Chapter 4

Sam, Daniel and Teal'c continued to take turns staying with Jack.

A week after his surgery, Dr. Swenson ordered an MRI and met with them to give them the test results.

"There is more activity in the area of the brain where the stroke occurred and his vital signs are continuing to be stable so I'm hopeful that General O'Neill will come out of this, but we won't know how much the stroke has affected his speech and memory until he wakes up."

~oOo~

Three days later, Sam had spent the night at Daniel's house while Teal'c stayed with Jack.

While sitting at the table having breakfast, they got a call from Teal'c, telling them that Jack was awake.

They arrived at the hospital and hurried to Jack's room to find Teal'c standing in the hallway.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked.

"The doctor asked me to wait here while he gives O'Neill an examination."

"You were with him when he woke up?" Sam asked.

"Yes. When he opened his eyes, I asked if he could speak but he did not answer so I went for help and Dr. Swenson arrived a few moments later."

They lingered outside Jack's room and Daniel could see that Sam was getting impatient.

Dr. Swenson finally came out the door.

"General O'Neill could comprehend what I said to him but he's having trouble expressing himself and his speech is slurred. He may feel embarrassed that he can't speak clearly. Just so you'll know, sometimes a person's personality changes after they've had a stroke. Some people are more aggressive, some get angry quicker, others get quieter and others get more emotional. He may ask you the same question over and over and he may think that events that actually happened years ago happened just recently. He does have some paralysis on his left side but with physical therapy, I'm hopeful that will improve but to what extent, I'm not sure. Don't let it upset you if he doesn't know you or it may be that he'll recognize you but can't remember your names. I'll check back later."

As Dr. Swenson walked away, Sam opened the door and they went inside.

The head of Jack's bed was raised and he was staring out the window. He turned to face them.

Daniel and Teal'c stood at the foot of the bed and Sam stood beside him. Jack stared first at Teal'c for a few seconds and then at Daniel. His eyes moved to Sam and did not leave her face.

Sam placed her hand on top of his. Jack glanced down at their hands and looked back up at her.

"Do you know who we are?" she asked.

Jack took a long moment to answer. "I . . . think . . . so."

"We're your friends, Jack" Daniel said. "We've all been close friends for many years."

Jack sighed. "I'm . . . tired."

Sam gently smiled. "Maybe it would be best if we let you rest then."

Sam started to let go of Jack's hand but he held on tightly and looked into her eyes. "You . . . keep . . . here."

"Keep here? You want me to stay here?"

Jack nodded.

"Okay."

Daniel thought it might be best to leave them alone for a while. "We'll go and come back later."

As they walked out into the hallway, Daniel grinned. "Jack may not remember us yet but he does remember the woman he loves."

Teal'c smiled. "Indeed."

"Do you need anything?" Sam asked.

Jack glanced at the table beside him. "Wat . . ."

"Water? I'll get you some water."

Jack refused to let go of Sam's hand so she picked up a pitcher of water with her other hand, poured some into a cup and handed it to him.

Jack released her hand long enough to drink the water and handed the cup back to her. As soon as she set it down, he reached for her hand again.

"Do you want more?"

Jack shook his head.

Sam started to let go of his hand but he held on tighter.

"I just want to get a chair. I'm not leaving."

Jack let go of her hand again and as Sam pulled up a chair and sat down beside him, she put her hand back in his.

"Do you know my name?"

Jack looked at her for several seconds. "Sam."

"That's right."

"You're . . . pretty."

Sam smiled. "Thank you."

He continued to stare.

"Do you like to hold my hand?"

Jack nodded.

"I like holding yours too. Do you remember the names of the two men that were just here?"

Jack glanced around the room for a few seconds and looked into her eyes. "Daniel and . . . Teal'c."

Sam squeezed his hand. "That's right."

Jack frowned. "What . . . wrong . . . with me?"

"Did the doctor not tell you?"

"Don't . . . 'member."

"You had a stroke. You had a blood clot in your brain and had surgery. The stroke affected your speech and memory and your left side has some paralysis."

