass with water and shedding her clothes and pulling on a warm pair of pyjamas she fell in to bed and within minutes was in a restless sleep.
Sam always woke early, years of military service had conditioned her to wake before 6am without an alarm clock. This morning she woke earlier than usual, he head was pounding and her joints were aching. She swallowed another two Tylenol, she kept clear of coffee, she couldn't face it and that alone told her there was something was wrong. She dressed slowly, which seemed to sap much of her energy.
Driving up to the base Sam had to pull over, painful coughs racked her body, pulling a Kleenex from her purse and coughing heavily in to it she was horrified to bright red smudge as she pulled it away from her mouth. There was no denying she was ill, seriously ill to be coughing up blood, she knew she needed to get to the infirmary.
She carried on driving, relieved when the familiar sight of Cheyenne Mountain came in to view. She parked the car and summoning all the energy she could muster she got out of the car and walked slowly to the security station, she smiled weakly at the airman on the gate and went through the usual signing in process. She made it through the security station and had almost reached the elevator before she was overcome by dizziness and fell to the floor.
Chapter 2
Airman James Gibson watched the blonde major as she passed through the security point. He had noticed that she looked unwell but that was not the reason why he was watching her, working the gate was boring work but she brightened up his day significantly. He was still admiring her when she staggered and fell to the floor. Shocked at this unexpected development he grabbed the phone from the station, calling for a medical team. When he hung up the phone he rushed to the unmoving major's side.
He reached to check for a pulse. He found it but it was weak and fast, she was still breathing which reassured him. He knew CPR but did not particularly want to practise it, especially on the person who lay before him.
He was relieved when the medical team arrived. When the medic in charge asked him what had happened he filled them in as best as he could, but he did not really have that much information therefore he was not a lot of help. The medical team quickly loaded Major Carter onto a gurney and the doctor, spouting medical terms he had no chance of understanding loaded her in to the elevator.
Dr Robert Fielding was concerned with Major Carter's vital signs. Her pulse was racing but much weaker than he would have liked. Her breathing was laboured, coming in ragged and wheezing bursts. On checking her temperature and finding it to be 105F, he was concerned, a temperature this high was dangerous. He was beginning to suspect some alien pathogen or illness of some kind. This was not his area of expertise, he was a surgeon, rare and exotic diseases were Dr Fraiser's speciality.
"Call Dr Fraiser, NOW", he ordered. Next to him a senior nurse has started to draw a number of vials of blood for a battery of tests. He put an oxygen mask over the unconscious Major's flushed face in a bid to ease her laboured breathing. He sent another of the nurses to the commissary for ice to try and bring down the alarmingly high temperature. There was little that he could do for her until he got some answers, he did not want to unwittingly make her condition worse.
As soon as the nurse returned, laden with ice, Dr Fielding immediately begun packing ice behind her neck, under her armpits, behind her knees and other places in a bid to cool her down.
Dr Fielding was relieved to see the petite frame of Dr Fraiser enter the infirmary. He was young and had only been working in the SGC for a few months. He only vaguely knew Major Carter since SG-1 was well known throughout the base.
"What's the emergency?" Janet asked but on seeing her stricken friend she dropped her briefcase and ran over. Fielding filled her in as quickly as he could. Janet was not pleased with his explanation on Major Carter's condition; the concern was evident in her face.
"We need to get the rest of SG-1 here, see if they are experiencing similar symptoms", Janet suggested. She hoped that Sam's mystery illness was an isolated case. If it was not then the rest of SG-1 would probably be showing some signs of illness. After hearing that the rest of SG-1 were feeling perfectly well Janet breathed a sigh of relief, it was looking as though Sam was the only person infected.
*~*
Cassandra Fraiser stretched at her desk, she could not seem to get comfortable, her joints were aching. She put it down to the volleyball game she had played the day before in gym class, though she had not felt quite this stiff when she had gotten up that morning.
She was only half listening to the teacher, who had talked solidly for the past half-hour about the Mongols and Genghis Khan. History was one of her least favourite subjects, especially as it was not the history of her home planet, not that she was allowed to explain that to her teachers and peers.
"Cassandra, are you paying attention?" The teacher, Mr King snapped.
"What?" Cassie answered automatically. To her embarrassment many of her classmates giggled.
"Sorry", she added quietly. She feigned interest in the rest of the lesson and was glad when the bell rang. She walked to the next class, Biology, in a daze, following her friends without paying attention to where she was going.
Just as Cassandra took her seat in the classroom and the teacher began talking she began coughing heavily. Once she started she found it difficult to stop, each cough causing her pain. The teacher, Miss Martinez, stopped as the coughing fit continued. When she finally managed to stop and catch her breath she gave the teacher a sheepish look.
"Are you alright Cassie? Do you need to go to the nurse?" Cassie simply shook her head and the teacher restarted the lesson.
"Are you sure you're OK Cass?" Her best friend Liz asked from the seat beside her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered, smiling slightly at the blonde girl sitting next to her. She did not really believe that and they both knew it.
By the end of the class, Cassandra was feeling significantly worse. She had another painful coughing fit during the class; she was also feeling feverish. She decided to call her mother during lunch, she was not hungry, in fact the thought of food turned her stomach. As she reached the pay phone and dug in her purse for change she had another coughing fit. Before she could regain her breath she fell to the floor in a dead faint.
*~*
Jack O'Neill rushed into the infirmary. Seeing Sam laying on the bed he crossed to her side. Her face was flushed and ice packs surrounded her.
"Doc?"
"Colonel."
"What happened?"
"She collapsed, she's running a high fever, having some difficulty breathing but she's stable."
"Why?"
"We don't know yet, Sir."
"Is she gonna be okay?"
Janet exhaled loudly. "I don't know Sir, I just don't know, I've given anti-virals and anti-biotics but neither have helped. We're still waiting for the full blood work to come back, hopefully that can tell us more."
"We're ready to move her Dr Fraiser." One of the nurses called out.
"Thank you."
"What's going on?"
"We're moving her to an isolation room, until we know what this is...if it's contagious." Jack nodded slowly, feeling unable to form an adequate response.
Daniel rushed in to the infirmary just as they started to move Sam. Jack grabbed his arm as he made a rush to Sam's side.
"What happened Jack? Is Sam okay?"
"It's pretty bad Daniel. She's sick and they don't know why."
Daniel sighed deeply. "Where are they taking her?"
"Iso room, they're not taking any chances."
As Jack and Daniel made to leave the infirmary Janet called them back. "I need blood samples from both of you." Daniel and Jack both sat quietly on one of the beds, their concern was obvious, neither complained about the procedure.
*~*
Daniel, Jack and Teal'c sat in the observation area of the isolation room, all quietly watching their friend. Jack was staring at the monitors, trying to make sense of the numbers and lines. All three of them looked up as Janet walked in; her concerned look was not missed.
"We got your blood work ups back."
"And?"
"They're clean, Sir."
"I sense a but."
"But Sam's blood shows something I've never seen before. Whatever it is, shows properties of a virus, a protozoa and a bacteria. To make matters worse I think it has bound with the naquadah in her blood."
"And that's bad?"
"I don't know Sir, but I'm guessing it's not good."
"But she's stable?"
"Yeah." Janet sounded tired. Jack snatched the phone from the wall as it rang.
"O'Neill...umm...She's right here." He passed the phone to Janet, "It's umm...it is Cassie's school."
A worried and concern expression played across her face. Her hand shook slightly as she took the offered phone, "Janet Fraiser...Yes...Is she alright? Where is she? I'll be there as soon as I can. Thank you...Goodbye."
"Janet, what's happened?" Daniel asked gently.
"It's Cassie. She...she collapsed at school, they've taken her to Memorial hospital", Janet's voice was shaking audibly."
"Go, Cass needs you, I'll tell General Hammond". Janet nodded and left the room.
Jack, Daniel and Teal'c looked at each other, all thinking the same thing, first Sam and now Cassandra. It seemed that this strange disease might be contagious and had spread out of the base.
Chapter 3
Janet Fraiser rushed through the doors of the Emergency Room of Memorial hospital.
"My daughter was brought in, Fraiser, Cassandra Fraiser." She said frantically to young woman behind the desk.
The desk clerk checked the computer in front of her and directed Janet to the busy seating area. As she sat her trained medical eye swept over the other's waiting for treatment. It felt weird for her to be on the other side, she was used to being involved in treatment, not waiting for news. The rational side of her brain was telling her that the doctors would not allow her to be involved in the treatment. The part of the brain that dealt with the love she had for her daughter, however was screaming at her to get involved.
She waited quietly, ignoring the second looks she received from those around her, they obviously were not used to seeing people in military uniform. After a long and anxious half-hour wait a doctor approached her, she was slightly younger than herself, her long hair was tied roughly back and she looked tired and harassed. Janet recognised the look from her own stints working in the ER.
"Mrs Fraiser? I'm Dr Julia Richards, I'm treating Cassandra."
Janet did not bother to correct the doctor's assumption. "How's Cassie, is she okay?"
"She stable, she still quite ill though. She's running a fever and having some difficulties breathing. We're waiting for her chest X-rays to come back but she's holding her own." The description given by the doctor seemed to confirm Janet's worst fears, that Sam and Cassie had been infected with the same thing.
"What's her pulse ox?" Dr Richards did a double take.
"You're a doctor?", she asked cautiously.
"Yeah, with the Air Force." The ER doctor looked slightly surprised as she saw the uniform for the first time.
"Pulse ox is 95 on O2, BP 100 over 60, pulse 90." Janet nodded, she was slightly reassured though her blood oxygen level was the most worrying but was not that serious at the moment.
"What about her temperature?"
"It was 105 when she came in, we've brought it down to 103 with ice."
"Can I see her?"
"We're not sure what has caused this, so I need to get some information from you first if that's okay?" Janet nodded her acquiescence.
"Does Cassandra have any allergies, she on any medication, any serious illnesses, injuries?"
Janet paused slightly, she obviously could not say about the naquadah bomb put in Cassie by the Goa'uld, Nurrti.
"No, nothing," she answered calmly.
"Has she been ill recently?"
"No, nothing like that. Please can I see my daughter now?"
"Sure, follow me."
"Thanks."
Janet followed the doctor to a small room, before she could enter she had to scrub and put on a surgical mask. When she entered the room she saw her adopted daughter looking much the same as Sam did when Janet had left the base. Ice packs were stuffed under her arms, knees and behind her neck. Her face, behind the oxygen mask was flushed.
"Oh God.", Janet muttered and went to hold Cassandra's hand. She sat for a few minutes in silence, after which she looked up at the doctor. "Is there a phone I can use? I need to make a call."
"Sure." Dr Richards grabbed the phone from the holder on the wall and hit a couple of buttons before holding the receiver out to Janet. "I'll just be outside if you need anything."
"Thank you.", Janet said taking the offered phone, she shot a furtive glance out of the door before dialling.
"General Hammond please...General, it's Dr Fraiser...Yes sir, it's Cassandra, it would seem she is infected with the same disease as Major Carter...She's stable, for now sir...Sir, I think we need to transfer her to the SGC...Yes sir, thank you...Sir, if this disease is contagious then it could have already spread into the general population. We need to find out if that's the case...Yes sir, thank you." Janet sighed deeply and hung up the phone before sitting back down next to Cassandra's bed and taking hold of her hand.
*~*
General Hammond put the phone down and sighed, the possibility of an alien contagion within the SGC was bad enough. The idea it spreading outside the confines of the base was even more chilling. There was an established protocol for this situation, Cassandra's school would need to be contacted, as would the hospital where Cassandra was now being treated. A plausible cover story would have to be constructed. There was evidence to show that this disease had spread any further than Cassandra but on the other hand there was nothing to say that she was an isolated case.
Hammond made the necessary phone calls before going to the infirmary to check Major Carter's condition. As he entered the observation area O'Neill, Daniel and Teal'c looked up.
"General.", Jack said, partly in greeting, partly as a request for information.
"I had a call from Dr Fraiser, it would seem Cassandra is infected with the same illness as Major Carter. We're taking appropriate steps to see if it's spread any further and to stop it if it has."
"How's Cassie doing sir?"
"Dr Fraiser says she's stable, Dr Warner is arranging her transfer back here." Jack nodded, Daniel switched his attention back to Sam, and Teal'c nodded his head slightly.
"Is there any change in Major Carter's condition?", Hammond asked in a concerned tone.
"No sir.", Jack replied tiredly.
Hammond thought for a moment before taking a seat next to Teal'c, joining SG-1's vigil.
*~*
Janet left Cassandra's side and went in search of Dr Richards, when she tracked her down, the young woman looked more harassed than she had before.
"Dr Richards, I've arranged Cassandra's transfer."
