Day 4

Title: Day 4
Author: tarotgal
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rating: PG
Pairing: None
Disclaimer: Not my characters. I wish they were mine. I definitely don’t get paid for this.
Summary: When the whole team gets sick offworld, they're stuck there until Dr. Frasier can figure out how to help them.
Notes: Written during my 12 Ficlets in 12 Days in 2017-18 project project for LadyKorana

Dr. Janet Frasier was on her second hour of sleep when there was a knock and the door opened. “Dr. Frasier? Sorry to wake you, but there's an emergency.”

Janet forced her eyes open and pushed the wool blanket off. She cared about all the teams; they were all her patients. And emergency definitely took on a different meaning here. “Which team?” she asked, powering through a yawn.

It was a few seconds of hurried footsteps racing down the hallway before the soldier answered, “SG-1.”

Janet felt that in the pit of her stomach. Somehow, she had known but hadn't wanted it to be true.

They headed into the gate control room where Jack O'Neil's face was on one of the screens. The gate was active, a swirling blue glow in the gate room below, but her gaze was fixed on Jack. “What's wrong, Colonel?”

He rubbed his index finger under his nose. “Hey, Doc. Seems that this planet might have been deserted for a reason. There's this virus... and we've all come down with... with it. Ahh-CHISHhoo!

All four of them? That was one tenacious virus. Her brain was still slow from sleep; she was having trouble remembering the missing schedule. “How long since exposure?”

Sniffling, Jack checked his watch. “A little more than three hours.”

Her first reaction was that that was impossible. Viruses couldn't possibly work so quickly. Then she reminded herself that nothing was impossible any more; she'd seen and been through too much. “We don't know anything about this bug. We're going to have to quarantine you there.”

“Yeah. We figured. It feels just like a cold, but we thought it was better to call you instead of taking chances. Thought we should do this by the book.”

“I'm glad you did. No using the gate to call out, just in case. We'll call you in three hour intervals to check in. And we'll send supplies.”

“Tissues?” Jack begged, rubbing his sleeve under his nose. “P-please! Ahhh... ahhCHSHOO! Sniff!

“Absolutely. You won't be able to send samples back for me to study and analyze, so I'm going to have to send some things for you all to do that for me.”

Jack nodded, sniffling into his sleeve. “Just don't count on Daniel doing any work. He's... well, the space monkey's not doing so well.”

Janet sighed, trying not to look as frustrated as she felt. She couldn't get to them to examine them. She couldn't afford to send all the best equipment off world where it might never come back. She was as helpless as they were. But at least she wasn't sneezing.

Ahhhh-hah-AHCHIHSH!

“We'll send the first shipment to you within the hour. Hang in there, Jack.”

He nodded and closed the transmission.

Janet sighed and rubbed her palm over her face. She was already saying goodbye to sleep. “I'm going to need to make a list,” she muttered.

*             *             *

Janet wasn't sure she'd ever seen so many tissue boxes in one place before. There was a whole pallet of them ready to be sent through the wormhole. She'd checked and double-checked the equipment and medical supplies.

She didn’t know what they were dealing with here, but she felt safe sending several changes of clothes, toiletries, pajamas, blankets, pillows, and cots. Sleep wasn’t always the best cure, but usually it didn’t hurt.

More interesting—and perhaps also more invasive—was that Janet wanted to send them something personal and comforting from home. And that meant going into their rooms and deciding what to pack. She ended up with books from the nightstands by their beds, the meditation mat and candles from Teal’c’s room, a telescope from Jack’s room, more books from Daniel’s, and a small stuffed lion from Sam’s.

While she was in each, she noticed a few other things she might send over in a second or third care package. She just hoped that she wouldn’t need to have all of their personal belongings packed up and sent through the stargate. If everything worked out, the team would get better and wouldn’t be carriers and could come back. Janet hadn’t needed an extra incentive but she certainly had one now.

*             *             *

“That's good, Sam.” Janet reassured her as Sam tapped the little vial collecting the blood sample. She walked Sam through bandaging her arm up and then putting samples into the machine. “It should take a little while for the test to run.”

