Doctor, Doctor
by Kaz
E-MAIL: karinstaines@freenet.co.uk
RATING : PG
CATEGORY : Angst, H/C, AU (because of the pairing), teeny bit of romance.
PAIRING : Daniel and Janet
SUMMARY : Janet's POV. SG-1 return from a mission and Janet meets the
gurney carrying the man she loves.
SPOILERS : Rite of Passage.
DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of
Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all
other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1
together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright
property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp,
Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd.
Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and
solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea
and the story itself are the sole property of the author.
AUTHOR'S NOTE : This was written in response to Carrie's challenge that we practise short fics. This is my first Dan/Jan fic. The story just kind of wrote itself.
"Colonel, what happened?" I ask, meeting the gurney in the corridor,
but my eyes don't connect with the man I'm speaking to, only the one
lying so still on the narrow mattress now speeding past me.
I can hardly see the left side of his face for the swathe of
bandaging, a rather hasty attempt judging by the bedraggled appearance
of it, not up to Sam's usual standards by any means… and the right
side is thoroughly masked by blood and dirt. It could have been any
soldier in the SGC.
Identification is not especially paramount to treatment, not at this
stage in the proceedings at any rate, however two things guide me to
the conclusion of my patient's identity. The first being the name
patch on the jacket, but in a way that's not as obvious an indicator
as the second clue… the harried features on the three figures dashing
along behind the medics.
And I realize… Daniel Jackson has encountered calamity once more. My
heart sinks.
Jack has yet to answer me, and I press him again… I need a clue as to
what I'll be dealing with when I peel back that mess of a dressing.
If I find out Daniel's been putting himself at risk for someone else
again, I'll be having a thing or three to say to a certain doctor of
archaeology when he wakes up.
Whenever SG-1's signal is received to open the iris, I find myself
wondering if this is the time Daniel will walk back, be flung,
dragged, or carried home and I won't be able to do anything to put him
together again. Walking would be the worst. Unconscious, or broken
beyond belief I can deal with, but if he ever comes through and looks
me in the eye knowing what he's done, knowing I can't help…
"Horse threw him into a tree."
Well, there's succinct for you. I suppose that's how you get to be a
colonel… don't mince your words. Wonder what they were doing riding?
If it weren't for all the trouble this team in particular seems to
get into, 'gate travel could seem like some kind of summer camp.
I expect I'll hear the full, unexpurgated story regaled in all it's
glory through the smoke from the next barbecue we have at Jack's. And
we'll all have a jolly good laugh about it. I hope.
"There's glass in his eye, Janet."
Ah, thank you, Sam. Something more concrete to work from.
"We thought it best to get him home, rather than risk making things
worse by trying to get it out."
I nod in approval. Sam sounds out of breath. It must've been quite
some trek back to the Stargate.
We've reached the infirmary, and as soon as the gurney stops I have my
penlight at the ready. "How long has he been out?" Prying back the
only eyelid I currently have access to, I'm not encouraged by the
response of the too-wide pupil beneath… because there isn't one.
Not good.
"He hasn't regained consciousness since it happened." Jack looks his
watch. "An hour and a half ago," he says sombrely.
Not good at all.
This is going to take a lot of patching up, and even if the surgery
doesn't put me into overtime, Daniel will need constant observation
for at least twenty-four hours following that. He won't have any
shortage of willing volunteers for the job, but I'll need to be here
too… for his sake, and for mine. We had planned to be together this
evening, though this isn't really what we had in mind...
I order a multitude of tests, bloodworks and the like for my would-be
date, and leave one of my nurses to ease the rough bandaging from his
head, and bathe away the grime.
"I know there's no point in telling you to go home and get some rest,
but I want you all to at least go get cleaned up and have some food.
This is going to take a while."
Three pale, hopelessly lost-looking souls trudge out of the doors, and
I suddenly wish I could go with them… run away… but I have a job to
do. Not for the first time, the task ahead is terrifying, because if
I fail I will lose the man I love.
I knew it was a mistake to get involved with one of my patients…
especially one I see as often as Daniel. It all started so slowly,
quietly. I don't think either of us realized what had happened, until
he was suddenly there one day in my office with his arms around me. I
watched transfixed, as his lips invaded my space, and did nothing to
prevent them meeting mine. He gave me every opportunity to say 'no',
to pull away, to tell him I didn't feel the same… but I did. I do.
When Cassie was so ill, that's when the first touch happened. Oh, I'd
had my hands on him more times than I cared to remember, and in places
that didn't bear thinking about outside of my place of work; but had
he ever actually reached out to me before then? I don't recall so.
His fingers brushed over mine… that's all it was really, but it meant
so much, and he asked, "If you need *anything*…" Anything? My knees
wobbled at the thought. Everything, my darling.
His eyes seemed to change immediately after that. Sparkly blue orbs
once only filled with the pain of Sha'uri's loss, were now brimming
with love for me. I'm a romantic girl at heart… bite me. No one had
ever looked at me quite like that. My ex's eyes only shone like that
at the sight of a beer. Why am I even comparing the two of them?
There *is* no comparison.
Actually, when you think about *Doctor Jackson*… there's pretty much
no comparison with anybody. Am I biased? No, I'm sure his team,
General Hammond, the Abydonians, the Nox, the Tollans, the Enkarans,
the Asgard, you name them, and no doubt Sha'uri, God rest her soul
would all agree with me. Daniel still thinks he failed her. I have
no wish to usurp that part of his life. It's as essential to who he
is as his passion for his work, his love for his team, his zest for
living.
Living. He is still alive. I have that much to be thankful for.
