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The Waiting Room
(And its many Contestants…)
by Bethany
Daniel looked at her, propped up on pillows, golden hair flowing like a halo (thanks to the way the pillow made it splay outward…)… “Sarah, you gonna talk to me today?” He asked gently.
Sarah stared at him.
“It’s difficult to wait like this, isn’t it?” Dr. Frasier stood by Daniel Jackson, & commented.
He nodded.
“I think she has the ability to talk, Daniel… She just wants to take her time about it…” Frasier put into words what they both hoped.
“She’s seen a lot of things to articulate…” Daniel squeezed Sarah’s hand affectionately. “Some stuff she probably never will be able to… Skaara knows how that feels.”
“How is he these days?” Dr. Frasier asked.
“Happy to be home, mostly…” Daniel replied, still looking at Sarah.
Frasier bit her lip in thought… “And Kasuf?”
Daniel looked at her briefly, as he answered. “Grateful to have at least one of his children back home…” He paused. “I never meant to shoot her…” He stated, looking even more intently at Sarah. “It was just… I just… The gun was all I had on me. Jack and Teal’c had the Zats that day…” Daniel was uncertain. Haven’t I made this decision one too many times already? It grated on him like razors, while he could only endure the pain silently.
“And on that day, you brought her home, Daniel…” Janet reached for his hand, hoping to convey some comfort to his soul.
Jack and Teal’c sat in the Rec-Room, watching TV.
“This is so pathetic!” Jack gestured toward the TV. “We get there first, we do all this stuff, think of all this really cool stuff to save the world with, then they come along an’ take the credit…” Jack paused. “And not with half as much style either…”
“Do you truly believe that someone is leaking information to Marty’s colleagues at Worm Hole Xtreme, O’Neill?” Teal’c asked seriously.
“And that guy’s doin’ a really crappy impression of me… Where’s my humour, T?” Jack looked at the Jaffa.
“I do not know, O’Neill…” Teal’c simply replied.
“I’m a Master of the dry and witty, King of the understated and cutting… Am I seeing that here???… Am I CRAP!!!” Jack was quite adamant. “Think British humour, my friends… Think British!…” He paused, for dramatic purposes. “I’ll tell ya one thing though, that cast and crew of theirs was certainly a comedy act!”
“I remember, O’Neill, I remember…” Teal’c sat forward on his end of the sofa, feet firmly planted on the floor, hands clasped, and he resolutely got up, and turned off the television…
“Marty’s the only good thing about that show!” O’Neill suddenly commented. “I think we should start a letter writing campaign!”
“Would not that be slightly unwise, O’Neill?” Teal’c asked, sitting back down, and looking to his friend for an answer. “Suspicions are easily aroused…”
“People Power, T… People Power..!” Jack stated, knowingly, as he lounged even further back into the sofa, arms drifting lazily behind his head…
Sam Carter was in her Lab. General Hammond had stopped by to say hello…
“How’s the project doing, Major?” He asked interestedly.
“I’ve got to order in some extra chrome pieces…” She said happily, busily working away on the grease-stained floor.
“She’s a fine machine, that’s for sure!” The General beamed, running a cautious hand along the seat of Carter’s Harley Davidson.
Jonas Quinn walked into the rec-room area, where Teal’c and O’Neill still sat, now reading Classic Car magazines, and attempting to pilfer Carter’s pile of assorted Harley and Triumph Herald Tributaries… “Brought you guys some lunch, too…” He said, showing them the tray of potato chips, cheesecake, fruit loops, and raspberry ice crushes… Anyone scene Carter or Daniel?”
“Carter’s busy showin’ off her new toy to the General…” O’Neill paused in his reading, and pointed to the motorbike on the cover of his current magazine of choice.
“Daniel Jackson still waits in the Infirmary…” Teal’c said, putting down his magazine, and spying a Newspaper, one of those that read like science fiction…
“How is Sarah???” Jonas carefully placed the tray down on a coffee table, took a seat, and opened a packet of potato chips. His favourite flavour, Prawn Cocktail… “Maybe I should take him some food..?”
“That’s mighty kind of you, Jonas, but I don’t think our dear friend, Daniel, is in the mood to nosh right now…” Jack said, not unkindly. “Besides, I’m starved..!” O’Neill practically dove at a HUGE slice of Strawberry Cheesecake…
Daniel sat with Sarah, the curtains drawn around her bed, and so, around them both… The artificial lighting of the Infirmary behaved like a spotlight through the top of the curtain framing… He held her hand and couldn’t help but continue to stare into those eyes of hers that stared right back at him. Daniel didn’t know what scared him most… Were they blank, or were they trying to tell him something???
THE END…