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He helped her to the bed and sat her down on the edge of it. She immediately fell backwards like a ragged doll, her hands falling on the sides of her head. Thankfully the bed was full of pillows and blankets, so she didn't hurt herself. In fact she kept shifting, trying to get comfortable enough to doze off.

"You okay, Carter?" Tonight was perfect, but he was beginning to worry if she was alright. She was never a big drinker, but she didn't fall apart after so little either. That was Daniel's specialty.

"This dress…" She let out an annoyed groan, pulling on the material around her waist and then trying to get up from the bed, but falling. She always hated sleeping in anything else but pajamas, but on missions they usually didn't have any other options. Sometimes they even had to sleep with their boots and the full get-up.

"Yeah." O'Neill thought she might continue speaking, but she just laid there, panting. He waited a little longer, watching her closely. She looked a little muddled, her long hair in disarray around her head and her dress bundled up on the right side. It seemed she was still recovering from falling on the bed, because she didn't yet feel around with her hand, something she did all the time now she couldn't see. "Let me help." He offered, squeezing her hand in assurance. Gently he removed her footwear, noticing it wasn't the SGC type. Laura probably made them specially for Carter.

His eyes noticed the bottoms of her pajama on the chair right next to him. He grabbed them and sat down next to her on the bed. By this time she gave up trying to get up and just cuddled into the pillows.

"I'll put your pajamas on, yeah?" He informed her, wanting to make sure she understood why he was touching her. He managed to get one leg into the pants and now he was working on the other one.

There was no response from her. Hesitantly he hiked up her beautiful dress to her waist and proceeded to pull up the pants up her endless legs. The clothing was way too big for her thin figure, so he tied a knot on the waist cord, hoping it wouldn't slid off.

"Carter, let's get you to sit up, okay?"

She nodded, but was far too gone to sit on her own accord. He snaked one arm under her torso and pulled her up into the sitting position, letting her lean against him afterwards. He gently gathered her long hair and pushed it out of the way before unzipping the dress to get it off.

"Sir?"

Her voice startled him. He hoped she remembered what was happening and didn't just wake up with him undressing her. Ever since she woke up blind, when they were together, he made sure to maintain innocent physical contact with her at all times, so she knew where he was. And that she wasn't alone. Usually he held her hand as he did now. He wondered if she could feel his pulse racing.

"How did you like your birth-th-bird…Party?"

A smile appeared on his face. "It was great, Carter. Wouldn't you agree?"

She murmured agreement and then closed her eyes again.

"Oh no, Carter. Stay awake for one more moment, okay?"

"Yesssir. Will do."

He chuckled at her military persona shining through and pull her dress over her head in one quick motion. Again she fell backwards when he wasn't holding her.

"Oh." She yelp, surprised.

She stayed there on her back just in trousers and her black sports bra, shivering. The black shiny material nicely contrasted with her milky skin. God, she was so beautiful! His brain almost short-circuited at the sight. As much effort as it took, he averted his gaze and looked for her shirt. This was highly inappropriate, she barely remembered who he was.

"Are you cold?" He asked, but she didn't answer. He covered her with a blanket that he carefully extracted from underneath her and "I'll try to find you a t-shirt."

"Sir?" She whispered, but even then he could hear the hurt in her voice.

It made him freeze in his place, because it was so different from the drunken happy one she spoke with just seconds ago.

A quiet sob from her lips followed. "I remember… I remember us kissing. How come…?"

He tried to decipher the emotions in her voice, but was coming up empty. Panicking, he withdrew a little to look at her.

She spoke in a small, quiet voice. "I don't understand. I'm so confused."

"What do you remember?" He covered her with another blanket, not wanting to leave now to find some stupid shirt and leave her so distressed.

"Us kissing. In the locker room, somewhere else in the SGC and on a ship."

"In the locker room, it was…that was alien influence. We caught a virus that made everyone go crazy. I'd never take advantage of you."

"I wasn't suggesting that, I just… I-I don't know so much."

"Carter, I promise, we'll talk about each and every memory you want. But tomorrow, you have to rest now.

She gave a little nodded, already drifting into sleep.

"Just sleep now and don't worry about anything."

She sighed, her eyelids fluttering, closed and opened again and again. "But-"

"I'll be here." He assured her in a tone that permitted no doubts.

"Okay."

Against every rational thought he was capable of, he kicked off his boots, stripped off his jacket and lied down next to her. He didn't lie close to her, he just wanted to be there in case she needed him.

It was about an hour later that she – in the grips of a dream apparently – pulled him closer. In the following minutes she effectively wrapped herself around him, and kept holding him tight.

He didn't think waking up like this would be best for her, but he couldn't bring himself to push her away and not just because he was afraid he'd wake her.

Apparently tonight made her remember something. But did it really? He doesn't remember ever kissing her on any ship and it's doubtful he'd forget something like kissing Carter.

O'Neill stirred and rolled over on his back, his eyes still hazy with sleep. He was as rested as if he fell asleep about a minute ago. He had the greatest headache in the history and moreover he spent the whole night wracking his brain over Carter's words.

He understood she might have panicked when she'd remembered the crazy virus episode without much context. With only part of her memory gone she must have known the military rules and what breaking them could have meant. And then there was the issue of not being told by him beforehand. He wondered how she felt about him now and how he should approach the inevitable conversation.

Last night brought a lot of feelings to him. Holding Carter in his arms, clad in that gorgeous civilian dress, and watching her as she smiled and danced was wonderful. He didn't know if it was his delusion, but he felt her project warm feelings back to him. There was a real moment of connection between them as they danced. He rarely saw her so unguarded and happy. And so relaxed and pliant after they got to the quarters. But with her memories maybe surfacing their relationship might once again turn awkward.

Wait! He stretched his arms and didn't encounter anyone else. Where the hell was Carter? He felt like he'd been sucker punched, a dizzy spell coming over him as he sat up quickly. The quarters were empty. He hurried to put his shoes on and darted out of the room, heading for the infirmary.

He caught Teal'c and Laura whispering right before he crossed the threshold. He ran into the room, taking in the scene. Carter was unconscious, again lying on a bed in the medical dome thing.

"What happened?"

"Good morning, O'Neill." Teal'c said, with a little bow, but O'Neill hardly took notice.

"Hello." Laura answered, sitting down while turning to the general. "I had to sedate Sam." She sighed and dropped her head into her hands.

"Why?" O'Neill walked closer to Carter, looking over her motionless body. He didn't see any wounds anywhere.

"I'd sure like to know." Laura sounded sad and tired. "The levels of the poison had decreased more quickly than in the previous week, but I don't know the cause. She simply became overwhelmed, something akin to a panic attack perhaps. I'll run some more tests, then we'll see."

"Is her life in danger?"

"I don't think so." She paused, massaging her temples. "I hope not."