"Transfer, to where?"
"Cheyenne Mountain, where I'm stationed."
The ER doctor looked shocked. "It's not common practice and besides is a military hospital the best place to treat Cassandra? We are no closer to finding out what is causing Cassandra's illness. Her blood tests show a number of unidentified factors."
"I have received permission from the base CO, we're fully equipped to treat Cassandra effectively I assure you."
"Not to sound accusing but is there something you're not telling me about Cassandra's condition?"
"No.", Janet answered, attempting to feign an insulted tone, she was not sure if she pulled it off, she was too tired and concerned for both Cassandra and Sam. The doctor did not press any further though Janet could not tell if she believed her denial.
General Hammond had promised he would send a team to the hospital to check for further infection and deliver a plausible cover story if it was necessary. The fact that an ER doctor might think that Janet was concealing information about Cassandra's illness was not high on her list of priorities.
*~*
Jack stretched in his chair, he looked round as the door opened, he turned back to look at Sam as he saw Daniel enter precariously carrying three cups of coffee, he handed one to General Hammond.
"Any change?", he asked as he handed the second cup to Jack.
"No.", Jack responded flatly.
As the door opened again, Hammond, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c all looked up, seeing Dr Warner enter Jack was immediately concerned.
"Doc, what is it?"
"I'm concerned about Major Carter's blood oxygen levels, they are much lower than I would like, if they continue to decline then we may have to intubate her." Jack's face fell, he knew it had to be serious for them to be considering intubation.
"No medication seems to be helping, she hasn't responded to anti-virals or anti-biotics. Frankly sir, I'm at a loss. We're treating the symptoms as best as we can but we are nowhere close to finding a cure. It would also seem that Sergeant Martin is also infected, he is showing similar symptoms and his blood tests reveal the presence of the organism. Thankfully the disease is not as advanced as it is in Major Carter's case. We're running blood test on all the base personnel."
"But how is Sergeant Martin infected? None of us are ill."
"True and your latest blood work shows no presence of the organism."
"That's good right?"
"There may be some reason why you three remain uninfected, something we can use."
"What's the connection between Martin and Carter?", Jack asked.
"Apparently he was in the infirmary at the same time as Major Carter during her pos-mission physical yesterday."
"So it's contagious."
"It would appear that way sir." Dr Warner had just given them some of the worst news they could have received, they had all been hoping that it had not spread any further than Cassandra.
Just as they were contemplating the idea of this disease spreading, alarms suddenly starting sounding in the isolation room. Jack and Daniel immediately stood, walking to the glass, Dr Warner turned and left, running to the isolation room. Looking up at the shrilly beeping monitors.
"Okay, we're going to have to intubate, intubation tray please."
Jack watched in muted horror as the doctor expertly inserted a tube into Sam's throat in a bid to increase her worrying low oxygen levels. The intubation seemed to help, Dr Warner turned to the observation area, a slight smile evident on his face.
"She stabilised sir." Jack exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair, Daniel closed his eyes, opening them suddenly as more alarms sounded. "She's in V-tach, prepare the crash cart." He ordered one of the nurses, Jack put his head in his hands as he watched the doctor treat his critically ill friend.
Chapter 4
For an anxious 20 minutes Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and General Hammond watched Dr Warner's attempts to stabilise Sam. Jack did not understand what was going on, but he knew that the doctor was doing his best.
The activity in the room calmed significantly as Major Carter's vital signs stabilised, they were still far from normal but had greatly improved.
Eventually Dr Warner came through to the observation area. Jack immediately approached him for answers.
"What happened Doc? Is Carter alright?"
"We've started her on a lidocaine drip and dopamine to try and control the arrhythmia and keep her blood pressure up, it seems to be working but as far as I can tell she's got septicaemia..."
"Blood poisoning?" Daniel interrupted.
"Yes. She is stable for now but I'm not sure for how long. I'm also concerned about her kidney function. We need answers Sir. And soon."
*~*
Janet was relieved as the military ambulance arrived to transfer Cassandra to Cheyenne Mountain. The ER doctor, Dr Richards, had tried to persuade Janet not to transfer her but there was no way that she could leave her at Memorial Hospital. The ride from the hospital to the mountain was thankfully uneventful. Janet monitored Cassandra closely but to her relief she remained stable.
When they arrived at the base Cassandra was put in the isolation room next to the one where Sam was housed. Janet reluctantly left her daughter's side to go and check on Sam and to check in with General Hammond.
"How's Cassie doing?" Daniel asked, the concern evident in his face.
"Stable but she's unconscious. When did they intubate Sam?"
"About an half-hour ago," Jack answered tiredly, looking at his watch.
"Warner says she has septicaemia," Daniel added quietly.
Janet closed her eyes and exhaled deeply at the news.
"I was kind of expecting it, just not so soon. This disease is progressing at an incredible pace."
"We need answers Doctor, we don't have much time, " Hammond said gently.
"I know Sir, I know."
Janet had laboratory facilities set up in isolation room 6, Cassandra's room, so she could attempt to find a cure while remaining close to her daughter. The blood tests taken from the base personnel showed a number of people were infected. Some were already symptomatic; others had the organism in their blood but were not experiencing any symptoms at that stage.
Almost all of those infected had some kind of contact with Major Carter. Most of the medical team whom had been treating Sam was showing some level of infection though the remainder of SG-1 was still uninfected.
The current theory was that something on P5J 347 had infected Sam with the disease and at the same time gave Jack, Daniel and Teal'c some immunity though Janet could find no identifiable alien factors in their blood.
Janet was quickly running out of ideas. The only remaining option was for SG-1 to go back to P5J 347 to collect samples and retrace their footsteps as soon as possible. She knew that she would have a problem persuading General Hammond to allow them off world. With the base under lock-down it was against protocol but without more information Sam, Cassandra and the other infected base personnel would soon start dying.
*~*
"General, I'm out of ideas. People are going to start dying unless we get more information."
"I know Doctor but the base is under complete lock-down."
Hammond was tired. He was infected and beginning to show symptoms, as were more and more of the base personnel. He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about the decision he had to make. The last thing he wanted was to see people dying. At that moment the phone in front of him started to ring. He snatched the receiver from its cradle, glad to be given a temporary reprieve.
"Hammond"
"You sure about this?"
"Thank you."
General Hammond exhaled deeply; the decision was easy to make now.
"SG-1 is going to P5J 347."
"General?" Fraiser said, confused at his sudden U-Turn.
"It would appear that a number of the medical staff at Memorial as well as staff and students at Cassandra's school are infected. We need answers as soon as possible."
"Yes Sir."
*~*
Jack O'Neill stepped out of the wormhole on P5J 347, breathing in the humid air.
"Dj vu," Jack observed.
"Oh yeah."
"So, samples of everything, retrace our steps."
Jack, Daniel and Teal'c retraced their steps from their previous mission as quickly as they could while trying not to miss anything that could possibly help.
They walked at an unforgiving pace. Jack in the lead, Daniel struggling to keep up and Teal'c bringing up the rear but maintaining the pace easily.
As the sun began to set bugs once again besieged them. They decided to catch a couple for analysis but it was much harder than anticipated. Eventually they managed to catch a few, which spent the rest of the night flitting off the glass of the container. They were much bigger than they had first though, about an inch long. They looked like mosquitoes from Earth but much bigger.
As soon as the sun was up they continued on their trail back to the Stargate. They kept the same pace as they had the day before despite the heat and their rapidly sapping energy levels.
*~*
General Hammond was feeling much worse. He recently had a painful coughing fit that had been so loud that it brought an airman into his office to check if he was all right. He had already fielded a concerned phone call from the President, who was more than a little concerned about the disease that was currently spreading through Memorial Hospital and Colorado Springs High School.
The official cover story was that an unusually virulent form of influenza was sweeping the area. It was brought back from a remote area of the Middle East.
Hammond was not sure everyone would be convinced but it was out of his hands. The teams assigned to the hospital and the school were liasing with the CDC in Atlanta who had been alerted to the presence of an unknown infectious disease. That situation made the work harder since it was another level of government bureaucracy to deal with. The phone rang again for the uttermost time that day.
"Hammond," he said, attempting to stifle the urge to cough.
"Yes Sir. SG-1 are currently off-world attempting to find the source of the infection."
"Yes Sir, Major Carter is critically ill but currently stable."
"Yes Sir, I will keep you apprised. The medical teams are currently working in conjunction with the CDC."
"There are twelve students and two members of staff from Colorado Springs High School that are currently showing symptoms with another four students infected but not symptomatic. Six of the medical staff from Memorial are also infected."
"Yes Sir, approximately a third of the base personnel are infected to some degree. We are attempting to isolate those who are infected to stop any further spread."
Hammond could not hold back the coughs any further. He turned the phone away as he felt them tearing painfully through his body. He brought the coughs under control as quickly as he could.
"Sorry Sir."
"Yes I am."
"Thank you Sir."
"I will, goodbye."
He wearily put the phone down and ran his hands over his bald crown. He had to admit he was feeling pretty rough. He knew it would not be long before he would have to take up a bed in the infirmary but he was waiting for O'Neill to return with SG-1 so he could hand over command of the SGC to his uninfected second-in-command.
Hammond stood up slowly and walked carefully to the control room as he heard the Stargate spinning into action. He sighed in relieve as Sergeant Davis announced that SG-1's iris code had been received. He ordered the iris opened and a few seconds later SG-1 stepped through laden with sample containers.
"Welcome back SG-1, find anything?" Hammond said hoarsely.
"Oh you betcha General, just not sure if it's useful, any change?"
"No. Report to the infirmary."
"Yes Sir."
Hammond met them in the corridor. Jack did not miss his appearance.
"Are you alright Sir?"
"Ahh, no not really. I'm going to have to hand command of the SGC over to you Jack."
"Really?" Jack said, slightly shocked.
"Yes," Hammond replied.
As they reached the infirmary Dr Warner immediately noticed the General's condition and rushed over.
"Come on General, got a bed all ready for you."
Normally Hammond would have taken offence at the tone with which he was being addressed but he did not have the energy and a bed sounded pretty good.
O'Neill watched as the medics began treating Hammond and realised with a sudden shock that he was in charge. The whole situation had been unceremoniously dumped into his lap.
Chapter 5
Jack O'Neill sat in the high-backed leather chair in Hammond's office. 'His office,' he corrected, at least temporarily. He spun slightly in the chair, a mischievous grin on his face as he momentarily forgot the gravity of the situation he found himself in.
"Hey Daniel, you know this chair is good. We should get these for the briefing room. Be good for those long briefings about dead civilizations and languages," Jack said as Daniel entered the room. He expected Daniel to rise to the bait, but to the Colonel's surprise he seemed to barely notice what he had said.
"Daniel, what is it? It's not Carter is it?" Jack asked hurriedly, panic creeping into his voice.
"Cassie, Janet had to intubate her."
Jack put his head in his hands as he contemplated the unwelcome news.
"Is she...stable?"
"Yeah."
"Screw this waiting for phone calls."
"What?" Daniel asked, obviously confused.
"The President's supposed to be calling. He can wait," Jack announced standing.
"It's the President, Jack."
"It's Sam and Cassie, Daniel," replied Jack quietly. Jack silently followed Daniel out of the office and to the infirmary.
*~*
Janet sat beside Cassandra's bed; the regular beeping of the monitors was serving to keep her calm. She was torn between duty and the need to be with her daughter. She was trying to analyse all the samples SG-1 had collected but could not bear to be away from Cassandra for more than ten minutes.
The only sample she had left to analyse was the giant mosquitoes; she grabbed the sample, already prepared for her to study. Once Janet had figured out the anatomy of the mosquito she extracted a blood sample.
Preparing a slide and putting it under the microscope Janet was surprise at what awaited her.
"Jeez," she exhaled.
She now knew where the contagion came from. The mosquitoes of P5J 347 had the unknown organism she had originally found in Sam's blood.
There was no trace of naquadah, which meant that the naquadah had come wholly from Sam. It had been her original hypothesis that the organism, combined with the naquadah, had caused Sam's illness. The hypothesis still applied when Cassandra had become ill as she also had naquadah in her blood.
Once other people had started to become infected Janet had disregarded the hypothesis. She was now thinking that the organism had assimilated the naquadah into its structure, making it extremely contagious. Unfortunately she was still at a loss to why Jack, Daniel and Teal'c were uninfected and seemingly immune. This could lead to a possible cure. Junior could easily explain Teal'c's immunity but Jack and Daniel were a different matter.
Janet looked up as she heard the door open, she saw O'Neill standing in the doorway.
"How's Cassie Doc?"
"Stable, she stable," Janet said. Her tone told Jack that she thought that if she believed it enough, it would come true.
