Summary: Sam's still pregnant, Jack's still recovering, and the Ancients give them both a gift that they aren't soon to forget.
Timeframe: AU. Same timeline as "Milk Run."
Characters/Pairing: Established SJ, Team, Janet
Genre: Angst, Drama, Family, Fluff
Rating:PG
Spilled Milk
Sam smiled at her husband across the kitchen where he was buttering some English muffins. After six long weeks of in and out hospital stays, plus lots of resting, and physiotherapy, Jack was back on his feet. Well, more or less. He needed to keep wearing a brace, and was still using crutches so that he didn't have his full weight on his still-healing leg, but he was doing well. Sam was constantly keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't over do it, which was kind of ironic actually, because even though she was about a month from her due date, Jack was doing the exact same thing to her.
"You want jelly or butter on your muffin today?"
"Jelly." Sam pulled the newspaper toward her. "Oh, can you do half grape-"
"Half raspberry," Jack finished, glancing over at her with a wry grin. He chuckled as she smiled back at him, affectionately. "I remembered."
Shifting around in her seat, Sam gasped softly as the baby began to squirm in her womb. "Ooh!" She rubbed her stomach and whispered, "You settle down, now. Almost time to eat." As she looked up, Jack was heading toward her, moving awkwardly with his one crutch while carrying over a plate of English muffins in his free hand.
Jack rose an eyebrow and set the plate on the table before gently laying his hand on her stomach. "Baby's been movin' around a lot lately, huh?"
"Yeah," Sam said with a sigh, reaching for her half raspberry, half grape English muffin while Jack returned to the counter for his coffee. She grimaced slightly. "At least the baby settles down at night, though. That's a small blessing." They still didn't know the sex of the baby, having both agreed to wait. But now that the due date was getting closer, Sam was starting to get impatient. They'd both had a few girl and boy names in mind, and would hopefully be able to choose once the baby arrived.
Leaning his crutch against the edge of the table, Jack lowered himself to the seat across from Sam with a muted groan, followed by a heavy sigh. He stole the sports section of the paper that Sam wasn't reading, and reached for his own English muffin with butter and grape jelly.
Sam glanced at Jack thoughtfully, taking a bite of her muffin. He was doing surprisingly well, considering he was still unable to get back to work full time, and Sam was pleased that he'd been finding things to keep him busy most days, when he wasn't at therapy. However, his most favorite pastime activity lately, was following her around and making sure she had help around the house at every possibly moment. Sam didn't mind his hovering, though, as long as it kept both him as well as her occupied.
-
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. For a little while, Sam and Jack sat out on the back porch, watching the colorful leaves fall from the trees. Despite the sun shining, and a light breeze blowing, it was starting to get a little cool. Sam scooted closer to Jack on the bench, leaning sideways with her head on his shoulder and her arms around his waist. She was wearing one of his worn old flannel shirts, the soft fabric warm and comfortable around her. Feeling him nuzzle his face into her hair, Sam smiled, humming contently.
"You gettin' cold?" Jack asked her softly, breaking the comfortable quiet around them, and stroking her hair. The sound of leaves blowing across the yard was soothing.
"Hm. A little." Sam turned her face into his shirt and squeezed him a little tighter.
"C'mon." Jack took her hand, helping her to her feet as he used his crutch to lever himself upright. "Let's go inside, then."
She pouted slightly in protest. "But it's so peaceful out here."
He grinned at her affectionately. "I know, but I don't want you catching a chill." Jack's right arm snaked around her waist, and together they hobbled and waddled to the back door, laughing about what a sight they must make.
Inside, they moved over to the couch, both sinking gratefully into the cushions and leaning against one another. Sam sunk down heavily with the weight of the baby she was carrying, while Jack lowered himself more gingerly. She noticed that he favored his right side, being much more careful of his left. She had her suspicions that his ribs were still a little tender sometimes, even after nearly two months. They didn't always bother him, as far as she could tell, but she was aware of the soft, barely-audible groans of pain that escaped when he laid down in bed at night, and she was almost certain the groans weren't entirely caused by the aches in his leg.
Her suspicions were confirmed without a doubt when Jack pulled away from her to sneeze, then immediately clutched at his chest, face twisted with pain. She turned to soothingly rub his back, grimacing sympathetically. "You okay?"
He made a face, breathing shallowly. "That . . . sucked," Jack muttered with a groan.
"You've got an appointment with Janet tomorrow; she'll make sure everything's healing okay." Sam said confidently, half sure that she was saying it more to reassure herself than for her husband's benefit.
Jack frowned, leaning back into the cushions once more and waving a hand dismissively. "I'm fine," he insisted. "It doesn't hurt all the time." He narrowed his eyes pointedly. "And don't you have an appointment with the doc tomorrow, too?"
Sam rolled her eyes at his attempt to shift focus away from himself. "I'm just getting a routine ultrasound." She met his narrow-eyed glare with one of her own. "During your check-up, when Janet asks if you're having pain anywhere besides your leg, you need to tell her," she said with a stern look.