Tears filled Jack's eyes and started down his face. There had been very few times that Sam had seen him cry, but remembered that Dr. Swenson had told them that stroke patients could be more emotional.

Sam stood up and reached for a tissue on the bedside table. Jack took a deep breath as she sat down on the side of the bed and gently wiped his face. "You'll be okay, Jack. You have me and Daniel and Teal'c to help you get through this. I'll be right here with you every step of the way. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

Sam sat back down in the chair as Jack closed his eyes. Putting her elbows on the side of the bed, she rested her chin on their hands and stared at his face as she tried not to cry.

~oOo~

Daniel and Teal'c returned the next morning just as Dr. Swenson was talking with Jack and Sam.

"General, lying in bed all day is not good for you so I want you to start physical therapy. It will make your muscles stronger on your left side and will move your recovery along more quickly."

On Jack's third day of therapy, Sam leaned against the wall in the physical therapy room and watched Susan, Jack's therapist, work with him to do his exercises.

Susan smiled. "You're doing well, Mr. O'Neill."

Jack glanced at Sam and she nodded her head and smiled in encouragement.

"Will you . . . have me doin' . . . cartwheels . . . in a . . . few days?"

Susan smiled. "Well, not in a few days, I'm afraid."

Jack grinned slightly. "That . . . that would be . . . somethin' cause I . . . couldn't do 'em . . . in the . . . first . . . place."

Susan looked at Sam and the women chuckled.

"Good to see that the stroke didn't affect your sense of humor, Jack" Sam mumbled to herself.

After the therapy session was over, Susan helped Jack into his wheelchair and Sam took him back to his room. She helped him into bed and sat down beside him.

"Susan is a good therapist. She really makes you work."

"Sort of . . . like . . ."

Sam waited for Jack to finish his thought.

"Doc . . . Frasier."

Sam grinned. "She looks a little like Janet and she's tough on you like Janet was."

"Sam?"

"Yes?"

"Are you . . . tired?"

"Am I tired of staying here with you?"

Jack nodded.

"No, Jack. I'll be here for as long as you want me to be."

Jack smiled.

~oOo~

Sam had gone to Daniel's house to get some rest while Daniel stayed with Jack.

Late that afternoon, Daniel sat beside Jack's bed, watching an archeology program on the National Geographic channel, when he happened to glance at Jack as he stared into space.

Daniel leaned up from the chair. "Are you all right?"

Jack slowly turned his head. "Who is . . . Charlie?"

Standing up from his chair, Daniel sat down beside Jack on the bed.

"Charlie was your son. He died several years ago."

Jack stared at Daniel. "He was . . . a . . . little boy."

"That's right. He died when he was just a boy."

"My . . . fault."

Daniel shook his head. "No, Jack, it wasn't your fault. It was an accident."

Tears moistened Jack's eyes. "Sara . . . left me."

"Yes, you divorced not long after Charlie died."

Daniel sat back in the chair as Jack put his head against the pillow and slept.

~oOo~

Early the next morning, Sam returned to the hospital and was told by one of the nurses that Daniel had taken Jack outside.

Coming through the doors to the outside courtyard, Sam saw Daniel sitting on a bench and Jack was beside him in a wheelchair.

When Jack saw Sam coming, he smiled.

Daniel grinned at how Jack perked up whenever Sam was around.

"Hey guys."

Daniel moved over on the bench so Sam could sit beside him. "Hi Sam."

"You two enjoying the sunshine?"

"Better . . . than being . . . being . . . inside . . . all . . . the time" Jack answered.

Sam glanced around. "It's a beautiful today. Not a cloud in the sky."

Jack looked up. "I . . . like it."

Sam smiled. "We'll just have to bring you out here more often to enjoy the warm weather."

They sat talking for a while but Daniel and Sam could see that Jack was getting tired so they took him back inside and helped him into bed. A few minutes later, Jack was asleep.

Daniel held out his hand to Sam. "Let's go get some breakfast and we'll come right back."