"Sir, you shouldn't be in here."
"You're a good one to talk Doc, besides it seems like I'm immune."
"I'm already infected Colonel, I wouldn't leave Cassandra even if I weren't," Janet said, matter of factly.
"I figured."
"I've identified the organism Sir."
"That's good," Jack said hopefully.
"I still have no idea how to stop it Sir."
"We'll work it out. Look Doc, can I go in and see Carter?"
"Sure," Janet agreed after a moments thought.
"Thanks Doc."
Jack went through to Sam's room. Her hair was plastered to her head with sweat and water that had been used to control her temperature. The regular hiss of the ventilator, combined with the beeping of the monitors made the room unusually loud.
He pulled a chair to the bed and took hold of Sam's hand, careful not to dislodge the IV line delivering medication and fluid.
"Hey Carter."
"Look I don't know if you can hear me but you gotta hold on. We're finding a cure, we're nearly there I promise. You just gotta hold on."
"It was those damn bugs from that stupid planet. Some stupid bug's done all this."
"I think the President's kinda pissed at me, I was supposed to take a call from him but you and Cassie are more important. I guess that open invitation to the White House has probably expired. Cassie's doin' okay by the way. She's a fighter, just like you."
"You know Carter you've gotta be alright, I don't know what I'd do without you Sam. Where would I be without my favourite astrophysicist hey? Who's gonna simplify all the that techno babble for me? You've just gotta be alright," Jack said, close to tears.
He had spent too much time in the infirmary where a member of his team became seriously ill. Despite all of his experience he was still not used to seeing Carter in this situation and he was finding the situation tortuous. He had not admitted it to anyone before but he had deep-rooted feelings for the woman who was laying critically ill in front of him. He knew that in both of the alternate realties they had contact with, the O'Neill and Carter's had either been engaged or married. He could not help but wonder if thinking of these relationships had made him consider the feelings he had for his Carter.
He sat back in the plastic chair, not willing to let go of the hand he was holding onto as though it was the only thing that was keeping him afloat.
As Daniel entered the room Jack gently put Sam's hand back on the side of the bed. Daniel put a hand supportively on Jack's shoulder.
"Hey Jack, how's Sam?"
"No change, why do we do this Daniel?" Jack asked forlornly.
"Do what?"
"Go through the Stargate."
"You know why Jack. To stop the Goa'uld."
"But look what it's brought us. Carter, Cassie and don't forget half of the base and even the city have got some disease that we brought back through the gate. Carter nearly died Daniel, she still really ill. What are we going to do if she doesn't make it?"
"She'll make it Jack."
"But-"
"But nothing Jack, you've got to stay positive. What good are you doing Sam being negative?"
"Being positive won't help, nothing I can do will help Sam Daniel, don't you realise that?"
"I know Jack but...but I don't know what else to do."
Jack looked up at Daniel, seeing a little-boy-lost expression on the face of his friend.
"Come on Jack, let's get out of here."
"But Sam."
"Sam'll be all right, the doctor's here for her. You can't spend all of your time here. Apparently the President wants to talk to you."
"Yeah, I figured. How's General Hammond?"
"Not sure, he's in the infirmary, let's go find out."
"Sure."
*~*
They entered the infirmary and were struck by the scene, every one of the regular beds was occupied and extra ones had been put in every possible location. The medical staff was rushing from patient to patient. They saw General Hammond in the corner and crossed to him. He seemed to be holding onto consciousness, though barely.
"General, how are you feeling?"
"Not too bad Jack," Hammond said weakly.
"That's good. Doc Fraiser's nearly found a cure."
"Colonel, I know you well enough to know when you're lying."
"Yes sir," Jack replied with a slight smile.
Jack's smile was quickly lost as alarms started sounding across the room. Their heads snapped round. Jack recognised the man to which the medical staff was rushing. It was Sergeant Martin, the first person, other than Carter and Cassandra, to have developed the disease.
Jack walked slowly across the infirmary and stood watching as the doctors and nurses worked on saving Martin. He was shocked as they used the defibrillator on the man, without any effect. Daniel crossed from the General's bed as he head the ominous continuous tone of a flat line.
Chapter 6
Jack O'Neill sat down next to Sam's bed and took her hand into both of his. He was shocked at what had just occurred. Sergeant David Martin had become the first casualty of the epidemic. Jack had stood at Daniel's side while the medical staff tried in vain to save the man's life. He had seen people die many times and he had killed more people than he cared to remember but he was not used to seeing a man die like that and it was affecting him deeply.
"Hey Carter, It's me, back again. You're probably getting sick of me by now, huh?"
"Thought I'd come back and see how you are. I should be doing some work, did I tell you Hammond put me in command. That disease must have really messed with his head. Me in command, it could be funny at any other time."
"I don't really know how to say this Sam but Martin, he...he didn't make it. You'll make it, you've gotta fight it, you just gotta."
*~*
Janet held an ice pack behind her neck, savouring the welcome cooling effect. She was desperately trying to find a cure before she became too ill to work. All of the available qualified staff was working on trying to find a cure but she was the resident expert on rare and exotic diseases and everyone seemed to be looking up to her for a cure or they were relying on the Tok'ra to eventually help them out.
She was currently testing the organism against all the medications they had on base. A combination of amoxicillin and Augmentin had slowed the replication of the organism significantly but had done nothing to destroy it. She had ordered that as many people as possible were given a dose. It had worked, but only to a point. It had stabilised the most seriously ill patients but none of them had improved to any significant degree.
She looked over at her adopted daughter; it was breaking her heart to be so helpless to stop the disease. The first fatality had occurred and it would not be long before more people would die, unless she found a cure in time. The clinical realist in her told her that Sam and Cassandra were among the most critically ill and would surely be the next to go.
She stood and crossed the room to sit by Cassandra's side. She wiped the tears from her sweaty face and took hold of Cassandra's hand.
"Keep fighting this thing sweetheart, you just keep fighting."
"You know you're the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't know if I ever told you this before but I don't know what I'll do without you. I'd be so lost without you," her voice was cracking but she felt that she needed to say it.
"I'm working on a cure, we'll find something soon. I should get back; I'll be just over there, okay honey? You stay strong; promise me you'll stay strong."
She answered the phone when it rang a few minute later. She listened as one of the medical team working at the hospital detailed their progress, or lack of it. Janet told him about her discovery with the antibiotic treatment. This was welcome news to the Captain on the other end of the phone.
The disease was spreading throughout the hospital as quickly as it was spreading through the base. Thankfully none of the infected at the hospital had died, but a number of them were listed as critical.
Once she had finished with the hospital team she called the team at the high school. They were also pleased with the news about the antibiotic. Janet was dismayed to hear that Cassandra's best friend, Liz, was seriously ill, as was Miss Martinez, Cassie's biology and favourite teacher, at the school.
She found out that Cassandra's history teacher, Mr King, had died a few minutes before. He had a pre-existing heart complaint and the organism had attacked his organ with ferocity. He had died within twelve hours of exhibiting symptoms.
*~*
Jack was back in his temporary office; he called the President and offered an apology for missing his earlier phone call. He barely listened to what the President had to say; he was too concerned about the SGC personnel, Cassandra and Sam to care.
He hoped the Tok'ra would get back to them quickly. He had a great deal of faith in Dr Fraiser's abilities, she had saved SG-1's lives more times than he cared to remember, but she still have not found a cure and was becoming more and more ill. Soon she would not be able to work and the SGC would be without their CMO and rare disease expert.
As much as he hated to admit it the Tok'ra could be their best shot at curing the disease. Even if the Tok'ra could not help them Jack thought that Jacob deserved to see his daughter. They had really rebuilt their relationship since Jacob had joined the Tok'ra. Jack was sure that Jacob would be here in a shot if he knew that Sam was critically ill.
*~*
Daniel sat at Sam's side, talking to her about Ancient Babylon, he did not know what else to say and he found he could always talk about ancient history. When he was upset or in pain he would either recite long dead languages or Egyptian Pharaohs in his head.
He looked up as Teal'c entered.
"I have completed my kel'nor'eem, I will sit with Major Carter."
"Thanks Teal'c,"
"You are welcome Daniel Jackson," Teal'c replied as Daniel relinquished his chair to the Jaffa and walked slowly to the next room. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes tiredly as he tried to work out the last time he had slept properly.
He rushed to Janet's side as he heard her coughing. He opened the bottle of water on the bench and handed it to her once the coughs had subsided. It took her a few moments to get her breath back.
"Thanks Daniel," she said breathlessly.
"You alright? Dumb question," he added after a moment.
"Yeah, I'm doing okay."
"How's Cassie holding up?"
"A bit of a scary moment not long ago but she's through that, she's fighting it."
"That's good. You need anything?"
"A miracle cure," Janet replied seriously, looking Daniel in the eyes.
"I was thinking more along the lines of a sandwich. I'm fresh out of miracle cures, sorry."
His levity was rewarded with a smile from Janet which he returned; the moment of good humour did not last long.
"What would I do without her Daniel?" Janet asked with tears in her eyes. Daniel enveloped the petite doctor in his arms and rubbed her back gently as she sobbed into his shirt.
Janet eventually regained her composure and gently pulled away from Daniel's embrace. He gently wiped tears from Janet's face, she looked up and smiled slightly, he smiled back. She conveyed her thanks for his support without words.
"So you want a sandwich?" Daniel asked with some humour in his voice.
"No, not hungry," Janet replied, with the traces of a smile on her face.
"Sure, do you want me to sit with Cassie for a while?"
"It's okay but could...can you sit with her when I can't? I don't want her to be alone."
Daniel did not immediately grasp what Janet was alluding to; when he finally understood her plea he was momentarily shocked. He was not used to seeing Janet being so defeatist; she was normally a positive person. He took hold of her hand, surprised at how hot it was.
"Of course, you know I will."
Janet nodded, Cassandra was like a niece to all of SG-1, and she knew they would look after Cassandra to the best of their abilities.
"Hey Daniel, you look exhausted. You should go and get some sleep."
Daniel did not reply. Instead he looked around the room, avoiding her gaze.
"Doctor's orders," she added.
"You love that doctor's orders thing, don't you?"
"The only way to keep Colonel O'Neill in line."
Daniel gave a short laugh before leaving Janet to go in search of Jack. Daniel tracked him down in Hammond's office; he was on the phone again. Daniel could see the exasperation on his face. He took a seat while Jack finished the call.
"Janet's started talking negatively," Daniel said as Jack put the phone down.
"That's not like her."
"I know and that what's worrying me. It's got to be so hard for her though."
"With Sam and Cassie ill and the pressure to find a cure, it's amazing she's still functioning."
"She is pretty amazing," Daniel added, without thinking about what he had said. Jack looked up at his friend who was looking slightly sheepish at his unintentional admission.
Jack stood as he heard the Stargate spin into action. He followed Daniel down to the control room which was unusually empty, being staffed by a skeleton staff. The Stargate engaged and the gate room was flooded with light. After a few moments Sergeant Davis spoke up.
"Receiving IDC Sir, it's the Tok'ra."
Jack and Daniel shared a look; they were both relieved that the Tok'ra was arriving. They needed all the help they could get and the Tok'ra was their best shot. They were fast running out of ideas and as no cure was forthcoming they needed their allies desperately. The Tok'ra was their last hope since the SGC has run out of ideas as to how to stop the spread of the disease.
Chapter 7
Colonel O'Neill uttered a sigh of relief when he saw Jacob Carter step through the open Stargate. The Tok'ra representative walked quickly down the ramp and met Jack at the door.
"What going on Jack?"
"She's pretty sick Jacob, bad alien bug bite. It's spreading like wild fire. We need your help Jacob, Sam needs your help."
"Where is she Jack?"
"I'll take you to see her."
"Thanks."
Jacob followed Jack to Sam's room. Neither of them spoke along the way, instead preferring to remain alone with their thoughts surrounding the welfare of a woman they both hold dear. When they arrived at the isolation room Jack tried to prepare Jacob for Sam's condition. Seeing Sam like that was already deeply shocking to Jack and he figured that it would be even harder for Jacob to see his only daughter in that condition.
Despite Jack's warnings he could still hear Jacob inhale deeply in shock as he entered the room and quickly made his way across to stand at his daughter's side. He gently touched her face and smoothed her hair off her forehead. Not wanting to intrude Jack quietly left the room.
Jacob sat by Sam's side as he tried to absorb her condition. He had never seen her so ill, he barely recognised her behind the machines that were keeping her alive. He could hear Selmak trying to talk to him but he ignored the internal voice of his symbiote as he focused on his daughter's condition. He looked up as the door opened and saw Dr Fraiser and Colonel O'Neill standing in the doorway.