"Hrmph." Still trying to distract Sam from his own health, Jack slung an arm around her and gently pulled her into his right side. He heaved a sigh, and Sam felt him relax, allowing him to think he could have his way for now, as she was lulled into security by his warm embrace.
-
Sam woke up on the couch as a sharp pain ripped through her abdomen. She sat up with a hiss, immediately realizing Jack wasn't there, one hand absently rubbing circles over her bulging baby belly. The pain had passed quickly, but she was left with confusion, and not only because of the odd pain. Where had Jack gone? Visions of a simple note and a phone call from almost two months ago flashed across Sam's mind, and she felt a knot of anxiety forming in her chest. Pushing herself to her feet, one hand supporting her belly, the other at her lower back, Sam got up and waddled out of the living room, softly calling her husband's name. "Jack?" There was a hint of desperation in her voice. It wasn't happening again, she kept telling herself. Not again.
"In here," Jack's voice sounded from the kitchen. He was leaning over the sink, tossing a couple of pills back, and chasing them down with a glass of water.
Tilting her head as she waddled in, she asked, "You okay?"
He flashed her a disarming smile. "Yeah, just a headache."
Her brow twitched, and she grimaced, ambling closer to him and rubbing in circular motions over her stomach. "I think I'm getting the Braxton Hicks contractions again." The thing was, they'd never hurt before. Not like the pain she'd felt minutes ago. It was unsettling, but she didn't want Jack to worry. She'd talk to Janet during her appointment. It could wait.
"You want me to call Janet?"
"No." Sam shook her head. "It's okay; I'll tell her tomorrow."
Nodding, Jack poured out the remainder of his water and left the glass flipped over in the sink. He turned slowly, leaning lazily on his crutch and tilting his head at her. "Hungry?"
"A little," she admitted after a brief pause. Sam felt the baby moving and was put slightly at ease. "Pizza?"
His head tilted. "Homemade?"
Sam shrugged. "I think we've got dough, and there's the sauce I made last week in the freezer."
Jack nodded, grinning. "Sweet." He hobbled a step closer to her, gently turning her and guiding her away from the kitchen. "Go relax, I'll make it."
"You sure?" She reached behind him to rub his back as they moved slowly toward the hall. "I can help."
"Naw, I got it," he insisted, turning his head to plant an affectionate kiss on her cheek. "I don't want anythin' weird to end up on it this time!" Jack called out teasingly as she stepped away.
-
In the morning, Jack and Sam drove to the SGC to see Janet. Sam protested him driving, having been about to call Daniel for a ride in, but Jack insisted that "Doc said it was okay for me to drive a little," because he didn't need his left leg to drive an automatic transmission, and Sam was too pregnant to get behind the wheel.
At the base, Sam sat down on the opposite exam bed while Janet gave Jack his regular check up. She wanted to be there to make sure that he was truthful about how he'd been feeling. It was important to her that Jack got back on his feet and back to the work she knew he loved. Although she didn't want him to push too hard, she was afraid what might happen to him if he couldn't eventually return to field work. It would be like telling her that she could no longer study theoretical physics; unthinkable. He wasn't ready for retirement again; not this time. Jack had so much more to fight for now, and Sam was certain that he wasn't ready to give up any time soon.
Janet was asking Jack about discomfort from his healing injuries. "I know your leg has been giving you trouble, but that's expected at this stage, especially with the extent of damage from the breaks." Jack was nodding, his eyes shifting to the brace on his left leg. "Any shortness of breath, or are you experiencing discomfort anywhere other than your leg? Chest, ribs?"
Sam watched as Jack shifted slightly where he sat on the bed. "Only when I sneeze . . ." he grimaced, and Sam suspected he was recalling the pain from his unfortunate sneezing yesterday.
"And when he lies down, or coughs . . . or laughs," Sam butted in, giving her husband a pointed look when he scowled at her.
"That sounds fairly normal, considering the extent of bruising that accompanied the breaks in his ribs," Janet addressed Sam, though her eyes shifted to Jack. "I'll take some X-rays, though, just to get a look, make sure everything's as it should be." She gestured for Jack to remove his shirt, then frowned at him. "And why is this the first time I've heard of it, Colonel?"
Sam smiled when Jack grinned sheepishly at Janet, shrugging before gingerly tugging the t-shirt over his head. She shifted in her seat as Janet instructed Jack to lie down, and lightly pressed along his chest, close to the scar where the tube had once been weeks ago. She cried out softly with sudden discomfort as a pain tore through her, and looked up with surprise to hear a matching cry from her husband as he abruptly clutched at his head.
Janet shot a look from Jack to Sam. The doctor's brows were furrowed deeply in thought as the two of them both relaxed again, simultaneously, as though nothing had happened. "Are you guys okay?" She sounded understandably confused.
Making a face, Sam said, "I think it's those Braxton Hicks, again."
"Colonel?"
Jack had propped himself up on an elbow, and was lightly rubbing at his head. He shrugged. "I dunno; it felt like someone just rammed a nail in my head." Glancing off into space, as though in thought, he added, "But it's goin' away now." He shrugged again, making a face. "Sympathy pains?"
