Another chapter for all you folks out there, just to keep you happy.

Thanks for all your reviews, as always, much appreciated.

THIS OLD MAN.

By LetitiaRichards.

Previously:-

"Meet me up top Doctor. We need to get to the hospital."

"Yes sir," she said slipping into gear, now that she was over the initial shock.

Chapter 3

This old man, he played one,

He played nick-nack with my gun,

With a nick-nack paddy whack...

They arrived at the hospital in good time. Being the early hours of the morning there wasn't a lot of traffic about so they didn't get held up.

Janet hurried through the double doors on her way to the ER to see her colleague, while Hammond headed to the waiting room where he found the sole occupant pacing backwards and forwards.

"Mr. Thomas?" he asked.

Gene stopped pacing, and turned to face a shorter portly man, dressed in the military uniform of a Major General in the USAF.

"General Hammond I presume?" Gene smiled thinly, thrusting out a shaky hand in greeting.

George Hammond shook the offered hand and nodded.

"Have they told you anything new about Colonel O'Neill yet?" Gene asked, desperate for some reassurance.

"Not yet, but then I've only just arrived, but our CMO is making the necessary inquiries. She'll pass on the information the minute she finds out for herself."

"Jack is very lucky to have you as his CO General," Gene said, with a tight smile. He took a seat, staring out at the dark through the window, but seeing only his and George's reflection staring back at him. "It was pure luck that I happened to be up and heard Jack cry out like he had. If I had been asleep," he paused for a moment, continuing with a choked voice, "...he could have lain there all night and bled to death."

Hammond closed his eyes as if in pain. He hated to think about Jack dying there like that. The man had done so much for this world, and to be shot in the back by someone in his own back yard was beyond the General's comprehension. Those nagging questions of 'Why?' and 'Who?' kept coming back to haunt him. Why had Jack been singled out? Who would do such a thing? What had Jack done to deserve this? Was it someone out for revenge? Could it be a simple case of an attempted robbery gone wrong? Or was there something far more sinister going on that Jack had been marked for – perhaps - termination? Maybe it was a little retaliation? Something from his Black Ops days that had come back to bite him in the ass? But then, was he just being a suspicious old cynic? There were just so many possibilities that it made George's head spin.

"Are you okay General Hammond?" Gene asked when the officer looked pale and worn under the harsh lights and his eyes had remained closed for some minutes.

Hammond smiled benevolently and nodded at Gene.

"I'm just worried about Jack is all. Just wondering who could do this to him or why?"

At that moment the door opened and a rumpled looking Sam entered the room, followed by the big Jaffa Teal'c. Daniel entered a few seconds later with the ubiquitous cup of coffee in one hand.

"Sir? Any news?" Sam asked, desperate to know how Jack was.

"Not yet Major," Hammond had replied with a heavy sigh wishing that Janet would hurry up and report back to him.

Gene's eyes had almost bugged out of his head when he heard the General address Sam as Major. They didn't make them like that when he was in service. He wondered what, if any, was the relationship between her and Jack, and if they were together in the normal sense of the word or if they were merely part of a working team. He looked her up and down, thinking that Jack was one lucky SOB to have this attractive, leggy blonde care this much for him, no matter what their connection.

Daniel sighed and sat down on one of the chairs next to Sam, holding her hand as she bit back the threatening tears.

Gene had noticed the moisture glistening in her eyes but didn't know if the General had, or if he realised what the implications meant...or even cared or it mattered.

Hammond suddenly recalled his manners and introduced Gene to Jack's team, telling them that it was Gene who had found Jack and had most probably saved his life.

Of course Jack had spoken highly of his team, but this was the first time Gene had actually met them. He nodded and shook hands with all of them, wincing slightly when Teal'c's grip was stronger than he'd bargained for.

When the door opened once more they had all leapt to their feet, hoping it was Janet with some news, but it was a security guard who addressed the General with a salute.

"Sir? We found this in Colonel O'Neill's yard sir. It has been fired General. The serial number is listed as Colonel O'Neill's personal weapon sir."

He held up a clear plastic bag with Jack's gun clearly showing on the inside.

"Could he have fired it in self defence?" Sam asked. Bewildered at the sight of a silencer sitting on the end of the barrel.

"I don't think so Ma'am," he replied seriously, making Hammond and Sam look up at him.

"No?" Daniel asked, also puzzled. "Why not, if it was in Jack's possession?"

"Colonel O'Neill was found on his decking, having fallen exactly where we believe he was shot. This 9ml pistol was discovered at the other end of the yard sir. It looks as if someone else had possession of the weapon when it was fired sir, Ma'am. There was no other sign of blood anywhere other than on the decking, and Colonel O'Neill was unarmed when he was discovered. And if it was in self defence, then Colonel O'Neill would have no need to use a silencer, sir."

The truth of this statement hit home but didn't make the outcome any easier to deal with.

"Thank you Colonel. Carry on," Hammond ordered, drawing out a deep huff of frustration over the mystery surrounding the shooting.

The Colonel saluted and turned, stepping quickly from the room to return to his duties.

This time the door didn't have chance to close behind him when Janet walked into the room on the heels of the exiting Colonel.

"Janet?" Sam cried as soon as she saw her friend.

Janet smiled which meant that they were reassured Jack would be okay eventually.

"Colonel O'Neill was shot with a 9ml General. It entered his back and lodged in the right scapula. He was extremely lucky sir. It could have killed him if the shot had been just an inch or two further to the left. He's in recovery right now, and once he has come round I'll see him settled into the ICU and then review his condition in 24 hours sir. I will expect him to make a full recovery in a few weeks General."