"General," Janet said by way of greeting.
"What's happened to Sam?"
"She was bitten by a mosquito off-world, a previously non-infectious organism combined with naquadah in her blood to form an incredibly infectious organism."
"How infectious?"
"Well over half of the base personnel are infected. It's spread out of the base; thankfully it has been contained within the high school and Memorial Hospital."
"The high school?"
"Cassandra's infected, she collapsed at school and was taken to Memorial."
"How is she?" Jacob asked gently.
"Pretty much the same as Sam."
Jacob looked at Janet with sympathy, for the first time he noted her appearance. Her face was flushed and she seemed to be using the rail of the bed for support.
"You're infected." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Yes and I don't know how to stop this thing. We need your help."
"I don't know if I can help. What is doing this?"
"It's an organism I don't recognise, it doesn't match any classification I know. I can show you."
Jacob thought this over for a moment; he was hesitant to leave Sam's side.
"I'll sit with her," Jack said quietly in an attempt to aid Jacob's decision.
Jacob nodded and stood, as Janet went to leave the room she wavered slightly and Jack immediately took hold of her arm to steady her. She shook her head in an attempt to throw off the dizziness.
"Doc?" Jack asked, the concern evident in his voice.
"I'm okay," she replied quickly.
Everyone present knew that it was a lie but no one questioned her. Jacob took Janet's arm in a supportive manner and escorted her out of the room leaving Jack with Sam.
"See your dad's here, the Tok'ra will be able to help us. After all the help we've given them, they can give us a hand."
He sat with Sam until Jacob and Janet returned. Jack had been convinced that the Tok'ra would provide them with a miracle cure for the disease. The look Jacob was wearing made his face fall; he looked much more concerned than when he had left. He had the Goa'uld healing device clutched in his left hand.
"I don't know if this is going to work but there's nothing else I can do," Jacob admitted.
Jacob stood by Sam's side, he waited until Janet came back escorted by Daniel and Teal'c before starting to try and heal her. Janet was obviously worsening significantly; Jack immediately gave his seat to the doctor which she took gratefully.
Jacob took a deep breath and holding the healing device in both hands he started working his way across his daughter's chest. Jack and Daniel held their breaths as Sam was enveloped by the warm glow. After only a few seconds the light dissipated and Jacob pulled his hands away.
"There's nothing I can do," Jacob announced quietly, fighting to keep his emotions in check.
"Try again, you've got to try again," Jack pleaded.
"She's my daughter Jack, there's nothing I can do," the despair in his voice was clear.
"So what now?" Daniel asked quietly.
"We could still find a cure," Janet replied, her voice betraying the positive sentiment of her words.
"There's nothing the Tok'ra can do then?" Jack asked with some hostility.
"You think I like seeing my daughter in this condition? I know how seriously ill she is, for this not to work it has to be pretty bad. You think I'm holding something back? Why would I do that when Sam's life is in danger? Come on Jack, I thought you were smarter than that."
"I'm sorry Jacob," Jack apologised, chastised by the older man's outburst.
Attention was suddenly shifted to Janet as Daniel noticed she was having difficulties breathing. She was almost hyperventilating, breathing quickly in a bid to get her breath. Daniel was quickly at her side.
"Maybe we should find you a bed in the infirmary?"
"No, I need to keep working," Janet answered breathlessly.
"Janet, you can't keep working. Besides, there are other people who are also working on finding a cure."
"I know but I'm the expert on this. They need my help."
"I can pull rank," Jack countered, as much as he knew Janet was the resident expert he could see just how ill she was. She would have forced anyone else into a bed hours ago.
"I shall escort you to the infirmary Doctor Fraiser."
Janet allowed herself to be escorted out of the room, leaning heavily on Teal'c. She was brought back to the room as alarms began sounding, the shrill beeping of the heart monitors striking fear into everyone's hearts. A group of assorted medics rushed in behind Janet and Teal'c. Despite their protests Jacob, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c were hurried out of the room. That act alone convinced Jack of the seriousness of what was happening at that moment.
"V-Tach, there's no pulse. Start compressions," one of the doctors announced.
"V-fib, charge to 200," came another voice.
The door was shut behind them, cutting them off from the activity in the room. As excruciating as watching the medics work on Sam was, it was much worse for them waiting outside. They could hear muffled voices but no words were discernable.
Jack began pacing the corridor. He could be an incredibly patient man even under the right conditions. He had waited almost perfectly still for hours during his time in special-ops but waiting outside hospital rooms drove him crazy and he could never stay in one place for long.
The longer they waited, the more Jacob became nervous. If Sam had stabilised someone would have come out to tell them. The prospect of losing his only daughter was incredible frightening. They had worked so hard and spent so much time repairing the relationship that had been damaged over the years. Selmak was again offering words of support but Jacob choose to ignore the symbiote. He did not want the advice of a parasitical snake at that moment.
They all looked up as the door opened, Janet was standing there with tears streaming down her flushed face.
"I'm sorry," she whispered before collapsing to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
The medical staff reacted before any of the shocked group standing outside the room. The medics scooped the now unconscious doctor onto a gurney and rushed her to the infirmary, leaving one of the doctors behind.
"I'm sorry General; there was nothing we could do."
"She's gone?" Jacob asked in disbelief.
"Yes Sir. Her body couldn't take it anymore. We tried everything we could. I really am very sorry."
"Thank you. Can I see her?" Jacob asked, his voice strangely devoid of emotion.
"Of course, take as long as you need. If you will excuse me?" the doctor said before leaving the assembled group.
"Can I have a minute alone with her?" Jacob asked and not waiting for an answer entered the room and closed the door.
Jack looked at Daniel who had tears falling unchecked from his eyes, it took a few moments for Jack to realise that he too was crying. Teal'c looked deeply shocked, his face broken from his usual stoic expression and was instead wearing a look of what could be described as confusion and grief.
They waited in silence until Jacob opened the door. They quietly filed in, it was clear that Jacob had also been crying though he appeared to have brought the tears under control.
Sam was laying on the bed, she looked peaceful, at rest. The tube was still sticking out of her mouth though it was no longer connected to the ventilator, the wires of the ECG and much of the rest of the equipment had been removed.
Jack was having a hard time accepting that Sam was dead, she looked much as she had before, the absence of the machines the only difference.
"How did this happen Jack?" Jacob spat, his voice laden with accusations.
"This bug..."
"I don't want to hear about the bug Jack, you're her CO, you should have done something. Why is she...was she infected and you're not?"
"You don't think it kills me seeing her like this, knowing she's gone. I'd swap places with her in a heart beat. I'd die for any member of my team. I did everything I could Jacob. I'm sorry Jacob, I'm so sorry."
"Sorry isn't going to bring her back Jack."
"Nothing's going to bring her back Jacob," Daniel offered quietly.
In the anger and grief that was consuming them no one saw the faint movement in the index finger of Sam's left hand.
Chapter 8
"You think I don't know that Daniel? She's my only daughter and she's dead and I'm what ...supposed to just accept that?"
"I don't know Jacob. We all cared for her deeply, getting angry won't help anything," Daniel pleaded.
"I know," Jacob said quietly, wiping a tear from his face.
"I just...I just don't know what I'm going to do without her," Jacob admitted, his voice cracking from the fierce emotions that were assaulting his heart.
"I know Jacob, I know what it's like," Jack said, barely managing to keep his own emotions in check.
Daniel adverted his gaze. He knew that Jack found it hard to talk about Charlie. Jacob turned his head and stared at Jack; both men had tears in their eyes.
"Of course, I'm sorry Jack."
Jack shook his head and put a supportive hand on the older man's shoulder. Jacob could see just how much Jack was hurting, the pain in his eyes was enough evidence. Rationally, Jacob knew Jack would never do anything to hurt Sam; he was aware that the Colonel cared deeply about his team and would give his life for any of them.
Jacob watched in silence as Jack gently arranged Sam's hair. He could see a depth of feeling than ran deeper than what was normally allowed between a CO and 2IC. There was something under the surface, buried so deep that maybe even Jack had not admitted it to himself yet but Jacob could see it, even without the help of Selmak's observations.
"So ... Now what?" Jacob asked, breaking the silence.
"Now, we stop this thing," Daniel said emphatically.
"There has to be something we can do, this thing has gone on for long enough," Jack agreed. He was sure that he would not be able to handle anyone else dying.
"I want to spend some more time with Sam, if that's okay?"
"Of course Jacob," Jack agreed before leading Daniel and Teal'c out of the room, leaving Jacob alone with Sam again.
Jacob sat by Sam's side, taking her right hand in both of his. Her hand still felt warm, warmer than it did even under normal circumstances. He was having a hard time accepting she was gone; it was unnatural for parents to out live their children. He had no idea what he was going to tell Mark. His son had only just forgiven him for the death of his mother, all those years before, and now having to tell him Sam was dead was going to be extremely difficult.
Sitting where he was, Jacob could not see the subtle movements in Sam's left hand.
*~*
Jack walked slowly into the briefing room and stopped at the glass panel to stare out at the Stargate. Normally he looked at the imposing ring in awe, even after all these years, but today he stared at it with malice. The number of deaths that had occurred because of gate-travel just kept on increasing and Sam was just the latest and most painful addition. He knew that one Goa'uld or another would probably have destroyed Earth if the secrets of the gate had not been discovered but the logical did not help to ease the pain in his heart.
After a few minutes Jack walked into his office and picking up the red phone on the desk. He immediately began to update the President on the latest developments. Jack was slightly surprised at the compassion the President showed when informed of Major Carter's death.
The officer in charge of the situation outside the base did not show the same compassion. The man kept referring to Sam as the 'index case'. His insensitivity had Jack biting his lip to stop him from exploding in anger; eventually he found that he could no longer contain his rage.
"Look Major, she isn't just the index case. She's got a name, Samantha Carter, Sam. She's got a family and friends. She is...was a great person," he spat, bitterly before hanging up the phone.
Jack looked up to see Daniel standing in the doorway.
"You should have heard the jerk Daniel, the index case."
Daniel shook his head in disgust before falling heavily into the chair on the other side of the desk.
"Where have you been?"
"Checking on General Hammond, Janet and Cassie."
"I'd kinda forgotten about them," Jack admitted with considerable guilt.
"How are they?" Jack added quickly to his previous statement.
"Hammonds, holding on, they're talking about having to intubate him soon. Cassie's still fighting, amazingly enough she's pretty stable. Janet's another story, she's deteriorating rapidly. She should have stopped working hours before she did and Sam...Sam's death, it made her loose the will to fight."
"Jeez," Jack exhaled.
"Is Jacob still with Sam?" O'Neill asked.
"Yeah, I think so. I didn't want to disturb him. He didn't mean what he said before, you know that Jack. It was his grief talking."
"No Daniel, he was right. I'm in command, I'm supposed to protect my team and look what happened. Sam's dead Daniel, dead and not in a 'back to life by the end of the day' way. She's not coming back Daniel, she's gone and it's all my fault."
"It's not your fault Jack. You had no control over what happened. An alien mosquito and the naquadah in Sam's blood caused this. How is that your fault?"
"You don't understand Daniel, being in command means that I'm responsible for what happens to the members of my team. Sam's dead and it's my fault."
"You need to accept that you can't be blame or you'll never forgive yourself."
"Why should I forgive myself Daniel?" The two friends looked at each other and lapsed into silence, whatever anyone said Jack would continue to blame himself for Sam's death. He considered Jacob's harsh statement to be right on the money, despite the fact that he knew it was fuelled by a father's grief.
*~*
Jacob was still sitting with Sam. He knew that he should be helping to find a cure for the disease but he could not leave his only daughter, not yet at least. He was talking to her, telling her things that he had meant to say to her before but never got around to do. He was trying to say goodbye to his daughter.
Sam had no idea where she was or what had happened to her, the last she remembered was arriving at work. She found that she could not open her eyes or speak at all, and what movement she had was limited to her left hand. She could hear her father talking to her, which reassured her. Even though she could not make out any of the words the familiar sound of Jacob's voice was having a calming affect on her.
Eventually she began to pick out individual words. Hearing her name she latched on to it and managed to distinguish a few more words. Once she could hear most of the words she tried to work out what her father was talking about, initially it made no sense. She heard him saying goodbye. At first she thought he was leaving but then the realisation that he thought she was dead hit her like a ton of bricks.
She tried to attract Jacob's attention. She tried to move or to scream to show that she was still alive but the most she managed was a slight twitch in her left hand.
Jacob was totally oblivious to Sam's attempts to gain his attention. Her breathing was so shallow and slow it was almost impossible to see, especially as Jacob was not looking for it.
