The waiting began. Cam dropped into a chair, leaving the couch for Danny and Marissa. Those two curled into each other's arms and drew comfort from their relationship. Cam wished he had that. Of course, the woman he'd want at his side was lying on an operating table as doctors frantically tried to save her life.

People began arriving. First, the Hispanic bass player from Deanna's band appeared. He glanced curiously at Cam but didn't speak. Lorne ran his hands through his hair and moved to greet the guy. A little while after that, the lead singer entered the waiting room. She introduced herself as Leah and asked how he was holding up. Cam appreciated her acceptance of his noncommittal answer.

Andrew Baker appeared last with his wife in tow. He still wore his uniform, having come directly from work. Lorne noticed his rank and stood in respect.

Cam stood and walked over to the door. "Bach."

"Shaft." The two men shook hands. "How is she?"

Cam shrugged. Then, he turned to Lorne. "This is Major Evan Lorne. He's Deanna's cousin. Major, meet Lt. Colonel Andrew Baker, a friend of mine from flight school."

Baker glanced at his uniform and took off his jacket. "At ease, Major. Right now, we're all equal."

"Yes, Sir." Lorne settled back into his chair. "With all due respect, I wasn't aware that my cousin knew so many high-ranking officers in the Air Force."

A snort came from the couch, and Danny sat forward. "You forgot that your uncle was a retired general?"

Baker turned back to Cam. "A general's daughter and a major's cousin." He shook his head. "You're a brave man."

"For the record," Cam said as several other people slipped into the room, "I wasn't aware that her father was a general or that her cousin worked in conjunction with my own outfit until after we started dating."

"All that classified work you do make you forget how to ask questions?" Baker asked. He grinned when both Cam and Lorne eyed the people in the room. "Relax, you two. I'm teasing Cam and trying to lighten the atmosphere."

This time, Cam straightened. "Yes, Sir."

Baker glared. "Keep acting like that, and I'll tell everyone how you got your call sign."

"Go ahead, Bach." Cam grinned, knowing he had Baker at a disadvantage. "I still know how you got yours and exactly how interesting things became after that."

Baker sank back in his chair. "I surrender."

Amber leaned against him, and silence again reigned in the room. Cam sighed, knowing that enough time had not passed for the doctor to come update them. Still, he wished for a report of some kind. This not knowing would kill him.

His grandma would advocate praying. Cam glanced at the Gideon's Bible on the side table and briefly considered picking it up. It would give him something to do.

"You know, He'll hear you." Leah saw the direction of his gaze and leaned close to whisper to him.

Cam thought about the Goa'uld, the Ori, and all the other things he'd seen over the years. "I stopped prayin' a long time ago." He hoped she wouldn't push the issue.

Leah accepted his answer with a nod and left him alone. Over the course of the evening, people wandered in and out. Cam learned that Deanna and the bass player, Tony, had gone on a few dates a couple years ago. While Tony still cared for Deanna, he happily welcomed Cam to the family. Leah had a six-month-old son and had left her with her husband. That man appeared for dinner, and the couple disappeared for half an hour. Later, when Leah came back, she looked more relaxed and ready to face the long night. She also carried a bag full of yarn and what looked like a baby blanket.

Cam and Lorne went hunting for the hospital cafeteria just for something to do. Cam wasn't used to waiting. He was a pilot, a man of action. Sitting around a silent waiting room waiting for death to come chafed at his action-oriented mindset. He couldn't handle that. He didn't want to remember the waiting room from his father's plane crash, and he refused to imagine that his parents had sat in one like this when his 302 went down. Now, he occupied one while waiting for Deanna to fight whatever kept her from coming out of surgery.

Marissa dozed off on Danny's shoulder around midnight. Cam stretched his legs out in front of him and twiddled his thumbs. He eventually dozed and startled awake when someone called Danny's name. He blinked the grit out of his eyes and glanced at his watch. It was three A.M. This was either good or bad news. Danny stood and motioned for Cam to follow him out of the waiting room.

The doctor didn't question Cam's presence. "She's stable." Straight to the point. Cam liked that. The doctor continued, "It was touch and go for a time. She had a lot of internal bleeding that we had to fight, as well as a ruptured spleen, punctured lung, and several badly broken ribs. She'll be on a respirator until this afternoon at least. Hopefully, she'll wake up by then and be able to tell us that she's okay."

Cam let out a deep breath. "Thanks, Doc."

"She's nowhere near out of the woods." The doctor shook his head. "Her left hand is too swollen right now, but it'll require reconstructive surgery. And she'll need to take it easy for a while. I'm still amazed that she survived at all. And that her legs aren't broken or worse."

At the mention of that, Cam clenched his fist. He had kept the memories of his own ordeal at bay for the entire evening, and this doctor wasn't going to engineer his emotional collapse from a single comment. "When can we see her?"

When the doctor glanced at him, Danny smiled slightly. "This is Dee's boyfriend. He's stationed in Colorado and was out of the state when she had the accident. I can visit my sister. I'd prefer to let him sit with her."

Sympathy covered the doctor's face. "I'll see what I can work out." He turned to go. "Give me a few minutes."

"Thanks, Doc," Cam said again. He stayed by the door to the waiting room while Danny told the people inside. There were a lot of sighs and exclamations of "Thank God!" He wasn't sure he truly believed in God, but he sent a prayer of gratitude skyward. The doctor returned and escorted him to Deanna's bedside. Whispering that he could stay so long as he remained out of the way, the doctor left him alone.

