Chapter 21-Adrenaline
"That's lame."

"It is not."

"Is too."

"Take it back."

Jack was standing at the top of a ladder, trying to patch up the roof to his and Sam's house. Last night it had rained and water came in right above where they slept.

"Will you two break it up already?"

Elo and Taven looked up at him. "Sorry."

Jack went back to working when he caught sight of his ring and smiled. Sam had just given it to him. She'd been working on it for a while but refused to let him see it until she was done. It was made out of silver like his but instead of being a plain band, she had put some kind of design on it. Jack had no idea how she'd done it, but he liked it.

"Stop it, Elo."

"You started it."

Jack sighed. He liked those kids but they were about to get underneath his skin today. Just then, the ladder started to wobble, falling and taking Jack with it. He landed, face down, with a thud. He tried to take in a gasp of air and immediately regretted it. Pulling himself up with his arms, he watched as the backside of a hammer slid out of his stomach. It was wedge shaped and covered in blood. He coughed, causing himself more pain. Looking to his left, Taven lay unconscious. Oh god, he thought.

"Taven, buddy, say something."

Nothing.

Jack shook him.

Hearing a shaky voice calling his name, he turned and saw Elo with tears in his eyes.

Jack's vision was getting blurry. The pain was unbelievable. "Elo, go get help."

Falling back down again, Jack heard Elo calling for his mother.

"Maena! Maena! Maena!"

Sam heard the calls from inside Nimmeya's house. Coming outside, she saw Elo bawling, his mother knelt before him.

"Elo, what is wrong?"

"Maena, Jack and Taven are hurt. They need help."

Sam's stomach dropped. Her feet were moving before her head could even begin to comprehend what she had just heard. Reaching the house, she saw him. Jack was unconscious on the ground and blood stained his clothes. Rushing to his side, she yelled, "Jack! Oh my god. Jack! Please, answer me."

Jack opened his eyes just a hair, his mouth twitching into a faint smile. "Hey."

"Oh thank god. Jack, what happened?"

She lifted his shirt and saw the gash. The urge to throw up came over her. Not because she couldn't handle the sight of the injury itself. No, she'd seen too many battle wounds to be effected so easily. But this was Jack and now, she was scared to death of something she didn't even want to think about.

"Hammers and me haven't exactly been getting along on this planet."

Leave it to Jack to make a joke at a time like this.

Sam heard a gasp behind her. Quickly recovering herself, Nimmeya asked, "What can I do?"

"My pack. There's a pack in the house. It has medical equipment in it."

Before Sam had even finished, Nimmeya was running inside.

Sam put pressure on the wound to try and stop the bleeding. Jack groaned, his eyes rolling back in his head.

"No. Don't you go to sleep. You stay awake."

Barely audible, Jack whispered, "Sam..."

"I'm here. Just hold on okay?"

He nodded.

"Taven?"

Sam hadn't seen Taven. She hadn't seen anything but Jack since she'd gotten there.

Jack started to go out of it again.

"Jack! Damn't! Wake up, soldier! You fight it, you hear me?"

Nimmeya came rushing back out. Quickly finding the emergency medical equipment, Sam gave Jack a shot of morphine. What she was going to have to do was going to hurt. After cleaning the wound, Sam was thankful to see that it didn't appear there was any internal damage. Her hands covered in blood, she took the needle in her hand. Pressing it against his skin, her hands started to shake. Sam closed her eyes. She could feel the adrenaline running through her veins. She needed to calm down to do this.

Feeling someone touch her hand, she jerked her eyes open.

It was Nimmeya. "Sam, let me do this."

"No. I can do it." Starting again, her hands shook even more. "Okay. Okay. You can do it. But hurry."

Sam held his hand while Nimmeya sowed up the wound. After she was done, Sam wrapped his abdomen with assistance and he was taken inside to their room.

Sam changed his clothes and put him under the blanket. Grabbing a chair, she sat next to the bed. She was still covered in blood. But she was unable to leave his side. Afraid that if she did, that he would quit breathing, that he would die and leave her there alone.

So she sat. For how long, she really didn't know. Hours, maybe. It was dark out, she knew that much. The only sound that could be heard was Jack's shallow breathing. Scaring herself at the sound, Sam burst into tears. Until that moment, she hadn't cried once. The adrenaline had her going so strong, focusing on what needed to be done. And now that she was just waiting for something to happen, she lost it. The tears came long and hard until her head ached. Wiping her face with her hands, she saw the dried blood on them as if for the first time. Sam ripped her clothes off . She had to get his blood off of her.

Running a bath, she climbed into the tub as soon as it was full, scrubbing her skin until it burned. Then she found herself crying again.

Once she felt that she had control over herself, Sam climbed out of the tub and got dressed. She crawled into bed, curling up beside Jack and taking his hand.

"I love you, Jack O'Neill."