"I don't think so," Janet said slowly, looking like she didn't buy into that theory. If they were sympathy pains it wouldn't have been his head that was hurting.
Sam rubbed her stomach in slow circles. Something was off. These weren't just Braxton Hicks contractions; the pain was too intense. She wondered if maybe she was going into premature labor, but she didn't want Jack to worry. She'd pull Janet aside after. "You got a sudden headache yesterday, too," Sam pointed out, thinking it odd that she'd found him in the kitchen with a headache just after she'd woken up in pain from her nap, considering what had just occurred.
"So." Jack frowned again, shrugging dismissively when Janet glanced at him with suspicion. "When you've had one too many concussions, you get headaches," he said nonchalantly.
"I'll set up an MRI," Janet told him decisively. When Jack rolled his eyes, she gestured toward his leg. "How are you feeling about therapy? Olivia says you're progressing nicely."
"Yeah, I guess." He waved a finger at her. "Oh. Very sneaky of you to set me up with a civilian physical therapist, by the way, Doc. Jameson can be quite the beast when she wants to be."
Janet smirked. "Olivia is very serious about her job, and you can't bully her around using rank."
Jack's eyebrows shot up, and Sam was suddenly very amused. "Me bully her? It's the other way around, Doc!" he cried indignantly. "I swear."
Laughing, Janet shook her head. "Don't be such a baby, Colonel."
-
After a nurse took Jack away for his MRI and X-rays, Sam followed Janet to a private exam room. She wasn't surprised to see the flash of concern in her friend's eyes when she was settled on the bed.
"Sam," Janet began in a no-nonsense tone. "You already know it isn't Braxton Hicks. Tell me what's going on."
Holding her stomach with two hands, and looking down as if she could see the baby within her womb, Sam grimaced uneasily. "I don't know, Janet. I've been getting these pains the last couple of days. It usually hits me hard and then just goes away, and I'm fine."
"Okay." Nodding slowly with a soft sigh, Janet gestured out of the room. "I'm going to go get the ultrasound machine in here, and we'll take a look, alright?"
Sam said nothing, but her uneasiness escalated once Janet was gone, and she began to fidget. Her greatest fear was that something was terribly wrong with the baby. She didn't know if she could deal with that. If their baby didn't survive, she was afraid Jack wouldn't either. Something in her gut told her that her husband couldn't deal with the loss of another child. Sam didn't know if she could handle the loss of any child. Almost losing Cassandra had just about killed her, and Cassie wasn't even hers.
-
Jack immediately grew suspicious when Dr. Warner came into the room to discuss the results of his MRI, rather than Janet. He slid off the gurney he'd been sitting on, using the crutch to steady himself. "What's the matter, Doc?" The distinct furrow between his brows deepened. "And where's Fraiser?"
"Dr. Fraiser is still with your wife, Colonel. She asked if I could see to you," Warner told him in an irritatingly calm voice that gave away nothing. "I'd like to discuss these MRI results with you, if I could."
Impatiently, Jack waved a hand for the doctor to go on.
"There's some unusual brain activity going on, Colonel."
Jack frowned. Considering his past medical history, that could mean several different things. "Unusual how?"
Warner sighed. "Well, there's a similarity to the scans taken when you'd had the Ancient's knowledge database downloaded into your brain." He paused, allowing Jack to take the information in. "The change happened while you were experiencing another headache during the scan."
"What?" Jack choked, rubbing a hand through his hair. It was beyond his comprehension how that could even be possible. It had been weeks since he'd gone off-world, and even longer since he'd had any issues with alien technology trying to kill him.
"Colonel, please," the older man held out his hands in a calming gesture. "If you'll come with me back to the main infirmary, I'd like to get you hooked up to an EEG machine."
Still stunned by the news he'd just been given, Jack nodded numbly, hobbling out of the room after Dr. Warner.
-
Lying on a gurney, hooked up to an EEG that was recording his brain activity, Jack was becoming increasingly anxious. An intense headache kept coming at him in waves, and It had been almost an hour since he'd seen or heard from Sam. An uneasy feeling swept through him immediately after the last headache spike that was so brutal he nearly threw up. With the urge to find out what was going on with Sam, Jack climbed out of bed, tugging the electrodes from the EEG machine off his head and killing the switch from the annoying sirens. Jack got up, grabbed his crutches, and left the room with surprisingly no trouble. The absence of doctors and nurses was incredibly unnerving.
Not sure which room Sam might be in now, if she was still with Janet, Jack hobbled down the hall on Level 21.
A nurse emerging from one of the operating theaters caught Jack by surprise, the young woman looking incredibly flustered when she saw him. His brows furrows, and he opened his mouth to ask her if she knew where his wife was, when the voices inside the OR got his attention.
"She's losing a lot of blood! I need two units of B-neg!"
"We're going to have to perform an emergency c-section."
Jack's eyes bulged and his breath stuck in his throat. Oh God, he thought, fear turning his nerves to ice. It had to be Sam in there. Who else on base was pregnant?
