Daniel was, once again, sitting on his sofa next to Carter, watching, what was it, the fifth episode of the Simpsons in a row.
He wasn't laughing a whole lot, but he smiled most of the time, and chuckled every now and then. All in all, he was like a different person from the one Jack had seen before the whole ordeal. He was still a bit more silent than usual, but he looked relaxed, closer to normal. It was strange that the bunch of really horrible stuff that had happened had actually made him seem--better. Not worse, like one might've expected.
Jack sat down next to Daniel. "Hey, we could also watch something else... Not that I'm complaining, though, but, you know..."
"Sure. Or we could just try Scrabble, so I could beat you all," Daniel smirked at him.
"Well, if you insist..."
"Nah, not really. Though, I think we really could watch something else for a change. Teal'c?" Daniel called out.
"I shall be there momentarily," the familiar, deep voice answered from the kitchen.
A few minutes later, Teal'c emerged, carrying a platter of absolutely perfect-looking donuts, their chocolate-colored icing sprinkled with nonpareils.
"This time, I believe I have succeeded completely," he announced.
"Looks extra fine, T. Good job," Jack commended him.
He set the platter on the table, and gestured at them to help themselves.
"I think we could use something to drink, too," Daniel suggested. "Coke, anyone? I can get some..."
"No, just sit down and let me," Jack instantly stopped him.
They were still a bit wary. Fraiser had told that Daniel should take it easy. So, he'd actually been sitting on the sofa for a good while, with everyone else doing all the getting up and fetching things that they needed to do.
This time, he had apparently decided he'd had enough of that. "Jack, no. I'll go, it's fine," he insisted, and stood up.
He'd barely taken a few steps when he stopped, wavering.
"Whoa... Since when was your floor this steep?"
Jack leaped up instantly, and Teal'c was already by his side, a hand around his shoulders.
"Daniel, what's wrong? Not feeling all right after all?"
"Just... A bit dizzy, but I guess it's just that..."
"Right. You're definitely not going to fetch anyone anything. Back on the sofa," Jack ordered.
Teal'c guided him back, and he didn't even try to resist a whole lot. Carter put one hand on his forehead, and one on her own, and frowned. "Colonel, have you got a thermometer? I think he's running a fever."
Jack was about to head away to get one, when he heard Daniel start answering, and had to wait to hear what he had to say.
"Now that you mention it, Sam... I'm not feeling all that great. Guess you might be right."
Teal'c had, during the day, had the feeling that Daniel Jackson had been somewhat silent and withdrawn, but he had not found it unexpected. Now, he could not help wondering how long he had felt unwell, and simply tried to hide the fact from the rest of them.
It was clear he was experiencing some discomfort. As Colonel O'Neill left to search his supplies, Major Carter strongly encouraged Daniel Jackson to lie down on the sofa.
He had barely placed his head on the armrest when his face twisted with pain, and he gasped out. "Ow--No, no, this isn't happening-"
"What is not happening, Daniel Jackson?"
He had crossed his arms across his chest, which, Teal'c decided, was a very bad sign. Even though Doctor Fraiser had assured them Daniel Jackson's injuries had been completely healed, they had all been worried something like this might come to pass.
"I just figured... Figured I was imagining the whole thing..."
"Daniel, slow down and start at the beginning," Colonel O'Neill's worried voice entered the conversation. He appeared right behind Daniel Jackson's head, gave the thermometer to Major Carter, and tossed a blanket over Daniel.
Daniel shook his head. "Chest hurts," he stated simply.
Teal'c could build the whole story from that. Daniel Jackson had felt some pain in his chest earlier during the day, but it might not have been as bad as now, so he had believed he was only imagining it, possibly because of what he knew had happened to him before. At the moment, it seemed quite clear that he had not simply imagined. Something was not quite right with him.
Despite O'Neill, who tried to stop him, Daniel sat up on the sofa. Surprisingly enough, his breathing evened out somewhat, and some of the lines disappeared from his face.
"Oh, that's better," he told them.
Colonel O'Neill did not appear convinced. Instead, he said, "I'm calling the Doc right now."
As he went on to make the call, and Carter began a cursory examination of Daniel Jackson's condition, Teal'c decided he could make himself useful as well. He went on to collect several pillows and another blanket, and used them to prop Daniel into the seated position which he seemed to favor over lying down.
"I've got Doc Fraiser on the line here," O'Neill informed them. "Carter, anything you can tell her?"
"Daniel's got a low fever, doesn't look that worrying, but he's obviously hurting."
O'Neill nodded, and conveyed the information onwards. "Daniel? The Doc wants to know if you can describe the pain to her, as accurately as possible."
"Nasty?" Daniel suggested, attempting humor, but without much success. "Sharp. On the left side. Gets worse if I breathe too deep."
A moment went by so that O'Neill listened to something Doctor Fraiser said, and everyone else waited silently.