Having said goodbye to Sam, Jacob left the room. He realised that Jack, Daniel and Teal'c also needed to say goodbye. He called Jack to offer him, and SG-1, the opportunity to see Sam. Afterward Jacob headed to the infirmary, to see George and offer the medical staff his help in stopping the disease.
*~*
Jack was pleased when Jacob offered them the chance to say goodbye, it was something that he felt he needed to do.
He walked with Daniel in silence. They met up with Teal'c in the elevator; the Jaffa inclined his head but stayed silent. All three shared a look of grief outside the door where Sam's body was stored.
Jack opened the door and drew in a deep breath. Sam looked much as she had done before though much of the colour had drained out of her face and her lips had an unnatural blue tinge. The team took up places around the bed, staring sadly at their friend and fellow team-mate.
No one knew what to do, how to say goodbye to her. Eventually Jack spoke up.
"What are we going to do without you Sam? Who's gonna simplify all that techno-babble hey? What I guess I'm trying to say is that we're all going to miss you. You were the best 2IC I ever had."
"You proved yourself to be a most formidable warrior Major Carter and a true friend."
"A great friend, the sister I never had," Daniel said, barely keeping control of his emotional state.
After a few more minutes of silence, Daniel and Teal'c excused themselves, leaving Jack alone. Jack looked at Sam, there was so much that he wanted to say to her but now he would never get the chance and that thought was consuming him.
"You were more than a colleague to me, you know that right? I care about you, way more than I should," he said quietly.
Jack realised that this was the first time he had expressed his true feelings and that it was too late to do anything about them now.
Jack took Sam's hand in his, after a minute he looked down at her, shaking his head fiercely. He was sure he had felt her hand move.
"Get in here," he yelled.
"What is it Jack?" Daniel asked, opening the door.
"I just felt her hand move."
Daniel and Teal'c both looked sceptically at him.
"I felt it, just watch," he insisted, laying Sam's hand on her chest.
"There, her finger just moved," Jack said.
"I also saw Major Carter moving her hand," Teal'c commented.
"That can't be right can it?" Daniel asked. He desperately wanted to believe his friends but was too scared out of fear that their observations might have been wrong.
Jack took hold of Sam's hand, waiting for further movement.
"Come on Sam, please try and move your hand again," he pleaded.
No one dared to breath, waiting for a movement from Sam.
"Get a medical team here, now," Jack shouted as he felt Sam's fingers move within his gentle grip.
Chapter 9
Jack kept hold of Sam's hand as he waited for the medical team to arrive. He looked up at Daniel as he felt Sam's hand move again.
"You saw that right?" Jack pleaded.
"I don't know Jack," Daniel admitted.
"I believe I saw something O'Neill," Teal'c announced.
"Good, where the hell is that medical team?" Jack asked insistently, looking over at the door.
After what seemed like hours a medical team arrived, seeing no obvious casualty the doctor in charge looked confused. As O'Neill explained the reason they had been called the doctor's look changed from confusion to scepticism.
"She's alive; you need to run some tests or something. Look, I'm not crazy okay, just run some tests, please."
"I saw Major Carter's hand move, she is indeed alive," Teal'c added.
The doctor grudgingly reconnected the ECG; it was obvious to everyone that he did not believe what they were telling him. He looked up at the monitor in shock as it registered a heart beat.
"That's not possible," he muttered as more beats registered on the monitor.
Taking the stethoscope from around his neck he listened to Sam's chest, shaking his head. He heard a few shallow breaths, spaced apart but she was breathing spontaneously. Her heart beat was so weak that it was barely enough to produce a discernable pulse.
"I have no idea what's going on, let's get an EEG, an ECG and get a full blood work up. This can't be happening," he added, shaking his head in utter disbelief.
"So what's going on doc?" Jack asked impatiently.
"It would seem that you were...right Sir. Major Carter has a heart beat and is breathing, it's totally impossible. I was here when she was pronounced dead, there were no life signs."
"So what now?" Daniel asked.
"I really don't know, she appears to be breathing spontaneously but not enough to get much oxygen pumped into her blood and her heart is beating but barely strong enough to produce a pulse. I'm kind of reluctant to do anything, at least until we know more. I don't know what caused this and I don't know what effect treatment will have on her already frail body. I do have to warn you though Sir, there is no way to tell what damage has been done and the oxygen starvation may have caused severe brain damage. That is if she recovers," he added as an afterthought.
"So what, we just wait?" Daniel inquired.
"We'll keep a close eye on her. I'd like to see what the EEG shows and I'd like to get a PET scan and an MRI to see if we can get any idea of what's going on."
"How long until we know more?" Jack asked.
"I don't know Sir, a couple of hours."
"I'd better tell Jacob what's happened."
*~*
Jack found Jacob in the infirmary; he was sitting in the corner next to General Hammond's bed. Jack was relieved to see that the General had not been intubated since Daniel mentioned that it had been discussed. He could see Janet across the infirmary, she was unconscious and one of the doctors was standing by her bed looking concerned.
Jacob had a large file open on his lap. He appeared to be reading it but Jack could see that he was far too distracted to concentrate. As Jack kept on observing him Jacob sighed deeply and leant back in the chair, his red-rimmed eyes closed.
Jack approached slowly. As he neared Jacob sat up straight and opened his eyes. Jack was slightly surprised to hear the unnaturally harsh voice of the older man's symbiote.
"Colonel O'Neill, no progress has been made at this time."
"Okay, but that's not why I'm here. I really need to speak to Jacob, is he around?"
Jacob's head dipped as Selmak relinquished control. After a few seconds Jacob started speaking.
"Jack," Jacob said wearily.
"Look Jacob, let's go through here," he said, indicating the office.
"What's going on Jack?"
"Just come on."
Jacob stood and followed him into the office. Jack sat on the desk while Jacob chose to stand by the door.
"So what's this all about?"
"Sam's alive," he said simply.
Jacob looked over at Jack, his face painted with disbelief and confusion. From Jack's face he could tell that he was not lying.
"W-what?" He stuttered.
"I saw her hand moving, she's got a heart beat and she's breathing."
"She's going to be okay?"
"I don't know, the doctor's running some tests, he's as confused as everyone else."
"Where is she, I want to see her."
"I actually don't know. She may still be in the same room."
"Look Jack, I really am sorry about what I said before. I didn't mean it. I know you'd do anything for your team. I forgot about what happened to you, with your son, I wasn't thinking," Jacob said sincerely.
"Forget about it, you didn't say anything that I wasn't thinking myself," he admitted.
"Jack-"Jacob started.
Jack dismissed him with a shake of the head.
"Don't worry about it. I understand why you reacted the way you did since I felt the same way at that stage," a small smile painted his lips, "Now go find Sam Jacob."
Jacob looked at Jack before leaving the room, looking and feeling considerably brighter than he had before.
*~*
Jacob, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c stood around Sam's bed; they were all staring at the monitors next to her head. The ECG was showing a more regular heart beat, even Jack could tell that. The EEG was another matter, to him it was incomprehensible, just a squiggly line.
They all looked up at the door as the doctor re-entered the room, holding a metal clipboard in his hand.
"What's the news Doctor," Jacob asked with obvious impatience.
"Major Carter's got a regular pulse, it's bradycardic at 35 bpm but steadily increasing, her breathing's also improved."
"What did the tests say?" Jack asked.
"They don't give us any idea as to why this happened. It also seems that Major Carter is a unique case, we've tested the other casualties, there's no change."
"You mean they're still dead," Jack said bluntly.
"Yes, the tests also seem to show that Major Carter may be aware of her surroundings."
"She can hear us?"
"Possibly, I can't say for sure."
"Is she going to be alright? Is she gonna wake up?"
"I really don't know Colonel, only time will tell."
"Can you hear me Sam," Jacob asked as he took hold of her hand.
He waited, barely daring to breath; he smiled brightly as Sam moved her hand.
"Hey Carter, tap your finger twice if you're in there," Jack said gently.
Jacob turned and looked at O'Neill, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Just checking," Jack said.
Jacob gently put Sam's hand back on the bed so that everyone could see it, his face fell when there was no reaction.
"That doesn't mean that she can't hear you, she just might not be able to control her movements enough," the doctor assured Jacob.
"That's okay Sam," Jacob reassured her.
*~*
For the next hour Jacob, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c stayed at Sam's side, none of them wanted to leave. They were talking to her, in the hope that their voices would help bring her back to full consciousness.
They decided to take turns talking to Sam since there were every day things that needed to be done. Jacob asked to be given the first turn.
Jack went to inform the off-site medical teams and the President of the latest developments. He hoped that he would speak to someone different; he did not think that he would be able to keep calm if he spoke to the same Captain he had before. The captain had repeatedly referred to Carter as the 'index case' which had angered O'Neill.
Jacob sat with Sam, trying to think of something to talk about, eventually he started recounting tales of Sam's childhood.
After almost two hours Jack slowly opened the door.
"Jacob, any change?"
"Not really, she's still moving a bit but it's not like I understand most of this though," he said, indicating the monitors.
"I thought it was just me nodding along," Jack admitted.
"Call me if there are any changes, I'll be in the infirmary," Jacob asked as he moved towards the door.
"Of course."
"So Carter, I guess you're kinda back with us. I don't know what to say really. Never was too good at the one sided conversation thing, sounds funny but I don't really have a lot to say. Daniel will be down soon, he'll probably tell you all about Ancient Greece or Egypt or something so you might wanna wake up before that," he said with a slight grin.
After a short silence Jack started talking about his cabin and how he would get her up there when she had recovered. He looked down at her face, even in the last two hours her face had regained much of the colour it had lost and her lips were no longer blue.
He turned to look up at the monitors and as such did not see the movement underneath her eye lids.
"Colonel?" Sam croaked.
Chapter 10
"Carter?" Jack said with surprise in his voice.
"Yes Sir."
"You okay?" He asked with concern.
"Been better."
"I'm sure, uh...you kinda died, you know?"
"Yeah, so I heard," she replied weakly.
"I'd better let Daniel, Teal'c and your dad know you're back with us. I'm sure the doc will want to turn you into a pin cushion."
Jack stood and crossed the room to dial the infirmary. A smile appeared on his lips as he told Jacob that Sam was now awake. Right through the conversation he kept his eyes on Sam, he was so surprised to have her back with them. As soon as he had hung up he called Daniel and Teal'c to let them know the news, they both promised to be there as soon as they could.
Minutes later Jacob came flying into the room, Jack realised that the only way that he could have arrived so quickly was if he was running from the infirmary all the way.
"Sam," her father said, with a wide grin on his face.
"Hey dad," Sam said, her voice strained with exhaustion.
"How are you feeling?"
"Tired."
"The doctor's on the way."
"How long was I, um...dead?" Sam asked awkwardly.
"We don't really know, it was about eight hours until Jack noticed that your hand was moving," Jacob told Sam, she looked shocked at the news. She had not realised that it had been that long.
Daniel rushed in, followed by Teal'c at a much more sedate pace.
"Sam, how are you feeling?"
"Not too bad Daniel."
"It's good to see you back with us."
"It is indeed good to see you well Major Carter," Teal'c added.
"Thanks, it's kind of a weird thing to get my head around, I've died before but it's still really strange."
"I don't think it's something you can exactly get used to," Daniel offered.
Once the doctor arrived they were shooed out of the room. They stood out in the hall once again but this time around the mood was very different from before.
*~*
After almost a half-hour they were allowed back into the room. Sam was sitting up slightly which everyone was pleased to see. She looked tired though, her eyelids were drooping and large dark circles were evident under her eyes.
Jacob crossed to Sam's side and took hold of her hand; she squeezed his hand in return.
"According to the latest test results Major Carter seems to be fighting off the organism."
"Way to go Carter," Jack interjected.
"As I was saying," the doctor continued with some annoyance in his voice, Jack pretended not to notice his tone.
"The organism appears to be destroying itself. Some of them have mutated further and are destroying those which don't have this mutation."
"So why has this happened to Sam and not anyone else?"
"There are a number of possible explanations, the naquadah in her blood, the protein marker left by the Tok'ra, some other factor from the planet, the treatment we gave or a combination of any number of things. To be honest we may never know."
So is she going to be okay?"
"As far as I can tell General, she is okay. Her pulse and breathing are almost back to within normal ranges. There appears to be no brain damage, her temperature is almost back to normal, as is her kidney function.
"Don't you hate it when people talk like you're not in the room," Sam muttered.
Everyone turned to look at her before turning back to the doctor. In exasperation Sam sighed and sunk into the pillows behind her.
"Is there any way to use this mutated organism to help the other infected people?" Daniel asked.
"We're working on it, it might be our best shot. We are trying to isolate the mutated organism and see if it will still function outside of Major Carter's body."
