Four days was a long time when you were worrying about someone you loved.  Poor Calla locked up in the lock-down ward under the watchful eye of an unblinking camera twenty-four/seven.  Once a day a nurse called the Jackson home and gave a very concise update on Calla’s condition and that was it.  No one was allowed to visit or call or get a note to her…nothing.

Since four days did seem so long, Daniel Jackson did the only thing he really knew how to do; he went to work and stayed in his office with his nose buried his notes with a bottle of SoCo buried in the bottom drawer.  The SGC daycare workers loved Brigid and they should, the little baby spent more time with them than she did with her father or siblings.  He couldn’t take care of a baby right now there were too many other things to do like deciphering the ancient histories of countless unknown worlds!  Really, one small baby and one small woman were nothing in comparison to that. (Were they?)  In the meantime, Doctor Willie was on the case so Daniel assured himself that everything would be just fine.

Eventually.

Some day.

In the future.

It would be great.

Some day.

Tomorrow Daniel was supposed to be allowed to visit her for a few moments and there was a Team Assessment Meeting for him to attend so that he would have a say in her treatment and a better understanding of why they were doing some of the things they were doing.  His visit with her would last twenty minutes tops, Willie said over the phone last night, but also stressed how important those twenty minutes were.  Calla had not been let out of the padded room but for a few minutes a day to use the bathroom and she was never allowed out of the restraints.  They couldn’t medicate her because of her pregnancy and so the poor woman was left to suffer without the aid of chemicals to ease her body and mind. She wasn’t sleeping. Her appetite sucked….Daniel could have told him that much, her appetite always sucked.  Willie had another suggestion, he thought it important that Daniel and David and Nicholas participate in either group or individual therapy sessions.  Calla kept muttering Nicholas’ name and saying that Daniel would be angry; what was that about? Willie asked.  Daniel said he didn’t know for sure and left out the fact hat he had a good idea what the problem was.  Then he reconsidered and said, as calmly as he could, that there was a space of time that Calla couldn’t remember and then he suggested perhaps whatever happened then had some bearing on what was happening now.  Instantly he regretted it, although he didn’t want to admit it Daniel knew from the look in Nick’s eye what his son had done, if she were ever to remember---

IF it happened at all which he was sure it hadn’t but IF it had and IF she remembered it Calla would never get out of that room. She’d never come back to him. Time and again he reminded himself that it was nothing more than speculation. He could be wrong.  Hell he had to be wrong!!  He chastised himself for even thinking such a horrible nasty thought. Nick loved his Mother, he really did, he’d do anything to protect her. Certainly he could never…  No.

IF he had…just IF….then…why? What would drive him to such a beastly violent act?

Well, if nothing else, Willie suggested that Daniel and David would certainly benefit from one or two sessions with each other given the circumstances they were asked to live under and the condition of their own relationship.

Daniel said he’d think about it and made an appointment to come and see his Wife  for a few minutes around 3 in the afternoon.  Willie asked if he couldn’t come a bit earlier as they wanted to have the Team Assessment Meeting around 1 or 2, would that be all right with Daniel?

Much to Willie’s surprise  Daniel said he had other things to do and hung up.

As if by magick, as the phone hit the cradle the desk drawer opened and two shots of SoCo went down his throat.  Being the Head Honcho had its privileges like his own private office with locking door and staff to pick up his slack of which there had been plenty over the last seven or eight months ever since Andrew Fucking Hartley made his appearance in their lives.  Calla caused too many problems and she took up far too much of his time. The pile of work in front of him said that much.

Of course if he’d been in a bit better shape he would have known that was the booze and anger talking. But he wasn’t so he didn’t.