On their way to the cafeteria they ran into Dr. Swenson and Sam stopped him.

"Is it normal for Jack to sleep so much?"

"Yes. Part of it is the medicine we're giving him. When we take him off of it and as he gets stronger with physical therapy, his sleep patterns should return to normal. It just takes some time."

As they sat at a table in the cafeteria, Daniel took a sip of coffee and set down the cup. "How long are you planning to take off work?"

"I've accumulated quite a lot of time with the Air Force so as long as Jack wants me here I'll be here. I'm not leaving him."

Daniel squeezed Sam's hand. "You really love him, don't you?"

Tears filled her eyes and she found it hard to speak. "I cannot begin to describe the depth of my feelings for Jack."

Daniel smiled. "I'm very certain he feels the same way about you."

~oOo~

Sam sat beside Jack and held his hand as he slept. Her eyes were on the television but she wasn't really paying attention to the program. She yawned as she glanced at her watch. It was getting late.

She stared at their hands, thinking of the numerous times she had wanted to hold Jack's hand as he lay injured in the base infirmary but because of the regulations, it had not been allowed.

Looking at Jack, she couldn't stop the tears that filled her eyes as the memories came. From the moment she had met Jack, she was attracted to him.

The friendship, trust and respect between them had grown stronger the longer they worked together and Jack had become such an integral part of who she was, she could not imagine her life without him. But thinking they could not be together she had gotten engaged to Pete. As the wedding date approached, she realized that Pete was not the man she really loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with so she called it off.

Hoping she could still work things out with Jack, she had gone with him to his cabin but he had made no effort to tell her how he felt about her. Thinking that Jack had given up on them, she thought it was best to leave Colorado so she had given him the letter and moved to Houston. But leaving had solved nothing.

Even though she didn't see Jack any more, she thought about him and missed him every single day and he was the last person on her mind before she went to sleep at night.

She had tried to stop loving him but she could not. Never in her life had she loved another man so deeply and she could not imagine loving anyone else.

She would never have thought that she would be sitting beside Jack under these circumstances as he lay in a hospital bed after having a stroke. It made her heart ache to see him in this condition.

Jack had always been such a vibrant man and a force to be reckoned with. Jack was afraid of no one. Whenever he was angry, he let you know it. She had seen him walk up to airmen, crooked politicians, high ranking government officials and so-called "gods" and without saying a word, Jack would stare into their eyes without blinking until they backed down. There had been a few times when she had experienced that stare when they had a difference of opinion but it was rare. He could be stubborn and impatient but when he allowed you into his life, he would do everything in his power to protect or defend you.

She admired Jack for so many reasons: loyalty to his friends, his perseverance, his intelligence, his integrity, his leadership abilities, service to his country, his sense of humor, and his kind and generous nature.

And then there were his brown eyes, gray hair, dimpled cheeks and beautiful smile. Whether he was in dress blues or a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, there was no other man as handsome and as sexy as Major General Jack O'Neill.

Over the years, she had witnessed numerous women stare at Jack or flirt with him and most of the time he seemed to be totally oblivious of their interest in him.

She had told herself that she must be strong for him and not let him see how upsetting this was for her but she couldn't hold back the tears. She laid her head on the bed and began to cry. She stayed in that position for a few minutes but feeling that Jack might wake up and see that she was upset, she let go of his hand and went into the bathroom. Closing the door and leaning against it, she let the tears come. This had been the most stressful time of her life, knowing that Jack could have died and knew that he still had a long recovery ahead of him. He had occupied her heart for a very long time and knew that was never going to change. According to Daniel and General Hammond, Jack had not stopped loving her either. She was now more determined to help Jack get better and when he did, they were going to get this situation resolved and hopefully put the past behind them.

After several minutes, she wiped the tears away, splashed cold water on her face and composed herself.

She came back in the room and sat back down. Putting her arms on the bed, she laid her head on her arms, linked her fingers with Jack's and tried to sleep.

TBC