"Is that a possibility?"
"We've got the best people we have working on it. I really think that Major Carter needs to rest."
"Right. Selmak might be able to offer some advice, if you could use the help," Jacob offered. The doctor nodded appreciatively at the suggestion.
Jacob leant over his daughter; he took her hand and gently kissed her forehead. Sam smiled slightly and squeezed his hand before he left the room with the doctor.
Jack, Daniel and Teal'c shared a look before making a move towards the door.
"It's great to have you back Sam," Daniel said sincerely.
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.
Jack stayed quiet; he met Carter's eyes, saying more than he ever could with words.
Daniel and Teal'c left the room, as Jack was walking through the door Sam suddenly spoke up.
"Sir?"
"Yeah."
"Can we, uh, talk for a minute?"
"Sure, I'll catch up with you," he said to Daniel before re-entering the room and shutting the door behind him.
"So?"
"When..." she paused and suddenly changed what she was saying, this did not go unnoticed by Jack.
"Will you keep an eye on my dad? He looks pretty tired."
"Sure," Jack said slowly, with some confusion.
"Anything else?" He asked, not really expecting her to admit anything.
"No, nothing," Sam replied quickly.
"Okay. We'll I'd better let you rest. I guess dying takes it out of you."
"Something like that," she confirmed, her voice slightly husky, both from the tube that had been in her throat and tiredness.
"I'll be back later but if you need anything call, okay?"
"Yes Sir."
Jack closed the door on his way out and went in search of Daniel and Teal'c, he was wondering what Sam had started to say but was not going to force her to say anything.
Sam sighed deeply and sank further into the pillows. She had almost confessed that she had heard him admit that he had feelings for her but she had backed down at the last second.
She had realised that she had feelings for him long ago but this was the first time she truly knew that he cared about her too. She had strong suspicions that the feelings were reciprocated before but hearing him say it out loud only served to solidify her feelings for him.
His acknowledgement of his feelings had only happened when he had thought that she was dead, it was never meant for her to hear. That fact and the complications of military regulations had leaded her to the decision to keep quiet.
She turned on her side to get more comfortable, thinking of Jack as she fell asleep.
*~*
Jacob watched as the medics worked on a cure, he offered whatever knowledge he could but he was beginning to think that he was not offering anything significant.
He was distracted again, not through grief this time but delight at knowing that Sam was not only alive but also conscious and apparently back to full health.
Jacob looked up as the doctor who was in charge of the research called another of the researchers over. They shared a hurried whispered conversation.
Jacob stood slowly from his chair and crossed the room with some apprehension, he could see that both the researchers were smiling, something that he had rarely seen since his arrival.
"What is it?" He asked with trepidation and hope.
"We think we have a cure."
Chapter 11
"A cure, really? You're sure about this?" Jacob asked frantically.
"Well not sure exactly. It looks promising but..." the doctor replied nervously.
"But what?"
"We're going to have to run a test on someone."
"Where's the 'but'?" Jacob asked, obviously confused.
"We have no idea what will happen if it doesn't work," he admitted. It was clear to Jacob that he was concerned as the consequences could be serious.
"Who do you have in mind for the test?"
"We don't know, we need to discuss this with Colonel O'Neill."
"Right."
Jacob knew that Jack would not be happy making the decision about who would participate in the test, especially once he knew the risks involved.
*~*
Jack sat at the head of the large table in the briefing room. He was impatient, having heard that there was a possible cure he was eager to know more but instead he was forced to sit and wait. He already felt totally helpless about the whole situation, having so many people critically ill and him not being able to help at all. It made it worse that he had just heard about the death of another SGC officer.
Major Markson of SG-7 had become the third casualty of the epidemic. Jack knew the Major to some degree, he knew that he left a wife and two young daughters at home, two daughters who were now without a father and they would never understand what had happened to him. They would probably be told, just like Sergeant Martin's family, that he died in service of his country. The SGC would, as usual, make sure the family were provided for, the children would have a college fund but it would and could never replace a father.
It made it much worse that Markson had died just before they had found a cure, Jack wanted to get this cure sorted before anyone else died, before another family lost their mother or father.
He looked up as Daniel and Teal'c came in, they both sat down at the table. Daniel looked at Jack and recognised immediately that there was something wrong with him.
"Jack, what's wrong?"
"You know Markson from SG-7?"
"Yeah," Daniel said with foreboding, anticipating the bad news that Jack had.
"He just died," Jack said simply.
Daniel sighed deeply and leant back in the chair. Teal'c nodded deeply but remained silent.
Jacob was the next to enter, looking much more cheerful than Jack had seen him since his arrival and he could not blame him for that.
"So, a cure then?" Jack asked Jacob as he sat down.
"It would seem so, it's hopeful at least," Jacob offered with some caution, not wanting to raise any false hopes.
The doctor, Dr Green was the next to enter, they heard him coming before they saw him, deep coughs resonated through the corridors. The doctor arrived looking breathless and slightly pale.
"Are you alright doctor?" Daniel asked as the doctor took his seat.
"If this cure works then I will be."
"If?" Jack asked. He did not like the uncertain tone which the doctor had used.
"It looks good but we need to run a clinical test first."
"Okay but before we get to tests what exactly dos this cure involve?"
"Well, as I said before some of these organisms have mutated to kill the others. We've managed to stimulate their reproduction using the water sample brought back from P5J 347. There must be a chemical in it which stimulates them somehow."
"And that's it?" Daniel asked with the faintest glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Not quite. With the chemical the organism reproduces but it's otherwise dormant. For lack of a better word it requires a jump start to get it to work. We think that a large dose of epinephrine given to a person in conjunction with the organism will cause the desired effect."
"So, where's the bad news?" Jack asked.
"The dose of epinephrine needed is large, close to overdose levels. With people already weakened by the disease," the doctor trailed off. Everyone around the table knew what he was going to say.
"Right," Jack said slowly, absorbing the information. As CO of the SGC it was up to him to give the go ahead for testing this cure. Not like it was much of a decision, without this cure more people were going to die.
"Who do you want as a test subject?" He asked blatantly.
"I don't know Sir. I had thought about testing it on myself."
"No, if this doesn't work we'll need you to keep trying," Jacob warned, the doctor nodded. "I'd say one of the least symptomatic people first and if that is successful then one of the more critically ill people."
"Okay, who was the last person to become symptomatic that you know of?" Jack asked, his voice strained with exhaustion and stress.
"I believe Sergeant Davis reported the onset of symptoms just before I left the infirmary." "Right, we'd better go talk to him."
Davis was in the control room, he was the only person there, which was very unusual. The whole SGC was being manned by a skeleton staff. Not that there was much to do, the base was on complete stand down and the gate had been quiet since Jacob had arrived, he was just there to monitor the situation. That and wait until he was too ill to work, he had seen so many officers taken to the infirmary and he knew it would happen to him sooner or later. He turned in his chair in surprise as he saw Colonel O'Neill, Dr Jackson, Teal'c, General Carter and a doctor he did not recognise come down the stairs from the briefing room.
"Colonel," he said in greeting.
"Sergeant, how are you feeling?"
"Not too bad, thank you Sir," he replied, not sure why they were in the control room. "Look, apparently the doctors might have found a cure."
"That's good news Sir," Davis said, smiling slightly. He still did not understand what that had to do with him.
"Yeah but, um...we need to test it and..."
"I'll do it," Davis said quickly as the penny dropped.
"You don't have to, it could be dangerous. This isn't an order okay?"
"I appreciate that Sir. I'll do it," Davis said definitely. Jack had to give credit to the man, they had not told him what the test would entail, let alone the dangers associated with it and yet he was more than willing to volunteer.
*~*
Davis was laying on a bed, attached to an ECG, in what had to be one of the few empty rooms left in the SGC, almost every available space was being used to house the sick. The doctor had explained exactly what was involved and the associated dangers. Despite the candid warnings and frequent opportunities to withdraw, Davis was more willing than ever to participate.
Daniel had gone to sit with Cassandra, fulfilling a promise he made to Janet in what seemed like weeks before. Teal'c was helping to staff the SGC, with practically everyone infected to some degree it was getting harder and harder to find people to man the essential stations and so Teal'c had offered his skills. Jack was standing by the door watching the doctor nervously prepare the injection for the test scenario.
"We ready doc?" Jack asked.
"I think so, yes."
"Good, then let's get this show on the road. If you're sure?" Jack said, checking with Davis one last time.
"I'm sure," he replied exasperated.
"Okay," the doctor said before injecting Davis with the prepared syringe.
The doctor watched the ECG monitor closely as the adrenaline took effect. Jack became concerned as the doctor quickly reached for one of the other syringes that he had prepared but to his relief he did not deliver its contents.
After a few minutes the doctor relaxed and announced that Davis was stable, Jack breathed a huge sigh of relief. Davis was more relieved, especially as he was feeling better already. The doctor sceptically checked his temperature and with some surprise announced that it had already decreased. Despite a number of protests Dr Green insisted that Davis be kept under observation for 24 hours to check for side effects.
"We're still going to run another test right?" Jack asked, concerned that the doctor would want to wait the full 24 hours before testing the cure further.
"Of course, we can't wait 2 hours let alone 24," the doctor said candidly.
Jack was slightly taken aback by that answer, he was expecting more of an ambiguous answer involving lots of big words he did not understand.
"Whose the next 'volunteer'?"
"Well, the most critically ill patient is Dr Fraiser."
"Really?" Jack asked with some shock.
"Yes, she has deteriorated rapidly since her collapse."
"Doc Fraiser it is then."
Jack watched once again as the doctor administered another syringe of the vaccine to Janet. He watched silently as alarms began to sound, the doctor injected another syringe immediately which silenced the alarms to Jack's immense relief. Even Jack, who did not understand most of what was ever said in the infirmary, could see that the lines of the ECG were becoming slightly less erratic, which he took to be a good sign.
After ten minutes the doctor relaxed enough to turn his attention to the patient in the next bed. Jack took the opportunity to take a seat by Janet's bed.
He sat there for almost a half hour, watching the line on the monitor become steadily more and more regular. Jack saw movement from Janet out of the corner of his eye and looked down to see her eyes slowly open.
Chapter 12
"Janet?" Jack asked, looking down at her in shock. He had not expected her to regain consciousness so quickly.
Janet blinked twice, her eyes meeting O'Neill's. She could not speak because of the tube in her throat that only an hour ago was keeping her alive.
"That a yes then?"
She blinked twice again; as she did the doctor came back over, alerted to her consciousness by O'Neill's conversation.
"Dr Fraiser, blink twice if you can hear me."
Janet shot him a look before blinking twice, slowly. Jack had never known a blink to convey such exasperation. The doctor seemed to take this as an acknowledgement that Janet was recovering from the disease.
She pointed to the tube connected to the ventilator before pointing emphatically away from herself, careful not to pull the IV line from her hand.
"You want that tube out?" The doctor asked in a condescending manner. Janet nodded slightly, Jack noticed that she looked fed up and he could understand why. Jack respected the doctor immensely for finding a seemingly effective cure but his bedside manner left much to be desired, unless talking to a five year old.
The doctor was feeling out of place treating patients, although he held a medical degree he was primarily a researcher. Before this disease had taken hold of the base he had been working on a number of drugs that had been brought back from off-world missions. Now he was acting as the CMO of the base and treating patients.
Janet nodded slightly once more. As a doctor she knew that the ventilator was no longer necessary, besides she found it uncomfortable, not to mention a disturbing thought having a tube down her throat supplying her with oxygen.
Janet coughed deeply as the tube was removed, she continued coughing for quite a long time. The doctor looked concerned until Janet sent him away with a short shake of her head. The painful coughs were as a result of a combination of the tube and the damage caused by disease. Once she had stopped coughing she sunk back into the pillows behind her and tried to recover her breath.
"How's Cassie, is she...has she?" She asked frantically as soon as she was able to talk.
"She's fine, she's a real fighter you know? Daniel's with her." Jack saw her relax slightly as she heard the news.
"They found a cure then Colonel?" She asked, still slightly out of breath.
"Yep, can't really fill you in since I don't really understand all of it. Some mutated thing and this drug, epi...thet..."
"Epinephrine?" Janet offered.
"That's the one."
"Who's had the cure so far?"
"Just you and Sergeant Davis. You were kinda at test subject," Jack admitted, unsure about how she would react to the news. Janet nodded, she understood and was even happy to have been used as a test subject.
"But it works?"
"Yes, quite effectively. You were critically ill doctor," Dr Green said.
"You really should have stopped working earlier," Jack said in a playfully admonishing tone.
Janet remained quiet and turned her head away. Doctor Green told Janet to get some sleep before he disappeared in order to go and organise widening the test of the vaccine.
