~ 4 ~

Holy crap.

Jack drifted back to consciousness to the sound of rain, an overwhelming sense of motion sickness and a killer headache. His arm hurt too. That was for sure. He forced his eyes to open and found nothing but an orange light dancing and flickering across a sloped, wooden roof. He realised that he was lying in his sleeping bag and stripped of all his clothes except his shorts, which were definitely damp.

Jack turned to his left and brushed his nose on rough canvas. What the hell? He looked down at his body and it seemed that someone had fashioned the tarp they had brought offworld into a hammock, sitting about a foot above the ground. Casting his attention beyond the bed he was in, Jack inspected his surroundings. He was in a dusty, unfurnished wood cabin. There was a stone fireplace along the wall at his feet, as well as a roughly cut door. There were no windows and a long bench on the wall behind him. In the middle of the cabin was a dividing wall with a gap as high as the roof that led into another room. There was a lit fire that warmed the building very well. He could hear the pounding rain on the roof. His clothes were draped over a rope that stretched from the door to the divider.

He tried to roll on his side to see more, but the pressure on his left shoulder shot a sharp pain through his neck and chest.

"AARGH!" Jack cried out. He panted and waited for the pain to subside. In frustration, he grabbed the zip of his sleeping bag and opened it up. Holding his arm in place, Jack carefully rolled out of the hammock.

The floor was covered in mud, but it was drier than outside. That was a plus. He stumbled towards the fire, touching his pants; luckily they were dry and warm. Jack snatched the pants off the line and – with great difficulty – pulled them on. He wasn't so lucky when it came to the shirt. That was still wet across the back.

In the far corner of the room, the view previously hidden by the clothes on the line, sat a trough of water. Jack approached and stuck his hand in. The water was hot. He frowned and splashed the water around.

Images came rushing back to him as the sound hit his ears.

The mountain. Sliding down the side. Hitting his head on the tree. His body being thrown around in the river. Smashing into the rock that busted up his shoulder. Water... lots of water. Carter holding his injured body as-

"Carter?" Jack finally noticed her absence. He looked around, still holding his arm against his body. He checked the other room. There was only a bed-like construction covered in thick brown blankets against the far wall, probably eight by five feet. It looked unused and dirty. There were numerous shelves lining the walls as well. Sam's backpack lay on the ground; the contents pulled out and spread around the room.

Behind him, the door opened. He whirled around faster than his body liked, to see Sam walk through the door. Her clothes were drenched and she held a metal pail to her chest.

"Sir?" She stopped short, looking at his empty hammock. Jack walked back into the room and her worried gaze fell on him.

"Sir, why are you out of bed? You need to rest!" She scowled. Placing the pail next to the fire, she began to walk towards him, probably to drag him back to the hammock. He noticed that she was walking oddly, favouring her left foot, but his attention was taken by the concern in her eyes.

Emotion suddenly flooded Jack and he stepped out to meet her, opening his good arm to her. She did not slow down and walked into his embrace. He held her close and she winced, her body tensing. After a moment, she lifted her own arms and returned the hug. Soon, she was grasping at him as desperately as he was to her.

"God Carter! Don't do that to me!" He squeezed his eyes shut and dipped his head into her wet shoulder. She was cold and her hair stuck to his face.

"Do what, Sir?" She asked quietly.

"Not be here," He replied, though it felt more like a confession. She scoffed into his chest. After what felt like too little time, she pulled away and retreated to the fire. Jack watched her pick up the pail and emptied the contents into the trough.

"I needed to get more water," Sam stood up and turned to him. "You're going to have to take those pants off Sir."

"Excuse me?" Jack asked with the raise on an eyebrow. Clearly not in the mood to banter, Sam stepped up and moved behind him. He watched her and felt her touch his back. A sharp sting caused him to jump. "What the hell?" He snapped.

"I had to resuscitate you at the bank of the river. The rocks cut into your back when I was doing compressions." She emerged from behind him, a hand still on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Sir..." She said sadly, not meeting his eye.

"For what?" Jack asked, though his tone sounded almost angry.

"For this. For letting this happen. You nearly died, Sir. In fact, I think your heart may have stopped when I got you to the edge." Sam was fighting tears, he could tell by the hitch in her voice and the frown that appeared. He turned to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, his fingers curling slightly around her neck.

"I'm never going to be able to repay you for saving my life Sam..." He said honestly. An image flashed through Jack's mind. A voice calling to him. "...You came in after me. You followed me down the mountain and into the river..." He realised.