Cam stood over Deanna, his heart breaking into little pieces. She had cuts and bruises all over her face. Her hair spread around her head, a tangled mess of curls that would take forever to comb. Someone had washed the blood out of it, but little else had been done. Her left hand lay propped on a pillow, swollen to biblical proportions. IV lines and cords ran from machines to locations on her body. Her true condition caused him to sink into the chair next to the bed to avoid collapsing on the floor. Now he knew how his parents felt when they reached him after his crash.

"Don't leave me." Cam reached out and touched her right arm, afraid to do much more than curl his fingers around her hand. "I haven't told you everything about me, and I might never be able to tell you all of it. But I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. Don't leave me before I get the chance to tell you."

oOo

Alyssa watched through the cracked door as Cameron received news of his girlfriend's condition. She had not orchestrated the accident, but she saw it as fortuitous. Deanna would no doubt need a long and painful recovery period, and men like Cameron weren't designed to wait. He had needs and desires, and Deanna wouldn't be able to provide for him.

Alyssa's gaze went to the other man who appeared with Cameron. Major Lorne. Not quite as tall or attractive as Cameron, his muscle-bound body and warrior's grace made up for his short stature. Alyssa considered him as she settled into the waiting room couch. He looked like the sensible type, but he was also Deanna's cousin. Alyssa felt no instant attraction to him like she'd felt for Cameron. Not at all. She needed Cameron in a heartbreaking way. But she might be able to use this cousin to get close to Deanna. After all, it wouldn't take much to eliminate a woman who just nearly died from a car accident. Mistakes in medications happened all the time.

Alyssa rose, stretched, and left the waiting room. She had much to think about.

oOo

Deanna awoke the evening after her accident. Danny and Lorne had been allowed into the room for an hour, and Cam argued with Danny about trading shifts. After all, Deanna was the man's sister. Danny had stubbornly stated that Cam could stay with her as much as possible. After all, she'd just spent the last month pining for him. She needed him there.

In the middle of this conversation, Lorne held up a hand. "Guys."

Cam whirled, and his blue eyes collided with sleepy hazel ones. "Hey, darlin'." He glanced over at Lorne, who left the room to find a nurse. Seeing the fear starting to creep onto Deanna's face, he touched her right arm. "You're okay. You're in the hospital, and you're going to be fine."

Deanna stared at him, her eyes telling him that she believed everything he said in spite of the pain she must be feeling. When the nurse shooed the guys out of the room, Cam assured Deanna that he would return momentarily. Ten minutes later, he stepped back into the room and found her able to whisper. "Cam."

"I'm right here."

She smiled slightly, and her eyes moved. "Ev! You came."

"I heard you were hurt." Lorne stepped close to the bed. "I called Mom, and she understood why I'm staying in New Mexico. She might even come out here for a few days."

Danny interrupted. "Dee, we're not going anywhere. We'll be here when you wake up."

She clearly accepted that and fell asleep holding Cam's hand. He let out a deep breath and allowed the tension that had gathered in his shoulders to release. She was awake and going to be okay. He held on to that thought as Danny and Lorne said goodnight. During the darkest part of the night, Cam laid his head on the bed next to her and let a few tears escape. He never wanted to know how truly losing her would feel.

For three days, Deanna drifted in and out of awareness. She tried to stay awake, but the pain meds kept her asleep. Cam didn't mind. He knew that she didn't handle alcohol well. The same must hold true for medications. After three days, the doctors decided that the swelling in her left hand had subsided enough to do surgery. Cam found himself in another waiting room, this time accompanied only by Lorne. Danny had a business to run in Deanna's absence, and everyone else had to work as well. The two men paced and halfheartedly watched TV until the doctors told them they could see Deanna again.

Cam rushed to her side as quickly as hospital etiquette allowed. She smiled at him, still groggy but glad to see him. "Hey, darlin.'" He'd used the endearment when she woke up, and it stuck. "How ya feelin'?"

"Drugged." She chuckled. "But I don't use many medications for that reason."

Cam turned to the doctor who slipped into the room behind the two men. He sobered. "What's the news, Doc?"

"Well, I'm afraid it's not all good." He consulted the chart. "The surgery went well, and your hand should heal." He addressed Deanna although Cam and Lorne listened. "I'm afraid, however, that you might not recover as much of your motion as you'd like. I'm sorry, Miss Chandry, but there's the possibility that you might not be able to play the guitar or piano again."

Cam watched that news hit her and glared at the doctor. He'd lived through this. He refused to watch someone else go through it, especially not Deanna. Rather than dwelling on the memories, he spoke. "She'll play again, Doc."

Deanna moved. "Cam." Her voice sounded like she wanted to scream.

"No." He looked at her. "If I can walk again, you can play again. It's that simple."

Deanna blinked at him but didn't ask any questions. She drifted to sleep a little while later, and Cam allowed Lorne to drag him to a hotel room for some real sleep. Maybe, after he rested and showered, he'd be able to tell Deanna why he knew she'd play guitar again. Why he was confident she could overcome all the odds stacked against her.

oOo

Deanna woke during the night and called for a nurse. The pain had returned, and her left hand throbbed. She stared at it, hearing the doctor's dispassionate announcement that she might not play the guitar or piano again. Cam's determined statement echoed through her head as she tried not to think about the pain. If I can walk again, you can play again. It's that simple. What had he meant by that?

The nurse entered and stepped to the side of her bed. She tried to smile at him and waited while he added some medication to her IV line.

Then, he leaned close to her bed. "Don't call for another nurse." He glared, his eyes glinting in the faint light from the hallway. "I need you to deliver a message for me. To Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell and the rest of SG-1."

~TBC