A devastated O'Neill reached the door of a bedroom, in a hospital. Traces of blood were visible on his tie and his white shirt. The party didn't end well. O'Neill and some Stargate people who were attending the party had spent the rest of the night in a hospital. O'Neill's fellows let him go to the bedroom alone, as he needed some privacy at this moment.

Jack softly knocked at the door and opened it. He saw Vala seated in a chair, reading a magazine, besides the bed. Sam was lying in it. She had a drip in her left hand and a nasal cannula. Her right shoulder and arm were immobilized in a sling. She had stitches on the forehead.

Devices were monitoring her heart rhythm and blood pressure. There was one thing that couldn't be monitored.

Sam was staring at an invisible target in front of her, amorphous, and tightening a pillow with her left arm. Boxes of tissues had invaded the nightstand next to the bed and in front of Vala.

Mal Doran stood up when she saw O'Neill in the doorway. She had been keeping an eye on Sam since she woke up.

The latest addition to SG-1 turned to O'Neill's wife, who didn't move. "Sam, he's here." she informed gently.

With no motivation, Sam turned her head to the right. Her eyes were red because she had been crying for hours. She saw Jack. She didn't say anything. She turned her head completely to the left, so nobody could see her face, and stayed silent.

Vala tried to help Jack, "Sam..."

"Not now, Vala. I'm exhausted." Sam cut in, with no emotion but sounding exhausted indeed. She kept avoiding her visitors. She suddenly coughed and groaned with pain. She tightened the pillow, to stand the ache.

Vala got worried. "Sam? Do you want me to call a nurse?"

"If I can get more pain killers, yes." Sam intoned, face still avoiding Vala and Jack.

Vala didn't call a nurse, because Sam couldn't be given what she was asking for. Vala turned to Jack. The general could see in her eyes that she was deeply sad for the couple. Jack and Vala remained silent.

It was Sam who broke the silence without moving, "It's funny... In the end, I gave everything to the Air Force… Including Allison."

Sam sniffed. The action made her cough and groan with pain again. She pulled the sheet for she was cold.

The sheet was covering a belly that wouldn't grow anymore.

Vala looked at the patient, then, Jack. She was even more sad and embarrassed to be the witness of such a delicate moment between her friends. Her eyes were saying sorry to Jack.

O'Neill couldn't be more grateful to Vala for being here, for being the friend that Sam needed. Jack waited in that room before Vala. He was there when Sam woke up and when the doctor told her about the baby, because Jack couldn't finish his sentence. Sam burst into tears. Jack tried to hold her. She violently reacted. Sam yelled at him to stay away from her. Jack would never forget Sam's face at that moment. A face deformed by sadness, despair, wrath, and hatred. O'Neill left the room with no resistance. There was nothing he could do but wait outside. Vala came to look after Sam, who accepted her presence and cried in her arms. Daniel accompanied Jack to the waiting room. O'Neill hoped that Sam would tolerate his presence after a few hours, even if it would be for a minute.

Of course, nothing was funny at all. Jack's heart was broken. His wife was destroyed. She had lost the daughter she had been waiting so bad. This tragedy happened after her argument with Jack, about her life decisions and Jack's career, which had clearly oriented her decisions. Sam needed to blame something, someone. Jack's uniform and what it represented. Jack. She didn't say his first name, but it was him. She was blaming him for her loss and her sacrifices. What had been the purpose of all this?

Jack O'Neill was destroyed, too. He had lost a second child, and was responsible for that, again. His worst nightmare was repeating. The man wanted to yell his pain. He couldn't, otherwise he would break down on the floor and wouldn't have the courage to stand up again.

This was a complete nightmare that had started like a dream. Jack had loved this life with Sam. Now, he was hating the direction this life had just taken. He was hating himself.

Jack didn't insist and gestured to Vala that he was leaving. He was definitely the last person that Sam wanted to see right now, and probably forever. At least, Sam didn't yell at him this time.

Jack closed the door. He jumped, surprised, when he turned around.

"Teal'c? Where are you coming from?".

The general didn't notice the Jaffa around when he was reaching the bedroom, and didn't hear the Jaffa arriving behind him. The Jaffa was standing, hands behind back. He didn't respond, but it didn't bother Jack.

"She's lost more than her soul." O'Neill said, tears in the eyes, as a conclusion to the situation.

"Indeed." Teal'c intoned.

"What's next?" Jack asked, terrified.

Teal'c severely answered, "What do you think that will happen, O'Neill? You'll divorce because every time Samantha will see you, she will remember everything she has given up and how much it has cost her. She will take a job that will enable her to be flexible, to raise your sons, as you will share custody. Of course, this job will not be related to astrophysics, because it will remind her of the stargate, the Air Force, and Allison."

O'Neill was stunned by this pessimistic speech. Teal'c had never been afraid to speak straightforwardly. Jack was just surprised to hear this at a very early stage of his grief. Teal'c's speech was pessimistic, but so realistic, because this was exactly what happened after Charlie's death. Jack and his first wife couldn't stop seeing and thinking about their son when they looked at each other, and this situation became unbearable for both very quickly.

The only thing the general was able to stammer was "I'm… I'm sorry…"

Jack noticed in Teal'c's eyes the reflection of a blue thing undulating behind him. The general turned around, perplex. A stargate event horizon had replaced the door of Sam's room. Jack turned around to Teal'c, baffled. What the hell was this? Was Jack hallucinating because of his pain? Why wasn't Teal'c showing any sign of surprise? Certainly because the question before the last one was the answer.

"It's too late for regrets, O'Neill." the Jaffa sharply admonished.

And without notice, Teal'c firmly pushed O'Neill into the event horizon.