"Right. Yes, we will. We'll be there soon," he then finished the call.
"Daniel, you're going back to the infirmary, right now. Fraiser wants us to keep a close eye on him on the way. As if we wouldn't do that anyway."
Sam was extremely relieved when they finally reached the SGC. Of course, just the fact that Janet had asked them to get to the infirmary instead of going to the nearest hospital suggested that this might not be as urgent as they thought, but still... Colonel O'Neill had broken all speed limits on the way. She had spent her time sitting next to Daniel, taking his pulse every five minutes, even though it really annoyed him. All the way, she'd found it reassuringly steady, though too fast to her liking.
Daniel actually walked to the infirmary on his own two feet, just supported by Teal'c and the Colonel. He hadn't gotten any worse during the trip, as far as she could tell. For a while there, she'd been afraid he was having a heart attack or something, as little sense as it made. Now, she didn't know what she thought, anymore.
Janet had had plenty of time to wait and get worried after their phone call, and she practically snatched Daniel away from them the moment they got into the infirmary, offering them scolding looks after seeing him walk in, instead of being carried.
"I know, I know, now, you'll say that you need to ask us to leave, and then we go reluctantly," O'Neill told her.
"You read my mind, Colonel," Janet answered. So, once again, they left Daniel to Janet's experienced hands.
Daniel figured he'd now had enough tests to last for the next ten years or so. If Janet would ever ask for another EKG or echo done on him, he'd probably flee as fast as he could.
Not that he wasn't anxious and worried about whatever was happening to him, though. He'd been so sure Martouf had fixed everything completely. The first hints of pain stabbing in his chest again had made him think that his imagination was too vivid, or that he was just reliving the horrible memories in some weird physical way. But then, slowly but inevitably, it'd grown too strong to ignore.
Janet had given him enough painkillers to deal with the worst of it. Now, he was sitting on an infirmary bed, like so many times before, surrounded by his team, waiting to hear what she had to say.
"Doc, please tell me he's all right," Jack pleaded to her.
"I'm afraid I can't say that. Not exactly. What he's got is a clear, textbook case of pericarditis. That's an inflammation of..."
"Yeah, let me guess," Daniel interrupted her. He couldn't keep the weariness off his voice. All the worried looks he kept getting were driving him crazy. "It's an inflammation of the pericardium, right?"
"But... I thought Martouf fixed everything," Sam uttered. "Should we contact the Tok'ra again?"
Jack's words overlapped hers. He was frowning. "It's not--you can fix it, right, Doc?"
"Now, relax, take it easy, everyone," Janet told them all, making soothing gestures with her hands. "I know it looked a bit frightening there, and I can't say I wasn't worried when I first heard about Daniel's symptoms, but it's not as serious as it might have seemed. Pericarditis isn't unusual as a complication of recent cardiac surgery or trauma. And it's quite treatable."
"Great. How?" Jack asked quickly.
"Aspirin and bed rest, Colonel. As simple as that."
Well, that didn't sound bad, Daniel thought. Except for one thing. "So, I'm stuck here again?"
"Ah, that's the question, really..." Janet answered with a wink. "Now, I'd really like to keep a close eye on you. Just in case, you know. If I hadn't dispatched you to begin with, I'd have noticed this sooner. But as it is, I've every reason to trust you'll recover completely, without any complications... I won't keep you here for long. One or two days. Actually, I'll let you stay in your quarters, if you just show up here regularly. But I think these three nurses here will take care of that for me," she smiled at Teal'c, Sam and Jack.
"You betcha," Jack answered. "Haven't you got that Scrabble board right there, sitting on a shelf in your room, Danny?"
"You feel like losing today, Jack?"
"More than ever."
A few days stuck at the SGC with Jack, Sam and Teal'c--that really didn't sound much worse than a few days stuck at Jack's place with the three of them. Actually, it sounded pretty good.
Somehow, Daniel had felt that he'd gotten over it all almost too easily. The way he'd just suddenly woken up and found that everything was fine. Then, it had been extremely annoying when no one else had been able to accept it that he really was all right. A slightly longer convalescence might not be such a bad thing, after all. It would help to convince them all, both himself an the others.
Healing would always take time. So, if his chest still hurt, it was just like the memory of Sha're that still pained him, every time he concentrated on it. He would get over both. He had friends, and they had time.
He'd really, truly be fine soon enough. Then they could get into trouble again, and then fight their way out of it. Like they always did. Together.
Author's End Note: Yup, that really was it. The end of the story. I hope you didn't find it unnecessarily mean--I mean, the way I just wouldn't leave my poor whumping target alone... The twisted mean thing in some dark corner of my mind just told that this was how I should finish it. I'd really appreciate it if you could review and let me know what you thought.
And yes, I do inted to write more Daniel-stories in the future. So, beware. ;)