What Will Happen Now?
by Bryn


EMAIL: buddygirl19@yahoo.com (bambam126@hotmail.com will still work too)
STATUS: complete
RATING: G
CATEGORY: D/J, little bit of angst
SPOILERS: i don't think so...
SEASON: oh i dunno, sometime during the show...
SUMMARY: Janet's reaction when Daniel falls into a coma
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognised characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the authors. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

As the saying goes, the ball is in his court. He knows now – everything. How I feel, how much I think about him, and what I want. I laid my heart on the line then asked him one question: What will happen now?

I hadn’t meant to. I was perfectly content to admire him from afar, to appreciate his smiles from across the briefing room table, but I hadn’t counted on there ever being a time where something would happen to him that I couldn’t make better. I took for granted that being his doctor I’d always be able to save him, and this time I just wasn’t sure.

SG-1 came back early. The call for me to come to the ‘Gate room came just a second later. I thought I’d seen the worst when I spotted the nasty gash in the Colonel’s thigh, but then I noticed Teal’c holding up Daniel, who was unconscious, with blood pouring from his head. Hours later and he laid in a coma on one of my medical beds. Medical science has come so far and yet at times it seems to be able to do so little.

Telling SG-1 was no joy. Colonel O’Neill got angry and stormed off. Sam looked about ready to cry, held Daniel’s hand for a while, then too wandered off to be alone. Teal’c and General were as stoic as ever, trying to be the strength and reason, but I saw something in them break as well. For all the times Daniel had gotten hurt, no one ever thought anything could kill him. He was Daniel, he wasn’t supposed to die.

And I was the doctor, I was supposed to make him better. When I said there was nothing I could do, I could feel contempt from every one of them. They didn’t have to say anything; their anger, their pain, and their walking away said it all. By letting Daniel down I was letting them down too, and they took it personally. None of them ever imagined that maybe this was hurting me too.

I went through a whole range of emotions the first few hours of waiting: anger, grief, guilt, denial, wishing, and, at last, desperation. I locked myself in my office and cried until dehydration stopped that, and then I went and sat by his bed, pretending to monitor his life signs. At last, sometime in the middle of the night when the infirmary was empty and nearly quiet, the doctor’s mask fell and I was left as me, watching my friend lying helpless in a hospital bed. That’s when the confession I’d vowed never to make slipped past my lips. In that moment I didn’t think about whether he could hear me or not, I didn’t really care, it was just something that had to be said aloud, perhaps because I feared that otherwise it would forever stay a secret that should’ve been shared.

I opened my mouth and all of it poured out. It didn’t take long, there wasn’t much to say, only that for a long time now I’d cared about him more than a doctor, more than a friend. I never would have said anything except that watching him die was ripping my heart out. I stayed with him for a few more hours, hoping and praying to an infinite number of gods. Finally exhaustion caught up with me and I somehow made my way back to my quarters, falling onto my bed fully clothed and into a light, troubled slumber.

The on-call nurse woke me at six, saying there had been a change. I’d never been so happy to wake up early. Daniel was awake. The swelling in his brain had gone down and he was going to be all right with lots of rest. SG-1 were by his side immediately and General Hammond watched over them like a protective father. I faded into the background.

I finally shooed everyone out of the infirmary and did another follow-up exam on Daniel, just to be sure. That’s when he stopped me. A hand on my forearm. No words, just a look, and I knew he had heard. They’d always said that patients in comas could possibly hear what’s said around them, but I guess I’d never really believed it.

So now I wait, wondering what he’s thinking. My fate, my heart lies in his hands. Only he knows the answer to my question. Only he knows what will happen now.

“You seem to be my guardian angel.”

“You pulled through this one by yourself. There was nothing I could do.”

“Maybe not medically, but you did something, and that’s why I pulled through.”

He slips his hand into mine, then pulls it to his chest. Giving me a small smile, he closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep.

Copyright (c) Bryn 2001

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