Comfort Food
By zeilfanaat
Category: Humor/Drama
Ratings: K/G
Warning: none
Disclaimer: Stargate: SG-1 is not mine. No infringement intended.
Spoilers: None that I remember.
Sequel/Series: Homework Secrets, Family Secrets, A Birthday Colonel. Though you can read this as a stand alone story.
Summary: The language adventures continue. Janet thinks she may have caught the Colonel speaking another language… or was he just asking Ferretti what he'd like to eat?
A/N: Can't believe it's been over five years since I last posted anything in this language series. Some ideas have been on my computer for ages.
Also, I am no doctor, nor will I ever be, so apologies in advance if the medical side of things doesn't make sense, or is complete nonsense. Input always welcome.
Thanks go out to BrianBach5 for looking this over for mistakes. Any remaining mistakes are mine!
Finished: March, 2012
"How is he?"
Janet looked up from the chart she had been studying. She leaned back in her office chair, only now realising how long she had been in that particular position.
"His fever is still on the high side, but it is coming down fortunately. I see no reason at the moment why the Major shouldn't make a full recovery." She hesitated for a moment, and the man standing on the other side of the desk picked up on it.
"But…?" he prompted. Janet sighed. "The Major seems to be experiencing nightmares, but with the doses he is on already, and with the concussion, I do not want to completely knock him out."
She saw understanding dawn in the eyes of her late night visitor. After a few seconds of consideration, he had come to a decision. "I'll sit with him for a while."
Janet nodded her appreciation. "Thank you, Sir. Hopefully the presence of a friend will register even when he is asleep. But Sir, make sure you also get some sleep."
She knew her customers – the spark in his eyes at her last comment only confirmed the necessity of the warning. "I mean it, Sir."
"Doc, really, the Major is a big boy – no need for me to hold his hand all night."
"Then make sure you don't, Sir." A sloppy salute was her answer. She rolled her eyes at the retreating back, and decided with an amused sigh that she would make sure the Colonel actually left the bedside of his injured friend at some point.
It was a few hours later when she was ready to go home. Time to check on her patient… and his visitor. She arrived first at the desk of the night-nurse, who reported that the Major's heartbeat had picked up a few times, indicating approaching nightmares, but that in the last few hours, it had never reached the level of a full-blown nightmare. Instead the Major's heartbeat had slowed down again to more regular levels.
"Actually, Ma'am, you can witness it right now." She pointed at the screen that monitored the Major's vitals. Indeed, the heart rate was rapidly increasing, as if Feretti was tumbling straight into a nightmare. Gradually though, it started to calm down again before it got too far.
"Is the Colonel still there?" Janet asked, despite already knowing the answer. The nurse nodded. "Yes Ma'am."
"Alright. I'll check up on the Major and see if I can't send the Colonel to bed, and then I'll be going home." The nurse smiled. "See you tomorrow then, Doctor Fraiser."
As Janet approached the curtained area in the far corner where her only patient of today was recuperating, she could hear murmurings that she could not quite place. She slowed down as she drew closer, until she recognized the Colonel's voice.
"…I bambini è piaciuto. E tua nonna… ah, tua nonna era una Donna esuberante. Capellini di Giovanni, Ravioli a Modo Mio, Zita Della Casa, Gnocchi Gran Festa, Pappardelle, e Pizza Margherita o Quattro Stagioni." [1]
Immediately a predatory gleam entered the Doctor's eyes. "Gotcha!" she thought triumphantly. She drew back the curtain to find the Colonel casually leaning back in one of those uncomfortable plastic excuses for chairs, right ankle leaning on his left knee, while he switched attention back from his friend's face, to the monitor by the side, to Janet. "Hi Doc."
Janet marvelled at his ability to not look guilty.
"Colonel," she nodded. She stepped closer to the bed, and quickly examined her patient. The fever was still present, but a little lower than before. Good. She made a note on the chart. Once that was done too, she smirked at the Colonel, who had risen from his seat to give her space.
"So… English, Spanish, German, Swedish, something else I didn't quite get, and now Italian too?"
Jack raised an eyebrow in Teal'c fashion. "How do you figure that?" he asked.
Janet smiled victoriously. "When I entered the infirmary, I heard you."
Instead of the expected 'I'm caught'-look, Jack actually started laughing, which unsettled Janet somewhat.
"Doc, Feretti here is Italian. I was just listing some Italian dishes. It's amazing how reassuring a list of Italian food can be to Lou," he explained, mirth dancing in his eyes.
Janet huffed, though a seed of doubt crept in. There had been a few familiar words, which is how she'd identified the language to be Italian. Still, "That was no list of food, Colonel."
"It was, Doc. Didn't you hear me talking about that Pizza Quattro Stagioni? Or Pappardelle? Or Ravioli? I haven't even mentioned Parmigiano Reggiano yet."
Janet stared at the man unbelievingly. Suddenly a croaking voice cut in. "Jack, stop, please, you've made me hungry enough already the first time around, there's no need to repeat it. Definitely not with that way you mangle the words."