The nurse that came out of the room seemed to notice that he'd heard what was going on, because she started toward him, hurriedly. "Colonel." She held out her hands in a calming gesture.
"I want to see my wife," Jack said firmly, his voice low and flat. He hobbled forward, and the nurse quickly placed a restraining hand on his chest.
"You can't go in there, sir. I'm sorry."
Ignoring the skull-busting headache that was starting up again, Jack briefly clenched his eyes shut and asked, "What happened?"
"Dr. Fraiser said that your wife has a placental abruption, Colonel. It's a complication with the pregnancy," the nurse began to rattle off, "The placental lining has separated from the uterus, and we need to get the baby out and stop the bleeding, sir."
The woman's glossy, sympathetic eyes were already telling him how dangerous a situation this truly was. Jack felt sick with dread, for both his unborn child and his wife. He was about to make another attempt to get into the room when a searing bolt of agony shot through his head and he began to collapse, just barely holding himself upright with the crutches.
"Colonel O'Neill? Colonel!"
-
Janet's face paled as Dr. Warner carefully extracted the tiny baby from her friend's open womb, taking the frighteningly-silent infant over to another table to revive it. She knew that medically, the chances of survival for both the baby and Sam at this point were small. Sam was still losing quite a bit of blood at an alarming rate, and the baby may have been too underdeveloped to survive for very long. Tears sprung to her eyes as she and her nurses tried to desperately get Sam's bleeding under control.
"Doctor! I'm sorry, I couldn't stop him!"
The frantic voice had Janet turning her attention to the door, and she was alarmed to see one of her nurses chasing after a hobbling Colonel O'Neill, minus his crutches, who had barged into the OR. Janet's eyes widened, and she gasped, horrified that Jack would have to see this. "Jack!"
He continued moving toward his wife, an intensely-focused expression on his face, even as two orderlies charged into the room and attempted to hold him back. "Ego indeo ut facio sebimet!"
Oh God, Janet thought, recognizing the language almost instantly. Dr. Warner had informed her about the unusual brain activity, but she wasn't expecting this. He was speaking ancient again.
The orderlies were still trying to restrain him as he desperately yelled out, "Ego ualeo facio sebimet!"
"Doctor, she's still bleeding. We can't stop it," a nurse told her in a quiet, serious voice.
"Wait!" Janet called to the orderlies pulling the Colonel away. She wasn't entirely sure what was going through her head, or Jack's at that moment, but she had a feeling she needed to let him get to Sam.
As soon as he was released, the Colonel limped over to his wife, bullying his way to her side. His eyes were wide and sort of glazed over as he reached out to place his hands over Sam's open abdomen and closed his eyes, becoming very still.
Janet and the rest of her staff seemed to be struck with morbid fascination as they all watched Sam's abdomen slowly close up before their very eyes, the bleeding rapidly coming to a stop. Color returned to her grey face, and the monitors screeching began to slip into a normal rhythm once more. Jack's hands had appeared to take on a warming glow, and as suddenly as the phenomenon began, it suddenly stopped, and the Colonel went limp, collapsing bonelessly to the floor.
While Dr. Warner hurried over to check the Colonel, Janet quickly took Sam's vitals, amazed to discover everything to be normal. It looked like she was going to be fine. Shooting her gaze across the room, Janet was fairly disheartened to see the tiny infant ensconced in the incubator, alive, but struggling. Whatever miracle Jack had just performed to save his wife, Janet hoped, that if needed, he would be able to do it again to save his child.
-
With all of Sam's stats back to normal, amazingly appearing as though she'd gone through a normal pregnancy and had plentiful time to recover, Janet had her moved into one of the private recovery rooms. She'd thought it best to keep the baby in the same room as well, and Jack was in the bed opposite Sam's. The Colonel's vital signs were all a little low, which was slightly worrying, and he was once more hooked up to an EEG machine, his readings still showing some heightened brain activity.
Daniel and Teal'c, as well as the General, had been informed about their friends' conditions, but Janet wasn't allowing them in just yet. General Hammond accepted the limitations Janet had set, and with a request to be updated when there was more news about his officers, had returned to his duties, expecting some teams that were coming in from off-world. Daniel and Teal'c didn't take the restriction as lightly. Both men were eager to see their friends, and the newest addition to the O'Neill family, suitably worried about them all.
The tapping of hurried feet alerted Janet, and she tucked the chart she was reading under an arm. A nurse was quickly making her way over. "Doctor Fraiser, Major Carter is waking up."
Janet swiftly followed the nurse to her friend's bedside, not wanting Sam to panic when she discovered that she was no longer pregnant.
Sam's eyelids fluttered and slowly opened, her expression groggy and confused. She blinked up at Janet sluggishly, brows knitting together.
"Hey, honey," Janet greeted her friend softly, brushing a hand through Sam's hair, and then resting that hand on her arm. "How are you feeling?"