Sam struggled to reign in her emotions. She shook her head and looked up at him with a renewed confidence.

"It's okay, Sir. You can start repaying me by doing as you're told and getting in the tub. I want to clean those cuts on your back and the heat will help stop your muscles from aching too badly." Her humour was back and Jack smiled in relief.

"You're the Boss," Jack grinned.

"I'll remember that," She turned away with an amused smile whilst he undid his pants. "You can leave your shorts on. I did undress you, so I won't be seeing anything new."

"Yeah, shame I was unconscious for that. Could have been fun." Jack joked, throwing his pants onto her shoulder. Sam snorted and flipped them back onto the makeshift clothesline.

"Shut up and get in the tub, Sir," She smiled and began pushing him towards the trough.

"You're feisty today Carter," Jack observed as he climbed into the metal trough. The water Carter had just put in must have been cold, because the bath was more than warm but no longer uncomfortably hot. Sam was right; the heat did relieve the ache in his muscles.

"Lean forwards," Sam ordered him as she pulled a cloth out of virtually nowhere and dipped it in the water. Jack did as instructed and winced when the hot cloth touched his back.

"How's it looking back there?" He asked over his sore shoulder.

"Not too bad. There are a few lacerations, and some decent bruising in the middle of your back, but I think you'll be fine."

"How did you heat up the water?"

"Left the bucket next to the fire and agitated the water every now and then. Once it was full, I just had to take the warm water out of the tub and keep heating it. But I think I made it too hot. So I left the bucket in the rain to catch some cold water." Sam explained as she pressed the cloth onto one of the deeper cuts and Jack flinched.

"Ah! Careful Carter!" He snapped. Sam stopped and looked him in the eye. "... Sorry. That one hurt." He added sheepishly, realising he should watch his temper.

"It's alright, Sir. You should have seen what I did your arm." She said with a mischievous smile.

"What did you do?" His eyebrows steepled.

"It was dislocated. I had to pop it back into the socket. Be thankful you were unconscious for it. I also had to stitch your forehead up." She draped the cloth on the edge of the tub and tugged on his shoulder to pull him backwards.

"Is that why I have a bruise under my arm?" Jack looked at his ribs under his left arm. Sure enough, there was a nifty bruise.

"My boot," She tilted her head, settling herself next to the tub. "And it's close to sunset Sir. You've been unconscious most of the afternoon."

"Really?" Jack's eyebrows rose. Sam nodded.

"I lost my rifle too; it got snapped clean off. And my radio. I had to drop my pack in the water, but because I had my sleeping bag in a waterproof bag, the pack floated. I found it about half a click downstream." She recalled.

Jack sunk further down into the tub.

"So, no comm.'s. Fantastic. We mustn't have come far from the waterfall though, surely." Jack reasoned. Sam adjusted uncomfortably.

"I walked upstream for half an hour and found a fork in the river. I'm not sure which side we came out of. I have no idea where we are, Sir." She sighed, clearly thinking about their unfortunate situation.

"Even better," Jack groaned.

"It's not like either of us are fit to leave anyway. Teal'c and Daniel will notice us missing and start searching. They'll find us." She tried to assure him. Silence fell on them, only to be interrupted by Sam's loud sneeze.

"Bless you," Jack tapped her shoulder, only to find her clothes still damp and her skin cold to the touch.

"Jesus Carter, you're frozen!" Jack sat up in alarm, "Get over there by the fire." He shooed her to the space between the fireplace and his hanging clothes.

"You should probably get out of those clothes too," He added.

"No, it's fine Sir," She shook her head. When she moved, her eye twitched and Jack didn't miss it.

"Chuck mine on and hang yours up. You can put them back on when they're dry." His eyes narrowed as Sam nodded and rose to her feet. She took his clothes and retreated to the other room.

Now that Jack was looking harder, he noticed that she was definitely limping and he saw her wince when she went to stand up. Sam was ignoring an injury (or hoping he wouldn't notice that she had one). When she came back, she was still limping. He couldn't identify the stirring in his chest at the sight of her in his clothes.

Sam returned to the fire and sat down. Again, Jack didn't miss the signs of pain she was withholding.

"When you get out, we can put that arm in a sling and run some antiseptic over those cuts." Sam said, quickly diverting her attention to the fire when Jack responded with only a scrutinising stare.

"I think I might marinate in here for a little bit... Lemme know when your gear is dry." Jack covered his eyes with his hand and relaxed in the warm water.

"It shouldn't take long," Sam said quietly.

~ SJ ~

Oh the angst! But there is only more to come. *evil grin*