**

Nicholas didn’t want to wait to see his Mother. Without telling anyone he skipped all of his classes and drove the two and half hours to Golden Hills and the Norwich Psychiatric Clinic.  He didn’t make an appointment first.  Pulling into the parking lot of the sprawling red brick building the hot rod came to a stop and he jumped out.  It was a beautiful day for a change. Though winter’s chill was still in the air the sun was not only shining but it was close to being warm.  Tufts of grass poked up through melting piles of snow and the roads were slick and shiny with a thin layer of melting ice.   Soon it would be spring and that was Mom’s favorite time of year.  Stepping out of the candy-apple red Mustang Nick strode up to the building and then inside.  He didn’t bring any flowers or anything like that, Mom couldn’t have anything like that at least that was what he’d been told.  Of course, that didn’t mean he came empty handed either.

The sign which greeted him told him to check his outerwear and all personal items with the receptionist.  The smell which greeted him was the nastily familiar scent of a hospital; disinfectant over urine and bodily fluids.  You never could get rid of that underlying stench of human decay, nope, not ever. Nervously he went over to the young woman behind the big gray desk and asked to see Calla Jackson only to be told his name was not on the list and he did not appear to have an appointment.  “All visits must be cleared through Dr. Willie,” she told him, “especially at this early stage in your mother’s recovery.”

Your Mother’s Recovery

It just echoed throughout the room as it wormed its way into his head.  “Please I drove a long way to get here. Can’t we call him and ask him if it’s all right?”

Dr. Willie, the helpful jolly black Santa Claus, was in the clinic today and already making his rounds.  Two orderlies lead the big boy to Willie’s office where they told him to wait and he did.  Nick tried to sit in one chair and then the other but his long legs kept bouncing around it seemed they just couldn’t sit still so he got up and walked around the nice sized office with its photographs of the Willie Clan, books by Freud and Jung, several awards hung on the walls.  Shrinks.  Willie’s plants were dying, that was the thing that bothered Nick most. The good doc had two ferns and an ivy plant they were all turning brown and going belly up.  What kind of nurturer could this guy be if he couldn’t even keep three plants alive?

About forty-five minutes later the doctor finally came in. “Nicholas, its good to finally meet you.” The small round man said holding out his hand and Nick shook it.  “I understand that you want to see your Mother.”

“I didn’t know I was s’posed ta clear it with you first.  Sorry about that.” Nicholas said quickly.  “I just wanna see her for a few minutes. She ok? How’s she doin’?”

“Sit down,” Willie invited as he took his a seat at his desk.  Willie’s desk was on the slant so that when you sat in the chair he was not behind the desk but rather he was at it on the side in a perfectly comfortable position.  In this way there was nothing between patient and therapist. It was a cheap trick but it worked in getting people to feel more at ease with him in a short period of time.  First things first, “Your Mother is doing as well as can be hoped for, she’s getting the finest care possible, I assure you.”

No, if she were home she’d get the finest care possible, Nicholas thought but did not say.  “Please, I just want to see her.”

“Why is it so important that you see her today, Nicholas?”

What a stupid fucking question! This guy was supposed to help people with their problems? Jesus H. Christ, the guy couldn’t get his head around this simple concept. “She’s my Mom.” Was all he said when the look on Willie’s face said that was an unsatisfactory answer in disbelief and growing frustration he added, “I love her, I want to make sure she’s all right and let her know I’m here.”

Dr. Willie nodded his graying head and made a little agreeable grunting sound. Another cheap but effective tool which bought a few seconds thinking time.  “I have to ask you something, Nicholas. Your Father tells me that there is a period of time your Mother can’t remember. Are you aware of this?”

Nick licked his lips as his throat went dry.  “Yeah.”

“Do you know what happened during that time period?”  Willie waited for an answer when he didn’t get one he prodded Nicholas. “It might be helpful to your Mother’s recovery.”

There it was again; Your Mother’s Recovery.

“I don’t see how.” He croaked. “Are you gonna let me see her or not?”

“No, I’m not.” Willie said directly. “I can’t let you in there if seeing you will upset her, I’m her doctor as such I am charged with watching out for her health and helping her recover.”

“You think that’s not what I want?”  Nicholas charged.

“I didn’t say that.” Dr. Willie reminded him. “If what you know will help your Mother then perhaps you should tell me what it is.  You do want to help your Mother, don’t you Nicholas? That is why you’re here, isn’t it?”

