It was 1120 hours when Jay went back to Hailey's room. She was sitting propped up in bed, eating jello. There was color in her face and she looked much more comfortable than when he'd seen her a few hours ago.

"Hi," he said, grinning. "You're looking better."

"I feel better, too." She returned the smile. "Sore—but not hurting like I was."

"I'm glad." He sat down carefully on the side of the bed. "I wanted to thank you again for saving my life out there. You were great!"

"Just doing my job. Besides, you saved me first—those Jaffa would've killed me for sure. Not to mention the fact that you brought me back through the gate after I was shot, and gave me CPR." She reached over and gave his hand a quick squeeze. "I think we're more than even." She started to withdraw her hand, but he caught and held it. When he was quiet for a long moment, her eyes narrowed. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. Shortly. I came up to say good-bye. They've figured out a way to get me back without raising suspicion."

"I thought so." She was not surprised, but she admitted to herself that she was disappointed. "I heard that General Hammond arrived this morning—thought it might have something to do with that."

"Wow—the info hiway still works around here! Yes. Major Nash came up with an idea, and General Hammond and Colonel McNamara at Eglin are gonna make it happen." He was holding her hand in both of his now, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.

"How're they going to do it?"

"Well—it seems that the Major—in his agitation—called in the wrong coordinates for the crash; he transposed a couple of the numbers. So my plane 'actually' went down 200 miles southwest of the area where they're looking for it."

"Oh, I see," she said, playing along. "But I can understand how the Major could do that—it's an easy mistake to make." One of her fingers was stroking circles in his palm. "Won't that get him in trouble, though?" she added in all seriousness.

"Colonel McNamara will see that it doesn't," Jay said. "Now they just have to drop me in the water to wait for the rescuers."

"I didn't think of that." Her mouth quirked up at the corners. "Can you swim?"

"Yep. And I'll have the life vest that I actually remembered to put on at the start of the training exercise." His sarcasm told her he'd had no such item on the flight.

"Hooray for second chances," she quipped, but there was a frown between her brows.

There was a brief silence before Jay went on. "They're flying me down to Texas, then out over the Gulf by chopper. It'll take a few hours. Probably a couple hours to Houston, then two, maybe a bit more out to the spot they'll drop me. They'll divert the search and rescue at the same time—so they should pick me up before dark. The sun doesn't set til after eight."

"You can't stay in the water overnight!" she protested. "Why can't the chopper that drops you circle back and 'rescue' you?"

"Hey," he said, a little surprised that she seemed concerned about him. "Don't worry about me. Major Nash will be in the chopper. He'll make sure everything is okay." He grinned. "Look, I'll call you as soon as I'm out of the water."

"Promise," she said. "Even if it's late."

He nodded. "Promise."

She relaxed a little. "When are you leaving?'

"Noon, from here. Driving over to Peterson with General Hammond and Major Nash. The General is flying back to D.C."

"I heard that General O'Neill is being promoted and sent to Washington," Jen said, changing the subject. "And there's already talk about you being reassigned to the SGC."

"How do you hear these things in here?" he asked in surprise.

"I know people. And they talk."

"Well—it won't happen. At least... I can't say about Jack's promotion. But the part about me won't happen."

"Not what you want, huh?"

"No," he declared. "I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm not Jack anymore... More important, I don't want to be Jack." He took a breath. "Up until two years ago all of my memories are his memories. I'll never be free of them, but I've started to make my own. I can't come back here and live his life again. His life and his past don't belong to me. His friends aren't my friends. They made that perfectly clear. When they realized that Jack was still out there somewhere, they... dismissed me." He shook his head. "Sorry. Being here has brought back a lot of bad feelings—as well as good ones. But I can't even consider making it permanent."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "If it helps, I don't think of you as anyone but Jay, a smart, great guy that I just met, a good soldier who saved me. And I still think it's a bitch that you have to live with all that!"

She sounded very fierce, and the fact that she would stand up for him lightened his spirit.

"And those who went on the mission with you are saying they like you and respect you—and not a damned word about you being...him! I just thought you should know that."

"Thank you," he said. Impulsively, he lifted her hand and kissed it. "Thank you very much." Her eyes widened, and Jay felt a blush rising toward his face. He looked away, then back into her eyes. "I... uh... I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" she asked when he paused.

"I was wondering... when you feel better. You'll be on medical leave for a while... How would you like to come down to Florida for a visit?" The last came out in a rush.

Her smile lit up her face. "I'd love to!"

"You would?" His answering grin was just as bright.

"I would! I will! There are beaches down there, right? I love beaches."

"Beaches galore," he assured her. "Some of the most beautiful beaches in the world." He leaned over and kissed her happily. After a moment, the kiss grew more serious, and he braced his hands on the bed, beside her shoulders, so he would not risk hurting her. Her hand came up and touched his cheek in a soft caress. More than a minute passed before he pushed away reluctantly. "I'll call you."

"Yes," she said.

He stood up, grinned at her, and then was gone.