After the Days
Part 12: The Meeting
By Jolinar Carter aka JessMerrick

There were voices talking, several, all at once. They were worried, panicked, even. Emotional. The words they spoke made no sense, and were barely audible. Men, several, a woman, and another voice...a girl?

She opened her eyes to see a blurry crowd of people gathered around her bed. They all gasped and turned to her, talking to her, asking her things.

She couldn't comprehend.

It took a minute, and the bluriness ceased. Her hearing improved, or perhaps the voices raised, and it was no longer hard to see them, or to hear them. The beep of the monitor was the loudest sound, driving her crazy already.

She understood now, although she was still confused.

The last thing she remembered was being in the forest, alone, weak, and then...blank.

Janet and Jack moved up so that they were either side of her, and Janet greeted her with a huge smile. "Hey Sam," she said gently. "Welcome back."

"What happened?" Sam whispered, looking first at Janet, and then to her Commanding Officer.

"We went to rescue you, and Teal'c found you unconscious in the woods," Jack replied, practically beaming.

"If you feel dizzy, and a little out of it, that's because of some of the medicine we gave you," Janet explained, resting her hand over Sam's. "It's experimental but we thought it might increase your energy."

"I was with Apophis," Sam frowned.

"Yes," Colonel O'Neill confirmed. He looked over at Cassie, and then to Daniel. "Danny, could you please take Cassandra to get something to drink?" Daniel nodded silently, and he took Cassie out. When the girl was gone, he turned back to Sam. "We think Apophis monitored transmissions we made or something. Somehow – maybe he was in the hood – he, uh..."

"You died, Sam," Janet finished for the colonel, perching on the side of the bed. "You remember, at the Colonel's house? And you took some pills?"

"I killed myself," Sam sniffed. "I did. I'm sorry sir..." she cried. Her eyes were wide and scared, and she looked up at the colonel. "I just wanted it to be over."

"Shh." Jack grabbed a chair and sat down beside her bed. "Your body disappeared, from the hospital. And Apophis had taken it...you...and he revived you. We eventually managed to find out where you were, but you'd already escaped. Do you remember much?"

"I...I remember..." She paused. "I woke up...sarcophagus. Except I was still so ill...he um, he was going to make me his queen. A Jaffa interrupted, just in time, it was crawling up me...I knew it would have only been seconds...and Apophis left. The Jaffa got me out and took me as far as he could, to where you found me."

"He didn't torture you?" Jack asked her softly. Sam shook her head. "That's a relief. Listen, you should get some rest. Janet is pumping you full of nutrients and stuff, and you must be exhausted."

"I am quite tired," She yawned, without covering her mouth. Her arm felt too heavy. All of her felt too heavy. "Will you be here when I wake up?"

"Sure," he said, and she smiled slightly, and closed her eyes.

-

While Sam was asleep, Hammond decided that he needed to call a meeting. Reluctantly, Jack left the infirmary for a while, and made his way to the Briefing Room.

A woman Jack didn't recognise, plus Janet, Hammond, Daniel, Doctor Warner and Teal'c were all sat around the table, waiting for him. "Have a seat, son," Hammond instructed.

Jack slid in to a seat beside Janet. "Sorry if I kept you waiting, I just stayed with her until I was sure she was asleep. She said she wanted me there."

"No problem," Hammond nodded. "Did she say anything important?"

"Yes sir. She told me very briefly what happened. She said she woke up in a sarcophagus, and Apophis very nearly made her in to a host. Luckily, a Jaffa loyal to good old Master Bra'tac rescued her and took her into the woods. That's where we found her later on," Jack informed him, resting his arms on the table. "Do you want to go through the rescue or can it be done by report?"

"We'll just have the report this time," The General said. "I really called this meeting to talk about what happens now."

"I explained about the drip excetera earlier," Janet began. "That should help. But we really need to deal with the problems that lead to Sam's abduction."

"How come the sarcophagus didn't cure all of this?" Jack frowned. "I mean, I would have thought it would have healed her body?"

"It's a mental illness, sir," Janet replied. "Perhaps the sarcophagus only heals problems with the body. It doesn't really matter why now. We need to focus on getting her back to full health."

"Right," he sighed. "So what are you going to do this time? Please tell me you're not going to ship her off somewhere..."

"Relax, Colonel, I want Sam here with me. I'm going to keep her in for several weeks, perhaps a couple of months, until I'm positive she's ready this time. I think she'll hate it, but it's for her own good," the doctor replied sadly. "This is my friend, Doctor Skyla Morgan. She has treated dozens of similar cases, usually in teenagers, but occasionally in people of Sam's age or older. She's been given clearance as she can help us with many different situations."

"Doctor Morgan," Jack nodded, giving her a small smile. "So what happens now?"

"Well, sir," Skyla began, "as Janet said, we're going to keep her in, and monitor her closely. She'll have her own nurse all of the time, who is to attend to Major Carter, and only Major Carter. She'll watch her like a hawk. We're going to start her on medication to decrease her appetite."

"Decrease? Don't you mean increase?" Daniel asked, raising a hand.

"No. Colonel O'Neill reported that Sam was suffering from bulimia." Janet replied.

"I didn't know about this," Daniel frowned. "I thought she was anorexic?"

"...You see, Daniel, what's going on with Sam...at first she stopped eating because she didn't have time. Then she went to eat, but she couldn't face it. After a while, when we tried to help her, she began eating again, but found she had to throw it up. So we would think she was eating, and she was, but she was not gaining any weight from it because she was getting rid of it. Eat what you want and not gain weight. I know it seems odd, but..." Janet paused. "She was eating every meal. Just not keeping it down."

"Right...so you decrease her appetite and she can't throw up? But then she isn't having anything at all?" Daniel asked. The alarm sounded, and everyone jumped out of their seats.

"Dismissed, people," Hammond shouted as he jogged down the stairs.

-

Jack sat back down beside Carter's bed, and picked up a magazine from the bedside cabinet. He flicked through the pages, looking up from time to time. After about an hour, he looked up to see she was awake. "Hey!" He smiled. "How you feeling?"

"Peachy," she replied, stealing his line. "I get the feeling I'm not getting out of here for a long time."

"Well..." Jack scratched his head, not sure what he should say. "Janet and Doctor Morgan want to keep you in, and make sure you get better this time. I'm sure it's what you want, too, isn't it?"

"I guess so," she smiled weakly. "I hate this place."

"Yeah, well..."

"Colonel?" She whispered.

"Yeah?" He said, leaning forward.

"I was never good at asking for help," she sighed. "But I was wondering, could you help me again? I don't deserve your help after what I put you through last time, I know, but...I think maybe I could do it, if you're there again."

"Of course," he grinned. "We'll get you back to the old, healthy, perfect sized Sam Carter in no time."