Title: The Mis-Adventures of Jack and Sam (Seven Days)
Author: dietcokehic
Email: dietcokechichotmail.com
Category: J/S, Angst, Adventure
Spoilers: Brief Candle, Fire and Water, Solitudes, Divide and Conquer, Window of Opportunity and all those UST moments!
Season: 4th Season
Content: R Graphic situations, Strong language, and Sam TLC
Summary: Jack and Sam go on a simple mission to a nice quiet planet. Naturally it all goes to hell.
Notes: This one is a heart-wrencher. Be warned! Slightly shippy, but not out of character. Feedback appreciated. And a special thanks to Kath- you are doing a fabulous job correcting my many grammatical boo-boos.
Day 2, P3X-677
0600 hour
Jack was dreaming. He knew he was dreaming because SG-1 never gated to planets sporting beautiful, warm beaches. Or rather if they did, Jack ended up aging 50 years in a week or Daniel dying. In fact, wasn't this planet nice and sunny? No, nice planets just didn't seem to work out for them.
But damn if he wasn't hot. Jack's face felt clammy and hot, and his upper chest uncomfortably warm. True, lying next to Sam could indeed raise his core temperature, but nothing like… Carter! Shit! He wasn't hot, she was. Jack's face was nestled against Sam's neck and collarbone, his chest tightly pressed against her back. If Sam had a fever, Jack would have been on the receiving end of all that heat.
Carefully he disentangled himself from Carter and she flopped unceremoniously onto her back with a small moan. Jack felt her forehead; yeah she had a fever all right. Sam's face was flushed and her breathing was slightly labored. Damn. Not good at all. Jack had known it would only be a matter of time, but still he had hoped to hold infection at bay until they were safely back at SGC. Turning his back, he reached over to the flashlight and switched it on. Careful not to shine it directly in her eyes, Jack gave Carter a quick medical once-over. No visible blood -- this was good, but Jack knew he needed to check Carter out more thoroughly. Sighing, he reached over and gently touched her shoulder.
"Sam," Jack whispered.
"Not now dad, wanna sleep more," Sam mumbled turning her head away from Jack. He smiled. And then quickly frowned. 'I am not old enough to be her father!'
"Carter, wake up." O'Neill tried again. Nothing.
"Major Carter, you need to wake up!"
"Colonel?" Sam asked confused, as she forced her eyelids apart. She never remembered the act of opening her eyes to be this difficult before…
"Right here, Major." Jack was relieved she was conscious. He did not want to undress her for a second time without her consent.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked blinking her eyes several times in hopes of getting them to focus.
"You mean besides being trapped in a cave millions of light years from home with an injured teammate?" Jack answered flippantly.
"Right. Besides that." Sam actually hadn't remembered she was injured until the Colonel reminded her. Pain receptors must have been sleeping. Of course now they were awake and she felt like shit.
"I don't feel so hot, sir."
"Actually Carter, that's the problem," Jack sighed. "You do feel hot. Too hot."
"Oh."
Sam replied not quite comprehending the big picture yet.
"Think you can take some Tylenol? Maybe a couple more antibiotics as well?"
Sam actually wasn't too sure she could, but nodded slightly at the Colonel and tried to sit up. A wave of nausea almost knocked her back down.
"Whoa, Carter. Let me help you." Together they got Sam into a slightly inclined position. Each little movement caused Sam considerable distress and she fought back tears of both frustration and pain as Jack rearranged the supply pack behind her. Beads of sweat stung her eyes and it was all she could do not to cry. This really sucked. Sam took a deep breath and was surprised to feel the gentle sway of her breasts at the movement. Whoa. How'd that happen? Where was her sports tank? Sam wrinkled her brow as she tried to remember.
Jack noticed the expression and thought that Sam must be in worse pain than he thought. "Wonder if she needs more morphine?' Although tempted, he really wanted to bring her fever down first. Taking out the handkerchief with the least amount of blood on it, Jack drenched it in cold water and created a cold compress.
Sam sighed and closed her eyes as the cold cloth touched her forehead. Much better.
Leaving the cloth in place, Jack found the Tylenol and shook out 3 tablets along with 2 more antibiotic pills. He then opened up one of the MRE packages and pulled out the small packet marked "applesauce." Jack was pretty certain the pills wouldn't stay down without food and didn't think Carter was up to one of the Air Force's super concentrated food bars. After mixing the applesauce with water, O'Neill grabbed a small tin cup and turned back towards Sam.
