Major Sam angst ahead. You have been warned.
"How is she?" Daniel asked.
"She has been better," O'Neill admitted. "I got her vest and jacket off okay, and managed to take a little look under her t-shirt." Jack paused, considering what to say. "I'm afraid it's pretty bad," he said finally. "The lacerations are deep, and her back is still bleeding in places. Sam is also showing signs of infection." Daniel paled at Jack's words. "We need to clean and dress the worst of it before bringing her home."
"Turghan is a Ha'taaka!" Teal'c said fiercely, eyes flashing in cold fury. He gripped his staff weapon tightly.
"Ha'taaka?" Jack asked, turning towards Daniel.
"An insult," Daniel explained, answering automatically, his mind still processing Jack's words. "Poisoner of minds, slayer of children, that sort of thing."
"That he is, Teal'c," Jack agreed.
"So what now?" Daniel asked, looking at Sam sitting rigidly on the log.
Jack sighed audibly. "We need to create a comfortable space for Carter to lie down. It's the easiest way to remove her shirt and clean the..." Jack paused, as he contemplated his choice of words. "Wounds."
"Can't you just..." Daniel motioned with his hands, "cut it off her while she's standing?" He blushed as he realized that that would leave Sam more or less naked from her waist up.
"In theory, that would work great," Jack replied, his mind clearly not going where Daniel's was. "We could cut it away from her back, and Carter could hold the front of the shirt against her chest." Daniel blinked, but Jack didn't look put out at all. "The thing is, Daniel," Jack continued. "The lashes have left deep marks on Carter's back, and her wearing a pack for several hours have caused at least some of those bleeding...wounds to saturate her shirt." Daniel looked confused.
"Daniel, the blood has caused her shirt to stick to her back like glue. We're going to need to remove it." The phrase 'and it's going to hurt like hell' was implied. Daniel got it.
"By placing Carter on her front," Jack continued, "we can use warm water to loosen the bond between her skin, the t-shirt and the... damage." Jack once again scrubbed a hand across his face. At least that was the idea. He had seen it work before. He had unfortunately experienced it working before, too.
"I will gather what is needed, O'Neill."
"Thanks, Teal'c."
A minute later all three men walked over to where Sam sat waiting. She looked at them guiltily, but before she could open her mouth to apologize, Daniel beat her to it.
"I am so sorry this happened to you, Dr. Carter!"
"Ohforcryingoutloud Daniel," Jack groused. "It's Captain Carter. Rank comes before ... whatever you call the doctor part of the name."
"Academic salutation?" Sam offered, smiling a little at the argument. In spite of the appalling circumstances, Sam was really glad her team was with her. SG-1. They might still be getting to know one another, but Sam already trusted these men with her life. SG-1 seemed different. They were different. An Air Force Colonel, an Astrophysicist (and Air Force Captain, Sam reminded herself), an Archaeologist and a Jaffa. Not exactly your run of the mill team. But they were her team. Her guys. That is if Colonel O'Neill didn't kick her off the team for insubordination or something.
"Daniel," Sam continued, attempting to get the thoughts of possible military punishment out of her head, "Please call me Sam. Or Captain Carter if you're feeling particularly irriated at me."
"Jack," Daniel said, turning towards his friend, "are you feeling particularly irriated at Sam?" Jack barely resisted the urge to hit Daniel with his cap. The fact that he was feeling particularly pissed at Sam was besides the point. He knew she hadn't meant for things to get so out of hand and nothing, nothing she did warranted the treatment she received.
Before Jack could once again explain military relationships, Sam cut in with her apology, "I am truly sorry guys," she began earnestly. "I honestly didn't realize it was that big of a deal... until it suddenly...was." Sam looked down at her fingers. The drugs the Colonel had given her had taken the edge off the pain. The pain was still there, but it was more muted, not quite as sharp. She did feel warm though. Sam wouldn't admit it to the Colonel, but she was getting a little worried about her increasing fever. As the trained medic of the team, she knew infection was often more serious than the original injury.
"I put the team in danger by not letting you know of my condition," Sam insisted, looking all three of her teammates in the eye. "I promise you it won't happen again."
"No, it's my fault Sam," Daniel assured her, kneeling by her side. "I never should have insisted you put on that dress. You're an astrophysicist not an anthropologist!"
"Enough!" Jack ordered. "There's enough blame to go around. " While the three had been talking, Teal'c had unrolled some bedding. He placed the warm water and medical supplies to one side and looked expectantly at O'Neill. "It is ready."
"You ready, Captain?" Jack asked quietly, as he helped her to her feet. Sam grunted softly and then sighed as she looked at the concern on her three teammate's faces. Although she'd never wish her...injuries on anyone, she couldn't help but be a bit grumpy about the fact that this had happened to her. The lone woman on the team. The weakest link.
"I'd like to put in a request for our next planet to contain Amazons, sir. Strong, kick-ass female warriors."
"I am sure they would recognize you as one of their own, CaptainCarter," Teal'c said solemnly.
"I agree with Teal'c," Jack replied with a smile. "You totally kicked ass, Captain." He held Sam's elbows as she gingerly lowered herself to the bedding, resting on her knees. She waved the Colonel's hands away as she awkwardly leaned to one side, bracing all of her weight on her arm and stretching out both her legs as best as she could. She bit her lips hard, as she struggled not to cry out as her back muscles stretched painfully. Sam immediately realized that this was not going to work. Her right arm simply didn't have the strength to lower her weight in a controlled manner. At any moment she was going to drop, hard, against the ground and then all her hard work at being the strong, stoic officer was going to go to hell in a hand basket.