Her eyes darted around slowly for a moment before she answered. "Good," she said, sounding as confused as she looked. Then her eyes suddenly widened, and Janet guessed that she remembered a little of what happened before they took her into the OR. "My baby . . ."
Janet smiled warmly, willing her eyes not to tear up. "I'm happy to say that you now have a beautiful baby boy."
"A boy," Sam murmured wistfully, her blue eyes filling with tears. When she began to gingerly sit up, looking surprised that there was no pain, Janet quickly put a restraining hand on her friend's shoulder to keep her still. "Where's Jack?"
Sucking in a deep breath, Janet kept her hand on Sam's shoulder. "Honey, I need you to listen to me, okay? Remember when you kept getting those pains, and I told you that you might need an emergency caesarian?"
"Yeah." Sam's voice was slow, tentative.
"I don't know if you remember all this, but you were bleeding badly, and we had to take you into surgery. You passed out, and the baby's vitals were dropping quickly, so we had to get him out fast." Janet felt herself choke up a little at the memory. She'd thought she was going to lose her best friend. "We couldn't stop the bleeding, Sam. You almost died."
Taken aback, Sam murmured, "But . . . I feel fine. I don't-"
"That's because Jack healed you, Sam," Janet blurted out, moving her hand from Sam's shoulder to her arm.
"What?"
"I don't know how, but he . . . he healed you. Dr. Warner did a brain scan, and when Jack got another headache there was an odd spike in brain activity. Warner hooked him up to an EEG, and was getting some pretty unusual readings, the same type of readings as when Jack had the Ancient knowledge downloaded into his brain." Janet forced herself not to look towards Jack's bed, not wanting Sam to know that he was there just yet. "When we were losing you on the table, he came in speaking Ancient and then he put his hands over you and . . . healed you."
"Oh my God," Sam gasped, looking down at herself to realize there was not a mark on her from the surgery. Her baby belly was completely gone, and she was fine. A little tired, but absolutely fine. Suddenly worried, she sat up. "Is Jack okay? Where is he?"
Gesturing across the room, Janet placed a supportive hand on Sam's leg as her friend turned to see her husband lying in the opposite bed. "We took some additional scans when he collapsed after healing you, and although he's still showing some elevated brain activity, it doesn't appear as though his mind is being overloaded as it was before."
Looking alarmed, Sam sucked her lower lip between her teeth. "So . . . he's going to be okay, right? I mean, does this mean the Asgard didn't take all the knowledge out of his brain before?"
"I don't know. But I think he'll be alright, Sam," Janet said quickly. "His system was just overtaxed by the healing. It's weird, but I think he had some kind of connection with you, and sensing that you and the baby were in danger, perhaps some type of dormant Ancient abilities from the device came forth." She sighed, wishing she had more answers. "I just don't know. I spoke to Daniel a little about it, and that's what he thinks. The headaches Jack kept having while you were in pain; it makes a little bit of sense."
Sam put a hand to her forehead and took in a shaky breath, her gaze suddenly finding its way to the corner of the room where their child lay in the incubator. "Our baby," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "It was too early . . . Oh God, is he . . . is he alright?"
Janet squeezed her friend's hand. "His lungs are a little underdeveloped, and his blood pressure is slightly lower than what's normal for a newborn his size," she told Sam honestly, "But Dr. Strickler is keeping a very close eye on him, so you don't need to worry."
"I want to see him." Sam's voice was low and shaky. She started to swing her legs over the side of the bed.
"Okay, just take it slow, alright? I'll take you over to him, but then you need to rest."
Sam nodded in acquiescence, and allowed Janet to lead her over to her newborn son.
-
It was two hours later when Jack finally woke. He was tired, weak, and a little confused, but his stats were slowly coming up, and he was alert, no longer speaking in Ancient. Janet got rid of the EEG and all of the extra wiring when his brainwave activity had nearly returned to normal, though she did promise more testing later.
Jack's bad leg was a little sore from his collapse, and since he was so weak, Janet made him stay put, but had allowed Sam to get up and sit with him for a little while. Since the last thing he remembered was hearing about Sam being in the OR, she told him how he'd healed her.
Now Jack wanted to see the baby, and when Janet left the room, Sam snuck in a wheelchair and took him toward the incubator in the corner.
"He's so tiny," Jack whispered with awe, giving Sam's hand a weak squeeze when she slipped it into his.
Sam felt tears springing to her eyes again. "He'll be okay, Jack. He's strong." She sniffed. "Just like his daddy."
Jack was very quiet as they both stayed there, watching their newborn through the incubator. Suddenly he spoke again, his voice soft and low. "He needs a name."
"Yeah." Sam nodded, still gripping Jack's hand. "We had a good bunch of boys names on our list at home. Why don't you pick." She smiled down at him, but her husband's gaze never strayed from their son.
"Adam," he said after a moment, his voice rough with emotion.
"Adam," Sam repeated. "Adam John. I like that." If they'd had a son, both agreed that he would have Jack's name as his middle name, since Jack refused to actually name the boy after himself. Placing her hand lightly atop Jack's head, she smoothed back his hair and leaned into the wheelchair. "You should get in bed before Janet comes back."