Sam nodded and coughed a few times into her shoulder.

“That cough doesn't sound too bad.” In fact, it sounded dry and light, like Sam probably had a little tickle in her sore throat but nothing in the way of chest congestion or phlegm. If this whatever it was stayed confined to their heads, that would be the among the little luck they'd had so far with this thing. The other bit of luck being that it hit so quickly that the team was easily quarantined on the planet rather than bringing it back to Earth where it might incubate and spread before showing itself. Working with a sick SG-1 team was bad, but Janet didn't like the idea of another epidemic on her hands.

“Mine's not too bad,” Sam confirmed. “But you should hear Teal'c.”

“It's got to be bad if it made it through his symbiote's defenses. Is he awake now? Maybe I should take a listen to him.” It seemed every time they called, a different team member was awake, like they were purposefully sleeping in turns to be able to watch over each other in safety, which would have been entirely unnecessary on an otherwise uninhabited planet. Maybe it was just this virus doing strange things to their sleep schedules. Or maybe it was a habit of theirs after years of working together.

Sam looked off to the side. “Sorry, no. Do you want me to go wake him up?”

“No, no. I don't have much to offer any of you yet, so the best thing you can do is sleep. I don't want to interfere with—”

“Sab?”

Janet heard that just as Sam had, but where Sam could look to the side and see Daniel, Janet found herself instinctively leaning as though she could see into the screen. But she couldn't Sam turned and walked over, and Janet could only see Sam's shadow at that point. She could hear everything, though.

“Sab, I'b cold.”

“That's because you got out of your cot without your blanket. Wrap your cough, cough! Wrap your blanket around your shoulders.” There was a pause then. “There you go. Better?”

“Yeah, but... H'Chushhhh! h'chishhhhh! hehshhhhh!

“Bless!” That wasn't Sam's voice; it was Jack's. He sounded sleepy.

“Go back to sleep, Colonel.” That was Sam.

“Yeah, but the transmission is open. Has Doc Fraiser found a... a... AhhhCHISHhoo!

“I'm running some tests for her now,” Sam told him.

“Sab?” Daniel again. “I'b out of tissues.”

Janet wasn't sure if it was a rustling of clothes or blankets or if the sound she heard was actually a sigh. But she heard something. And then she heard Sam's voice uttering reassurances softly. A minute later, Sam was back in front of the camera. “Sorry, Janet. Daniel and Jack—”

“I heard. I wish I had something for you guys already. But I'm flying blind from this side of the galaxy.” If it was just a cold, it might almost be worth it to go off-world and expose herself to it in order to take care of the team. But if it turned out to be more serious, incurable, or even deadly, she would regret the move. Besides, she had access to more technology on this end.

Sam was staring at a computer monitor. “It looks like one of the results is in. Wait, no, two. Here.” She turned the monitor and held it up in front of the camera. It took some time to find the right distance so the words were both clear and readable. Janet had them do a screen capture of each of the results so she could study them in more detail. With her long-distance examination of Sam, the tests, and waiting for the results, they were reaching the thirty-eight minute time limit for this wormhole connection.

“Thanks, Sam. You get some rest, too, all right? I'll call in two hours or when I have something for you guys, whichever comes first.”

Sam, coughing, nodded in understanding. “Thank you,” she choked out, just as the transmission timed out.

*             *             *

There was something about watching the team sleep while she worked that energized Janet. She'd been so tired she had nodded off a few times in her lab, but once the transmission was patched through to her—so she wouldn't have to go to the control room every time—just seeing them gave her new life. According to the devices they were all wearing on their wrists now and the monitor she zoomed in on, they definitely were all still asleep, some in light sleep, others in REM. The monitor also told her their heart rates were normal and their temperatures a little elevated but nothing high enough to worry about at the moment.

Janet muted her end of the transmission so her working wouldn't wake them, and carried on with her tests while they slept, a square made up of cots with blankets piled on each one and the pile of supplies in the center of the square. Sometimes she stopped to watch them, the blankets rising and falling with their breaths or snores, sometimes they drew her attention as they rolled over or moved from one position to another in sleep. But mostly she only half kept an eye on them while doing her work. And, for few minutes, it was almost like they were right there in the next room, sleeping in her infirmary.