"Thanks, Di." Nurse Callow slips away with a bowl full of crud, and I
dare myself to look at what she has revealed. Ouch.
I pray the scans will give me more hope than the state of the battered
face. Gently probing the swollen, bruised skin, I selfishly think how
this wasn't the kind of caressing I was planning for this evening.
Come on, Janet, you're a doctor here… start bloody acting like one!
~
They're back. Showered, clothes changed, fed and watered. SG-1 hover
by the door, awaiting my attention. They'll have to wait. My patient
is just out of major surgery, and I need to be sure he's properly
settled before I let them hover over here.
"Doc?"
Jack isn't good at the patience thing. Never has been. I suppose
I've kept them stewing long enough, but I had to get a little bit of
payback for bringing Daniel home in such a bad way, again.
"Colonel…"
Now that I've acknowledged their presence, they move forward as one.
"He'll be okay." That's all they really want to hear, but I'll give
them the details anyway… more penance. "His cheek bone was fractured,
and there *was* some glass in his eye, but we don't think it's caused
any permanent damage. We'll be watching closely for infection, and an
ophthalmologist is coming over from the academy hospital tomorrow to
check him over."
There's silence as they take it all in, relief beginning to dawn on
their features, as they look to the sterilely wrapped half-face on the
pillow. I'm not going to let them off that easily.
"He was very lucky there was no skull fracture, but he has a very
severe concussion. There's some serious swelling," I pause for
effect. Cruel I know, but compared to what I've just been through… A
collective holding of breath satisfies my craving, and I relent, "but
it's already showing signs of improvement."
"How's our boy?"
General Hammond's booming drawl hits my ears, and I kind of want to
yell back, 'He's mine! My boy. And don't you forget it, mister.
Next time you send him on a mission, make sure he knows he's supposed
to come back in the same condition in which I cleared him to leave.'
They all think they own Daniel. Little parts of him. Hammond wants
the diplomat, Jack demands the explorer, Sam requires the scientist,
Teal'c needs the scholar, they all desire the friend. They usually
get what they wish for, and more, but the interests of those roles
sometimes conflict, and I see what it does to him. So, what do I get?
All of him.
Having given the general a summary of my previous report, I return to
my office and let them have some time with Daniel. I've got to get
the smell of his blood from my nostrils. It never used to bother me
so much before…
~
A knock on the door rouses me. Instantly alert with the practise that
comes with having been a doctor for so long, I run a hand through my
hair. It's Sam.
"Janet, are you okay?"
Not really. "Yeah, fine."
"You've been hanging around Daniel too long," she chastises my
flippant reply.
Not long enough, Sam… "Did you want something?"
"Yeah, it looks like he's trying to come round."
She's beaming a big happy smile at me, which is a little hard to take
at… I glance at the clock. Ten thirty? Just as well I can rely on
SG-1 to keep an eye on Daniel while I'm *not* doing my job. "I
must've fallen asleep," I say, sheepishly looking back to my seat.
There's a blanket gradually slipping to the floor. Seems someone has
been taking care of me, too.
"You needed it," Sam says tenderly, and she leads the way out into the
infirmary, to the gathering by the one occupied bed.
"J-an."
I'm greeted by one bleary, but still startlingly blue eye peeking out
from between half-closed lids, and my heart does a fairly good
impression of a little fluttery butterfly. You'd have thought I'd be
above that kind of thing at my age.
"Hey, Daniel. It's good to see you're back with us." I turn to the
others. "I'd like a minute alone with my patient, please."
Ignoring a comment from the colonel regarding how my bedside manner is
never that friendly when he's laid up, and something else I didn't
quite catch about professional etiquette, I begin to check Daniel's
numbers.
Oh, to hell with the numbers… for now, and professional etiquette be
damned. I lean over and kiss one sleepy archaeologist full on the
lips. "I wish you didn't keep doing this to me," I whisper. Somewhat
guiltily, I'm overjoyed to see the pace of one of the readouts on the
monitor suddenly quicken… so I'm not the only one.
"I'm glad you keep doing *this* to me," Daniel replies, his voice soft
and warm, and a little slurred from the pain medication.
"You're incorrigible, Doctor Jackson." I smile.
"You're irresistible, Doctor Fraiser." He smiles.
"You need to rest." Don't want him overdoing it yet, but wait till I
get him home.
A shaky hand tentatively feels the wadding. "My eye…"
"Will be fine, Daniel, don't worry." My patting a hand on his arm
seems too clinical.
"If you say so." He squints down at my hand, managing to do 'baffled'
with only one eye. My man is so talented.
"I do. Now go back to sleep."
"Why is it that when you're unconscious everyone wants you to wake up,
and when you do they tell you to go back to sleep again?" He asks
with a slight whine of irritation to his tone. It hasn't taken long
for him to be frustrated with his circumstances.
"Because unconscious and asleep are not the same thing. I'll wake you
for lunch, and you can have your visitors back then."
"Okay." He accepts my explanation with a small pout.
His eye is still following me as I move between the displays, fully
back in doctor mode. "What?"
"Kiss?" Daniel looks up at me hopefully, his bottom lip imprisoned
between his teeth.
I giggle. So, not quite the professional attitude I was trying to
reassume, but how can I resist? You know for a man who's fiercely
independent and has looked out for himself pretty much since he was
eight, he certainly knows how to turn on that helpless little boy lost
charm.
"Only one." I quickly swivel my head to make sure no one else is
watching, then deliver a small peck on his uncovered cheek. Actually,
I don't think anyone would care if they did see us. Everyone has been
waiting for Daniel to find someone else. He deserves it.
I just thank my lucky stars he chose me.
The End
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