Yeah sure….ok, so well….maybe it wasn’t all of it….maybe he wanted to know how much she remembered.  “What do you know, doc?”

“That you have a very colorful family history.” Willie replied without missing a beat and even managing a grin.  “Oedipus came way before you, Nicholas.”  Nick let out a chuckle and a grin of his own. “Relative of yours?”

“I don’t think so.”  Nick said and leaned forward. “Look, if I tell you this, you can’t tell anyone else, right?”

“Like your Father?”

“And the cops, but, never mind, it was in Greece, Colorado cops can’t arrest me for something that happened on the other side of the world…can they?”  Nicholas had been dying to tell someone, anyone, the details of what happened on the island. Not because he was sick and twisted and wanted to share but because it was killing him and he had to get it out. The only way to do that was to tell someone else.  There were dire consequences for this release. Up until now he’d been weighing those options and those consequences carefully by trying to decide who he would go to if things fell in that direction. Annie? No way. Cole? She’d rake him over the coals and back again—well it wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it—he’d have to look at her forever and that was no good.  It was hard enough just thinking about Mom (which he never stopped doing no matter how much he tried) never mind coming into contact with something she’d touched or, gods forbid, a picture of her. He couldn’t look at those and the more he tried the more he wanted to cry.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning, Nicholas.” Willie eased back in his very comfortable chair.  “We’ve got time don’t worry.”

The beginning was too far back so he thought he’d start in the middle. “You know Mom was poisoned, right?  And that Dad and Uncle David….” His voice trailed off and he rolled his hand in the air to signify the rest of the sentence.

“Sex.” Willie said bluntly. “They had sex, all three of them had sex.”  Nicholas flinched each time he said ‘sex’ and reddened.  Willie made a mental note.

“Yeah, that, ok so…………..”

“So how did it make you feel?”

“Pissed off, ok?”

“Why would you be angry over it, Nicholas? From what I understand your Mother consented, no one was harmed, in fact it seems to be the antidote for Xerinium poisonings…for her anyway.  I heard what happened on the Island, I see she healed you nicely.”

Yeah, she did. Of course she did.  When she healed his throat she took the poison out of him and immediately he felt better; more like himself and less like some horrible troll he didn’t recognize.  That meant the level of poison in her system doubled instantly.  In the end they were drinking the same amount of health shakes—ironic, hey?—per day but because he was four times her size it took longer for the poison to effect him beyond the first level. He would have had to drink three or four of those things a day for the amount to become lethal, Hades it had well planned.  There was just enough per serving to very slowly kill Calla and Ares was always the most convenient Fall Guy, so why not? Everyone would look to him for blame. Hades and his Grandmother didn’t necessarily plan on Nick drinking the same crap before he went to work out every day it was just an added little bonus.

“I don’t know why I was angry.” Nicholas muttered holding his long fingers over his mouth. “I just was.”

“Because you wanted her? Calla.” Willie led.

“My Mother,” he chimed tossing his raven locks around.  “I’ve tried to explain this to my Father I’ve tried to explain it to myself…”

“And?”

“And I get no where.” He complained.  “Ya know, all the guys, ya know, their moms are, well, they’re moms.  Older, fatter, squatter, ya know….”

“Moms.” Willie agreed easily.  “But not your Mom.”

“You seen her; she’s beautiful. All the guys…all my friends… want a shot at her. They used to talk about her when they thought I wasn’t around. Caught ‘em once or twice.”

“How did that make you feel? What did you do when you caught them?”

“Pissed,” Nick reiterated as though the man he was talking to was a real dunce. “One time I came real close to beating on one of ‘em.”

“What stopped you?”

“She wouldn’t like that.”  Nicholas sat back in the chair. “What’s this got to do with anything anyway? I want to see my Mom.”

“In a while perhaps. First, why don’t you take me back to the night when your Mother and your Father and your Uncle David shared a bed.  What happened that night?”

End Chapter One Of Session 9
By Moon Mistress
Continue to
Chapter Two