"Colonel?" Janet said quietly, turning back to look Jack in the eye.
"Yeah."
"Can you make sure Cassandra gets the vaccine, I shouldn't ask but..." she said with tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.
"Of course, I was going to anyway and you should ask. You get some sleep and I'll go and make sure Cassie's okay."
"Thank you Sir."
Jack supportively squeezed her shoulder before leaving the infirmary. Janet turned away as the tears began to fall. Not out of relief, or concern for her daughter, but grief - grief at the death of her best friend. The memories of helplessly watching Sam die was hard for her, though she realised that many hours had passed since the death of the Major, to her it was like it happened only minutes before. Neither O'Neill nor Dr Green had realised that Janet still thought that Sam was dead.
Jack caught up with Dr Green in the corridor on his way back to the lab; he had a number of files in his arms.
"Cassie, Cassandra Fraiser, she needs the cure."
"Colonel, there are people who are more critically ill than Miss Fraiser." "Yes, but...Cassandra has naquadah in her blood. It might make a difference, you should run some tests or something."
"I suppose," the doctor said dubiously.
"Look doc, Cassie means a lot to SG-1, General Hammond and not to mention Dr Fraiser. I can make it an order," Jack said seriously and with a level of authority not previously heard by the doctor.
"I'll run some tests," the doctor agreed, acknowledging O'Neill's authority.
"Thanks," Jack said sincerely. He turned and walked away to go and let Carter know that the cure worked.
Sam was sleeping when he arrived; Jacob was standing in the corner, looking at his daughter resting peacefully. Jack walked over to Jacob and quietly filled him in on the latest news regarding the cure. Jacob realised that Jack was not simply here to give him information on the vaccine therefore he excused himself.
Taking a seat next to Sam's bed, Jack could not help but think that he had spent more time than he cared for sitting in the hard plastic chairs of the infirmary. Not just since the start of the epidemic but also since the Stargate program had started. After a few minutes his 2IC stirred slightly, he observed her carefully until she was fully awake.
"Hey Sam, you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, better I guess."
"That's good. These mutated organisms the doc talked about, they've worked out how to make them multiply and with this thing, anyway it's a cure. The doctors are trying to give it to the most seriously ill. They want to make sure it works before trying to arrange a way to get it out of the mountain."
"What?" Sam said obviously confused. She had been pretty disorientated when the doctor had explained the situation to her. She knew that the disease had taken a hold of the SGC but she had not realised that it had spread out of the base.
"It got out of the base, Cassie got infected when the team were at Janet's house that time. She collapsed at school the next day was taken to the hospital in town."
"Is she alright?"
"She's fighting it, they're running further tests before they'll give her the cure. They want to make sure the naquadah doesn't react badly with the vaccine."
"Sir, how many people are infected?" Sam asked quietly, avoiding eye contact with Jack. "117 at last count," Jack said looking closely at Sam and her reaction. He watched her as she exhaled deeply and closed her eyes.
"Sam?"
"People have died right?"
"Three," Jack admitted after pausing for a moment to think about how this would affect Sam. "It's all my fault isn't it?" Sam asked candidly.
"It's not your fault, nothing about this is your fault okay?"
"117 people are sick, 3 people have died because of a disease I brought back. Cassie got sick and even people not connected to the SGC. It's my fault Sir," she said tearfully. "It's not your fault, you had no control over what happened, okay? You know you really had us worried back there? We thought we lost you." Jack continued, taking hold of her hand and changing the topic of conversation.
"Yeah, I heard," Sam replied, without thinking about what she was saying.
"You could hear what was going on? When we thought you were...dead."
"Um...yeah. I don't know how long I was dead but the first thing I remember was my dad's voice. After a while I was able to hear everything. I could only move my hand at first, I kept trying to get your attention," she reluctantly admitted. She knew that the Colonel was probably just as aware as she was about what he had said when he thought she was dead.
"We took our time, but we got there eventually," he joked.
"Yes Sir, thanks for that by the way."
"You're welcome. Look Carter, I um...ahh."
"Sir?" Sam had never seen him look so flustered, let alone lost for words.
"I said some things before. You know what I'm talking about, right?" He said nervously.
"Yes," she admitted, feeling just as nervous as O'Neill.
"I meant it...I meant what I said," he added quickly.
"I know. I feel the same way but it can't work out though, not unless something changes," Sam said turning to look Jack in the eye.
"I know and we can't change things now. It's too important."
"Yeah. I agree it's just not the right time."
"So we put this behind us?"
"Definitely," she replied, almost relieved that he wanted to continue with their friendship. She was not ready to leave SG-1 and she was pretty sure that O'Neill felt the same way.
"Carter, I'd really appreciate it if..."
I won't say anything Sir."
"Thanks," he said before they lapsed into silence.
Chapter 13
Jack sat with Sam with a while, until she fell asleep. He felt conflicted, relieved to have got everything off his chest and hearing Sam admit that she felt the same as he did. At the same time, however, knowing that nothing would and could not happen for the foreseeable future, until something changed. This change would mean someone leaving SG-1, either for another position in the SGC or even off base or someone retiring. Neither of them were willing to making this change, SG-1 and what went with it was too important to both of them at the moment.
He headed back to Hammond's office, he was still not able to think of it as his, despite him being the temporary commander of the SGC. He sat in the chair and exhaled deeply. He was beyond tired at this point, he could not remember the last time he had slept properly. He called Daniel and asked him to sit with Sam, he did not want her to be alone when she woke it, she was finding it hard to deal with the fact that she the index case of the epidemic.
After finishing talking to Daniel he picked up the red phone on the desk. He informed the President of the latest developments regarding the cure, as much as he could without going into the medical definitions that the doctors used. The President seemed relieved that an effective cure had been found, he had been concerned that a cure would not have been found before more lives were lost.
Jack had little to do at the moment, he felt superfluous as he was not able to offer anything to the doctors. He decided that there must be something useful he could do and so walked slowly to the control room, as before it was staffed by only one person. A young female officer that he did not recognise was sitting quietly, staring out through the glass towards the quiet Stargate. As she heard someone enter she turned.
"Sir," she said, recognising O'Neill as the current commander of the base.
"You are?" He asked apologetically, he thought that he recognised her as one of the latest batch of recruits but he did not know her name.
"Lieutenant Grant Sir," she replied.
"You infected?" He asked, she looked slightly flushed and tired but that did not necessarily mean that she was infected with the disease.
"Apparently so Sir. I feel fine though," she said with a slight shrug. Her last blood test had shown the presence of the organism but she did not feel particularly unwell but watching the officers around her she knew that it would not be long before she was showing symptoms.
"Well you go and get some sleep. I can take over here," he said, sitting at the computer.
"Are you sure Sir?"
"I'm sure," he said, smiling slightly.
"Thank you Sir," she said as she stood and left the control room.
Jack turned to look at the Stargate, his mixed feelings towards the gate had not gone, people had died and there was the possibility that more would die before this epidemic was over.
*~*
Daniel sat with Sam, quietly watching her sleep. He appreciated the opportunity to spend time with Sam, he had not really had much time to talk to her since she had regained consciousness. After almost a half hour she woke up. She smiled broadly as she saw that Daniel was there.
"Hey," he said as she opened her eyes.
"Hey."
"You look better," he said, taking in her appearance. The colour was steadily returning to her face and the dark circles under her eyes were retreating.
"Thanks," Sam replied, not exactly sure how to react to the comment.
"It's great to have you back you know. The cure seems to be working well. Janet and Sergeant Davis are doing well. The cure really came at the right time for Janet," Daniel said, he was not sure how much she knew of the latest progress with the vaccine.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, she was still in the dark about much of what had happened since her initial collapse.
"Sorry. Janet collapsed, she was pretty ill, she almost didn't make it," Daniel said quietly, as he remembered seeing Janet so ill.
"Really, she okay now though?"
"Yes, sitting up, talking, driving the medical staff crazy. I think Jack's going to remind her of this the next time he's stuck in the infirmary," Daniel said smiling. Sam laughed in return.
"Daniel can you do me a favour?" Sam asked, with an innocent look on her face.
"Of course, anything."
"Get me out of here," Sam said without losing the innocent look.
"Sam," Daniel warned.
"Just a short trip, to the infirmary. I really want to see Janet. The doctor's said I'm perfectly fine," she pleaded. She had spent enough time in bed since she collapsed, her muscles were stiff and she needed to move about.
"Okay, you win. I'll go rustle up a wheelchair."
Sam looked over at him, practically beginning him with her eyes to not take her in a wheelchair but he ignored her silent pleas.
"Get me some clothes or something," Sam called as he left the room, she was dressed only in a hospital gown, something she did not relish wearing.
With Sam dressed in a pair of scrubs and sitting in the wheel chair, Daniel agreed to escort her to the infirmary. She was right that she did not seem to be suffering any physical after effects of the disease.
As they entered the infirmary they saw Janet walking slowly and slightly unsteadily along the length of the room, leaning heavily on an IV stand. She did not see Sam and Daniel initially but she was approached by a doctor. The doctor appeared to be berating her for getting out of bed, she seemed to be putting up a pretty valiant defence until she turned slightly and saw Sam sitting in a wheelchair in the doorway, a wide smile on her face.
Janet's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly, as Sam and Daniel watched Janet fell to the floor, pulling the IV stand as she fell. The doctor immediately bent down at her side, a number of other medics swooped down on her and gently picked her up from the floor and put her back on the bed which she had recently vacated, seemingly against medical advice.
Daniel and Sam shared looks, concern etched on their faces. They watched as the doctors worked on Janet, initially they seemed to be concerned about her condition but after a few minutes they appeared to be satisfied with her status. One of the doctors crossed to where Sam and Daniel were standing.
"Should you be here?" The doctor asked Sam.
"Yes," she said simply, daring him to question her.
"How's Doctor Fraiser? What happened to her?" Daniel asked
"Well, as far as we can tell she fainted, we don't know why. She's stable, she pulled her IV line out but I think that's it."
"Why did she faint, was it because of the vaccine?" Daniel persisted.
"We don't think so but there's not really any way of knowing. Dr Fraiser didn't seem to be exhibiting any side-effects before she collapsed," the doctor said, he could find no medical reason to explain why Janet had collapsed but he knew that people would faint without reason.
The doctor excused himself, he had other patients to see to. Daniel wheeled Sam over to Janet's bed. Her left hand was bandaged, covering the damage left when she pulled the IV line out of her hand as she fell. The IV line had been replaced in her right hand. Janet woke after a few minutes, she saw Daniel first and smiled slightly at his presence.
"Hey, what happened back then?" He asked, as Janet's eyes opened.
"I thought I saw..." Janet started nervously, she thought that her mind had been playing tricks on her when she saw Sam.
"Saw what?" Daniel asked, totally confused about why Janet had been so shocked. It had not dawned on him that Janet may not know about Sam being alive.
"I thought I saw Sam," Janet admitted after taking a deep breath.
"You did," Daniel said, pointing across the bed to Sam. He still did not understand Janet's reaction.
Janet looked across the bed and saw Sam, she was smiling broadly at her friend.
"But she...you...died. I was there," Janet stuttered looking Sam in the eye.
"No one told you? I did die, but something happened, some of the organisms mutated and I sort of came back to life. I can't believe no one told you," Sam said, in shock.
"When did all this happen?" Janet asked, trying to absorb the news.
"Hours ago, the mutated organisms used for the vaccine came from Sam," Daniel explained.
"Right. All this time I thought that you were dead," Janet said, her voice was wavering slightly and tears had begun to form in the corners of her eyes.
Daniel stood and quietly walked away, he realised that this was a private moment to be shared between Janet and Sam. He was surprised that Jack had not told Janet that Sam was alive. He figured that it had been a mistake, rather than a malicious act.
As he found one of the small offices off the infirmary empty, he took the opportunity to use the phone.
"O'Neill," came the reply, as Daniel tracked Jack down in the control room.
"Jack it's me."
"What is it Daniel?" Jack asked, tiredness was evident in his voice.
"You didn't tell Janet that Sam was alive?" Daniel asked simply.
"Oh my God," Jack said guiltily.
"Janet fainted when she saw Sam, she thought she was seeing things."
"I totally forgot that she didn't know about Sam," Jack admitted. He could not believe that he had not told Janet that Sam was alive during the time he was talking to her. So much had happened between the times when Janet collapsed and regained consciousness and it was easy to forget that Janet had missed everything that had happened during this period.
"Look, I'll come down to see Janet when I get a minute. I'm manning the control room at the moment," Jack explained.
"Sure, I'll see you later," Daniel said as he hung up the phone.
