Chapter 7
All thoughts of applying for a transfer were suddenly forgotten the moment that Sam had walked through the door and saw Jack released from his stasis unit, breathing independently.
Life at home was getting easier, Jake was coping as well as he could with the loss of his Dad and at work, Sam had settled into a new routine. Most of her lunch breaks were spent in the medical wing, keeping Jack company. She liked the way his face lit up every time she walked through the door, especially if she brought cake with her from the canteen. As he was predominantly wheelchair bound, he'd been placed on a strict diet which he was already finding tiresome and he was turning out to be a less than agreeable patient.
After several weeks of rehabilitation and physio he was getting stronger. He always put one hundred percent effort into all of his exercises but his lack of progress, particularly gaining the mobility needed for him to walk without the need of any aids, was proving difficult to achieve.
Breaking for lunch at her usual time of 12.30, Sam headed to see Jack after stopping off to pick up a blue-jello and a slice of carrot cake. If it had a vegetable in it, she figured that it must be classed as healthy. She balanced the tray on one arm as she pushed open the medical suite doors.
"Hey, Monica. How's the Colonel today?" Sam asked, as she breezed over to the reception desk.
"Not so great actually."
"Oh." Sam wasn't expecting it and she looked concerned, the last thing she wanted to hear was that he was having problems.
"He's just had a tough physio session. He took it out on the therapist who's refusing to work with him anymore. He has quite the temper, doesn't he?" Monica tutted.
"Ahhhh, yes, he can be a little bit… touchy… sometimes. Particularly with medical things," Sam replied diplomatically. "He's a pussy cat really though… when you get to know him." She found herself blushing for some irrational reason.
The receptionist just smiled a knowing smile before explaining to Sam that he had asked to be wheeled out into the grounds for some air.
For a split second Sam considered leaving him alone, but she knew him better than most people and sometimes the best thing to do was to confront him when he was in one of these moods. He rarely stayed angry for long.
It wasn't difficult to find him. She knew that he would have asked to be wheeled across to the small pond that could be found in the grounds of the facility. It was the nearest thing he would be able to find that bore any resemblance to his favourite place. She could see that he was trying to throw stones into the pond with his weak arm with only a little success. She winced as she watched his fruitless efforts and she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. He was a doer; a go getter and she knew that his physical disabilities must be almost killing him.
"Carter," he greeted her grumpily, as she approached him from behind.
"How did you know it was me?"
"Who else would have bothered to come out here to find me? I don't exactly have that many people rushing to pay me a visit," he answered, glumly.
She nodded and shrugged before trying a new approach. "I come bearing cake!" she said cheerily as she held out the large slice of juicy looking carrot cake.
"Sweet," he replied, unenthusiastically, after looking up first at Sam and then the cake.
Unwilling to admit defeat, she thrust it towards him and gave him very little option other than to take it from her hands.
She settled herself next to his wheelchair on a bench and smiled before plunging her spoon into the dish of blue jello, with enthusiasm.
"So… blue is still your jello of choice," he realised he would have to make some sort of effort. If truth be told, he really didn't want company. He'd hoped that by coming outside she would have left him be, but she was the last person that he wanted to take his frustrations out on. She deserved better than that.
"Oh yeah, it's blue all the way, I'm a creature of habit. You should know that, you've been on enough off-world missions with me to know me better than anyone else." She continued to eat her jello until there were only a few drops left at the bottom of the dish.
She looked across to see a smile curl the corner of his lips.
"What?" she nudged his arm playfully, hoping that his mood was lifting.
"It's just it seems like only yesterday that we were saving the world, travelling through the 'gate together, when really it was a whole damn decade ago." He looked slightly melancholy again, as he let himself dwell. "I just can't get my head around it yet."
"Yeah," she whispered, "I really don't know how I'd handle it if it had happened to me."
They ate the rest of their food in silence and watched as the ducks started squabbling in the middle of the pond.
"Monica told me that you didn't get on too well with your physio today," Sam broached, carefully after a while.
"She's just a snitch," he sulked and threw another stone into the pond, this time with his good arm and it nearly hit one of the unsuspecting ducks which flapped frantically and swam quickly away.
"No… she's actually turned into a good friend and she knows that I'm concerned about how you are," Sam was getting annoyed with him, even though she knew he had good reason to be the way he was.
"Concerned…" he raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, concerned… am I wrong to be concerned?"
"No… it's just that I thought you might have better things to do than bother with me."
"Oh yeah, of course, because this place is just filled with people that I'd rather be hanging around with. They're all bigger nerds than I am, Jack."
He tilted his head up and gave her a half smile.
"Thanks," he whispered.