"Major, you're awake," Janet stated, snapping back to her professional persona. She quickly subjected him to a couple of checks.
"Yeah… again."
Jack grinned sympathetically at the whining quality of that statement. Regular wake-up calls came with the diagnosis of a concussion, as he was well aware… unfortunately. Checks completed, chart updated, Janet folded her arms. "Now tell me, honestly, Major, was the Colonel really listing food?"
Lou nodded with a suffering groan. "All of my favourites, along with some horrible ones to threaten me with."
Jack grinned. It was the truth. As soon as he'd heard Fraiser's steps approaching, he had quickly switched over from recalling some memories to listing the names of a couple of dishes from the Italian cuisine.
"How do you know all the Italian words for the food though?" Janet asked, suspicious.
"All Lou's fault, Doc," Jack said, holding his hands up in surrender. "He always insists on going to a specific Italian restaurant, where the whole menu card is entirely in Italian."
"Best ristorante in the world…" Feretti said sleepily, already nodding off again.
"Hmm." Janet still didn't buy it entirely, but she didn't want to keep the Major awake any longer than necessary – he was still recuperating after all. "Sleep well, Major."
"Grazie," the Italian officer mumbled. Janet smiled. Perhaps the Colonel was right about Lou Feretti after all; speaking, and probably also hearing, his native tongue did seem to comfort the man.
As for the Colonel though… she shifted her gaze towards him. "I'm letting you off the hook for now, Colonel," she said in a low voice so as not to disturb her patient.
"What hook would that be, Doc?" Jack questioned, doing a Teal'c impression with his eyebrow. Janet's eyes narrowed, trying to determine whether the man was pulling her leg again or whether the explanation he'd given was truly as simple as that.
His gaze was drawn back to rest on his sleeping friend, seeing not only the present but also the past. This wasn't the first time his friend had been injured. Janet followed his line of sight, and her expression softened. "He is getting better, Colonel." She waited a beat, and then added, "Thank you for sitting here with him these past hours. What you did helped, whatever that was." She couldn't resist emphasizing the last part. It had the desired effect of bringing a slight grin back on the man's face.
"However, you need to get some sleep too, Colonel."
Jack agreed. "I know. I'll leave soon."
Accepting this, Janet nodded. "See you tomorrow then, Colonel. Good night."
"Good night, Doc," Jack said, looking back up to meet her gaze. Janet gave him another smile, then left. She had checked the off-world-roster and knew he was scheduled for a mission tomorrow, and he wouldn't endanger his team by denying his body to rest. Still, she told the nurse that if he wasn't out of there in ten minutes, to remind him. For her, it was time to go home to Cassie, who should be asleep by now.
Absentmindedly, the Colonel listened to the Doctor's footsteps fading away as he contemplated his sleeping friend. Jack was relieved Janet had seemingly accepted their explanation on how he knew the Italian names for the dishes. It wasn't easy pulling the wool over the astute Doctor's eyes. The explanation was true enough; they had just left out a few details. Like the fact that the restaurant in question had belonged to Ferretti's grandmother. Or the fact that Ferretti and he went way back, even before signing up for the military. And of course the extent to which he knew the language.
There had been a time, before the Air Force, that Jack had needed a job to help support his family after his father had died and their mother had been sick a lot. He had gone over to the Italian restaurant, hoping to get a job there as dishwasher or something. The proud old Italian woman had taken one long, assessing look at him, then had agreed, on the condition that he learnt the lingo. It being the best-paying job in the neighbourhood that would still allow him to do his homework and take over some of his father's chores, Jack had agreed.
Nonna Ferretti had recognized the anger lurking behind Jack's eyes. Anger at the world, anger at his father, anger at himself. It didn't have to make sense. Nonna Ferretti however had been determined to get Jack through it. Insisting he learnt to speak Italian while in her kitchen, she'd given him something to focus on. Something towards which to channel the frustration.
Her grandson, Louis had taken an instant liking to Jack and regarded him as the cooler older brother. One who didn't mind the kid hanging out with him. It hadn't taken long for Jack's own siblings to also spend time there when their mother needed rest or had been in the hospital. The Ferretti's hadn't minded; on the contrary, they'd simply accepted the youngsters as part of the family.
Jack had found peace in that kitchen, despite the whirlwinds of Italian orders being barked around. And still, to that very day, Lou was not the only one who took comfort in a simple list of Italian cuisine.
Deciding he really needed to get some sleep, Jack gave his friend one last glance. "Buonanotte, Lou."
The End
[1] Translation (from online translators, because I do not speak Italian):
I bambini è piaciuto! – The kids loved it!
Tua nonna era una donna esuberante. – Your grandmother was a feisty woman.
Sorry if this is not correct. Please, if you speak Italian, feel free to correct me.
The dishes belong to/were inspired by the online menu of 'Cibo Ristorante Italiano'. No infringement intended.