"What about you?" Jack finally craned his neck to look up at her, his eyes weary. He didn't let go of her hand.
Sam began to turn his chair, one-handed, pushing him back to his bed. "I'm fine," she insisted with a loving smile. "You healed me, remember?"
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
His voice was so sincere, the words gripped at Sam's heart. She knew he would do anything for her, and their son now, as well. The thought was as comforting as it was worrying. Janet told Sam how weak he'd been after healing her. She was afraid of losing him. She couldn't lose him.
-
Opening her eyes, Sam rolled onto her side, still amazed at the fact that she had just recently had a c-section, and was feeling no pain. Blinking over at Jack's bed, she was a little alarmed to find that it was empty. Sitting up and looking around the room, she sighed softly with relief when she found him standing in front of Adam's incubator, slowly pulling a hand out of the small porthole in the side that would allow him to touch their son. Sam knew that Janet wouldn't have wanted him to be up and about still, but at least he was using a crutch for support. "Jack?"
He turned carefully, a loving smile on his face as he hobbled towards her, his movements sluggish and awkward, even with the help of his crutch. Something in his dark eyes told her that a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and she watched him approach curiously.
"How's Adam?" She adjusted the pillows at her back so she could sit up more comfortably.
"Good. He's gonna be just fine." Jack's eyes were so confident as he affectionately tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
Sam's brows furrowed at the suspicious confirmation in his voice. "Did Dr. Strickler come by and-" she cut herself off as she watched Jack's face grow worryingly pale all of a sudden. "Jack?"
"Sam." His voice was breathy and labored. Jack swayed on his feet, his left hand losing its white-knuckled grip on his crutch. With his other hand, he weakly reached out to grasp her bed rails. "I don't . . . feel . . . s'good."
"Jack!" Sam shouted with alarm, but Jack was on the floor before her worried shout had fully passed her lips. She frantically hit her call button before scrambling out of bed to kneel at her husband's side. "Somebody help!" she cried, gathering his slumped form against her and holding his head against her chest. Jack's face was ashen, and she could barely hear him draw breath.
When two nurses and a doctor rushed in, Sam was slightly disappointed to see Dr. Warner instead of Janet, but trusted the man enough to allow him to take care of her husband.
"Major, what happened?" Dr. Warner wanted to know.
As he and the nurses moved in to get a look at Jack, Sam reluctantly got out of the way. "I don't know. When I woke up he was over by the baby, and-" she cut herself off, eyes widening with alarm. "Oh God, I think he tried to heal Adam."
Warner waved one of the nurses over to the baby, instructing her to get on the phone and get Dr. Strickler in to examine the infant. He was checking Jack's pulse and respirations, the furrow between his brows was worrying. "Let's get him back on the bed." Warner nodded at the male nurse, and together they hoisted Jack gently onto his bed.
"What is it?" Sam asked anxiously as she noticed Warner say something softly to the nurse that she couldn't hear. Her eyes briefly trailed after the Sergeant as he nodded back at the doctor and quickly left the room.
"His vitals have dropped again," Dr. Warner told her softly, turning when the nurse he'd sent to check the baby hurried over to him.
"Blood pressure and respirations are perfectly normal for a healthy, full-term birth," the nurse said in astonishment.
Dr. Warner's eyebrows rose, and as Dr. Strickler suddenly burst into the room, Warner sent the nurse to take him to the infant and explain.
Sam went to Jack's bedside and took her husband's limp hand, at the same time continuing to glance back at her healthy newborn baby. Adam was going to be fine, but what about Jack? His fingers were disconcertingly cold and clammy. "Doctor?" She felt a surge of relief when Janet flew into the room, quickly asking Warner what was going on, then telling him that she'd take over.
Janet's hand rested on her shoulder. "Sam? Are you okay?"
Nodding quickly, Sam rubbed her thumb in circles on Jack's clammy hand. "Janet, he's cold," she murmured disconcertedly.
Calling for some warm blankets, Janet moved around Jack's bed, picking up the chart to see the additional notes Warner had made. She lightly smoothed back his hair. "He's in shock. We'll get his blood moving and bring his vitals up in no time," she told Sam in a confident, reassuring tone. Janet waved another nurse over. "Amy, could you bring the EEG machine back in here?"
"Yes, ma'am," the nurse nodded swiftly and left.
Sam chewed her lower lip, absently rubbing Jack's hand between both of hers, trying to warm it. "Janet, do you think he still has elevated brain activity?"
"I don't know, Sam," Janet answered her honestly. "Once he's awake I'll take him for a more detailed scan, but for now we can use the EEG."
"He healed Adam," Sam whispered distantly, her gaze fixated on Jack's face, silently urging him to open his eyes. "He was so weak. He . . . He saved me."
Janet squeezed her shoulder. "I know. It'll be okay, Sam."