She stared into his eyes and could see how genuinely heartfelt his sentiments were. Perhaps he didn't realise it, but as far as she was concerned she would always be there for as long as he needed her. They held each other's gaze for a little longer than was necessary and Sam could feel the heat start to rise in her cheeks.
"Soooo… what's the problem with physio?" The moment was becoming too uncomfortably embarrassing, so she decided it was best to resume their conversation, before she did something she might regret.
"The problem with physio is, that the physio is a jerk. I'd even say that he's more of a psychopath than Ba'al was. At least when he tortured me he then had the good manners to put me in his sarcophagus to make me feel all peachy again."
"No pain, no gain," Sam grinned but quickly restored her serious expression when she saw that for once, he wasn't joking around.
"You look in really good shape though, so it must be doing some good." She smiled to herself. He really did look in amazing shape and she should know, she'd checked him out quite thoroughly when he didn't know she was looking.
"Oh, it is, I haven't had abs like this since I was in my thirties but I still can't walk, Carter. What use am I to anyone if I'm stuck in this thing for the rest of my life."
"I'm sorry," she wanted to reach for his hand to give him some comfort, but he seemed so withdrawn. "You have to focus on the positives though."
"Spare me the psychobabble, Carter. I see the shrink tomorrow. I'll probably end up offending him as well." Jack began to fiddle with the bottom of his t-shirt which she noted was already frayed.
"You need to get out of here for the weekend." The idea came to her in such a flash that she didn't actually have time to engage her brain before she blurted it out.
"In case you hadn't noticed…I don't exactly have anywhere to go since my place is in Colorado Springs and I'm stuck here in this God Forsaken place."
Sam felt slightly hurt. She knew that she shouldn't take things personally and that at some point he would want to return to his home. The Air Force had arranged for the upkeep of his house and whilst she was still at the SGC she'd paid more than a few visits to check on things. However, she'd hoped that her being in Nevada would be enough of a reason for him to want to stick around for a while.
"I could ask if they'd let you come back with me for the weekend. I don't see why they wouldn't. We can take your medication with us. I think it'll be good for your convalescence." This was such a bad idea on so many levels but for some reason she just couldn't seem to engage her brain.
"Geez, you make me sound like a ninety-year-old," he huffed.
"Fine," she barked as she stood to leave. "You can stay here and wallow in your own self-pity. Frankly, I've had enough of it."
His mouth almost dropped open at her attitude. He was about to say something sarcastic about insubordination when he remembered that she was no longer his subordinate.
"Cool it, Carter, if the offer's still open… then I accept. Unlike some people, I don't play hard to get. I'll accept your invitation… the first time of asking!" he grinned, knowing full well that the irony wouldn't be lost on her. She'd know he was referring to all the times she'd turned him down when he'd invited her to his cabin to "fish".
"You know, one small push and you'll be getting up close and personal with the fish that I know are in that pond," she nudged his wheelchair gently and he grabbed the arms, a slightly worried expression sweeping across his face.
Giggling, she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Sir. I still have far too much respect for you to do something like that. You'll always be my CO… at least as far as I'm concerned."
Jack cocked his head and raised his eyebrow before waving her away. "Be off with you, I need to sulk out here for at least another half hour, that way, the lovely Monica might just take pity on me and offer to do my bed bath this afternoon."
Sam shook her head as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"I'll speak to Dr Martinez and try and get you released this weekend." Sam gave him one of her brightest smiles before turning and heading back towards the ugly concrete building.
Jack watched as she jogged back. It was true what he'd said to her. He couldn't quite get his head around the fact that the world had moved on without him. Sam was ten years older than she had been, while he remained the same age. It hadn't shocked him as such, she looked the same as she did, she'd aged well, a lot better than he would have, he mused.
In fact, the more he saw her, the more beautiful he thought she was. Of course, he'd loved her for longer than he cared to admit. The one thing he did remember was Sam visiting him at home after he'd stuck his head in the head sucker. He knew she'd wanted to say something profound, perhaps even admit her feelings for him openly but being the emotional cripple that he knew he was, he'd shut her down. He'd done it again when they were on the Goa'uld ship.
He didn't blame her for moving on with her life. In fact, he was glad that she had. She deserved to have a kid. She'd likely do a better job of the whole parenting thing than he ever did.
He began to think about her offer for the weekend. He wasn't about to fool himself. She was just being kind and probably felt sorry for him. How could she possibly want to have anything to do with a cripple like him. But, if she was prepared to give him her friendship then he'd take it, he'd snap it up because, as he'd already once admitted, he would rather die than lose her.
Nothing had changed.
xXx
