A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews and follows, it made our day! Here is the next instalment to our story, enjoy!

Chapter 2 – The awakening

Jack spent the night by his second-in-command's bedside, just in case she'd come to, but she was still unconscious when a new day dawned. Nurses had jotted down Sam's vitals and checked her IVs regularly throughout the night.

Doctor Brightman checked on her patient and took the opportunity to shoo the general out and order him to freshen up and have something to eat; Teal'c standing vigil in his absence. Jack stopped by the mess after his shower to grab a bowl of blue Jell'O for Sam and a donut for himself. He forced himself not to run through the corridors as he was already the involuntary recipient of many a pitiful glance from his men.

It is a truth universally recognised that Jack O'Neill is quite close to his right-hand man, Samantha Carter; rumour has it they are having a possible affair, but neither party ever bothered to confirm or deny the statement. It was the last thing they'd think of, they were better off ignoring it to avoid fuelling the fire. They knew what they meant to each other, and that was enough. Well, up until that day, that is; the young woman's state was causing him great distress at the moment. He shook his head to ward off the gloomy thoughts and made his way towards the infirmary. He entered, and two crystal blue eyes met his coffee brown ones. His heart skipped a beat when he realised she finally opened her eyes while he was away.

"Hail Dorothy!" he smiled, paraphrasing 'The Wizard of Oz'.

"Good morning Sir." Sam's return smile was wobbly.

"So, how's it going?"

"I, erm... alright, I think," she said, lowering her gaze. Jack did not know what was going on in Sam's blonde head, but knowing her as he did, he was sure it was chaos in there. And he was right.

The first thing that came to Sam's mind when she woke up and before opening her eyes was that she had a killer headache; she instinctively knew she was in a hospital as soon as the buzz in the background became audible sounds. She opened her eyes and met the unwavering gaze of a tall black man. He called to someone and a woman in a white lab coat flashed a bright light in her eyes; Sam flinched and tried to turn away, but the doctor did not let her. The woman turned to face another man, probable a nurse as per his uniform, and asked him to fetch the general. A military hospital, Sam thought.

"How are you feeling?"

Sam realised her mouth felt unbearably dry; as did the doctor, evidently, as she spoon-fed her ice chips to soothe her throat. Sam lied back down in her bed and looked at the woman as she answered.

"I have a sore head, otherwise I think I'm okay," she said, wiggling her fingers and toes. Another man, grey-haired, very attractive, and Caucasian this time, just appeared in the infirmary. He had beautiful coffee brown eyes that met her crystal blue ones as she turned her head towards him. After she told him too she was okay, she felt him relax a little; although she found it odd, she kept silent. She noticed a single set of stars on his green BDUs and realised he must be the general, but she was unaware of where this piece of information came from. Did she know military ranks? Maybe she was a military brat, which would explain her presence in a military hospital. She looked at the dark-skinned man, but he wore a plain black t-shirt with no insignia, which made it impossible to determine his rank, should her theory be correct. The lady doctor wore her lab coat over her service blues, her epaulets thus covered as well. The doctor herself, as it were, asked her if she felt up to answering a series of simple questions. Sam nodded her agreement.

"What is today's date? Day of the week?"

"I... I don't know."

"Okay, since you remained unconscious for a few hours, I am not surprised by your being confused. Let's try something easier: what's your name?"

"Dorothy."

Everyone looked at her, faces stunned.

"I am being serious, what is your first name?"

"Is it not Dorothy?" Sam perplexedly asked.

"It's my fault, I made a joke and messed with her head," Jack said, extremely worried again.

Sam felt the tension in the room spike up a notch.

"Who is the president?" asked the doctor.

"The president of what?" questioned Sam.

"The President of the United States."

"I don't know."

Jack cleared his throat to signal the doctor he was getting ready to ask Sam a question himself.

"What is the distance between the Earth and the Sun?"

"149,597,870.7 kilometres or 92,955,807 miles."

"That's enough for today," the doctor said, as she realised Sam's desperate look meant she was on the verge of bursting into tears. "Gentlemen, I'd like to see you outside for a moment please."

Jack did not look like he was going to leave until Teal'c firmly nudged him out. Before going into the corridor, Jack faced Sam one more time.

"I'll be right back."

"Yes... general," Sam answered, unsure as to whether she had to call him Sir or just use his rank.

Jack gave a resigned nod, barely remarkable.

A/N2: Hope y'all liked it! Tune in Friday for the next episode... In the meantime, please-please-pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top read and review? Mwah x