*             *             *

“Open your mouth for me.”

Teal'c obeyed her, and she looked as closely as the camera would let her at his red, irritated throat.

“Say Ahhhh!”

He tried, but the word came out only as a whisper. This whatever it was virus had stripped Teal'c of his normally deep and flat voice. They had all been worried that this might be an indication that they were all going to lose their voices permanently, but Janet saw no evidence of that. The rest of the evidence seemed to point to Teal'c having a terrible sore throat and awful, strong coughs that further irritated him.

Because Teal'c couldn't talk, Janet tried to communicate with him using only question that needed a yes or no answer. Teal'c didn't seem much in the mood for conversation, but he felt obligated to obey her orders, especially as she was his only hope of feeling better.

“All right. That's good. You can close your mouth again.” Teal'c did, but then he started coughing again. And those coughs did sound awful. They were moist and productive but so strong he was nearly gagging. “Calm down,” she tried to sooth him. “You'll be okay.”

He shook his head no, starting to get even more worked up.

“Yes, you will. I promise. This can't last forever. All signs point to it acting just like the common cold back here on Earth, which doesn't last that long.”

He shook his head again, staring into the camera with tears in his eyes from the strong coughing.

“I know you don't believe that because you can't catch cold here and you've clearly caught this there, but this virus behaves a lot like a cold. It's got to run its course sooner or later. It might take some time, but you'll feel better soon. And, in the meantime, we'll send some Popsicles.”

He hesitated, considering her words carefully then finally nodding yet.

Okay, good. At least there was one thing he could agree to.

“Teal'c?” Daniel stumbled into frame, shivering. “I'b cold.”

Teal'c took the blanket that was around his shoulders and wrapped it around Daniel.

“I thidk I have a fever. Do I have a fever?”

Teal'c felt his forehead, and Daniel leaned into the touch. When Teal'c took his hand away, he shook his head.

“Are you s-suh... huh-KTschhhhhh!

Teal'c pulled a tissue out of a box by his feet and shoved it into Daniel's face. Then he took Daniel by the arm and steered him back out of camera range. Janet heard him sneeze a few more times.

Returning just in time for the cooler of Popsicles that she'd had sent through the gate to him, Teal'c smiled and nodded appreciatively at the camera. “Thank you, Dr. Janet Fraiser,” he whispered so softly she might have missed it if she hadn't seen his mouth move.

She lowered her voice as well, not sure how soft she could go and still be heard. “Did Daniel actually have a fever?”

Teal'c shrugged and shook his head. He picked the thermometer up, miming the act of taking his own temperature, and Janet suddenly found herself in a record-making long distance game of charades. “You took his temperature earlier?” Teal’c pointed off camera. “Jack or Sam took his temperature earlier?” This time, Teal’c nodded and held up both hands, closed them, and opened them both up again. “Twenty? Twenty times?” Again, Teal’c nodded. “And did Daniel ever have a fever?” Teal’c looked straight into the camera and shook his head ‘no.’

Well, thank goodness for that at least. “Thank you, Teal'c. Now go eat and take care of your throat.”

*             *             *

The next time Janet checked in, no one was in the seat in front of the camera. At least, she didn't think there was anyone there at first. But then she saw some movement at the bottom of the screen and panned down. Daniel was there, bent in half, a whole fistful of tissues clutched in his hand. “h'Ktchhh! Hshhhh! HIHShhh! Ihshhh! Heh-K'tchh! Kshhhhh!

He straightened up and gave a start to see her there. She felt awful; they already felt sick and didn't need a shock on top of it. “Sorry. I didn't mean to startle.”

Daniel shook his head. “D'no, I'b sorry. By allergies keeb actig ub. There's sobethig od this bladet that I'b allergic to. Whed we got here, that's what we thought all this was, just by terrible allergies. But thed the others started to sdeeze too add...” He paused to rub his nose a few more times. “Add dow we're all sick. Sniff! Dr. Frasier, I thig I'b ruddig a fever.”