"OK Carter, time for some meds." Sam grimaced as Jack took off the cold compress. Her face was still flushed but O'Neill could tell that the cool cloth had at least made her feel better.
"I'll give it back, promise." Jack said as he helped Sam take the first few pills. Drinking out of the canteen had proven to be problematic lying down, so Jack poured some of the water into the cup and handed it to Sam. She was thankful for that. Sam hated having to rely on the Colonel for a simple act like drinking. But this was her CO and he was just doing his job, just like Sam would have done if their positions had been reversed. Sam sighed as she swallowed the last of the pills.
"I know you probably aren't hungry Sam, but I think those pills have a better chance at working if you were to eat something."
Carter shook her head. "Not hungry," she murmured.
"Didn't I just say you weren't hungry?"
"Huh?"
"Ah, for crying out loud! Carter, just eat the damn applesauce." Jack said exasperated. "It'll keep the pills down."
"Yes sir." Sam reached for the applesauce with both hands and struggled to keep both the tears at bay and her eyelids open. She wasn't too sure she'd be able to do this.
Jack noticed, He reached over and gently took the applesauce from her shaking hands. "Let me help you Sam." Jack said softly as he spooned a bit of the applesauce from the bag. Silently he fed her the full 10 oz. This wasn't the time for smart-ass witticisms. Even Jack could see that. He could see how much Carter hated to be dependent on anyone. He wished she would close those fathomless blue eyes of hers; it broke his heart to see her in such pain.
Jack wet the compress again and gently bathed Sam's face. The coolness felt wonderful and Sam could feel herself drifting back to sleep.
"Carter?" Jack said tentatively as he reapplied the compress to her forehead.
Sam struggled to open her eyes and only halfway succeeded. She gave the Colonel a questioning look. Thank God that after 4 years of working together they didn't need to talk every 5 minutes to communicate.
"Carter, I need to see how your injuries are doing." Sam nodded slightly. He paused to consider what he needed to say next. "It might hurt, Sam." Might? Shit, O'Neill- you know this will hurt a lot.
"I can give you some morphine for the pain," Jack offered.
Sam shook her head and closed her eyes. He had his answer and with luck she'd sleep through most of this. One could hope anyhow. First things first; time to wash the hands.
"Carter, I'll be right back, ok?" Not expecting an answer, Jack made sure Sam was still bundled and was about to leave the camp when he got an idea. Jack emptied what remained of his canteen into their lone cooking pan and turned on the sterno to heat it up. He figured the warm water might be needed if any of the bandages were stuck to the skin and besides, he could really use a cup of coffee about now.
Quickly Jack walked to the water and after filling up his canteen in the upper pool, used the anti-bacterial soap to wash his hands. Technically he didn't need water, but he never really felt like the stuff was off him if he couldn't rinse. Eyeing the bloody clothes at the edge of the pool, Jack told himself (again) that he needed to rinse those out ASAP. He hurried back to their camp.
With a sense of déjà vu, Jack carefully unwrapped Carter from the emergency blankets and was actually thankful she had a fever; otherwise she'd be mighty cold. A small voice in O'Neill's mind warned him that he too was at risk of freezing. Jack pushed that voice aside.
Being extra cautious not to lift too far, he raised her (or rather his) t-shirt and sucked in a breath as he took in (for the second time) the damage inflicted upon her. Parts of Sam's torso were flawless; creamy pale skin with just an occasional freckle. Jack wanted to run the back of his hand across the unmarred skin. Not in a sexual way (not at the moment anyhow), but rather to assure himself that Sam was still ok. That she was still whole in the spaces between her heinous injuries. But the addition of several layers of medical bandages quickly steered O'Neill's mind back to the problem at hand.
The lower bandages were still pristinely white but the upper ones were beginning to turn red. His sutures had leaked. Logically Jack knew that that's what stitches did and even the good ones would ooze, but he felt like a failure for not being able to do the job perfectly on Sam. Using the flashlight, Jack reexamined the damage. If anything, it looked much worse, but Jack knew that didn't necessarily mean it was.
Attaching the flashlight to his flack jacket, Jack sat back on his knees and contemplated how he was going to do this. He knew he had to change the dressing, but was trying to figure out the logistics of a bra-less Carter, one over-sized t-shirt, and the need to look at the stitches centimeters away from the aforementioned bra-less Carter. And this time she was (more or less) conscious.
"Twist and wrap," Carter mumbled.
"Carter, did you say something?" Jack asked confused.