Sam and Daniel sighed with relief and slumped back heavily into their respective chairs. Hammond blew out a deep sigh and thanked god for preserving Jack's life. Teal'c's persistent scowl lightened considerably and Gene let out a little murmur of thanks, which told of the release from pent up concern.

"Can we see him?" Daniel begged, and Dr. Fraiser nodded.

"Just briefly. He's been asking for you," Janet informed them. It didn't matter who the injured party was where SG-1 was concerned, whoever it was, always on coming round, they asked to see their team-mates; needing reassurance that all was well with their 'family'.

Janet received a quick nod from the General who felt that now Jack was out of danger, it was time to go home and get at least a couple of hours sleep before he returned to the mountain. The doctor led SG-1 out of the room, leaving Gene and the General alone.

"I'd better go," Gene said with a wan smile. "I'm glad Jack's gonna be okay. I won't stay. Just pass on my good wishes for a speedy recovery and tell him I'll look after the house and that I'll see him when he gets home."

"You don't want to go in and see him and tell him yourself?"

"No. It's okay. Jack will understand, I'm sure. It's been nice to meet you General. Goodbye!"

Gene shook hands once more and left the hospital, driving home and falling into bed for a long sleep now he knew Jack was going to be okay.

OoOoOoOoO

The monitor beeped incessantly which was reassuring in itself. The last thing Sam needed was to hear it stop. Not that Jack was in that much danger of dying, but it was a deep seated fear which stalked her every hour, awake or asleep, when Jack was hurt.

He was out of it for now, pulled under by the drugs into a deep healing sleep. Janet had grudgingly agreed that she could stay, in fact she had been most insistent that if she was staying there for a while, then she should be checked up on every hour or so too. If Jack hadn't been injured then she would have been subjected to the regular tests during her overnight stay in the infirmary, but as they could do them here, Janet was happy to go with that arrangement.

The door opened and a nurse entered, smiling broadly at Sam. She watched the nurse check Jack's vitals and then the Major sighed with reluctance and offered her arm out to the nurse ready for her blood pressure to be taken and for her to yield yet another vial of blood. At this rate she wouldn't have much left to run through her veins. The pressure and temperature duly noted in her file, Sam was once more left alone to sit vigil over the love of her life.

Eyelids fluttered, and those long lashes parted to show a sliver of chocolate iris beneath. Sam's face lit up when Jack focused on her.

"Sam?" His voice was paper thin and dry.

"Hi there," she sighed, her smile decidedly wobbly; her eyes filling with unshed tears of relief. She offered him a sip of water from the straw in the glass and he swallowed a couple of mouthfuls gratefully.

Putting the glass back, she took hold of his hand again and gripped it tighter, bringing it to her lips to sweep a soft kiss over his knuckles.

He grinned back sleepily.

"Love you!" he whispered.

"I love you too Jack! Are you in pain?"

He shook his head slightly in denial.

"Nope. Too dopey from the drugs to feel anything I guess," was his sleepy reply. His eyelids were heavy and they slipped closed again, but he forced them upwards, not wanting to fall back into the darkness of oblivion just yet.

"You okay?" he asked, recalling that she should be in the infirmary.

"I'm better now I know you're gonna be okay," she said, smoothing her hand over his cheek, avoiding the deep bruising over his eye from his fall.

He leaned into it and sighed with satisfaction. He loved her hands caressing him.

"Have they found out anything yet? Like, why me?"

"Nothing as yet," she sighed regretfully, looking down at the bedclothes.

"What is it?" he asked, knowing she was hiding something from him.

She sucked in a huge sigh and bit her lip, unsure whether to tell him or not.

"Hey!" he cried, dragging her attention back to him. "Tell me!" he practically ordered.

"They found the weapon that was used to shoot you."

"Yeah? Where?"

"It was at the end of your yard. Jack, it was your personal weapon. Your 9ml. The one you keep at home; the one that Charlie..."

"Crap!" Jack snapped angrily. "How the hell did they get hold of that?"

"I don't know. How did they know it was there?" she asked plaintively, knowing that Jack kept it hidden away out of sight and probably hadn't taken it out to clean it in months if not years.

He swallowed painfully, the shocking thoughts and ramifications rifling though his mind at the memory of his son shooting himself with it and he hadn't missed the irony that it had been used to try and kill him too.

Who could have done such a thing to him? There's no way it could have been Sara; that thought was just plain stupid. She just wouldn't! Would she? Did anyone else know of the gun's history? He couldn't for one minute believe that those who did know would try to murder him; the only safe way to think was that it just happened to be coincidental. But, and here was the cruncher...when was it taken from it's hidden location? How did they achieve taking it without him knowing it was actually missing? He hadn't looked at it for years now. He hadn't needed to, not after having made his peace with the alternate Charlie; that alien lump of crystal which had formed itself into his dead son. He hadn't needed to. And why that gun, when he'd kept his latest 9ml in his bedside drawer and it was still there as far as he knew. It was all a mystery.

"Jack?"

"Huh?" he answered absently, trying to pull his thoughts together.

"Are you okay? You sort of blanked out on me there for a while."

"Sorry. Tired still I guess!" he prevaricated.

"Stop worrying and go back to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up," Sam said, smiling deeply.

Jack nodded, but didn't think he could sleep when there were so many questions were flying round inside his head, but then the nurse came in and with a deep smile at his haggard face, she adjusted the drip and he found himself unable to stay awake.

"Doctor Fraiser's orders Colonel," she answered his unspoken question.

He muttered a few less than dignified words about dictators before his consciousness slipped away once more.

This old man, he played one,

He played nick-nack with my gun...

With a nick-nack paddy whack,

give the dog a bone,

TBC