Side Effects

Rating: G


Answering sef1029's request for "Teal'c coping with his first bad cold that isn't immediately cured by tretonin."



In Janet's experience, most SG team members—the serious ones, the ones who go offworld and spend days out of touch and are all, frankly, just a little bit crazy—deal with visiting the doctor in one of two ways.

Some of them come in loaded for bear, listing every last symptom that could possibly be of interest. This would be annoying, except that every now and then it turns out to be vital, and so Janet puts on her best listening face and investigates every last report of tingly toes and watery eyes. After all, it was Dr. Bowhay's complaint about tingly toes that let her head off the fungus problem before the spores matured and SG-9 was left with fruiting bodies instead of ankles.

Most of the rest are fine. No really, they're fine. Yes, okay, they're bleeding from their eyes just a little, but they're sure it'll clear up, can't you see how tough and self-sufficient they are? Which is fine with Janet; she knows who's in charge once they hit her infirmary, so it's not as if they'll be able to do themselves much damage with the macho.

She knows her patients pretty damn well by this point, and she knows which category they fall into, and that's why she's so surprised when Teal'c shows up at the door, looking… nervous. Well, no, nervous is too strong—Janet's fairly certain she's never actually seen Teal'c looking nervous. Unsure, maybe. That she can recognize on his face.

"Teal'c? Do you need something?"

"Doctor Fraiser," he says, as seriously as ever. "I believe that I am ill."

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Teal'c's been on the tretonin nearly a month, and everything's been fine, not a misstep, she sent Bra'tac home after a week it was all going so well…

"I have…" Teal'c clears his throat, and come to think of it he is sounding a little hoarse. "…what I am told is referred to as 'post-nasal drip.'"

Oh.

"It is unpleasant," he continues, "and it is interfering with my attempts to sleep."

He doesn't say anything else, and Janet feels a sudden stab of sympathy for him; has he ever been sick before, outside of near-death experiences? Not since he was a child, probably. Not that he should be feeling sick now—she'll up the tretonin a bit, no reason not to considering his immunicological issues—but a shot of Nyquil would probably be a good idea. He has enough trouble sleeping as it is.

The importance of taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the expression on Teal'c's face when he first encounters the taste of Nyquil is completely secondary. Really
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