“Did you take your temperature?”

“I thidk it bight be broked.”

Janet sighed to herself. “I'll have a new one sent over with the next shipment in a few minutes.”

“Dext shibedt? Tell be you have dews?”

“I have news, Janet said, proud to finally have something for them. “What you have is not a virus.”

“It's dot?”

“It certainly presents exactly like the common cold virus, but it's bacterial. Which means, in theory, I can develop something to fight it. It might take a few days to find the right course of antibiotics. It might even mean trying to grow some right there. But if we find it, whatever you have could clear up quickly and the team could come home!”

uhhhh-KIHSHHHH!” Daniel blew his nose. “Glad to... to hear... huhhh-Huhhhhh... Huhhhhhh HIHKTChhhh!” He blew his nose again. He looked relieved but too sick to get excited. “What do you deed frob us?”

“Unfortunately, a lot of work. If I were there, I'd be happy to do it, but...”

Daniel shook his head. “If it's goig to bake us feel better, we'll do whatever we cad. We're desberate.”

She might as well call them her assistants at this point. “Are the others up?”

Daniel nodded. “I'll go... go get... theb... uhhh-KIHShhhh!

“Wonderful. I'll send the antibiotic samples over right now and walk you through all of it.”

*             *             *

Walking them through all of this had been painfully difficult at times. They were all brilliant and strong and certainly motivated. But Janet couldn’t help thinking how easier all of this would be if she were there in person—for all of their sakes.

“Now I need you to—”

huhh-uhhhhhhhhhhhh… HUH!

Jack sighed, frustrated. “Sorry. Missed that last part, Doc. Say again?”

“Right. You need to—”

uhh-Huhhhh!

Janet might have been imagining it, but she thought she saw Jack roll his eyes in frustration.

“Daniel, just this once, could you try not to sneeze?”

Everyone turned to look at Daniel, who was wrapped in blankets and had a bunch of tissues clutched in both hands. He shrugged. “Dot godda be hard, Jack. I cad’t huhhhh! Cad’t uhhhhhhh seeb to huhhhh get this uhhh-out.”

Jack turned back to the camera. “Once again, Doc?”

This time she made it through one whole instruction before

huhhhh! Uhhhhh! Huhhh UHHH…

“Daniel!” Jack snapped.

“I’b huhhhhh I’b dot see-uhhh sdee-huhhhh!

“Well, then stop not sneezing also, wouldya?”

Daniel looked confused and worried and, above all, sneezy. He pressed the tissues to his face.

Janet decided it would be best to speed this up. She gave a few more instructions and, mercifully, Daniel didn’t sneeze and Jack didn’t murder one quarter of his team. They successfully completed two tests, and Janet fed the results into her computer here at base to work on the analysis while they moved on to the next test.

Huhh-HIHSHHUHHHHH!

Everyone turned again to Daniel, who sheepishly snuffled into the tissues. “I’ll, ub, go over… there add sdeeze udtil you’re dode.”

“Good idea,” said Jack flatly.

“I’ll go with you,” said Sam. “We can take more images of the samples for Janet.”

“Thanks,” Janet said at the same time Daniel managed a stuffy but grateful “Thadks.”

*             *             *

Janet had never been so glad to see the gate dialing home. This had definitely been a test of patience in addition to many other things. But the feeling of relief when the members of SG-1 came through the wormhole was felt by everyone in command. There was a considerable amount of applause from everyone.

Though Jack was soaking it up, he played it humble. “Hey, all we did was get sick,” he said, shrugging.

Standing at the door, arms crossed over her chest, Janet smiled at them. “Good work testing our quarantine procedures.”

“Bissiod accoblished, huh-CHtshh!” Daniel replied, still snuffling into tissues. “Allergies,” he was quick to explain.

“I know,” Janet laughed. She had studied the bloodwork over and over again, just to make sure before their return. And all their things had to have been screened for bacteria before they could be sent back as well. “Never been so glad to hear you sneeze in person.”