Before Sam could process what to do next, a pair of strong arms caught hold of her shoulders, and another took hold of her legs.
"Let us help, Carter," the Colonel said. "Teal'c?" He looked at the Jaffa holding Sam's legs and together they lowered her in a slow, controlled descent. Sam was now lying perfectly prone, with her arms at her sides and her head angled sharply to her left.
"Here Sam, this might help." Daniel lifted her head and placed a folded fleece jacket under her head.
"Thanks, Daniel." Sam was thankful for the fluffy softness. It gave her something to shove her face into. She would never admit it to her team, but she was a little scared at what was going to happen next. She knew it was going to hurt, she just didn't know how much.
"Ok, Captain," Jack began. "We're going to do this the same way as the jacket removal. I'm going to walk you through what I'm doing the whole time, okay? We're going to try to loosen things up so it doesn't hurt as much, but I'm afraid I don't have any of the Doc's happy juice, so this isn't going to feel very good." Understatement.
"I understand, sir." Sam mumbled into the fleece.
Jack took some time to wash his own hands using first the field soap included in the first aid kit, and then liberal amounts of anti-bacterial gel. He hoped they were clean enough. With Jack on one side of her, and Daniel on the other, Jack poured hot water onto Daniel's unused bandana.
"Carter, I'm going to place this warm cloth on your lower back. Hopefully, it will help loosen any...material stuck to your shirt. It might sting a little." He lightly squeezed some of the excess moisture out the cloth and placed it on the base of Sam's back, applying very gentle pressure. Sam tensed and let out a low strangled sound as she breathed out.
"4," Sam hissed.
"Four?" Daniel asked looking at Jack.
"It's a number on the pain scale," Jack explained. Zero is no pain, and 10 is unimaginable pain. For reference, intense pain is a 6."
"So getting hit by a staff blast...?" Daniel asked, as he remembered the event on their first mission.
"Did you immediately pass out?" Jack asked.
"I'm pretty sure I immediately died, Jack." Daniel closed his eyes briefly at the memory.
"That would be a 10, then" Dying usually topped the pain scale.
"What's a four?" asked Daniel.
"Think bad toothache," Sam mumbled, breathing slowly in and out.
"Let's see how this goes Captain," Jack said removing the warm cloth and gently pulling the bottom of Sam's shirt up a few inches. Sam let out a low grunt. All three men could see the edge of severely discolored and ragged looking skin. Daniel felt sick. He opened his mouth to say something, but Jack looked at him sharply and shook his head. Daniel got the message and stayed silent.
"Ok. I think this is going to work," Jack declared, as he gently set the fabric back down. Sam hissed. "Carter, we're going to do this again, but over a wider area of your back. After that, I'll use scissors to cut away the fabric and then clean up your back, okay?"
"You sure, none of you smuggled out any of those little airplane bottles of booze?" Sam asked, releasing a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. "I could really use some extra strong spirits about now."
"I promise an IV full of happy juice is in your future, Captain," Jack insisted. In a gentler voice, he continued, "You just need to hold on for a few hours." He saw Sam nod slightly against the fleece pillow.
Jack once again moistened the bandana, only this time he placed it across her entire back.
Sam gasped, but then relaxed as the warmth actually made her back feel somewhat better. "I think this helps a bit," Sam said in a muffled voice. It was disconcerting (not to mention embarrassing) looking at her teammates sideways. It was easier to hide her face a little.
"I'm afraid that won't last long, Captain. We need to saturate the skin and shirt, which means..."
"I know, sir." Sam replied. She balled her fists in anticipation. Daniel impulsively reached down and grabbed one of her hands, opening it so he could place his own inside.
"Squeeze as hard as you need Sam," Daniel said, sitting on the grass next to her. Sam gently closed her hand around Daniel's in thanks.
Jack removed the bandana, wet it again and placed it again on Sam's back. Unfortunately, pieces of her shirt seemed to have embedded themselves directly into a particularly nasty laceration. Jack pulled slightly, watching as the skin stretched taunt against the shirt. Sam let out a painful moan, squeezing Daniel's hand hard.
"7!" Sam cried out, trying to pull away. Jack immediately stopped what he was doing, waiting for the pain to subside and her breathing to become more regular. Daniel looked distressed, but Jack was glad to see that he didn't look like he was about to faint or anything.
"We nearly have it, Captain," Jack said softly, as he brushed damp hair out of her fevered face. Her eyes were tightly closed as she struggled to control her emotions. "I'm going to do the whole wet cloth thing two more times, okay? I think it will loosen up the remaining areas." Jack wasn't entirely certain this would work, but he knew they had to remove the shirt and this was hopefully the least painful way.
He placed the warm cloth on her back once and then twice. He didn't apply much pressure either time, and Sam's breathing seemed to be under control again. "Okay Carter, we're going to end this now. But in order to make sure it really works, I'm going to apply a little pressure this time, okay?" Sam nodded and squeezed Daniel's hand.
"On three, Carter," Jack began. "Remember to breathe. I'm not going to press hard, just a little, but it will be more than you've felt so far." Sam shuttered at the thought and inhaled. "One... exhale. Two...inhale. Three...exha..." Jack pressed the wet cloth gently, but firmly into her entire back.
The scream that tore from Sam's throat was heart wrenching. Jack did his best to hold her down without further aggravating her back, while Daniel held her arms. Moments later all struggling ceased as she slipped into unconsciousness.
"And that Daniel," Jack said quietly. "Was a 10." Without the dying part.
A/N - Poor Sam! I just can't help myself. Sorry! I did mention that I really really like a good hurt/comfort story, right? This was the worst of it, folks. From here on out, things get better for Sam.