-
Holding her sleeping baby in her arms after his first breast feeding, Sam couldn't help but marvel at the little miracle. Adam no longer looked so fragile and weak. She still couldn't believe what Jack had done for him. Her heart clenched painfully as she was reminded that Jack was still unconscious. The EEG was gone again, but he had an oxygen mask over his face, IV line in his arm, and a pulse/ox monitor on his index finger. His vitals had slowly been coming up over the last two hours, and Janet had said that his brainwave patterns were normal again. That gave Sam just one tiny modicum of relief, at least.
Hearing a knock at the doorframe, Sam looked over to see Daniel and Teal'c poking their heads into the private room. She couldn't help but smile over at them, softly inviting them in. "Come on in, guys."
"Hey." Daniel smiled warmly, keeping his voice low as he tip-toed over. "Wow, he looks good," he said, gazing admiringly at the infant in her arms.
"Indeed, you and O'Neill have produced fine, strong offspring," Teal'c said lowly with pride and a steady smile. "And you are looking quite well yourself, Samantha."
"Yeah, Sam. We're both really glad you're okay." Daniel wrapped his arms around himself.
"Thanks, guys." Sam looked up at them with a smile. She knew Janet had told them of the recent worrying circumstances that had saved both her life and the baby's as well. "His name's Adam. Adam John."
Teal'c looked up, his steadfast gaze on his warrior brother in the next bed over. "What of O'Neill?"
Sam swallowed, looking down at her sleeping baby once more before shifting her gaze to Jack. "Janet says he's doing better."
"I still can't believe what he did," Daniel mused with astonishment, looking over at Jack now as well. "I mean, I'm wondering if there's still dormant knowledge and abilities from the Ancients trapped inside that brain of his."
Grimacing uncomfortably, Sam said, "Well, considering what it's done to Jack, I hope all that stuff will stay locked up where it is." She felt tears sting her eyes at the thought of the knowledge overwhelming Jack's brain like it nearly had a few years ago.
Daniel put his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean . . . I wouldn't want anything to happen to Jack, I-"
"I know," she quickly reassured her friend with a sigh. It wasn't Daniel's fault, that's just how his mind operated; always thinking about cultures and technologies, eager to keep learning wherever and whenever he could. Sam got up slowly, adjusting the tiny knit hat on her son's head and gingerly returning him to the bassinet, grateful that Adam no longer needed the incubator.
Daniel and Teal'c followed her over to Jack's bedside as she pulled the wheelchair over to sit by him. "Thanks for being here, guys," she told them appreciatively, thankful for their love and support. If Jack had been awake, she knew he would have enjoyed their friend's company as well.
"We're glad to be here, Sam." Daniel's hand touched her shoulder. "For all three of you."
"Indeed."
Sam smiled and slid her hand beneath Jack's blanket to take his hand. At least he felt a little warmer than he had before. Janet had said he wasn't in shock any longer, but she was still worried at how much he'd overtaxed his already weakened body. She just wanted him to wake up so they could share their love for their newborn son together.
-
The low-pitched, muffled groan jerked Sam out of her light doze, and her brows furrowed as she turned on her side, facing her husband's bed. She watched Jack slide a hand up from beneath his blankets to tug at the oxygen mask on his face, then his eyes clenched tighter and both hands flew to his head as he sounded off with another groan.
"Crap!" Jack exclaimed weakly.
"Jack?" Sam sat up and slid out of her bed, swiftly crossing the room. His hands were up, heels pressed to his forehead. She touched his elbow.
"Headache," he groaned, breathing hard and shoving the oxygen mask further out of the way.
Hitting his call button, Sam perched on the edge of the bed, lightly placing her hand atop his head. "How bad?"
Jack's breathing slowed, and his hands slid away from his face. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. "It's fine," he murmured, blinking slowly, his whole body relaxing. "Not so bad anymore."
"Good." Sam leaned down to give him a quick kiss, smoothing back his hair with her free hand. "Hang in there, someone's coming, okay?"
He nodded weakly, looking down at their clasped hands for a moment before his brows furrowed in thought. "Is Adam alright?"
"Yes, Jack. They checked him out. He's fine. You did it. You healed him." She bent down to kiss him again, leaning back when she heard the click of heels, and turning to see Janet enter their room.
"Hey, guys." Janet came over to them, smiling when she saw that Jack was awake. "How are you feeling, Colonel?"
"Okay." Jack cleared his throat, grunting and pushing Janet's hand away when she tried to put the oxygen mask back on his face. He tried to sit up as she checked his vitals, but his shaking arms and weak body made him fall back on the bed with a soft grunt.
Sam squeezed his hand. "Easy," she warned, propping up his pillows and helping him sit up this time.
"Your respirations, heart rate, and blood pressure are still coming up, Colonel," Janet told him. "You'll probably feel a little weak and lightheaded for the next few days until you get your strength back. Whatever you did, healing Sam and the baby, it took a lot out of you."
"I'm fine," he insisted with a labored sigh and a scowl.
"He just said he had a headache, but that it's gotten a little better, now," Sam explained to her friend.
Janet's brows quivered slightly. "I'll give him something for that. It's probably just residual pain from all that extra brain activity."