Daniel headed back to the infirmary, as he entered he saw some activity in the corner of the room. The corner where General Hammond was situated. Daniel looked over and saw that Sam and Janet were still deep in conversation and so had not realised what was going on.
Daniel slowly approached the General's bed, as he neared he saw Hammond slowly open his eyes.
Chapter 14
Jack was relieved when he heard that General Hammond had regained consciousness. The news from the infirmary had not all been as positive. Airman Ellis had died a few minutes before, the dose of epinephrine needed had apparently been too much for the young man's body to cope with.
They had been warned that this was a real possibility but it was still a difficult situation to have to deal with. Having someone killed by the cure was probably worse than them succumbing to the disease itself.
The cure had been administered to almost a third of the infected personnel and was being administered as fast as it could be produced. Thankfully Ellis had, thus far, been the only casualty associated with the vaccine but one death was already too many for Jack.
Jack was now being asked whether the vaccine could be taken off base to the high school and the hospital. He was still reticent to lift the quarantine on the base. There had been no new cases of the disease reported for hours but Jack was not willing to risk possible further contamination outside the base.
He was aware that the decision to wait could cost lives since there were critically ill people at both the sites who needed the vaccine. The decision had not come easily to him and was still weighing heavily on his mind.
*~*
Sam and Janet were still talking almost an hour after the Doctor had woken. They were not bothered by any of the medics as they were all preoccupied with delivering the vaccine and treating the infected.
Sam could see that Janet was tiring and therefore left her to get some sleep. She walked slowly out of the infirmary, leaving the wheelchair behind. She was unsteady on her feet at first. With her leg muscles not having been used for so many days it was slightly strange for her to be walking again.
Not being able to face going back to her room she made her way to the control room.
She knew there would be someone there she could talk to. Sam was slightly surprised when she saw Colonel O'Neill sitting alone with his feet up on the desk. "Colonel?" she said as she entered.
Sam saw Jack visibly jump as she spoke. His feet shot off the desk and he span round in the chair.
"Carter, you scared me," he said, trying to get his breath back.
"Yes Sir," Sam answered, smiling broadly.
"I never knew you could be so sneaky. You sure you were never in special ops?" he asked, breaking into a smile.
"Yes Sir," she said, still smiling. She sat in one of the free chairs and exhaled. She hated to admit it but she was feeling pretty tired.
"So you finally got out of the clutches of the doctors?"
"They're a bit busy, I don't think they know I'm gone," she admitted.
"Sneaky. You've seen Janet?"
"I just came from there."
"I can't believe I forgot to tell her you were alive. It's not like it's something insignificant," Jack said guiltily.
"She understand, it was just a bit of a shock for her,"
"That's an understatement. She okay now?"
"Giving the medical team grief already. I swear she's a worse patient that you."
"Hey," Jack said with mock indignation.
"As much I appreciate your company, what exactly are you doing here?" Jack asked after a few moments of silence.
"I was bored I guess. The doctors won't let me have any work, everyone is either ill or really busy."
"So I'm a lost resort," Jack added with some humour in his voice.
"Honestly I didn't know who would be here, I just knew someone would."
"Well thank you," he said, slightly unsure of how to react.
"Colonel?" Sam asked after a minute.
"Yeah."
Have there been any other casualties?" she blurted out.
Jack exhaled and turned away slightly, remembering her reaction last time.
"Who?" Sam asked, reading O'Neill's face.
"Airman Ellis."
"He didn't get the cure in time?"
"No he got it, it was just too much for him. You okay?" he asked looking closely at her face.
"Yes," she said quietly. Jack did not believe it for a second.
"Carter."
"I'm sorry Sir, it's just..."
"I know."
"Everyone who's sick, everyone who died was infected by me," she said quietly.
"Carter, we've been through this. None of this is your fault."
"I don't know how you can say that."
The phone ringing interrupted Sam at that moment. Jack stood and grabbed the phone from the wall. Sam could not hear what was being said but she could tell that it was not good news by the look on the Colonel's face.
"What's happened Sir? Sam asked once he had finished on the phone.
"Another casualty, at the hospital. One of the patients."
Sam sighed heavily and leant back in the chair.
"Hey, don't do this Carter," he said kindly, noticing tears building up in the corners of her eyes. He went and sat next to her and quickly squeezed her hand in support.
"I could have saved them," Jack admitted.
"Sir?"
"I could have sent the cure off-base, they were asking for it, but I kept the base locked down."
"But you had no choice. You couldn't risk further infection," Sam rationalised.
"Just like you had no choice about bringing the disease back to the base. You didn't ask for this to happen. It's not your fault."
"I don't know Sir," Sam said, still unconvinced.
"I do," Jack said with some finality.
They both turned as they heard someone walking up the stairs, it was Jacob.
"So this is where you snuck off to," Jacob said upon laying eyes on Sam.
"I was going crazy in there dad," Sam apologised looking over at her father.
"I know. I'm just making sure you're okay. I went to your room and you weren't there..."
"I went to see Janet and then I came here," Sam explained.
"Anything going on?" Jacob asked Jack, accepting Sam's account.
"Not really, just trying to convince your daughter that this whole thing isn't her fault," Jack replied. He hoped that Jacob might be able to convince Sam that she was not to blame.
"Sam, honey, there's no way it's your fault. How can you even think that?" Jacob stressed.
"You look tired Carter, maybe you should go back to bed," Jack said.
"Maybe," Sam admitted.
Sam let Jacob escort her back to her room. He tried wholeheartedly to convince her that she was not to blame. After a while Sam finally agreed with her father just in order to get some rest. Although in reality she was still far from being really convinced of her innocence in the matter. Jacob made sure she was settled in bed, she fell asleep within five minutes. He left the room but not before gently planting a kiss on her forehead.
*~*
Daniel had been conscripted into helping in the infirmary. He was not sure how this had actually occurred. He had very little knowledge of medical matters but with the numbers of available staff still incredibly low, they needed all the help they could get and this obviously included Daniel.
He was called into one of the isolation rooms. He was so exhausted that he did not realised it was Cassandra's room until he entered. He was slightly taken aback when he finally registered whom the occupant of the room was.
"Cassie," he said gently as he took hold of her hand.
"Miss Fraiser has naquadah in her blood," Dr Green started his explanation, not quite realising the history that Daniel had with Cassandra.
"I know," Daniel answered, looking round at the Doctor.
"We're not exactly sure what is going to happen. We've run some tests and it seems that a larger dose of epinephrine may be needed."
"I thought the normal dose was dangerous already," Daniel asked concerned.
"It is but we don't have another choice," the doctor said candidly.
"Have you discussed this with Dr Fraiser?"
"Of course, she asked for you to be here."
"Okay. Cassie, you stay strong for a just a bit longer okay? It won't be long now," Daniel said quietly to the teenager.
He stood back and watched Dr Green prepare the vaccine. In a way he was glad that Janet had asked him to be there for Cassie but at the same time it would be incredibly difficult to watch if anything went wrong.
Daniel had to turn away just after the doctor had administered the vaccine as he saw the traces on the heart monitor become sporadic and unstable. Alarms started to sound; the rapid shrill beeps struck fear in his heart. He had heard the same sounds too many times recently and the last person he wanted to see die was Cassandra.
The doctor called his name, forcing him to turn back. He was given instructions which he blindly followed, not really understanding what he was doing or even if he was helping Cassandra or not.
After a few minutes he thought he noticed an improvement but he realised that he must have been mistaken when the doctor grabbed the defibrillator paddles from the crash cart and started administering it on Cassie.
Chapter 15
Daniel had no idea how they were treating Cassandra but eventually she stabilised and the alarms silenced themselves. He found himself shaking in relief as the adrenaline left his body. Looking over at the doctor he realised that the man was equally relieved.
"That was close," the Doctor said, exhaling deeply.
"But she's stable now, right?" Daniel asked.
"Yes. We'll have to wait to see if it's worked though."
"How long?"
"We should know in about a half-hour. I want to keep a close eye on her until then though."
"I'll go inform Dr Fraiser," Daniel said. He knew that Janet would be eager to know how Cassandra had reacted to the vaccine.
"Okay," the doctor replied as Daniel left the room.
Janet was sitting in her infirmary bed impatiently watching the infirmary door, waiting for news of her daughter.
She pulled herself up straighter in her bed as she saw Daniel enter and cross over to her. "Daniel?" she asked, searching his face for a clue on Cassandra's condition. His exhaustion was masking his emotions.
"She's stable, it got a bit hairy but it all worked out. The doctor's keeping a close eye on her but he seems pretty confident.
"Thank God," Janet breathed. When the doctor had told her the dosage of epinephrine needed she was shocked. The dosage would be dangerous to a healthy person, let alone someone who was already battling with an extremely potent disease.
Janet realised that Cassie was a fighter, just like Sam and so would not let this disease stop them.
*~*
Two Days Later
Sam was thrilled to have finally been released from the infirmary. The only problem was that the doctors had insisted she staid on base for the time being. That was to ensure that they could monitor her condition for at least a little while longer, just to play it safe. All of her protests against that decision fell on deaf ears. Sighing in frustration at not being totally independent yet, she dressed in the BDU's that Jacob had brought her. She found it funny that she was actually glad to be wearing the stiff green material once again.
Sam walked down the corridors, which were becoming more populated by the day, in silence. Some people were beginning to return to work. The stretched medical personnel were still monitoring the others. Everyone on base had now received the vaccine and with the base quarantine ending the vaccine had finally reached the high school and hospital.
She had not heard about any more casualties but she knew that Colonel O'Neill and her father were concerned with the guilt that she still carried and therefore would be reticent to tell her of any more deaths. Despite everyone's constant assurances, Sam still felt responsible and she figured that this guilt would not go away any time soon.
Sam arrived at her destination and knocked quietly on the door before opening it. She found Cassandra sitting up in the bed, tapping away on a laptop.
"Hey Cassie," Sam greeted as the teenager looked up.
"Hey. You're wearing clothes," Cassie noted with a smile. The last time Sam had visited she had been wearing scrubs.
"Yep, officially discharged and everything. What are you up to?"
"Not much. Haven't got any school work for once, with school being closed and everything."
"Enjoy it while it lasts," Sam advised her with a smile.
"Oh, I intend to."
"How are you today anyway?"
"I'm fine," Cassie replied. Sam could tell that she was lying.
"Cassie, tell me what's up," she said as she sat down.
"I was thinking about what happened. At school and the hospital. Those people got sick because of me. Mr King, my history teacher, he died because I infected him with the disease," Cassie admitted.
"And you got sick because of me," Sam said, looking Cassandra squarely in the face. "This is not your fault, you didn't ask to be infected, you didn't spread the disease on purpose," Sam tried to reason with her. She internally acknowledged just how hypocritical it was to say that. It was almost exactly what she had heard many times being repeated to her recently.
"I guess," Cassie admitted, still slightly dejected.
They both turned as the door opened again. Jack entered, smiling.
"How you doin' kiddo?" he asked Cassandra.
"I'm fine," she said giving Sam a pointed look.
"I just had some news from your school. Your friend, Liz Allen, regained consciousness about ten minutes ago. She's apparently doing well and asking about you. Everyone who's had the cure is doing just fine over there."
"Thanks Jack," Cassie replied, her mood brightening significantly.
*~*
One Week Later
Research was still being carried out on the samples they had. The scientists were still trying to find out how and why the mutation that had lead to the cure had occurred. They were also trying to ascertain just why Jack, Daniel and Teal'c had been uninfected. Nothing could be identified in their blood and it was possible that they would never know why they had been immune from the beginning.
There were a number of theories being thrown around, including the fact that Sam seemed to have more mosquito bites than the others, a mosquito carrying the disease had bitten Sam but not the others, some unidentified environmental factor or a combination of those.
Cassandra was due to start back at the newly reopened high school. The town was getting back to normal after having been shut down to try and contain the so-called outbreak of the virulent and foreign strain of 'influenza'.
Jacob had headed back to his base, back to whatever top secret Tok'ra things he normally did, once he was convinced that Sam was going to be all right.
Operations at the SGC were practically back to normal, or whatever resembled normality at the base. General Hammond was back in command and picking up the pieces of the epidemic. Dr Green, who had been forced to take charge of the infirmary during the epidemic, was able to do research again where he felt much more confident. Dr Fraiser was back in charge of the infirmary, doing her best to keep patients in bed instead of the other way around.
For SG-1 life was getting back to normal. They were preparing for another off world mission, the first since the start of the epidemic. Sam was still dealing with the guilt associated with the epidemic but she was slowly coming to terms with it. The team would not forget what had happened, just as they could not forget everything else that had happened to them during their travels through the gate.
But for them, at least, life went on.
*~*~*
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