Sam hit the ground legs first. She seemed to sink a little then her hips and shoulders hit, then her head landed and bounced off the sand. Despite the intense shaking, Jack abandoned the shelter of the shield and crawled over to her. Small pebbles, rocks and dirt were falling from the small crack in the top of the cave and he crouched on his hands and knees, protecting her head from falling debris. His vest blocked most of the smaller stuff but some of the bigger rocks hit hard. He kept his head as close to his chest as he could, and focused on her face. His position was not very stable with the extreme quaking of the ground, and he had to fight every second not to tumble over. The quake stopped as abruptly as it had started and Jack raised his head to look around.

The orange bubble was gone. He took this as a good sign that they were ok for now. He reached out and felt for a pulse, fearful of what to expect. He found one, weak, but it was there and she was breathing. He sank to his knees in thankfulness. He'd thought she was dead the second he saw her fall. He ran his hands over limbs and torso, checking her for obvious signs of injury, blood, unnatural bulges to indicate broken bones. She had several cuts and scrapes, a few bad gashes on her head and arms, but no broken bones protruding. He breathed another small sigh of relief. She could still have breaks or fractures but now he was concerned about her head.

His stomach rolled as he remembered how her head had ricocheted off the ground. He put his hands in her hair and gently felt for blood and open wounds. Shit, she was bleeding at the back of her head, but he didn't feel comfortable moving her just yet. She was bleeding from her right ear too. Double shit. That wasn't good. He stood up, removed his jacket and placed it over her. He grabbed his pack and pulled out his first aid kit. He didn't want to move her, unless it was absolutely necessary, until she woke up. As he cleaned up the wounds on her arms and the ones on her head he could reach, he talked to her. He talked of anything that came to mind.

"Come on Sam. Wake up. I need you to open your eyes. Please?" Jack was getting very worried. She'd been out for more than 15min.

"CARTER, I order you to open your eyes." Nope, didn't work.

Jack finished cleaning her face and arms and there was still no reaction. He pried open her eyes and shone his flashlight into their blue depths. He watched as the pupils reacted. Ok. That was a good sign. As he turned off the flashlight he noticed the sand Carter had fallen on. It was the same black stuff around the gate. Didn't she say that it was insulating or something like that? Maybe it had cushioned her fall. He shifted position and sat cross legged beside her. A stray piece of hair had fallen over her eyes. He brushed it away tenderly and stared at her face, willing her to open her eyes. It wasn't long before his legs began to cramp, so he stood up and paced around the cave again. Just before he sat down he glanced at the device on the wall. It was blinking. He closed his eyes briefly and opened them thinking now what? It was still blinking, steadily yet slowly. A tiny blue flicker. Jack shook his head and figured there was nothing he could do. He sat down again and took Sam's hand.

"Sam. Wake up. I want you to wake up now. There's this blue blinky light and it's driving me nuts. I can see it out of the corner of my eye. I don't know what it is, so you're going to have to get up and tell me what it means." He paused. He knew the words but didn't know that he could say them.

"Sam, look, I'm sorry I was such an ass. I didn't mean to be, but you know me. Sam, come on Sam." He squeezed her hand. Still no response. "Sam, I swear, if you wake up I'll..."

Her eyes flickered. His heart jumped several beats.

"Sam?"

She gasped, and he could barely hear what she said.

"Jack?"