"I'm fine," Jack muttered again.
Ignoring him, Janet turned to Sam with a warm smile. "Sam, if everything checks out with you and the baby, I don't see why the two of you can't go home tomorrow morning."
"We're not leaving without Jack," Sam insisted, still gripping his hand. She felt him give her fingers a faint squeeze in return.
Janet rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Barring the results of a few more tests, I think it will be alright for Jack to go home, too."
"Sweet." Jack grinned suddenly, his dark eyes lighting up. Sam could tell he was already tired, though.
"I want you to rest now, though." Janet gathered her clipboard and made a few more notes, then got rid of the oxygen that Jack no longer needed or wanted. "First I'll get you something for the headache and have a nurse bring down some food, too, okay?"
Jack lightly patted his stomach. "Good, I'm starved."
Janet smiled at him and left the room. Sam laughed softly, reaching up to teasingly ruffle Jack's hair. Her eyes stung with tears. She was just so unbelievably happy that her family was whole, and soon they would all be going home.
"Sam? What's wrong?" His dark eyes were swirling with concern. Jack lightly tugged at her hand.
"Nothing," she told him quickly, swiping a hand at the moisture in her eyes. She sent him a watery smile. "I'm just glad you're okay, Jack."
A slow grin spread across his face. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. You and Adam."
"Me too." Sam nodded, glancing back at their son's bassinet, wistfully. She didn't know what she'd do if her baby hadn't survived, and couldn't imagine leaving Jack and their baby all alone if she'd been the one who died. She wanted to be there for her son, to watch him grow up, and to be a mom. She wanted to be there for Jack.
-
Jack slowly hobbled up the front walk with his crutches, Teal'c a sturdy support at his side, prepared to catch him if he stumbled. Sam walked ahead of them, baby Adam bundled in her arms as she handed Daniel the key to open the front door.
Sam took the baby into the bedroom, gingerly placing him in the bassinet beside her and Jack's bed. She bent down to lightly kiss his forehead, then turned on the baby monitor and went to the kitchen where Daniel and Teal'c were boiling water for tea, and taking out some cookies. Jack was in the shower since he'd been complaining about being in the same clothes for the last two days. Sam didn't want to leave him alone, worried that he might get dizzy and fall, but Jack had insisted he'd be okay, and she'd reluctantly agreed to go, promising to check up on him in a few minutes if he wasn't done.
-
By the time Jack had finished with his shower, his bad leg was incredibly sore, and all he wanted to do was sit down. Getting in and out of the shower had been painful, because each time, for a moment, he'd had to put his full weight on his injured leg. Too stubborn to ask for help, he was now paying the price for it. Reaching for the crutch he'd propped up near the bathroom door, Jack hobbled into the bedroom in his boxers, making his way to the bed so he could sit down to get dressed and put his leg brace back on.
The soft gurgle from the bassinet near Sam's side of the bed caught Jack's attention, and after fastening the last Velcro strap on his brace, he slowly made his way over. Peering down at the wiggling infant, Jack grinned, reaching for his son to lightly touch the baby's hand with his finger. "Hey there, fella. How you doin'?"
"He's doing just fine, thanks to his daddy." Sam's voice from the doorway had him turning slowly.
Jack smiled at her lovingly as she came toward him.
"How are you feeling?" Sam asked him seriously, an arm winding around his waist.
"I'm okay," he said honestly. "Just a little tired. Leg's sore."
Sam leaned her head on his shoulder, gazing down at their son. "You can hold him, you know."
Jack tilted his head, smiling tentatively. He nodded, then turned to hobble back to the bed. "Just lemme sit down. I don't wanna drop him." He'd been able to hold Adam while they were all in the base infirmary, but Jack had a feeling that this would never get old. He loved the way Adam nestled into his arms, the little noises he made, and just that baby smell. Jack unfortunately hadn't been around much during Charlie's infancy, but had no intention of missing his chance with Adam, now.
"Where's Danny and Teal'c?" Jack asked absently as Sam settled Adam in his awaiting arms.
"In the kitchen, drinking tea." Sam sat on the bed beside him, resting a hand on his lower back.
Jack couldn't stop the grin on his face as he held their son, rocking the infant gently. "He's beautiful, isn't he?" Jack marveled with a content sigh.
Resting her head on his shoulder, and squeezing him around the waist with one arm, Sam nodded. "He's got his daddy's nose."
"And his mommy's eyes." Jack chuckled softly, craning his neck to kiss Sam's forehead. "I love you," he murmured sincerely, lightly stroking baby Adam's arm with the tip of his finger.
"I love you, too. Both of you." Sam reached over his arm to touch their baby's hand.
Jack grinned as Adam made a quiet gurgling noise, and the baby's eyes cracked open briefly before closing again. "Ditto."
-The End-
Note: Jack's Ancient: "Ego indeo ut facio sebimet. Ego ualeo facio sebimet" translates to: "I need to help them. I can help them." Please also note, that I do not know Latin, and used an online translator, so the translation is probably very literal and not entirely (if at all) correct.