"Twist and wrap. T-shirt," she whispered drowsily. Sam might have been fading fast, but she was quite aware of what the Colonel was doing. And why he hadn't actually begun.
He wasn't getting it. "Like halter-top." Sam attempted to move her hands to show him what she meant, but they failed to do what she wanted.
A light-bulb went off in Jack's head. Now he got it. In fact, Sara used to wear t-shirts like that all the time in the summer. Gently stilling Carter's hands, Jack gathered up the loose material in front and twisted it several times so that it pulled somewhat securely across Sam's chest. He then pulled the twist upwards and back under the t-shirt between her breasts. Carefully he tightened the design, making sure the newly formed halter did indeed cover all the parts it needed to cover.
"Sweet!" The Colonel smiled. Quasi-conscious, Sam smiled too. Men!
Now came the hard part. With steady hands Jack untapped the bloody bandages and began to pull them away from Sam's body. Sam jerked involuntarily and let out a small gasp.
"Sorry Sam," Jack murmured. "I'll try and be quick." The top layers came off with ease, but as O'Neill surmised, the bottom layers were held firmly in place by dried blood. Sighing, Jack reached for the tin cup and dipped it into the hot water. He then added a little cold water and tested the temperature. Satisfied, he dipped a section of clean gauze into the water and dabbed the wet cloth over the stuck bandages. Once adequately saturated, Jack tried again to remove the material. It came off, but not without a loud cry by Sam.
"God, Colonel! Do you have to do that?!" She moaned fighting back the tears.
"I'm so sorry Sam!" Jack said with emotion. "I need to clean this. I promise I am working as fast as I can."
"I know, sir." Sam took another shallow breath. "Just be done already, ok?"
"Is it just me, Major, or are you getting Antarctica déjà vu?" Jack wanted to distract Carter as he worked. Much in the same way she did to him when they were trapped all those years ago.
Sam chuckled without humor. "Kinda seems that way, doesn't it, sir?" She muffled another cry as Jack pulled on yet another stitch. The gash was definitely infected and Jack could see angry red lines of infection snaking away from the cut.
"You know Carter, up until this moment I hadn't realized how hard that must have been on you." Quickly he washed the infected areas with warm water.
"What do you mean, sir?" Carter asked clenching her eyes tightly shut and breathing in through her teeth.
"I thought I had the short stick on that mission. I mean I was pretty busted up and it hurt like hell. But there wasn't anything I could really do except lie there and wait for help."
"Which I couldn't give you," Sam said softly blinking back tears.
Shit! That wasn't what he wanted her to focus on.
"No, Carter! You did help. You were the strong one. Hell, I wouldn't have lasted one night without your help." He knew she still felt guilty about not realizing where they were. As if she could have known they had made it back to Earth. Geesh!
"Hang on Carter," Jack said softly. "It will be all right."
Working quickly now, Jack reapplied the cool gel to Carter's inflamed wounds. Sam moaned and tried to twist her body away as Jack's fingers lightly touched her skin.
"Carter, I now understand how fucking hard it is to cause pain to your own teammate, to someone you care about. And I known now that I would give anything to switch places with you right now rather than cause you such pain."
"Please stop." Sam moaned breathing hard as she attempted again to move her body away from Jack's.
"I know this hurts Carter," Jack said trying to hold Sam down while not touching any of her bandages. "But please try and stay still. I really am almost done." He could feel Sam take another deep breath and then release it in one low moan as she slipped into unconsciousness. Thankful for the pain to have been momentarily taken away, Jack moved as quickly as he could to finish the task at hand. He applied the last of the creme and covered the stitches with clean gauze.
"All done Sam," Jack said softly blinking back his own tears.
He pulled down the t-shirt and gently dried Sam's still damp cheeks. Brushing a lock of hair away from her face, Jack realized how very much he cared for this woman and vowed one day, in the near future to tell her so. Sure the zartec contraption had gotten everything out in the open, but knowing that someone cares for you is one thing. Hearing it come out of their mouth (without witnesses) is another thing entirely.
I will get you out of this Sam," Jack whispered to the unconsious woman. "I swear to you, I'll bring you back home."
Jack rebundled Carter in the two blankets and laid her head on his lap as he fixed himself a really bad cup of coffee. Drinking the warm liquid, Jack counted the hours remaining until a rescue team might arrive. He then chastised himself and began to make contingency plans. Help should arrive in the next 12 hours, but just in case, Jack wanted a Plan B.
Tbc. Sniff.